Partnership Demanded by Jackson : Backers Might Stay Away From Polls, Negotiator Says

Jesse Jackson, in his intensifying negotiations with Massachusetts Gov. Michael S. Dukakis, is insisting that he be granted a “partnership” in the Democratic presidential campaign, including “participation in the decision-making process” and “shared responsibility” for developing the party’s message, Ron Brown, Jackson’s chief negotiator, told The Times on Friday.

Collaboration on the scale outlined by Brown between a candidate and his vanquished rival for the nomination would be unprecedented in presidential politics. But, Brown declared: “We are not like anybody else who finished second. We represent a constituency that is indispensable to the Democratic Party, without which they cannot win the election.”

“The ‘or else’ ” in Jackson’s proposals, Brown said in answer to a question, “is that Jackson’s constituency is not going to feel motivated to come out and vote for the ticket in large numbers.”

‘Will They Be Motivated?’

Regardless of what Jackson might urge, Brown said, “the question is, will they be motivated? You can’t take people where they don’t want to go.”

Brown’s statements, the most detailed public explanation yet offered of what Jackson wants in exchange for wholeheartedly supporting the Democratic ticket next fall, came amid increasingly active efforts by Jackson, Dukakis and a host of Democratic Party leaders to head off what some feared might become a highly damaging rift between the two.

Dukakis, in a 15-minute telephone conversation with Jackson on Friday that Jackson initiated, agreed to have his two top aides--campaign chairman Paul P. Brountas and campaign manager Susan Estrich--meet with Jackson’s top aides when they arrive in Atlanta this afternoon, said the governor’s campaign spokesman, Mark Gearan.

‘Seek Ways to Merge’

The meeting would be held “to talk about the fall election” and “the Rev. Jackson’s role,” Gearan said, and to seek ways to merge the two campaigns. “There are a lot of talented staff people and supporters we’d love to have on board,” he said.

Gearan said that, although Friday’s telephone conversation was the third between Dukakis and Jackson since the governor chose Sen. Lloyd Bentsen of Texas as his running mate Tuesday, Jackson and Dukakis did not plan or schedule a face-to-face meeting for themselves--a step some Democratic leaders consider essential to a meaningful resolution of their differences.

Bentsen and Jackson also are talking regularly. A Bentsen aide said the Texas senator had already spoken four times with Jackson by Friday morning and that relations between them were good.

The continuing tension between Jackson and Dukakis has dominated the atmosphere in this city, where more than 4,000 delegates to the 1988 Democratic National Convention will begin deliberations Monday.

Many Democrats have warned against Dukakis’ making significant concessions to Jackson on grounds that this might be seen as pandering to a single interest group, a perception that is widely believed to have contributed to the disastrous defeat of the party’s 1984 standard-bearer, then-Vice President Walter F. Mondale.

‘How Can It Be Pandering?’

Brown dismissed that idea. “It might be pandering if we were just a fringe group. But how can it be pandering when Jackson is coming to the convention with 1,200 delegates?”

Nonetheless, when asked their reaction to Brown’s position, at least some Democratic leaders were startled and skeptical.

Democratic National Committee Chairman Paul G. Kirk Jr. said: “We’ll see how they define it. What do they mean ‘partnership’--co-Presidents?”

And Ken Melley, political director of the National Education Assn., which represents the largest bloc of delegates at the convention, said: “The public might not object but it wouldn’t work anyhow. Their styles are too different.”

The Dukakis campaign on Friday sought to play down the flurry of calls between the two camps in an apparent effort to lower the rhetorical heat before the convention and to avoid giving the impression that Dukakis was kowtowing to Jackson.

Disruptions Not Expected

Brountas, for example, said he does not expect damaging floor fights, walkouts, or disruptions from Jackson’s supporters at the convention. “I don’t see any problems,” he said in a telephone interview in Boston. “Our people are starting to meet this morning in Atlanta.

But another close adviser, who asked not to be identified, acknowledged that the Dukakis camp was caught off guard by the strength of the Jackson camp’s reaction to the selection of Bentsen and to the fact that Jackson learned about it from a reporter instead of from Dukakis. “They miscalculated the extent of the reaction,” he said.

Brountas said that when he called Jackson on Thursday he personally apologized because he had promised the civil rights leader in a meeting on Monday that the governor would tell him of his choice for vice president.

