McCain, R-Ariz., the presumptive Republican nominee, plans that day to be at Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio, for Lance Armstrong's Livestrong Summit and Livestrong Presidential Town Hall on Cancer, McCain campaign scheduler Amber Johnson told Journal-isms on Thursday.
Obama, D-Ill., the presumptive Democratic nominee, is scheduled to be in Europe next week for a series of stops that is attracting a major contingent of star journalists. On July 24, the day of the planned Unity forum in Chicago, news reports have Obama in Berlin, although the schedule is not being released, reportedly for security reasons.
Onica Makwakwa, Unity's executive director, told Journal-isms after hearing of the two candidates' plans, "We're still working on it. We're still working on both campaigns. We know there are some changes with the schedules for both of them. We should be able to make an announcement in a few days of what adjustments, if any, we will make."
Prince reports that "neither presidential candidate had committed to attending Unity," but the group did announce on June 4 that CNN would broadcast the forum live in prime time, from 8-10 p.m. ET on July 24.
The Unity schedule, which still lists the forum (sponsored by CNN and
Time) as taking place in the McCormick Place West Skyline Ballroom, says the candidates "are each expected to take part in separate 60-minute conversations with representatives of the Unity alliance partners to discuss their candidacy, current issues and concerns pertinent to communities of color."
Unity is a partnership of the Asian American Journalists Association, the National Association of Black Journalists, the National Association of Hispanic Journalists and the Native American Journalists Association.
"As an organization representing journalists from a diversity of backgrounds, Unity's forum will reflect a different brand of questions than the public has heard so far in the campaigns," said Unity President Karen Lincoln Michel. "Going prime time will show America what the future looks like in terms of the diversity of the press corps that should be covering U.S. politics and the race for the most powerful position in the free world."
"The live broadcast of this major event is unprecedented for Unity," said Unity '08 Convention Chair Bryan Monroe, vice president and editorial director of Ebony and Jet magazines in Chicago. "The forum will bring the major candidates to the stage shortly before the DNC and RNC conventions this summer, and give readers and viewers a unique chance to hear where they stand on issues facing an increasingly diverse America."
The group says on its Web site that next week's convention will be the largest gathering of journalists of color, with nearly 10,000 attending.
