Republican Presidential Hopefuls Blast No-Show Frontrunners at Debate Targeting Blacks
Date: Friday, September 28, 2007
By: BlackAmericaWeb.com and Associated Press
Republican presidential candidates discussed the importance of reaching out to people of color during a minority issues debate Thursday night and criticized the leading four GOP contenders for skipping it.
"I think this is a disgrace that they are not here," said Kansas Sen. Sam Brownback. "I think it's a disgrace to our country. I think it's bad for our party, and I don't think it's good for our future."
Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee said he was "embarrassed for our party, and I'm embarrassed for those who didn't come."
The four no-shows -- former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, former Sen. Fred Thompson, Arizona Sen. John McCain and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney -- cited scheduling conflicts for the reason they could not attend the debate at historically black Morgan State University.
"Fortunately, there are those in the Republican Party who do understand the importance of reaching out to people of color," said talk show host Tavis Smiley, the debate moderator, thanking the six other candidates for participating.
Besides Brownback and Huckabee, the other candidates who participated in the debate were Reps. Duncan Hunter of California, Ron Paul of Texas and Tom Tancredo of Colorado, and conservative activist Alan L. Keyes.
Joe Hicks, a spokesman for Project 21, a black conservative group, said on CNN Thursday the Republican front runners could not attend the debate because they had scheduling problems due to prior "fund-raising" commitments to "do battle" in the campaign season.
Hicks said it’s laughable that Smiley would "bash" Republican candidates simply because they could not attend. He said that Thursday’s event was not a "presidential debate," but rather a "forum."
Smiley called the excuses "hogwash," and told BlackAmericaWeb.com that "people are baffled about why these candidates chose not to participate. We need to make the Republicans compete for our votes. They missed an opportunity, and (their absence) says this is not important to them."
U.S. Rep. Elijah E. Cummings, (D-MD), who serves on the board of trustees at Morgan State University, said no presidential candidate who "wants to be president for all of America" should ignore a significant part of the nation’s electorate.
"It’s very upsetting, as a member of the board of trustees of a historically black college, when I see the four top Republican presidential candidates opt to pass on this debate," Cummings told BlackAmericaWeb.com. Thursday. "This was an opportunity for the candidates to share their views with a black audience -- and a diverse audience. It was an opportunity for the candidates to teach and an opportunity to learn."
The forum, which had black and Hispanic journalists questioning the candidates, was broadcast live on PBS.
"Republicans are no-shows yet again, yet they are consistent," Craig Kirby, a Democratic political strategist told BlackAmericaWeb.com Thursday. "They have not shown us an exit plan in Iraq; they have not shown us real progress for the victims of Katrina. So if they have nothing to show, why should they show up?"
The candidates who did attend answered questions ranging from what they would do to help minorities, their views on illegal immigration, the war in Iraq, minority unemployment rates and their position on capital punishment.
Huckabee said he would want his legacy in helping minorities to be more equal treatment for them in the criminal justice system. Brownback said he would continue to push for the National Museum of African-American History and Culture in Washington. Keyes spoke of bringing more religious values into schools.
Paul received loud applause when he told the audience that minorities are unfairly punished in the criminal justice system. He also called for ending the war on drugs.
"It isn't working," Paul said.
Among the Republicans who have criticized the leading contenders for skipping the forum are former House Speaker Newt Gingrich of Georgia, and former Lt. Gov. Michael Steele, the first black official elected statewide in Maryland.
Steele, a black Republican and the former Maryland lieutenant governor, said the GOP front runners missed an opportunity to connect with black voters.
"For our leading Republican presidential candidates not attend is personally disappointing," Steele told BlackAmericaWeb.com. "The Republicans should take advantage of engaging with black voters on their turf, in their community. I thought this would be a unique opportunity to do that. I’m not sure they will get an opportunity like this again."
Peter C. Groff, publisher of Blackpolicy.org and executive director of the Center for African American Policy at the University of Denver, said Republicans are ignoring black voters.
"It is baffling to me how dismissive the GOP seems to African-American voters," Groff told BlackAmericaWeb.com. "From this debate to skipping the Urban League and NAACP national meetings to the Senate Republican rally defeating D.C. voting rights last week -- it's all a bit stupefying."
"These dismissive actions may be part of a new southern strategy," Groff said. "Appearing at a two-hour debate discussing issues that effect not only African-Americans, but poor and middle class whites as well, is a small concession to voters they claim to want."
"But in politics, action speaks louder than words, and the active absence of the GOP's big four -- Guiliani, Thompson, Romney and McCain -- speaks mad volumes. It is a miscalculation that will reverberate not only through next November but for many elections to come," he said.
Tara Wall, a former senior advisor for the Republican National Committee, said she, too, was disappointed.
"Unfortunately, our candidates have not addressed the black community in a presidential forum, but I believe they will," Wall told BlackAmericaWeb.com.
Michelle Bernard, a black conservative and president and CEO of the Independent Women’s Forum, the decision for the leading GOP contenders to drop out was "an unintelligent decision."
Issues for black Americans have changed drastically since the 1960s, Bernard said, and voices for change have also evolved. She added that Republicans can no longer take the black vote for granted.
Bernard told BlackAmericaWeb.com that candidates who thought they would be booed at the debate is ridiculous.
"These are human beings," she said. "Not barbarians."
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