CAMPAIGN ’88 : Jackson Tells Delegates of Need for Discipline

The Rev. Jesse Jackson, speaking amid squabbling at the Texas Democratic Convention, urged his delegates Friday to stay “disciplined” and to keep their “eyes on the prize” as they head toward the party’s national convention next month.

As he sought to rally his supporters in response to rumors that some of his Texas delegates were considering throwing their support to Massachusetts Gov. Michael S. Dukakis, Jackson also provided a first public look at his instructions to his delegates as they look ahead to a convention certain to be culminated by Dukakis’ nomination for President.

“We must get every vote we can find anywhere when the roll is called (in Atlanta),” Jackson said at the Houston gathering. “We have earned the right in the party to guide it, to inspire it, to lead it, to build it, to direct it.

“People get confused as to just what the point is. . . . Don’t spend your time on the side issues, like who’s going to be the treasurer when there is no Treasury. Our prize is higher than that,” he said, prompting chagrined laughter and then tumultuous applause.

“We’re not just picketing now. We’re not just demonstrating now. We’re talking about positioning ourselves.”

But Jackson seemed to go out of his way in the speech to dodge points of contention with the Dukakis campaign. He listed as “prizes” only principles Dukakis also subscribes to, including housing, comparable worth for women and public education. And he made no public effort at the convention to drum up support for a vice presidential nomination, as he has elsewhere in the past week.