[Fester Chugabrew]

With Hillary parachuting into Iowa right about now Al Sharpton is about to become more margerine-ized than ever.

[.cnI redruM]

Wouldn't it be lovely!

[Jack Black]

Nice vanity. People should take him more seriously, I agree, which would mean driving him out of the race like you'd drive Mike Tyson out of a girl scout camp. But that's not happening.

He could be the nominal leader after S.C. Imagine a strong first place showing in D.C. (right before New Hampshire) followed by a strong second in S.C. WOW! He's the head of the pack. Who needs to get out now for the sake of party unity? Leiberman, Kerry, Kucinich...

If the Republicans worked liked the Dems they would be grooming a succession of Black Power candidates to run as third party vote getters. Soros like manipulation. But we're not like them.

[NativeNewYorker]

What's Sharpton Got Up His Sleeve?

Body odor.

[Vermonter]

He hasn’t put up with this marathon nominating process – which is starting to resemble a modern-day Gong Show

LOL!

If Sharpton pulls off this scenario he'll drive what few honorable dems there are over to our side, or they'll sit out the election thus guaranteeing W a win.

Looks like a win-win from where I'm sitting.

[mhking]

Nothing Crazy Al does surprises me...

Black conservative ping

If you want on (or off) of my black conservative ping list, please let me know via FREEPmail. (And no, you don't have to be black to be on the list!)

Extra warning: this is a high-volume ping list.

[NativeNewYorker]

[Tacis]

Possible, but unlikely. The dems hate blacks and would never allow one to be on the national ticket. Rev. Al is pulling a scam; he's trying to extort the party into giving him something that they would not otherwise give him. It probably isn't a public office because almost anything he stole would be a federal crime. It would have to be some franchise that he got for behaving himself, much like Rev. Jesse's (legitimate) kids; one got a congressional seat (in the fully segregated caucus) and the other, a Coke distributorship.

Rev Al's better play is in 2008. This year, he could run as an independent and take, what?, half of the dems' 95% of the black vote. The dems would really take a bath and would give him what he wanted in 2008. Remember, the dems are corrupt crooks and can steal more from within an office than as an outsider. The dems get 95% of the black vote and give NOTHING in return. If Al leaves, the dems will do anything in 2008 (2006?) to get the field blacks back.

[witnesstothefall]

The Democratic Party is terrified of its most loyal constituency, it's true.

Carol Mosley-Braun was a dismal failure as a Senator and has nothing other than skin pigment to justify her continued presence in the race.

It's much the same story with Al Sharpton, and I agree, he will not leave the dance floor quietly, as he has assured the DNC.

[DeFault User]

It is an interesting situation, isn't it? The Dems have allowed the skunk to enter the fancy dress ball and if they don't keep on treating him right, he'll spray the place. At midnight he isn't going to turn into a pumpkin or disappear, is he? He will be able to get what he demands or ....

[ModelBreaker]

Actually, Sharpton as a third party candidate is the best thing that could happen to the dems in 2004. The presidency, barring unforseen catastrophe, is Bush's in 2004. The big danger to the dems is their base will be depressed and that will elect lots of Repub senators.

Sharpton as a third party will turn out the black vote in huge numbers. They may vote for the Rev at the top of the ticket. But they will pull the lever for RATS for senate.

[Verginius Rufus]

They could always select Carol Moseley Braun for the VP slot. She may be clueless and ethically obtuse but she never provoked a pogrom.

One consequence of creating supersafe districts where black politicians never face a serious challenger is that the people who represent those districts have no need to be moderate or reasonable...thus the Maxine Waters and Charlie Rangel types who seem to typify the black caucus in Congress. If the Democrats wanted to put a black candidate on the ticket, they'd have a hard time finding one with the right type of political experience who wasn't associated with extreme left-wing or race-baiting stances (since Condie Rice and Colin Powell are Republicans).

[Rushian]

He might do just as you suggest, or he might simply be cementing his position of #1 African-American spokesman as the replacement for the damaged Jesse Jackson.

[Ditto]

George (Daddy Warbucks) Sorus can make Al a better offer to just go away if he starts becoming too big of a nuisance for the Rats. Right now, he’s just a token nibbling around the edges while pocketing some donations. Rev Al, just like Rev Jessi, is only after the cash. His worst nightmare would be to do all the financial disclosure that an elected official has to go through.

[Political Junkie Too]

Instead of casting out of their party a lying demagogue who is a racist and an anti-Semite (as the Republicans rightfully did with David Duke years ago), they’ve embraced “Reverent Al,” giving him a national stage and pretending that he is a respectable political figure who deserves to run for the presidency of their party.

I don't think this is true. Their response to the Sharpton candidacy was to encourage Moseley-Braun to run. They didn't want Sharpton to be the "African-American" candidate.

What is Sharpton's motive? Several: 1) he says that the Democrats take African-Americans for granted and he wants to change that, 2) he wants to replace Jesse Jackson as the top "leader" of African-Americans in America. Remember when he was jailed for blocking traffic in Atlantic City? He was making jailhouse speechs against Jackson, who was still reeling from his "love child" scandal. Sharpton was making his move on Jackson.

-PJ

[MIchaelTArchangel]

Yes, the Reverend Mr. Sharpton is a race-baiter and an anti-Semite. I am an unenrolled (no party specified) voter in Massachusetts, so I can vote in the party's primary of my choice. I intend to vote for Mr. Sharpton. Why? Because I want to make the Democrats who have made me have to deal with Mr. Sharpton and his ilk for the past three decades or so have to deal with him themselves.

The more votes Mr. Sharpton gets in the primary, the more delegates he will have at the convention in Boozeton. The more delegates he has, the more face time he will get on the screens in American homes. The more face time he gets with people, the less likely they are to vote for the Democrats in November 2004 -- unless they are already so far gone they cannot figure out how to vote.

[jungleboy]

Fun idea! However, the clintonistas run the show, and race-pimp sharpton will do what he's told, imho.

[Delbert]

What's Sharpton Got Up His Sleeve? <--A pudgy little arm?

[F.J. Mitchell]

Fact is that the world really is round, but if one drifts too far to the left they can still fall right off. One of those strange phenomonas of nature that has never been explained.