gerry_brown.jpgWASHINGTON (AP) _ California Gov. Jerry Brown is calling for President Barack Obama to respond to Republicans in what he calls “a very powerful way'' during the upcoming presidential election.

Brown says the Republicans are gearing up to destroy Obama during the campaign, and he says that, in response, Obama has to be “authentic'' and “powerful.''

The California governor, appearing on the Sunday broadcast of CNN's “State of the Union,'' says he supports Obama's response to Republicans during the debt crisis but urges the president to, in his words, “dig down into his own soul and connect with the people of America at this hour of peril.''

Brown says the U.S. will face decline if Republicans don't give up some ideological baggage and Democrats don't find a way to create common ground.