Helpful Hints for Running Brown’s Campaign in O.C.

Are you the kind of person who enjoys a challenge? Are you undaunted by seemingly hopeless tasks? Do you handle rejection well?

If so, report immediately to the Kathleen Brown for Governor headquarters and sign up to head her campaign in Orange County. No one has been named yet, and can you blame them?

This could be the toughest sales job since the American Motors Co. introduced the Gremlin.

The whole thing would be nothing more than idle sport if the stakes weren’t so high. If Brown becomes the next governor of California, she will be thrust immediately into contention for national office somewhere down the road. But if she is slaughtered in Orange County, chances are she will not be the next governor of California.

The task at hand: How to avoid being slaughtered in Orange County.

Uh, well, let’s see now.

First, the baggage problem. Kathleen is the unfortunate victim of being Jerry’s sister in a county where he was about as unpopular as a politician could be. She must hope that local memories are short, for in the 1982 U.S. Senate campaign, Jerry Brown got a dismal 31% of the Orange County vote, compared to his 45% statewide. A guy named Pete Wilson beat Brown that year by 230,000 votes in Orange County and went off to Washington.

Not to beat a dead horse, but Jerry Brown got 40,000 fewer votes in Orange County that November day in 1982 than did Tom Bradley, the Democratic mayor of Los Angeles, for Pete’s sake, who was running for governor.

You get the picture.

Of course, Kathleen is not Jerry. How many times she can say that could be key to her hopes. Come to think of it, that could be her local campaign slogan: “I’m Not Jerry!”

The “Jerry Connection” is not just ancient history. It matters in Orange County because of the death penalty issue.

In a county where Republicans favor the death penalty by about 90-10 and even Democrats polled a few years ago were 70-30, Kathleen Brown opposes it. That coincides rather unfortunately with then-Gov. Jerry Brown’s naming of Rose Bird as the state’s chief justice, for it was Bird whom the voters later ousted largely because of perceived leniency in capital cases.

How does Kathleen separate herself from Jerry when people keep bringing up the death penalty?

Believe me, I’m not volunteering for the job, but I would suggest a two-pronged attack.

First, forget about ducking it, especially with Orange County audiences. That will be impossible. When pressed about the death penalty, she should be direct and impassioned in her opposition, explaining either in moral or legalistic terms where she stands. She should show people she’s as tough as that wiry ex-Marine running against her.

Second and more important, she should pledge not to appoint anyone to the state Supreme Court who opposes the death penalty. That would undercut any Rose Bird fears with the electorate and allow Brown to say she respects the public’s overwhelming support on the issue, while not compromising her own beliefs.

On balance, people would admire her forthrightness on the issue. It may help relegate the death penalty to where it belongs: non-issue status.

One stumbling block out of the way, and one to go.

Her other troublesome issue here is immigration. As with the death penalty, she should be steely and straightforward in an effort to elevate the debate instead of lowering it. She should stake out a position and vigorously defend it, even in the face of hostile audiences. She should remember that even when you’re losing points on substance, there are style points to be won.

If Brown is looking for Orange County inspiration, she can call Dianne Feinstein. In 1990, Wilson clobbered Feinstein in Orange County, beating her by more than 200,000 votes en route to a narrow statewide win.

In 1992, however, Feinstein returned and came within about 100,000 votes of Orange County’s own John Seymour and won their U.S. Senate race. Feinstein had advantages with the national ticket that Brown doesn’t, but Feinstein greatly increased her raw vote totals in Orange County between 1990 and 1992.

What happens in Orange County is critical for Kathleen Brown’s future in politics. Whoever manages Brown’s campaign here has 4 1/2 months to make an impression for her.

The good news for whoever gets the job is that they don’t have to win Orange County for Brown. They just have to convince enough people that she’s somewhere in the vicinity of their wavelength.

In short, convince them she’s not Jerry.

Volunteers, anyone?