Posted on 02/10/2003 10:16:01 AM PST by Chi-townChief
Now I see why people are whispering sweet nothings to former Sen. Carol Moseley-Braun, encouraging her to run for president of the United States.
It's because the Rev. Al Sharpton is good.
Real good.
The Pentecostal minister from New York City, who wants to pick up where Jesse Jackson left off as a presidential candidate 11 years ago, made quite a splash Sunday morning at St. Sabina's Catholic Church with a sermon that mixed messages of Bush-bashing with personal responsibility for African Americans.
Judging by how the Rev. Michael Pfleger's following ate it up, the surprising combination is going to cause a lot of problems for other Democratic candidates on the way to their 2004 convention in Boston.
Before watching him perform Sunday, I had underestimated Sharpton, pegging him as a New York celebrity who would find it difficult to take his act on the road and overcome nearly two decades as the butt of jokes on late-night television for his racial opportunism.
Afterward, it seemed clear that, despite his baggage, Sharpton has the potential to be hugely popular with black voters all across the country, possibly enough to win a southern primary or two in a crowded field. And, believe it or not, he might even attract a small following among white voters looking for somebody to "tell it like it is."
Apparently others had started to figure out the same thing and became the source of some of the encouragement for Moseley-Braun's sudden interest in the presidency. It's the old divide-and-conquer strategy that is well-known in Chicago ward politics. If the first black woman in the U.S. Senate can dilute some of Sharpton's support, he becomes a non-factor.
But if Moseley-Braun is going to enter the fray with Sharpton, she'd better bring her "A'' game if she doesn't want to look like a fool.
Some of you will think I'm putting a lot of emphasis on one speech, especially since political campaigns are more than speaking contests.
That's true, but I think what I'm reacting to is Sharpton's ability to connect with his audience and pick themes that resonate. Every group that hears him speak will be impressed, even if they don't agree with him. I expect blacks will agree with him.
On top of that, the guy has spent his whole career finding ways to get on television. He'll have the best sound bites at the candidate debates, and maybe most important, because he doesn't really have a chance of winning, he's going to be able to say a lot of the things that the other Democratic candidates should say but won't dare. The media will like that.
"Why are we going where we're trying to find the weapons, and we're not going where we already know there are weapons?'' Sharpton swipes at the Bush administration's differing approaches to the crises in Iraq and North Korea.
Noting that Bush made no mention of Osama bin Laden in his State of the Union address, Sharpton said, "Explain to us how the CIA can't find one man hiding in a cave in Afghanistan who comes out every three weeks with a new video."
There is more than a little demagoguery in such statements, but it's the kind of thing you hear on the street, and Sharpton, at essence, is a street fighter. He has the instincts Jackson used to have before influences such as beer distributorships and a son in Congress became part of his calculations.
For those who stopped paying attention to him long ago, Sharpton's jumpsuits, medallions and pompadour are gone, replaced with three-piece suits, a handkerchief poofed up just so in his breast pocket and slicked-back hair. He's still a bit of a peacock. Some people will react negatively to that.
What they may like is Sharpton's emphasis on black Americans reaching the next level of success and achievement by returning to the core principles and methods of self-reliance and spirituality that helped them overcome slavery and segregation.
"Even if you're not responsible for being down, you're responsible for getting up," said Sharpton.
It's a conservative message that some may not expect from Sharpton, 48, who has been a polarizing figure in New York since the 1987 Tawana Brawley rape case. He's run for office in New York and lost three times, twice for the U.S. Senate and once for mayor.
The new Sharpton complained of what he called "Negro-amnesia."
"Negroes just done lost their memories," he said, referring to a lack of progress in black society since the 1960s and accusing many blacks of being "just too lazy and ungrateful" to use the rights for which others died.
"Don't forget how we got over," Sharpton scolded.
"We've allowed this Hollywood culture to tell our children that blackness is acting like a hood, acting like a thug," said Sharpton.
I can't do justice to his delivery.
But I walked into the church totally predisposed to dislike the guy and left thinking he has a real chance of succeeding Jackson as a national leader. People in New York will think I've been suckered, but that's what I'd think if they voted for Moseley-Braun.
E-mail: markbrown@suntimes.com
Moseley-Braun sucked in a lot of people in Illinois in '92 and she probably could do it again. But I wonder who these people are who are encouraging her, as Brown says. I would assume the Clintons and the two Dicks would be among them.
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That's why Reverend Al is MUD's Choice Fer DemonRAT Candidate fer POTUS in '04!!
Heck, he's soooo good, he can probably even win the nomination with McStain as his Veep!!
Sharpton/McStain '04!!!
Heh heh heh...MUD
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