WASHINGTON — Three of the four leading Republican presidential candidates turned down invitations to a PBS debate this month at a historically black college in Baltimore, leading moderator Tavis Smiley on Thursday to accuse them of ignoring minority voters.Smiley makes a good point, but he should have expanded that a bit to include homosexuals, women, poor people, children, illegal immigrants, and working class Americans.
Smiley told USA TODAY the rejections are part of a pattern, noting most GOP candidates declined invitations to address several black and Hispanic groups, including a Univision debate for a Latino audience.
"No one should be elected president of this country in 2008 if they think that along the way they can ignore people of color," said Smiley, host of radio and TV talk shows. "If you want to be president of all America, you need to speak to all Americans."
Arizona Sen. John McCain, former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani and former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney have declined to participate in the Sept. 27 debate at Morgan State University.
Friday, September 14, 2007
Rich, white and male? The GOP wants your vote.
Either the Republicans are intentionally trying to alienate voters or they're just plain stupid. From USA Today:
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3 comments:
As usual the Repugs only see one society and it is rich and white.
Smiley makes a good point, but he should have expanded that a bit to include homosexuals, women, poor people, children, illegal immigrants, and working class Americans.
Excellent observation. Seems the GOP has changed a bit, discarding the pretense of 'values voters' to concentrate on their true constituency.
Larry, "rich and white" are also their largest contributors.
Max, thanks for dropping by and leaving a comment. You're right, "values voters" was all pretense.
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