February 20, 2000

Wolf Blitzer: Despite getting only 5% of yesterday's vote in South Carolina, Republican presidential candidate Alan Keyes says he's staying in the race, at least for now. He joins us live from Detroit, Ambassador Keyes, welcome back to Late Edition. A lot of people are asking you, Mr. Ambassador, why are you staying in this race?

Alan Keyes: Well, I guess they don't listen to the answer I've repeatedly given. My campaign is about grassroots. There are people who have worked very hard over the course of the last several months here in Michigan to prepare for the time when I'd be able to come and work with them, in order to carry a message of integrity to the voters that actually stands some chance for winning for Republicans in the fall.

I think--I was reading today in the paper, a lady was asked why she voted for Bush, and she said because she knew his father. I'm beginning more and more to feel like the guy who goes in, has the strong resume, does really well in the interview, better than anybody else, is adjudged to be the best candidate for the job, and then it's given to somebody else because the boss knows his father. That's great for nepotism, but when it comes to the companies that really succeed, the people who get the big market share are the ones who hire for talent, not for nepotism. And the Republican party has gone down this road right now, of trying to choose somebody, not because of what he really offers in the way of ability, but because people knew his father. That is not going to win the election in the fall, particularly when we need someone who can address the moral challenge in such a way as to overcome the advantage that the Democrats will get from the strong economy.

Blitzer: But at what point do you say to yourself, I am not going to get the Republican nomination, I might as well follow in the footsteps of Elizabeth Dole, or Llamar Alexander or Dan Quayle or Steve Forbes and say, "I might as well let the other two fight it out."

Keyes: Well, those folks were in it for the sake of their ambition, I guess. I'm in it because I think that what I represent is best for this country, and offers the only real prospect of victory for Republicans in the fall. We have got to address the truth. This nation is in the midst of the greatest moral crisis we have ever faced as a people. It is affecting every area of our lives, undermining the confidence that we need to oppose the liberal agenda of government expansion that is destroying our liberties. In every area, control of our money, control of our schools, the assault on second amendment rights, the surrender of our national sovereignty, all these things are rooted in the end in our loss of moral self-confidence. That is the issue that has to be placed before the American people in the fall to drive home the failure of moral stewardship by the Democrats in the course of the years of the Clinton administration. G.W. Bush is a decent guy, but he cannot carry that ball.

Blitzer: Are you in the race, therefore, until August, until the Republican convention?

Keyes: I'm in the race as long as there are grassroots people putting together effective campaigns. I came into the state yesterday, they had put together a rally, eight hundred people turned out to hear what I had to say, and will go out to work hard in order to get this message out. And I'll continue to work with those good-hearted people, as long as they're willing to help me raise a standard of integrity in this political election.

Blitzer: You know, a lot of people are trying to organize a debate between Bush and McCain that would exclude you. If that were to happen--four years ago, you went on a hunger strike--what would you do to try to counter that if you were excluded from an upcoming debate?

Keyes: "A lot of people" are not trying to do that, racists in the media are trying to do that. The same racists who left me out of the picture in the New York Times. The same racists who have refused to invite me on the broadcast media in this country, while giving the others hour-long infomercials to spread their word. They do it because the broadcast media is the media that is watched by most black folks in America. They don't get a lot of the cable channels. And as a result, these racists don't want black people to know that the most capable candidate in this race has black skin, because that might excite some folks in the black community, as I know it does, when people hear about it. So I think we see evidently who is planning that Wolf, and I think we know what their motives are, and it's not "some people." It's folks in the media who are acting as the censors of this process, and doing it on a basis that is replete with racial stereotyping in such a way as to demean my capabilities, in order to follow through on a judgment that's really based on their racial stereotypes.

Blitzer: Mr. Ambassador, we have a caller from Houston TX. Let's take his call, go ahead with your call please.

Caller: Yes, Ambassador Keyes, it's an honor and a privilege to speak with you. I know you get a lot of questions about race, and I apologize, this will only be one. Whites can either be liberal or conservative, and no one questions they don't know who they are. But black conservatives get a lot of hate, especially from the black community, from the liberals. What can we do in America that a black man can not only be proud to be a conservative, but be respected in the black community?

Keyes: Well, I think conservatism is respected. I don't think the problem is in the black community. I am finding that, as we went into South Carolina--I was just here, arriving in Detroit yesterday, visiting Focus Hope, talking to folks--there's no lack of willingness to listen to what I have to say. Good-hearted, decent people are willing to evaluate what I say, on the merits, in the black community, and I am very pleased about that and very happy about it. The problem, I think, now is with the racist media that refuses to allow "black" and "conservative" to come together. They have their stereotypes--it's not in the community that this is happening. It's in the minds of the racist media that refuses to take off their blinders, stop applying their stereotypes, and just let people be what they are. That's why I didn't appear on "Good Morning America" before the South Carolina Primary, but John McCain did. I've never been invited for a hour-long interview with "Meet the Press" and Tim Russert, but G.W. Bush got it. They get all the free earned media, plus all the money that they have and so forth, have all the advantages, and yet still can do nothing with their time but bicker when they get an opportunity before the American people.

Blitzer: Let's take another caller from Scottsdale, AZ. Please go ahead with your question.

Caller: Yes, Ambassador Keyes, what character and personality, you think, our President should have to deal effectively with the political leadership in China and Russia?

Keyes: Well, I think the most important characteristic for dealing with the Chinese, in particular, is a real sense of our own interests--an unwillingness, in some patronizing way to expect that we're going to have influence over them because "they want to be like us," and all this sort of stuff, because I think that's not true, that leads to a lot of self-delusions. So we need to know who we are, be clear about our values and interests, we need to understand that they know who they are, and are clear about their interests--and in that clear, tough-minded way, I think we need to sit down and make it clear that we're not going base relationships on delusions and wishful thinking. We're going to base them on real performance, respect for our values, and a sense that there really is a mutual interest, not an effort to take advantage of us to get our secrets and our capital without an exchange, seeing real change and accommodation from the Communist Chinese.

The Russians are a little different. I think there we have openings--obviously, the old regime is gone. We need to be working effectively with Russian society at all levels, especially building the non-government ties between non-governmental entities in Russia and those outside of Russia, so we can develop a strong social infrastructure, rather than just work government to government with what has essentially become a kleptocracy out there.