Al Sharpton 2004 presidential campaign

Al Sharpton 2004
Campaign	2004 United States presidential election
Affiliation	Democratic Party
Website
sharptonexplore2004.com (archived - October 31, 2003)

The 2004 presidential campaign of Al Sharpton, a civil rights activist from New York City, began with his expressed interest in May 2001. In August of that year, Sharpton announced the formation of an exploratory committee and began to campaign for the nomination of the Democratic Party. Sharpton had previously run for several elected offices throughout the 1990s, and many news outlets reported on how Sharpton was unlikely to gain the Democratic nomination, with some arguing that the primary point of his campaign was to raise his profile. Sharpton claimed that, while he was running with the intent to win, it was more important to him that his campaign help raise issues primarily concerning the African American community, regardless of whether he received the nomination or not.

In January 2003, Sharpton officially announced his candidacy and campaigned extensively in the state of South Carolina. However, following a poor showing at the South Carolina primaries, Sharpton announced that he was supporting eventual Democratic nominee John Kerry. However, Sharpton continued to campaign until the Democratic National Convention, where he gave a keynote speech.