Dukakis Given Warm Greeting in Mississippi : Aides Say Welcome by Mayors Shows Key Change for Democrats

As he stepped off his airplane at this steamy Gulf Coast port Friday afternoon, Michael S. Dukakis saw what in recent years has become a rare sight--Southern elected officials lined up to greet a Democratic presidential nominee.

Dukakis aides were exultant as they watched the mayors of three Gulf Coast cities lining up to shake the candidate’s hand. “Four years ago, they went to Louisiana, to New Orleans and drank” rather than be photographed with party standard-bearer Walter F. Mondale, said Donna Brazile, Dukakis’ deputy field director. “Now they’re here with us.”

L. B. Atkins, a middle-aged white alderman from the small, central Mississippi town of Union, gave his explanation of the difference shortly before the Massachusetts governor spoke here to the Mississippi Municipal Assn.

‘He’s New Blood’

Dukakis “is different from Fritz,” he said, referring to Mondale. “He’s new blood.” Anyway, he said, “it’s more open-ended now” than four years ago. “Then, Reagan was running.”

In the South, the 1988 presidential campaign battle of images is already in full swing.

Dukakis has toured the region in a series of made-for-TV events. Posing with wholesome-looking teen-agers at an anti-drug rally, standing at attention surrounded by 200 Florida policemen as they raised the flag in the early morning light, talking about crime and economic development to elected officials here, he hopes to convince moderate and conservative voters that he is, in Atkins’ phrase, “new blood.”

And preceding him at each stop have been the Republicans, dispatching “truth squads” to attack Dukakis’ record, determined to portray him as just another version of the same old Democratic liberal.

Shortly before Dukakis arrived here, Mississippi Republican Chairman Evelyn W. McPhail held a press conference to accuse Dukakis of being “soft on crime,” a “card-carrying member of the American Civil Liberties Union” and a “liberal to the extreme” who “rejects traditional family values” and “loves taxes.”

Standard GOP Litany

The charges have become the standard GOP litany against Dukakis--much of McPhail’s language was word-for-word the same as statements issued by Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), who preceded Dukakis to Nashville, Tenn., and Miami over the last two days.

So far, Dukakis professes to be unconcerned about the Republican tactic. Asked at a press conference after his speech what response he had to the GOP charges, Dukakis said: “None. Why respond?”

Pressed by reporters to say more, Dukakis said the Republicans had “sent some guy from Arizona to Florida who doesn’t know beans from brown bread. I don’t think it’s a particularly helpful or constructive or, frankly, winning campaign, and I say that because I think the American people are tired of this stuff.”

While “there may come a time” to respond if the attacks continue, for now, he said, “the spirit does not move me.”

At this early stage of the campaign, polls are probably less reliable than the attitudes of elected Democrats as a gauge of how voters will respond to these charges and countercharges. Months before the election, these officials must decide whether to run with the national ticket or away from it.

They Did Not Shy Away

In Biloxi, they did not cheer for Dukakis on Friday--the applause for his speech was friendly but not overwhelming--but neither did they shy away.

“When you can get the mayor of Biloxi and the mayor of Gulfport and the mayor of Bay St. Louis together, you’re winning,” Brazile said.

Sen. John B. Breaux (D-La.), commenting on the turnout of local officials, added: “Four years ago, you didn’t see them. Today, we’ve got mayors, district attorneys, sheriffs. Sheriffs are real important around here. Give me a few sheriffs and we can really put a scare into the Republicans.”

Dukakis also picked up the endorsement of Mississippi’s new, progressive young governor, Ray Mabus, who presented him with “an official Mississippi yellow-dog Democrat pin.” The reference was to the old-style Southern Democrats who were said to be so loyal to the party that they would vote for “an old yellow dog” before they would vote for a Republican.

Sees Issues as Key

“I think we’ve got a very good chance to carry Mississippi for Michael Dukakis,” Mabus told reporters. So long as the election is fought out on issues such as “education, jobs, running the government better, protecting the environment, the issues I ran on,” Dukakis would do well, he said.

Dukakis’ day began with elected officials from around the country meeting with him to form a national anti-crime council led by five state attorneys general, including California’s John K. Van de Kamp.

Dukakis would be “way ahead on the crime issue,” which Republicans have been hoping to turn to their advantage, Van de Kamp, a Democrat, predicted. Dukakis, he said, has dealt with crime “not as a distant father figure, but hands-on.”