Former California Governor Jerry Brown should be very angry with Joe Klein because of the way Brown was represented in Primary Colors. Jerry Brown was the main inspiration for the character Freddy Picker. Although Picker seems like a “sterile” candidate from the outside, he is revealed to have a very dirty past. If Brown is anything like Picker, then he probably seemed to be a very good man until the publication of Primary Colors. Freddy Picker not only got mixed up in cocaine usage and a homosexual affair; he is also revealed to be much more insecure than he appears before the cameras. In the last chapter, Picker breaks down and cries like a baby when he considers having to face his past. Picker’s weaknesses are revealed in a way that is embarrassing and uncomfortable.
Jerry Brown may not have had any of Picker’s troubled past or secret insecurities. Unfortunately, because of his more apparent similarities to the character, readers of Primary Colors may have assumed that Brown also shared Picker’s faults. This undoubtedly placed Brown in an awkward position of having to defend himself from accusations based on the character of a fictional individual who was only loosely based on the former California Governor. Jerry Brown should be very upset with Joe Klein for representing his character in such a degrading way.
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Brown is a very colorful character but not nearly as much so as Klein portrays him. There is some doubt, though, as to whether Brown is the "real" person or just someone made up.
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