Vision Circle

Sharpton cuts backdoor deals

I've been meaning to write on this for a bit, but other things have been calling my name.

According to Joe Conason and the Village Voice, Al Sharpton's main man Robert Stone is a Republican fundraiser. A snippet:

Although Stone himself gave $2,000 to Bush-Cheney 2004 last June -- and has made no recorded donation to Sharpton -- the Voice article also alleges that he has subsidized Sharpton's travels with hundreds of thousands of dollars in loans to the minister's nonprofit National Action Network. Political activist Randy Credico, an associate of both Sharpton and Stone, told Barrett that the Republican consultant allowed NAN to charge campaign expenses to Stone's personal credit card. Such commingling of funds and unrecorded donations may both be violations of federal election law.

Now I recall when Corey Booker ran for Mayor in Newark. Booker had a number of connections with conservative institutions such as the Manhattan Institute, and many of his policies reeked of neo-liberalism. Booker is a strong supporter of school vouchers for example. When he ran against Sharpe James (old school Newark mayor in the vein of a Coleman Young or a non-crack addicted Marion Barry), James, the black commentator, and a number of black elites pulled out all the stops. Booker was a "puppet." Booker didn't really represent "the community." Booker is an "outsider." Booker is a "trojan horse."

Now I wouldn't have voted for Booker as far as I could throw him. His policies WERE neo-liberal policies that simply don't have much traction in improving the lives of black folk. But if the "sellout" claim has any value with Booker, WHY DOESN'T IT HAVE VALUE HERE?? If indeed Sharpton's campaign relies heavily on a strong Bush-CHaney supporter, why are black elites pitching a fit?

This double standard reeks of deal cutting, and of pork chop reverends.