“At the meeting, he said: ‘When Dukakis makes his decision, I hope I don’t read it in the newspaper.’ I said: ‘You won’t. You have my word.’ So I apologized. I felt very badly about it.”

Public Tone Amicable

For his part, Jackson’s public tone was amicable Friday as he moved toward Atlanta in a three-day, four-city bus caravan. He told reporters that he had taken the “diplomatic initiative” in hopes that the top staffers from both campaigns can achieve what he and Dukakis have not.

“When there comes a point where there is an impasse, the energy should not be continuously tugging and creating more tension,” Jackson said. “So, we will convene some people who have the interest of the Dukakis campaign and the Jackson campaign and the Democratic Party and our future.

“We are trying to build, to heal and make room for Democrats. The issue is how can we combine our resources and our constituencies to have a strong party. We simply cannot win without each other.”

In Atlanta, Brown also seemed optimistic that the differences in the Democratic camp could be resolved, despite the Jackson camp’s unusually stiff terms.

In remarks to one telephone caller, however, Brown indicated a sense of urgency. “The clock is ticking and the ball is in their (Dukakis’) court,” he said.

Platform Disagreements

Brown told The Times that the partnership concept was tied to Jackson’s position on the platform, about which he and Dukakis have several disagreements that some Democrats fear might lead to a divisive floor fight at the convention in front of a national television audience.

“We need an understanding of our role before we can go on trying to compromise the minority planks on the platform,” Brown said.

He said Dukakis and his aides at first did not grasp the scope and seriousness of the Jackson proposals made during the period since Dukakis’ choice of Bentsen as his running mate heightened tension between the prospective nominee and his sole remaining challenger.

“It took them a couple of days before they understood what we were talking about,” Brown said. Brown, a former national party official who has been taking on an increasingly significant role in the Jackson campaign, said he had been making these points in his discussions with Dukakis advisers, including Brountas, the Massachusetts governor’s closest confidant.

Brown said Jackson had been covering much the same ground in his own telephone conversations with Dukakis.

Brown Appears Cheerful

“Communication has been good,” said Brown, who appeared calm and cheerful as he juggled calls from Brountas and Atlanta Mayor Andrew Young during the interview in his command post, on the 46th floor of Atlanta’s Marriott Marquis Hotel, directly across the street from the hotel where the Dukakis campaign will be housed.

Nevertheless, Brown made it plain that the relationship between Dukakis and Jackson had taken a different and less friendly turn after Dukakis’ choice of Bentsen and his failure to notify Jackson in advance of the public announcement.

“They brought the conservative wing of the party to the table,” he said. “It made us look at our role differently. We feel our role is as leader of the progressive wing of the party and we felt that wing had to be protected.”

Brown said the “partnership” role Jackson sought would involve “consultation, discussion and participation in the decision-making process.”

‘Want to Be Listened to’

“We want input and access; we want to be heard and we want to be listened to,” he said.

Brown stressed that he and Jackson wanted the dispute settled amicably before the convention concludes next Thursday. “We want the ticket to win,” he said.

Brown also contended that Jackson alone should not bear the burden of trying to persuade his supporters to back Dukakis. “Dukakis has the responsibility to speak to Jackson’s constituency just as Jackson does,” he said. “He (Dukakis) is supposed to be the leader of the nation and the free world.”

Not all the frustration was confined to the Jackson camp. One Dukakis adviser said top aides were “frustrated” with Jackson in recent weeks. Many were annoyed when stories appeared indicating that Jackson had complained about a dinner with the Dukakises at the governor’s home on July 4. Jackson reportedly was unable to eat the clam chowder or broiled salmon because of dietary restrictions.

Candidates Out of Step

“It wasn’t moving in a great direction before,” the adviser said. “I think the campaign was stymied on how to proceed. . . . They couldn’t get the two principals dancing. Jackson was doing the tango; Michael was waltzing.”

Reflecting on the potential damage a continuation of such feuding could have on the party’s prospects next fall, one Democratic Party strategist familiar with the thinking of the Dukakis staff said it would be easier to give Jackson some “symbolic” position in the campaign than to endure a protracted battle over the platform.

“What we can’t stand are four nights of conflict like Chicago and Miami,” said this source, a veteran of the 1968 and 1972 conventions, which presaged losses to the GOP in the general elections.

Staff writers Bob Drogin in Boston, Ron Harris in Nashville and Thomas B. Rosenstiel in Atlanta contributed to this story.