Bernard Shaw: Mr. Bauer, for Mr. Keyes.
Gary Bauer: Alan, a couple of weeks ago, you criticized my good friend John McCain because he expressed some support of or interest in a controversial music group. In view of that, I was a little surprised this week to see you fall into a mosh pit while a band called the Machine Rages On, or Rage Against the Machine, played. That band is anti-family. It's pro-cop killer, and it's pro-terrorist.
It's the kind of music that the killers at Columbine High School were immersed in.
Shaw: Question.
Bauer: I don't know, don't you think you owe an apology to parents and policemen on that one?
Alan Keyes: Actually I don't, because I was in no--accusing me of having some complicity in that music would be accusing me of, I don't know, being responsible for the color of my skin.
When you can't control things, Gary, you're not morally responsible for them. And I was not morally responsible for the music that was playing as I stepped out of my rally.. And until you told me this fact, I had no idea what that music was--contrary to our friend John McCain, who expressed the view that [Nine Inch Nails] was his favorite rock group....
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To do it in a lighthearted way, rather than having it imposed on you by circumstances of which--over which you have no control is something that I think is totally unacceptable. So I think that I would beg to differ with you. I had nothing to do with that music, disclaim any knowledge of it.
Admittedly, I was willing to fall into the mosh pit, but I'll tell you something. You know why I did that? Because I think that exemplifies the kind of trust in people that is the heart and soul of the Keyes campaign. It's about time we got back to the understanding that we trust the people of this country to do what's decent. And when you trust them, they will in fact hold you up, whether it's in terms of giving help to you when you're falling down or caring for their own children.
So I thought that, as an emblem of that trust, it was the right thing to do. And anyway, my daughter thought it was a good idea.
Bauer: Well, daughters are extremely important.
Al, let me read a quote from you. You said that one of the most important things is the dignity of the presidency. In fact, you said that it's important that those of us that aspire to be president not act like guests on "The Jerry Springer Show," which is incompatible with the dignity of politics.
Now, I'll concede from your answer you didn't know about the music. But nobody made you jump in the mosh pit. Do you think that's consistent with...
Keyes: Oh, that's very true.
Bauer: ... do you think that's consistent with the dignity of the presidency?
Keyes: Well, I would leave that to the judgment of the American people. I do know that when I got down, one of the folks who was there with one of the news crews looked at me and he said, "You know, you're the only person I've ever seen dive into a mosh pit and come out with his tie straight."
