HIV/Aids and the Vice-Presidential Debates of ‘04
The following exchange was taken from the transcripts of the Vice-Presidential debate, which was moderated by Gwen Ifill.
Ifill: …I want to talk to you about AIDS, and not about AIDS in China or Africa, but AIDS right here in this country, where black women between the ages of 25 and 44 are 13 times more likely to die of the disease than their counterparts. What should the government’s role be in helping to end the growth of this epidemic?
Cheney: Well, this is a great tragedy, Gwen, when you think about the enormous cost here in the United States and around the world of the AIDS epidemic—pandemic really. Millions of lives lost, millions more infected, and facing a very bleak future.
In some parts of the world, we’ve got the entire, sort of, productive generation has been eliminated as a result of AIDS, all except for old folks and kids—nobody to do the basic work that runs an economy.
The President has been deeply concerned about it. He has moved and proposed and gotten through the Congress authorization for $15 billion to help in the international effort, to be targeted in those places where we need to do everything we can, through a combination of education as well as providing the kinds of medicines that will help people control the infection.
Here in the United States, we’ve made significant progress. I have not heard those numbers with respect to African-American women. I was not aware that it was—that they’re in epidemic here…
This line went ignored by every pundit covering the debate. I don’t recall seeing anything about this line in print or in blogs. The Democratic Vice-Presidential candidate ignored this line, as did Terry McAuliffe (Chairman of the DNC) when he sent out his almost daily call for money.
What follows is the account from an alternate universe. How might people have reacted to this statement if the world were different.
[MSNBC Commentators, Chris Matthews, Ron Reagan, Pat Buchanan]
Matthews: We’re here to talk about the Vice-Presidential debate, and if you missed it, you missed a battle. Before I introduce my panelists, there’s something I just have to bring up. Now I was really surprised when Cheney misspoke when he talked about not having met Edwards before. I distinctly remember a prayer breakfast that was held in either 2000 or 2001 I don’t remember, but I’m almost positive that both of them were there and that the Vice-President actually acknowledged Senator Edwards.
Reagan: And wouldn’t they have had to met each other when Elizabeth Dole was sworn in?
Matthews: I think that’s right…but that was really just a throwaway line, not really much heft in the big picture. What I was really surprised about was Cheney’s ignorance of the HIV/AIDS rates among black women. I mean, you can’t get much whiter than me…and even I know that this is a very pervasive problem in black communities and that it’ll hit non-black communities sooner than we think. Do we really want the next Vice-President, the one literally a heartbeat away from the Presidency to be this ignorant about a growing crisis in our country? I mean, they’ve spent a lot of time talking about ‘defending the homeland.’ Doesn’t defending the homeland mean keeping people not only safe, but healthy? What do the rest of you think?
Reagan: I’ve got to agree Chris. I was sitting here…and you were looking at me right? Didn’t you see the shocked look on my face?
Matthews: Indeed I did.
Buchanan: But you always look like that Ron.
Reagan: Touche. But I absolutely couldn’t believe what I was hearing.
…..
[Armstrong Williams, Conservative Columnist]
You know, I’ve been working a long time for the Republican Party, largely because I know that the values of the Republican Party resonate within black communities. Black people are and always have been wealth builders. Isn’t it about time we started building wealth for ourselves? I’m tired of the victim game that the Democrats in general and black Democrats in particular have been playing on black people. We can stand up on our own two feet thank you very much. And I can’t wait to cast my vote for the Bush-Cheney ticket. I think the War on Iraq was right. I think that Bush and Cheney will keep us safe.
But with that said, I’ve got to say I’m surprised and disappointed about Cheney’s stated ignorance about HIV/AIDS in black communities. Like I said, I support the ticket a thousand percent…but that single statement sums up the struggle for people like me. How can I convince young black women that the Republican party values their effort, and their work ethic, when our leaders don’t even know about the types of struggles they face on a daily basis. He just made my job that much harder, and I wouldn’t be surprised (unfortunately) if this came back to bite him.
….
[Bill Cosby, Comedian, Philanthropist]
Well, it’s like I’ve been saying. We’ve got a problem here. And we’ve got to fess up to it. It’s clear to me that the people currently in office are not holding up their end of the deal. I’m talking about people who can’t put a sentence together to save their lives. I read somewhere that Bush was talking about how…let me see if I can get this just right. He said, and this is a quote, ‘Families is where our nation finds hope, where wings take dream.’ I heard the father talk, and I know it’s not the father. Everybody knows it is important to speak English except these knuckleheads. How can we expect the world to respect us if the person we elected can’t speak the language? This is our problem.
And I just heard Cheney talk about the HIV/AIDS rates among black women. Or rather, not talk about the HIV/AIDS rates among black women. He didn’t even know! He didn’t even know…We didn’t march for this. We didn’t protest for this. We didn’t sit-in for this ignorance. You think it’s funny? It isn’t funny anymore that the President can’t parse a sentence to save his life. What was he…a C- student? And it definitely isn’t funny that the Vice-President doesn’t know enough about the communities he presides over to know that there is a health crisis right underneath his nose.
….
[Al Sharpton, President of National Action Network]
We plan a protest on the Vice-President’s lawn. Make sure to bring your cameras.
….
[Kweisi Mfume, CEO and President National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)]
I know that the NAACP’s record on this particular issue hasn’t been as strong as we would like. While we’ve tried to work on issues that deal with the black community as a whole, we still have some ways to go in recognizing that the black community is really comprised of a number of communities. And while we’ve been spending time addressing the needs of some of those communities, others we have ignored. I find Cheney’s statement troubling because as the Vice-President one would think that Cheney should be aware of this and at least moderately familiar with efforts to combat the problem. Given this particular appointed administration I am unfortunately not surprised. But his statement further crystallized the need for organizations like the NAACP to mobilize our constituents about this issue.
….
Everything except Cheney’s statement was fictional. Pundits spent more time on a nonsense statement about whether Cheney had ever met Edwards before the debate. While it is easy to understand the focus on symbol in today’s media arena, it is crucial that we not only imagine what these discussions would be like if the world were right, it is crucial that we begin to change them.
