I'm not loving Sharpton's speech

[theboss]

I know that candidates have to declare every setback a victory, but I don't ever remember hearing that Sharpton wouldn't do well in the South. Half the voters in SC are black; he should have done much better there.

And I didn't like him naming the candidates he "beat."

I just didn't like the tone.

[Dookus]

1. I agree....

it was pretty ungracious.

[rockymountaindem]

2. I feel the same way.

Not the nicest things to say. Nobody likes a sore winner.

[Rowdyboy]

3. He's hurt and he's embarrassed

He should have been a contender here if he expects to be anywhere

[Dob Bole]

4. He looked like a black mob boss

I like Sharpton, though. He's funny.

[JasonBerry]

5. Exit polls

Exit polls showed 78% of blacks did NOT support Sharpton. Uh, Al??

[theboss]

8. One thing is Clear: He is no Jesse

Jesse united the black vote behind him and got white progressives to vote for him.

It's now becoming obvious that Sharpton has no consituency.

[lastknowngood]

6. He better crow tonight after the word gets out that

he is a republican shill paid by the guy who staged the Florida "revolt" he will be looking for a hole to hide in and I hope the black community will reject him as a traitor

[bhunt70]

19. why a traitor?

because they are black and he is black?

[John_H]

7. If the GOP mole thing is true, he needs to take a hike.

[NashVegas]

10. It's True

And he needs to take a hike. Two days ago, I thought the NY Times was wrong to call for Al to step down. Today, a whole 'nuther thing.

[abburdlen]

9. I'm a little troubled

by that line
"Half the voters in SC are black; he should have done much better there."

So CMB should have stayed in because more than half the voters are women?

[theboss]

12. I'm using Jesse Jackson's campaign as a comparison

Jesse got a huge percentage of the black vote and it won him states. This should be Sharpton's main constituency, and 3 out of 4 voted against him.

[abburdlen]

13. Maybe it was Jackson's

Message rather than the color of his skin.
Maybe, stranger things have happened

[theboss]

15. I'm a numbers wonk

It's nothing more than that; trust me. The "black" vote is the same to me as the "union" vote or the "veteran" vote.

Two weeks ago, I was commenting on how the union vote abandoned Gephardt in Iowa. Candidates have constituencies.

Would it bother you if I said that veterans voted for Kerry over Clark? They did and it is an important point.

[abburdlen]

17. I'm okay-you're okay

I trust that you didn't have malicious intentions with the comment. I agree voters have their constituencies and understand that it is a fact of life that folks support the ones they identify with.
I'm guilty of it too but Sharpton got labled as the black candidate (CMB took the mantle of women candidate) I never heard folks saying Gephardt ought to do well because of his blonde hair. I just don't understand

It's my pet peeve and I'm a bit on the touchy side this evening. After everything settles down manybe I'll start a new thread in the general discussion.

[eridani]

20. Remember the Rainbow Coalition?

Thatis what distinguises Jackson from Sharpton. Jackson bothered to organize outside his base; Sharpton didn't. He won't get my vote because he never asked for it, really. If Jackson could campaign in lily-white Iowa, learn their issues, appeal to them and come out with a very good showing, Sharpton could have done the same.

Still, he's a good speaker, and as a Kucinich supporter it ill behooves me to ask anyone else to drop out.

[theboss]

21. True, but Jackson had a base to build from

I don't think Sharpton even has a base at this point.

[liberalnurse]

11. I want to slap Sharpton's donkey.

A real disappointment.

[Anwen]

14. I also didn't care for the tone.

It's wasn't very gracious, naming all the candidates he beat, etc.

[fujiyama]

16. I never really...

cared for him. I thought he was funny and amusing at times during the debates, but I never found him as anything more than comic relief.

I didn't bother watching his speech because I find him irrelevant. I think it's time for him to leave.

[George_Bonanza]

18. I believe he said that the political machine was behind Kerry

Or that Kerry had a big political machine. Not too gracious.

[grisvador]

22. Black voters don't just

vote for black candidates - wow - they want to win the Presidency back too