A one-on-one interview with CNN contributor and TV-One commentator Roland Martin on President Obama, Romney, and whether First Lady Michelle Obama is 'too Black,' latest CBS poll has Obama and Romney in statistical tie

Roland Martin

By Johnnette Jernigan

Cleveland, Ohio-This is a one-on-one interview with CNN contributor and TV-One commentator Roland Martin, a nationally known Black political analyst.

In this short but engaged interview Martin gives his views on the Democratic and Republican campaigns for President of the United States of America. He also discusses his take on the suggestion by some right wing conservatives that First Lady Michelle Obama is "too Black."

President Barack Obama, a Democrat, will face former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, the presumptive nominee for the Republican Party, for the upcoming November election for president.

The below interview was undertaken during the heat of the fight for the Republican nomination for president and before Romney became the presumptive nominee.

It is printed here because it still has significance as America's Black community and others prepare for a showdown as to a tight race for the White House, with the latest CBS poll on the election putting Obama and Romney at a statistical tie. 

Journalist Johnette Jernigan:

Who will get the Republican nomination?

Roland Martin:

Mitt Romney will win the nomination because the Republicans always choose the next person in line. Since Romney lost to McCain in 2008, Romney is next in line for the Republican nomination.

Jernigan:

What states must the president be more aggressive with to obtain votes?

Martin:

President Obama really needs to do well in the western states and regain the Hispanic vote. They’re angry because of the Dream Act and immigration reform.  The President has deported more Hispanics in three years than Bush did in eight, so that’s a hurdle that the president has to overcome.

Jernigan:

 

What about Ohio and the eastern states?

Martin:

The Electoral College has changed. Some of the states that the President won in 2008 have lost somewhere between 8-10 electoral college votes like Iowa, North Carolina, New Hampshire, and Indiana  He only won Indiana by less than one 1% and only won North Carolina by 14,000 votes.  He lost Missouri by less than 1%.  You can take those states off the board.  With regard to Ohio, Kasich came in and became aggressive against the unions and woke up a sleeping giant which may have given the president an in that he needs.

Jernigan:

Would Ron Paul have  been a better Republican candidate than Mitt Romney?

Martin:

Ron Paul’s views are far too strident when it comes to the budget and the war.  He doesn’t make the left happy because of his views on the economy; he won’t make the right happy because of his views on foreign policy.  He has a core constituency.  If he runs for a third party, he clearly could take a significant number of votes and it could be a remake of 1992 when Ross Perot ran for the presidency.

Jernigan:

Who will the Tea Party support?

Martin:

The Tea Party will support the Republican nominee.  The Tea Party is not the Tea Party. It’s the Republican Party that is largely made up of people that are fiscal conservatives.  If you go back to Ross Perot’s campaign, you’re dealing with the same group of people calling themselves the Tea Party, which are basically blue collar democrats or Reagan democrats.

Jernigan:

What do you think about the attack against First Lady Michelle Obama saying that she is too black?

Martin:

All the people that talk about Jody Cantor’s book, they have not read it.  I read her book.  She does not make her out to be an angry Black woman. Anyone that reads that book will see that she is a confident, assertive woman who worked in corporate America and understands that she must plan and also must not simply do things haphazardly.  Anyone that read that book will understand that she is a woman that is very clear on what she wants and it does not make her out to be some angry Black woman.

Jernigan:

How close do you predict this race is going to be?

Martin:

This is going to be an extremely close race and it’s crazy for anyone to think this election is over – there are no guarantees.


Editor's note: Ohio is a pivotal state where no Republican in modern times has won the White House without first winning Ohio, and the last Democrat to do so sucessfully was the late John F. Kennedy. 

Reach Cleveland area Journalist Johnette Jernigan by email at jernj@aol.com and Cleveland Urban News. Com by email at editor@clevelandurbannews.com and by telephone at 216-932-3114.