UPDATE from Moales campaign and Sharpton video
: State Senate candidate the Rev. Ken Moales tried to wrap himself in the glory of an appearance at his church by The Rev. Al Sharpton Wednesday night. Praise the Lord, the political gods (or common sense) persuaded Sharpton not to show at the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit. The Moales campaign says the candidate asked Sharpton to reschedule the visit.
Moales has had an intriguing week of failed prognostications: an endorsement by the Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance went bust, a fizzled voter registration rally and a promised appearance by Sharpton at his church.
Sharpton and Moales have developed a lot in common: both ministers, both political lightning rods and both tax deadbeats. See New York Times piece here. OIB piece on Moales here.
City Councilwoman Mary McBride-Lee, a supporter of Moales’ opponent Ed Gomes, tells the Connecticut Post she asked Sharpton not to attend.
Instead of a live appearance, a video featuring Sharpton was played to the assembled church audience urging folks to get involved in the political process and vote. Sharpton apologized for not appearing while praising Moales, his “little brother” for telling him “I don’t want you in the middle of confusion.”
From Moales’ Campaign Manager Kirk Wesley:
Due to all the controversy and uproar surrounding a national civil rights figure coming to our city to speak about the importance of people of color voting during Black History Month, Pastor Moales decided that it was in the best interest for all parties involved to reschedule this event that had already been planned months in advance. However, Rev. Sharpton, as gracious as he is, decided to record that video and send it so that all in attendance could receive the message of why he didn’t show up directly from him.
I get the impression that you try to be fair and balance, and not in the Fox News kind of way, so feel free to share the video on your blog and be sure to note that it wasn’t the “political gods” or anyone else that stopped Rev. Sharpton from coming, but it was Pastor Moales who humbled himself and decided to reschedule Rev. Sharpton.
The new date is two weeks from today, the day after the election, tentatively titled “The Sound of Great Victory.”
CT Post coverage:
One of the opposition leaders who wanted Sharpton to change his plans was City Councilwoman the Rev. Mary McBride-Lee, D-135, a Gomes supporter and vice president of the Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance, of which Moales is also a member.
Lee said she spoke with Sharpton by phone to dissuade him from coming.
“I just felt like he would have been perceived (as) endorsing Rev. Moales, and I didn’t think that was right,” McBride-Lee said. “That’s not Rev. Sharpton. He comes for voter registration, but he don’t come to endorse anybody. I think they were trying to play him.”
Full story here.
Well, I sure as hell would not have turned up for Kenneth Moales. Who knew I would ever find something in common with Al Sharpton???
Harvey Weintraub predicted a no-show. Give that man a prize. What an absolute embarrassment for Moales. Al Sharpton just elevated his stature with quite a few Bridgeport residents.
Jimfox // Feb 9, 2015 at 11:33 am
Sharpton will come here just like Johnny Morris did for Timpanelli!
What do Bill Finch, Rev. Moales, Paul Timpanelli, Auden Grogins, Tom McCarthy, Steve Stafstrom and Brian Williams have in common?
Answer: They all suffer from puffery.
“I know men and women. An honourable man is an honourable man, and a liar is a liar; both are born and not made. One cannot change to the other any more than that same old leopard can change its spots. After a man tells a woman the first untruth of that sort, the others come piling thick, fast, and mountain high.”–Gene Stratton-Porter, A Girl of the Limberlost
Good job!!! That is what I would have done for the Gomes campaign. Does anybody really believe Sharpton bailed? I say he was never invited. Just a publicity stunt to make posters and raise awareness that Moales was running. Very clever.
Stevie, it was an Anybody But Finch moment!
10 Pinocchios for Rev. Moales!
What does Kirk Wesley have to say about this? Is Sharpton now a member of the anti-Moales sentiment that is out there???
Kirk has nothing to say or he might lose those shiny new city contract jobs for his landscaping business.
Baffled in Bridgeport, I hadn’t heard that about Kirk Wesley. Does anyone know how much his contracts are worth?
CT Post is reporting attendance at Moales’ event was “sparse.”
Sharpton doesn’t attend any event unless it somehow benefits him. This no-show was pretty much guaranteed, there was nothing for HIM to gain, therefore cancelled.
Perhaps the billboard saying The FBI is watching scared the ever-so-holy Reverend away.
Hey Delmonico! Molto tempo nessun messaggio!
Bridgeport is like a bad car accident, completely horrifying but you can’t stop looking, right?
I know there are a lot of people who don’t like Rev. Sharpton but if you look at the issues he has supported and fought for then Ed Gomes would be his candidate based on these issues. Now according to the article in the Post, “Sharpton canceled his planned appearance due to what he called “local bickering.”
“In the midst of all the hoopla around an election, some people are more concerned about local politics than the education of our children,” said Sharpton in a video, presumably from his New York City office, played before a sparse audience in the church.
“I would hope that after we get past the special election and local bickering that we can concentrate on a real effort to get people out in November,” Sharpton said later in the video. It’s obvious that Rev. Sharpton did his own research on Rev. Moales request and didn’t like what he found and he knew that there was no way that he could even come to Bridgeport to support his little brother or his new friend, Mayor Bill Finch, he couldn’t even stop by to say hi.
The Post article are stated, “Moales and his campaign manager, Kirk Wesley, said they did not want to risk possible complaints of campaign violations brought by their opponents with the special election coming up Feb. 24,” well, what violation?
The Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance of Greater Bridgeport does not come out looking good in all of this, Rev. Moales used their name in his ads, how did that happen, they allow Rev. Moales to use their name and they have said or done nothing about that. Rev. Al Sharpton has turned out to be a plus for Ed Gomes.