Not just an echo.

Well, it was a yucky rainy day down here in usually-sunny Central Florida. So, yours truly ended up watching CSPAN.

Go ahead and laugh.

But, I found myself wrapped-up in the network's live coverage of the "Black State of the Union," organized by Tavis Smiley over in New Orleans.

I really tuned in because Hillary Clinton was scheduled to address the crowd, something Barack Hussein Obama declined to do. And, I wanted to see what kind of reception she would get after all of her husband's antics in South Carolina.

Anyway, Mr. Smiley's lead-in was a panel discussion of some sort. I didn't catch the entire thing. But, it was really quite interesting, and I was actually inspired by the words of one of the panelists.

He was a professor from Princeton University. He looked like a "nutty professor," and I could tell by most of his words that he and I probably disagree on just about every topic of political debate. However, he did (inadvertently, I'm sure) inspire me when he encouraged the audience to use their own voice, and not simply be an "echo of the past."

The substance behind this exhortation was the professor didn't want his listeners to rest on the laurels of the generations that came before them. Instead, he encouraged them to become actively involved in their community and nation.

I would take his argument one step further, in a direction I'm sure the professor would not like. Don't just do things because your parents and grandparents did them. Think about it first. Make your own decisions. Really speak with your own voice. You might just discover that voice doesn't belong to a single political party. And, you might find that independent voice resonates much more deeply than the echoes of the past.

Apple core! Baltimore! Who's your friend?!

Did you ever play that game as a child?

Anyway, if you were playing it in Baltimore tonight, the answer would NOT be Rudy Giuliani, John McCain, Mitt Romney, or Fred Thompson.

Each of those supposed "top tier" candidates failed to appear at the PBS broadcast of debates hosted by Tavis Smiley in the Murphy Fine Arts Center at Morgan State University--an historically black school.

And, with justification, many in the black community are taking offense. As former Lieutenant Governor Michael Steele told his fellow Marylanders in the introduction, it has been far too long that the GOP and African Americans have "stood at arm's length." The divide needs to end. But, that's not going to happen if we follow the lead of the "top tier" guys.

I will point out that Mike Huckabee was in Baltimore to participate in the debate and addressed important issues to minority voters like unemployment, criminal justice, and health care.

Remember, he's the same guy who has spoken to groups as divergent as union conventioneers and values voters right here in the great State of Florida.

That's what we need to see MORE of in our "top tier" candidates: uniters, not dividers.

I hope I'm not alone in my disgust with the status quo. I yearn for the election of a president next year who is unafraid of speaking to ALL Americans--not just those whose special interests have traditionally supported his/her party with cash or votes.

So far, in my opinion, only Mike Huckabee fills that bill.