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American Morning

Interview with J.C. Watts

Aired November 26, 2002 - 09:14   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: J.C. Watts is the son of a diehard Democrat, but he rose to prominence as a Republican and became the highest-ranking African-American member of Congress. Now he is stepping away from politics after four terms in the House, and he talks about the political turn he made from his new book, "What Color is a Conservative?"
And Representative Watts joins me now to talk about the book, his plans and about where he'll be spending his Thanksgiving.

Good to see you again.

REP. J.C. WATTS JR. (R), OKLAHOMA: Thank you, good to see you this morning.

ZAHN: How you doing?

WATTS: I'm doing...

ZAHN: Are you enjoying your soon-to-be retirement from politics?

WATTS: Well you guys are going to pay me until January 3, so I've got about another 40 days; but I'm looking forward to turning the page and starting a new chapter.

ZAHN: As you leave Washington and you look back at what you had to deal with politically, and there's some very interesting poll numbers out today in the "New York Times" that suggest that George W. Bush is a very popular president, but the public doesn't necessarily support his views on the environment, tax cuts and Social Security.

WATTS: Well, I think those things have to be explained in a way that people understand. I think here you say or those numbers will say that people don't agree with him on taxes. But what if you talked to people about having more money to buy their kids school clothes, to put food on the table, help pay the rent, I bet people would agree with that and that's what that tax relief package does.

I think Social Security is in trouble, it's going to be broke in about 30 years. It's going to be totally bankrupt in about 35, 37 years. That has to be fixed or today's generation, that 25, 26-year- old, will never see a dime of Social Security. So when you talk to people in terms of benefits as opposed to terms of policy, which Republicans often do, I think we lose on those issues.

ZAHN: I know you have been critical at times of the conservative wing of your party. As you leave Washington, what is it you think they got to do differently?

WATTS: Well I think when I became conference chairman four years ago, one of the things I said to my colleagues was is that you have to smile. You know you can't talk about a happy message with a sad countenance, with a sour countenance. I think people would say, and I think this is where George Bush wins, you know people look at him and they say you know I wouldn't mind going to dinner with that guy, I wouldn't mind going to lunch with that guy. I think that's important. People want to not only believe in your policies but they want to believe that they can hang out with you, they can go to the ballgame with you, go to lunch with you. And I think conservatives have often come off as being kind of -- kind of sour and having a sour countenance.

ZAHN: Have you found them too dogmatic?

WATTS: Well, I talk about that in the book, that you know I think on the left, I think you know they've got their problems because they think that everybody should think like them and that you can't believe that people would be upset that they have to pay 52 to 55 cents of every dollar they make in some government tax or government fee. I think on the right we often come off as sometimes dogmatic, not willing to see other people's view of the world. I don't think we should apologize for what we feel and how we feel and what we think on certain issues, but there is an attitude sometimes that says there's room for one opinion in this boat, Paula, and guess who's wrong?

ZAHN: "What Color is a Conservative," that is the title of your book. And of course I know that you and I have had many conversations about you being the -- you know the poster child from the Republican Party as people were touting you as the, you know, lone highly- elevated African-American in the Republican Party.

WATTS: Well a conservative is the same color as a liberal, red, yellow, brown, black and white.

As far as touting my success in the Republican Party, you know, Paula, I doubt I'll ever win that battle on success and failure. If I succeed, then it's because I'm black. If I fail, it's because I'm black. So can I win that? I don't -- you know I'm pretty secure in who I am. I don't need -- I don't need anyone's validation on the left or the right. I'm pretty secure in who I am. So, again, if I'm successful in the Republican Party as I was, then it's because I'm black. And then if I don't win my election for conference chairman of the Republicans, then you know what, people say do you think they would have elected him, he's a black guy. So I can't worry about that.

ZAHN: Final question for you before you leave, before we talk about Thanksgiving, there were those who said you're leaving Washington because you didn't get the position that you wanted within the Republican Party. Is that true?

WATTS: What position was that?

ZAHN: I don't know, they always talked about you wanting some higher position within the leadership of the Republican Party.

