Richard Tafoya
Sep 20th, 2007, 10:38 PM
Hunffington Post:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2007/09/20/black-republicans-sharply_n_65156.html
Reaction among black conservatives is divided over news this week that Republican presidential frontrunners had pulled out of a long-scheduled debate at a historically black college.
"Many people think that Republicans don't care about the black community," Don Scoggins, President of Republicans for Black Empowerment, told the Huffington Post. "I know that's not true, but it's hard to dispel when have we major candidates who say they have scheduling conflicts."
Other black conservatives were far more forgiving.
"I truly believe that Fred Thompson, Rudy Giuliani, Mitt Romney, and John McCain can't make it because of scheduling conflicts," said black conservative pundit La Shawn Barber on her blog Wednesday (http://lashawnbarber.com/archives/2007/09/18/black-college-debate-no-shows/). "I'm hopelessly naïve, I guess."
The Huffington Post reported on Monday (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2007/09/17/thompson-refuses-to-debat_n_64744.html) that former senator Fred Thompson was the last of the Republican frontrunners to decline an invitation to debate at Morgan State University in Baltimore, Md. The debate, scheduled for Sept. 27 and sponsored by PBS, will include Sen. Sam Brownback (R-KS), former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee, Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-CA), Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX), and Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-CO). The campaign of Alan Keyes, who only entered the race last week, did not say whether he would attend, or whether he was invited.
Tavis Smiley, a PBS TV host who is moderating the debate, earlier expressed doubts that Republican front runners had scheduling conflicts that prevented them from attending. His skepticism was shared by Scoggins of Republicans for Black Empowerment.
"This wasn't something that just came up, this has been planned for months," Scoggins said, noting that the Morgan State debate was announced at the same time Democrats debated at Howard University in Washington DC in June.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2007/09/20/black-republicans-sharply_n_65156.html
Reaction among black conservatives is divided over news this week that Republican presidential frontrunners had pulled out of a long-scheduled debate at a historically black college.
"Many people think that Republicans don't care about the black community," Don Scoggins, President of Republicans for Black Empowerment, told the Huffington Post. "I know that's not true, but it's hard to dispel when have we major candidates who say they have scheduling conflicts."
Other black conservatives were far more forgiving.
"I truly believe that Fred Thompson, Rudy Giuliani, Mitt Romney, and John McCain can't make it because of scheduling conflicts," said black conservative pundit La Shawn Barber on her blog Wednesday (http://lashawnbarber.com/archives/2007/09/18/black-college-debate-no-shows/). "I'm hopelessly naïve, I guess."
The Huffington Post reported on Monday (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2007/09/17/thompson-refuses-to-debat_n_64744.html) that former senator Fred Thompson was the last of the Republican frontrunners to decline an invitation to debate at Morgan State University in Baltimore, Md. The debate, scheduled for Sept. 27 and sponsored by PBS, will include Sen. Sam Brownback (R-KS), former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee, Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-CA), Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX), and Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-CO). The campaign of Alan Keyes, who only entered the race last week, did not say whether he would attend, or whether he was invited.
Tavis Smiley, a PBS TV host who is moderating the debate, earlier expressed doubts that Republican front runners had scheduling conflicts that prevented them from attending. His skepticism was shared by Scoggins of Republicans for Black Empowerment.
"This wasn't something that just came up, this has been planned for months," Scoggins said, noting that the Morgan State debate was announced at the same time Democrats debated at Howard University in Washington DC in June.