Delegates Agree on ‘Self-Determination,’ Not ‘Intervention,’ as Key to U.S. Policy

The New York labor leader pledged to Michael S. Dukakis and the Baltimore professor who supports the Rev. Jesse Jackson both agreed: If Nicaragua or any other country wants to be communist and pro-Russian, that’s its business.

“It may be a problem for the United States, but it’s self-determination,” said Salema Siler Marriott, 47, who coordinates the mental health program at Morgan State University and is a black Jackson delegate at the Democratic National Convention.

Guido Menta, 50, the labor organizer from the Bronx, added: “I don’t think we can declare war on every country that decides on self-determination (and becomes communist).”

Six other delegates, brought together by The Times to candidly discuss their own views on controversial issues, agreed that “self-determination” rather than “intervention” should be the principal U.S. policy when a country is teetering between communism and democracy. But they insisted that voters should not regard this as being “soft on communism,” a charge Republicans have been hurling at Democrats practically since the Cold War began.

Similar to Polls

The small group--five men and three women--basically mirrored the private views expressed to pollsters by the vast majority of delegates, although this attitude was not exactly reflected in the broad-brush platform adopted Tuesday night by the convention.

“I see absolutely no reason to write a document that is 6,000 pages long that nobody will read or understand except the Republicans. . . . That’s crazy,” declared attorney P. Richard Hartley, 43, of Greenville, Ala., an uncommitted “super delegate” and member of the Democratic National Committee.

A Times Poll/CNN survey of 4,029 of the 4,162 delegates found that 86% were more worried about the United States getting involved in a war in Central America than they were about a communist takeover.

But although the eight delegates sitting around the discussion table favored “self-determination” for Central Americans and most peoples in the world, they noticeably shied away from endorsing the concept for Palestinians in Israeli-occupied territories, thus reflecting the Democratic Party’s traditional strong support for Israel.

Support From 2 Delegates

Only Jackson delegates Siler Marriott and Freeman R. Bosley Jr., 33, who is an elected St. Louis court clerk and also a black, supported “self-determination” for Palestinians. Jackson long has advocated a separate Palestinian homeland, a position Dukakis opposes.

“If Dukakis is elected President (it is) something that Jesse Jackson will have some input on,” Bosley predicted. “That’s probably the compromise they reached in the interest of getting on with the election.” The Dukakis and super delegates did not say much.

Asked if they and other Democratic leaders were afraid of offending Jewish voters, Rhode Island Secretary of State Kathleen Connell, 50, a super delegate, responded: “I think the silence that has taken over the table . . . is more indicative of a feeling by the delegates that they really don’t have enough understanding of the whole issue.”

Hartley said: “I don’t think there are a lot of people in the state of Alabama who are real concerned about that issue, one way or the other. . . . My understanding is there has been an uprising in that area of the world for the last 4,000 years. I’m not real sure how it is we have the wisdom to tell them how they should resolve that eons-long problem.”

70% for Homeland

The Times Poll/CNN survey of convention delegates found that 70% favor giving the Palestinians a homeland in the Israeli-occupied territories.

On a more familiar issue closer to home, delegates sitting around the table cautiously agreed that taxes would have to be raised in order to reduce the federal budget deficit and finance the party’s domestic agenda. But, reflecting many politicians, they spoke with a smile of “revenue enhancements” rather than the “T” word.

This also reflected the view of most convention delegates, two-thirds of whom told Times Poll/CNN interviewers that the next President would have to raise taxes--despite Dukakis’ successful efforts in keeping such thoughts out of the party platform.

“Everybody is aware of (Walter) Mondale’s statement in San Francisco four years ago (that he would raise taxes), and I think if you were there in the (convention) hall at the time, you saw the mixed reaction,” Hartley commented. He added, however: “(We) have to admit they are going to have to do some ‘revenue enhancements.’ ”

Focus on Central America

Much of the nearly two-hour discussion focused on Central America and whether Marxist revolutionaries there pose a threat to the United States. The group said no.

If communism “provides a better standard of living and a better way of life and a better future for their people, then we’ve got a problem,” said North Dakota Supt. of Public Instruction Wayne G. Sanstead, 53, an uncommitted super delegate. “But no way should we be trying to be a party to exerting more military presence.”

Siler Marriott, the Baltimore professor, said: “The people have to make their own decisions.”

But is it really self-determination when Cuban troops are helping Nicaragua’s Sandinista forces, she was asked. “It’s self-determination if the government in power brings the Cuban troops there,” she replied.

Confronted With Charge

And, with that kind of attitude, how can Democrats escape the charge they are soft on communism, the delegates were asked.

“If you tell me that the Sandinistas are going to come up here and try to take over the United States of America,” said Hartley, “you can bet the Democratic Party is not pro-communist.

“But as the most powerful country in the world, we should be setting an example of care and concern and not sword shaking. . . . Military intervention is not the solution to another country’s internal civil war.”