
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, May 6, 1990                   TAG: 9005060266
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C6   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: ATLANTA                                LENGTH: Short

LEADERS VOW THEY WON'T SPLIT

The Rev. Jesse Jackson and Virginia Gov. Douglas Wilder downplayed publicized reports about their political rivalry Saturday night and insisted they are working toward the same goals.

Wilder said he traveled to a meeting in Atlanta to "show those who would care to see there isn't that opportunity to split us up or cause us to go one-on-one with one another," Wilder told reporters at a joint news conference prior to a dinner for Jackson's National Rainbow Coalition.

Wilder later addressed the group of more than 500 people gathered at a downtown Atlanta hotel.

Jackson, who invited Wilder to be part of the meeting, introduced him as a "very special guest," who has been a friend for nearly 30 years.

Many within the Democratic Party see the two as locked in a battle over how the party should proceed to become competitive again in presidential elections.

On Saturday night, Wilder discussed what he calls the "new mainstream, which brings people together. It doesn't pit them against each other."

by CNB