ANOTHER BEARD STORY - Rev. Al

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NYDailyNews

Leaner, Keener Rev. Al Primed for Prez Push

By MIKE CLAFFEY Daily News Staff Writer

After three months of reflection, weight reduction and jailhouse political powwows, the Rev. Al Sharpton says he is ready to emerge from behind bars with "both guns blazing."

In an hour-long interview yesterday with the Daily News, Sharpton said he plans a triumphant, Bill Clinton-style return to Harlem when he walks out of a Brooklyn federal prison Aug. 17.

He said that on Aug. 20, he will announce the creation of a presidential exploratory committee at the National Press Club in Washington.

"This is the first step that shows I'm definitely going to do it," said Sharpton, who has lost 30 pounds behind bars and grown a bushy gray beard that makes him look like a political prisoner from the Soviet gulag.

As he nears the end of a 90-day stretch in the Metropolitan Detention Center for protesting the Navy bombing of Vieques, Sharpton said he's not bitter that he was jailed.

In fact, he noted, the solitude — notwithstanding daily meetings with aides and a parade of prominent politicos — gave him time to read and reflect.

Sharpton said he believes he has "as much of a chance as anybody" to emerge victorious from the current field of Democratic presidential hopefuls. "At best, I can win," he said. "At worst, I can give voice to issues and constituencies that would be ignored if I don't [run]."

Sharpton said he would run as the standard bearer of the Democratic Party's progressive wing and would focus on issues such as criminal justice, human rights, public education, health care and the "military-industrial complex."

After fasting for 40 days and dropping his weight to 207 pounds, Sharpton said he felt "like a boxer who's been in training for three months. I'm trimmed down, and I'm coming out with both guns blazing."

Original Publication Date: 8/8/01

-- Anonymous, August 08, 2001


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