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Candidate Bio
Al Sharpton
Political affiliation:
Democratic Party
Born:
October 3, 1954
Brooklyn, NY
Personal:
Married to singer Kathy Jordan. Two children. Pentecostal.
Occupation:
Minister
Education:
Attended Brooklyn College, 1973-75
Experience:
Candidate for State Senate, 1978; Candidate for US Senate, 1992 & 1994; Candidate for New York City Mayor, 1997. Licensed and ordained a Minister at age 10 ; appointed Junior Pastor of the Washington Temple congregation. Founder & President, National Action Network, 1991-present. Founder, National Youth Movement, 1971. Road Manager for singer James Brown, 1973-80.
On the Issues

Highlights

Sharpton's speech to the Democratic National Convention (6/28/03)
Links and Resources
Web site:
Document al2004.org
Campaign contributors:
Document Political Money Line
Candidate Pages

Al Sharpton

SNAPSHOT
Al Sharpton was one of only two candidates not named Kerry still in the race by the time Democrats held their national convention in Boston in July 2004. But he pulled out of the race, and was given a prime-time speaking role. Taking 20 minutes to speak, when he was given only 6, Sharpton electrified the delegates with a spirited rebuke of President George W. Bush, in what was a carefully scripted convention that sought to avoid direct attacks on Bush.

Hardly a word about Al Sharpton has been written in the mainstream media without "controversial" being placed before his name. Critics say he's little more than a publicity seeker who straddles the line of right and wrong. Time magazine says Sharpton views the campaign as his chance to displace Rev. Jesse Jackson as the icon of black leadership in America. He's a liberal Democrat who thinks the party's move to the center has come at the expense of the poor and minorities. He first gained national attention in the 1980s for defending Tawanna Brawley, who claimed to the victim of a racial attack. It turned out to be a hoax. Past political aspirations were muted by the 2002 HBO airing of a film showing Sharpton allegedly aggreeing to participate in money laundering for illegal, Mafia-connected cocaine deals; a tape which Sharpton said was an FBI set-up.

Laura Bush campaigns for the president
First Lady Laura Bush told a cheering crowd in St. Paul Friday afternoon her husband has worked hard for all Americans since becoming president, and it's time for Americans to help re-elect him and Vice President Cheney. Laura Bush's stop in Minnesota was part of a two-day swing through three states considered to be battlegrounds in this fall's presidential election.
Kerry rolls out campaign for the veterans' vote in Minneapolis visit
Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry on Friday celebrated the "special bond" he shares with other veterans across the country as he formally rolled out his campaign for the traditionally conservative-leaning veterans' vote.
John Kerry trying to tap support from vets
John Kerry thinks he can attract veterans who usually vote for Republicans because, Kerry says, the Bush administration has "broken faith with veterans." The Bush-Cheney 2004 campaign claims it has solid support from veterans that's not eroding.
Ralph Nader at the National Press Club
"Breaking the two-party system" is the title of an address by Independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.
Kerry to push for veterans' support in Minnesota visit
Sen. John Kerry plans to make another campaign stop in Minnesota Friday, on the University of Minnesota campus in Minneapolis. While in the state, the presumptive Democratic nominee will roll out a national Veterans for Kerry campaign organization. Kerry's visit comes as a Minnesota Public Radio - Pioneer Press poll shows the presidential race is virtually even in the state. MPR's David Molpus reached Kerry on the campaign trail in Florida Wednesday.
Campaign finance reform
A program at the University of Minnesota's Humphrey Institute, featuring Minnesota native Norm Ornstein, a visiting scholar at the Center for the Study of Politics, and Kenneth Goldstein, an associate professor of political science at the University of Wisconsin, Madison.
MPR Poll: Growing concern about involvement in Iraq
A new poll finds growing concern about the aftermath of the war in Iraq, even though a majority of Minnesotans say the U.S. was right to invade Iraq. The Minnesota Public Radio-St. Paul Pioneer Press poll also found most Minnesotans want the U.S. to stabilize Iraq, even if it takes awhile. Yet many people say they believe the Bush administration misled the public about the reasons for going to war.
MPR Poll: Presidential race is a close one
A new Minnesota Public Radio-Pioneer Press poll shows the presidential race is extremely close in Minnesota. The poll shows Democrat John Kerry with a slight lead over Republican incumbent George W. Bush, although that lead is within the poll's margin of sampling error. The poll also shows President Bush's approval ratings have steadily dropped over the past year.
Iraq taking heavy toll on Bush five months before election
Five months before the election, President Bush confronts a grim picture in Iraq of rising casualties, growing violence, skittish allies and Arab anger. To the administration's dismay, the setbacks have drowned out news of an improving economy at home and have pushed Iraq to the top of Americans' concerns. Those anxieties have helped drive down Bush's approval ratings to the lowest point of his presidency and stirred deep doubts about his handling of Iraq.
Bush says U.S. will persevere in Iraq
President Bush, trying to dispel rising doubts about the war, declared Monday night the United States would stay in Iraq until it was free and democratic and suggested more U.S. soldiers might have to be sent to stop enemy forces bent on destroying the new government. In a prime-time address at the U.S. Army War College, he also promised to demolish the Abu Ghraib prison that has become an ugly symbol of the U.S. occupation.
Sen. Dayton's speech and analysis
Minnesota Democratic Senator Mark Dayton's fiery speech to the DFL convention delegates about President Bush and Senator Coleman, and analysis by Lawrence Jacobs, director of the 2004 Elections Project at the University of Minnesota Humphrey Institute's Center for the Study of Politics.
Kerry, Nader meet; Democrat doesn't ask rival to bow out
Democrat John Kerry said Wednesday he believes his candidacy will attract Ralph Nader supporters and "reduce any rationale" for the independent's candidacy as the two men prepared to meet. In an interview with reporters and editors of The Associated Press, Kerry said he would never ask another candidate to bow out of the race.
From the right to vote to holding elected office
Political analyst Eleanor Clift, author of "Founding Sisters and the Nineteenth Amendment," speaking Tuesday at the Minnesota Women's Campaign Fund luncheon in Minneapolis. She is a contributing editor at Newsweek, and a regular panelist on the McLaughlin Group television program.
The Bush campaign tries to overcome challenges
With the Iraqi prisoner controversy brewing, the Bush campaign could console itself with recent good news on the economy. But a recent Wall Street Journal/ NBC News poll says a majority of voters believe the economy is worsening.
Bush, buoyed by economic news, appeals to voters in Iowa, Wisconsin
Bearing good news on the economy, President Bush touted his tax cuts Friday as he campaigned in the Mississippi River farmlands of Iowa and Wisconsin, a region that eluded him in the 2000 election.

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