Sharpton attracts Dems to his convention

NEW YORK --Civil rights activist Al Sharpton, whose profile soared in his recent push for dismissal of radio personality Don Imus, is attracting all the major Democratic presidential candidates for his annual convention this week.

John Edwards was scheduled to address the National Action Network convention on Wednesday, the first of the White House hopefuls. The other candidates, as well as Democratic National Committee chairman Howard Dean, will address the group the remainder of the week.

Top candidates Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama are scheduled to appear Friday and Saturday.

The Network is a New York-based political, social and activist organization and Sharpton is its president.

The 2004 Democratic presidential candidate has emerged as an influential player in the party's nominating process. He has openly questioned whether Obama, who hopes to become the first black president, has the necessary credentials for the job. He also made a well-publicized trip to Washington earlier this year to interview Obama and other candidates to gauge their commitment to civil rights issues.

Last week, Sharpton grabbed the spotlight during the controversy surrounding Imus derogatory comments about the Rutgers women's basketball team. Sharpton interview Imus about the matter on his own radio show while leading the campaign to have him taken off the air. Imus was fired Thursday.

Many observers have criticized Sharpton for refusing to apologize for his role in the Tawana Brawley case two decades ago. Sharpton served as a high-profile spokesman for Brawley, a black teenager who claimed she was abducted and raped by six white police officers in 1988. The case, which inflamed racial tensions in New York and nationally, was dropped after a grand jury determined there was no evidence to support Brawley's accusations.

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WASHINGTON (AP) -- Democratic presidential candidates seeking the AFL-CIO's endorsement will get two chances to impress union members: once alone at a town hall-style meeting and again at a multi-candidate forum in Chicago.

The candidates got to choose where they wanted to have their town hall meeting from ones preselected by the union. Once there, they will get to speak to union members as well as face tough questions about their candidacies, labor officials said.

"Working families will have the chance to ask the candidates what they will do to make America work for working families," said AFL-CIO President John Sweeney.

The multi-candidate forum will be held in Chicago on Aug. 6 or Aug. 7, which will coincide with the union's executive council meeting.

Labor delivered millions of votes for the Democratic Party in the 2006 midterm elections, and the unions are gearing up to make a push for the eventual Democratic presidential nominee.

The AFL-CIO represents about 10 million workers in more than 50 unions, and its endorsement would be key for any of the announced candidates.

The scheduled Democratic candidates and their cities are:

-- Sen. Chris Dodd of Connecticut in Sacramento, Calif., on April 29.

-- John Edwards in Seattle on May 1.

-- Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois in Trenton, N.J., on May 14.

-- Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware in Miami in May 16

-- Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York in Detroit on May 19.

-- Gov. Bill Richardson of New Mexico in Phoenix on June 4.

Officials are still trying to schedule a date and location for Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio.

The AFL-CIO has asked its unions not to endorse any of the candidates until its general board decides whether to endorse in the Democratic primary.

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COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) -- Republican presidential hopeful John McCain is bypassing South Carolina county conventions and straw polls despite the presence of some of the state's most fervent GOP activists.

The McCain campaign said his schedule precludes him from attending Saturday's convention in Spartanburg, S.C., that will attract his top rivals. Former Oklahoma Gov. Frank Keating will be McCain's stand-in at conventions in Spartanburg, Laurens and Richland counties this weekend.

"In South Carolina, Senator McCain would prefer a format like a town hall meeting where he has an hour or an hour and half for personal, intimate access with voters who can ask him straight questions and expect straight answers," B.J. Boling, McCain's South Carolina spokesman, said Tuesday.

In bypassing the conventions, McCain runs the risk of riling the same GOP activists who cost him the 2000 presidential primary against then-Texas Gov. George Bush.

"It sends a signal he's taking them for granted and that's not a good signal," said Clemson University political scientist Dave Woodard.

McCain is putting some effort into county conventions. His campaign has contacted delegates with mailings, staffed tables at the events and sent surrogates to speak for him.

But the stand-in strategy won't work everywhere. At Saturday's Greenville County GOP convention, surrogates can't address the convention, said Wendy Nanney, the county chairwoman.

"We didn't want proxies. We really wanted the candidates themselves in order for the delegates to meet them," she said.

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Associated Press Writers Beth Fouhy in New York and Jim Davenport in Columbia, S.C., contributed to this report.

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On the Net:

AFL-CIO: http://www.aflcio.org