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The Rev. Al Sharpton speaks at Tabernacle Baptist Church about his candidacy for the 2004 Democratic presidential nomination. He says he'd like to debate President Bush.
ROB CARR/STAFF
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Sharpton rolls campaign to town
Web posted Monday, April 21, 2003
By Mike Wynn
| Staff Writer
The thought of it was so delicious that the Rev. Al Sharpton had to smile after he uttered the words.
A debate, presumably nationally televised, between himself - the winner of the Democratic presidential nomination - and President Bush. To this presidential hopeful, who was at Tabernacle Baptist Church on Monday for a speech billed as "Al on America," it would rival one of the best-known boxing matches in history.
"The only thing that would be equal to the Rumble in the Jumble would be a debate between George Bush and Al Sharpton," the longtime civil rights activist said, referring to the 1974 bout between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman in Zaire, Africa.
In his free-ranging speech before about 100 supporters, the Rev. Sharpton pulled no punches on a number of issues he hopes will separate him from a crowded field of Democratic presidential hopefuls.
For instance:
On the war in Iraq: "The fact of the matter is that we were told we were going to war because there were weapons of mass destruction. We have ended the war, and we can't find the weapons. Then if you question Bush, they say, 'Support our troops.' We support the troops. We love the troops. In fact, we loved the troops before they were troops, because the troops are our sons, our daughters, our nieces, our nephews. They're our troops. ... I think history will prove that this war was wrong."
On the Democratic Party: "We started advocating the same thing the other party does. We started supporting big business. We started supporting the death penalty and building jails and closing schools. And we certainly took for granted the votes of blacks and the votes of Latinos, and we certainly allowed people to enjoy our vote without being accountable to what we need in our communities."
On Mr. Bush's tax cut plan: "I would immediately revoke Bush's tax plan, if I was president. It's a tax cut to the rich and does not do anything but marginal help for working-class people."
The Rev. Sharpton acknowledged that some people consider him a fringe Democratic candidate. He said he plans to win the party's nomination, but noted that running for office is also about spotlighting issues, using the Rev. Jesse Jackson's failed presidential campaign in 1988 as an example.
"We didn't win the White House, but we were able to make apartheid a national issue. ... We were able to register enough voters to make it possible for the first black to be elected governor since slavery, Gov. (Douglas) Wilder of Virginia," he said. "We got more out of Jesse losing than what we got out of Bill Clinton winning."
Reach Mike Wynn at (706) 823-3218 or mwynn@augustachronicle.com.
--From the Tuesday, April 22, 2003 printed edition of the Augusta Chronicle
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