Letter from Washington

Jesse Jackson’s peregrinations abroad are due in no small part to Walter Mondale’s failure to deal with the black leader, the street wisdom here says. A month ago, Jesse enjoyed great press attention. Then it became apparent that he was an also-ran, and he turned to Fritz for resuscitation, but Fritz finessed him and Jesse got mad. His Central American tour enabled the press to restore him to center stage, creating much perplexity for the Mondale team. “The potential exists for Jackson to tell Walter at the convention to take a flying leap at himself,” notes a savvy and highly placed political pro here, “or simply to blight Mondale with an ‘Oh, yes, I’ll vote for Fritz’ pledge, and then sit it out.” If Jesse opted not to mobilize his constituency, the black turnout would be greatly diminished, no question.

The problem is compounded by the extreme pressure Walter Mondale is now under from American Jews for a declaration of independence from Jesse Jackson. Despite Jackson’s dumping of Louis Farrakhan for his anti-Semitic obscenities (“reprehensible and morally indefensible”), prominent Democratic Jews from all over the country are calling the Reagan-Bush committee and saying that they will vote for Reagan over Mondale, so outraged are they by Mondale’s timidity in standing up to Jackson, whose anti-Semitism is imperfectly veiled at best. If Jackson is permitted to address the Democratic Convention, more Jews will be disaffected. Some pros here believe that for the first time in history, a Republican candidate for President may actually capture the majority of Jewish votes in November. Even Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Arens is hinting that he supports Reagan’s re-election. The bottom line is a big no-win situation for Mondale. The Democratic Party has two strong constituencies, blacks and Jews, with Jews having lots more clout than blacks. Jewish pressure on Mondale to reject Jesse will carry, and that means goodbye to any large black turnout for Fritz.

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Jesse Jackson’s peregrinations abroad are due in no small part to Walter Mondale’s failure to deal with the black leader, the street wisdom here says. A month ago, Jesse enjoyed great press attention. Then it became apparent that he was an also-ran, and he turned to Fritz for resuscitation, but Fritz finessed him and Jesse got mad. His Central American tour enabled the press to restore him to center stage, creating much perplexity for the Mondale team. “The potential exists for Jackson to tell Walter at the convention to take a flying leap at himself,” notes a savvy and highly placed political pro here, “or simply to blight Mondale with an ‘Oh, yes, I’ll vote for Fritz’ pledge, and then sit it out.” If Jesse opted not to mobilize his constituency, the black turnout would be greatly diminished, no question.

The problem is compounded by the extreme pressure Walter Mondale is now under from American Jews for a declaration of independence from Jesse Jackson. Despite Jackson’s dumping of Louis Farrakhan for his anti-Semitic obscenities (“reprehensible and morally indefensible”), prominent Democratic Jews from all over the country are calling the Reagan-Bush committee and saying that they will vote for Reagan over Mondale, so outraged are they by Mondale’s timidity in standing up to Jackson, whose anti-Semitism is imperfectly veiled at best. If Jackson is permitted to address the Democratic Convention, more Jews will be disaffected. Some pros here believe that for the first time in history, a Republican candidate for President may actually capture the majority of Jewish votes in November. Even Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Arens is hinting that he supports Reagan’s re-election. The bottom line is a big no-win situation for Mondale. The Democratic Party has two strong constituencies, blacks and Jews, with Jews having lots more clout than blacks. Jewish pressure on Mondale to reject Jesse will carry, and that means goodbye to any large black turnout for Fritz.