The Congressional Black Caucus scheduled a debate on FOX News and they still got shafted by the Republicans.
In recent weeks, Republican presidential candidates have found time in their busy schedules to speak or debate before the Republican Jewish Coalition, “Value Voters,” conservative Floridians, even Wyoming Republicans, who hold virtually no sway in the primary race. They’ve also agreed to appear at the CNN/YouTube debate they at one point shunned.
But it appears that some GOP frontrunners are once again letting an opportunity to appear before African-American voters lapse, just as they decided to sit out a black voter forum hosted last month by Tavis Smiley.
The Congressional Black Caucus Institute announced in September that it had scheduled a debate for November 4 on Fox News for Republican presidential candidates. But a spokeswoman for the group confirmed to the Huffington Post that it has now been postponed, with no new date set.
“The debate will not take place on November 4, and we’re still considering the debate schedule,” said CBC Institute spokesperson Georgella Muirhead.
Republican candidates have cited scheduling conflicts in resisting new proposed dates, Muirhead said.
Maybe if the Ku Klux Klan had a cable news network the Republicans would show up to debate issues of interest to the black community. Maybe the CBC will learn a lesson about dealing with Republicans and dealing with FOX News.
The Republican party, since Nixon, has been dependent upon racism to win presidential elections and majorities in Congress. A proven formula, why should they stop now?
not surprising to me. I’ve felt for a while now that the CBC has more in common with Byron Thomas than with Thurgood Marshall. Anti-gay, Anti-abortion, Anti-immigrant…..They’re Fox’s kinda folks…
They treat Arab-Americans the same way. Coming to think of it, so do the Democrats. Oh well…never mind.
here’s the linky I forgot to add:
http://www.thewashingtonnote.com/archives/002462.php#more
This is the beta version of Free Speech Zones 2.0, protected areas where antiestablishment agitators won’t get publicity for nothing to support their hysterical political agenda.
In other words, no unpleasant images of hordes of pissed off Americans.
Wait for the Convention to see the roll-out of fully implemented Free Speech Zone 2.0 where actual demonstrators are tasered, gassed, clubbed, whipped, dogged, and arrested en masse without habeas corpus. Naturally this will not be broadcast on the news — the emergency restrictions imposed by VP Cheney limit ‘news’ to traditional team sports and their corporate sponsors.
At first, I thought that the candidates were afraid that they would not get softball questions, i.e. that they might be “outclassed” and stayed back. But that did not make sense; either they were prime time or not and Tavis Smiley is not the boogieman, just an actual journalist with an edge (what used to be called a journalist, period.)
Then I thought that they had other things to do like fundraise. But that did not make sense; they could dynamically turn the after-party or the before-party into a fundraiser, and a breakfast the following morning.
Then I thought that they did not think they would get a lot of voter “bang” since not many African-Americans vote in Republican primaries. But that did not make sense; these debates would appear on national television and hypothetically an attendee, especially a challenger/underdog, could set his team creatively to use such a debate as guerilla warfare, such as rolling out an announcement of some sort.
Then I realized the truth, or more recalled it having exhausted other hypothetical explanations: regardless of how they personally feel, each Republican candidate needs to give the black community a ritual “screw-you”, ideally several “screw-yous”, to be taken seriously by the Republican primary voter. Failing to do so means you are a wimp, a coward and a liberal in their book. Racial hostility as substitute for physical courage and virtue.
That’s why NONE of them will show up – they desperately need South Carolina, and South Carolina Republican voters know what they want: no Negroes, idiot.
long-winded, but you’ve nailed it. That’s exactly what is going on and isn’t even personal antipathy, necessarily, but strategy.