Prepared Speech Signals Jackson’s More Formal Campaign Approach

The Rev. Jesse Jackson, seeking to inject formality into a divisive New York Democratic presidential primary campaign, made a rare departure from his customary rhetoric in a Harlem church Sunday and delivered a prepared speech.

The address, a “letter” to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. reporting on progress in the 20 years since King’s death, offered little new, serving instead as a framework for themes central to Jackson’s message.

But the drafting of the speech--and Jackson’s unprecedented faith to its text--marked a significant step in the evolution of his presidential campaign. It substituted prose for poetry, just as Jackson earlier last week began to insert details into his speeches to counter charges of imprecision.

Refers to Controversy

It was an attempt, Jackson told reporters, to “be more formal” and to steer clear of the “divisiveness” of the New York campaign which he said threatened to overshadow his own agenda. That explanation was an unmistakable reference to controversy over Jackson’s pro-Palestinian statements, which have assumed new prominence in New York, where nearly one Democratic voter in four is Jewish and the Middle East is a major issue.

Jackson was questioned closely earlier Sunday on national television about his views on the Middle East and about Yasser Arafat, the Palestine Liberation Organization leader whom he once publicly embraced.

But Jackson, speaking on CBS’ “Face the Nation,” voiced a mainstream position on the PLO, pledging that he would not meet with Arafat as long as the Palestinian leader refused to accept the existence of Israel.

“Tough leadership must challenge Palestinians to recognize Israel’s right to exist, and vice versa,” Jackson said.

Receives Scrutiny

Jackson’s views on the Mideast have received unusual scrutiny in the days leading to the April 19 New York primary election. They were strongly criticized last week by Jackson’s rival, Tennessee Sen. Albert Gore Jr., and by New York Mayor Edward I. Koch. Meanwhile, New York newspapers have reported heavily on Jackson’s on-again, off-again plans to meet with Jewish leaders, ostensibly to apologize for his 1984 description of New York as “Hymietown.”

When asked on television Sunday about Gore’s criticism, Jackson was unflappably charitable, speaking only of his respect for his opponent.

But the remarks of Gore and others have clearly frustrated the Jackson camp, particularly campaign manager Gerald F. Austin, who on Sunday angrily told a reporter that he did not want to hear any more questions about the potential meeting. If it was scheduled, Austin said, he would let reporters know.

“We’re not going to let this become a single-issue campaign,” Austin added.

In the speech, Jackson’s attempt to refocus attention on his own agenda, the candidate reported to King that though many of the civil rights leader’s aims had been achieved since his death, much “unfinished business” remains.

‘Good News Spreads’

“We have come a long way since Montgomery, Dr. King, and the good news spreads,” Jackson said, referring to the Alabama city where the civil rights movement was inspired by a bus boycott. “But the road untrod is still too long.”

Jackson’s delivery was uncharacteristically lacking in emotion, particularly when he rushed through moving quotations from King. He said later that his delivery had reflected deeper emotion. “I couldn’t look up,” Jackson said. “There was a lot of pain and passion in those times.”

But the somber mood did not last long as Jackson emerged from the church to lead a procession down a main Harlem boulevard, strolling hand in hand with his wife, Jacqueline, and touching and embracing many of the hundreds of residents who hailed him.

After a fund-raising lunch at a soul-food restaurant, he found an even larger crowd waiting for him, and staged an impromptu rally, leading exultant choruses of “I Am Somebody.”

The familiar Jesse Jackson--who contends, “I am the best campaigner”--was back.