Lt. Gov. Gray Davis has the kind of impressive resume that statewide political candidates often dream about. He was chief of staff to former Gov. Jerry Brown and virtually ran the state bureaucracy for seven years. He served two terms in the state Assembly. He served two terms as state controller, and now he is wrapping up his first term as lieutenant governor as he tries for the office that, by his own admission, "he has prepared for his entire adult life."

Handsome, a Vietnam war veteran, educated at Stanford and Columbia, a lawyer with a beautiful wife, Davis seems to have it all. He's even ahead in the polls, although narrowly.

So what's the problem?

The problem is best summed up in two words -- "money" and "Brown."

It's money, because both of his opponents, Rep. Jane Harman and businessman Al Checchi, have millions to spend and they're doing it.

It's Brown because the former governor still carries negative political baggage among many voters -- at least the older ones -- and Davis's name is inextricably linked to that of Brown.

Checchi says he has already spent $10 million since November, a record, and that figure is all but certain to rise when his campaign disclosure reports are filed within the week. Democrats not connected to his campaign believe Checchi, the former cochairman of Northwest Airlines and reportedly worth $850 million, will have spent close to a whopping $15 million through the end of March, almost all of it from his own pocket.

Harman is not spending as much -- at least not yet. But the three-term congresswoman, the wife of an audio equipment entrepreneur, also is expected to spend millions of her personal wealth on her campaign.

Davis has raised about $4 million, which in a normal governor's race would be respectable indeed. But this year, Davis' coffer is thin indeed when compared with the resources of his rivals.

Money means television advertising, and Davis hasn't had any while Harman and Checchi -- particularly Checchi -- have been flooding the airwaves with image ads.

Davis' campaign says he will save his ammunition for the final seven weeks of the campaign, husbanding his money for a final advertising blitz that his aides say will be competitive with those of Checchi and Harman. But by then, it may be too late.

Aside from the money, Davis' old connections to Brown will prove a liability if he is able to survive the primary. That's because the presumptive Republican nominee, state Attorney General Dan Lungren, takes every opportunity to remind voters that Davis was once Brown's top aide. And that former state Supreme Court Chief Justice Rose Bird -- a Brown appointee who was once the Republicans' No. 1 villain -- performed Davis' wedding ceremony years ago. "If you liked Jerry Brown, you'll love Gray Davis," Lungren tells Republican gatherings, a comment that usually draws loud jeers.

One wonders whether younger voters care about Davis' connection to Brown, whom the late columnist Mike Royko once described as "Gov. Moonbeam." Royko later publicly apologized to Brown for that description, saying he was impressed with the former governor -- something that Lungren, by the way, neglects to mention.

But there is little doubt that Brown's name conjures up an image of flightiness and odd ideas, even though many of his notions -- such as energy conservation and mass transit development -- have long entered the mainstream.

The question for Davis is whether those negative images remain in the electorate's mind fully 17 years after Davis left Brown's office.

That question will be answered on June 2.

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