Newcomer and Old Pro Issue Calls for Unity

On the day that unity broke out in Atlanta, two Sun Belt Democratic leaders, one familiar and one not so, took the stage at the opening of the 40th Democratic National Convention Monday and sounded the battle cry for the autumn political campaign--the cry for those all-American virtues of hard work, of close families, of honesty, diversity and togetherness.

Ann Richards, the syrup-voiced and silver-haired statehouse pol from Texas, pulled off a stem-winder of a keynote address rooted in family experience. She raised memories of growing up in small-town, Depression-era Texas where kids sat at night on quilts under the stars and listened to grown-ups, and where Mom put Clorox in the well when a frog fell in.

Then, Richards read from a letter in which a woman told of small-town life today under the current Administration: “I believe people like us have been forgotten in America.”

“Well, of course you believe you’re forgotten,” Richards said in reply. “Because you have been.”

More than two dozen times she was interrupted by applause. By her count, that was 15 minutes of clapping, or, as she said afterward: “dyn-o-mite!”

Former President and Georgia favorite son Jimmy Carter, in the prime-time convention address that was denied him four years ago, delved into the same rich vein of Americana and traditional Democratic politics.

“We are the party of diversity,” Carter, a bit jowly after 7 1/2 years of retirement but no less the irrepressible grinner, said in his prepared text. “Look around this hall and you’ll see all the beautiful variety that makes America strong and special and great.

“That is our strength. But it is also our danger. This is why, if I had to give you just one special message tonight, I would summarize it in a single word: Unity.”

Richards, although a grandmother at age 54, is a new face in national politics. State treasurer of Texas and widely regarded as a candidate for governor, she took a lesson straight from Republican President Ronald Reagan in sifting through her mailbag for that one letter from that one average American that would ring the dinner bell of concern common to millions.

In this case the letter idealized the good and decent struggle of a traditional working Democrat, just the kind of voter the party has its hopes pinned on reaching.

Young Mother

The letter came from a young mother in Lorena, Tex. She did not want her name used, but she worried about the pressures of rearing children these days. Braces. College. Tennis shoes. Car insurance. Food. “We don’t take vacations or go out to eat . . . . Please don’t think me ungrateful. We have jobs, and a nice place to live and we’re healthy. We’re the people you see every day in the grocery store. We obey the laws, pay our taxes and fly our flags on holidays.

“We plod along, trying to make it better for ourselves and our children and our parents.”

Carter was less schmaltzy, more direct. The former President, who was shunted to a minor role at the Democratic convention four years ago, asked the national television audience this time to ponder the same kinds of old-fashioned family values as those raised by Richards.

“Each generation must rediscover the meaning of America’s dream. Tonight I’m thinking not only about the next President but about our nation’s children and how they will live in years to come. Rosalynn and I have six grandchildren. What kind of world will we leave them and to other citizens of their age?”

The two speeches were parallel not by happenstance. Democratic Party officials and a bank of professional speech writers shepherded Monday’s speakers--as they will most of the speakers for the next three nights--to keep the party message in sync for each of the four nights of prime time television, and to reinforce the message through repetition.

The idea was plain enough, but perhaps somewhat new to those familiar with fractious Democrats of past conventions: Speak in echoes of a strong, single voice.

When it came to the Republican Administration and GOP nominee-apparent George Bush, Richards was direct and punchy in promising working America a better deal. Carter was ever so indirect in making the same point.

“This Republican Administration treats us as if we were pieces of a puzzle that can’t fit together . . . . They’ve suggested time and time again that what is of interest to one group of Americans is not of interest to anyone else. We’ve been isolated, we’re lumped into that sad phraseology called ‘special interests,’ ” Richards said.

‘Wrong With You’

“They’ve told farmers that they were selfish . . . . They told working mothers it’s all their fault that families are falling apart . . . . They told American labor that they were trying to ruin free enterprise . . . . No wonder we feel isolated. Confused. We want answers and their response is that something is wrong with you.”

