Thompson Refuses To Debate At Historically Black College

Former Tennessee Senator Fred Thompson has become the fourth leading GOP presidential candidate to shun the PBS debate this month at a historically black college in Baltimore, the Huffington Post has learned.

The debates, moderated by Tavis Smiley, will go on as planned, despite the absence of Thompson, former mayor Rudy Giuliani, former governor Mitt Romney, and Sen. John McCain. Each campaign cited scheduling issues as the reason for their absence. Nevertheless, the rejections underscore the consistent absence of GOP candidates at minority voter forums.

"There is a pattern here," Smiley told the Huffington Post. "When you tell every black and brown request that you get throughout the primary process that 'no, there's a scheduling problem.' That's a pattern... Are we really supposed to believe that all four of these guys couldn't make it because of scheduling?"

The Republican frontrunners' snubbing of Smiley and PBS comes on the heels of their rejection of a debate sponsored by the Spanish-language network Univision (McCain was the only GOP candidate to accept that invitation). This past June, only one Republican presidential candidate, California Rep. Duncan Hunter, showed up at the convention of the National Association of Latino Elected & Appointed Officials.

"It's not just that they are not coming. It's that some of them are visibly insulting us," Cecilia Munoz, vice president of NCLR, told the Politico.

According to Smiley, the Thompson campaign knew about the debate - taking place at 9 pm on September 27 at Morgan State University- well before he declared his candidacy. Former RNC Chairman Ken Mehlman chose the date because it worked best for all the potential candidates, Smiley said.

An official on Thompson's staff called up the PBS host on Monday to deliver the message.

"I told them I thought they were making a grave mistake and I thought they should reconsider," said Smiley. The Thompson campaign did not respond for a request for comment by the time of print.

The five other Republican candidates for president have all committed to the PBS debate and Smiley plans to proceed with the plans - albeit with four empty lecterns on stage.

"Unlike Univision which cancelled their debate, unlike CNN, which changed their date [of the YouTube debate] we are going live," said Smiley. "We are delighted the other five are coming and appreciate their courage for showing up. The beat goes on."

Comments

[andyboy]

Yeah I agree. If your not white and Republican than why bother to talk to you?

Typical.

[KBAR]

What was the Party of the founding fathers of the NAACP who were themselves white?
[ ] a. Democratic Party
[ ] b. Republican Party

[BreadandRoses]

Both parties were significantly different a hundred years ago.

There is no valid point to your post---as usual.

[truesonofliberty]

Look out!

The 101st NeoCon Chairborne has landed!

"Set your keyboards to spin! We're being overwhelmed by facts!"

[kittycago]

Even if you thought that the Dems had the black vote wrapped up by using your nothing's your fault/we'll give you free stuff" theory would'nt you go just out of respect for your fellow Americans?
How would you be the voice that leads people out of the wilderness of economic despair that you portray? How would you lead them into the productive life styles if you ignore them?
After you give black americans a "smackdown' here you claim to be kidding?Why would you insult an entire race on a public blog and then say your kidding?I suspect your not kidding and your candidate of choice is one that is not going.
It is sad to see people like you vote with "values" like that.

[truesonofliberty]

"But" (GOP candidate's lip trembles at national convention­).."we're the party of the big tent!"

[misterbone]

"And we need somebody to clean up all this elephant manure"

[Thalia]

Of course they are. All you need do is pay the $40,000/yr. country club dues, and they'll let you in that tent.

[Firaxis]

And you know about country clubs? I'll bet your family belongs to one of those WASP clubs.

[Striker5]

They were right to ignore it. If I were a Republican politician and had the opportunity to eat a sandwich or talk to the a black political action group, I think the sandwich would be a more worthwhile investment of time.

Dems have the black vote wrapped up. they have the time proven successful strategy of "nothing's your fault/we'll give you free stuff". how can you compete with that? And it has had a profound effect for the betterment of black people! Oh wait....

I think Hispanics would make good Republicans. The only issue is they need to accept that their relatives can get in line with the Europeans and Asians and so on who want to become citizens.

I'm kidding. I think they should talk to them, just so they can say they did. It would still be a waste of time.

[misterbone]

I like your honesty. Yes, it would be a waste of time for repukes. I wonder why?

[Firaxis]

Much ado about nothing, if you were not upset about the democrats refusing to go on Fox.

Is there a difference, or should both groups of candidates man up and appear in unfriendly arenas?

[misterbone]

LOL, well if you can equate the two with a straight face, at least the dems were honest about why they wouldn't appear on Fox. What's the Repukes' excuse again?

[andyboy]

Who cares? I think I know where all the Republican candidates stand. I almost puked when I watched 10 minutes of one of these "debates".

Your right much ado about nothing. The Republicans are irrelavent at this point. Still it's funny to watch them self-destruct.

