70 Year Magazine Archive

FOR THE RECORD

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Walter Mondale got early headlines with talk of woman Veep, but in days before Democratic Convention issue was giving him nothing but headaches. Judy Goldsmith, president of National Organization for Women, told NOW convention in Miami Beach that there would be a floor fight in San Francisco if Mondale didn’t pick a woman. Asked if NOW would be satisfied with a Mondale promise to appoint a Cabinet half filled with women, as well as a certain number of women to Supreme Court, Mrs. Goldsmith said that NOW wants these things in addition to woman Veep. If Mondale selects a man, she said, “I don’t know how we can go out to women and say, ‘Here’s something to work for.’ ” According to Washington Post/ABC News Poll, seven in ten delegates to Democratic Convention think party should select a woman—probably Rep. Geraldine Ferraro (N.Y.). . . . But it’s doubtful Mondale will pick Rep. Ferraro or any other woman. Polls show Mondale/ Hart running much better than Mondale/anybody else. . . . Mondale’s second headache is Jesse Jackson. Jackson’s repudiation of latest utterances by Louis Farrakhan satisfied some Jewish leaders but not all. “The Democratic Party may be too beholden to the constituents of Jesse Jackson,” says Rabbi Marvin Heir, a Los Angeles Jewish leader, “and if that means that Jesse Jackson’s politics could be a part of the Democratic Party, then that scares American Jews.” . . . New York Mayor Ed Koch wants Jackson to denounce Farrakhan—not just his statements—and if Jackson doesn’t, Koch says, Mondale should renounce Jackson’s support. (If Jackson has learned anything in his travels this year, it’s how much he dislikes Koch. Jackson reportedly plans to spend a lot of time in New York next year. Koch will be up for re-election and Jackson wants him replaced by a black.) . . . Meanwhile, Jackson issued statement on Farrakhan only after Democratic bigwigs gave him blunt message: A repudiation of Farrakhan, in words of Democratic Committee national director Michael Steed, would “have a very significant impact on whether or not [Jackson] would be allowed to speak at convention.” … In Chicago appearance, Jackson criticized Democratic platform—“the issue of fairness has not been resolved”—and declared he was entitled to be in on choosing Veep and on consultations about Secretaries of State and Defense. He also criticized Reagan, Mondale, and Hart as “inexperienced” in dealing with Central American and Middle Eastern leaders. During Chicago appearance, Jackson was escorted to stage by Abdul Akbar Muhammad, Farrakhan’s national spokesman, and the candidate went out of his way to recognize members of Farrakhan’s sect who were in audience. . . . Mondale’s third headache is Ronald Reagan. All polls show him leading Mondale by big margins. Reagan campaign manager Ed Rollins says Reagan is trailing Mondale only in District of Columbia,Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, and West Virginia—that’s right, Mondale even trails in Minnesota. . . . Kevin Phillips, in American Political Report, says Presidents with high degree of approval in late spring invariably have won re-election: FDR in 1936, 1940, 1944; Eisenhower in 1956; LBJ in 1964; Nixon in 1972. Nixon, by the way, won’t campaign for Reagan. “I can’t think of anything that would be appropriate for me to do that would be helpful” is how he puts it. . . . In Florida to obtain endorsement of Governor Robert Graham, Mondale agreed that he was far behind in polls but claimed to like it: “I never want to be called a front-runner again as long as I live.”

Jerry Falwell will be in San Francisco week before convention to attend a Moral Majority Family Forum and to bring pressure on Democratic Party. “I am determined,” says Falwell, “to see that the traditional family is represented in this year’s Democratic platform no matter the cost.” . . . Though Tip O’Neill didn’t invite him, Newt Gingrich (R., Ga.) plans to attend San Francisco Convention. While Democrats are meeting inside Moscone Center, Gingrich will be outside holding press conferences. With him will be several Democrats who switched to GOP as well as members of GOP congressional crowd that has been giving O’Neill fits. … At GOP Convention in Dallas about 45 per cent of 2,235 delegates will be women. In 1980, 29 per cent were women. Mary Louise Smith, liberal who was Republican National Chairman at beginning of Reagan Presidency, isn’t satisfied. Majority of women chosen as delegates, she says, aren’t activists. . . . Democratic Convention will be, by party mandate, evenly divided between men and women. And, thanks to effort by John R. Reilly and other staffers, Mondale will have more black delegates committed to him than Jackson will have.

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