News-Record.com

Somehow I don't think Al Sharpton is going to help bring a happy solution to the Mecklenburg County sheriff's fiasco.

On the contrary. If there were a way to make matters worse ...

Sharpton will speak at a rally for Nick Mackey next week in Charlotte, the Observer reports.

So will William Barber, president of the NAACP in North Carolina.

Obviously, the racial aspect of this dispute is going to take center stage. It shouldn't. The outcome of the convoluted sheriff selection process should be determined according to the rules, not by protest or political pressure.

A special panel of the state Democratic Party will examine the evidence early next month. Sharpton, Barber and others shouldn't try to influence the proceedings.

Mackey, who is black, was chosen to replace former sheriff Jim Pendergraph by the Mecklenburg County Democratic Party in a process that sort of resembles the Iowa caucuses. Since then, there have been complaiints that many precincts were improperly organized. Some people have said they were signed up as precinct officials without their knowledge. This is what the state party has to look at.

Mackey's qualifications have been questioned. He was a Charlotte-Mecklenburg police officer who resigned under investigation for falsifying work hours, and he later filed for bankruptcy. The Mecklenburg County sheriff supervises more than 1,000 employees and manages a budget of more than $100 million.

If Sharpton claims this is a civil rights issue, he'll be wrong. He's just deflecting attention from the real issues. And, if it turns out that Mackey won by cheating, it will further erode Sharpton's credibility ... if that's possible.

One real issue is that the office of sheriff should be nonpartisan. It's crazy to let a political party pick a sheriff in backroom meetings that practically invite manipulation.