People Magazine photo of the Diddys with their twin daughters at home. Which is not in Alaska. Or Arizona.

We came under some criticism after we posted a P. Diddy video in which the performer/producer/clothing designer/etc. declared war on the McCain/Palin campaign. Reacting to McCain’s choice of running mates, Diddy said, “John McCain, you are bugging the eff out. There’s no black people in Alaska.”

Commenter Debbie took exception. “Is it a slow day for providing news that you are resorting too this guy ?!? He represents nothing worth talking about & is not known for morals or integrity in his own life.”

I won’t debate Puffy’s personal life (although it’s always hard to argue with success) but he does seem to be on to something. There really are no black people in Alaska. Or Arizona. According to a 2006 U.S. Census estimate, black people are rare in both states.

There’s only one place African-Americans are scarcer than McCain’s and Palin’s home states: the Republican party.

Of the Republicans’ 2,380 delegates, only 36 are black, a 78 percent drop from the GOP’s 2004 convention and the lowest number in 40 years, according to the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies.

Kentucky and Indiana have no black delegates or alternates at this convention. Four years ago, Kentucky had two black delegates and Indiana three.

Black leaders in Kentucky and Indiana — and even some white officials — said that’s a problem for Republican presidential nominee John McCain, and a long-term issue for the party.

“When you march into St. Paul without one African-American delegate, then you are saying: ‘We don’t have anything to offer African Americans,’ ” said Al Brown, who in 1992 was the first black chairman of the Jefferson County (Ky.) Republican Party.

Forgive me for asking, but what does the Republican party offer blacks? For that matter, what does it offer me? Or you? Somebody help me here, I got nothing.