Al Sharpton, the "Boy Preacher," mulls pulling out of the race in exchange for ideological and tactical commitments from Kerry: "I don't know if 'discontinue' is the word I would use," said Sharpton, referring to his candidacy. "But clearly, from the beginning, our intention was to go out and affect policy. It was always a matter of how we would fold into an anti-Bush campaign. That was always part of the plan." Sharpton said he wanted Kerry, the Massachusetts senator, to adopt a stronger stance on a number of issues, including advocating a greater role for the federal government in combatting police brutality and racial profiling... "There must be a firm commitment on affirmative action, on police misconduct nationwide and on how the federal government would deal with that," he said. "And on African policy and Caribbean policy and Haiti in particular, and on public education and healthcare … and on dealing with the whole question of unilateral engagement, like we have in Iraq." Sharpton, 49, said he would also like Kerry to commit in the fall campaign to hiring more minority staffers, to buying advertising and services from minority-owned firms and to buying ads on black and Latino-oriented radio and television programs. While Dennis Kucinich, the "Boy Mayor," remains resolute about staying in until it's over: "Until Sen. Kerry is nominated at the convention and they have the roll call of states, that's how the nominee is formally chosen," he said. "I know it's informally chosen by newspaper editors, but there's a formal choice that has to go to the delegates. I made it clear, you can parse it any way that you want, that I'm in this race all the way to the convention. And I haven't changed in saying that from the beginning." Kucinich - running a campaign based on liberal values such as government-paid health care for all, creation of a "Department of Peace," cancellation of the North American Free Trade Agreement, withdrawal from the World Trade Organization and a quick pull-out from Iraq - said his presence gives a forum for important ideas in the Democratic Party. "There are critical differences within the Democratic Party which have to be aired, and they really reflect on whether or not the Democrats can win the election in November," he said. "It is urgent that this debate stay inside the Democratic Party, because if we stop the debate right now and the debate is just taken outside the Democratic Party, it will be assumed that Democrats may not care about these things."