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Though he insists that the governorship is his only goal, a victory for Reagan will inevitably catapult him onto the national scene as the G.O.P.'s Lochinvar from the West. His name is certain to crop up in connection with the party's vice presidential and even presidential nominations in 1968 and 1972. In any event, as Governor of California, in control of a pivotal delegation at the G.O.P. convention, he will be a major influence in selecting whichever candidate the party chooses.
By no means is Reagan a shoo-in for the statehouse. Since registered Democrats outnumber Republicans in California by a 3-to-2 ratio, he must capture 90% of G.O.P. voters and attract at least 20% of the Democrats. And despite an early margin of 15% over Brown in June, he led the Governor by only 4% last week. Brown, who greatly relishes the role of underdog, in the past has risen from all-but-certain defeat to fell such G.O.P. Goliaths as former Senate Republican Leader William F. Knowland in 1958 and Richard M. Nixon in 1962. Yet Reagan, who makes no secret of his inexperience in politics, in subtle fashion succeeds in projecting himself as the underdog.
Blaming Brown. Actually, it is a wonder that anyone wants the job. California, already the nation's most populous state (19 million), has to cope with explosive problems of growth unparalleled anywhere else in the world. Its annual gross income is greater than that of any full-fledged nation save Russia, West Germany, Britain, France and the U.S. itself. Yet the urgent demands of overloaded schools, insufficient highways, restive racial minorities and ever-rising taxes forever plague the state. Indeed, any headache that afflicts any other state throbs even harder in California—and many of its quandaries have not even been invented elsewhere.
By and large, Pat Brown has done an effective, if sometimes halting, job of meeting his constituents' needs. He has set up a bold $1.75 billion water plan that will divert Feather River waters from lush north to parched south. He has established three new state universities and six colleges. He is responsible for naming six of the seven judges on the State Supreme Court, one of the U.S.'s most progressive benches. He created a state fair-employment practices commission, instituted the nation's first effective statewide smog-control program, increased welfare to needy aged people, hiked unemployment benefits and, in general, made imaginative appointments to state offices.
Inevitably, after nearly eight years in office. Governor Brown is saddled with the responsibility for all the crises, failures and frustrations that have beset the state during his tenure. Thousands of irritated, angry and frightened Californians are ready to blame Pat Brown personally for the rising crime rate, crowded schools. Watts, smog, even the drought that chronically plagues the southern half of the state.