Sharpton warns the Clintons

Civil rights activist Al Sharpton says that Hillary Rodham Clinton and her husband, former President Bill Clinton, cannot afford anything less than an extraordinary effort to help Barack Obama's presidential candidacy -- beginning this week with an intensified push for party loyalty.

Otherwise, Sharpton warned, their reputations within the party -- once sterling -- could be permanently tarnished.

"It can damage their legacy in the long run if they don't get a grip pretty quick," Sharpton told The Times.

Sharpton's comments came before Hillary Clinton's speech Tuesday night, as many leading Democrats attempt to tamp down reportedly festering tensions between the Clinton and Obama camps.

The racially tinged primary battle between Hillary Clinton and Obama, Sharpton said, has already hurt the once-tight relationship between the Clintons and black America. That can be repaired, he said, but the Clintons are "going to have to do a lot more than the ordinary" to help Obama.

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Peter Wallsten