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Tavis: Bob Taft is serving his second term as governor of Ohio, a state both George W. Bush and John Kerry desperately want to win in November. Governor Taft is the great-grandson of President William Howard Taft, and both his father and grandfather served in the U.S. Senate. He joins us tonight from Columbus. Governor, nice to have you on the program, sir.

Bob Taft: Tavis, it's a pleasure to be with you tonight.

Tavis: You've got quite a legacy there. How does one live up to that kind of legacy?

Taft: Well, it's very tough, but I like being governor of Ohio. I'm not quite ready to go to Washington.

Tavis: All right. Heh heh. Let me--Speaking of Ohio, I have been dying to ask this of a governor of a swing state, and since you're the first one I've had on in a little while on this program, let me just ask you. You're first up to bat. Why are there so many undecided voters in Ohio? Why is Ohio such a swing state? What's happening there or not happening there, where the rest of us have made up our minds?

Taft: Well, Tavis, Ohio is the absolutely critical state. I don't believe the President can be reelected without carrying the state of Ohio. In fact, no Republican has been elected President without carrying Ohio. We go back and forth. Ohio went for Clinton two times, it went for the first President Bush when he won, and of course it went for the current President four years ago. Very evenly divided state; very diverse state. We have large cities, small towns, farm areas. We have part of Appalachia in Ohio. So we are the true battleground state.

Tavis: Let me ask you whether or not you feel any personal pressure to deliver. I can't imagine what it must be like to be a governor and you've got an incumbent who's expecting you to deliver, and if you don't deliver--I think of John Ingrid in Michigan four years ago. They needed him to deliver. He didn't. I ain't heard about--I don't know where John Ingrid is these days.

Taft: Ha ha! I don't think governors can necessarily deliver their state. The voters are looking at the two candidates. They're watching TV. They're going to watch the debates and make up their mind. But what a governor can do is mobilize the grass roots for our candidate, President Bush. That's what we're doing here in Ohio. We've got over 50,000 volunteers. We're registering voters, over 60,000 voters now, organizing in the precincts, getting ready to turn out the vote for the President, and then also of course helping with as many visits to Ohio, and he'll be back on Saturday for his 22nd visit to the state of Ohio as President.

Tavis: Speaking of visits, you ought to start charging Kerry and Bush taxes. Man, they might as well take up residence in the state of Ohio.

Taft: I'd love to do that. It'd be a great revenue source for us. Course you know our TV and radio stations are loving it, though, Tavis.

Tavis: I can imagine. I can imagine what it must be like to be a reporter there these days. You get access to both of these guys every other day, it seems like.

Taft: Well, the reporters and also the TV ads. I think Toledo is one of the most heavily bought TV markets in the nation.

Tavis: Holy Toledo. Anyway, I'm sorry. Ha ha. The thing about Ohio that--that's not so much--not so good in terms of news--And I was blown away by these stats. Ohio has contributed some 20% to the unemployment in the country as we speak, but you only have 4% of the nation's population. Things are tough in Ohio.

Taft: Well, Tavis, we got hit hard by the manufacturing recession. We are a manufacturing state. However in the past year, we've seen things turn around. You know, we were at 6.3. We're now under 6.0 in unemployment. Our number of jobs are increasing, about 3,000 new manufacturing jobs just last month alone. Incomes are up. Earnings are up. Home ownership is up. Things are turning the corner. We have a ways to go, but of course, I believe that we've got the right policies in place under the President to assure that Ohio will continue to recover and regain full prosperity.

Tavis: This isn't an easy question, and it's probably not fair of me to ask it of a Republican governor of the state, but let me ask you what you think the voters are looking to hear? For those voters in Ohio who are undecided, who are on the fence, what are they looking to hear from Kerry or Bush to make them vote for one guy or the other?

Taft: There's definitely concern about the economy. That's the number one issue. People are anxious about their jobs, even though they may have good jobs in the state of Ohio, so I think they want to know what the candidates are going to do going forward to help our economy, to help America compete in the world, to open up markets overseas, to lower trade barriers and make sure that trade is fair, as the President is trying to do. I believe that the President's policies of lower taxation and lower regulation are the right ones for our economy. But that's the issue the voters are going to have to decide.

Tavis: Let me ask you what you make of the controversy--controversy small "c," but certainly a lot of commentary, put it that way--about who's speaking and who's not speaking at the Republican convention in New York next week. Lot of folk who feel that the Republicans are not really showing the true conservative face, if you will, of the Party, given who they've aligned to speak at the convention.

