For Democrats, all paths to the White House run through the House of Sharpton

NEW YORK - A glimpse at the guest list for the Rev. Al Sharpton's confab here this week would surely astonish any New Yorker arriving in a time machine from the 1980s. Every major Democrat who has launched a White House bid has cleared their schedule to get in front of Sharpton.

Few things once seemed more improbable, save perhaps for the White House being occupied by Donald Trump, who once competed with Sharpton for screaming tabloid headlines and airtime on what was then a nascent medium known as "trash TV."

But today, Sharpton's approval is sought by political candidates far and near. The crusades he launched decades ago against police abuse and racist enforcement of drug laws - back when his issues were widely denigrated as fringe and his look ran to velour tracksuits, giant gold medallions and a pompadour the size of Queens - are now central to the