GOP Presidential Candidates Forum Observations

I had the pleasure of attending Thursday's Republican presidential candidate's forum at Morgan State University. I also participated in a post forum roundtable that aired on the Tavis Smiley Show on PBS on Friday, September 28. I spent most of the forum in the media filing center (more on that later) before going to the Murphy Center for the Arts to take in the final moments.

Observations:

* This event was hurt by the absences of the four top-tier candidates. Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, Senator John McCain, former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, and former Senator Fred Thompson all cited scheduling conflicts in their decision to skip the forum. That reason flies in the face of the fact that those forum invitations were issued in March. Their absence left a decided lack of electricity from the evening. In some ways it was like watching a concert of preliminary acts with no head liners. The auditorium was about two-thirds full and about 80% of the accredited media did not bother to attend.

* Mike Huckabee has always struck me as a thoughtful candidate and he distinguished himself from the field offering comments that demonstrated he did research and had some understanding of Black America. His comments on criminal justice reform showed real common sense. Typical "tough-on-crime" conservatives address criminal justice in irresponsible sound bites, slogans, and policies: "three strikes", "do away with parole", and the "death penalty." These sound bites, slogans and policies were more about appearing to be tough on crime than actually doing the hard work of rehabilitation. Huckabee scored points by noting that 80% of those incarcerated in America are so because of drug or alcohol related crime. He called for the creation of drug courts and alternatives to incarceration where appropriate. This doesn't usually come from conservatives and shows an ability to think for himself in a way that sets him apart for rank-and-file Republicans.

* Sam Brownback indicating that he would issue an apology for slavery and segregation struck me as curious. He, as president, can issue an executive order or proclamation of some sort, but he would need to go through Congress to give it the full force of the American government. If there aren't 60 votes in the Senate to end the war in Iraq, then there aren't likely to be enough votes to overcome what I believe to be a certain filibuster in the Senate on an even more controversial issue.

* Cynthia Tucker of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution gets the gold star of the night for asking the question on D.C. voting representation in Congress. As a fourth-generation Washingtonian, the nephew of a former D.C. representation to Congress, and someone who has written a book on the subject, I've always been disappointed and frustrated by the lack of national interest in an issue so fundamental to democracy. Our government is spending billions in blood and treasure to ensure a functional representative democracy in Iraq (including that of many Washingtonians), but won't do anything to mend the crack in the liberty bell that is the status of Americans who happen to live in the District of Columbia.

* Alan Keyes is shameless.

Overall, the event was a success, despite the no-shows, because it featured questions that never would have been asked by other journalists on the major broadcast and cable networks. The candidates who skipped the event will be fine during the primary election process. The Republican nominee, likely one of the four, will pay a price in the general election. The nominee will see the 11% that President Bush received in 2004 as a lofty goal rather than an expectation. Given what is going on with the party on immigration and Iraq and their impact on Independents and Latino/a voters, the Republicans are heading for trouble in 2008.

Comments

[longislandlol]

Democrats can really go with this right now- energize their base even more- go out to every college campus- engage the media- pay for commercial time, place ads, move around the U.S. like the energized battery that never runs out-- proclaim, explain the TRUTH- Republicans really don't give a damn about any minorities. Sure- they pay lip service to them-but Obama needs to become a tad more aggressive attacking the likes of the stay-at-home Republicans.

[Kansas Evans]

I watched some of the debate and the roundtable and agree with you on many points. Huckabee performed the best.

I would also like to point out, there were lots of white people at the debate. Yeah, white people at a HBCU for a Repub debate prioritizing minority concerns!! I saw it with my own eyes.

Also, Huck and everyone else did exactly what I thought they would, answer minority concerns from a conservative prospective. Nobody was booed, not even Ron Paul, at least not during the part I watched.

The big four could've shown up without trouble from the audience. The four empty podiums will make great commercials should one of the big four win the nomination.

[fitz]

Face it, the black vote is completely marginalized. Repubs don't bother and Dems don't care.

Why can't blacks understand its not a black and white country anymore?

Its the blacks that should be trying to court the GOP, not the other way around.

Its already been clearly and repeatedly demonstrated that GOP wins elections without the black vote. And regardless of what Sharpton says, democrats are happily throwing blacks under the bus chasing the illegal alien vote.

If they want to matter anymore, blacks better start demonstrating they aren't just sheep for the democrats. Otherwise, they risk falling further into impotence and obscurity just like labor unions and other obsolete sectors of society.

[realityrules]

Fitz, first clarification: black voters are not "sheep for the democrats", black voters ARE democrats. Second clarification: democrats are not "chasing the illegal alien vote", non-citizens cannot vote. Third and fourth clarifications, blacks do matter, and dems do care. We may not entirely be able to relate to the problems blacks have in our society, but we at least want to be made aware, and guided as to what we can do to help.

[ImmanuelGoldstein]

So exactly what do republicans actually have to offer us? The same neoliberalism that's destroying the white middle class? The same war on drugs that has given America the largest prison population for its size in the world with the possible exception of the communist countries? What exactly are we going to 'court' them with? Offering to work picking vegatables for $2 hour, which is what made the republicans like the hispanics for about a week?

I keep hearing repukes say we should vote for them, but I keep seeing damn few reasons why...

[Yaa]

Don't hold your breath waiting for a majority of blacks to "court the GOP". The republicans have very little to offer anyone. The democrats have something to offer--so most of us blacks choose to support the democrats.

Backing a third party candidate would be wasting votes which most of us refuse to do.

[Qbear]

How can Black voters resist the Party of Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council spending 80K for David duke's KKK mailing list?

How can Black voters resist the Party which ran the "Call Me, HAROLD" ad,(created by the closeted queer Ken Mehlman,) which prevented Harold Ford from becoming a Senator?

How can Black voters resist the Party who's campaign killing technique against McCain in South Carolina was to spew a racist rumor his adopted Bangaladesh daughter was a secret illigitemate Black Baby?

How can Black voters resist the Party who oversaw and continue to IGNORE New Orleans after Katrina?

[Qbear]

I disagree Alan Keyes was great as comic relief. You can't get much funnier than a rabidly anti queer, who is SO OBVIOUSLY a big ol' FLAMER.
It is EXACTLY like the clip of Larry Craig calling "Bill Clinton a naughty bad boy, some might even say a NASTY naughty bad boy."
REALLY?
Who on the planet with a head hearing that comment of Craigs didn't think....big ol' queer?

[obama4america]

VERY FUNNY. AND VERY RIGHT.

[Camel54]

Qbear, you crack me up.

I'm not sure what planet Fitz is writing to us from, but it's apparently a planet on which Katrina did not hit New Orleans. If this were the only example of the republicans complete failure to fairly treat black people in America, it might be one thing, but it just happens to be the most outrageous, recent example.

The republicans, with their top-down, "personal responsibility" economics have nothing to offer black people. Without getting into the reasons why so many urban areas are populated by poor blacks, the fact is it's there. When you decry social safety net programs as the republicans do, you are telling those at the bottom that you do not care about their problems. When blame poverty on laziness you accuse them of being poor by choice, of not taking responsibility, of being flawed. How does that appeal to black people again?

With all that said, I live in the South where there are many, many poor rural folk and for some reason I cannot fathom, they all tend to vote republican when the same criticisms should apply. Why can they count on the poor whites to vote against their self-interests but not the poor blacks? What is the missing element? Their message is tempered to whites, that's why. They generate fear and disdain of blacks with their derision of black culture. They tell the whites the blacks want to take what they've earned from the whites and have it given to the blacks.

[Kansas Evans]

Very succinct description.