MSNBC - Transcript

Interview

MS. O'DONNELL: For more now, we are joined from the senator from Minnesota, Amy Klobuchar.

Senator, thank you so much for joining us.

SEN. KLOBUCHAR: It's great to be on. Welcome to our state.

MS. O'DONNELL: Thank you very much.

We're getting a lot of push-back from the McCain campaign on the vetting process. They say it was thorough; it was done completely. The Washington Post reports today that she faced her first face-to- face interview on Wednesday before she was -- (inaudible) -- announced on Friday.

What's your take on that? Why does it matter?

SEN. KLOBUCHAR: Well, it matters because this person is going to be a heartbeat away from the presidency. And this is going to be her big night. I'm sure she'll give a nice speech. But the issue is that John McCain met her once at the Governors Association, talked to her for a few minutes, talked to her on the phone once, and then met her face to face and offered her the job without any kind of relationship in the past.

And just talking to other vice presidents, the chemistry -- when you have something that really works as a team, it's usually established over time. So it just concerns me about his judgment, that he would pick something -- I said the other day, I've interviewed summer law clerks for longer periods of time than that.

And again, we'll hear from her tonight. But for me, it seems as though nothing in her record shows that she will deviate in any way from McCain. And, in fact, maybe if he'd spent a little more time, he would have found out that, for instance, she was for the Bridge to Nowhere; then she was against it. She says she's a champion of reform, but, in fact, several earmarks that she asked for for her town were ones that he had criticized.

MS. O'DONNELL: Tonight she will make a speech to the American people. She's really being introduced, in many ways, for the first time. The McCain campaign says questions about her experience, whether she can juggle being a mom of five kids and this job, are sexist. What do you think?

SEN. KLOBUCHAR: You know, I believe that -- and I don't think anyone, Barack Obama down, has said that we should be questioning her for running as a mother. I'm a mother, and I've been able to balance it. Everyone comes to terms with it in their own way.

The issue here is not that at all. That's her personal life, and I commend her for what she's done with having those children, being a mother and a governor. But the issue is that she is not going to go anywhere different than John McCain, which is, you know, tax cuts for the oil companies, more tax cuts for ExxonMobil, while middle-class people all over this country are suffering.

We need a change and put someone in that's going to help them and help those families that need to afford college and health care and bring our troops home from Iraq. And McCain is more of the same from the Bush administration. Sarah Palin is not going to change that.

MS. O'DONNELL: Let me show you what Mike Huckabee said today. He said, quote, "It's sexism that is really, really disgusting and embarrassing. It's backfiring, big-time. And it's really giving, I think, the McCain-Palin ticket a great boost and a new level of support they would have never had otherwise."

SEN. KLOBUCHAR: It's just so interesting to me, because no one has treated this with more dignity than Senator Obama. He has made so clear, welcoming her to this race, that he welcomes her family to the race, that this has -- you know, it's so clear what he said.

And my issue is, if you want to start talking about people's records, that should be -- whether it's a man or a woman, you should be able to talk about their record. But when you start talking about her family, that's off-limits.

MS. O'DONNELL: Senator Klobuchar, home-state senator here in Minnesota.

SEN. KLOBUCHAR: We don't always have protests, but it's a lot of fun when we do. It's only for you, Norah.

MS. O'DONNELL: You're going to go out there and walk the crowd, aren't you? Introduce yourself; ask for --

SEN. KLOBUCHAR: Oh, yeah. It looks so inviting. I can't wait.

MS. O'DONNELL: (Laughs.) Thanks, Senator. We appreciate it.

Source