Looks like Gov. Brown isn’t running for president

With Gov. Jerry Brown, you never really know.

But it looks like he really isn’t running for president.

Of course, in his three charges at the Oval Office — in 1976, 1980 and 1992 — he started late, surged to near victory, then lost. So nothing can be ruled out absolutely until the Democratic primaries are over in 2016.

Yet he said on the “Meet the Press,” “If I could go back in a time machine and be 66, I might jump in. But that’s a counterfactual, so you don’t need to speculate on that.”

If elected, he would be 78 when assuming the presidency — 86 upon leaving it if he served two terms.

The oldest president elected was Ronald Reagan, 69 when elected in 1980, and 77 when he left office. That’s nine years younger than Brown would be if elected.

Reagan, of course, also was a California governor, 1967 to 1975. He served between Gov. Pat Brown, 1959 to 1975, and Pat’s son, Gov. Jerry Brown, whose first period in office was 1975 to 1983.

The Reagan biographies show his staff had to make sure his campaign schedules in 1980 and 1984 were not too grueling. In those days there were newspaper reporters and four major TV networks. But things have gotten more hectic in the intervening 35 years, with social media accelerating the news cycle.

That also could prove a problem for Hillary Clinton, the former secretary of state, who would be 69 on election day.