Republicans strike out for working people and people of color

Republican frontrunners for the presidential nomination have made a habit of ducking debates where they might be asked tough questions by Hispanics, workers and African Americans. Last night, the four top contenders were no-shows at a forum moderated by Tavis Smiley and hosted at Morgan State University, an historically black college, before a largely African American audience.

This is the third time in recent weeks that most of the Republican contenders have snubbed constituency groups that don’t match their party’s base of support.

Earlier this month, Univision cancelled a planned Spanish-language forum for the GOP presidential candidates because only one of the leaders accepted the invitation.

No Republican candidates answered the candidate surveys the AFL-CIO sent out to all candidates, and so were not eligible to attend the AFL-CIO’s presidential forum in Chicago.

Together, that record amounts to a strikeout for the Republican Party, whose leading frontrunnerslights appear not to care about the concerns and needs of working people and communities of color.

The needs of working people and communities of color should be among the top priorities of anyone who claims to be able to lead America today. The middle class is struggling to make ends meet. The cost of health care has spun out of control and out of reach for too many working families. Our immigration system is in crisis – it doesn’t work for anyone. And Hurricane Katrina washed brought the realities of poverty into our living rooms this country – much of it in communities of and color - out in the open for all to see.

Working people and people of color deserve to hear how their potential leaders would address these issues and others that touch their lives every day. And they deserve a president who is committed to serving all Americans, not just the corporate elite. 

Contact: Caren Benjamin (202) 637-5018