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PROMINENT REPUBLICANS SPEAKOUT AGAINST PARTY'S PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE SNUBS: Also, is Alan Keyes' jumping into the ring subtraction by addition for Republican debate?
The only reason the so-called Republican frontrunners give for not appearing at the debate is that their schedules won't allow it.
*And we thought Tavis Smiley was upset over the leading Republican party candidates for president snubbing him by refusing to appear on the All-American Presidential Forum, a debate to be held at Morgan State University on September 27.
According to the Washington Post, several prominent conservatives have stepped forward to voice their displeasure with former New York City mayor Rudolphi Giuliani, former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, former senator Fred. D. Thompson and Arizona senator John McCain's decision to skip debates before African American and Hispanic voters.
The only reason the so-called Republican frontrunners give for not appearing at the debate is that their schedules won't allow it.
"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? If we're going to be competitive with people of color, we've got to ask them for their vote."
Some Republicans are also dismayed at the timing as well especially since the snubbing of the All American Presidential Forum comes on the heels of the top GOP candidates refusal to appear for a similar debate on Univision, the most watched Hispanic network in the United States.
"For Republicans to consistently refuse to engage in front of an African American or Latino audience is an enormous error," said former House speaker Newt Gingrich. "I hope they will reverse their decision and change their schedules. I see no excuse -- this thing has been planned for months, these candidates have known about it for months. It's just fundamentally wrong. Any of them who give you that scheduling-conflict answer are disingenuous. That's baloney."
Mr. Gingrich's assessment of the situation is probably one of but a few times he and the majority of African Americans have been in agreement. Former Republican National Committee chairman Ken Mehlman urged candidates to "reconsider this opportunity to lay out their vision and other opportunities in the future."
"Every one of these candidates I've talked to is sincerely committed to offering real choices to African American and Hispanic voters, and in my opinion have records that will appeal to many of these voters," he added.
But minority sponsored debates are not the only ones GOP candidates are fleeing from. The Post also is reporting that several Republicans have so far declined to participate in a forum sponsored by the Web site YouTube that would be broadcast on CNN. Earlier this week, the top contenders skipped a "values voters" forum organized by conservative activists
in Florida.
The Washington Post also reported that Giuliani, Romney and McCain also declined to appear at events sponsored by the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials and the National Urban League, which Smiley said suggests a pattern of ignoring minority voters. He said debate organizers will set up lecterns showing the names of the absent candidates.
"When you reject every black invitation and every brown invitation you receive, is that a scheduling issue or is it a pattern?" Smiley asked. "I don't believe anybody should be elected president of the United States if they think along the way they can ignore people of color. That's just not the America we live in."
While the top Republican candidates for president are running away from debate, African American conservative politician and now three time presidential candidate Alan Keyes is throwing his hat into the ring. Republican Alan Keyes announced Monday that he will be joining the Republican presidential race. With very little chance of winning, Keyes appears to be joining the race so that the GOP will have at least one minority candidate in the field of 8 Republican presidential contenders. Keyes, who lost to Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama in the Illinois Senate race of 2004, will also step in to appear on the All-American Presidential Forum, taking place on the campus of Morgan State University in Baltimore, MD.
Keyes, who has run twice for the presidency, filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commitee last Friday. Amid all the controversy regarding the Republican frontrunners refusing to show up for the All-American Presidential Forum, Keyes will, at the very least, add some colorful and controversial commentary to the debate on September 27.
Another individual who may be worth at least listening to is former Republican Governor of Arkansas Mike Huckabee. He is largely considered as a Republican darkhorse. But he's put out a warning to the party about Hillary Clinton.
"If Republicans don't win minority votes and votes that we traditionally don't get, Hillary Clinton's the next president," Huckabee said in a teleconference with reporters while campaigning in Iowa.
The All-American Presidential Forum will air on September 27th at 9pm.
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