Charleston City Councilman, who switched to GOP, co-chairs Democrat's S.C. effort
BY SCHUYLER KROPF
Of The Post and Courier Staff
Charleston City Councilman and mayoral candidate Kwadjo Campbell insists he's still a Republican even as he's trying to get Democrat Al Sharpton elected to the White House.
Campbell is co-chairman of Sharpton's South Carolina campaign in preparation for the Feb. 4 Democratic presidential primary. He was with Sharpton Sunday when he stumped in a predominately black Methodist church on Johns Island.
Campbell said there is no conflict in what he's doing. Republicans voted for Charleston Mayor Joseph P. Riley Jr. in past elections, he said, so his efforts to help a Democrat like Sharpton are politically acceptable. "Kwadjo Campbell is still his own man," he said.
When he left the Democrats last December, Campbell pegged his switch on the perception that the Democratic Party has taken black voters for granted, while at the same time contending that black South Carolinians have a better chance of prospering if they can gain strength in both major parties.
But since his switch, Charleston County Republican Party Chairwoman Linda Butler Johnson said Campbell's GOP credentials have not been widely recognized by the party. Campbell has attended one of the local party's executive committee meetings -- in July, she said, adding that he's done little else. "It's the first and the only time I've ever seen him anywhere," she said. "He's not shown me that he's a Republican. My response is that anyone can say anything. The proof is in their actions."
Johnson said she would expect Campbell as a Republican to support President Bush's re-election bid. Campbell said that isn't going to happen. "George Bush has a long way to go before he wins my support," he said.
The strength of what Sharpton is doing in running, Campbell said, is in getting black voters to register and become interested in the political process. Sharpton favors economic development and self-determination in black communities, said Campbell. "We're singing the same tune," he said and compared Sharpton's bid to the interest Jesse Jackson sparked when he ran for president.
Campbell is one of four candidates in the nonpartisan mayoral race trying to defeat Riley, a seven-term incumbent.
Campbell said he'll support other Republicans in 2004, including Charleston developer Thomas Ravenel, who is running in the Republican race to fill the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by retiring Democrat Fritz Hollings.
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