bill clinton and jerry brown during a campaign rally in 2010. | kevork djansezian/getty images by david siders 11/06/16 11:27 pm est durango, colo. <u+2014> jerry brown once captivated disaffected democrats here, antagonizing bill clinton as he coursed through colorado in his final presidential campaign in 1992. painting clinton as a steward of corporate interests and refusing to accept donations of more than $100, brown rallied college students and environmentalists to an upset victory in colorado<u+2019>s democratic nominating contest. story continued below the achievement was short-lived, as was brown<u+2019>s populism. leaving colorado on sunday after a day of campaigning for hillary clinton, the fourth-term democrat<u+2019>s distaste for money in politics <u+2014> and for the clintons <u+2014> had long since faded away. if donald trump wins the presidency on tuesday, brown said over chips and salsa at an airport bar, billions of dollars in federal health care funding in california could be lost. <u+201c>and the climate change,<u+201d> he said. <u+201c>game over. if hillary doesn<u+2019>t win, game over <u+2026> that in itself is huge.<u+201d> it is rare for brown to campaign for another politician or for a political cause that isn<u+2019>t his. but pressed into service in the rural, southwestern reaches of the state on sunday, brown spanned across the colorado plateau, heaping praise on clinton<u+2019>s experience as first lady and secretary of state. <u+201c>even the problems that she<u+2019>s had to face, that becomes a source of insight and wisdom,<u+201d> brown told about about 50 people at a democratic party office in cortez, up the street from a <u+201c>burger boy drive in<u+201d> and a koa. clinton is ahead in most recent polls in colorado, and the demographics of the electorate favor her on tuesday. but trump rallied supporters in denver on saturday, and clinton has moved in recent days to defend her position in the state. <u+201c>it has gotten ridiculously close,<u+201d> colorado gov. john hickenlooper was quoted by the denver post as saying. <u+201c>do not feel good right now. it shouldn<u+2019>t be anywhere like this close.<u+201d> if brown can be helpful to clinton, his effect will be incremental. his appearances came in more conservative, sparsely populated areas of the state, while bill clinton and bernie sanders, among other high-profile surrogates, rallied supporters in colorado<u+2019>s population centers. brown feuded with the clintons for much of the 1990s, accusing bill clinton in a debate in 1992 of inappropriately funneling money to his wife<u+2019>s law firm. clinton said he felt sorry for brown, then pointed his finger at him and said, <u+201c>you ought to be ashamed of yourself for jumping on my wife.<u+201d> but bill clinton endorsed brown in his 2010 gubernatorial campaign, and brown endorsed hillary clinton before the california primary election. asked about the feud at the durango-la plata county airport, brown said, <u+201c>i<u+2019>m not going to replay that.<u+201d> nor did brown dwell on campaign finance on sunday, as he did in 1992. the governor in more recent years has raised millions of dollars from corporate interests with a range of business before the state. instead, brown lamented an <u+201c>escalation in nastiness<u+201d> in political campaigns, with culpability more broadly shared than he suggested a quarter century ago. <u+201c>i think we pushed it <u+2014> we <u+2014> the political parties, the tensions, the ads, the stories, have pushed the dialogue to such a state of bad feeling that at some point there<u+2019>s always a reversal,<u+201d> brown said. he added, <u+201c>i think the pendulum could be in a position to pull back, and i<u+2019>ll certainly do my part in california.<u+201d> carla marinucci and david siders' must-read briefing on politics and government in the golden state
brown revisits colorado, this time to praise clinton
david siders