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Posted: September 27, 2007 5:46 PM
Thompson - Along with other Front-runners -- Skips PBS Forum on Minority Issues
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Former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson - the most recent entrant in the GOP field — is one of the leading Republican presidential candidates who will not participate in PBS forum at Morgan State University of Maryland hosted by PBS on Thursday that will focus on minority issues.

Instead of joining the forum in Baltimore, Thompson will be in his home state of Tennessee. Fellow Republicans former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, Arizona Sen. John McCain and Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney have all bowed out, to the disappointment of host Tavis Smiley who will set the stage with four empty lecterns to highlights the absences.

And the press has also stepped up criticism. An editorial in the conservative-leaning Washington Times wrote: “If the Republican Party hopes to make any gains among minorities, it must stop undervaluing these voting blocs. The snubbings will result in a continued drubbing at the polls, just as we saw in 2006. We’re giving this advice free of charge: Stop giving the party a bad name.”

Thompson is having difficulty garnering support from religious conservatives because of questions about his lobbying for a pro-abortion-rights group, refusal to back a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage, and a statement about not belonging to any church, among other things, according to the Politico. Thompson’s spokesman said that the candidate would support “a constitutional amendment that would bar judges at any level from reinterpreting existing laws and, through judicial activism, grant same-sex marriage.”

Thompson is scheduled to host fundraising breakfasts, lunches and receptions in Tennessee on Sept. 27-28 and is slated to attend the Wyoming Republican Presidential Forum on Sept. 29. Then it’s off to Iowa for appearances in Newton, Marsahlltown, Iowa Falls, Cedar Falls, Des Moines, Fort Dodge, Clinton, Coralville and Dubuque, all in a three-day span from Oct. 1-3. His planned schedule ends with a reception in Chicago, Ill., on Wednesday evening.

On Oct. 5, Thompson is scheduled to address the Americans for Prosperity Foundation’s first Defending the American Dream Summit at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington.