CHICAGO, Oct. 27 — Representative Jesse L. Jackson Jr. said Monday that he would soon endorse Howard Dean for the Democratic presidential nomination, telling a mostly black audience on the South Side of Chicago that Dr. Dean had "the best chance to be the next president of the United States."

"I'm not wasting my time with any more non-straight-talking candidates," Mr. Jackson said in introducing Dr. Dean, a former governor of Vermont, to a group of about 150 people at Chicago State University.

"I've seen him stand up for health care," he said. "I've seen him stand up for students. I've seen him stand up for ordinary Americans. I'm asking you to stand up for Howard Dean."

The support of Mr. Jackson, the son of the Rev. Jesse Jackson, has been coveted by several presidential contenders in part because he carries some of the imprimatur of his father. He said after Dr. Dean's 45-minute question-and-answer session that he would "make it official in the next 7 to 14 days."

Dr. Dean, who governed a nearly all-white state, has been fighting to show that he can appeal to a wider swath of voters than the highly educated white liberals whom polls show rallying to his side.

Mr. Jackson joins his brother, Jonathan Jackson, a Chicago businessman and civil rights advocate, and Representative Major R. Owens of Brooklyn as better-known black leaders backing Dr. Dean.

Representative John Conyers Jr. of Michigan, another prominent African-American in Congress, escorted Dr. Dean to two black churches in Detroit on Sunday. Two other members of the Congressional Black Caucus, Representative Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick of Detroit and Representative Sheila Jackson Lee of Houston, have expressed interest in Dr. Dean, his aides said.

"Congressman Jackson has been one of the major new up-and-coming African-American leaders in this country, and he has been enormously helpful already," Dr. Dean said in an interview on Monday.

As for Mr. Jackson's father, he said, "We've spent a lot of time on the phone with him," adding, "He is probably the pre-eminent spokesman for civil rights and economic justice, so he's enormously important to a candidate like me."

Mr. Jackson, who earlier this month traveled with Dr. Dean from Washington to Charleston, S.C., said he had invited him home to his district, alone among the presidential candidates, because "I believe he is a man with great integrity."

In the rotunda of the Chicago State student union, Dr. Dean altered his standard stump speech to focus more on issues like discrimination in health care, support for historically black colleges, and affirmative action in the medical profession. In response to questions, he said he would seek a federal law allowing felons to vote.

Copyright 2003 The New York Times Company

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