Jackson Wins Praise From Key Democrats : Is Jubilant After Meeting With Party Leaders, Who Promise Fairness in Nominating Process

A jubilant Jesse Jackson won praise and promises of fairness in the nominating process Wednesday from a large group of Democratic Party leaders that he apparently impressed during a closed-door session here.

After the meeting, Jackson stood beaming as former Democratic Chairman John C. White and Clark M. Clifford, an adviser to Democratic presidents since Harry S. Truman, took turns commending him for his campaign’s “positive” message in the 1988 presidential race.

Entirely Positive

Jackson said the meeting, with about 30 members of Washington’s Democratic Establishment, was entirely positive. And both White and Clifford said the fears voiced by some Democrats that Jackson could sink the party’s ticket in November were not discussed.

“No, not at all,” White declared when asked if the subject had come up.

Some participants at the meeting later privately continued to express concern about Jackson’s electability. But California Assembly Speaker Willie Brown, Jackson’s national campaign manager, said: “We only see that in the press. Maybe people don’t want to say that in front of us.”

During the meeting, according to a participant who took notes, Jackson contrasted his campaign style with that of his chief rival for the nomination, Massachusetts Gov. Michael S. Dukakis, and declared his own campaign showed he could inspire the party in the November general election. He questioned whether Dukakis could.

Jackson, who has generally refrained from openly criticizing his rivals, stressed the difference between his own low-budget, people-to-people campaign and Dukakis’ more impersonal and “well-financed, highly mechanical and sophisticated campaign.”

Although Wednesday’s meeting was confirmation that party leaders now consider him a serious contender for the nomination, Jackson could find his new status a mixed blessing. While he may enjoy the spotlight of a candidate locked in a battle for first place, he also may be subjected to greater criticism on the campaign trail.

Frank L. Mankiewicz, who directed Democratic nominee George S. McGovern’s campaign in 1972, suggested the campaign could now get “real nasty” and asked Jackson if he is prepared to deal with “all different kinds of scrutiny and examination.”

Jackson replied that he realizes he will now be subject to greater scrutiny and people will be examining his record and experience more thoroughly. But he said he’s fully prepared to respond to such inquiries on the campaign trail.

Wednesday, both Dukakis and Illinois Sen. Paul Simon took some small jabs at Jackson.

Passion and Programs

Simon, campaigning in Wisconsin, said: “I offer not only passion, but programs. . . . I have been fighting for (workers’) policies on the Washington scene, not just in speeches.” When asked whether he has hesitated to criticize Jackson for fear of offending black voters, Simon said: “You have to be careful. You don’t want to be perceived as anti-black.” But he added: “I don’t have problems running against anyone.”

Dukakis, speaking cautiously for the first time of contrasts between him and Jackson, said on CBS’ “This Morning” program: “From time to time differences will arise. . . . We have differences over the Middle East, we have differences about certain aspects of domestic policy and how to build a strong economy, how to create good jobs, and those will come out over time.”

A Dukakis supporter, Sen. Christopher J. Dodd (D-Conn.), told reporters he has advised the governor not to attack Jackson. “I don’t see any mileage at all in Dukakis’ doing a number on Jesse Jackson,” Dodd said. “It would serve no purpose and would even be harmful. If there is a sense of ganging up on Jackson, you’d only draw out a larger Jackson vote.”

‘Not Risking Enmity’

A Democrat who attended Wednesday’s Democratic session with Jackson, but asked not to be identified, said: “I don’t blame Dukakis for not risking Jackson’s enmity because Jackson may be in a position of deciding who gets the nomination. Dukakis can leave the criticizing to (Tennessee Sen. Albert) Gore.” Gore has offered intermittent public criticism of Jackson since February. A meeting that the two planned for Wednesday was canceled by Jackson, who said the meeting had not been firm and “after he unleashed his personal attacks on me, I figured it was unnecessary to meet at this time.”

Gore said in response to Jackson’s remarks: “My attacks are not personal. There is no reason why anyone ought to think that Jesse Jackson should be treated differently than anyone else in this race.”

Gore, at a Washington press conference, said he has spent “99.9%” of his campaign focusing on his own positions. “But when asked to contrast my positions with the positions taken by the other candidates, I haven’t hesitated to do so.”

Tie With Farrakhan

One issue that has caused Jackson problems in the past--his relationship with black Muslim leader Louis Farrakhan--was raised at Wednesday’s meeting with Democratic leaders, but the candidate quickly dismissed it, saying he had already answered that question and wanted to “move on beyond that.”

“We’re talking about redeeming people, not condemning them,” Jackson declared.

Farrakhan campaigned with Jackson early in the 1984 campaign, but faded from the scene after controversy erupted over his calling Judaism a “gutter religion.”

Gore, who is running a distant third in the Democratic race, has already begun criticizing Jackson’s stand on Middle East policy and has described himself as “dismayed” about Jackson’s “embrace” of PLO leader Yasser Arafat and Cuban President Fidel Castro during Jackson’s trips abroad.

‘A New Maturity’

After Wednesday’s meeting, Clifford said Jackson “is bringing a new maturity to the American political scene.”

“His candidacy could not have occurred 50 years ago, 25 years ago or perhaps even 10 years ago,” Clifford said. “It is an . . . important breakthrough in our constant seeking to bring more fairness to our political process.”

Democrats have always been the party of innovation, Clifford said, and “it is entirely possible that Jesse Jackson may be the one who is bringing the new innovation into our political process.”

White called the meeting “a new maturing of the political process in America” and said: “It represents a growing up of America. It represents a bonding of the Democratic Party and a bond that recognizes no class.”

Staff writer Ron Harris contributed to this story.