POLITICS ’88 : Jackson Displeasure, Budget Crisis : Dukakis Hits Bumps on Road to Convention

His nomination is assured. His running mate is chosen. The Democratic National Convention is only four days off. These should be sweet summer days for Michael S. Dukakis.

Instead, the presumptive presidential nominee is holed up in his Statehouse office here, contending with two unexpected and potentially damaging problems: Jesse Jackson and a state budget crisis.

With criticism swirling for a second day around Dukakis’ failure to notify Jackson of his choice of Texas Sen. Lloyd Bentsen as his running mate before it became public, Dukakis moved to mend fences by telephoning Jackson from Washington early Wednesday evening.

Dukakis refused to comment on the call, but a spokesman said: “He felt very good about their conversation.”

Dukakis’ campaign chairman, Paul P. Brountas, also telephoned Jackson on Thursday. “He told him he felt badly about the way it happened, said it wasn’t intentional (and) said there was no disrespect intended,” spokesman Dayton Duncan said.

Bentsen called Jackson Wednesday morning, and Duncan said the campaigns were “communicating at all levels now.” He added: “We feel confident it’s going to lead to unity in the convention.”

But several Dukakis aides and longtime supporters chafed at the sudden snafu in their careful pre-convention plans, and complained that Jackson was demanding special treatment.

Documents Reportedly Delayed

Two advisers, speaking on the condition that they not be identified, said that Jackson had delayed submitting the personal and financial documents that Dukakis had requested of the seven men he considered for vice president until last weekend. As a result, they said740311666interview with Jackson last Friday in Texas.

“So Paul had to fly to Washington Monday for a hastily scheduled meeting at the last moment,” one adviser said. “Was Jackson supposed to be given a special exception? The campaign thought not. Was that the way for Jackson to be treating his supposed running mate?”

Another longtime adviser said Dukakis’ refusal to publicly apologize to Jackson’s supporters at an NAACP convention in Washington on Wednesday was “grating,” and appeared to be “out of pique.”

But he added the dispute “probably worked to Michael’s advantage with folks at the other end of the political spectrum. He obviously didn’t pander. And with Southern whites, I’m sure that was noted.”

J. Joseph Grandmaison, a Dukakis delegate and head of the Democratic Party in New Hampshire, noted that Dukakis also had failed to reach Ohio Sen. John Glenn, another contender, before the news broke.

“Should Mike Dukakis also apologize to John Glenn?” Grandmaison said. “I just don’t understand this insatiable need to apologize.”

‘Tempest in a Teapot’

Philip Johnston, a longtime friend of Dukakis who is secretary of the Massachusetts Department of Human Affairs, called the flap “a tempest in a teapot.”

“The issue here is the sensitivity to issues concerning blacks that Michael Dukakis will bring to the White House,” he said. “There’s no question where he stands on those issues.”

Dukakis made only one public appearance Thursday, visiting two wounded state police undercover officers in the hospital, and signing two bills that will raise mandatory state prison sentences for cocaine dealers. Most of his campaign aides were difficult to reach as well, since their phones were cut off most of the afternoon while a new system was installed at campaign headquarters.

Dukakis otherwise was hostage in his office to the state’s lingering budget problems. Unless they are solved, he will head to Atlanta with an embarrassing state budget deficit at home.

After weeks of trying to solve an unexpected $400-million 1988 revenue shortfall, the state Senate passed final budget balancing measures at 3 a.m. Thursday, and a conference committee began its debate later in the morning.

Emergency Weekly Budgets

The state has operated under emergency weekly budgets since the new fiscal year began July 1. A four-volume, foot-thick 1989 budget already sits on his desk, but Dukakis has said he will veto parts of the proposed 1989 budget to lop off another $200 million.

Statehouse spokesman Jim Dorsey said the governor hopes to sign both budgets on Saturday. “We want to get the budget resolved and get out of town,” he said.