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Candidates Speak Out On Senior Issues

Rev. Al Sharpton Bio | Sharpton Responses | Main Candidate Page

Reverend Al Sharpton is a Democratic frontrunner for the office of President of the United States-- so states a new special analysis of likely Democratic voters conducted for the National Newspaper Publishers Association News Service (NNPA) by the Gallup Organization. Reverend Al Sharpton is the Democrat most favored to win Democratic Nomination for President among black voters.

Based on interviews conducted with 205 African-Americans, Gallup found that Reverend Al Sharpton easily leads the Democratic field with 22%, well ahead of the runner-up retired Army General Wesley Clark at 13%, and 15 points ahead of African-American candidate Carol Moseley Braun who garnered only 7%. According to the poll, Lieberman has 12% percent support among African Americans, Dean 8%, Gephardt 6%, Kerry 5%, Edwards 5% and Kucinich 1%. The Gallup polls were conducted September 19-21, Oct. 6-8 and Oct 10-12.

“This is a significant poll because it speaks to the fundamental premise of my campaign--that the national black community is hungry for a candidate who speaks to their issues and is ready, willing, and able to rally around me,” said Sharpton. “This poll demonstrates that my national grassroots campaign targeted to the base of the Party is clearly working and serves notice that the issues we are bringing to the table cannot be ignored.”

Reverend Sharpton recently concluded a national tour of colleges and universities and was greeted by over one thousand students at the University of Virginia, many of whom were not African American. Sharpton plans to continue his national grassroots effort with visits to black churches and community centers in Michigan and Washington D.C. in the next several days.

Sharpton will also continue his effort to build a diverse national coalition of progressive voters and groups to ensure that issues of central importance such as health care, securing the right to vote and education in minority communities remain front in center in our national debate.

“My campaign is not based upon political endorsements but rather the endorsement of the urban and rural communities of this nation that have gone too long without real representation,” added Sharpton. “I am pleased that today's poll shows that we are gaining the endorsement from the only group that really counts- Democratic Primary voters.”

Reverend Al Sharpton has been called, “smart, articulate, and eloquent, and anyone that has ever heard him talk from a pulpit can testify, Sharpton is a man with a heart and firm ideological beliefs.” “He has a command of politics that rivals some of the great New York party bosses, and no less significant, he has an understanding of the way the press works that rivals more than a few city editors” (Adam Nagourney, The New York Times - Dec. 1, 2002).

Ever since his surrogate father, the Godfather of Soul, James Brown, told him, “you can't set your sights on nothing little…you got to go for the whole hog,” Reverend Al Sharpton has been doing just that. Whether it was his run for United States Senator in 1992, in which he received more votes than a sitting New York City district attorney, or a prospective run for President of the United States in 2004, “The Rev” as he is affectionately called by his closest friends and supporters, has rejuvenated the Civil Rights movement while raising the bar for political participation for people of color.

Some would say that Alfred Charles Sharpton, Jr. was always destined for greatness. Counting among his mentors the late New York congressman and minister, Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., the Godfather of Soul, James Brown, and another well known civil rights preacher, Rev. Jesse L. Jackson, Sr. Rev. Sharpton has emerged as the most important Black leader in the country.

In his recent book, “AL ON AMERICA,” Sharpton says that “Presidential politics has become too narrow. It has become an exclusive club for white males, of a certain income, of a certain age.” “People are living in fear and we have to break that cycle and offer them more than words.” He states: “I am running for president to finally put the issues concerning most Americans on to the front burner…” “…I'm qualified, probably more qualified than any other person who is expected to be on the Democratic ticket for 2004, because I actually have a following and I speak for the people…” “I'm running to bring liberalism back to the Democratic Party because liberalism works for the working class.”

Reverend Sharpton's record speaks for itself. In a 1999, when a young unarmed African immigrant was gunned down in the vestibule of his home by four New York City police officers, Sharpton led 1,600 people in the civil disobedience protest arrest. The throngs that followed him to jail in this protest included former mayors, congressman and religious and community leaders across racial, ethnic and political lines.

His platform against racial profiling and police brutality has reached an international audience, and his work on human rights issues has taken him recently to Accra, Ghana, where he served as a mediator in the conflict between the President of Liberia, Charles Taylor and rebel factions that were demanding he leave. Reverend Sharpton has led peaceful missions to Sudan, Israel, Europe, and Ghana. In Sudan, Sharpton visited the slave camps in a country whose religious war has left thousands of women and children at the hands of terrorist groups. In his visit to Israel and Palestine, he met with both Prime Minister Shimon Peres and Palestinian Leaser Yasir Arafat, calling for peace between the warring nations. Sharpton also visited Cuba, meeting with President Fidel Castro, and his mediation efforts between warring factions in Liberia this year, further illustrate Reverend Sharpton's leadership.