WATTS: Well you know, Paula, that's another -- I guess that's maybe a doubt.

ZAHN: You've heard that though?

WATTS: Yes, I've heard that. That's another down side of being the only in the conference. I can't leave because of, you know, my family. I need to spend more time with my family. There's other things I want to do. I said I was going to run for three terms, I ran for four. I can't leave for any of those reasons, it has to be because he's unhappy or you know black versus white or J.C. versus those guys. I mean that's kind of the critics and the pundits and the talking heads.

Denny Hastert has given me great latitude. I've got a great relationship with George Bush and this administration. I've got a great relationship with the Senate leadership, Rick Santorum, Trent Lott. And I've had a wonderful relationship with Denny Hastert and the Republican leadership in the House. They've given me great latitude to do the things that I felt like were important to be doing.

ZAHN: Doesn't sound like any sour grapes there. A quick closing thought on Thanksgiving. I know you're very -- care very deeply. We just got 10 seconds left about the issue of homelessness. I know you're going to be spending time feeding meals to less fortunate.

WATTS: I was in Newark -- New York yesterday, as I am today, but we had -- we fed about a thousand people at the New York City Rescue Mission. And 300,000 people this week will be fed rescue missions around the country, and I'm the national chairman for that effort. And thank you for letting me talk about it.

ZAHN: Well we all should be expressing a sense of gratitude for what we've got, and we should all be doing more of what we just saw you doing in that video.

WATTS: Well...

ZAHN: Congratulations. The title of the book is "What Color is a Conservative? My Life and My Politics," J.C. Watts. Somehow I feel that we'll be hearing from you down the road on the political scene. He just shrugs his shoulders and laughs it off.

Do you think that's a yes -- Bill?

BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: How about governor?

ZAHN: How about senator?

HEMMER: Senator?

WATTS: How about head coach?

HEMMER: Head coach, we'll take that.

ZAHN: I think that's the safest choice, huh?

HEMMER: You can take the guy out of Oklahoma but you can't take the Sooner out of the guy.

Good to see you again.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired November 26, 2002 - 09:14   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: J.C. Watts is the son of a diehard Democrat, but he rose to prominence as a Republican and became the highest-ranking African-American member of Congress. Now he is stepping away from politics after four terms in the House, and he talks about the political turn he made from his new book, "What Color is a Conservative?"
And Representative Watts joins me now to talk about the book, his plans and about where he'll be spending his Thanksgiving.

Good to see you again.

REP. J.C. WATTS JR. (R), OKLAHOMA: Thank you, good to see you this morning.

ZAHN: How you doing?

WATTS: I'm doing...

ZAHN: Are you enjoying your soon-to-be retirement from politics?

WATTS: Well you guys are going to pay me until January 3, so I've got about another 40 days; but I'm looking forward to turning the page and starting a new chapter.

ZAHN: As you leave Washington and you look back at what you had to deal with politically, and there's some very interesting poll numbers out today in the "New York Times" that suggest that George W. Bush is a very popular president, but the public doesn't necessarily support his views on the environment, tax cuts and Social Security.

WATTS: Well, I think those things have to be explained in a way that people understand. I think here you say or those numbers will say that people don't agree with him on taxes. But what if you talked to people about having more money to buy their kids school clothes, to put food on the table, help pay the rent, I bet people would agree with that and that's what that tax relief package does.

I think Social Security is in trouble, it's going to be broke in about 30 years. It's going to be totally bankrupt in about 35, 37 years. That has to be fixed or today's generation, that 25, 26-year- old, will never see a dime of Social Security. So when you talk to people in terms of benefits as opposed to terms of policy, which Republicans often do, I think we lose on those issues.

ZAHN: I know you have been critical at times of the conservative wing of your party. As you leave Washington, what is it you think they got to do differently?

