Burnt Orange Report

Byron, I think Al Sharpton got just a tad off message tonight. Okay, maybe alot off message. I'm sure he will get dresed down by Kerry people about that speech. Just when people were finally starting to believe the convention had a moderate tone, Al to go pull a fast one on Kerry. I was watching CNN when the speech ended and Judy Woodruff was about ready to ring Al's neck herself. Then they turned it over to Candy Crowley to speak with the Reverend after the speech and you could tell that she was pissed off too. She asked him in a very accusatory tone "was this speech approved by the Kerry campaign?" and Al said that "the tone of the speech was approved". Then Candy followed up with, "but were the actual words approved Reverend?" Al said that "I had to answer Bush's questions from last Fridays Urban League meeting". It was hilarious watching the pundits get all pissed at Al from deviating from the plan. I wonder who they are pulling for in November?

Well, I think the Rev. Al Sharpton did what he was supposed to do, even though his speech didn't follow the overall platform (one America, etc). Afterall many of the journalists reported that the convention producers anticipated this and planned accordingly. He spoke to minorities tonight, in an attempt to galvanize those voters, and as well as the left side of the democratic party. He knew what he was doing and I think the DNC knew as well. Regardless, people loved it on the floor and we certainly cheered in my living room.

I missed the Sharpton speech. I was doing an interview at the time...

Sharpton's speech played a valuable role. Minorities must be given a reason to vote on 11/2/2004 and not go fishing. Black support for Kerry is very broad, but not very deep. With voter turnout traditionaly low in minority communities, they need to be specifically addressed to get turnout up. Al played that role.