Working Sessions, Not ‘Show Business’ : Bush Will Meet With Jackson and Dukakis

WASHINGTON —  President-elect George Bush, continuing his efforts to reach out to opponents, plans to meet the Rev. Jesse Jackson for lunch today and Massachusetts Gov. Michael S. Dukakis on Friday afternoon.

Aides on all sides Tuesday insisted that the meetings would be serious. “Working sessions . . . not just show business,” said one Democratic aide. But in both cases, the symbolic dimension likely will outweigh the policy impact.

Bush has made much of his desire to ease relations between the Republican White House and the nation’s black community, which have been severely strained in the Reagan years. So far, however, his key appointments, all white males, have done nothing to resolve tensions that arose during the presidential campaign when Jackson, and other black leaders, accused Bush of using racist appeals. The lunch with Jackson, who called Bush on election night and followed up the call with a letter asking for a meeting, may help.

Second Billing

As for Dukakis, Bush has said since the election that he planned an early meeting with his defeated rival. Aides to the two men had discussed getting together over Thanksgiving while Bush was in New England on vacation but Dukakis scotched the idea, saying that he wanted to spend the holiday with his family. As a result, Dukakis will have to travel to Washington, rather than meet Bush on his turf in Boston, and will have to accept second billing behind the Jackson meeting.

Bush also plans to meet for breakfast Thursday with Sen. George J. Mitchell (D-Me.), who was chosen Tuesday as the next Senate majority leader. Bush spoke with Mitchell by telephone Tuesday shortly after Senate Democrats chose him as their next chief.

In his meeting with Bush, Dukakis plans to talk about “what he outlined during the campaign . . . the budget deficit, drugs, health care,” said Dukakis spokesman Steve Crawford. “The invitation extended by the vice president was for a working meeting.”

No Set Agenda

Bush aides said that the meeting at the vice president’s official residence in Washington has no set agenda. “It’s two guys who were strong competitors sitting down,” Bush spokesman Steve Hart said. “It’s something Bush wants to do.”

Since the election, Bush has met with a series of former rivals and opposition political figures whose help he will need over the next four years, including Democrats such as House Speaker Jim Wright of Texas and Republicans such as Senate Minority Leader Bob Dole of Kansas. He met with Dole for lunch Monday and then a second time Tuesday morning at a breakfast with Senate Republican leaders.

“We’re ready to go to work, ready to work with the new Administration,” Dole said after the Tuesday meeting. “We pledged our cooperation; he’s pledged his.”

Wants Budget Talks

Bush told the senators that he wanted to begin negotiations in January with both Democratic and Republican lawmakers on the federal budget deficit. He also expressed a hope that the Senate would move quickly to confirm his Cabinet officers, a subject he said he would bring up with Mitchell.

No confirmation difficulty is expected on the Cabinet members named so far. In fact, three of Bush’s nominees-- Secretary of the Treasury Nicholas F. Brady, Education Secretary Lauro F. Cavazos and Atty. Gen. Dick Thornburgh--are keeping posts they already hold and therefore do not require confirmation. The fourth person named so far, James A. Baker III as secretary of state, is expected to have no more problem than he had when he was confirmed as secretary of the Treasury under President Reagan.

New Hampshire Gov. John H. Sununu, chosen to be White House chief of staff; Richard G. Darman, named to be director of the Office of Management and Budget, and Brent Scowcroft, chosen as national security adviser, all have been tapped for jobs that do not require Senate confirmation.

Texans in Line for Jobs

The bigger problem for Bush so far is that nearly all are Reagan Administration holdovers and all but Cavazos are white Anglo males. Bush is expected to compound the lack of minority representation in his Cabinet still further with his choices for the secretaries of defense and commerce. Texans John Tower and Robert A. Mosbacher remain the leading candidates for those two jobs, which could be announced as early as today.

Although Bush insists that his transition team is searching for women and minority members for top Administration jobs, aides have begun to mention sub-Cabinet jobs when media questions about minority representation are raised. The Reagan Administration currently has one black Cabinet member and one woman.

As Bush moves from the most senior Cabinet posts, such as the Defense and State departments, to the lower-profile departments, such as Energy and Housing and Urban Development, he has instructed his staff to cast a wider net. But while that wider cast could draw in many people who are not currently known in Washington, it is not yet clear that Bush will find the names of many minority group members, particularly since the Republican Party’s ranks are overwhelmingly white.

For example, sources in Chicago on Tuesday confirmed that Samuel Skinner, the director of the area’s Regional Transportation Authority and a protege of Republican Gov. James R. Thompson, is “on the list” as a possible secretary of transportation. Skinner, a prominent Chicago attorney and former prosecutor, is well regarded in Republican circles but would be another white, male appointee.

Staff writers Cathleen Decker, James Gerstenzang and Karen Tumulty contributed to this story.