Could Boomerang at Reelection Time in ’89 : Koch Hurt by Attack on Jackson

Mayor Edward I. Koch’s trademark for years has been asking New Yorkers: “How am I doing?”

The verdict after the Empire State’s bitter and racially divisive Democratic presidential primary may be: “Don’t ask.”

Koch, who backed Tennessee Sen. Albert Gore Jr., was forced to concede Wednesday that his unceasingly sharp attacks on the Rev. Jesse Jackson had backfired. Koch must now live with the fear of what could happen if Jackson, who carried New York City by about 6,000 votes, seeks retribution when the outspoken mayor is expected to try for an unprecedented fourth term next year.

Network exit polls also contained some bad news for Koch, who overwhelmingly was reelected against token opposition to City Hall in the last two elections.

Polls Show Opposition

An NBC exit poll of 1,705 city voters showed that 62% said they did not want Koch to run again. A CBS-New York Times exit poll reported that voters disagreed with Koch’s attacks on Jackson by a 2-1 margin.

“While he was making hysteria, I was making history,” Jackson said of Koch after the votes were counted. On Wednesday, he amplified that theme.

“Leadership has an obligation to set the moral tone; it has an obligation to expand and build a coalition to relieve people of their fears and insecurities,” Jackson said, clearly implying that the mayor had shirked these obligations.

“I have to work a little harder,” Koch, 63, said Wednesday, acknowledging that he could be vulnerable.

“It’s not going to be as easy as it was last time,” he said.

In the months ahead, Koch faces other unpleasantness. He is expected to be called to testify in the federal trial of former Miss America Bess Myerson. Myerson, Koch’s first campaign manager, close friend and former cultural affairs commissioner in his Administration, is charged with conspiracy, mail fraud and obstruction of justice for trying to fix her millionaire boyfriend’s divorce case.

Strong Opponent Possible

Atop these troubles, mayoral advisers are worried that he could face real opposition if Charles J. Hynes, the New York state special prosecutor who brought the racially explosive Howard Beach assault case to a successful conclusion, runs for mayor.

Hynes has not made his intentions known but the prosecutor could be a very strong candidate against Koch, whose Administration has suffered a series of scandals in his third term.

From the moment Jackson arrived in New York, Koch attacked the presidential contender. He argued that Jews would be “crazy” to vote for Jackson because of his endorsement of a Palestinian state and his embrace of PLO leader Yasser Arafat. The mayor even accused Jackson of insulting the city by not attending a Salute to Israel parade up 5th Avenue over the weekend.

Gerald F. Austin, Jackson’s campaign manager, snapped back, saying: “Koch is a lunatic.”

“I guess the word ‘crazy’ is unacceptable,” Koch admitted. “I promise never to use it again.”

‘Did Not Help Al Gore’

The mayor also acknowledged that his comments “obviously did not help Al Gore,” who finished third behind Massachusetts Gov. Michael S. Dukakis and Jackson.

Murray Kempton, a Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist appearing in Newsday, suggested that Gore suffered “more than the numbness of defeat; it was the catatonia of embarrassment,” and for the senator from Tennessee, his introduction to Koch “had been the most disabling encounter for a national politician since Gary Hart met Donna Rice.”

Friends of the mayor conceded Wednesday that his political picture was not very positive at the moment. But they pointed out that it could change by Election Day in 1989, especially if Koch faces divided opposition. And New York Gov. Mario M. Cuomo, although agreeing that many voters found Koch’s behavior “unseemly” in the primary, said these voters would probably forget it by next year.