Joint Center News from the Convention Floor - Thursday, July 29, 2004
Sharpton Captures Crowd on Edwards' Night to Bask
BOSTON—It was John Edwards’ night, but Rev. Al Sharpton stole the show.
Both former presidential hopefuls spoke to the Democratic Convention in prime time, Edwards as John Kerry’s vice presidential choice and Sharpton in a supporting role. But it was Sharpton who had the joint rockin’.
In remarks that were twice as long as his prepared text and took three times the allotted minutes to deliver, Sharpton broke from the polite tone of many convention speeches and directly blasted President Bush.
“It is frightening to think that the gains of civil and women’s rights and those movements in the last century could be reversed if this administration is in the White House in these next four years,†Sharpton said as the crowd cheered. “I suggest to you tonight that if George Bush had selected the court in '54, Clarence Thomas would have never got to law school.â€
The delegates loved it.
“Electrifying and extraordinary,†was Rep. Chaka Fattah’s reaction. The Philadelphia congressman said Sharpton hit all of the points to unify convention delegates, “as if they were spokes on a wheel.â€
After Sharpton, the other speakers seemed flat in comparison. Many delegates chatted with neighbors or left the convention floor. But when Edwards entered the auditorium, they gave their excited, placard waving attention to the man they hope will be vice president next year.
As he did during the presidential primaries, Edwards spoke passionately of “two Americas,†of unequal educational and health care systems for the rich and for everyone else. He spoke about his working class parents and the dreams deferred by illness, layoffs and financial problems. And he spoke from experience about the racism that has divided the nation.
“From the time I was very young, I saw the ugly face of segregation and discrimination,†he recalled. “I saw young African American kids sent upstairs in movie theaters. I saw ‘white only’ signs on restaurant doors and luncheon counters. I feel such an enormous responsibility when it comes to issues of race and equality and civil rights.â€
Reminiscent of Rev. Jesse Jackson, who ended his speech earlier yesterday with his trademark, “Keep hope alive!†Edwards said: “So when you return home, you might pass a mother on her way to work the late-shift, you tell her -- hope is on the way. When your brother calls and says that he's working all the time at the office and still can't get ahead, you tell him -- hope is on the way. When your parents call and tell you their medical bills are through the roof, you tell them --hope is on the way.â€
Whether he has the opportunity to transform his feelings of hope and responsibility into real action depends on what the voters decide in November. “There will be a lot riding on this election,†said Reg Weaver, president of the National Education Association and a Joint Center board member.
Minutes before, Weaver had introduced Barack Obama, the Black U.S. Senate candidate who thoroughly impressed the convention with his Tuesday night keynote address. Attendees at the NEA reception simply fawned over Obama, who thanked them for their work with children.
Weaver said in an interview that the NEA, which has endorsed Obama, has been “extremely effective in terms of getting candidates elected that we recommend. We are in the 70th percentile in most instances.â€
But he knows that it will be the voter turnout, not NEA’s past record, that will make the difference in the presidential election. And he expects that the Black turnout will be very good.
“If I had to say today,†he said, “I would say the turnout in the minority communities will be extremely high.â€
Joe Davidson is the editor of FOCUS magazine at the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies. More on Barack Obama and his senate campaign appears in the July/August issue of FOCUS.