The Question About Our Fave Son

“What does Jerry want?”

The question got posed over the weekend at a sunny restaurant in Santa Monica. A casual, lunchtime question. Nothing heavy duty, just a speculative query that sprang from a moment’s curiosity.

“What does Jerry want?”

The question provoked no satisfactory answer but that didn’t matter. No one has ever known what Jerry “wants.” The crucial thing, politically speaking, was the appearance of the question itself.

People don’t ask that question about has-beens or eccentric fringe candidates. They don’t ask it about certified losers. And a month ago, no one asked it about Jerry Brown.

Now they do. Miraculously, Brown has built a credible presidential campaign out of nothing more than sustained anger and an 800 number. He has outlasted candidates with 10 times his resources, has already put two victories on the board, and conceivably could show well throughout the industrial heartland. With California still to come.

Anyway, it’s good to have him back. You don’t have to love Jerry Brown to understand that he makes any political race more provocative and therefore more fun.

But back to the question. In the old days, when applied to Brown, this question usually carried metaphysical overtones. Our governor would run off to Africa with Linda, quoting Spengler to the reporters trailing after them, and people would watch all this on TV and wonder, “What does Jerry want?”

This time, the question implies something different altogether. It assumes that the remaining primaries, while not making Brown a winner, will give him enough delegates to play the role of spoiler at the Democratic convention, at least symbolically. The winner will need Brown’s support and the gift of his delegates to make the party appear whole.

In return, Brown will find himself in position to demand something substantial from the winner. So what does he want?

Perhaps nothing. When asked the question, one of his old friends said: “He wants to be President and, failing that, he wants to be a missionary of political ideas. He gets bored too quickly to take any job a new administration has to offer.”

That may be, and some believe the ultimate outcome for our favorite son will be a seat on “Capitol Gang” at CNN. But let’s not be hasty in our judgment.

Jerry Brown has fooled his audience before and taken jobs that no one expected. After the campaign has concluded, he will need a vehicle to propel his political life forward, and a brokered deal at the convention may offer better opportunities than anything on TV. Here are some possibilities:

The vice presidency. Admittedly, this option looks far-fetched. Brown may lack the pliancy required of a vice president and he remains politically radioactive from his years as The Moonbeam. The consensus wisdom says Brown would not be offered the vice presidency and, if offered, he would not take it.

But wait! In some ways, the vice presidency would suit Brown perfectly. With no administrative duties to encumber him, Brown could use the vice presidency as a bully pulpit, promoting the philosophical underpinnings of the Administration. No Administration could ask for a better PR man. For Brown, the vice presidency would offer the kind of legitimacy that just might banish The Moonbeam forever.

Moreover, should Bill Clinton or Paul Tsongas become the presidential nominee, they would need a partner to compensate for their relative weakness in the West. To win, the Democrats must carry the West. With victories in the Colorado primary and the Nevada caucuses, and a probable strong showing in California, Brown could offer them what they need.

Still, it’s a long shot. Failing the vice presidency, what about a few years as ambassador to the United Nations? Or international trade representative, the chair currently held by Carla Anderson Hills? Bully pulpits all, spots that could make use of an ex-governor who revels in intellectual chaos.

There’s a downside to these possibilities, I know. Given the prerogatives of high office, The Moonbeam behavior might return to haunt Brown. Maybe it’s like a latent virus that pops up in times of stress. If so, we would all suffer, being forced to listen for years to his latest ideas on waterless toilets.

But let’s give him a break. So far he’s done OK. He’s added some zip to the campaign, he’s touched the legitimate anger of the American voter. He’s taken the great personal risk of looking the fool and turned it into a political success. And so far, no Moonbeam.

The political season has been more fun, and more instructive, with Brown than without him. And for that I say he deserves something more than a quick exit after November. Exactly what, I don’t know. But something.