POLITICS 88 : Jackson Might Take Offer to Run as VP, Manager Said Even Before Defeat in N.Y.

Even before the Rev. Jesse Jackson’s presidential prospects were severely wounded in the New York primary on Tuesday, Jackson’s campaign manager told reporters that Gov. Michael S. Dukakis would be well advised to offer Jackson the vice presidential nomination and that Jackson might well accept it.

The campaign manager, Gerald F. Austin, said he had not discussed the issue with Jackson and was not speaking for him.

But his statement, the first open speculation in the Jackson camp that Jackson now deserves the second spot on the ticket, reflected growing concern among his advisers about what will happen to their candidate if Dukakis wins the nomination, and what might happen to the party if Jackson is denied what his supporters regard as his due.

Emotional Energy

Austin argued that by making Jackson the vice presidential nominee, Dukakis could guarantee himself the backing of Jackson’s supporters and also provide the Democratic ticket with the emotional energy Dukakis lacks on the stump.

Austin said Jackson might accept the offer, principally out of an obligation to keep the party together. But he argued further that the vice presidency might be well suited to Jackson’s interest in playing an active role in foreign policy if he were allowed to serve as a special envoy.

In addition, Austin observed, Jackson would recognize that he would be more likely to influence policy as a member of a Dukakis Administration than as an outsider unlikely to criticize a fellow Democrat.

Both Austin and Bert Lance, the former Carter Administration budget director who is Jackson’s closest political confidant, worried aloud in conversations this week that if Dukakis and the party treat Jackson as just another also-ran, open hostility could erupt at the Democratic National Convention in Atlanta.

The scene there would be “potentially very explosive,” Austin said.

“It’s not just the delegates,” he said. “You’re going to have 10,000 other people showing up who say, Jesse told me to come. . . . They’re not coming to watch Dukakis’ coronation.”

Austin suggested that tensions could be averted before the convention in a private meeting between Dukakis and Jackson, each accompanied only by a single aide, to determine who would receive the Democratic nomination.

Decision ‘Premature’

Jackson has repeatedly said it would be “premature” to decide whether he would accept the vice presidential nomination, insisting that his only choice will be that of his own vice president.

On Tuesday night campaign officials, though clearly disappointed by the New York result, publicly voiced similar confidence, insisting that the blow would not greatly hinder his presidential prospects.

“We’re not disappointed,” Austin said. “Jesse Jackson has already won. He’s the story of 1988. On to Pennsylvania, Ohio and California.”

But Jackson himself seemed stunned by the result, failing to appear for scheduled television interviews and finally appearing before a cheering crowd to declare: “We the people must come together. We must have healing. We must have hope.”

Preference for Underdogs

And Austin acknowledged earlier that Jackson must beat Dukakis “head to head” to win the nomination, and indicated that the campaign’s prospects for victory were slim in upcoming primaries in both Pennsylvania and Ohio.

He instead predicted a Jackson victory in California’s June 7 primary because of the state’s “recalcitrant” historical preference for underdogs in Democratic presidential primaries.

Whether Jackson can win in California, he appears headed in the meantime for a long period without victory. Lance said that period would be of crucial importance if the unbridled expectations of those voters who hail Jackson as “Mr. President” were to be moderated.

Lance seemed awed by the ecstatic response Jackson received from hundreds of black and Latino voters, but warned later that such spontaneity “can also create something that’s out of control.”

Lance said he believes Jackson has already acted “responsibly” in promoting party unity, and argued that Democratic Party leaders should now do their part by praising Jackson publicly as a step toward cultivating his supporters.

“If they don’t do it now, then I guarantee you ain’t going to be able do it three months from now,” Lance said.