Bloomberg’s retreat is more than a complete reversal of his previous views, it’s an attempt to earn votes in the coming Democratic presidential primaries in which left-wing activists exercise disproportionate influence.

Indeed, one of those leading left-wing activists is cheering Bloomberg’s mea culpa. “Whatever his motive is, I’m glad that he’s taking this stand,” Al Sharpton told the Daily News on Sunday. “I think it is an important stance for a man who was a symbol of big-city stop-and-frisk.”

Sharpton has previously taken credit for getting both Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders to step away from their previous support for anti-crime measures. But he says speeches full of regret won’t be enough to assuage his concerns. All of the Democratic candidates are “going to have to earn that respect, have to earn that forgiveness,” he said.

From others, Bloomberg has earned nothing but scorn for his retreat. “The reign of race-based identity politics in the Democratic party may now be declared absolute,” Heather Mac Donald, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute who often boosted Bloomberg, tells me…