Bronco Bob
09-28-2007, 11:42 AM
Huckabee stands out in GOP forum
REGISTER POLITICAL COLUMNIST
September 28, 2007
They held a debate among Republican presidential candidates over minority issues Thursday night and the big loser was the GOP.
The party's top-tier candidates — Rudy Giuliani, Mitt Romney, Fred Thompson and John McCain — were no-shows at the All-American Presidential Forum on PBS. That sent a hostile signal about the Republican Party to the nation's black and Latino communities.
For a party already in minority status in much of the country, it defies political logic to just brush off these constituencies. Republicans don't need to win the votes of everyone in those groups, but they must carry a big enough slice to deny victories to Democrats in close contests.
So why did top Republicans walk away from the chance to court people they don't have? They don't think they have a chance with them because blacks vote so heavily Democratic.
That may be old political thinking. Some black leaders, particularly younger ones who came of age after the civil rights battles of the '60s, aren't happy with the condition of their communities today and are open to political leaders with new approaches to problems.
Maybe the demoralized GOP has some sort of death wish in 2008. In the 1850s, the Republicans of that era managed to alienate people of Irish ancestry and drove them into the Democratic Party for generations. The same thing has happened to blacks, who just two generations ago were often voting for Republicans. It is about to happen with Americans of Latino ancestry, who find the constant GOP bashing of illegal immigration to be racially tinged.
The evening also gave all Americans a chance to hear the issues and concerns of minority voters, especially blacks. Those questions are sometimes overshadowed in other debates or in all-white discussions. They include such things as the connection between race and unemployment, school desegregation, and what to do with people in the country illegally.
Other issues include health care, how to end the genocide in Darfur, the alienation young minority Americans feel, high minority incarceration rates, the death penalty, and voting rights for the District of Columbia.
It was good PBS proceeded with the debate even without the front-runners because the country deserved a chance to weigh those ideas too.
The decision by the frontrunners to blow off the evening also gave the party's second-tier candidates a chance to shine.
Mike Huckabee seemed to stand out. As a former governor of Arkansas, he seemed quite familiar with the issues facing minority voters and his answers sounded calm, informed and presidential.
Many in the political community don't believe Huckabee can win the GOP presidential nomination - he has trouble raising money - but that he might make a fine vice presidential choice. If so, he enhanced his chances Thursday night.
Register political columnist David Yepsen can be reached at (515) 284-8545 or dyepsen@dmreg.com
http://desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070928/OPINION01/709280388/1035/OPINION
REGISTER POLITICAL COLUMNIST
September 28, 2007
They held a debate among Republican presidential candidates over minority issues Thursday night and the big loser was the GOP.
The party's top-tier candidates — Rudy Giuliani, Mitt Romney, Fred Thompson and John McCain — were no-shows at the All-American Presidential Forum on PBS. That sent a hostile signal about the Republican Party to the nation's black and Latino communities.
For a party already in minority status in much of the country, it defies political logic to just brush off these constituencies. Republicans don't need to win the votes of everyone in those groups, but they must carry a big enough slice to deny victories to Democrats in close contests.
So why did top Republicans walk away from the chance to court people they don't have? They don't think they have a chance with them because blacks vote so heavily Democratic.
That may be old political thinking. Some black leaders, particularly younger ones who came of age after the civil rights battles of the '60s, aren't happy with the condition of their communities today and are open to political leaders with new approaches to problems.
Maybe the demoralized GOP has some sort of death wish in 2008. In the 1850s, the Republicans of that era managed to alienate people of Irish ancestry and drove them into the Democratic Party for generations. The same thing has happened to blacks, who just two generations ago were often voting for Republicans. It is about to happen with Americans of Latino ancestry, who find the constant GOP bashing of illegal immigration to be racially tinged.
The evening also gave all Americans a chance to hear the issues and concerns of minority voters, especially blacks. Those questions are sometimes overshadowed in other debates or in all-white discussions. They include such things as the connection between race and unemployment, school desegregation, and what to do with people in the country illegally.
Other issues include health care, how to end the genocide in Darfur, the alienation young minority Americans feel, high minority incarceration rates, the death penalty, and voting rights for the District of Columbia.
It was good PBS proceeded with the debate even without the front-runners because the country deserved a chance to weigh those ideas too.
The decision by the frontrunners to blow off the evening also gave the party's second-tier candidates a chance to shine.
Mike Huckabee seemed to stand out. As a former governor of Arkansas, he seemed quite familiar with the issues facing minority voters and his answers sounded calm, informed and presidential.
Many in the political community don't believe Huckabee can win the GOP presidential nomination - he has trouble raising money - but that he might make a fine vice presidential choice. If so, he enhanced his chances Thursday night.
Register political columnist David Yepsen can be reached at (515) 284-8545 or dyepsen@dmreg.com
http://desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070928/OPINION01/709280388/1035/OPINION