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REV. AL TALKS OF QUITTING
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| Contributor | User 13 |
| Last Edited | User 13 Mar 15, 2004 10:15am |
| Category | News |
| News Date | Mar 15, 2004 12:00am |
| Description | he Rev. Al Sharpton will discuss ending his failing presidential campaign with representatives of Democratic nominee John Kerry as soon as today, party insiders told The Post.
The discussion is expected to include a pledge from the Kerry camp that the controversial Sharpton "will play some role" in the Democratic campaign against President Bush - with the exact role to be determined only after Sharpton officially calls it quits.
"The Kerry people are frankly concerned about whether they can trust Sharpton," said a senior New York Democrat familiar with the talks.
"And, well, you can't blame them."
Democratic insiders said Sharpton, whose efforts to duplicate the voter turnouts of Jesse Jackson's past presidential runs fell embarrassingly short, would likely play "hard to get" with Kerry.
But they also warn he better not play too hard. "The Kerry camp thinks that, on balance, they might be better off without Sharpton on their side," said the senior state Democrat.
Responded a source close to Sharpton, "If the Kerry campaign messes with Rev. Sharpton, they do so at their own peril."
Still, it remains to be seen how much power Sharpton has left to wield after disappointing finishes in primaries and caucuses all over the country.
Sharpton failed to come close to repeating Jackson's 1988 victories in Wisconsin, Michigan and South Carolina, hovering in the low single digits in most states and collecting just 27 delegates. The Rev. even got trounced in his home state of New York, where he pulled in a paltry 8 percent of the vote on Super Tuesday, and failed to carry any congressional districts throughout the five boroughs. |
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