POLITICS ’88 : CAMPAIGN ’88 : Kennedy Lauds Jackson at NAACP Convention

Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) praised the Rev. Jesse Jackson before enthusiastic NAACP delegates Thursday and asked that differences with the Democratic presidential ticket not “divide us or drive a wedge between us.”

Kennedy was warmly received at the NAACP’s annual convention in Washington with most of the delegates standing, cheering and singing the “Battle Hymn of the Republic” when he arrived. He noted that the Reagan Administration is about to end and “many friends have worked hard” for a change.

“But one man’s name leads all the rest for sounding the call and awakening the conscience of America in 1988,” Kennedy said as the crowd applauded. “And so I pay special tribute to the person who may have come in second in the primaries, but who is first in our hearts in the cause of justice and civil rights and opportunity for all, the Rev. Jesse Jackson.

“You and I know that we have differences to resolve. But we cannot and we must not let those differences divide us or drive a wedge between us,” he added.

Most of the 16,000 National Assn. for the Advancement of Colored People delegates made their displeasure obvious Wednesday because Massachusetts Gov. Michael S. Dukakis had selected Sen. Lloyd Bentsen (D-Tex.) over Jackson. They gave Dukakis and Bentsen a cool reception.

Kennedy described Dukakis as “my governor,” a “strong champion of justice,” an “able defender of civil rights” and his partner in the fight against discrimination in the state.