Politics on the Hudson

In a letter to DNC Chairman Howard Dean, the Rev. Al Sharpton urges the Democratic Party to remain steadfast in its decision not to seat delegates from Florida and Michigan. The party has refused to recognize the primary results from those two states because they held their contests too early.

“I firmly believe that changing the rules now, and seating delegates from Florida and Michigan at this point would not only violate the Democratic party’s rules of fairness, but also would be a grave injustice,” Sharpton wrote in the lettter.

While Sharpton has not endorsed a candidate in the presidential race, his letter could be seen as a nod to Barack Obama because Hillary Clinton won both the Florida and Michigan primaries. Clinton would benefit immensely from having those delegates seated at the Democratic National Convention this summer.

“As a civil rights leader who is neutral in this presidential primary season and who highly respects both remaining Democratic candidates, I think we have a responsibility to protect both candidates from charges that the process was tainted so that our eventual nominee does not start the general election campaign under a cloud,” Sharpton wrote. “Clearly, the justifiably proud and intense passions of each candidate’s supporters will be on full display in the months leading up to the convention. However, the Democratic Party and independent voices within must temper over enthusiasm by either side and the party must be resolute in ensuring that there is one set of rules by which we select our nominee.”