Frankly, I still think that presidential debates at this point is too early, but since they have started, I'm going to point to some comments by Republicans.
Steele, who heads GOPAC, a political action committee that helps Republican candidates, told WBAL's "Kendel and Bob Show" Saturday that he's been contacted by debate moderator and PBS talk show host Tavis Smiley to help convince candidates to appear in the debate.
"I think it's an important opportunity for Republican candidates to put up or shut up, when ti comes to minority communities in the country," Steele said.
And this...
The four candidates leading in most national polls - Rudy Giuliani, John McCain, Mitt Romney, and Fred Thompson - have said they have fund-raising or other scheduling conflicts and will not attend the nationally televised forum in Baltimore on Sept. 27. But even some leading Republicans questioned whether the candidates are interested in addressing issues of special concern to African-Americans.
"I think it is a terrible mistake," former House speaker Newt Gingrich said in a telephone interview yesterday. "I did everything I could to convince them it was the right thing to do, [but] we are in this cycle where Republicans don't talk to minority groups," he said. Yet Gingrich added Republicans cannot afford to ignore black voters during the primaries because the GOP will need their support if they hope to win the general election.
And this...
"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 (Ga.), who has not yet ruled out a White House run himself. "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."
And this...
"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."
That is all.
Recent Comments