NEW YORK - Rev. Al Sharpton called on Hillary Clinton to drop out of the Democratic presidential race, likening her to an entertainer who doesn’t know when to leave the stage.
“Not dropping out would mean ruining the party,” the civil rights leader told New York 1 television on Thursday night. “I think Barack Obama’s the nominee. I think he’s won. The majority of Democrats have already decided.”
Sharpton, a failed Democratic candidate in 2004, has yet to endorse any candidate for the November election though he has been actively courted by Obama and Clinton.
He has natural ties to both Democratic candidates: his National Action Network is based in New York City and Clinton is a U.S. senator from New York state. And he has also championed causes for African Americans, and if elected Obama, a senator from Illinois, would be America’s first black president.
But his latest words suggest an endorsement might not be necessary in the nomination battle.
“As you know, I’ve been in the ministry of civil rights all my life, but had dealings with entertainers because of James Brown,” Sharpton said. “The worst thing in the world is when an entertainer doesn’t know when the show is over. The audience is gone, the lights are down, you’re getting ready to cut the mics off and you are still on the stage singing. It’s over, it’s all right, it’s over. Come sing another day, but this show is over for Sen. Clinton.”
Click here for more Reuters 2008 campaign coverage.
- Photo credit: Reuters/Mike Segar

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Obama won, everything else to the contrary is wishful thinking.
- Posted by KDAlthough i agree with sharpton re:hillary….he should gulp down a dose of that advice
- Posted by bill mcfersonHillary owes it to her investors to go on till to the convention: If you dance with the devil you have to dance till the music stops….. . The sad thing is that the superdelegates are unable to turn off that music, because they don’t want a man of colour telling them what they have to do.
- Posted by maz hessAMERICAN TO SHARPTON LEAVE THE COUNTRY!
- Posted by Willie RayThe Clintons have been good for this country overall. But we can’t go back in time. You have to move forward and turn the page on a new day. Our country is changing. If we seize the opportunity and come together to defeat the Neocons. We can change our country for the better. Just think about the effect of another Neocon president appoints more conservative Supreme Court judges.
VOTE OBAMA 08
- Posted by NotSuprisedWow! If Al Sharpton is saying that, maybe she should listen. Maybe not.
GOBAMA!
- Posted by CCIf anyone knows about staying past his welcome, it is the abhorrent race-peddler known as Al Sharpton. It’s no wonder that he would force out a candidate that half this nation supports because the other one happens to have a brown skin tone.
- Posted by BobFunny, We’ve been asking Al Sharpton to leave the stage for years.
- Posted by Jeff IllinoisHillary should continue. There is no valid reason for her to drop out now. What is Obama afraid of? It will be better to find out as much as we can about him before the general election and not suffer buyer’s remorse afterwards. The Republican’s are certainly going to vet him with more vigor than Hillary’s people and they will not be gentle with him. He and his supporters had better get used to it. Incidentally, many of us Hillary supporters are unlikely to change our minds about not voting for Obama. Also, I am tired of those African Americans who think that Obama is entitled to be the nominee because of his race. Furthermore don’t threaten us with your “displeasure” should he not be the nominee. If you want to have a black president, perhaps you should find one who is qualified. There are many out there who would be great presidents. Just not Obama!!!!!
- Posted by nonnaMrs. Clinton need to show some self-respect and dignity, she must learn to loose with pride, by revolting and acting like a scorn woman does not help the party, she must be smart and focus her energy and invest the money from others in a non-futile cause.
To spend her energy racing against Senator Obama is FUTILE.
By trying to show that the next states that have 91% of white population will vote for her, she will ruin the reputation of this states to be self-labeled as racist, because it is the way the world will interpret. No tourist will visit this states. She only care about her ego and herself.
- Posted by Alma LudivinaAl Sharpton, Hillary has the right to stay in the race. For your information the audience is NOT gone. The Clintons always will have audience……
- Posted by Ivan ZderoSharpton has no objective or legitimacy injecting himself in the debate except as a racial advocate. He’s not a political analyst, statistician or strategist. Sharpton hasn’t spent years of his life and $11M dollars in an historically close primary contest. He’s simply expressing the kind of reflexive racial adversarialism against Clinton’s candidacy, that we’ve been listening to all campaign season.
- Posted by Annette KellerSharpton is the last person to take advice from. Wake up people, The Duke fiasco and Brawly bangwagon
- Posted by Luther McCallWhat a jerk.
- Posted by EllieI agree the show is over for Hilary Clinton she needs to step down and put her clout behing Obama. Hilary let go of you ego and do the party a favour because as it stands you are hurting your own party and for what to be defeated anyway
- Posted by maxwellBlack racism cannot trump the Democratic nomination process. Obama’s lead in delegates, superdelegates and votes is largely due to the black racism against Sen. Clinton.
