Democratic Demolition Derby

Rev. Al Sharpton succeeded in drawing first blood this week as Democratic presidential candidates entered a new phase marked by greater assaults on the frontrunner than on President Bush. In media and political commentary on the Faneuil Hall clash so far, Dean is described as provoking the bloodletting himself with his comments about "guys with Confederate flags."

But the unspoken story is also about the dynamics of black politics in the Democratic Party, and specifically about the conflict between Sharpton and the two Jesse Jacksons.

Up until this week, Sharpton has been a constructive, almost benign, presence in the primary debates, calling on his competing colleagues to focus on the Bush Administration. Even Rev. Jesse Jackson had noted the value of Sharpton (and Carol Mosely Braun) in keeping the Democratic candidates from backsliding on the race issue. When it came time for Sharpton to take off the gloves, however, it was Jackson who would receive the glancing blow with an unprepared Howard Dean as his proxy.

It began two Mondays ago after Sharpton's "Hardball" appearance at Harvard. The event went well, with the Reverend once again displaying an astonishing skill at counter-punching, mixing street smarts with humor, and being more than a match for Chris Matthews. Students I interviewed later unanimously found Sharpton to be the best debater among the candidates, though none of the white students were planning to vote for him.

It must gall Sharpton that so much of the white anti-war left rallies around a Dennis Kucinich, who is equally low in the polls, and not at all around an urban black leader who at least keeps the forgotten inner city represented in the debates. Nevertheless, Sharpton was in good spirits that night, until a New York Times reporter "got him" (as the reporter later boasted). Catching Sharpton as he was leaving the building in a late night rainstorm, the reporter wanted to know how he felt about news of Rep. Jesse Jackson's endorsement of Howard Dean.

A cloud passed over the Reverend's countenance. The news hurt, even though it was expected. It is well known that the Jackson clan is prepared to fight off any Sharpton challenge for leadership among African-Americans in politics. The lack of Jackson support -- Jesse Sr. is neutral -- is hardly helpful to Sharpton's prospects. (Jesse Jackson won 92 percent of the black primary vote in 1988, while Sharpton is currently at 10 percent in Jackson's home state of South Carolina, where black voters make up more than 50 percent of the primary electorate.) It also is no secret that Jesse Jackson, Jr. is expected to build on his father's legacy with a presidential run of his own someday.

So when Congressman Jackson not only endorsed Howard Dean but also announced plans to campaign with him in South Carolina, Rev. Sharpton felt his vital interests threatened. He promptly fired off a veiled denunciation of "any so-called African American leader" who would endorse Howard Dean with "his anti-black record."

Interestingly, Sharpton attacked Dean's positions on the NRA and the death penalty as evidence of the "anti-black record" but not Dean's remarks on white Southerners -- although Dean had made identical statements more than once at Democratic National Committee meetings that Sharpton had attended during the past year.

Sharpton's accusation hit the news on Oct. 29. The next day, Dean told the Des Moines Register, "I still want to be the candidate for guys with Confederate flags in their pickup trucks." The shorthand remark now became for Sharpton the available weapon for taking down Dean and at the same time caused an embarrassing problem for Jesse Jackson. In the process, Sharpton asserted himself as a candidate who can do damage despite his 1 percent standing in the national polls.