Some new actors, same old script
1984Mark Harris 1984-08Read it in the scan (PDF at ETOL), page 1 →
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SAN FRANCISCO-There were few surprises, little discussion, and a lot of parties. The Democratic Party National Convention in San Francisco delivered what was promised—a prime-time show starring Walter Mondale and a cast of thousands. With some 13,000 media people and 5,300 delegates and alternates in attendance, the convention pre-empted the summer TV reruns for a rerun of its own: the quadrennial selection of the latest "lesser evil" alternative to the Republicans.
As Charlotte Saikowski observed in The Christian Science Monitor (July 18, 1984), "The nominations, the platform, the rules and credentials reports, have been largely worked out in advance-all calculated to provide a showcase for the party on nationwide television." The only real semi-surprise was the nomination of Rep. Geraldine Ferraro from New York as Mondale's running mate. The Democrats hope Ferraro's nomination as the first woman vice-presidential candidate of either major party will put some new life into a 'brain-dead" campaign, as one journalist described Mondale's election bid. Ferraro actually stands to the right of Mondale on many issues. She supports tuition tax credits for private schools and prayer in public schools. She opposes court-ordered busing and voted against the Simpson-Mazzol Bill because of the "amnesty" provision. Ferraro's nomination amounts to little more than vote-getting symbolism.
Jackson seeks forgiveness
For many in attendance Jesse Jackson's highly-charged address was the highlight of the convention. But his speech cut two ways. Jackson's forceful plea for the rights of "the damned, the disinherited, the disrespected, the despised" brought tears to the eyes of many delegates. But support for Mondale and an apology for any "pain" his campaign may have caused were the substance of his remarks. (Jackson recalled his visit with a dying Hubert Humphrey, who had phoned Richard Nixon to say that they must forgive each other and move on.)
Jackson's conciliatory appeal for party unity and forgiveness, coming right after three of his four platform planks were defeated, marked, as James M. Perry and Jeanne Saddler observed in The Wall Street Journal (July 18, 1984), a "long step toward ensuring a place and a position for himself in the Democratic Party. "
No wonder that Mondale called Jackson's address "one of the great speeches of our time. "
(continued on page Geraldine A. Ferraro and Walter F. Mondale