Kathryn: That Detroit Free Press article you linked to, about Republican candidates not going to the NAACP bash, was depressing. Not so much the fact of the candidates not wanting to attend (with the apparent exception of Tom Tancredo), as the dishonest weaseling about “scheduling conflicts.” I’d feel better about the Republic if at least one candidate had publicly stated that:
A candidate’s time is limited. He can’t accept all invitations. He has to choose those that bring the most value-added to his campaign. Addressing an entirely black audience will do very little for my campaign, since practically all black voters are committed Democrats. It makes more sense for me to give my time to audiences containing supporters, whom my appearance will energize, and independents, whom I may be able to persuade. But hey, thanks for the invite.
Or better yet:
I think it’s time the U.S.A. got past the sort of ethnocentric agitating that the NAACP represents. We’re all citizens of the same country, equal under the law, and I shall not address organizations that seem to promote or condone a different view.