GOP '08 Candidates Are Scared of Black People

This post, written by Steven Reynolds, originally appeared on All Spin Zone

The cowardly Republican Presidential candidates have ducked another debate, this time one sponsored by African- Americans, and slated to be held at Morgan State University. This is not a good strategy for the minority party, and we should make sure the world knows about the collective cowardice of these candidates.

Actually, it seems they are scared of several constituencies here in America. We reported a while back about how almost all the Republican candidates for President (except John McCain) were scared of answering real questions by real people in a debate sponsored by YouTube. Yeah, they're scared of real people. Alas, they may discover someday that real people vote. Most of the Republican candidates also ducked a debate sponsored by Univision. Again, all but John McCain snubbed the debate sponsored by the spanish-language cable giant. They are scared of Hispanic voters? Not surprising there, given the Republican immigration stance. In today's news, the Republicans are scared of black people.

The debate was to be hosted by Tavis Smiley at Morgan State University in Baltimore. All the top-tier Republican Presidential candidates have run scared from it. Yes, even Fred Thompson, now that he's a candidate for real, has ducked and run scared from yet another constituency, this time African Americans. Smiley himself wonders if the Republicans will face any minority voters. From Sam Stein at HuffPo:

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?"