BROWNING OUT

After the 1982 Senate defeat, Brown dropped out of politics, having learned the lesson that being the consummate political insider could be career-damaging.

He travelled though Mexico, He helped Mother Theresa tend to the sick and poor in Calcutta, India and spent time in Japan studying Buddhism.

After seven years in the jungle, Brown caught the political bug one again. In 1989 he reappeared, bearded, in California, offering his skills as a technocrat to the state Democratic Party.

He was the insider again. The party made him chair, although they soon regretted it when Brown proved poor at getting out the vote--a weakness that may have cost the party several key elections.

Although Brown had said repeatedly he would not run for office again, he openly flirted with the idea of running for one of California's two open Senate seats before finally opting for a presidential bid last September.

"He was ahead in the Democratic party poll in the senate races," said DiCamillo. "I thought [the decision] was more personal--his interests were more on a national level."

BACK IN THE RACE

Jerry Brown's colorful career before he arrived on the presidential trail in 1992 speaks for itself. Besides the time off, he had spent nearly his entire adult life in the political arena--at times the upstart, at times the entrenched incumbent, but always a politician.

So when Brown came on the scene with his "outsider" persona and a message that politicians can't be trusted, many long-time Brown Followers were cynical.

"His current incarnation is the most political of calculations," John B. Emerson, Los Angeles Brown counsel in the 1982 Senate race, told The New York Times.

"He believes the way he is campaigning is the only way Jerry Brown can resurrect himself politically," Emerson said.

Besides capitalizing on the strong anti-incumbent trends in 90s U.S. politics, Brown has also tried to recapture his former aura of hipness.

Endorsed by Rolling Stone and appearing regularly on MTV, Brown went hard after the young vote.

"I don't think there's any other candidate out there who could talk about Chuck D and Public Enemy and what his music means," says Tabitha Soren, political reporter for MTV.