Last month, PBS hosted a Republican presidential candidates’ debate at historically black college in Baltimore — and all of the top four GOP candidates decided to skip it. This followed close on the heels of a Univision-hosted Republican debate in Miami on Latino issues — which was canceled when all but one candidate declined invitations. The National Council of La Raza asked Republican candidates to address its annual conference in July, but none showed up. The National Association of Latino Elected & Appointed Officials extended similar invitations to the entire GOP field, but only Duncan Hunter agreed to attend.
Minority communities are beginning to think that maybe, just maybe, Republican presidential hopefuls aren’t exactly attentive to their concerns.
Given all the attention this has received, the field would be crazy to skip the Congressional Black Caucus Institute’s debate, right? Well, as Michael Roston explained, the incessant “scheduling difficulties” have reappeared.
In recent weeks, Republican presidential candidates have found time in their busy schedules to speak or debate before the Republican Jewish Coalition, “Value Voters,” conservative Floridians, even Wyoming Republicans, who hold virtually no sway in the primary race. They’ve also agreed to appear at the CNN/YouTube debate they at one point shunned.
But it appears that some GOP frontrunners are once again letting an opportunity to appear before African-American voters lapse…. The Congressional Black Caucus Institute announced in September that it had scheduled a debate for November 4 on Fox News for Republican presidential candidates. But a spokeswoman for the group confirmed to the Huffington Post that it has now been postponed, with no new date set. […]
Republican candidates have cited scheduling conflicts in resisting new proposed dates, [CBC Institute spokesperson Georgella Muirhead] said.
The Huffington Post contacted GOP campaigns, and Mitt Romney was the only top-tier Republican candidate who was even considering the CBC Institute’s event.
I’m reminded of a good quote from a month ago that continues to ring true.
“We sound like we don’t want immigration; we sound like we don’t want black people to vote for us,” said former congressman Jack Kemp (N.Y.), who was the GOP vice presidential nominee in 1996. “What are we going to do — meet in a country club in the suburbs one day?”
As for the stated excuses, even Newt Gingrich isn’t buying it: “It’s just fundamentally wrong. Any of them who give you that scheduling-conflict answer are disingenuous. That’s baloney.”
Keep in mind, Dems also skipped the debate co-sponsored by Fox News and the CBC Institute, but they had a fairly compelling reason — they didn’t want to legitimize a partisan outlet that exists to help the Republican Party. They didn’t need phony “scheduling problem” excuses; they were candid about their motivations.
People can debate whether the Dems’ strategy of avoiding the GOP’s network was wise — I believe it was — but multiple media figures lambasted the Democratic candidates for having the gall to boycott an event sponsored by partisans from the other side.
I long ago lost count of how many times major media personalities blasted the Dems over this, but Tim Russert’s slam on Fox News stands out.
Colmes said … he thinks Democrats have made a mistake not participating in a FOX News debate.
Russert then falsely suggested that Democrats were scared to participate, as opposed to refusing on principle. “It’s a TV show. If you can’t handle TV questions, how you gonna stand up to Iran and North Korea and the rest of the world?”
Jay Leno asked how Democrats could “stand up to terrorists when you’re afraid of Fox News?” Similar observers said the same thing over and over again for months.
It’d sure be nice if some of these same critics asked the questions now. To borrow the right’s parlance, if Rudy Giuliani, Mitt Romney, Fred Thompson, and John McCain can’t withstand questions from the Congressional Black Caucus, how can they be trusted to stand up to terrorists?
