Sharpton: A Political Force, Even When Not Running
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
With no stated plans to make another run for president, the Reverend Al Sharpton has instead pulled together a tremendous speaker list for a convention on civil rights, bringing major presidential candidates, top press and broadcast personalities, and influential business leaders to the city over the next few days.
His four-day convention, which begins today at the Sheraton Hotel in Midtown, features senators Clinton and Obama, the CEO of Wal-Mart, Lee Scott, Governor Spitzer, and the Democratic National Committee chairman, Howard Dean, to name a few. The series of roundtables and forums that compose the event focus on various issues involving race and civil rights.
The impressive list of speakers serves in many ways as testimony to the power of Rev. Sharpton, an outspoken critic of racial inequalities who gained national attention in his failed bid for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2004.
His syndicated radio show, based in New York City, has become an almost obligatory stop for public figures attempting to recover from race-related gaffes. In the days after making comments perceived as racist, Senator Biden and radio host Don Imus stopped in on the show to do damage control.
The convention seeks to flesh out the positions of major Democratic presidential candidates, the acting director of Mr. Sharpton’s National Action Network, Charles King, said, as guests will hear from Governor Richardson, Senator Dodd, Mrs. Clinton, and Mr. Obama as part of its candidate series. Another presidential candidate, John Edwards, a former Democratic senator of North Carolina, will be appearing at an invitation-only event today.
Mr. King said the National Action Network wants to have a separate event for Republican candidates, though there will be plenty of time devoted to conflicting viewpoints in the event. Rev. Sharpton is scheduled Friday night for a tête-à-tête with a radio and television host who is known to focus on conservative issues, Sean Hannity.
“If anybody thought Al Sharpton was out of business, they were doubly wrong,” a political consultant, Hank Sheinkopf, said. “He has become more influential and more significant of late,” using both his political and broadcast stardom.
