GOP Says No To Black College Debate

Angela Winters, a black moderate blogger, writes about a recent move by almost all of the Republican presidential candidates: "Tavis Smiley is not pleased with the GOP candidates who turned down invitations to debate at an HBCU in Baltimore later this month. Smiley: GOP candidates ignore minorities - USATODAY.com. It was going to be sponsored by Univision, who I think sponsored the recent Democrat Hispanic but-you-can't-speak-any-Spanish debate. Only John McCain agreed, but he obviously has nothing else to do. When the Democrats were invited to debate at Howard last June, all top 8 candidates came."

My response: Why was Univision - a Hispanic channel - and not Black Entertainment Television or TV One going to sponsor the debate? I assume the candidates (except Sen. McCain) are not going because they don't believe that their presence is a good use of their limited time, given low black support for Republican presidential candidates. This makes some sense from a political standpoint. However, I believe that this is not a good move by the Republican candidates and only reinforces the view among many black folks that the GOP hates blacks. They should've accepted the invitation and explained how their center-right policies will benefit black folks. If these candidates can slightly increase their black support (as President Bush did in Ohio during the 2004 election), they have a better chance of getting into the White House should any of them become the GOP nominee.