Before five Republican candidates for president got to address important issues of crime, jobs and immigration, they and the hosts spent the first 15 minutes of a nationally televised debate at Morgan State University Thursday night bashing the four candidates who didn?t show up.
“I?d like to say a word to those viewing from home,” joked radio talk show host Tom Joyner, as he greeted Rudy Giuliani, Mitt Romney, Fred Thompson and John McCain ? all no-shows for a forum organized specifically to address topics of interest to minorities.
Tavis Smiley, the PBS personality who moderated and organized the forum, rejected the notion that the majority black audience at Morgan would be “hostile and unreceptive.” Smiley thanked all the Maryland Republicans who had helped put the show together, including former Lt. Gov. Michael Steele, who introduced the six candidates on the stage.
Most were warmly received or at least politely welcomed, and Texas Congressman Ron Paul, a former Libertarian candidate for president, got a rousing reception from the crowd ? at least based on what scores of reporters segregated in the field house could tell from the broadcast.
Once the introductions were done, the candidates only had about 65 minutes to answer questions from columnist Cynthia Tucker, NPR?s Juan Williams and Ray Suarez of PBS.
Smiley?s first question about why they chose to come to Morgan allowed some of the others, considered “second-tier candidates,” to roast the no-shows who lead in the polls.
“I?m, embarrassed for our party,” said former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, who boasted about his 43% support among African Americans in his home state. “We?ve come a long way, but we?ve got a long way to go.”
Kansas Sen. Sam Brownback apologized to the audience for the non-participants. “I think it?s a disgrace that they?re not here. They?re sending a message of narrowing the base.”
The candidates defended the record of some Republican presidents in regard to African Americans ? at least as it applied to Presidents Dwight Eisenhower and Ronald Reagan.
Asked about high unemployment among black high school graduates, Huckabee said, “There is still racism in this country and the opportunities are not the same,” while Paul criticized government intrusion through minimum wage laws.
Colorado Rep. Tom Tancredo criticized the institution of the welfare state and the importation of millions of illegal immigrants, putting pressure to lower wages.
“It?s got nothing to do with race,” Tancredo said.
Perennial candidate Alan Keyes, who has also run for U.S. Senate in both Maryland and Illinois, cited the inculcationof “a culture of selfish hedonism” that was destroying the black community, pursuing a theme of restoring the black family he would return to over the next hour.
All of the candidates were for tougher enforcement of immigration laws in one way or another, Keyes arguing, as Tancredo did, that “cheapening the price of labor hurts black Americans.”
Responding to a question about possible reform of the criminal justice system, Keyes suggested a return to using justices of the peace — local people who judged crimes in their own neighborhoods.
“We don?t have a crime problem,” said Huckabee. “We have a drug and alcohol problem.” He stressed the need for rehabilitation and treatment over incarceration for drug offenses.
“We need to repeal the whole war on drugs,” said Paul. “This is a disease,” not a crime.
The war in Iraq came up in only one question. Several of the candidates were critical of the political situation and the execution of the war, but only Paul said the U.S. went to war “under false pretenses” and promised to immediately withdraw the troops from Iraq, a point he had emphasized earlier in the program.
After the event, in the “spin center,” Smiley told reporters that the lack of attendance by four candidates showed that “the Republican Party has to deal with the issue of the Southern Strategy,” appealing mainly to white conservatives.
“No one should be president who seeks to avoid answering questions about issues of importance to people of color,” Smiley said.
