Dukakis Receives a Frosty Reception From the NAACP : Jackson Cuts Off Talks in Atlanta

Jesse Jackson has halted all pre-convention negotiations with the campaign of Michael S. Dukakis after the handling of the vice presidential announcement left the Jackson forces “flabbergasted,” his convention manager said today.

Ron Brown, one of Jackson’s closest advisers, said Jackson was incredulous that Dukakis did not call him, as Jackson had been told would happen, before the vice presidential decision was announced.

Jackson learned of the Lloyd Bentsen selection from reporters about an hour before receiving a call from Dukakis.

“Basically we were flabbergasted by the way this was handled,” Brown said.

Looking ahead to next week’s party convention here, the Jackson forces are on hold regarding the ongoing platform and issues discussions they have been holding with Dukakis’ people, Brown said.

‘Now Up to Dukakis’

He said the ball is in Dukakis’ court to undo the damage by reaching out to Jackson, and he said the Jackson campaign’s demeanor at the convention depends on that.

The campaign is keeping its options open for convention floor fights, he said, declining to elaborate.

“It is now up to Michael Dukakis to make it a unity convention,” Brown said.

As to the delay in telling Jackson about the Bentsen selection, Brown said it seems unlikely that it was an oversight.

“It seems like too big a mistake that politically astute people would make,” Brown said.

When Dukakis finally called him Tuesday morning to inform him rather than consult with him, Jackson kept the conversation short. “There was no explanation. . . . There was nothing else to say,” said Brown.

‘It Was Disappointing’

Rep. Charles B. Rangel (D-N.Y.), reflecting the wariness of many Jackson supporters, said of Jackson: “It was disappointing to be interviewed for the high office of vice president one evening and then the next morning to be notified by newspaper reporters that a decision has been made.”

But another supporter said today that despite his disappointment at being passed over, Jackson is already looking ahead to next week’s convention.

“He’s going to talk about why we need a Democratic victory in November,” a key adviser, Ann Lewis, told CBS this morning. She said that she had spoken at length with Jackson and that in Atlanta “you’re going to see a Jesse Jackson who is forward-looking, who’s talking about the fall, who’s talking about the issues.”

Jackson arrived back home in Chicago today after a day in the capital that began with a public humiliation and ended with a throng of 2,500 people on its feet at an NAACP convention cheering in adulation. (Story on Page 8.)