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In an era of handshaking, get-out-and-meet-'em presidential primaries, friendly Pat Brown, the man from the nation's second biggest and fastest-growing state, is a living ad for the paws that refresh. In a day of political moderation. Brown yields right of way to none as a middle-of-the-roadhog. As potential leader of California's big (at least 68 votes) delegation to the national convention, Brown may hold make-or-break power over other party hopefuls. If nothing else, that kind of power may be clipped as coupons for the vice-presidential nomination.
But Catholic Pat Brown has his debits too: 1) a haphazard administrator during his eight years as state attorney general, he must prove himself in the infinitely tougher job of Governor; 2) a political loner, Brown has stood aloof from the Democratic professionals and made enemies in the process ("There are something like 30,000 Democratic Club workers," says a top California party leader, "and at least half of them are just waiting for Brown to make his first mistake. Then they're going to run wild"); 3) even to control the California delegation as a favorite-son candidate, Brown may have to fight Senator-elect Clair Engle and National Committeeman Paul Ziffren, both longtime Adlai Stevenson rooters, and neither very fond of Pat Brown.
At La Quinta last week, Brown had no mind for such worries. He posted a clear no-trespassing sign to out-of-state Democratic delegate hunters: "I think if anyone did come in here and try to capture the primary, we'd meet them headon. If they lost the primary, as I'm sure they would, then they'd have no subsequent chance of support from the California delegation."
Two days later Brown was off on his cross-country get-acquainted tour, seeing top Democratic leaders, paying his respects to Stevenson, Harriman, Meyner and Truman. An omission that may prove to be unfortunate: the Texas ranch of Lyndon Baines Johnson, Democratic leader of the U.S. Senate, a man who knows most of the party answers and a presidential possibility in his own right.
Johnson: Democratic Father
Of all the Democrats industriously denying presidential aspirations, Lyndon Johnson sounds most as if he means it. Of all the prospects, he has the weightiest reasons for meaning it: 1) in 1955 he suffered a heart attack more massive than Dwight Eisenhower's; 2) he can be classed as a Southerner at a time when the Democratic Party is less likely than ever before to nominate anyone from below the Mason-Dixon.
But if there is such a thing as "deserving" a presidential nomination, then Lyndon Johnson is probably the most deserving Democrat. A Senate leader of superb skills (TIME, March 17), he pushed, pulled, cajoled and bullied Senate Democrats along a moderate course that made for a party image overwhelmingly approved at the polls. In the 1958 elections, when Democratic organization showed up dramatically against Republican confusion, a major fundraising, advice-giving role was played by the Johnson-bossed Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. Johnson personally campaigned in five states where Democrats ousted Republicans from six Senate seats: two in West Virginia, one each in Indiana, Wyoming, Utah and Nevada.