Republicans cool to presidential forum at Cobo.

Byline: Kathleen Gray

Jul. 10--Up to nine presidential candidates will take the stage at Cobo Center on Thursday morning to woo the African-American vote. At most, there will be one Republican.

It's not for lack of an invitation. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People extended invitations to all announced Republican and Democratic candidates two months ago. The national staff of the civil rights organization followed up with phone calls.

But the three leading Republican candidates -- U.S. Sen. John McCain of Arizona, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts governor and a Michigan native -- have all said they won't come, citing scheduling conflicts.

The eight announced Democrats -- U.S. Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York, Barack Obama of Illinois, Christopher Dodd of Connecticut and Joe Biden of Delaware, former U.S. Sens. John Edwards of North Carolina and Mike Gravel of Alaska, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson and U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio -- accepted the invitation.

Among Republicans, U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo of Colorado may come.

"If we're allowed to come, we want to be there," said Alan Moore, spokesman for Tancredo. They wanted more details on the format and timing of the program.