WASHINGTON (NNPA) – Both President Obama and Mitt Romney, his Republican challenger, have rejected an invitation from the NAACP and other Black groups, to participate in a forum to discuss issues important to African-Americans. In late September, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People invited President Barack Obama and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney to articulate their plans for the Black community at a presidential forum planned for October 9 at Lincoln University in Pennsylvania, the nation’s oldest Black degree-granting institution. The NAACP collaborated with the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA), MSNBC-TV, the Grio, and American Urban Radio Network in preparation for the forum. Veteran, award-winning journalist Lester Holt had agreed to moderate. Jerry Lopes, president of American Urban Radio Network, said on Monday that both candidates had declined to appear, citing scheduling conflicts. NNPA President and CEO Bill Tompkins said that the forums like the one proposed by the Black groups would have given President Obama the opportunity to outline his support for programs that hope to address issues plaguing the Black community. “We need to hear that [President Obama] is looking out for us, that he cares for us and that he wants us to participate in the great American Dream,” Tompkins explained.Although both major candidates rejected the invitation to address issues important to African-Americans, both found time to sit down with Latino news anchors Jorge Ramos and Maria Elena Salinas for a presidential forum that aired last month on Univision, the Spanish-language television network, with Romney appearing Sep. 19 and Obama the following day. Romney carved out 35 minutes for the program and President Barack Obama shared a full hour. The candidates were grilled on topics concerning Latino voters such as immigration, the drug war, and the controversial Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors Act (DREAM). Univision pressured the candidates to attend the forum held at the University of Miami after organizers of the presidential debate denied Univision’s request to add a fourth debate with a minority moderator. “It’s so interesting, because the Commission on Presidential Debates seems to believe that it is OK to have an African-American president, but it is not OK to have a moderator from a minority group,” said Jorge Ramos during an interview with National Public Radio.” What I find interesting is that the decision by the candidates will not hurt either on of the candidates. Barack Obama has the black community in his pocket so he does not see the need to participate and Mitt Romney knows this so his team is not going to waste valuable campaign time. So where does this leave the black community? Between a rock and hard place. The fact is our undying loyalty has led to our irrelevance on the campaign landscape. Share your thoughts. http://www.seattlemedium.com/News/article/article.asp?NewsID=114661&sID=3&ItemSource=L
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That last portion of the article succinctly covers exactly what I was going to say. Until the black vote is legitimately in play, both parties will continue to essentially ignore it. If Black America wants to be taken seriously, they will seek out opportunities to sit down and meet with Republican leadership. We have SO much in common with the core values of the Republican party, and black participation in the party could go a great deal towards bringing the party back towards the center. Just the fact that gay marriage is now a part of the Democratic party’s platform should nudge about 4-5% of the vote towards the Republicans.