WATTS: Well I think when I became conference chairman four years ago, one of the things I said to my colleagues was is that you have to smile. You know you can't talk about a happy message with a sad countenance, with a sour countenance. I think people would say, and I think this is where George Bush wins, you know people look at him and they say you know I wouldn't mind going to dinner with that guy, I wouldn't mind going to lunch with that guy. I think that's important. People want to not only believe in your policies but they want to believe that they can hang out with you, they can go to the ballgame with you, go to lunch with you. And I think conservatives have often come off as being kind of -- kind of sour and having a sour countenance.

ZAHN: Have you found them too dogmatic?

WATTS: Well, I talk about that in the book, that you know I think on the left, I think you know they've got their problems because they think that everybody should think like them and that you can't believe that people would be upset that they have to pay 52 to 55 cents of every dollar they make in some government tax or government fee. I think on the right we often come off as sometimes dogmatic, not willing to see other people's view of the world. I don't think we should apologize for what we feel and how we feel and what we think on certain issues, but there is an attitude sometimes that says there's room for one opinion in this boat, Paula, and guess who's wrong?

ZAHN: "What Color is a Conservative," that is the title of your book. And of course I know that you and I have had many conversations about you being the -- you know the poster child from the Republican Party as people were touting you as the, you know, lone highly- elevated African-American in the Republican Party.

WATTS: Well a conservative is the same color as a liberal, red, yellow, brown, black and white.

As far as touting my success in the Republican Party, you know, Paula, I doubt I'll ever win that battle on success and failure. If I succeed, then it's because I'm black. If I fail, it's because I'm black. So can I win that? I don't -- you know I'm pretty secure in who I am. I don't need -- I don't need anyone's validation on the left or the right. I'm pretty secure in who I am. So, again, if I'm successful in the Republican Party as I was, then it's because I'm black. And then if I don't win my election for conference chairman of the Republicans, then you know what, people say do you think they would have elected him, he's a black guy. So I can't worry about that.

ZAHN: Final question for you before you leave, before we talk about Thanksgiving, there were those who said you're leaving Washington because you didn't get the position that you wanted within the Republican Party. Is that true?

WATTS: What position was that?

ZAHN: I don't know, they always talked about you wanting some higher position within the leadership of the Republican Party.

WATTS: Well you know, Paula, that's another -- I guess that's maybe a doubt.

ZAHN: You've heard that though?

WATTS: Yes, I've heard that. That's another down side of being the only in the conference. I can't leave because of, you know, my family. I need to spend more time with my family. There's other things I want to do. I said I was going to run for three terms, I ran for four. I can't leave for any of those reasons, it has to be because he's unhappy or you know black versus white or J.C. versus those guys. I mean that's kind of the critics and the pundits and the talking heads.

Denny Hastert has given me great latitude. I've got a great relationship with George Bush and this administration. I've got a great relationship with the Senate leadership, Rick Santorum, Trent Lott. And I've had a wonderful relationship with Denny Hastert and the Republican leadership in the House. They've given me great latitude to do the things that I felt like were important to be doing.

ZAHN: Doesn't sound like any sour grapes there. A quick closing thought on Thanksgiving. I know you're very -- care very deeply. We just got 10 seconds left about the issue of homelessness. I know you're going to be spending time feeding meals to less fortunate.

WATTS: I was in Newark -- New York yesterday, as I am today, but we had -- we fed about a thousand people at the New York City Rescue Mission. And 300,000 people this week will be fed rescue missions around the country, and I'm the national chairman for that effort. And thank you for letting me talk about it.

ZAHN: Well we all should be expressing a sense of gratitude for what we've got, and we should all be doing more of what we just saw you doing in that video.

WATTS: Well...

ZAHN: Congratulations. The title of the book is "What Color is a Conservative? My Life and My Politics," J.C. Watts. Somehow I feel that we'll be hearing from you down the road on the political scene. He just shrugs his shoulders and laughs it off.

Do you think that's a yes -- Bill?

BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: How about governor?

ZAHN: How about senator?

HEMMER: Senator?

WATTS: How about head coach?

HEMMER: Head coach, we'll take that.

ZAHN: I think that's the safest choice, huh?

HEMMER: You can take the guy out of Oklahoma but you can't take the Sooner out of the guy.

Good to see you again.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com