[Qbear]

FOX doesn't represent ANYONE and they don't vote.
Unlike Latinos and African Americans.
Your insy bitsy teensy tiny marginalized GOP is in it's LAST THROES.
The few Southern States the GOP held onto by their fingernails in the 2006 THUMPING, have either Majority or near Majority Black voters...r­ut roh!

[Thalia]

FOX represents the White House.

It's that politicians don't represent FOX, or shouldn't.

They SHOULD represent all American citizens, and Republicans are thumbing their noses at CITIZENS, not a television station.

In addition, black people are legitimate citizens while FOX is not a legitimate news station.

Firaxis made a really bad analogy.

[scooperss]

I'm not a racist but don't all people want more or less the same thing? Why do we separate people into groups to have debates in front of?
To me, that's the racist part-assuming blacks/hispanics want different things from life that whites do.

[misterbone]

"Why do we separate people into groups to have debates in front of?"


Why did our white ancestors separate people into groups? (You do recall from social studies class that we had this little thing called segregation?) When you answer THAT question, then you've answered your own.

[bickerson4]

some people are keeping score.

[kay]

Stay OFF the record.

Here's President Bush in 2004, trying to get re-elected:

"America's children must also have a healthy start in life. In a new term, we will lead an aggressive effort to enroll millions of poor children who are eligible but not signed up for the government's health insurance programs. We will not allow a lack of attention, or information, to stand between these children and the health care they need. (Applause.­)"

Two weeks ago, Bush and his scumbag lawyers re-wrote the rules on distributing information to poor and middle class kids at school

They did it at 10:30 at night on a Friday, because the GOP Congress were too scared to de-fund SCHIP and SCHIP info funding in public, with a "nay" vote. SCHIP is wildly popular, because it works.

A "rule change" got them where they couldn't go with a vote on the record, and effectively trumped a bi-partisan majority in the House and Senate.

Republicans best stay off the record, and steer clear of debates. They lie all the time.

[KBAR]

DEMOCRATS DEFEND BIGOTRY

The moment that Dr. Condoleezza Rice was nominated to be the first black woman secretary of state, liberal Democrats, emboldened by the silence or complicity of most black Democrat civil rights advocates, showed their racist underbelly. Democratic Party leaders in Congress and liberal cartoonists engaged in the kind of racism that liberals say they abhor. Liberal cartoonist Gary Trudeau, Pat Oliphant, Jeff Danziger, and Ted Rall, as well as radio talk show host John Sylvester attacked Dr. Rice because she is a Republican, using the same kind of vile, racist slurs that the Democrats used against blacks during the era of slavery and segregation.
http://www.nationalblackrepublicans.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=pages.democrats

[robodweeb]

Doubtful.

I suspect the objection to Condi as Secretary of State was because of her total failure as a National Security Advisor.

Remember 9/11 that she was warned about several times?

[oneseye]

The slimey bastards all lie.

It's the nature of the beasties.

I don't know what the electorate can do but bring back the guillotine. That works for awhile but eventually a new elite takes over and we're all back in the same crowded boat.

Politicians and vested interests are chipping away at out public health system (Canada's) and Britain's has been turned into a freakin' mess by the same type of scum.

Why on earth anybody believes that private corporations would deliver health services better than a public system?
The answer is obviously it can't because it is in the business of making money. As much as possible.

Oh and the idiot trolls don't realize that private health systems cost MORE per capita than government run systems.

[KBAR]

http://www.nationalblackrepublicans.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=pages.DYK-Simple%20Sambo%20and%20Ignorant%20Mammy&tp_preview=true

"Simple Sambo" and "Ignorant Mammy"": That's how Democrats view Blacks

By Frances Rice

[robodweeb]

Barak would disagree.

Probably Chuck Rangel would too. And all of those other black Democrats.

What does the Republican congressional black caucus say?

[bickerson4]

i think the doomtards treat blacks kind of like pet poodles that aren't house trained. they clean up their little messes and ignore the slaughter going on in their neighborhoods.

things will not change. they are nothing but little pawns in their game and props in their whining and will be as long as they allow themselves to be used.

[robodweeb]

"i think "


No evidence of that.

[oneseye]

Oh damn!

I was hoping bicky-boo-stik had gone fishing in that storm the other day.
What a disappointment.

Geez Boob whenya gonna lern to speaka da Eeen-glish properly?

[kay]

They don't go anywhere they'll get asked a real question.

They blew off the "values voters" debate, too. Showing up there and answering questions may alienate the crucial non-loony religious demographic.

I love Mitt Romney.
Stage a photo op at a charity hospital to attack someone else's health plan. He doesn't have one, nor will he, but he's good at photo ops. Why hold it at a hospital? A hospital in the backdrop makes it "about healthcare"?

Weenies. If they go to debates they might have to answer questions, and the answers go on the record.

Can't have that. The Vice President told them not to leave a paper trail.

[Firaxis]

I thought he had one for Massachusetts and I assume he would propose one similar if elected President.

Would I be wrong?

[robodweeb]

When have you been right?

