I was looking for articles or video on the Morgan State University GOP debate

That took place late last month. I didn't get a chance to watch it though I wish I had. I posted about the aftermath this past week and it included a link with video from Crooks & Liars of some of the highlights of that debate. Sadly it was off the Daily Show that insists on adding punchlines to their coverage, but meh it was the best I could find at that time.

I was doing some YouTubing and I want to post the one that struck me the most. It involves one of the more lower-tier candidates in the Republican race, Texas Rep. Ron Paul. He's considered the libertarian of this race and he has a good following on the internet he's even posted some good fundraising numbers unfortunately he's not been taken very seriously. But I like what he said here and it makes a lot of sense to me and hopefully other very hard working black Americans.

Now I want to go back to this article I found doing some Googling. This author liked a couple of the candidates while most of the others said some things worth criticizing...

But [Colorado Rep. Tom] Tancredo won me over early in the debate when he called out the three liberal candidates for their egregious "race-baiting" and articulated his position that the problems facing the black community primarily stem from the disintegration of the black family caused by the welfare state, and from the massive importation of low-paid immigrant labor. Throughout the debate, Tancredo never accepted the racialist premises of the panelists' questions. He consistently focused on the real problems, and offered some meaningful proposals for reform (unlike Brownback, who repeatedly trumpeted his proposal for an African-American history museum "on the mall in Washington, D.C.").

Overall, I think Tancredo "won" the debate. Unfortunately, Tancredo lacks the speaking skills, the charisma, and the leadership qualities to win the presidency. Yes, he is smart, sincere, and right on the issues. But I am afraid that Hillary or Obama would destroy him in a one-on-one debate before a national television audience. Like it or not, image matters in a media-driven democracy like ours. And Tancredo does not have the image to become president (at least in a contest against Hillary or Obama).

He doesn't stop there what about the impact of the big four Republican candidates not showing up at this debate...

As for the only four GOP candidates with a realistic chance of winning the presidency -- Rudy Giuliani, Fred Thompson, Mitt Romney, and John McCain -- none of them even bothered to show up to the debate. While their campaigns offered various excuses, they obviously lack the backbone to answer hot button questions from minority panelists in an honest and principled manner. I strongly suspect that if one of the four front-runners had showed up, he would have sounded more like Huckabee and Brownback than Tancredo and Hunter. But they all feared that pandering for liberal black votes would cost them conservative white votes, so they avoided the forum altogether. Or they feared making a campaign-ending gaffe on a sensitive racial issue. Either way, it was a pathetic display of political cowardice.

Thompson may have been the exception. But we'll never know. Clearly, Thompson could have used this debate to put his stamp on the Republican nomination contest. Had he been as outspoken as Tancredo in rejecting the failed liberal approach to race, he would have garnered considerable press attention, as well as the gratitude of millions of conservative voters. That he didn't even attend the debate does not speak well of Thompson's political instincts or his ambition to be president.

Mr. Smiley commented that the four candidates who refused to participate missed an important opportunity to connect with black voters and demonstrate that the Republican message transcends race and class. I completely agree. Even though very few blacks will vote for the Republican candidate in 2008 (I predict historically low numbers), it is crucial to make the effort. As former Maryland Lieutenant Governor Michael Steele has argued, Republicans can become more successful among minority voters if they take the time to explain how conservative ideas and values will improve life in the minority community.

Yet as Steve Sailer and others have sharply noted, the electoral consequences for Republicans of winning just a few more percentage points of the white vote vastly outweigh the impact of even doubling Republican support among black voters. Consequently, the real importance in Republican candidates reaching out to black voters is in the message it sends to white voters.

I'll keep looking for anything new. Hopefully I won't be beating on a dead horse and most of anything else I'll find on this debate will be found in my del.icio.us links.