Jackson Tries to Reassure Party Elders

Jesse Jackson sought to reassure Democratic elder statesmen at a summit meeting today that the party will not be doomed to a humiliating defeat in November if he is its presidential nominee.

Some Democratic leaders emerged from the breakfast meeting calling the Jackson campaign healthy for the party and the nation.

The black activist, confronted with some past political mistakes, including accepting support from Black Muslim leader Louis Farrakhan, told the party leaders, “I’m four years older, I’m four years wiser.”

Jackson, who has stunned the party Establishment with a string of primary triumphs in recent weeks, outlined his campaign strategy at a Washington hotel to about two dozen Democratic leaders.

Afterward, they said no one had brought up reported party concerns that his nomination could damage Democratic chances of winning the White House next November.

“We only see that in the press,” said California Assembly Speaker Willie Brown, Jackson’s national campaign chairman. “Maybe people don’t want to say that in front of us.”

Fear Crushing Defeat

Some Democratic strategists fear that a black with Jackson’s left-leaning policies would suffer a crushing defeat in a national election. However, those strategists are anxious not to open themselves to the charge of racism by seeking to block his nomination.

Former Defense Secretary Clark M. Clifford, one of the solid figures of the party Establishment, had nothing but praise for Jackson after today’s summit.

“What he is also doing is bringing a new maturity to the American political scene,” Clifford said. “His candidacy could not have occurred 50 years ago, 25 years ago, or perhaps even 10 years ago. It is . . . an important breakthrough in our constant seeking to bring more fairness to our political process.”

Former Democratic Party Chairman John C. White, who put together the breakfast, said: “This meeting is a new maturing of the political process in America. It represents a growing-up of America.”

Jackson, asked whether he feels that party leaders regard him as a serious contender for the nomination, said: “The party is the people, and I have the most votes from the people. So the acceptance is self-evident.”