A Real Joker Plays The Race Card Again

The Rev. Al Sharpton, as quoted in this New York Times story yesterday about the Democratic presidential primary, which has now shifted to my home turf of course (with a reference to the Gerri Ferraro mess, which seems to have abated for the moment)…

In addition to Ms. Ferraro’s remark, Mr. Sharpton cited (Sen. Hillary) Clinton’s decision not to fire her top ally in Pennsylvania, Gov. Edward G. Rendell, for saying in February that some white voters there were “probably not ready to vote for an African-American candidate.”

“When you hear the lack of total denunciation of Ferraro, when you hear Rendell saying there are whites who will never vote for a black, one has to wonder if the Clinton campaign has a Pennsylvania strategy to appeal to voters on race,” Mr. Sharpton said in an interview. “I would hope Mrs. Clinton would make it clear that she is not doing that.”

Mr. Sharpton ran against Ms. Ferraro in 1992 in New York in a primary for a Senate seat.

A “Pennsylvania strategy”? Let’s see, how many ways do I object to that term (and though I suppose Tawana Brawley will always claim that she was gang-raped, what little credibility Sharpton had took a serious hit over that to the point where I don’t think he has the right to represent or speak for anyone). How much do I personally object to being lumped into such a demeaning characterization?

While I will admit that Ed Rendell’s statement looks bad when you consider that it comes on the heels of the Ferraro mess for the Clinton campaign (which also counts Rendell as a supporter of course), the fact of the matter is that Rendell happens to be right; he’s not attacking Obama in any way, but merely speaking the truth.

But of course, we can’t have Reverend Al admitting that, so instead, he has to create another tempest in the proverbial tea pot by linking Rendell somehow with Ferraro; I do not consider the former to be racist in any way, while I think the latter person needs to either obtain counseling or sit down with an audience of African American Democrats for a serious “heart to heart.”

I think Barack Obama has handled this whole mess fairly well, trying to stay out of the fray with Ferraro and let it run its course. But if The Reverend continues to interject himself into the campaign as a one-man “race police” squad, then I think the senator from Illinois should take this blowhard aside and tell him to shut his yap or else Obama will publicly disavow him (“reject,” “denounce” – whatever term meets the approval of Clinton and Tim Russert).