European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - July 19, 1988, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 10 columns the stars and stripes Walter r. Mears Jackson providing Only drama of convention nobody really expected Jesse Jackson to go gently into the Campaign to win the White House for Michael Dukakis. And Jackson s grievances against the Democrat who Defeated him were inevitable. For Jackson it s too soon to have them settled. Without his complaints notably Dukakis failure to give him Advance word that sen. Lloyd Bentsen would be the democratic vice presidential nominee there would be nothing but symbolism to keep the Campaign going. And Jackson has gone far beyond symbolism in his second Campaign for the presidency. In defeat Jackson has risen higher in the realm of presidential politics than any Black Man before him. He is not ready to end his Campaign quite yet. So As his convention cavalcade rolled from Chic Agoto Atlanta on a final Campaign bus tour he made it Clear he wanted a Clear and influential role in the Campaign and in the councils of the democratic party. Dukakis says hell have one. I want Jesse jacks onto be deeply involved in the Campaign As a party Leader the Massachusetts governor said. I Hope and expect that he will  neither has defined the precise nature of the role Orthe deep involvement. Precision is difficult if not impossible anyhow. Jackson says he is not satisfied. We Are prepared to deliberate and debate tuesday wednesday and thurs Day he said accounting for All the business sessions of the democratic National convention. Lacking the vice presidential slights he in t stand he was t told of Bentsen Jackson would have had to find other issues for debate or lapse into silence which is not his Way. Now he s even involving innocent bystanders As inthe suggestion that former president Carter mediate his differences with Dukakis. Carter replied that Hewan t needed. The eventual settlement will be the drama of the democratic National convention which opened monday with All its decisions made in Advance. De Bate is one thing delegates Are another. Dukakis has More than 2,500 to Jackson s 1,150. Any time delegates vote Dukakis is in control. Jackson s claim that the floor will be wide open on a vice presidential Willt Hisook has t smut upset s too tar seat up front la no he d Start faster Down nomination or on any item of business simply in t so. But Dukakis needs to claim his Victory and enforce his decisions without alienating the Jackson forces doubly difficult and also crucial because he is dealing with a Black Leader and a predominantly Black constituency. Presently i do not know the proposed strategy Towin Jackson said late last week. At this Point my constituency has no place on the  that constituency cannot be turned on and off Atwill not even by Jackson s command. This time the Unity show that is the traditional convention finale will have to be built on a base More substantive than hand shakes and Victory Waves. Jackson s supporters Are echoing and escalating the complaint that he heard from Dukakis on the Bentsen Choice Only after it had been made Public. It Speaks to the Way Black people Are perceived in this election said rep. Ron Dellums a Calif. Whether or. Dukakis understands that or not is something that remains to be  Dukakis said he was sorry he had t been Able to Contact everybody in Advance of announcing his Choice of Bentsen and noted that he had not reached Ohio sen. John Glenn either. The nominee in waiting is trying to be conciliatory without appearing to surrender control of the Conven Tion and the party he now leads. He needs Jackson s help and Jackson needs a continuing role in the1988 Campaign. This is after All Only the preliminary. The real prize will be awarded on nov. 8. The real test of whatever reconciliation Dukakis and Jackson reach won t come in Atlanta. It will come in the Campaign months that follow. Walter r. Wears executive editor of the associated press has covered National politics for 25 years. George will Bentsen poses problem Bush never counted on tall and thin with hair Silver Gray like the Patina of old family Flat Ware and benefiting from the Best Tai Lor in american politics Lloyd Bent sen looks More than Ever like a Pewter statue of Bourgeois virtue. To George Bush Bentsen looks like a problem he counted on not having. Bush s Campaign has at most a one track mind. Its idea has been to portray Michael Dukakis As a High tax anti defense Crimi Nal coddling does to much like the pledge of allegiance Liberal. Now Dukakis has wrapped himself in the Gray worsted of Bentsen s business conservatism. Anyway Bush s plan was not  the two months he has spent pointing at Dukakis and exclaiming eee Eek a Liberal the percentage of american identifying Dukakis As a Liberal has risen from 21 percent to 28 percent. For the fifth time since 1932, there will be a texan on the democratic ticket. Counting Bush s three times there will have been texans on eight National tick ets in the last 15 elections. In 1984, Wajter Mondale reportedly had polls showing that Bentsen would not help much with the herculean task of carrying Texas against president Rea Gan. However that indicated less Abou Bentsen than about How beyond help Mondale was. If the democrats bilingual ticket both candidates Are fluent in Spanish it remains to be seen if one of the Republican candidates will be fluent in English carries Texas it May also carry two other hard hit states in the Oil Patch okla homa and Louisiana. The three have 47electoral votes the same As California. Whether or not Bentsen brings Texas to Dukakis he will Force Bush to expend on Texas precious resources of time and Money that he will need to climb out of the Hole he is in in California which suddenly seems As crucial to Bush As it has seemed All along to Dukakis. The selection of Bentsen May turn Bush toward California gov. Georg Deukmejian or i know i am repeating myself Peter Ueberroth. Conservatives pretending to be scandalized by the ideological differences Between Dukakis and Bentsen should be required to write on the Black Board 100 times  you Don t remember Reagan name Pennsylvania s Liberal senator Richard Schweiker As his running mate on the eve of the 1916 convention in an attempt to derail the nomination of Gerald Ford besides those differences signify that Dukakis has seen the Cliff he do snot want to walk off. In 1968 Humphrey muskie\912 Mcgovern Eagleton then Mcgovern Shriver and 1984 Mondale Ferraro democrats nominated political Puree perfectly homogenized tickets Liberal top and Bottom. These tickets got 43, 38 and 41 percent respectively of the pop ular vote. Because Bentsen is 61, liberals can console themselves with the thought that he is unlikely to become a presidential candidate. But liberals who worry about Bentsen Are accepting a caricature of him and May themselves subscribe to a kind of caricature liberalism of the Early-1970s sort. It has been said that politicians should have their ears full of Grasshoppers a result of keeping their ears close to the ground. It will be said that the Only ground Bentsen s ears have been near is too Well manicured to admit Grasshoppers that it is a putting Green at the Greenbrier or wherever else the business  to Earth for its confabulation. Do not believe it. Texas is a tossed salad of american diversities. Two of its three largest cities have female mayors Kathy Whitmire in Houston Annette Strauss in Dallas and the third san Antonio has a hispanic mayor Henry Cisneros. Bentsen has car ried this Complex state three times win Ning 53, 51 and 59 percent of the vote rather More than can be found in boardrooms. In 1970, he beat Bush with a Large assist from Rural baptists mostly democrats who turned out to vote in a referendum on Selling liquor by the drink. In his next two races Bentsen won 60 percent of the Rural vote. Mondale got 34 per cent. Michael Barone author of the Al manac of american politics compares Bentsen to an earlier texan Jesse Jones the Houston banker who was president Roosevelt s Commerce Secretary and head of the reconstruction finance corp. True new dealers considered him to Friendly to business. But says Barone since the Early 1970s liberalism has changed to the traditional Texas Tor variety. It says that government should Hel business be productive and maintain a safety net for the poor but should not aggressively redistribute income or regu late  the sound echoing through Politi Cal circles in the aftermath of the Selec Tion of Bentsen is the solid smack of seriousness. If it provokes Jesse Jackson to disruptive megalomania in Atlanta that May serve Dukakis by underscoring his determination to do what is  like that. They Are looking for seriousness. Washington Post writers group the opinions expressed in the columns and cartoons on this Page represent those of the authors and Are in no Way to be considered As representing the views of the stars and stripes or the United states government