All the latest articles about Al Sharpton's Presidential campaign miss the point. "Nightmarish complications" cries the liberal American Prospect. "The Sharpton nightmare" chuckles conservative columnist Bob Novak. "This strategy of appeasement...is devastating for the party as a whole," admonishes The New Republic, referring to the legitimacy the white Democratic Presidential contenders are currently conferring on Sharpton. In other words, the shared obsession is about what he might do to the Democratic Party.

It is statistically obvious that independent voters decided the results of the November elections. But who is the independent voter? And how does this plurality fit into the American political scene?

Last week was marked by two interesting events in Black politics. The first was the public spat among Black Democrats over Reverend Al Sharpton's proposed presidential run.

Usually, when we -- as African Americans -- talk about the need for leadership -- we are talking about leadership in the fight against racism. We deal with racial profiling -- at the street level and the corporate level; we mount defenses of affirmative action