http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/
At the time of this posting, it's the third article down, titled "Four Empty Podiums" by Lauren Kornreich.
Here's the text:
BALTIMORE, Maryland (CNN) — There were ten podiums on the stage, but only six candidates showed up.
Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, former Tennessee Senator Fred Thompson, and Sen. John McCain of Arizona, all said they had scheduling conflicts and skipped Thursday night's PBS All American Presidential Forum on minority issues. The Republican candidates who participated in the debate blasted their rivals for their absence.
"Frankly, I'm embarrassed," former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee said. "I'm embarrassed for our party and I'm embarrassed for those who did not come, because there's long been a divide in this country, and it doesn't get better when we don't show up."
Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kansas, said it hurts the Republican Party when candidates choose not to participate in debates.
"I want to say just at the outset, I apologize for the candidates that aren't here," Brownback said. "I think this is a disgrace that they're not here."
But moderator Tom Joyner made jokes, at their expense.
"And let me take a moment right here and now to say hello to those of you viewing from home," Joyner said. "Mayor Rudy Giuliani. Senator John McCain. Governor Mitt Romney. And Senator Fred Thompson. Well, you know, I had to call them out."
Now, just to clarify, the problem is not that the four top-ranking candidates skipped out on a debate. That's bad enough, but the truth is that they could skip all of the debates and it would only matter to the narrowest percentage of the voters.
No, the problem is that the Republican Party by and large just says "Fuck You" to anyone outside of their key demographic. A PBS forum on minority issues moderated by Tom Joyner? "Tell them no thanks, and maybe suggest that they go fuck themsleves when we RSVP."
I've pointed out a few of the similarities between the Nixon presidency and the Bush presidency, but I don't want to belabor the point, because there are enough people doing that (usually in a ham-handed and inaccurate manner, but so be it) already.
The one similarity I do wish to point out is between the Republican leadership in Nixon's day and the Republican leadership today. Neither group had/has trust for the public, neither group did/will even bother to acknowledge the concerns of anyone outside of their voting base, and neither group was/is willing to face up to the obvious repercussions of failed policies. The big difference being that Nixon Republicans were riding an unprecedented wave of popularity, and could arguably afford to play those games. Today...not so much.
Now don't get me wrong. If the election were held today, I would probably vote for a Republican--Ron Paul. Then again, the party has essentially told him to go fuck himself as well, so I suppose he's not the best representative of that party. Odds are that by Election Day, I'll still be voting for Ron Paul, only he'll be the Libertarian candidate.
I actually hope that they keep it up, and I hope the Democrats continue to play the copycat game with the Republicans. Maybe both sides can manage to screw up so royally that we actually begin to question the two-party system in this country.
It seems that hope is all some of us have these days...
No comments:
Post a Comment