Tom Drops a Bomb

State Sen. Tom Hayden announced last Wednesday that he wants to run for governor, as a “messenger of reform.” In a five-page, single-spaced announcement, the Chicago Seven alumnus spoke of the “obstinate power and money of special interests,” of a government “lost in the values of Babylon,” and of a need for a “new governor with a mandate from a grass-roots movement.”

Now I love it when candidates talk that talk. I’m a sucker for self-proclaimed insurgents. Give me candidates with big ears, or 800-numbers, or both--someone on the outside, banging on the door of power, in the name of The People.

This, I know, is a weakness. Blame it on Watergate or too many Frank Capra movies or simple naivete. Whatever, I am attuned to the argument that politics as usual has created too much government as usual. With others, I keep watch on the horizon, waiting for a political Guevara to come along to tear down the old order. It’s been a long wait, and the guerrillas are impatient. It wasn’t Jesse or Jerry, and it certainly wasn’t Ross. Could it be Tom?

*

Tom Hayden’s office is located on the second floor of the Capitol. It is a small, handsome lair, with dark wood and deep couches. He led me inside. This was Thursday, the day after his announcement.

“How goes the revolution?” I asked.

“So far,” he said with a smile, “so good.”

On his desk sat a glass mug with a few sips of coffee left. Classical music played on a cassette recorder. He slumped on the couch with legs kicked out and his arms folded behind his head. It was a comfortable scene.

Right away, there were a few things Hayden wanted to make clear. He wasn’t out to spoil the prospects of the other Democratic candidates, state Treasurer Kathleen Brown and Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi. Instead, his hope was that “Kathleen” or “John” would adopt his message of reform, at which point he could declare victory and withdraw.

“Do you really expect Kathleen Brown to give back the five million she’s already raised?” I asked.

“No,” he said. But maybe she could say something like, “I am playing the game under the rules to win, and when I win I will change the rules.” That, he said, would be “an honorable stand.”

We talked about Jerry Brown, who was in the news himself, attempting to launch a radio show out of Oakland. Brown provided Hayden with both a message and a political prototype. Political reform was the issue that brought Brown to Sacramento in the first place, 20 years ago. Political reform also was the issue that fueled his upstart run at the White House in 1992; a lot of people laughed at the ‘Beam, but in the end the only ones left standing from a crowded Democratic field were him and Clinton.

“I was impressed by his fortitude and the response he got,” Hayden said of Brown. “But I also am cognizant of the fact that, in the castle of incumbents, he continues to be a castaway.”

He paused a beat, to let this sink in. You see, Hayden does not intend to follow the Jerry Brown path all the way. He has no plans for an 800-number. And he certainly has no plans for banishment, post-election, to talk show hell. He said he’s “comfortable” in his role as state senator, and expressed hope that his “colleagues” would respect his efforts to “send a message,” adding:

“I am very interested in remaining a senator. I am not going anywhere.”

*

Now when it comes to activism, Tom Hayden has given at the office. His reputation as an anti-war protester precedes him wherever he chooses to go, and it always will. The Sacramento pols roughed him up good when he landed here, and it is understandable that he doesn’t want to risk whatever respect he’s gained since, on the inside.

Unfortunately, if he is serious about this kind of candidacy, Hayden probably had better forget about his colleagues and “Kathleen” and “John.” Jerry Brown liked to say he wasn’t a “go along and get along” candidate. Hayden might not want to go along with the system, but for now he does want to get along with its players. Wild-eyed commitment and an elephant skin--that’s what seems to work on the insurgency trail. And even then only for a while. . . .

For however noble, however skillful, these candidacies always come up short. In the early going, the insurgents thrive in a vacuum of noninterest. Attention is not paid until progress is made in the polls. At that point, the power of the message becomes clear. At that point, the messenger better duck. Hayden said he knows all this. I wonder, and keep watch on the horizon. . . .