September 20, 1998

(Previous question about the importance of polls as the Clinton crisis unfolds)

Question: Alan, I was going to ask you about that. You obviously have watched polls before, being a former presidential candidate yourself.

Alan Keyes: I think that one of the things we have to keep in mind is that polls are entirely irrelevant to the constitutional responsibility of the House of Representatives. In fact, in the Federalist Papers they talk about the fact that this is going to be divisive, there will be divisions in popular opinion. They divide the process between the House and the Senate specifically in order to make sure that it is not dominated by temporary popular passion.

And one of the things that is going wrong, right now, in the way some people look at this process, is that the House is not supposed to try the President. This is not a trial. This is not where he comes in, presents his side, somebody else presents their side. That is supposed to take place in the Senate. And it is, in fact, unconstitutional for the House to take that upon itself. All they are to decide right now is whether these charges are serious enough to be laid against the President so that he does have to come forward and defend himself. And I think that is clearly the case.

Question: Do you think they made the right decision, releasing that tape, Alan?

Keyes: I don't think that they had a choice. The President's lawyers had started out by saying that, "Well, the Starr Report is one-sided. It lifted it out of context. If you could have seen the President's testimony then you would have a different impression."

What were they supposed to do in the face of that kind of argument, except to give the public an ability to look at the whole thing so that the Clinton liars and spinmeisters wouldn't be able to distort it?

(Commercial break)

(Host notes that the new Miss America said on Sunday that President Clinton should resign. One guest said this is just the Miss America establishment trying to show how serious the contestants are, and the other noted that last year's Miss America has also called for Clinton's resignation. Several jokes followed)

Keyes: I wonder, though--why are we making fun of the fact that a citizen of the United States has expressed a view on a subject that is of vital interest to all of us? We are responsible for this guy. And the fact that we have in office a man of reckless judgment, of no moral character, that he has his finger on a button that could destroy the lives of literally hundreds of millions of human beings--that is something that is intolerable.

We wouldn't hand control of our nuclear military arsenal to a man of no character, no integrity, who lies and cannot be trusted, with the judgment of a reckless adolescent--why are we allowing such a man to KEEP control of that kind of military power?

We are irresponsible in this. And the fact that Miss America and other Americans take a good hard look at this--this is what they ought to be doing. It is our responsibility as citizens to take this seriously.

Question: And yet, Alan, the one group in America which seems to stand most on the President's side, if you break it down this way, is African-Americans. In fact, the polls are suggesting that the majority of African-Americans--a vast majority, the highest numbers of any separation that we can find--suggest that the President should remain right where he is, and that all of this should end. To what can we attribute that?

Keyes: I don't know--I think that I would attribute it to lying pollsters myself, and to an effort on the part of many folks to continue the ugly stereotypes that have damaged black people throughout the centuries. We are not people who approve of immorality, adultery, lying and depravity. And the notion that we are, which is being promoted right now on Bill Clinton's behalf, is something that does deep damage and a disservice to the integrity of all black people in this country.

Question: Playing the race card?

Keyes: Who, they are playing it? They sure are. They are playing it to the hilt, and in a way that shows no regard whatsoever for the welfare of black people in this country, who don't need further slanders against their character and integrity.

Question: How bad is that for this country, long term?

Keyes: I think that this whole business is bad. But it is just another function of the fact that we have a President who has absolutely no concern whatsoever for anything but himself. He regards the American people the same way he regarded Monica Lewinsky when he was using her--we are just there like toilet paper, to be used and thrown away. And that is one of the reasons that he is unfit for the office he holds.