Gee, ya think?

There is one good thing about the appalling rhetoric coming from the Republican presidential candidates this year on topics ranging from immigration to evolution to the Iraq war as they jockey for position in pandering to the most lunatic elements of their base. If it weren't so sad, it would be fun watching John McCain change religion on what seems to be an hourly basis.

We know that the Republican base is susceptible to the "immigrants are the boogeyman" rhetoric, but it also has been known to respond positively to race-baiting, as we saw with the infamous "Harold, call me" ad that ran in Tennessee's Senate race (heh) last year.

But the decision of the major Republican candidates to skip Tavis Smiley's All American Presidential Forum on the 27th shows you exactly where they stand on issues relevant to minorities:

"We sound like we don't want immigration; we sound like we don't want black people to vote for us," said former congressman Jack Kemp (N.Y.), who was the GOP vice presidential nominee in 1996. "What are we going to do -- meet in a country club in the suburbs one day? If we're going to be competitive with people of color, we've got to ask them for their vote."

Making matters worse, some Republicans believe, is that the decision to bypass the Morgan State forum comes after all top GOP candidates save McCain declined invitations this month to a debate on Univision, the most-watched Hispanic television network in the United States. The event was eventually postponed.

"For Republicans to consistently refuse to engage in front of an African American or Latino audience is an enormous error," said former House speaker Newt Gingrich (Ga.), who has not yet ruled out a White House run himself. "I hope they will reverse their decision and change their schedules. I see no excuse -- this thing has been planned for months, these candidates have known about it for months. It's just fundamentally wrong. Any of them who give you that scheduling-conflict answer are disingenuous. That's baloney."

James Baker (yes, THAT James Baker, the Bush consiglieri) said to Bush Sr. in 1992, "Fuck the Jews. They don't vote for us anyway." Someone has clearly said something similar about black and Latino Americans to the Republican candidates. Well, let them enjoy this luxury now, because in future election years, the same minorities they snub now won't be the minority anymore.

And perhaps that's why they are pushing so hard on anti-immigration sentiment and limiting women's reproductive self-determination.