Not long ago, I opened a fortune cookie and received a Confucian tidbit of great wisdom. \A metal pole ground too hard,"" my fortune read, ""becomes a needle.""
Until a few weeks ago I was a supporter of Howard Dean for the Democratic presidential nomination. Dean seemed like the perfect alternative for this country: a straight-talking, realistic candidate who had in his mind a vision for a better America. We had a hard road ahead to reach the door to a greater tomorrow, it seemed, but once we got there Howard Dean was the metal pole that could knock the door down.
It turned out, however, that Dean was not quite what he seemed. As he became the front runner for the nomination, he seemed more and more like the Washington politicians against whom he had portrayed himself as a refreshing alternative. By the time of his infamous (and greatly overplayed) ""I Have a Scream"" speech in Iowa, the metal pole Howard Dean was had ground down into a needle-sure, he could prick your finger, but in the end no amount of pricked fingers will knock down the door.
In fact, all the major candidates seem to have become needles. They can make all the pie-in-the-sky promises that they want, but the fact is that those promises will be almost impossible to implement. Just as an example, Missouri Rep. Richard Gephardt, who has dropped out of the race, promised a balanced budget, expansive international trade agreements and universal health care for all Americans. In fact, the candidate who has the best grip on the reality of America today is the Rev. Al Sharpton.
Rev. Sharpton is not a politician. Rather, he is an accomplished civil rights advocate and his policy positions demonstrate that. His candidacy is based not on empty rhetoric that he will have to compromise when he becomes president, but on moderate and realistic goals.
On his campaign Web site- http://www.Sharpton2004.org-Rev. Sharpton lists the 10 goals of his candidacy. These goals include helping to provide solutions to the nation's educational crisis, raising issues like affirmative action that might otherwise go largely overlooked in the primaries and stimulating wider political involvement for Americans.
These goals are far more basic than fundamentally changing the overall stance of the United States on foreign policy, a promise Howard Dean has made, yet they would arguably have a better effect on the everyday life of Americans than the too-good-to-be-true positions that some of the other candidates have proposed.
What makes Rev. Sharpton so appealing is that he has based his campaign on what he can accomplish by campaigning. Though he probably will not win (and, unlike U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, the other candidate who was never given a chance, he is aware of this) Rev. Sharpton has brought attention to important issues simply by going on the campaign trail.
Rev. Sharpton has been the voice of reason at several presidential debates. While the other candidates have often attacked one another to accentuate differences that were not really that important, it was Rev. Sharpton who reminded the Democrats that they share most of the same goals.
When Dean attacked Gephardt on his health care proposals at one debate, Sharpton reprimanded Dean and lightened the mood in the room at the same time. ""Brother Howard,"" the reverend said, ""may I remind you that we are all supposed to be on the same side.""
I never thought I would say this, but come Feb. 17 I will vote for a man who will clearly not be the next president of the United States. I support Al Sharpton not because of what he says he will do. I support him because of what his candidacy already has done for the Democratic Party and, hopefully, will do for the country later if a Democrat wins. The proposed Constitutional amendment he supports that would guarantee a quality public education may not be implemented. But Rev. Sharpton has become a prominent enough figure that any Democrat will listen to his ideas about education reform.
Al Sharpton will not be president. But whoever the next president is, he can be an integral part of the pole that helps break that door to a better America down. No matter what you may think about him, Rev. Sharpton is the one candidate who will never become a needle.
