California's Vote for Reform

Primaries are the tarot cards of politics, but experts who try to read them in this roiled year are having problems of perception. The voters have been re-nominating incumbent Congressmen by the bushel while rejecting some other experienced officeholders out of hand. Last week's California primary was probably the most revealing so far. With gubernatorial races in both parties and an anticorruption referendum of unprecedented scope and complexity, Californians seemed to be saying that they are standoffish toward all candidates. At the same time, the voters are enthusiastic about fundamental political reform.

The two candidates who will now compete to succeed Ronald Reagan (Democrat Edmund G. Brown Jr., 36, and Republican Houston Flournoy, 44) both have the advantage of being atypical politicians in an atypical year. Youthful and good-looking, they have enough experience in lesser offices to appear knowledgeable but are sufficiently offbeat to seem fresh.

Brown, now California's secretary of state, had 17 Democratic opponents. He also had one large advantage--he is the son and namesake of Edmund G. ("Pat") Brown, a popular former Governor (1958-66). "If my name were Smith," the son concedes, "I wouldn't be in this race." Early polls showed that some Democrats actually thought Jerry Brown was his father.

Yet Jerry Brown hardly resembles his bluff, amiable father. The son is a bachelor, cool and withdrawn, who was once a Jesuit seminarian. In one of his rare flashes of humor, Brown cracked that his Jesuit schooling had given him unique qualifications for office: "Who else in the race has had eight years of Latin and four of Greek?"

After Yale Law School, Brown became involved in the civil rights and peace movements of the early '60s. He backed Eugene McCarthy in his bid for the presidency. Brown became secretary of state in 1970, the only Democrat to win on the state level that year. He has transformed that obscure office into a political force by pushing young-voter registration and pressing enforcement of campaign-disclosure laws. It was at Brown's urging that his staff, which is charged with supervising notaries, unearthed the fact that the deed of gift for President Nixon's vice-presidential papers to the National Archives had been predated (and notarized) by Nixon Lawyer Frank DeMarco.

Political pros considered Brown too inexperienced and unbending to survive a tough campaign against such presumed heavyweights as San Francisco Mayor Joseph Alioto and Assembly Speaker Robert Moretti. But Alioto got bogged down in municipal and marital strife while Moretti waged an inept campaign. Brown, talking vaguely about bringing a "new spirit" to Sacramento, campaigned on a safe liberal platform that stressed open government, campaign reform, and improved education and social benefits. In the end Brown won with 38% of the Democratic vote.

Easy Manner. When he entered the G.O.P. race last fall, State Controller Houston Flournoy was familiar chiefly to Californians who received tax refunds in envelopes bearing his name. Former Peace Corps Director Joseph Blatchford, Flournoy's Los Angeles County campaign chairman, complained that many people thought the candidate "was a guy from Houston who wants to put Flournoy in the water." Flournoy was actually born in New York City and educated at Cornell and Princeton, where he earned a doctorate in political science. He came to California in 1957 to join the political-science faculty at Pomona College and entered politics as a state assemblyman in 1960. In three two-year terms Flournoy allied himself with the liberal Republican minority. He never became part of the dominant Reagan faction, even after winning the controller's post in 1966. Flournoy's amiable grin and easy manner are assets, but even well-wishers acknowledge that his performance as a candidate has been bland. His aides attempted to make that a virtue, emphasizing his insistence on spending Sundays at home with his blonde wife Midge and their three children. But Flournoy was helped most by his opponents' problems. A number of formidable early contenders decided not to run. Though a total of six remained in the contest, Flournoy's main rival was Lieutenant Governor Ed Reinecke, who led the polls until his indictment earlier this year for perjury in connection with his testimony before the Watergate grand jury. Reinecke maintains that he is innocent, but the indictment was a fatal blow. Flournoy, campaigning mostly on his governmental experience, ended up with 63% of the vote.

One of the few important policy differences between Flournoy and Brown came over Proposition 9, the pioneering campaign-reform initiative that won by an overwhelming 70% majority despite fierce opposition from organized labor, big business and several politicians. Flournoy was against it while Brown supported the measure vehemently.

The new code, which becomes a part of the constitution in January, sets up tight registration and reporting requirements for lobbyists, prohibits them from contributing to political campaigns, and limits the amount they can spend entertaining any elected official to $10 a month--"enough for two hamburgers and a Coke," says Brown. In addition, the measure requires financial disclosure for all elected officials and sets limitations on campaign spending.

The drive for passage of Proposition 9 was spearheaded by the 65,000-member California chapter of Common Cause, which circulated 2.5 million pieces of literature and spent $425,000 on an advertising campaign. Said San Diego Lawyer and Chapter Chairman Mike Walsh of the victory: "I think it says that Common Cause is now a force that has to be reckoned with in Sacramento. We've shown we can go to the mat with the most powerful interests in the state on an issue where there is direct popular support and win."

Brown's chief problem will be his own hypertense persona. Says one Democratic Party pro acidly, "He's only 36. He still has time to develop a personality." Flournoy and his aides intend to push Brown into early confrontations, including a series of television debates, hoping that familiarity with Brown will breed opposition. Brown intends to push back by tarring Flournoy as a "recycled Reagan" and by forcing him to take a stand on impeachment, which Flournoy has so far avoided doing. At the moment, Brown seems to be ahead. But it will be a long campaign in the nation's most populous state and the only sure bet is that the next Governor will be handsome.

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