National Public Radio - Transcript

Interview

National Public Radio - Transcript

MS. ELLIOTT: It's quite a moment here tonight.

REP. DAVIS: This is a celebration of our country turning a very important page, and it's a close presidential race. But no matter who people plan to vote for, we ought to do what John McCain says in his ad tonight. We ought to celebrate this moment, congratulate Barack Obama on it and congratulate our country on it. This is a unique, signal event in terms of our willingness to allow all Americans to compete for high office, and we'll be better off, no matter what happens the rest of this campaign, because of what's being celebrated here tonight.

MS. ELLIOTT: As a young man who grew up in Alabama, you were able to give one of the nominating speeches for Barack Obama on the convention floor last night. What did that mean to you personally?

REP. DAVIS: It was a great honor because it never would have occurred to me that I would have a chance to play any role in a presidential campaign, much less standing on the stage helping to nominate someone for the office. As someone who comes from Alabama, when I see my whole country changing and it gives me a sense of possibility, it gladdens my heart.

Now, again, this is going to be a tough campaign. It's going to be a challenging campaign. But this moment, and the sheer zeal and the sheer energy you see on the stage, that tells me something -- is we need more positive zeal in American politics. Too much of the zeal in American politics is based on "I hate this person" or "I want to defeat this person." We need zeal based on believing in someone and that's what Obama's tapped into.

MS. ELLIOTT: What do you think Barack Obama needs to do tonight when he is speaking to not only the people who are gathered here in this field who are going to be all fired up and in the moment but to the people who are on the other side of the television who don't know that much about him and feel like, you know, they've been listening to the Republicans say he's not experienced?

REP. DAVIS: He's got to tell his story again. He can't assume that simply because Democrats know it that all of America knows it. He's got to tell his story. And second of all, he's got to speak with conviction and passion about what's happening in the economic life of many Americans. He's got to talk about people who are hurting and he's got to show a visceral connection with those people. He can't just make this a campaign about making history -- not everybody cares. He can't just make this a campaign about empowering people -- not everybody favors the empowerment of people who are not them. He's got to make this a campaign about economic urgency.

MS. ELLIOTT: Thank you, Congressman Artur Davis of Alabama.

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