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  • WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 4 2004 9:19 AM

Sharpton Not Reaching Key Demographic

In what has turned out to be a prophetic article in yesterday's Washington Post, voters in South Carolina supported both John Edwards and John Kerry over Al Sharpton by a wide margin. Prior to the South Carolina primary, pundits had speculated that the nearly 30% black population of the State could give the Sharpton campaign a boost, with Sharpton being the only remaining black Democratic hopeful after the withdrawal of Carol Mosely-Braun. However, the DNC's anyone but Bush campaign seems to be working, as voters of all ethnicities seem to be placing support behind Democratic primary candidates considered more "electable" despite possible ideological discrepancies. This approach begs the question - will blindly replacing Bush with anyone else really help those who elect his replacement?