New Democratic Chairman Seeks to Calm Southerners

Incoming Democratic National Committee Chairman Ron Brown, moving swiftly to calm dissenters to his election, told Southern party officials Thursday that he is “absolutely committed” to the region’s importance.

“The South is crucial to the future of the Democratic Party,” Brown said at a meeting of the Southern Caucus of the national committee.

On the eve of his unopposed election to the chairmanship, Brown preached unity and the importance of reaching out to all elements of the party.

Many Southerners oppose his election because of past ties to Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) and the Rev. Jesse Jackson.

“I say let’s give him a chance,” said John Baker, chairman of the Alabama Democratic Party, who once threatened to boycott the national party if Brown became chairman.

“A lot of Democrats feel excluded, feel rejected,” Baker said. “They feel there’s no room in the party for them because they are moderate or conservative in philosophy.”

The Alabama chairman said it would be “helpful, first of all, if (Brown would) acknowledge that we’ve got that problem.”

Brown, a 47-year-old partner in one of the capital’s largest and most politically active law firms, Patton, Boggs & Blow, will be the first black to head a major political party. He will succeed Paul G. Kirk Jr., whose election four years ago was opposed by many Southerners concerned about his service as a top aide to Kennedy.