Black Favorite Sons

A memorandum written by Georgia Legislator Julian Bond seemed to support Muskie's opinion about nominating a black for Vice President. Circulated among black leaders, the memo observed that no Negro had emerged since Martin Luther King to speak for the black community. Rather than "putting all our eggs in one basket," Bond urged blacks to enter as many favorite sons and daughters as possible in the pre-convention primaries. This would draw out a maximum number of black voters, who could elect as many as 1,200 delegates to the Democratic convention. If the balloting is close, blacks will hold the balance of power and be able to win concessions from the Democratic candidate. Wrote Bond: "Putting black people in the federal bureaucracy is more important to us than having a black Vice President. We need real power, the kind of power to hire and fire, to set public policy."

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