Jackson Proposes Agenda to Counter GOP’s Contract

At what was billed as a conference of “progressives” Thursday, the Rev. Jesse Jackson advanced a 10-point “covenant” to counter the House Republicans’ “contract with America.”

The covenant calls for protection of affirmative action and cuts in defense spending and corporate tax breaks. Jackson also aims to mobilize voters for Democratic or independent candidates to try to reclaim 50 congressional seats won by Republicans last year.

Jackson said that he did not convene the conference to mount a challenge to President Clinton in 1996 or to form a third political party.

“Implicit in this is not a threat to the President. It’s therapy for the President,” Jackson told reporters. “We’ve not heard from him lately. I know Mr. Clinton is a fighter. It’s a matter of when he comes back with his sense of fight. We can fight together and we can win.”

Among those involved in Thursday’s strategy session was newly returned District of Columbia Mayor Marion Barry, a Democrat who charted his political rebirth by registering thousands of 18- to 30-year-old voters.