NPR Tavis Smiley - Transcript

National Public Radio (NPR)

SHOW: Tavis Smiley (9:00 AM ET) - NPR

August 5, 2004 Thursday

HEADLINE: Laura Washington, Tom Roeser and Representative Jan Schakowsky discuss the possibility of Republican Alan Keyes opposing Democrat Barack Obama in the Illinois Senate race

ANCHORS: TAVIS SMILEY

BODY:

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

SMILEY: We now turn to the Democrats, who do not seem to be worried at all about the prospects for their Senate candidate, Barack Obama. Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky represents Illinois' 9th Congressional District and was an early supporter of Mr. Obama's.

Congresswoman, nice to have you on.

Representative JAN SCHAKOWSKY (Democrat, Illinois): It's an honor to be with you, Tavis.

SMILEY: I'm delighted to have you. So two words for you: Alan Keyes.

Rep. SCHAKOWSKY: You know, Barack Obama's going to win this race. He's going to be the next senator from Illinois. And the kind of circus that we've seen from the Republican Party has just simply made them seem ridiculous. The only thing I really worry about is that, somehow, next to Barack's wonderful victory, will be a little asterisk about either 'no opponent' or just the ridiculous shenanigans of the Republican Party. I want it to be a clean and wonderful victory for Barack, so that's really my only concern, because he is going to be the senator.

SMILEY: But how ironic would it be, though, that for a Senate that has not a single African-American-one would think that to get there you'd have to go through all kind of hell, and, indeed, Barack's running a tough campaign. But this guy basically, as the only African-American, is going to walk into the US Senate.

Rep. SCHAKOWSKY: He is going to walk into it. You know-and I think that, rather than taking race off the table with an Alan Keyes, that Barack himself really, in a way, has taken race off the table. He is the multicultural, 21st-century candidate all in himself. But the Republicans are putting it back on by somehow having to recruit an African-American, having to go out of state to do that-somebody who has no connection that I know of to the state of Illinois, and, in a way, you know, just demeaning the whole contest and putting race front and center.

SMILEY: Let me ask you, though, whether or not you think a guy like Barack Obama-and I asked this of Barack I guess a week or so ago at the Democratic Convention-whether or not it is plausible that someone who does get-someone who might get in this race could do some damage against him. You consider this: One, just getting in the race, you're going to get millions of dollars of free coverage in the media. I'm talking about Alan Keyes. He ain't even said yes yet. So one-you get a bunch of free media exposure, number one. Number two, the expectation of Barack has been raised so high that if he makes any misstep or mistake between now and November, those numbers could come down and you could, theoretically, have a contest here.

Rep. SCHAKOWSKY: Well, I just don't see any way-the publicity that has come to the Republican Party-I haven't seen any of it that's really been good. All of the columnists are pretty derisive. The stories are kind of a joke about this long parade of candidates who have taken a look at Barack and said, 'No, thank you.' They can't find anybody from Chicago down to Cairo who's willing to step forward and run against him. Barack also has grown so much throughout this whole period of time that he's been a candidate. It's hard to imagine the kind of misstep that he might make. He's a cool customer. And I can't imagine a scenario where the Republican would zoom ahead of him. It's just really impossible.

And, in fact, the-you heard Tom Roeser; Tom Roeser said, 'Well, this is a democracy. We have to have two candidates, and so we're going to find somebody. That's what the American people want.' I agree that it would be better for Barack to beat somebody, but this is getting ridiculous.

SMILEY: Is there any possibility that anybody in the state might step up in the next few days? I got about 20 seconds here left.

Rep. SCHAKOWSKY: I don't see it. They have really-you know, they have been agonizing over this. They have been willing to embarrass themselves. They-look, the Republican Party really pretty much chased Peter Fitzgerald, the incumbent, out of the race, chased Jack Ryan out of the race, and now I think they're not going to be able to find anybody who has even a remote chance of beating Barack Obama.

SMILEY: I'm sure that's news to Barack's ears. Democratic Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky represents Illinois' 9th Congressional District and she was an early supporter of Barack Obama and is actively involved in trying to get him elected, as you can tell, to the US Senate. She joined us today from member station WBEZ in Chicago.

Congresswoman, nice to have you on. Thank you for your time.

Rep. SCHAKOWSKY: It's been great. Thanks.