As I mentioned a couple of days ago, I had planned to address the fact that Republican presidential candidates Rudy Giuliani, Fred Thompson, John McCain and Mitt Romney planned to skip the Republican Presidential Forum which will be held at historically-black Morgan State University--due to "scheduling conflicts." (The Forum is an episode of Tavis Smiley's All American Presidential Forum and is to be broadcast via PBS on September 27.) But, as most bloggers know, when you snooze you lose and someone will end up hitting every point that you planned to address, as fellow Conservative Brotherhood members D.C Thornton and Michael "Cobb" Bowen have done on this subject. Therefore my only recourse is to say, "what they said" and highlight points of agreement. DC and Cobb suspect that the conflicts mentioned have nothing to do with scheduling, but with, shall we say, the apprehension that the candidates may feel in addressing an audience, whose majority holds a different political ideology. I suspect this as well.
D.C. Thornton:
I agree with Newt Gingrich, Michael Steele, and others who expressed grave disappointment at the top tier candidates declining to attend. Whether they had legitimate scheduling conflicts or just simply felt that participating in a heavily biased, agenda-driven forum would be a waste of their time is already being discussed, debated, or maligned by pundits everywhere.
Just as I took black Republican no-shows to the 2006 State of the Black Union (another CWBA [Covenant with Black America] themed event) to task, I’m doing the same for the Top 4 — especially Fred Thompson, whom I support for the presidential nomination: Show up anyway.
Yes, you’re damned if you do (and of course damned if you don’t), but you’ll earn a lot more respect from those who may not necessarily agree with you. Some may even open their minds and consider your plans and proposals for the future. And just maybe some of those who consider your arguments may come over to your side, lend you their support, and even cast a vote for you.Cobb, in an open letter to Fred Thompson:
I am disappointed having received some indication that you may have declined to speak at a debate to be held at Morgan State University. While candidates of your distinction must often refute the false claims of open enemies as well as advocate those causes of their dedicated supporters. So too, must candidates, and more importantly true leaders, not be daunted by circumstances in which the true intentions of their interlocutors are murky. The prospect of wading through the fog of racial symbolism is such a cloudy circumstance. In the decision surrounding the path taken through known territory and unknown territory, leadership can be determined in a moment. Such a moment has presented itself as an obstacle whether you like it or not. [SNIP]
[W]e are often met on such rhetorical battlefields testing whether we have the stomach, and the presence of mind to at the very least say the right thing and encourage Americans to do the right thing. We cannot wish such political conflict away, and the courageous and righteous among us cannot ignore it. I don't like being a 'black Republican' because I have to fight stereotypes every day. You may not like being a 'white Republican' for similar reasons. When somebody calls you a liar, tell the truth.To paraphrase John McCain himself: If a prospective Commander-in-Chief is afraid to address his/her political opponents, how will he/she deal with adversaries who want to kill all of us?
(Thanks to Booker Rising; please go over there for a rousing discussion of the topic; scroll down)