Perhaps one of Reverend Sharpton's most significant accomplishments was his sojourn to the island of Vieques, Puerto Rico in 2001. He was sentenced to 90-days in federal prison for protesting United States navy bombing activities, but while in prison, Reverend Sharpton fasted and mapped out a run for President today. Because of the stand that Reverend Al Sharpton took that summer, the U.S. President George W. Bush ordered the Navy to end their exercises this year.

Sharpton's stance on behalf of the disenfranchised has taken him “from the streets to the suites,” in his own words. In 1999, in a united voice with African -American advertising agencies and marketing and media outlets, he launched the “Madison Avenue Initiative” (MAI). The Madison Avenue Initiative, a program of the National Action Network---the not-for-profit civil rights organization that Reverend Sharpton founded in 1991-----was created to ensure that corporations and others doing business with advertising outlets around the country deal even-handedly with agencies, media outlets and publications run by people of color. Reverend Sharpton's work with the MAI has targeted major corporations, including PepsiCo, Colgate-Palmolive, Microsoft, and others whom have subsequently extended their advertising dollars to reach more of the African-American and Hispanic communities. MAI has closely scrutinized federal-government advertising contracts and is moving into cable industry regulation. Each year Reverend Sharpton convenes the MAI's Invitational Summit on Multicultural Marketing and Media-an event that annually brings together more than 300 advertising, marketing and media leaders, that “collectively, African-American, Hispanic-American and Asian-American populations form a trillion-dollar consumer base. Advertisers still do not know this information, and they should.”

Over the past decade, Sharpton's harshest critics have become his closest allies and supporters. Those who once shunned his outspoken position on issues involving people of color now attend his rallies with words of encouragement. While the pundits acrimoniously speak of politicians who visit Sharpton's headquarters as “kissing his ring,” he is simultaneously identified by Ms. Coretta Scott King, widow of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., as the “future leader of the civil rights movement.” Within a few short years he has opened almost 35 National Action Network chapters around the country.

Sharpton has been married to singer Kathy Jordan for 23 years. The couple has two daughters. There names are Dominique and Ashley, and they reside in New York.

REVEREND AL SHARPTON IS RUNNING FOR PRESIDENT TO:

Raise issues that would otherwise be overlooked.
Increase political consciousness and awareness.
Stimulate more people to get involved in the political process.
Increase voter registration.
Strengthen our REAL national security by fighting for human rights, the rule of law, and economic justice at home and abroad.
Fulfill American democracy by supporting voting rights or statehood for the 600,000 disenfranchised citizens of the District of Columbia.
Declare the RIGHT TO VOTE A HUMAN RIGHT
Declare EDUCATION A HUMAN RIGHT
Declare HEALTH CARE A HUMAN RIGHT
Rejuvenate the idea of putting AN EQUAL RIGHTS AMENDMENT FOR WOMEN (ERA) in the Constitution

I'm running to revive and reclaim our democracy and everywhere I go throughout America during this campaign, I will be challenging and urging students and grassroots activists, local city councils and mayors, county commissioners and school boards, state legislators and governors - as well as local and national leaders and organizations - to pass proclamations and resolutions, and to lobby Congress to support the four amendments in my platform: the RIGHT to vote, the RIGHT to a public education of equal high quality, the RIGHT to health care of equal high quality and the ERA, equal RIGHTS for women.

And, yes, I will challenge members of the U.S. House and Senate - and all the presidential candidates - to support this legislation. This campaign will serve as a launching pad and beginning for a new human rights and voter registration movement in this country. We are going to fight for each of these amendments - one at a time - throughout this campaign and beyond.

I'm running to win, and nobody knows - until they are actually nominated in Boston in July, 2004 - who will win the Democratic nomination and be elected President in 2004. We do know that only ONE of us will win.

But if I can help to advance this 10-point agenda, my campaign, the Democratic Party, and the American people will all have won and been well served.

This platform provides a rationale for my running, and gives meaning and uniqueness to my campaign. I'm running on a platform of HUMAN RIGHTS and CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS that will greatly benefit ALL of the American people.

Sharpton Responses to Survey

Rev. Sharpton's response is pending.