But if Mitt has a plan I'm sure it will flip and flop several times before the election.

[shhhhhhh]

Well of course. This is the most xenophobic version of the Republobot party to date. I am surprised that are not holding their convention in Jena, Louisiana, with "Whites Only" posted at the High School auditorium doors and nooses on all of the "white" trees.

This version likes predictability in questions and they don't want to get hit with questions that have to do with true domestic issues. This will not be the forum for the "are you scared, maybe I can scare you" speeches.

With what Blacks have been through in this country as stories have passed from generatioon to generation, I'm quite sure their not as afraid of Al-Qaida as the Republots want them to be. I think they are more afraid of "Al-Cracka" as Chris Rock once said.

This party has truly lost touch with real American issues and all they can talk about is war and al-qaida with the conflated of Iran, al-qaida etc..

What a sad party.

[KBAR]

What a sad party.

http://www.jewishworldreview.com/cols/elder112102.asp

Larry Elder

[bickerson4]

the repubs should hold their convention in the dusky area of philly to make a point.

the point being that their blind loyalty to the doomtards hasn't gotten them anything but being used as political pawns and cheap, victim mongering race hustlers.

they always complain but vote for doomtards based on their record of keeping things exactly as they are.

dumbasses.

[robodweeb]

"the repubs should hold their convention in the dusky area of philly to make a point."

As if they'd have the balls.

[KBAR]

The Democratic Party Harms Blacks

DEMOCRATS BLOCK WELFARE REFORM BILL

Ignoring the harm it would cause to blacks, Democrats on April 1, 2004 blocked passage of a bill to renew the 1996 welfare reform law and ground the Senate to a halt. On a 51-47 vote, the Senate failed to gain the 60 votes needed to break the filibuster of the welfare reform bill by Democrats. Only Senator Zell Miller, a Georgia Democrat, joined Republicans in voting to end the filibuster and bring the bill to a final up-or-down vote. Welfare reform is widely credited with helping reduce welfare rolls by 60 percent and getting blacks out of poverty. Since the law expired in September 2002, Congress has passed six extensions, and the latest expired on June 30, 2004. Democrats boldly blocked the extension because they know that blacks will vote for them regardless of the harm they cause to blacks.
http://www.nationalblackrepublicans.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=pages.democrats

[Qbear]

GOP shrinks to the teeniest tiniest Party in it's History. A few minor Southern States which have Black majority voters or very near majority,,,,and queer scandals dailym and the worst international FIASCO in generation­s.....Iraq­.

[Firaxis]

They still vote Republican and if you knew anything about the South at all, you would know that there are considerable number black Republicans in the South.

[Neoknot2u]

shhhhhhhhhhhh damnit

[nancytheragingliberal]

What did you expect from the party of the death-white faces, red cheeks, thin lips, beady eyes. You get the picture. These repub's should get booted back into the cages they occupied for 50 years, and never be allowed to darken our doors again. They are a nasty, bungling excuse to be even considered part of the human race. I hope all people, of every race, creed, belief, vote these mean-spirited fools out of office until the end of time.

[bickerson4]

you mean the aging princes of pork like bobby byrd?

[robodweeb]

At least his bridges go somewhere.

[bickerson4]

that's that ignorant. gap toothed, nappy headed fool i saw on TV the other night. who is that dude? the buckwheat standing next to tavis smiley?

he was on TV the other night and i couldn't believe how ignorant he was.

anyone know who it is?

[robodweeb]

Bush?

[robodweeb]

Gap toothed? Nappy headed? Dude?

Must be Condi Rice.

[MajorKong]

Must be more of that "Southern Strategy" thing.

[KBAR]

THE TRUTH ABOUT NIXON'S SOUTHERN STRATEGY

The nearly 30-year odyssey of the South switching to the Republican Party began in the late 1970s with President Richard Nixon's Southern Strategy. Georgia did not switch until 2002, and some states, such as Louisiana, still are controlled by Democrats.

The essence of Nixon's strategy was to convince Christians in the South to stop supporting the Democratic Party that was denying blacks their civil rights and support the Republican Party that was fighting for the civil rights of blacks.

Southerners who switched to the Republican Party did so because they got over their dislike for the Republican Party as the party of blacks and realized that the Repubilcan Party shares their traditional values of faith in God, personal responsibility, hard work, and strong families.

Today, Christians in the South do not support the Democratic Party because it is the party of socialists and secularists who favor same-sex marriage and banning God from the public square. The harsh rhetoric by Democrats shows that white Christians are not welcome in the Democratic Party.
http://www.nationalblackrepublicans.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=pages.democrats

[robodweeb]

Southerners, Democratic and Republican, voted against the civil rights act.

Northerners, Democratic and Republican, voted for the civil rights act.

[KRANKY]

Big Surprise!
This is the Party of Hate!
The Repukes detest anyone they determine unlike themselves: decrepit, old fascist racists.