Jesse Jackson's Alter Ego

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Politics seldom makes stranger bedfellows than Jesse Jackson and his campaign chairman, California Assembly Speaker Willie Brown. They are Mr. Outside and Mr. Inside: a true believer with a provocative message advised by a hard- bitten political agnostic for whom election to office has become not a means but an end. While Jackson campaigns as champion of the dispossessed, the deliciously flamboyant Brown drapes himself in $1,500 Brioni suits, roars around Sacramento in a $100,000 crimson Ferrari and squires striking women half his age. This extravagant life-style is certainly not financed by his $37,105 state salary, but rather by the wealthy special interests whose influence Jackson regularly decries.

Whatever the outcome of the California primary between Jackson and Michael Dukakis, Brown will return to the national stage for the first time since the 1972 Democratic Convention. There, during a bitter credentials fight, he won TV celebrity by demanding, "Give me back my delegation!" This year in Atlanta, Brown will bargain for Jackson, pushing the party hard to the left on rules, platform and ticket. "If Jackson's program is not made the hallmark of the Democratic platform," he warns, "the new voters that Jackson brought out in the primaries will not be motivated in November."

Brown, 54, is uniquely qualified for the role of power broker. He has reigned for a record seven years as speaker and self-described ayatullah of the California assembly. He is respected for a quick intelligence, a quicker tongue and long experience in mediating among competing interests. Says Jackson Campaign Manager Gerald Austin: "He's one of those people who can walk into a room full of other strong-willed political people, and everybody knows he's in charge."

Jackson backers credit Brown with lending early prestige to the 1988 campaign, after declining to support it in 1984. This time he signed on only after the hiring of Austin, a respected pro, to bring order to the usual Jackson campaign chaos. Brown helped organize effective fund raising that targeted middle-class blacks and selected business interests, attracting more than $11 million to the Jackson coffers.

His Midas touch is the source of much of his power. In the 1986 election, he scared up a prodigious $5 million for his state Democratic allies. This charity begins at home: Brown accepted $161,000 last year in personal speaking fees, gifts and expenses, much of it from companies with business before the assembly. He also earned about $100,000 in retainers paid to his law firm, including some by businesses that deal with the state and local governments.