Well, continued Richards: “Nothing’s wrong with you that you can’t fix in November . . . . For eight straight years George Bush hasn’t displayed the slightest interest in anything we care about. And now that he’s after a job he can’t get appointed to, he’s like Columbus discovering America--he’s found child care, he’s found education.

“Poor George. He can’t help it. He was born with a silver foot in his mouth.”

Carter kept up the we’re-all-in-this-together and the-Republicans-don’t-care theme:

“In some ways America is a big family. A family does not ignore the sickness or pain of any of its children. A family gives all its members help and love. That is the kind of family we have--and that’s the kind of nation we want.”

He declared: “It’s time to reach out to the homeless, to families broken by drug addiction and disease . . . . It’s time to tackle the continuing problems of poverty, of a decaying environment, of the bankruptcy of family farms.”

Reaction in the convention hall to Carter was friendly but certainly more tepid than the sizzle stirred by Richards.

Honesty and ethics and performance and credibility of government were intertwined themes the two speakers raised as matters of high concern to Democrats.

Richards: “I want to announce to this nation that in a little more than 100 days, the Reagan, Meese, Deaver, Nofziger, Poindexter, North, Weinberger, Watt, Gorsuch, Lavelle, Stockman, Haig, Bork, Noriega, George Bush era will be over!”

Carter: “It’s time to clean up those Pentagon scandals and build a lean, tough, competent military force. It’s time to have a Justice Department that fights for civil rights. It’s time to quit living on credit.”

Foreign Affairs

Although the oratorical theme of the evening was heavily domestic, the convention’s opening speakers did not ignore foreign affairs. Again, the parallel voices were apparent.

Carter: “This country deserves a foreign policy based on values that unite us as Americans, a foreign policy that can win the support of both political parties.

“The consequence of unilateral White House decisions are still vivid memories--U.S. Marines dying in Lebanon, harbors illegally mined and Contras illegally armed, ransom paid in weapons to the Ayatollah, appeasement in the face of apartheid in South Africa.”

Richards: “They tell us they’re fighting a war against terrorists. Then they tell us the White House is selling arms to the Ayatollah. They tell us they’re fighting a war on drugs, then people come on TV and testify that the CIA and the DEA and the FBI knew they were flying drugs into America.”

The two opening-session speakers praised not just their party’s upcoming nominee, but the man who battled the nominee until only that morning, Jesse Jackson. In this case, Democratic Party speech writers found themselves so bound to keep the message clear that they used the same phrase.

Richards: “Jesse Jackson is a leader and teacher who can open our hearts and our minds and stir our very souls. He’s taught us that we are as good as our capacity for caring.”

Carter: “Jesse Jackson has stirred the soul of our country, given hope to millions and healed wounds that have too long divided our people.”

Played for a Laugh

And, yes, both speakers gave it their best for a laugh.

Carter played with the signature line from his 1976 nomination acceptance speech, where he introduced himself by name and ambition.

This time the former President added just a twist: “My name is Jimmy Carter and I am not running for President.

“Did you hear that, George?” he added.

Richards gave the nation a Southernism that seems likely to live on among women politicians everywhere. She noted that the only other woman to give the convention keynote in the history of the Democratic Party was fellow Texan Barbara Jordan in 1976.

“Two women in 160 years is about par for the course. But if you give us a chance, we can perform,” Richards said. “After all Ginger Rogers did everything that Fred Astaire did. She just did it backwards and in high heels.”

CONVENTION HIGHLIGHTS

1:30 p.m. Call to Order 2:22 p.m. Consideration of platform 6:02 p.m. Invocation by the Rev. Billy Graham 6:09 p.m. Remarks by Massachusetts Sen. Edward M. Kennedy 6:27 p.m. Platform presentation 7:14 p.m. Introduction of Jesse Jackson video by his children, followed by speech by Jackson.

CBS, NBC and ABC will provide live coverage of the convention from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. CNN will broadcast the entire event. Times listed are PDT.