Thanks (And No Thanks) To Rev. Al

by Earl Ofari Hutchinson

(PNS) -- From the moment he entered the presidential race, the Rev. Al Sharpton made no secret of two things: that he could and would win the South Carolina Democratic primary, and that he would win it exclusively with black votes. This did not seem far-fetched. Blacks make up about 40 percent of the state's Democratic voters. That's the single biggest percentage block of Democratic voters in any state. And in 1984 and 1988, Jesse Jackson won what was then the South Carolina Democratic Caucus.

But Sharpton's much hoped for breakthrough in South Carolina never happened. He came in a distant third, behind the winner, North Carolina Sen. John Edwards, and second-place finisher Sen. John Kerry of Massachusettes. Both split the bulk of the black vote. Sharpton fared little better in Missouri, where blacks also make up a sizeable number of Democratic voters. He came in second-to-last there. He was not a factor in the other five primary states.

Sharpton is no Jesse Jackson. In his presidential campaign runs, Jackson got the majority of black votes and the attention of policymakers. But he got both because he had solid standing in the Democratic Party, a much-admired track record of civil rights activism, an established national organization in his Rainbow Coalition and good support among labor, environmentalist and women's groups. He downplayed the racially inflammatory and polarizing issues of police abuse and affirmative action, and stressed greater funding for education and health care. He supported labor protections and promised to rebuild America's then crumbling industrial infrastructure.

Jackson's platform was non-racial, moderately populist and did not threaten whites. He got the endorsement of a sizeable number of top black elected officials and black Democratic organizations. Those endorsements swayed many black voters who are loyal Democrats, and convinced them that Jackson was a credible candidate who could actually wield influence at the Democratic national convention and on the campaign trail.

Though Sharpton has at times looked and sounded like a thoughtful Democrat in debates and television appearances, there's still the deep suspicion that underneath his immaculately coifed hair and three-piece tailored suits he remains just a protest candidate and racial rabble-rouser. Sharpton did much to reinforce that suspicion, with his blatant racial appeals to black voters in the Washington, D.C., and South Carolina primaries, and his shameless race-baiting of Democrat Howard Dean for his clumsy quip about courting Southern white males and his failure to appoint blacks to his cabinet when he was Vermont governor.

Sharpton opposed the war on Iraq, the death penalty and Bush's tax cuts, and he demands universal health care. This appeals to many moderate white Democrats. But that message gets distorted or ignored when the messenger is perceived as irresponsible, an opportunist, or both. The majority of black Democratic elected officials (and Jesse Jackson) have endorsed Kerry, Edwards, or Dean, or have publicly sung their praises. They have mostly been silent on Sharpton.

Meanwhile, the greatest unease about Sharpton has come from Jackson. Though he is careful not to criticize Sharpton by name, Jackson obliquely chided him before the South Carolina primary when he noted that no Democrat could be effective without a real message, money and a campaign infrastructure. Sharpton has made little apparent effort to develop any of these. He has built his campaign on appearances on TV talk shows, at campaign debates, at showpiece protest rallies and by tossing out well-timed media barbs.

Then there's ABB. That's "Anybody But Bush." ABB mania affects blacks more than any other group. And there's no mystery why. The president refuses to support tougher hate crimes legislation and has been mute on the fight against racial profiling. He backed white students in their effort to eliminate the University of Michigan's affirmative action program, and he has tried to ramrod Congress to confirm a wave of racially insensitive, ultra-conservative appointees to the federal appeals court. Blacks fear that, given the chance, Bush will appoint more justices such as Clarence Thomas to the Supreme Court. They are petrified that Bush will further erode civil liberties protections and gut health and education programs if re-elected.

Sharpton deserves some credit for trying to break up the clubby white male pack of Democratic presidential contenders, and attempting to prod mainstream Democrats to do and say more on race and poverty issues in 2004. But with the presidential stakes far higher this time than in 2000, a vote for Sharpton is not only a wasted vote, it's also a dangerous one. In voting for Kerry and Edwards, black voters sent a clear message that they want a Democrat who can win. That's not Sharpton.