Not Dividing Party, Jackson Says

Confident that Super Tuesday will give him enough delegates and momentum to carry his campaign into the national convention, the Rev. Jesse Jackson is reassuring fellow Democrats that “this war will not leave ashes” of embitterment in its wake.

In an interview, Jackson said he has gained the respect of other Democratic leaders he felt was denied him in his 1984 bid. He argued that his candidacy is “expanding and healing the party, not dividing and embittering it” and made it clear he wants to keep it that way in the remaining few months of the nomination struggle.

He also suggested that he would seek the nominee’s commitments on programs and personnel in the next Administration if he fails to win the nomination himself.

Jackson repeatedly says he is running to win. But in the interview, he hinted at a fallback agenda for the Democratic convention in Atlanta if he arrives without enough votes to win. It centers on the adoption of “a new domestic and foreign policy,” embodying many of the issues on which he is campaigning and a commitment from the nominee that “the people who are part of that (governing) process will be people who have gained public trust,” presumably including Jackson.