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Tavis: It's fitting tonight, following the speech from President Bush, that we hear from his good friend Texas Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison. She's the first female ever to represent Texas in the U. S. Senate. Earlier I caught up with the Texas senator. Senator, nice to have you on.

Kay Bailey Hutchison: Thank you, Tavis. I'm so happy to be here.

Tavis: I'm glad we finally got a chance to do this.

Hutchison: Yes, absolutely.

Tavis: How are those two three-year-olds, those babies you have?

Hutchison: They are constant. They are wonderful and they are constant.

Tavis: How do you pull this off doing Senate duty, traveling back to Texas, two three-year-olds and a husband?

Hutchison: I know, it's like having three kids. You know, seriously, I take one each week and it's wonderful. That's my bonding time with that one, and it's just been wonderful. It's hard, but every working mother has to balance, and I just love it.

Tavis: Speaking of working mothers. I read an interesting stat the other day that most married women tend to vote Republican. Most single mothers tend to vote Democrat. Given that the nuclear family, the American family as we once knew it, is no longer that family, how, over the coming years, will Republicans reach out to get single mothers to consider voting Republican?

Hutchison: Yes. Tavis, that's a great question and it is what the polling shows, absolutely. We are working on the issues that we think single mothers, as well as married mothers, would really want us to address. Things like health care, a security blanket, making sure that our country is secure, our children are secure, that they're educated, that they have health care. I think the overall security issue is bigger for a single mom because that single mom can see the time when maybe she's not going to be able to do it all and she's going to need some help. We need to show that that help is there. We're doing it. We're just not talking about it.

Tavis: Tell me if the answer is that you're just now talking about it, then that's your answer. But if these single mothers are voting Democratic, there's something that Democrats are doing, perhaps, that the Republicans are not doing. Are there other things that the Republicans ought to do more aggressively, public policy positions they ought to consider that the Democrats must be advancing on, to even get these single mothers to pay attention and to vote for them?

Hutchison: Well, for instance, education, which is such a big issue for every mother.

Tavis: Right.

Hutchison: The Democrats have really had the lead on education for a long time. But when President Bush came into office, he just absolutely had a fruit basket turnover. He said education is the issue, and we're going to pass legislation that makes schools accountable. Public education is not meeting the standard that we need, and we're going to do something about it. So we're trying to put creativity into the schools. We're trying to allow parents to have some say, to know if a school is failing so that the parent can move the child. Those are the things that we are now doing, and we're starting to talk about it. But, I think the Democrats have had the lead there before. Now, we're taking the lead, and in polls you will see that people will say in answer to a poll: which Party is doing more in the area of education, now Republicans beat Democrats. So I think we have to take health care in that same direction. We have reformed Medicare to give a prescription drug option that will come into play in 2006. That is a huge improvement for our senior citizens in health care. We're also increasing the reimbursement for doctors and hospital providers. We're now beginning to talk about what we have done. We've had some huge accomplishments in the security area that we think single moms, as well as working and married moms, really care about and we've just got to let them know we care.

Tavis: You're on the Veterans Affairs Committee in the U.S. Senate. I found that interesting. Another stat, that there are more, John Kerry's service notwithstanding, John Kerry not hitching his wagon to his Vietnam service notwithstanding, John Kerry's Swift Boat comrades introducing him at the convention and Max Cleland notwithstanding, there are still more veterans at this convention for the Republicans than the Democrats had at their convention. Is there a reason for that?

Hutchison: Oh, I think so. I think it is because people who have served in our Armed Services know what a Commander in Chief should be. And they know that our President has been laser beam-focused on winning the war on terrorism, and whatever criticism he has received, he has not flinched. He is saying, 'I'm going to protect America, that's my job, and I'm going to do everything I can to make our homeland more secure and to make sure that we keep our word.' When we say we're going to do something, we keep our word. That means Iraq, we're going to stay the course. Afghanistan, we're going to stay the course. We're going to keep terrorists over there, so they don't come over here, if we can possibly make that happen. Now, John Kerry on the other hand has not been forceful. He hasn't been resolute. He voted to send our troops into war and then comes the appropriation, and he doesn't vote to fund it. That is irresponsible, it has been wishy-washy, and I think veterans see that.

Tavis: Let me probe you a little further on that. I'm trying to figure out, and maybe you can help me on this issue, as you've known George Bush for so long. To your honest response a moment ago about the criticism that the President has, in fact, received, he's gotten a lot of it. How is it that this President and this Vice President, who clearly cannot compare their record of service to John Kerry's record, Vietnam. They've even said the guy's a hero. They're not trying to dispute his hero status with regard to his Vietnam service. I'm just trying to figure out how a guy who did in fact serve, finds himself on his heels in an election when he's running against two guys who didn't show up? How does that happen?

Hutchison: It's what happened after John Kerry came home. John Kerry, in the eyes of many people who served in Vietnam, put them in jeopardy, made them feel that somehow they weren't representing our country well, accused them of atrocities in hearings in the Senate, and that is the issue that has caused veterans to say, 'Wait a minute.' There's one America. As Arnold Schwarzenegger said, there's one America, and we're fighting for that America. We're not a divided America, and we didn't go to Vietnam and commit atrocities. We went to serve our country. They answered the call. And so I think all of the view of veterans, of questioning John Kerry is because of what he did when he came home.

Tavis: Two more questions and I'll let you go. You all are really a close-knit group in the U.S. Senate. It is an exclusive, I don't want to say, 'club,' an exclusive group. They're only a hundred of you, unlike the 435 across the way in the house. It's a really tight-knit group. I've often wondered how it feels for someone like you, and I guess this question could be asked of the other side as well, but, how does it feel for a person like you or a John McCain to come into this hall and to have to take on a colleague who you've known for years and worked with for years in a really tight-knit group, does it make you uncomfortable at all?

Hutchison: Well, we, the Senate is very civilized; different atmosphere from the House, no doubt about it.

Tavis: Sure.

Hutchison: And I think that John Kerry knows that we're not being personal, and we're not. And I think that he understands what he is doing, and he's not being personal against us, and we aren't against him. We disagree on the issues. We disagree on what is right for our country. John Kerry has a record. I wouldn't attack him personally at all. I like him as a person. I disagree with him, and I don't think he's the right Commander in Chief. And when we're in the Senate, we'reabout evenly divided, so people know that your person who didn't vote for you today may vote with you tomorrow. And so we treat each other with great respect, and there's not a senator I don't like. But do I disagree with a number of the votes that are taken on the other side?

Tavis: Half of them you do, since you're evenly divided.

Hutchison: Half. Exactly.

Tavis: I've got 15 seconds right quick here. You helped plan this convention, you happy with it?

Hutchison: I love this convention. I think it is just wonderful. I think the diversity that we have seen, the unity that we are seeing, the enthusiasm, the electricity out there is so much fun. It's wonderful.

Tavis: Kay Bailey Hutchison, the first woman to serve in the U.S. Senate from the state of Texas and hopes that her dear friend George Bush, I suspect, gets re-elected come November. Senator, nice to have you own.

Hutchison: Tavis thank you. I enjoyed it.

Tavis: You're welcome. Come back anytime. Up next, 'New York Times' columnist, David Brooks.