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Syndicated columnist Robert D. Novak has called the Rev. Al Sharpton a "professional troublemaker." That begs the question: Who finds him so troubling? Certainly not the hundreds of Claflin University students, faculty and visitors who began applauding the Democratic presidential candidate the moment he appeared -- unintroduced and unannounced -- in the Daniel C. Moss Auditorium in the W.V. Middleton Fine Arts Center.

It was Sharpton's second visit to Orangeburg, and his third visit to the county, in the run-up to South Carolina's first-in-the-South Democratic presidential primary next February.

Following the formal introduction, Sharpton, who was running an hour late, made up for lost time.

He acknowledged engaging in "activism" and explained, "If you don't make noise, you don't get attention. ... I learned that growing up in the projects."

Those who get the most heartburn from his candidacy, he knows, are the political insiders, the established power brokers.

"You know how roaches run when you turn the light on," Sharpton said. "What I've done all my life is turn the lights on to some of the roaches running the United States."

Not that many people think his almost-quixotic bid for the Democratic presidential nomination will be successful. But Sharpton is in no hurry to concede and bow out gracefully.

He sees himself at the vanguard of a movement to keep certain social and economic issues at the forefront, and he sees his candidacy as the ticket to keeping a chair at the table.

Issues like the war against Iraq: President Bush "claims it's over but people are still dying," Sharpton said.

Bush wraps himself in patriotism but Sharpton said "real patriots" send Americans off to war only when it's "absolutely necessary."

From the beginning, "I could not believe we were in imminent danger," Sharpton said. "I never believed there were weapons of mass destruction."

Why are American taxpayers having to pay for health services and better educational systems when we have so many needs at home, he asked.

On the political front, "this presidency and administration have waged a non-military civil war" that has "cheapened democracy," Sharpton said, citing the disputed Florida presidential election results, the Texas redistricting and most recently the recall of California's Democratic governor.

Sharpton said his critics point out that he has never held an elective office, yet California voters just elected as their governor "an actor who's never had a serious thought in his life."

Bringing politics sharply into focus for the college students, Sharpton assailed "tax cuts to zillionaires" at a time when the federal budget has gone from a surplus to a deficit, forcing college tuition to rise because "the education dollars are not there" any more.

Nor are jobs. Unemployment in South Carolina is twice as high among African-Americans as whites, Sharpton told the students. "When you graduate, it's twice as difficult for you to get a job."

Sharpton is incensed that another candidate referred to the civil rights movement as a has-been, "like everything is all right now."

People of color are more likely to be jailed, less likely to graduate from college, more likely to be stopped by police and less likely to be approved for a home mortgage, Sharpton said.

"Right now, you're facing discrimination," he said. " We need a movement until the problems are solved, until we've achieved fairness and equality. ... Are you prepared to stand up -- in the way previous generations stood up?"

Sharpton said he's been there, on the front lines with the late Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

"None of them (the other candidates) have as good a civil rights record as mine. They're trying to pick apples off the trees I helped plant."

Sharpton said he wants to ask the other candidates: "If y'all liked Dr. King so much, why weren't you with Dr. King and in the movement? ... Where were you when we needed you the most?"

Sharpton said various candidates have been considered favorites or front-runners. He encouraged voters not to engage in the "politics of horse track betting. ... Politics is not about guessing who will win" but voting according to one's conscience.

Win or lose, Sharpton said he's having an impact: "Just being in the race changed the race."

The Rev. Jesse Jackson did not win the nomination in 1988 but his candidacy paved the way for African-Americans to win six Senate seats and, for the first time, the chairmanship of the Democratic Party, Sharpton said.

How? Because Jackson's campaign got so many people registered to vote, Sharpton explained, and that helped "set the tone of American politics."

Sharpton said he particularly enjoys visiting college campuses and encouraging young adults to vote. It helps dispel negative images of young blacks, he said. And it can swing elections.

Young voters need to swing elections, Sharpton emphasized, because "you have more at stake than anybody."

But just as "you don't answer the phone until it rings, the reason most young folk are not responding is because nobody is ringing their bell" and getting them "energized" about the potential of politics, he said.

Sharpton did his part Wednesday, culminating his message with a political altar call urging the unregistered to come forward, right then and there, and get right on the voter rolls.

More than a dozen took him up on the offer amid vocal encouragement and applause from the audience.

However, tactical faux pas left many empty seats. The event's location had been changed just hours in advance. Then, after Sharpton did not arrive at the scheduled time and dinnertime neared, hundreds of students filtered out before Sharpton's arrival.

Dr. Henry N. Tisdale Jr., president of Claflin University, said it's important to help "our students, faculty and even the community to be informed about the issues" and to hear a variety of perspectives.

Tisdale said he was "very pleased" that Sharpton "came to our campus to speak to our students and give them an opportunity to get involved politically. That's a part of their education."

T&D Staff Writer Lee Hendren can be reached by e-mail at lhendren@timesanddemocrat.com or by phone at 803-533-5552.

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