MSNBC - "Decision '08" - Transcript

Interview

MSNBC - "Decision '08" - Interview With Rep. John Lewis

Interviewer: David Gregory

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MR. GREGORY: I am wedged in the Georgia delegation with Congressman Lewis.

Congressman, explain this moment. As a young man, you put your life on the line to get human rights for African-Americans, and here you stand with an African-American man about to become the nominee of this party. What's it like?

REP. LEWIS: Well, it's unreal. It's unbelievable. Today -- I cried a little earlier today. I cried on Monday night. And I don't think I have any more tears. This is one of the most amazing and unbelievable moments in my life.

I think about the struggle of so many people, those people who stood in unmovable lines, trying to register to vote. I think about the young people that were killed in Mississippi in 1964; individuals like Martin Luther King Jr. and others; the people who tried to pass the so-called literacy test. And, you know, it all is saying now it was worth it. It was worth the struggle. And what we did tonight is another down payment on the fulfillment of the dream of Martin Luther King Jr.

MR. GREGORY: This is political theater. The outcome was not in doubt. But to have Senator Clinton have this unity movement marked off with such drama -- why did this convention and this party need this moment tonight?

REP. LEWIS: Well, it was very important for Senator Clinton to do what she did last night and to come back tonight and do it in a much more unbelievable way. It sent the strongest possible message to all Democrats that we are together and we're going to go out and fight the fight and take this campaign to the people in America.

MR. GREGORY: Can you describe your own evolution in this campaign as a Clinton supporter, a stalwart ally of the Clintons, and then at some point you sensed that this moment of history that brought you to tears was upon you, when perhaps you didn't think it was realistic? Can you take me through that?

REP. LEWIS: Well, I've known the Clintons for a long time. President Clinton has been like a brother. And I've known Hillary Clinton; she's been my friend for many, many years. And they're still friends of mine, and I supported them in the very beginning.

And along the way, I saw something happening. I had what we call an executive session with myself. And I said what Barack Obama is doing is akin to the movement of what we are fighting for, struggling for. And I said to myself, "I want to be on the right side of history." And I made the decision to change and commit to Barack Obama.

MR. GREGORY: What can Bill Clinton do for Barack Obama tonight that you and others would like to see him do?

REP. LEWIS: Well, I think President Clinton must come in here tonight and knock it out of the park, the same way that his wife did. He must come in here and embrace Barack Obama; and not only embrace him in the Democratic Party, but say with Barack Obama you will have the presidency similar to his.

We had economic growth. We had peace during the presidency of Bill Clinton. We created more than 20 million new jobs. Barack Obama can do the same. And President Clinton must say that and state it and get out and campaign with Barack Obama.

MR. GREGORY: Finally, for any African-American leader in 2008 to be the heir to all of the good fortune and all of the struggles that you and others have bequeathed to him is a heavy burden. And yet in this campaign, race is not necessarily central to his candidacy. Is that what pleases you most? Is that what you wanted to have happen?

REP. LEWIS: I'm more than gratified, more than happy, to see the large number of people, young people, people of middle age, older people, that are not African-American. They're white; young white people saying to their fathers and mothers, saying to their grandfathers and grandmothers, "You must support Barack Obama."

Barack Obama is African-American, but he's not an African- American candidate. He's the Democratic nominee for the presidency.

MR. GREGORY: And it's an important distinction.

REP. LEWIS: It's very important. This man is the personification of the best of America. It can only happen in America.

MR. GREGORY: You have to think back to moments when you were literally bloodied in your fight for human rights, and then look around this floor and see the swaying back and forth and the calls for unity and the raw emotion on the floor, to have a woman get 18 million votes and to have an African-American candidate who is the nominee of this party.

REP. LEWIS: But you look at the makeup of this convention. It looks like America. We are black. We are white. We're Latinos. We're Asian-Americans. We're Native Americans. We're young. We're old. We're rich. We're poor. We are Americans. And that's what the struggle was all about, to create one America, one house. And that's what Barack Obama (will carry ?) to the American people.

MR. GREGORY: Now you move on from the convention. Barack Obama moves on, with all of this sense of unity. Is America ready to elect an African-American as president?

REP. LEWIS: America is ready. As Michelle said the other night, it is time for us to stop doubting and start dreaming. We must make the dream real. We must make it real. And I think it will become real.

MR. GREGORY: All right, Congressman Lewis, thank you very much.

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