i think this sums up best what i've come to feel on this topic... and makes good points about the general policy of negativism among the various candidates.

here's an interesting comment : "It's hard -- nay, impossible -- to meet Sharpton and not like him. He is personable and, in a way, scary smart. But he does not belong on the platform with the other candidates, because he is not trying to unseat George W. Bush as president but Jesse Jackson as the titular leader of black America. In fact, it was probably the recent endorsement of Dean by Rep. Jesse L. Jackson Jr. that set Sharpton off. Sharpton accused Dean of promoting "an anti-black agenda," a far worse slur than anything Dean said about the Confederate flag."

Daily Kos || The Rocky Debate