According to the Los Angeles Times, advisors and allies of California Governor Jerry Brown are urging him to take on former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential primaries. He has already run for president three times, the last time losing to Bill Clinton in the 1992 race.

In that race, Brown played spoiler for Clinton against then-frontrunner Paul Tsongas. He said of Clinton, “I think he’s got a big electability problem,” and characterized the Whitewater scandal as “a scandal of major proportions.” He said, “He is funneling money to his wife’s law firm for state business….It’s the kind of conflict of interest that’s incompatible with the kind of public servant we expect.” Clinton famously responded, “Let me tell you something, Jerry. I don’t care what you say about me, but you ought to be ashamed of yourself for jumping on my wife. You’re not worthy to be on the same platform with [her].”

“I think Jerry is precisely what America needs,” says Rose Ann DeMoro, head of a national nurses union, of the 75-year-old Brown. “He has the courage of his convictions, which we haven’t seen in a very long while.”

Brown has refused to rule out running in 2016, and he has yet to announce his run for gubernatorial re-election in 2014, when he would be eligible for his third term. In May 2013, Brown said that “time is kind of running out” on the chances of him running for president. “I guess I’ll just have to stay and do the work of being the governor, which I actually enjoy because I have some perspective that I didn’t used to have.” Ralph Nader says, “Every move he’s making is the move of a presidential candidate. It’s almost a blueprint.”

Brown has spent recent weeks suggesting that the solutions he has used in California – higher spending, higher taxes – should be applied nationally. This week, Brown stated that he wanted the federal government to follow the California prescription of “cut, tax, and invest.” The press has touted his supposed fiscal conservatism, ignoring his elevated spending levels in favor of coverage suggesting that he is in fact a low spending hawk.

Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) has already come out in favor of Hillary, and momentum is growing for a Clinton candidacy. And with those on the hard left looking for an alternative to Hillary, Brown’s candidacy could provide a welcome alternative.