JE: Actually I didn’t know that.

THC: In the New York Post, he is quoting as saying that he thought racism was part of it and then he went on to say: “I know that there were irregularities in Mr. [John] Edwards’s [presidential campaign] . . . I know there were questions about John Kerry’s mortgaging his house for his campaign. I don’t know of any of them being wiretapped.” Do you know what irregularities he may be referring to?

JE: No.

THC: Do you have any comment on that?

JE: I know Al Sharpton and I like him. I think his voice was one of a number of important voices in the campaign and this is the first I’ve heard of this.

THC: If you were elected in November, how do you think the world would be different today?

JE: I think it would be very different. First of all, we would have launched a serious international effort to stop the spread of nuclear weapons. What’s happened instead is we’ve seen Iran and North Korea march forward developing nuclear weapons. We’ve seen a move in the wrong direction on securing the loose nukes in the former Soviet Union. We live, as George Bush is fond to say, we live in a very dangerous world. That world’s made a lot more dangerous by America not to actually lead in confronting Iran and North Korea in moving forward on developing nuclear weapons. This administration has completely abdicated its responsibility in the case of Iran to Europeans, and in the case of North Korea, to Asia. And it’s a mistake and it’s dangerous—very dangerous—for America.

Here at home, we would have addressed in a serious way the huge opportunities that exist in this country, including the health care crisis that America is faced with. This president does nothing about health care—nothing. The health care system is a huge burden on most Americans and on most American business and the American economy and the President pretends it’s just fine. The gap between people who are doing well in this country and people who are struggling gets wider and wider. The income gap, the asset gap continue to get worse under this president. It’s not an accident—it’s the direct result of the policies he’s pursuing. We would have fought with everything we had for an America where your family, where you live, the color of your skin has no influence on your opportunity. That’s the America we believe in. So I think it would have been a very different country.

THC: Do you keep in touch with John Kerry at all?

JE: Yeah, yeah. I talk to John, I talk to him regularly. He lives right around the corner from me [in Washington, D.C.]. Actually, my kids go over there. Not long ago my kids came over with a pound cake that they had picked up over at John’s house—he’s a friend.

THC: In the past, you have criticized universities that use a legacy system in admissions. Do you still think it’s wrong?

JE: It’s wrong. Wrong. Wrong. Wrong. Because we don’t live in a medieval country where you should get admitted to a college because of who your parents are. That’s true today. Universities and colleges should not continue that policy. I know though that it’s popular with you people who run universities in this country.

THC: What do you think of the Terry Schiavo case? Was Congress right in how it handled the situation?

JE: No. I don’t think Congress had any business meddling into this issue. The last thing the Schiavo case needed was Washington politicians sticking their nose into it. It was obviously very difficult—it was heartbreaking—because with her condition, what happened to her, the disagreement within her own family. But those kind of difficult family situations are issues to be resolved in the family, and when they’re not, that’s what courts are for. I might add, the overriding moral principle is it should be the family and not politicians who decide.

THC: What do you think about recent nominations by President Bush and how would you have voted?