Jesse Jackson expressed confidence Monday that he could rally his supporters behind certain Democratic nominee Michael Dukakis, even if Dukakis doesn't pick him as a running mate. But Jackson continued to stress that he is entitled to ``serious consideration'' for the No. 2 spot on the ticket. Even if Dukakis picks someone else, Jackson told reporters here, the Massachusetts governor could expect backing from him ``so long as our agreements are rational, fair and consistent.'' Jackson sought to put the focus on harmony with the Dukakis camp, citing the weekend agreement that South Africa shuld be branded a ``terrorist state.'' Jackson had strongly pushed that view, and, at a preliminary platform-drafting meeting in Mackinac Island, Mich., the Dukakis forces went along. The South Africa position ``is a step in the right direction for America because we must regain our credibility and our moral authority in the third world as leader of the free world,'' Jackson said at an impromptu sidewalk news conference here. Dukakis has backed strong sanctions and a divestiture of U.S. industries in South Africa to protest its apartheid policies of racial segregation. But the Massachusetts governor had resisted branding South Africa a ``terrorist state'' in the same category of states as Libya and Iran. ``Our agreeing to declare South Africa a terrorist state and thereby pointing to apply anti-terrorist legislation to South Africa is a real hope to people throughout the world who seek fairness and justice,'' said Jackson. He said there was ``a good tone'' to the negotiations with the Dukakis camp. ``So far they (the talks) are having an impact on broadening and strengthening the Democratic Party,'' he said. But Jackson noted that major differences remain, including Dukakis' refusal to support the freeze on military spending that Jackson has called for, and the Dukakis forces' resistance to the tax hikes Jackson wants. Jackson was in Chicago for a weekend of meetings with members of his national staff to discuss plans for the Democratic National Convention in Atlanta next month. Jackson said he planned to deliver several major policy speeches before the convention outlining his programs for health care, education, the war on drugs, and foreign and defense policy. He also met Monday with the editorial board of the Chicago Tribune and with officials of Johnson Publishing Co., publishers of Jet and Ebony magazines.
