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Friday, December 4, 1987 / University Daily Kansan
State/Local
Candidates address farmers
The Associated Press
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Jesse Jackson, the lone Democrat to accept an invitation to a farm conference at Bartle Hall, followed four Republicans to the podium yesterday to charm an audience of white farmers with talk of unity with the urban poor.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Rep. Jack Kemp, R-N.Y., speaks to a group of farmers at the ADAPT2 conference. Kemp was one of five presidential candidates to speak yesterday at the conference.
Jackson told people attending the ADAPT2 conference that absence of the other Democratic presidential candidates was proof that family farmers being displaced from their land needed to align with the workers and the poor if they were ever going to wield political clout.
"Maybe that's the reason other candidates are not here — it's just a meeting of farmers in Kansas City," Jackson said at the conference, which was devoted to teaching the 3,000 farmers who registered about alternative crops and others ways to generate additional income from their land.
"And maybe (they feel) there is not enough of them to make a difference. So they'll go someplace else. The urban black, the rural white could all come together. Family farmer, you are right trying to adapt, but your patch isn't big enough. When we put all the patches together, we have a coalition."
Later, about 100 people gathered into a room to hear more from Jackson.
Jackson picked out about a half-dozen people from Iowa in the crowd and had them sign up with his campaign aides, enlisting pledges to
them that they would participate in the state caucuses.
Next door, a room set aside for the Republican candidates was mostly empty. A small crowd gathered around Ben Fernandez of Los Angeles, who had told the audience he was the biggest underdog of all time.
to staff the room.
Pete DuiPont, Jack Kemp and Pat Robertson, who with Fernandez had delivered 15 minute speeches ahead of Jackson, had all left, leaving aides
Republican Alexander Haig had said he would attend the event, but didn't. Bob Dole and George Bush refused invitations.
Jackson had delivered the most political speech, pointing out at one point that the Japanese had penetrated U.S. markets with VCR's and other electronics while the Reagan administration had committed resources to MX missiles and B-1 bombers.
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