On 'Face the Nation,' Jerry Brown tries managing expectations

◼ Asked by Bob Schieffer on the CBS public affairs show "Face the Nation" for any advice he might have for politicians, Brown said, "I've learned you don't get things done overnight. It does take time.

"Things that I was talking about 30 years ago - pension reform, renewable energy, completing the California water plan, high-speed rail, they're right at the top of the agenda today. So what do I say? Hey, you've got to take 30 years to get it done, because you can't get it done overnight, you can't get it in a term. But we're into instant gratification, get it done, if you don't do it in two years, you're a failure. Life doesn't work that way, at least from the point of view of somebody in their 74th year. It looks like things take longer, and now I'm kind of glad they do, because I still have something to do."

The Democratic governor, asked what he thought the presidential election would come down to, suggested one reason he may have been happy to keep quiet for months in his own gubernatorial contest in 2010.