Obama does not have the requisite number of delegates for the nomination; he has no presumptive lock on the nomination. The Democratic nomination process is still in progress and concludes when all of the remaining states have voted and the superdelegates select the best qualified candidate using their independent judgment. Sen. Clinton is the best qualified presidential candidate and she must continue her fight for the future of America.
Using black racism to swipe the nomination from Sen. Clinton with the premature end of the nomination process is a subversion of the Democratic nomination process and this will result in Obama crashing and burning in November and the Democratic Party a train wreck in November. I will vote McCain. McCain will be president.
- Posted by crat3So now Sharpton wants Clinton to quit. I wonder what role he thinks he will play in an Obama government? This whole thing just gets stranger and stranger as the Democratic party melts down on what should have been an easy road to the White House. Hopefully, four more years of a Republican in the White House will convince the country that Hillary Clinton should get the nomination and will win in 2012!
- Posted by RobertClinton’s boy Weinstein attempted to bribe Pelosi yesterday and she rebuked him.
Clinton’s boy said Pelosi has to seat the Florida delegation and MICH too, as Clinton delegates, which would mean she would win it all.
Wow!
Weinstein threatened to end support for Congressional candidates. It is time for the 1 million Obama supporters to step up and help elect a Democratic Senate and House.
- Posted by bruce BeckerIt is a shame that reporters make opinionated statements instead of reporting facts. Hillary Clinton would make a stronger candidate against John McCain in Nov. John McCain is running a campaign that slightly resembles Hillary’s positions. Some say she is more of a Republican candidate then Democrat. Taking that into consideration McCain is talking to Hillary supporters across the country sharing his beliefs. If you connect the dots that spells trouble for Obama. Hillary supporters as many as 50% have already said they will vote for McCain. Looking at the numbers if the large voter turnout of Democrats go to the polls in Nov and say at least 33% of independents, and 33% of Hillary supporters along with Republicans go to the polls McCain will when in a landslide. So if you are a McCain backer as a reporter it is in your own self interest to report Hillary’s defeat. That puts McCain in an advantage to beat Obama. On the other hand Democrats are so blinded by the hero worship of Obama that they are foolishly believing they can win and that Hillary voters will go ahead and not cross party lines. But in a short history lesson look at Regan. He easily captured the democrats “Regan Democrats”. Are we about to engage in a new area of “McCain Democrats”. Polls suggest that this is very plausible. So if you are a Super Delegate what are you going to do in the best interest of keeping all these Hillary supporters with the Democrats? Hillary could put the Mayor of Philadelphia as her VP. That would bring a lot of Obama supporters to her side. I really believe that there has been a conspiracy to keep the Clinton name out of the Whitehouse. It all starts with the double standards of Kennedy and Kerry and Dean. Those three men are of the old party that did not reach the Whitehouse in their runs and used the Florida and Michigan to their advantage to quell gender biased opinions of their own. They have done everything in their power to not count these votes until the last minute. They have not fully considered the ramification of these disenfranchised voters who stated their preference of Hillary Clinton in record setting numbers in Florida. If a poll of Florida women were conducted reviewing voter registration party affiliation switching from Republican to Democrats it would be mind boggling. Those voters and many others who have been silenced by a Party that claims to represent all people of all classes and equality for all is disgusting. We are a nation of 48 states now in the Democratic Party. This tatic will not go unnoticed by the people of Michigan and Florida. The super delegates have been put in a very bad position because logic and polls tell them Hillary has the better support from the most crucial states but the medias biased reports have made a bad situation look worse. The media is stirring up black democrats and liberals to cry foul- she stealing the election. The party elders need to take a stand to quell this disenfranchisement and not be afraid to endorse the stronger candidate. Anyone who has been following the Chicago politics know it is very possible that the Governor of Illinois may get indited. Rezko may cooperate in exchange for information that will connect Obama to these problems. That is not good in an Election where Democrats can make a come back.
- Posted by val sommerviileI always thought that losing one’s bearing meant, losing one’s way in a nautical sense. I think the intention of Obama’s response to McCain was to suggest that McCain has lost his moral compass, his ethics.
I dont see where there is an age component to the remark.
So I feel like it was a pre-emptive strike intended to
A. spin away from the real content of the reponse; ie McCain was unethical in his comment about Hamas
B. it was a pre-emptive strike intended to it dangerous for us to ask what McCain’s health is like
1. What are the treatments like for McCain’s cancer, and what are the side effects?
2. Does his apparent short term memory loss mean he has incipient Alzheimer’s?
Why are we supposed to have a candidate be considered seriously about whom we have reservations as to their health?
- Posted by bruce BeckerAnd no, McCain, we dont think you are ethical. We know that went out the window when you, a former prisoner, approved waterboarding prisoners.