Paula Zahn Now - Transcript

Bush/Cheney Meet With 9/11 Commission; Interview With Wesley Clark

GUESTS: Wesley Clark, Jon Kyl, Bob Becker, Gregory Meeks, Tara Setmayer, Shane Sellers, Derrick Shepherd

SHOW: PAULA ZAHN NOW 20:00

April 29, 2004 Thursday

HEADLINE
BYLINE: Paula Zahn, John King, Kenneth Pollack

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REP. GREGORY MEEKS, (D) NEW YORK: Oh, no. The Kerry campaign is dedicated to diversity. I was one of the first individuals to endorse him a long time ago.

And one of the reasons was, because he believes in diversity. He's lived diversity. I've looked at his Senate record. He basically had a 94 percent voting record with the NAACP, on civil rights issues. I look at his commitment to the issues that are important to African- Americans. I then I look at the people around him in his campaign. You see that kind of diversity.

ZAHN: How do you explain these numbers? You can't tell me you're satisfied with a list of 63 where you only have 6 minority members and more than a dozen women?

MEEKS: We're talking about his choice for vice president. And he has kept that closely held and it's a very private situation with reference to who that candidate would be. There's a number of individuals who would be a good vice president. And I just hope that what he selects is an individual who is the best running mate for him. So that we can move this country forward. And I think that's what we're doing.

We don't need-sometimes people think about diversity, just about skin color. I think African-Americans, in particular, understand that diversity is more than skin color, because when you look at individuals, you could have someone like Clarence Thomas, who really has not decided issues that were in the best interests of African-Americans.

So we're looking at individuals who understand the plight of African-Americans, who can make a difference in their everyday lives, talking about so they can have quality healthcare, talking about unemployment-reduced unemployment.

So, those are the kinds of candidates he's looking at for vice president. And I'm sure anyone who he picks will be the person that's moving in the right direction.

ZAHN: But probably not African-American. Let's ask Tara about that. Tara, traditionally the Democratic party has been a strong hold of the African-American vote. Are you satisfied with the diversity in your party?

TARA SETMAYER, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: In our party?

ZAHN: Yes.

SETMAYER: I think that the Bush administration and the president has demonstrated a commitment to minority issues. This president has put fort proposals that favor minority home ownership, minority entrepreneurship, programs like school vouchers which are supported heavily in minority communities. And Condoleeza Rice and Colin Powell hold positions of power that are unprecedented. And they're not just tokens, and they're not just there as affirmative action positions as what Bill Clinton did with his cabinet. He claimed to have the most diverse cabinet, but many of his appointees were mired in scandal. So it questions how qualified those individuals were.

But the Republican Party has an issue as far as effectively communicating the message in the black community. Not because we're not right on the issues, it's just that for so many years the Democrats have held the Democratic vote in the black community, with programs, social programs, and with welfare reform, and things of those nature where they have used emotional issues as opposed to the real tangible issues to court the minority votes. But the Republican party is making headroads in there.

ZAHN: Let me let Representative Meeks react to that. She's basically saying they've got the issues right for minorities in the Republican Party. It's a problem of communication.

MEEKS: You know, that's like saying that African-Americans are dumb. African-Americans are very bright people. They vote their interests. They vote where they know that someone really talks to the issues that are important to them.

ZAHN: What is she saying about the program that is supposed to increase minority home ownership? Are they right on that issue?

MEEKS: If you look at African-Americans, where they were under the Bill Clinton administration, for those eight years, and where they are now, there are more African-Americans now unemployed than under Bill Clinton. There are more African-Americans now that don't have health care than under Bill Clinton. There are more African-Americans now that are looking for a better quality education than under Bill Clinton. There's more African-American businessmen and women who now cannot find the loans and the kinds of programs as Bill Clinton had with his new market strategy and urban America.

SETMAYER: That's absolutely not true.

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