Shall We Gather at the Hudson River?
The Democratic Party fairly shines with the inner peace of the born-again. The presidential candidate, Jimmy Carter, awaits only his official anointment next Wednesday, July 14, at Madison Square Garden. Not since 1964 have all factions of the party been so purposefully unified. The New York City convention promises all the controversy of a riverside baptism in south Georgia. But as Party Chairman Robert Strauss says serenely, "It can't get too dull for me. I've tried it the other way, and I like this a lot better."
"The other way" is still a wincingly painful memory for Democrats: the nightsticks flailing in a fog of tear gas along Chicago's Michigan Avenue in 1968, the armies of the young hurling obscenities across the police barricades; or in 1972, the civil war inside the Miami Beach convention hall as the party broke apart over gay rights, abortion, credentials challenges, tax reform and the candidacy of George McGovern, who delivered his acceptance speech over the smoking wreckage at 3 a.m.
Barring the wildly unforeseen, there will be none of that at the Garden. The chief suspense is now focused on Carter's choice for his running mate (see story page 12). Says Political Analyst Ben Wattenberg: "The war's over."
The Democrats, having been out in the cold for eight years, are so confident that they are cautioning each other, as Lincoln once said, not to "cackle until the egg is laid." With Viet Nam over and factions muted by quieter times as well as party reforms, no serious ideological issues divide the Democrats. Now, as Mark Siegel, a Strauss aide, observes, "there's a desire--it's almost a lust--to come together and win. Most of us hold ourselves almost personally responsible for eight years of Nixon and Ford."
In such a spirit of amity, the 5,000 delegates and alternates may find their chief excitement outside the Garden, in the Big Apple that is playing host to its first Democratic Convention since the monstrous marathon of 1924, when John W. Davis won on the 103rd ballot.
No Contests. The Democrats' unity this year is in part the result of a bitter, twelve-year party reform. It began when a delegation of blacks from Mississippi's Freedom Democratic Party challenged the white Mississippi regulars at Atlantic City in 1964. The battle to open the party's processes to women, blacks and other underrepresented groups was stepped up following the 1968 convention. Now it has begun to pay off, and the party seems to be settling into a sound working relationship with its factions. Four years ago, challenges hung over the heads of 40% of the delegates to Miami Beach. This year there will be no contests over seating.
Not everyone is entirely happy. The Democratic "quotas" of 1972 were replaced by state plans guaranteeing only affirmative action--an equal chance for all to participate. The numbers of women delegates are expected to be down slightly--from 38% in 1972 to around 34% now. In 1972, 15% of the delegates were black; this year the figure will be about 11%. "Many blacks find this year's results totally unacceptable," complains Frank Cowan, the party's director of minority affairs. Despite such dissatisfaction, the note of shrillness and deep grievance has left the party.
Much of the credit belongs to Carter, whose clear triumph through the primaries has given him a popular legitimacy transcending factions. Another hero is Chairman Strauss, the shrewd and decent Texas lawyer with a gift for keeping horses of different gaits in harness. Three and a half years ago, Strauss took over a party that, in Mr. Dooley's crack, was not on speaking terms with itself. The party's liberal wing distrusted Strauss as a Texan who walked a line to the right of center. But he has proved to be one of the most effective chairmen in memory--an excellent fund raiser and conciliatory referee.
The Personalities. Among the other top personalities in the convention's cast next week:
JOHN GLENN, 54, freshman Senator from Ohio, who will be one of the two keynote speakers. Glenn, the first man to orbit the earth, is obviously accustomed to performing with the world's eyes and ears focused on him. It took him three tries before he landed his Senate seat in 1974. Since then, he has been a hard-working centrist. In his debut as a national political figure, Glenn will sound an inspirational note. With his familiar face, his easy, Eisenhower-like smile and technocrat's precise mind, Glenn is a major contender for second place on Carter's ticket.
BARBARA JORDAN, 40, the Texas Congresswoman who will be the second keynoter. Daughter of a Baptist preacher in Houston, Lawyer Jordan won national attention with her solemnly impressive eloquence during the House Judiciary Committee's impeachment hearings two years ago. As a black and a woman, she represents a new tide in politics, but she also plays old-fashioned politics with considerable skill.
While Glenn takes a broad, nonpartisan approach, Jordan is expected to remind the convention and nation of all the Democrats have accomplished and stand for.
LINDY BOGGS, 60, the Louisiana Congresswoman who will serve as chairperson of the proceedings. Corinne Claiborne Boggs was elected in 1973 to fill the seat held for years by her husband, House Majority Leader Hale Boggs, after he disappeared in a plane over Alaska. Though she was born on a plantation and has something of the manner of a Southern belle, Lindy Boggs is an astute politician. She has been elected twice to the House by overwhelming majorities. She began her political career as a Democratic precinct captain in 1938, managed her husband's campaigns and will be attending her seventh convention. Boggs is breaking the sex barrier as permanent chairman. Says she: "I have great training and physical stamina to be a chairperson. I have the strong feet, strong back and strong stomach of most political wives."
WENDELL ANDERSON, 43, the Minnesota Governor who is chairman of the party's platform committee and will brief the convention on the platform's contents. The handsome, former Olympic hockey star, a protege and close friend of Hubert Humphrey's, was deeply disappointed when Humphrey's presidential prospects died. Anderson may have been thinking a little of himself as well. With Humphrey in the White House, Anderson could have had a chance at his friend's Senate seat and found a national forum for his own talents. Anderson has been an extraordinarily popular Governor. Polls show an 86% approval rate among Minnesotans. As platform chairman, Anderson has performed with aplomb. The platform, while purposely somewhat short on detail, calls for a goal of 3% unemployment within four years, a national health insurance program and establishment of a federally financed income-maintenance program.
The Agenda. Monday night, starting at 8 o'clock (E.D.T.), the convention will open with a short film on the party, an address by Chairman Strauss and the Glenn and Jordan keynote speeches. Tuesday evening there will be assorted speeches by Humphrey, McGovern and other party figures, election of officers and the platform report. Wednesday, starting at 8 p.m., names will be placed in nomination: Carter, and probably Mo Udall, Jerry Brown and Anti-Abortionist Ellen McCormack. The first ballot should start at 10:15 p.m. and end in roughly an hour.
Thursday, at about 6 p.m., the convention will begin considering the vice-presidential choice, which Carter will have announced by then. The roll call will start at 7:15. The vice-presidential nominee is scheduled to deliver his acceptance speech at 9:30. Then, at about 10:30, Jimmy Carter of Plains, Ga., should mount the podium, flash his famous picket-fence smile and tell the nation his vision of America for the next eight years.
This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so viewer discretion is required.