Sharpton may not see much support in presidential bid

BOSTON -- If the turnout at a Boston rally the day after announcing a presidential run is any measure, the Rev. Al Sharpton has got his work cut out for him.

At Prince Hall Grand Lodge in a predominantly black neighborhood, 75 people showed up Saturday, and they had plenty of time to get there -- Sharpton was 90 minutes late.

But the civil-rights preacher says it's his duty to run; the Democratic Party has shifted too far to the right, he says, leaving blacks and other minorities behind.

Sharpton was a guest preacher at two Boston churches Sunday, and on Monday he's scheduled to meet political and business leaders, including Boston Mayor Thomas Menino. He concludes his trip Monday evening with a speech sponsored by Harvard Law School.

He hopes to return to Boston for the 2004 Democratic National Convention -- as a candidate for president.

But pollsters doubt the New Yorker, who in the past has been accused of polarizing blacks and whites, can organize a national campaign to make himself a serious candidate. Pickup-truck drivers in Iowa and New Hampshire, home of the first presidential primaries, don't relate to him, observers say.

Sharpton, 48, says that doesn't matter.

"Politics is about serving the interests of people and moving toward progress, it's not about betting on winners," he said. "It's about moving society, and that's why I'm prepared to make this race. The question is not if I run, can I win. If I run, we can't lose."

Sharpton has many thoughts about fellow Democrats and President Bush's foreign policy.

Bush wants to invade Iraq to get control of its oil reserves, Sharpton charged Saturday, and the Democratic Party treats black voters like mistresses: "They want to have fun with us on Election Day but they can't bring us home to introduce us to their mommies and daddies. We are not going to continue to be the concubines of the national Democratic Party."

State Rep. Byron Rushing of Boston said Sharpton speaks for the disenfranchised.

"But a large percentage of those people who feel most disenfranchised don't use their franchise," Rushing said. "He has to organize them to register, but most importantly, to turn out to vote and to do all the important political activity that you have to do to support a political campaign like this."

Rushing says Sharpton isn't afraid to speak the truth.

"The question is, how big is the group of people who want their leaders to be talking like that," he said.

Pollsters say that group is small. Maurice Carroll, who heads Quinnipiac University Polling Institute, said Sharpton is unlikely to challenge top Democrats in the race.

Senators John Kerry of Massachusetts and John Edwards of North Carolina have joined outgoing Vermont Gov. Howard Dean in forming exploratory committees. Senators Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut and Tom Daschle of South Dakota, as well as Rep. Richard Gephardt of Missouri, are expected to announce their plans soon.

"It's not a serious candidacy in the sense that he expects to win," Carroll said. "He's a protest candidate, he's a movement candidate, not because he's black. You know he's not going to be president of the United States. He knows he will not be president of the United States."