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Subject: Clinton, Jackson to Meet Today in Little Rock;Stage Set for New Chapter in
Date: Sun, 22 Nov 92 09:18:27 EST
Message-ID: <19.1992Nov22.091827@AmeriCast.com>

Clinton, Jackson to Meet Today in Little Rock;Stage Set for New
Chapter in Relationship After Uneasy Sparring During Campaign<By
Dan Balz=Washington Post Staff Writer=

LITTLE ROCK, Ark., Nov. 21 - Bill Clinton and Jesse L. Jackson
sparred uneasily throughout the long presidential campaign, and
on Sunday they will begin the next chapter of a complicated rela-
tionship that is likely to have an impact on the success of
Clinton's presidency.

Clinton will join Jackson for services at a Catholic church in
Little Rock early Sunday, and then the president-elect and the
civil rights leader will have breakfast at the governor's man-
sion.

Clinton aides played down the significance of the meeting. "Jesse
was coming here independently, so the two decided to meet," said
Dee Dee Myers, Clinton's press secretary.

But after a campaign in which he kept Jackson at bay and actively
sought the votes of white Reagan Democrats and suburban Republi-
cans and independents, Clinton will hear firsthand the message
Jackson has been preaching all month: that the president-elect
must keep his promises to the Democratic core constituencies who
helped elect him.  "We have learned how to use our power to vote
and elect the president of our choice," Jackson told an audience
in Birmingham, Ala., on Wednesday. "We elect our candidates in
the fall and winter and march for freedom in the spring." In an
interview on "John McLaughlin's One on One," aired this weekend,
Jackson said he was prepared to take to the streets and to mobil-
ize demonstrations to keep the pressure on Clinton.

"One thing about it," Jackson said, "those who voted for him in
November cannot just sit back and wait. They must now take their
agenda to the courts, to legislatures, and to the streets as
well." But Jackson's agenda could clash with Clinton's desire to
put together an economic package that both stimulates the economy
and brings about a reduction in the deficit over the next five
years, and the meeting Sunday could give a clue to how coopera-
tively the two men will work in coming months.

Clinton relied far more on younger black leaders including Demo-
cratic Reps. John Lewis of Georgia, Mike Espy of Mississippi and
William J. Jefferson of Louisiana to help carry his message to
black voters, but his meeting with Jackson signifies the
president-elect's need to pay attention to Jackson as Clinton de-
fines the early stages of his presidency.

Clinton is under pressure from liberal constituencies within the
party to increase spending on a variety of domestic issues, from
job training and education to aid for the cities. But he also
must balance demands from other groups - and supporters of in-
dependent Ross Perot - for action to reduce the deficit.

Despite their differences on issues ranging from spending priori-
ties to militant rap performer Sister Souljah, Clinton and Jack-
son have attempted to minimize their problems.  Jackson said
Clinton was "very warm" when the two met at a Georgetown dinner
on Thursday night. But Jackson also has said in recent days that
many other Democrats could have defeated President Bush this year
because of the weak economy and desire for change in America.

"I assume if . . . any number of Democrats had run, they could
have won under these circumstances," he said on "One on
One."<02:18 11-22C9999-----

Copyright 1992, The Washington Post.  This story is from the
Washington Post's Capitol Edition On-Line and is not to be ar-
chived or redistributed.

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