It should come as no surprise that only one GOP candidate, Tom Tancredo, bothered to show up the NAACP's Presidential Candidate Forum. Run over to Jeffrey Feldman's site and take a look at the stunning picture of Tancredo alone on the stage with eight empty podiums.
Apparently, there's quite a bit of outrage over why the national media has not picked up the story. I don't know why. The usual suspects used the same excuse to dis the National Latino Elected and Appointed Officials conference at the end of June.
The NAACP excuse:
But the three leading Republican candidates -- U.S. Sen. John McCain of Arizona, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts governor and a Michigan native -- have all said they won't come, citing scheduling conflicts.
The NALEO excuse:
[NALEO Exec. Dir.] Vargas said invitations went out in January, and the Republican presidential candidates who were invited - Sam Brownback, Rudy Giuliani, Mike Huckabee, McCain, Mitt Romney, Tom Tancredo and Tommy Thompson - cited scheduling conflicts or prior commitments in declining.
The disdain the GOP has for minorities is no secret. Their desire to control reproductive rights over women is without question. Their demonizing of gays and lesbians is a critical part of their platform. The lack of respect for any religion that is not Christian is well-documented. There's no outcry in the national media about that.
Their broad and blatant disrespect to minority groups of all kinds is out in the open for all to see. No one will call them on it. It's like sitting at a table with a group of people and someone says the "N" word. Everyone nervously twitters but no one says a word.
And, no one will.
