Newly-minted Democratic gubernatorial nominee Jerry Brown greeted a media throng in Los Angeles, seemingly amazed by the new attention for his generational encore run to be California's next governor.
"I haven't seen this many microphones for a long time," said the attorney general and former governor.
And then Brown, who was last governor from 1975 to 1983, declared he has both the wisdom and contemporary know-how to lead California out of deep fiscal crisis and a severe public lack of confidence in state government.
"I've been there, standing in the face of a storm," he said as he pledged to lead the state in tackling "very painful choices that lay ahead of us."
He also challenged Republican nominee and former eBay CEO Meg Whitman to participate, and field media questions, in 10 joint town hall experiences around California.
"Let's go to the people of California and have an unscripted exchange about the issues we face," Brown said.
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