Sharpton's Support Slips Despite National Attention

[Freddie Stubbs]

On Saturday, he pulled in big ratings as host of "Saturday Night Live." On Tuesday, he drew both applause and laughs in a nationally televised debate. On Wednesday, the day after a rival was endorsed by a former vice president, Al Gore, he sat down in Harlem for a private meeting with a former president, Bill Clinton.

Still, even as the Rev. Al Sharpton raises his national stature by running for the Democratic nomination for president, his political support at home in New York is slipping away, according to Democratic officials and strategists.

Only a handful of senior black elected officials have endorsed him, and many others, like Representative Charles B. Rangel and State Senator David A. Paterson, both of Harlem, have quite prominently endorsed his opponents.

This development has not gone unnoticed: Mr. Sharpton issued a threat this week, making it clear that he intends to put his political organization's machinery to work against the re-election of those local officials who abandoned him.

more: http://www.nytimes.com/2003/12/12/nyregion/12SHAR.html?pagewanted=print&position=

[stopthegop]

1. or..maybe his support is slipping because he's

getting national attention

[Jerseycoa]

2. Controversial

Sharpton's always been a divisive figure in New York politics. Love him or hate him kind of thing. The admiration he's drawn in this primary race has been kind of amusing to watch. Sooner or later, despite drawing a steady 20-30% of the vote whenever he runs for anything, there's trouble with the local Dems.


:dem: