November 30, 2007
Obama Woos Sharpton at Sylvia's, Sharpton Said Dems Have Marginalized Black Voters
Barack Obama spoke to a packed crowd at the Apollo Thursday night. But the real story happened a few hours before, when he sat down to have dinner with the Rev. Al Sharpton at Sylvia's Restaurant, a Harlem institution.
Obama had showed up at Sharpton's office just a few blocks away earlier in the day to ask the reverend to have dinner with him at Sylvia's so they could talk about the importance of hate crime legislation. The Obama campaign made sure to invite the New York and national press along to photograph the event.
Sharpton said repeatedly that his meeting with Obama was not an endorsement of the senator, though he did praise him for paying attention to the issue of hate crimes, reports NBC/NJ's Aswini Anburajan.
"And we are trying to get hate crime legislation, and I think it showed something for him to call us and bring me to dinner and say I want to come out strong on it," Sharpton said.
Asked if the meeting had moved the reverend closer to endorsing, "Well, we'll wait and see. I didn't go to the Apollo because I'm not endorsing," Sharpton added.
Sharpton bashes Dem candidates after the jump ...
Though this was not an endorsement of Obama, the picture of Obama with Sharpton recalled an image from the 1992 Democratic primary, when the mayor of Chicago insisted that he wasn't endorsing then Gov. Bill Clinton but allowed himself to be photographed with him. It was a tacit acknowledgment of support and helped Clinton considerably in Illinois. The question from last night is whether or not Sharpton was doing the same thing.
"Tonight he came to Harlem, and he came with a message that Harlem might want someone to discuss at a presidential level and that is hate crime," Sharpton praised Obama.
Sharpton added that he was looking to meet with all the Democratic candidates, including Hillary Clinton, on the issue of hate crimes and feels the issue is as urgent as ever because 2007 had been the year of Imus, Jena and hangman's noses, adding that a noose had been found at Obama's alma mater, Columbia University. He said that Obama had promised to bring up the issue during debates.
Whatever Sharpton's feelings, he had sharp words for the Democratic candidates on their treatment of black voters. He called African Americans the "most loyal constituency" of the Democratic party, but said they have been "marginalized" in their treatment by the candidates.
"I think the Democratic candidates take us for granted," he said and later added, "They want 90 percent of the black vote but they want to act like we are a marginal issue. To me that's offensive."
Sharpton also appeared to agree with Jesse Jackson's comments that aside from John Edwards, the Democratic candidates have not focused on issues of racial inequality, but but also praised Obama for reaching out on the issue.
"I've been saying all year that there has not been given a priority given to the concerns of African Americans and the concerns of racial disparity. ... How do our candidates expect our people to vote 90 percent for them and they are not giving any concern. Obama heard that and that's one of the things we talked about in my office and riding over here," Sharpton said.
Posted at 08:15 AM
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