Taft: You know, Tavis, one thing we'll be showcasing at the convention is an increasingly diverse Republican Party. It's true in Ohio. Our delegation will be about 16% minority. Nationally, I think it's about 17%, a big increase from four years ago. My own lieutenant governor, I'm very proud to say, Janet Bradley is the first African-American female lieutenant governor in the country. So we are a policy that has changed. There'll be more Hispanic delegates than ever before at the convention.

We are a diverse Party. The Party has changed from the Party of maybe 8 or 12 years ago. And of course we're delighted that Zell Miller, a Democrat senator, will be keynoting the convention. And I'm very pleased to say that just this week, we picked up the Democrat mayor of Youngstown for the President. So I think we're making some inroads here. We are a diverse, more broad-based Party than a lot of people think.

Tavis: What do you make of the speech that's going to come from Zell Miller? Of course the Democrats went across the aisle, and they got the son of former President Ronald Reagan, Ron Reagan, to speak at the convention, so they had their Reagan at the convention, and the Republicans went across the aisle of the Senate, picked up Zell Miller, a Democrat, retiring Democrat out of Georgia, so they've got a Democrat speaking at their convention, endorsing the President. What do you expect from Zell Miller?

Taft: Well, it's very interesting. I guess he was the keynoting of the Democrat convention a few years ago. But I think we'll try to--we'll hear from him why he's supporting the President, in terms of a national defense, in terms of homeland security, in terms of being tough on the war against terrorism, and in terms of pro-growth, pro-job economic policies. I can't guess what he's gonna say, but I know he's gonna address those two issues.

Tavis: Talk to me--You said something a moment ago I want to come back to because it is significant, and I don't want it to get lost on our viewers, and I applaud the state of personally for this. Ohio, as I recall, is the only state in the country where they have in fact two African-Americans who are elected statewide. Janet Bradley you mentioned earlier, the lieutenant governor, and your secretary of state Ken Blackwell, a black Republican. But you've got two African-Americans elected statewide. That's never happened in the country.

Taft: Well, they're elected statewide, and they're elected as Republicans. And I think it's a sign that the Republican Party is diverse, that we are broad-based, and we've got a lot of talent here in Ohio. And so, I think that's fortunate, and it's the way the Party is moving, I believe, nationally as well.

Tavis: Um, the Underground Railroad museum. I raise this as a point of personal pride, so I confess up front that I've got a vested interest in this question. It just so happens that this new museum, the Underground Railroad museum is on the--in Cincinnati on the Ohio River. It is, for those who know anything about the underground railroad and Harriet Tubman, it was the route that Harriet Tubman led the slaves from down south up to freedom in the north, right up the Ohio River. On--Just a few days ago on the banks of the Ohio in Cincinnati, you all opened up the Underground Railroad museum. I'm proud of it because my college roommate's, his father was the architect. Blackburn Architects built that museum. But you guys had a big party there a few days ago.

Taft: It's a magnificent facility. It's gonna be a tremendous attraction, Tavis. We had Oprah Winfrey in, and she's contributed to the project, by the way, very generously. Also First Lady Laura Bush. But it really tells the heroic story of the struggle for freedom, blacks and whites working together. Ohio was a border state. The Ohio River was a major crossing point, and we have a lot of great stories to tell and hope that people from all over America will come to the banks of the Ohio and Cincinnati and visit the Underground Railroad Freedom Center, because it's going to be a spectacular experience for them.

Tavis: That'd be a nice lift to the economy in Ohio if you can get a bunch of tourists to come to visit that museum.

Taft: You bet. It's gonna help our economy. Thanks.

Tavis: Yeah. Let me ask you what--before I let you go here, what you expect to come out of the Republican convention? I had Bill Maher on this program last night, a guy whose politics obviously are different than yours. He said he didn't expect much. These conventions, as you know, are so scripted. Any surprises? Anything we ought to look for next week?

Taft: Well, I think it will present a broader, more diverse picture of the Republican Party than a lot of people might expect. I think the President will be working hard to fire up his supporters from the standpoint of the importance of this election, the importance of being strong in the war against terrorism, of reviving our economy, and contrasting his policies to his opponent. A lot about a convention, though, is really, you know, firing up the troops, inspiring the grassroots workers to come back to Ohio and to other states and really turn out the vote.

Tavis: And if you were a betting man, would you bet on Mr. Bush?

Taft: Absolutely. It's going to be a tough, close race. Ohio will be very close. But we believe we're gonna carry Ohio for the President, which will help him be reelected to a second term.

Tavis: I would expect you to say nothing different. Governor Bob Taft. Nice to have you on, sir. We'll see you in New York next week.

Taft: Good deal.

Tavis: Take care, Governor. Up next on this program, singer Michael Franti from Spearhead. Stay with us.