Republicans Silent as Du Pont Invites Jackson to Join GOP

Former GOP presidential contender Pierre S. (Pete) du Pont IV today invited another unsuccessful candidate, Democrat Jesse Jackson, to join the Republicans because “we need you and you need us.”

His suggestion was received in silence by the Republican delegates.

The former Delaware governor, who was the first candidate to enter the 1988 GOP presidential race, used his address to the opening session of the Republican National Convention to ask Jackson to switch parties.

‘Higher Ground’

“Rev. Jackson, you seek common ground, higher ground,” Du Pont said to the convention. “May I suggest with all sincerity that the ground you seek is here, in New Orleans, the party of Lincoln and Reagan and Bush and Kemp and Bork.

“We ask you to join us because we need you and you need us.”

Du Pont praised Jackson for expressing the “most interesting thoughts” at the Democratic National Convention last month in Atlanta. However, Du Pont did not mention any specifics.

“As long as your lungs have breath, yours will be a prominent voice,” Du Pont said. “But as long as you speak as a Democrat, you will never be a successful leader.”

The GOP has formed committees to recruit blacks and other minorities to become Republicans, but the party remains predominantly white. An Associated Press survey found that 92% of the delegates to the national convention are white.

Du Pont mentioned the name of George Bush just twice.

Borrows Jackson Slogan

Using Jackson’s keep-hope-alive slogan, he said Bush “will not only keep hope alive, but he will make the dream of millions of Americans come true.”

Bush, still in Washington and making the rounds of morning television interview shows, said today that while he has narrowed his choice of a running mate, he still has not made the final decision, even in his own mind.

“I have not decided,” Bush told ABC. “And I probably will say when I have decided. But I’m going to continue with this appropriate plan, making a decision in private and then presenting it at the appropriate time.”

Asked whether he expected to be compared with Reagan, Bush told NBC that he felt such comparisons are inevitable “because he’s been a great President. He deserves tribute, not only of the Republican Party but of a grateful nation. And so there will be some comparison of that nature.”

“I’m not going to try to be a Ronald Reagan,” he continued. “There is only one. I want to be George Bush.”

Bush also told NBC the “pressure is mounting” as he nears the time of nomination.

‘Say What I Believe’

But he also said that as “an athlete,” he had been “in pressure situations before, maybe none this intense. But, look, all I’ll do is just stand up there and say what I believe about peace and what I believe in about prosperity.”

Bush said on ABC, “I want to stand up there on Thursday (to accept the nomination), pay tribute to what we have done, and give the President plenty of credit for bringing this country to new heights, and then say what I, George Bush, will do on peace and on keeping this recovery going until everybody benefits.

“So it’s a big moment for me, the culmination of a lot of years in politics. But I don’t feel concerned about it. I’ve got to be what I am, and I’m not going to be like someone else.”