‘Message Has Already Won’ : Jackson Vows to Wage Battle to Convention

The Rev. Jesse Jackson made it to the finish line Tuesday night, one of only two survivors in what began as a field of seven contenders for the Democratic nomination almost a year ago.

And though the delegate count showed him a distant second to Massachusetts Gov. Michael S. Dukakis, he contended: “The message has already won. It was so rich that others borrowed from it.”

Looking weary and drawn, he told a crowd of hundreds of cheering supporters at the Los Angeles Hilton: “Now my opponents find it necessary to imitate Jackson action--to visit schools and crack houses. Their imitation only verifies my message and method.”

Almost everyone else has declared the contest over, but Jackson’s supporters continued to chant “Win, Jesse, win” Tuesday night.

Ambiguous About Ticket

Jackson vowed to continue his campaign up to this summer’s Democratic National Convention. As he made his final campaign stops, Jackson also sent a mixed message on whether he is interested in being offered the second spot on the ticket.

Jackson said it would be up to the nominee to pick a running mate but noted pointedly that the choice must be ratified by the convention, where he is expected to control more than 1,000 delegates. He also described the vice presidential nomination as “an option that my constituency has earned.”

The end of the primary season, Jackson said, marks a new phase of the campaign--one in which he plans to focus on what he described as a “fluid” group of at-large and “super” delegates. Super delegates are a group of 643 elected and party officials who were given a vote at the convention by virtue of the positions they hold.

His strategy, as well as the demands he will make at the convention, are likely to become clear over the next days and weeks. His immediate plans are to spend two days with his family at the La Costa resort in Carlsbad before returning to Chicago on Friday.

Will Still Seek Delegates

Jackson indicated that he will concentrate his uphill effort on winning additional delegates from states where he made his best primary and caucus showings.

At least one of those super delegates--Sen. Ernest F. Hollings (D-S.C.)--has agreed within the last few days to support Jackson, who is a native of South Carolina and won the largest share of votes in that state’s primary.

Jackson’s biggest challenge is convincing them that the race is not yet over even though Dukakis now has more than the 2,081 committed delegates necessary for nomination.

“The convention--not the pundits, not the press, not the polls--the convention will elect the nominee. The convention will ratify and elect the entire ticket,” he told reporters.

Asked about whether he should be offered the second spot, Jackson said: “Certainly, I deserve consideration, in part based on what I bring to the ticket.”

If Dukakis wins the nomination as expected, Jackson said, “extending the invitation to me is his option, whether to accept or not is my option, and I’ve not yet determined what I would do if it were extended. But it is an option that my constituency has earned.”

Army of Supporters

Jackson, in addition to his more than 1,000 delegates, will command a dedicated, enthusiastic army of supporters this fall, and he is keenly aware of his power over his party.

“If Dukakis wins (the nomination), I’ll be expected to convince people who do not know him or trust him to trust him through me. . . . We must be each other’s bridges,” Jackson said in a question-and-answer session at an ABC affiliates convention in Los Angeles.

Late Monday, Dukakis met privately with Jackson in Jackson’s hotel room for more than 90 minutes, in a session that extended past midnight. Jackson described it as “a useful meeting, a meeting with a wide range of subjects.”

He added: “We did not discuss in any measure a role for me within (a Dukakis) administration. That would be a very presumptuous discussion.”