By RICHARD JOHNSON with PAULA FROELICH and CHRIS WILSON
Rev. Al blasts 'beige' Clinton
THE Rev. Al Sharpton is blaming his Harlem neighbor Bill Clinton for the Democrats' stunning election losses, calling it a personal failing of the former horndog in chief.
"For him to say that the Democrats failed to bring out a message is wrong," Sharpton fumed to the Washington Times. "He was the messenger, he was the one out there and helped run the campaign, him and [Democratic National Committee Chairman] Terry McAuliffe."
In a speech Tuesday to the Democratic Leadership Council at NYU, Clinton, who campaigned tirelessly, blamed the midterm meltdown on unconvincing candidates who didn't come off as being strong in the face of terrorism.
"He should have been out there making the case of security," Sharpton charges. "It was him [sic] who should have delivered that message."
Sharpton went on to further indict Clinton and the Democratic leadership as a whole. Riffing off author Toni Morrison's remark that Clinton was the "first black president," Sharpton scoffed that he was actually "the first beige president. If I run, I will be the first black president." Sharpton, who is mulling a White House bid, is expected to announce his intentions early next year.
"These guys who have been leading have failed," Sharpton huffs. "The analysis that you get from them is that they cannot afford to alienate the white male vote. They don't have it anyway . . . [And] they need to wake up and realize that the swing voter is not going to swing their way."
But Sharpton thinks he can pull it off. "I can get white voters," he boasts. "I got white voters when I ran for Senate, I got dairy farmers, I got all kinds of people."
Clinton seems to have decided to take it lying down. His spokesman said the ex-prez declined to comment on Sharpton's attack.
In Tuesday's speech, Clinton said the Dems were "missing in action on national security," before effusively painting his own time in office as a golden era, reported The Post's Deborah Orin.
"When we look weak at a time when people feel insecure, we lose," Clinton told the audience. "When people feel uncertain, they'd rather have somebody that's strong and wrong than somebody who's weak and right."
Clinton said he was "honored to do what little I could" this fall, but stressed his role in raising cash for the party rather than his campaigning. Many analysts, including Democrats, believed his interference backfired and actually helped the Republicans win.