Where's Jerry?

Brown delays his candidacy

For months California Governor Jerry Brown has been promising that he would announce his presidential candidacy in the spring or early summer. He was eager to avoid the problems caused by his late start in 1976, when he beat Jimmy Carter in five of six primaries but had no real chance at the nomination.

Yet Brown's own deadline for his 1979 announcement has come and gone. He now plans to enter the race no sooner than September and perhaps later.

The reason for the delay, say the Governor's aides, is that the legislative session in Sacramento is still not over, forcing Brown to stay close to the capitol. He must also endure the harassment of Republican Lieutenant Governor Mike Curb, who tries to seize gubernatorial authority every time Brown ventures out side the state.

But Brown's critics in California say the postponement is caused by high confusion in Jerry's campaign tactics and strategy. Reports TIME West Coast Bureau Chief William Rademaekers: "The main problem seems to be that Jerry Brown has run down on issues and in the process worn out his welcome mats. The invitations from outside the state are not flowing in. He has difficulty finding the 'right' audience and, when he finds it, making the 'right' speech."

The delay may not be a bad idea, whatever its causes. With Jimmy Carter having his troubles in Washington, Brown has the luxury of waiting, and of not wearing out his welcome any further. Carter's declining popularity has boosted Brown's relative strength with no assist from the Governor himself. The New York Times-CBS poll recently showed Brown actually running slightly ahead of Carter in a direct pairing. Both men, of course, trail far be hind Ted Kennedy among Democrats surveyed.

In preparation for his campaign, Brown has lately increased his overtures to his party's left wing, most of which op posed his support this year of a constitutional convention to write a budget-balancing amendment. Brown has been emphasizing his opposition to nuclear power, and now appears frequently with Tom Hayden and Jane Fonda, two leading activists. Explains one Brown aide: "Jerry has no national constituency, so Hayden and Fonda have offered him a connection to the antiwar, antinuclear crowd, and he's taken it."

To make the connection with the left even firmer, Brown has recently acquired a new adviser on foreign policy: Daniel Ellsberg of Pentagon papers fame.

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