Shadow Boxing

By PAUL GRAY/

Jesse Jackson announced last week that he would seek election as a District of Columbia "Shadow Senator," a nonjob created by the D.C. Council as a way to lobby for statehood. No real surprise there. But the eye opener is that Jackson made his bid after several private meetings with Ron Brown, chairman of the Democratic National Committee. Brown, a close ally during Jackson's 1988 presidential bid, won his leadership post by promising that his ties with Jesse were a thing of the past. Yet a Jackson spokesman says Brown agreed "to mobilize the party" to help Jackson get the post and support his petition, made to majority leader George Mitchell, for Senate floor privileges.

With reporting by DAVID ELLIS