CHICAGO (AP) -- Jesse Jackson said Wednesday he won't make a third run for the White House in 2000, opting instead to concentrate on his push to get corporate America to invest in minority businesses.
"The time spent running for president is time that cannot be spent doing something else," Jackson told attendees at a luncheon for the Chicago-based Lasalle Street Project, one of several organizations his Rainbow/PUSH Coalition is setting up to encourage investment in nonwhite and poor communities."I've got so many issues I want to raise. I've got so many battles left to fight," the longtime civil rights activist said.
That includes building on Rainbow/PUSH's 2-year-old Wall Street project, which has already seen results. AT&T, for example, has committed to have $1 billion in bonds brokered through Blaylock & Partners L.P., a black-owned brokerage firm in New York.
Rainbow/PUSH also has purchased stock in 50 high-tech companies in an attempt to get them to put more non-whites and women on their boards.
"I want the world of venture capital to be opened to women, blacks, browns, Asians and Native Americans and new immigrants -- people with ideas, talent and networks that can build a stronger America," Jackson said in his speech.
With Jackson out of the race, former Sen. Bill Bradley of New Jersey remains the only declared competitor to front-running Vice President Al Gore for the Democratic nomination.
Jackson praised Gore and Bradley but declined to endorse either man.
Gore, who has for years cultivated a friendship with Jackson in part to prevent a primary challenge that might complicate Gore's standing in the Democratic Party's liberal wing, praised Jackson as "a strong voice for justice and progress in America for decades."
"He will play a major role in shaping the politics and policy dialogue in 2000 -- and beyond," a statement from Gore said.