1988 Democratic National Convention : ‘Meaningful Role’ Wanted for Jackson : Delegates Strive for Unity at Convention

He was a black legislator from Florida and she was a white fashion consultant from Louisiana, but both called themselves “yellow dog Democrats.” They’d sooner vote for a yellow dog, if it was a Democrat, than a Republican.

Also on hand were a University of Washington professor, a Maryland prosecutor and a Minnesota politician’s wife--a sampling of delegates here for the the Democratic National Convention.

They made it clear--eight of them at a 90-minute breakfast session arranged by the Los Angeles Times--that they were in a mood to fight Republicans in the fall, not one another at the convention.

‘What We’re Here For’

Of course, there would be a battle over the platform tonight. “That’s what we’re here for,” said Jean Mate of Mentor, Ohio, hoping for some excitement. But state Rep. Alzo Reddick, 50, the “yellow dog Democrat” from Orlando, Fla., echoed everybody’s sentiments when he said: “The memory of the ’68 convention is still too fresh in the minds of us who want to win.”

The riotous 1968 Democratic convention in Chicago disintegrated into angry, irreparable bloodletting between factions opposing and supporting the Vietnam War. Whatever bitterness exists here between Jesse Jackson’s forces and Michael S. Dukakis’ is mellow contrasted with that disastrous brouhaha, and the pragmatic delegates sitting around the table on Monday obviously were bent on keeping it that way.

“I’m sort of like Mr. Reddick, I’m a ‘yellow dog Democrat,’ and the bottom line is to get the Republicans out of the White House and get the Democrats back in,” said Laura Elizabeth Downs, 65, of Alexandria, La. A Dukakis delegate, Downs described herself as the fund-raising “patron” of the Louisiana Democratic Party and an “image consultant” in the fashion industry.

Jackson Delegate’s View

In that atmosphere of party unity, Jackson delegate Thaddeaus Spratlen, 58, of Seattle, a black professor of marketing at the University of Washington, said it would be a mistake for Jackson’s name to be placed in nomination for the vice presidency Thursday night. Jackson might be viewed as “a spoilsport,” because he had been passed over in favor of Texas Sen. Lloyd Bentsen when Dukakis selected a running mate, the professor said.

His first reaction to Bentsen’s selection, Spratlen recalled, was that “well, here’s the big-buck breakfast guy”--a reference to the senator’s abortive attempt in early 1987 to solicit campaign contributions by inviting lobbyists to $10,000 breakfasts. But now, the Jackson delegate said, he considers Bentsen an “asset” to the Democratic ticket.

Although “it would warm my heart” to move the country in a more liberal direction, Spratlen said, “we don’t have the numbers nor the electoral votes,” so Dukakis needs the philosophical and regional balance of Bentsen.

Criticism on Announcement

Still, Spratlen said, he found it “curious” that Dukakis did not personally inform Jackson of his choice before announcing it publicly. “We feel greater effort should have been made,” he said, speaking for other Jackson delegates as well as himself.

Reddick’s theory was that Dukakis “calculated” not reaching Jackson by telephone, an oft-heard charge that the Massachusetts governor vehemently denies. Reddick, a “super delegate” who is not committed to any candidate, insisted that Dukakis was “concerned that he not be seen as being captured by a special-interest group. This was a planned opportunity for the governor to indicate that ‘I am the captain of the ship. I am the man in control here . . . the ultimate anti-wimp factor.’ ”

But, Reddick said, “this is the first time that Gov. Dukakis is clearly in uncharted waters. Everything else has been like a textbook campaign. The captain now is having to address an unfamiliar, unscripted situation.”

Solid Jackson Role Urged

Everybody agreed that Dukakis must give Jackson “a meaningful role” in the fall campaign and later in his Administration, if elected. But they disagreed on what that Administration role would be.

“The Rev. Jackson cannot be the ambassador of oratory and inspiration,” Reddick insisted. A substantial position should be “carved out” for him so he can “have the opportunity to fail or succeed,” the legislator said.

“The lasting legacy of the Dukakis-Bentsen Administration could be to have provided Rev. Jackson with an opportunity to demonstrate he has something besides oratorical skill.”

Both Gerry Brewster, an assistant state’s attorney for Baltimore County, Md., and Pat Davies of Mendota Heights, Minn., wife of a veteran former legislator, said Jackson would make “a terrific drug czar.”

But Jackson’s delegate, Spratlen, said he would be disappointed if the civil rights leader got bogged down in an administrative job because it would “dissipate his energies.” Likewise, Gerald D’Amico, a former Massachusetts legislator and now a Dukakis political appointee, said Jackson “would spend two years tangled in red tape” if he was drug czar.

‘He Can Move People’

Jackson should be used as a “strong spokesperson” for progressive causes, D’Amico said. “He can move people faster than anyone in this country today.”

Everybody cautioned against taking for granted black voters, the party’s most loyal constituents. Some Democratic leaders fear that they could become alienated and stay at home on Election Day if Dukakis is seen as snubbing Jackson. “Democrats could self-destruct again,” Brewster said.

Oren J. Teicher of White Plains, N. Y., a former congressional aide who is involved professionally in First Amendment issues and is a Dukakis delegate, said the Massachusetts governor in dealing with Jackson should keep in mind his “human side,” realizing the disappointment he must be suffering after having just lost a hard-fought race for the nomination.