DES MOINES, Iowa — Since 1984, the Iowa Brown and Black Forum has been considered a must-do for anyone seeking the White House.
It's the fourth oldest presidential forum in the country, but this year — for only the second time in its history — the forum was canceled.
Out of all the Republican candidates, only Ryan Binkley agreed to participate.
Local 5 talked to founders Mary Campos and Wayne Ford about the decision to cancel, and what they feel was a missed opportunity by the other candidates.
"Well, first of all, if you're a United States citizen, you know, but you come from another country, still you are an American in this country. And I would think that they would want to talk to the public, and make them aware of how they feel about it," Campos said. "What can we do about it? What shouldn't we do about it? Why did it happen? I think those are the important things that they need to digest."
"And they had a golden opportunity. You got ABC polls, everybody's got polls saying, minorities — Black and brown, Latino and Blacks — are supporting Republican party. I see it once a week, you see it. And I'm saying, even if that opportunity, the numbers are going up, minorities are leaving the Democratic Party and going to Republican Party," Ford said.
Ford stressed the importance of Iowa in the election cycle, especially for Republican candidates.
"That will be a golden opportunity before you go to New Hampshire, before you go to South Carolina and all the other states before you go to Super Tuesday to show that you really care for all. So it's just a golden opportunity that was blown by then," Ford added. "And I tell people who ask, 'Why?', I tell them, 'Ask the Republican candidates'."