Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!enterpoop.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!americast.com!americast.com!americast-post Newsgroups: americast.twt.news From: americast-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: americast-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: Jackson makes up with Clinton Date: Mon, 23 Nov 92 15:07:21 EST Message-ID: Lines: 133 \SE A \HD Jackson makes up with Clinton \SH Says he'll back the 'covenant' \BY Ronald A. Taylor \CR THE WASHINGTON TIMES \DT LITTLE ROCK, Ark. LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - The Rev. Jesse Jackson appealed yesterday for sustained public support of President-elect Bill Clinton, a sure sign that squabbling within the Democratic Party's house of many mansions is over, at least for now. "The same people who voted Nov. 3 must be part of an active movement to make certain that promises made are supported as well as kept," Mr. Jackson said. His goal is to blunt the expected strong resistance he said Mr. Clinton's legislative initiatives on social issues are likely to encounter from "entrenched monied forces, the institutional forces." "Those who support those propositions must now be in a position of making those promises real. We want to join hands to keep the covenant," he said after a 30-minute meeting with Mr. Clinton at the Governor's Mansion. The meeting followed Mr. Jackson's sermon-like remarks at a church service here in which the charismatic black minister frequently invoked the "new covenant" label Mr. Clinton used as a campaign theme. Mr. Jackson also frequently used the Clintonesque phrase "we don't have a person to waste" in an address that suggested some social ills are inflicted by blacks on themselves. He focused on gun-toting school children and drug abuse, saying that "we have lost our children and . . . our self-confidence." At a news conference later, Mr. Jackson signaled that the friction that marked his relationship with Mr. Clinton during the campaign was over. He hailed the Clinton victory as a sign that the nation is "moving from bitter to better without bloodshed, a testament to the greatness of America." In a biblically styled reference, he said, "Today after 12 years of flood . . . we gather in the ark after the flood seeking a new covenant - not one person to waste." Mr. Jackson, invited here by an interracial group of local ministers, fully endorsed the Clinton program in remarks that echoed the president-elect's campaign rhetoric. "In the course of a rough and tough campaign, you have to count up the costs, look at our choices and move on," he said when asked to reconcile the apparently chilly relationship between the two men during the campaign with the warm public countenance they shared side-by-side in the front pew of St. Theresa's Catholic Church. The Jackson appearance here was arranged about 10 days ago by a group of Little Rock clergy who wanted him to speak at several churches here, said Frank Watkins, Mr. Jackson's spokesman. When Mr. Clinton learned of the planned visit, he asked Mr. Jackson for a meeting. After emerging from the governor's mansion, Mr. Jackson described the talks as "very fruitful," but said there was no discussion of an administration job for him. He also praised Mr. Clinton for endorsing statehood for the District of Columbia. Relations between the two politicians bottomed out in June when Mr. Clinton appeared at the convention of Mr. Jackson's National Rainbow Coalition. While Mr. Clinton, who had clinched enough delegates to win the nomination by then, praised the group's announced goal of racial harmony, he chastised Mr. Jackson for allowing the rap music performer Sister Souljah to appear at the gathering. The action allowed Mr. Clinton to distance himself from Mr. Jackson at a time when the Arkansas governor was actively pursuing white Democrats who had voted for Republican presidential candidates. Subsequently, Mr. Jackson campaigned independently of the Clinton organization. Using Democratic National Committee money, Mr. Jackson visited 40 states during the general election campaign, seeking votes for Mr. Clinton while pushing for voter registration. He did not take credit for an enhanced black vote for Mr. Clinton, however, noting that President Bush did not reach out to minorities during the campaign or during his administration. He noted, for instance, that reapportionment in the South enhanced the power of the black vote and made it possible for blacks to be elected to Congress from North Carolina and Florida. Mr. Clinton's election marked "a victory for inclusion over exclusion," Mr. Jackson said. "He said that his Cabinet would look like America," Mr. Jackson said. "So far, his transition team certainly looks that way." After the 8:30 a.m. service at one of the few racially mixed churches in Little Rock, Mr. Clinton said: "He was terrific. It was a great service. He gave a great sermon." Mr. Jackson indicated that he would like to be a part of the economic summit to be convened by Mr. Clinton and his transition team. He said he has not been invited to the gathering at which the heart of the Clinton strategy for reviving the nation's economy and trimming the deficit is to be hammered out. Mr. Jackson, asked how he would react to a deficit-reduction approach that would cut from social programs, said at the news conference that he endorses "shared sacrifice" by both the wealthy and the needy. At the same time, he said, there is ample room to slash federal spending in a post-Cold War world. "The idea of cutting the military budget without cutting defense must be on the table," he said. "There's a better use for $300 billion a year than to defend Europe from a Russian bear that's under a tombstone." Still, he issued no demands on the incoming president. "It's premature to attack before we know where we're going," he said. This article is copyright 1992 The Washington Times. Redistribution to other sites is not permitted except by arrangement with American Cybercasting Corporation. For more information, send-email to usa@AmeriCast.COM