Saturday, September 29, 2007

Zombies ...need... eat...minority brainzzzzzz....(L-R) Tancredo, Huckabee, Keyes, Hunter, Brownback

Republican presidential candidates discussed the importance of reaching out to people of color during a minority-issues debate Thursday night and criticized the four leading GOP contenders for skipping it.

"I think this is a disgrace that they are not here," Kansas Sen. Sam Brownback said. "I think it's a disgrace to our country. I think it's bad for our party, and I don't think it's good for our future."

[...]

In an interview with the Christian Broadcasting Network's David Brody this week, Romney bristled at the accusation that his decision to skip the debate is an indication of how much — or how little — his party cares about minorities.

"Of course we care about minority voters. We're not entirely brain-dead," Romney said. "We want people in the entire country to vote for us — Hispanic voters, African-American voters — we all want them in the primary and in the general."

Romney turned the tables on the debate's sponsors, the Public Broadcasting Service and Morgan State University, saying, "You call for one in the last couple of weeks in September, which is the last part of the quarter, most of us have got things lined up."

Romney, McCain and Giuliani have skipped debates or forums sponsored by the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials and by the National Urban League.