European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - April 2, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse Thursday april 2, 1992 the stars and stripes a Page 13 commentary George Skelton Jerry Brown s plan obscured by grass roots is it truly a fight for the democratic presidential nomination or the creation of a National grass roots organization what is Jerry Browne a real goal that is the question the former California governor is asked More than any other As he bounces about in his Low budget chaotic bid for votes in state after state. He often appears to approach the query As if it were a zen Riddle. A both a he says. A without a cause there is no purpose. And without a Campaign the cause cannot work any real and a this is More than a Campaign. It is a the truth is Brown seems to have no plan except to ride his cause of political Reform a a theme Long familiar to californians a for As far As it will carry him one More time. There Are signs of an infant National movement propelled by the tens of thousands of people a the Campaign cannot say exactly How Many a who have dialled the candidates 800 number and pledged up to $100, the maximum he will accept. Many also have volunteered their time As Campaign workers to in his words a take Back this party and this country from an arrogant corrupt governing but in fact this still is a ride More than a movement an adventure More than any plan. A you never know when you jump in the water How far you re going to swim whether you can make it to the opposite Side a Brown said when asked whether he Ever had expected to make it this far in the presidential race As the last major challenger to Arkansas gov. Bill is a skillful astute politician a he grew up in a politicians family and is a career politician himself a so he is keenly aware of the Odds against his winning the nomination. They Are worse than slim to none in the View of Many Neutral experts. Publicly Brown maintains he has a better Chance than Clinton of becoming the democratic Standard bearer largely because a a scandal a week is dragging Down the front runner. A a it a David and Goliath that slingshots getting pretty big and pretty heavy a he told a Philadelphia labor convention last week after upsetting Clinton in the Connecticut primary. To reporters he insisted a yeah of course i believe i have a real Brown and some advisers talk of a scenario in which Brown wins the new York primary on april 7 a his 54th birthday a and goes on to Chalk up a string of insurgent victories and forces a deadlocked democratic National convention in july thereby compelling delegates to nominate the California populist. A Jerry could go in there and demand the nomination on behalf of the american people. Then what a going to happen is the party just going to ignore him a asked Veteran consultant Pat Caddell. You can bet on it say other Brown loyalists candidly asserting that the party never will accept a troublemaker whom critics have braided a political terrorist or a As described by democratic pollster Peter Hart a a the Che Guevara of the 1992 presidential on a night flight aboard a chartered Turboprop Over upstate new York during a few quiet off camera moments when reporters were not jotting Down his every utterance Brown conceded that his goal of grassroots participatory democracy will be difficult to achieve. But a $100 contribution limit is a Good Start Tom Baxter he said because Ordinary people who give at that level a feel part of it for the first a a there a a level of excitement 1 have never encountered in All my years in politics a he said. A a in be got More supporters now than i Ever had in California a real after this Campaign is Over does he foresee working for change within the democratic party Structure or outside of it a i done to know a he said. There is a lot of room within the party to work he noted but the leadership is a pretty embedded at the tog. Well see How it it has been speculated that Brown might pattern an organization after the Rev. Jesse Jackson a Rainbow coalition or follow the route of Ralph Nader preaching political Reform rather than championing consumer Protection. Speaking last week to Medgar Evers College in Brooklyn Brown outlined his Agenda this Way a my View is politics is not working in this country. That a pretty obvious. Just getting somebody elected Hasni to proven that its done a whole lot. We had a democratic president or. Jimmy Carter. We did no to get a lot of things a we need a grass roots movement like the Rainbow coalition like other groups that pull together and create a countervailing Power. And i m committing myself not Only to this Campaign but to the Effort to build among grass roots people and activists for As Long As it takes to get this country on the Side of social and economic Justice. And if i have another 20 years that a exactly what in a going to c los Angeles times Perot hits right chord in frustrated americans h. Ross Perot is the latest embodiment of the daddy warbucks phenomenon a growing trend in american politics. To be a daddy warbucks you have to have More Money than most folks can conceive of combined with the common touch. It does no to matter How you made your Fortune but it has to be self made. No family Money need apply. You can never have held Public office and your comments on controversial issues must be so Frank and unguarded that no politician would dream of saying them. Being a texan May be a help or maybe that a just where so Many of this Type Are from. In any Case a True daddy warbucks has to have that Brash can do lets Fly the Cessna to Austin and have breakfast at the Nighthawk attitude that Texas Rich Guys have. Democratic consultant James Carville is the originator of the banana Rule the first Maxim governing How you run against a daddy warbucks Luce bananas the longer you can keep a candidate like this up on the shelf the worse he looks. Perot is the first of this Breed to emerge on the National scene and so far his bananas look just Fine. In part that a because americans know instinctively that some of his Way out proposals actually make a lot of sense. For instance the a electronic town Hall he suggests for americans to talk with each other about their problems while it sounds futuristic May be just around the Comer. That ability to think on the cutting Edge May be one reason Why americans Are so enthralled with warbucks candidates these Days. Its puzzling though government in the last decade or so has eradicated smallpox and won the cold War while it kept the salaries of its top officials to a fraction of that paid to the chief executives of most of our big companies. American private Enterprise during the same period has had its ears pinned Back by every rival from Taiwan to Luxembourg. Why then Are americans clamouring to it business executives into elected of ice rather than putting politicians in i corporate boardrooms whatever the logic Perot has touched off an extraordinary response and he has Money to Burn. In a year when americans Are so downbeat about their alternatives he has the potential to get millions of votes and affect the outcome of the fall election. On the other hand this Booklet could end abruptly in the next week or so if Perot decides to pull up stakes. But this phenomenon is More than a Rich Many a whim. We have this much interest in a daddy warbucks if an awful lot of americans did no to feel like Little orphan Annie. C Cox new service
