The Rev. Al Sharpton sits in contemplation during Sunday services at Carpentersville Baptist Church in North Augusta. Michael Holahan/Staff

Hopeful reaches to black voters

AIKEN - Using a mix of old-time gospel preaching skill and a blunt appeal to his audience's self-interest, the Rev. Al Sharpton said black South Carolinians should vote for him in Tuesday's Democratic presidential primary because none of the other candidates will doggedly represent their interests at the party's convention in Boston.

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Meeting the issue of "electability" head on, the Rev. Sharpton visited three churches and a town meeting Sunday in Aiken County, where he countered the notion that people who vote for him are wasting their ballots because he can't win the nomination.

"The best bet you can make is casting a vote where you know you can't lose," he said during an afternoon town-hall meeting at the Smith-Hazel Recreation Center in Aiken.

"If you vote for Al Sharpton and I carry enough delegates to the convention, they can't ignore, marginalize or walk around you. You can't lose with me," he said.

The Rev. Sharpton, shown in several polls to be running fifth with 4 percent to 6 percent of the vote, compared his candidacy to the Rev. Jesse Jackson's presidential runs in 1984 and 1988.

Although the Rev. Jackson won only two primaries in 1984 - in Louisiana and the District of Columbia - and did poorly in his home state of South Carolina, he won enough delegates to be a force at the Democratic convention both years, the Rev. Sharpton said.

Weekend polls by both InsiderAdvantage and Zogby International show U.S. Sen. John Edwards, of North Carolina, leading U.S. Sen. John Kerry, of Massachusetts by four to nine percentage points in South Carolina, but both surveys also show a hefty undecided vote - between 20 percent and 22 percent.

That put a premium on Mr. Sharpton's pitch to black voters, who make up more than 22 percent of the state's registered voters and more than half of the Democratic vote on any given Election Day.

Some listeners remained unconvinced.

''It ain't all about blacks; it's about all the people being together. He's got some good issues, but it's got to be about all of us together," said Len Stokes, 40, a truck driver and member of Carpentersville Baptist Church in North Augusta, where the Rev. Sharpton had about 200 members and visitors standing, applauding and shouting approval of his part-sermon, part-political pitch.

"He got my vote," said Garen Cofer, 37, an assistant principal at Aiken High School and co-chairman of the church's board of deacons. "Whether he gets a few delegates or not, at least the message will be heard."

The Rev. Sharpton said he supported the state party's decision to make voters sign an oath that they are Democrats in order to participate in Tuesday's contest.

South Carolina doesn't require voters to declare party affiliation, creating the potential for an open election. However, because the parties control and pay for the primaries, the "loyalty oath" is legal, election officials said.

"It is healthy that we not have people who are not Democrats participating in the primary because it could lead to mischief from Republicans," the Rev. Sharpton said.

However, elected officials backing other presidential candidates said the state Democratic Party is abandoning one of its stated goals for holding the primary: to attract independent voters and disgruntled Republicans.

"I disagree with that," said state Rep. Bill Clyburn, D-Aiken., noting that the new requirement will hurt his candidate, Mr. Edwards, who is leaning heavily on independents. "That's no way to win back the state."

--From the Monday, February 2, 2004 printed edition of the Augusta Chronicle