Prometheus 6

Only five of the Republicans have committed to the event, and none of them are front-runners: Sen. Sam Brownback of Kansas, Gov. Mike Huckabee of Arkansas, Rep. Duncan Hunter of California, Rep. Ron Paul of Texas and the latest entrant to the Republican field, Alan Keyes. Along with McCain, Romney, Thompson and Guiliani, Tom Tancredo is also a no-show.

LaShawn's favorite candidate isn't showing (she told me herself she backs Tancredo).

With Tancredo's decision not to show there would actually have been more empty lecterns than occupied ones. Even the densest apologist would be jarred by that.

Me, I'm feeling the Republican Party is finally being honest. I got no problem with that at all.

GOP candidates bailing out of PBS All-American Forum debate
Robert Cox, The Examiner
2007-09-25 07:00:00.0

WASHINGTON -

Tavis Smiley will host the Republican All-American Presidential Forum on PBS to be broadcast live Thursday evening from the campus of Morgan State University in Baltimore. A similar event for the Democrats was held last June on the campus of Howard University in Washington.

One by one, the four leading candidates for the Republican nomination for president have announced they will not participate. This is not only a strategic mistake for these campaigns but also a major embarrassment for the Republican Party.

How can voters take seriously a candidate asking for their support to be leader of the free world when that same candidate is unwilling to take questions from black journalists, in front of a predominantly black audience?

The absence of former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, Sen. John McCain of Arizona and former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson from what has been, so far, the only nationally televised debate to focus solely on topics of interest of black Americans sends a very clear message that not only is the Republican Party not interested in courting the “black vote” but is not even willing to engage on issues of importance to African-Americans.

This goes beyond any one campaign. It is nothing less than a disgrace for the entire country. Is it any wonder that when Kanye West blurts out “President Bush hates black people” on national television that many black Americans nod their heads in agreement?