Dean Wins First Primary; Sharpton Second

You won't be hearing much today about the results of the first presidential primary, because the white Democrat establishment, terrified of a strong showing from Al Sharpton, forced the District of Columbia's Dems to make their contest a nonbinding bit of uselessness. But for the record, Howard Dean won.

Despite his questionable record on race, the Park Avenue Vermonter nabbed 43 percent of the votes in mostly black Washington, even though he never condescended to campaign there. Sharpton had 34 percent, Carol Moseley Braun 12 percent and Rep. Dennis Kucinich 8 percent.

Oops: The other wannabes weren't even on the ballot.

The results show that if plantation overseer Terry McAuliffe hadn't put up Moseley Braun as a straw figure to sabotage Sharpton and dilute black power, the righteous reverend would probably be celebrating today.

Ya gotta feel sorry for Big Al, who, as the Washington Times reported Jan. 8, refused "to entertain any notions of coming in second to national front-runner Howard Dean after the votes are cast."

"Winning and winning is our only barometer in the D.C. primary," Sharpton campaign spokesman Andre Johnson had said.

"This primary will test the rest of the election, because if we can win here and target South Carolina, a win there, we will be in a great position to open the eyes of a lot of people."

Instead, McAuliffe and company have one more reason to keep their eyes closed and take the black vote for granted, a presumption that could prove painful later.

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