Jackson Hurting Campaign Effort, Wilder Aides Say

Although Jesse Jackson is not a candidate for President, he continues to campaign for support from black voters and is damaging Virginia Gov. L. Douglas Wilder’s bid for the Democratic nomination, aides to the governor contend.

“Jackson is eating sour grapes now,” one Wilder insider says. “His ego can’t stand being out of the (presidential) race. He wants to be the power broker.”

Jackson denied the claim. “That’s foolishness,” he said in an interview this week. “People who voted for me in 1988 are free to vote for who inspires them. I can’t deliver their votes.”

Underlying the angry exchange is a longstanding competition between Jackson and Wilder over who is the preeminent force in black political circles, observers and political analysts say.

“Doug’s positions have been the political opposites of Jesse’s,” said Colorado state Sen. Regis F. Groff, president of the 450-member National Black Caucus of State Legislators. “Doug’s refusal to support Jesse when he ran both times did not endear him to Jesse or to a lot of our members, who were strong Jesse supporters both times he ran.”

Ronald Walters, a Howard University political scientist, called the spat between Wilder and Jackson a reprise of the “Clarence Thomas syndrome.”

He said the Jackson-Wilder controversy raises the same question posed by Thomas’ nomination to the Supreme Court last summer: Should black Americans accept the views of a prominent and conservative black or fall in line with traditional, liberal black leadership at the risk of destroying another black leader?

Although Wilder is not a conservative when compared to Thomas, his philosophy is well to the right of Jackson’s.

Walters, who helped prepare Wilder for a recent debate among the six major Democratic hopefuls and who served as an adviser to Jackson’s failed campaigns in 1984 and 1988, said the majority of black voters know little about Wilder--save that he is the first black man elected governor in the nation.

For many black voters, Walters argued, that is reason enough to vote for him. But “political professionals and community activists”--like Jackson--may want to know where Wilder stands on such issues as the death penalty and right-to-work laws--issues that are vital to their concerns. Jackson opposes both; Wilder supports them.

Being a history-making black governor may not be enough to win Jackson’s support if Wilder continues to oppose Jackson’s political agenda, Walters said. Or, as Jackson put it, Wilder “has chosen contrast to the Rainbow Coalition, rather than continuity with it.”

Groff, who hosted both men at the caucus’ annual meeting in Las Vegas last month, said Jackson urged caucus members to wait before committing to a candidate.

“The way Jesse presented his case,” Groff said, “black activists would be better off waiting for (presidential candidates) to come and solicit their support before blacks join their campaigns, including Doug Wilder’s campaign.”

He said many of the caucus members came away from the convention feeling that Jackson’s behavior was “pay-back for the way Wilder had treated him when he was running” for President.

For black elected officials, the battle of words and wills between Jackson and Wilder places them in an uncomfortable position. In an indication of their caution, most refused to allow their names to be used in this article because they did not want to offend either man.

In one case, South Carolina state Sen. Herbert Fielding, chairman of the South Carolina Legislative Black Caucus, asked a fellow legislator whether he was aware of the political differences between Jackson and Wilder.

His colleague answered that he had heard Jackson privately criticize Wilder during a recent convention of black state representatives in Las Vegas. But the lawmaker refused to accept the telephone when Fielding told him a reporter was at the other end.

“It’s the political season,” Fielding said with a laugh, explaining his colleague’s reluctance to talk.

Fielding said he has heard no anti-Wilder talk from Jackson or his supporters. Nevertheless, Fielding has yet to endorse the governor. “I expect to meet with Wilder on Friday,” he said. “But I haven’t committed to him or anyone else yet. I’m waiting to see who is the best for what issues I’m most concerned with.”

Jackson said his Rainbow Coalition has a platform of key issues, culled from his 1984 and 1988 presidential campaigns, that it would like all Democratic hopefuls to endorse. The candidate who best embraces the coalition’s platform will earn his loyalty, he said.

To that end, Jackson has asked all presidential aspirants to make themselves available to the coalition on Jan. 25. With the notable exception of Wilder, all Democratic candidates have agreed to give the coalition an hour of their time.

But given that Wilder has refused to back many of the coalition’s proposals, Joe Johnson, Wilder’s campaign director, said it is unlikely the governor will participate. “It doesn’t make any sense,” he said. “We’re not likely to get their endorsement. It’s not clear they’re going to endorse anybody.”

When asked whether Wilder’s failure to participate would rule out the coalition’s endorsement, Jackson said: “All candidates make choices. He still has time” to accept the invitation.

Some observers of the Jackson-Wilder bickering say that Jackson, by barely hiding his distaste for Wilder’s campaign, is encouraging key blacks to withhold their support of Wilder while he negotiates with other candidates. Arkansas Gov. Bill Clinton, with whom Jackson has met on several occasions recently, is most often mentioned as a potential Jackson favorite.

“Jackson is trying to get some of his supporters to stay neutral while (Jackson) wheels and deals in the name of black people with another candidate,” said one black official, who added that Jackson has asked him to withhold his support for any candidate. “It does seem as though Clinton and Jackson are playing footsie with each other.”

But that ambition may be thwarted by Jackson’s supporters themselves. A recent Los Angeles Times Poll found that black voters are unlikely to move en masse to support a candidate of Jackson’s choosing. Most voters--including blacks and Democrats--said they would react to Jackson’s endorsement with indifference rather than enthusiasm or rancor, according to The Times poll of 1,296 registered voters, conducted Nov. 21-24.

The telephone survey, conducted after Jackson took himself out of the race, found that 76% of black respondents felt Jackson’s endorsement would make no difference. About 21% said they would be more attracted to a contender backed by Jackson, and 3% said they would be alienated. Among whites, 73% said they would be unaffected, while 7% said they would be more likely to support such a candidate and 18% said they would be less likely.

The margin of error on the sample of all registered voters is plus or minus 3 percentage points.