POLITICS ’88 : CAMPAIGN ’88 : Jackson: Right Criteria

The Rev. Jesse Jackson emerged from seclusion Friday to continue his campaign for the vice presidential nomination, laying out a list of qualifications for the running mate slot and suggesting that only he could fulfill them.

“Any combination of criteria used historically--I match those criteria,” Jackson said after spending two days with advisers and three of his five children at the exclusive La Costa health spa in Carlsbad.

“No one else at this point that’s active in politics has shown the breadth of support I have shown at the voting polls,” Jackson said. “No one else has shown the ability to impact upon the country’s tone and the party’s priorities.

“And so the other persons considered are, by comparison, speculative. They may have state credentials. They have not shown themselves to have national credentials.”

But the civil rights leader remained vague about how hard he would press his bid to be the Massachusetts governor’s running mate. He said the vice presidency was “one item on a long list of concerns” he hoped to raise with Dukakis, but insisted his expressions of interest were not meant as a “bargaining chip.”