MSNBC "The Rachel Maddow Show" - Transcript

Interview

MSNBC "The Rachel Maddow Show" - Transcrip

MS. MADDOW: I'd like to welcome to the program Democratic Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota. She is supporting Senator Obama.

Senator Klobuchar, thanks for joining us.

SEN. KLOBUCHAR: Well, thank you, Rachel. It's great to be on.

MS. MADDOW: Senator McCain does not claim to be an expert on the economy. That's part of his straight talk. He has never pitched that as his strong suit. We just showed a clip from an interview a couple of months ago in which the whole idea of answering a question on the subject appeared to horrify him.

But the country is pretty horrified about the economy right now. Is there anything that John McCain could say or do right now about the economy that would reduce this big political liability that he's got on this issue?

SEN. KLOBUCHAR: You know, I think you'd have to come clean and tell the truth. You know, you've seen in the last 26 hours words out of his mouth that he's never said in the last 26 years in Congress. Time and time again he stood by these companies.

He was chair of the Commerce Committee for seven years. He did nothing about increasing our gas mileage standards, something the Democratic Congress had to do out of that same Commerce Committee; nothing about protecting our kids from toxic toys on our shores and in our stores, again out of this Commerce Committee, something that Barack Obama was a leader on; nothing to regulate these financial institutions. He referred to himself as a deregulator.

And you know what I heard someone say this morning from Texas, Rachel? They said there's an old Texas saying -- "All hat and no cattle." And that's what we're hearing from John McCain is all hat and no cattle when you look at his record and you look where the Bush- McCain policies have brought us.

MS. MADDOW: You know, John McCain has sort of sidestepped the flip-flop allegation in this campaign, even though a lot of his positions really have changed. He's sidestepped that by saying, "If I have changed on an issue like offshore drilling, it's because circumstances dictated that I change, because the news meant that I had to change. I'm flexible and open-minded enough to change my mind if need be."

I wonder if it would be feasible, if it would be plausible, if it would cost him too much with his own party for him to make that sort of case about why he has changed from 26 years as a deregulator into now, about 48 hours, as somebody who's a proponent of regulation. I wonder if there is a credible way to make that case.

SEN. KLOBUCHAR: You know, I don't know if there is. I just know that he's gotten us in this mess. And you look at as this mess has been unrolling even in the last few weeks; you see Barack Obama weathering the storm of this unfair criticism and doing a two-minute ad where he actually addresses the American people to their face.

And then you see John McCain running these lipstick ads and these fraudulent ads about sex education. Enough is enough. People have had it. I mean, as you see in the polls, it's not just the Obama campaign that's ignited and it's with purpose to get change here. It's the American people, because they watched that convention. They got a little interested. And they started to say, "What is going on here? You know, my health care expenses, my premiums have gone up 100 percent." You've got kids who can hardly go to college and these guys are talking about lipstick. I mean, enough is enough. And I think you see that with the American people, because they're hurting.

MS. MADDOW: Well, on that issue, I mean, my feeling is that when people are talking about hard-core issues like the economy, the Obama- Biden campaign is at its strongest. And I think we're seeing that these last couple of days. When people aren't talking about the issues, when the other guys have succeeded in making the debate about lipstick or preachers or Paris Hilton or whatever, the Obama-Biden campaign sort of wilts. And that's a winning strategy if you control the message. But it is a losing strategy if you don't control the message. Do you see it that way?

SEN. KLOBUCHAR: Well, I do. And I'd say this, though, is that the American people, in the end, are going to be sophisticated about this and they're going to make the decision based on the issues, based on their pocketbooks -- average middle-class wages down something like $1,000 to $2,000 in this country; expenses up $4,500.

Barack Obama has got a plan -- middle-class tax cuts, rolling back some of these tax cuts on the wealthiest. McCain's plan would give over $500,000 to the .1 percent. And the American people are going to get this. And I just -- you know, you think the Republicans had so many opportunities to do something about this, and they let these agencies decay. They put the wrong people in charge.

Even 2005, Representative Oxley, Republican, had a bipartisan effort to better regulate Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. And he said -- and this is a public quote -- he said, "All I got from the administration was a one-finger salute." So time and time again you see letting these institutions decay. And look where we are now -- you know, secretaries on the front line with nothing at Lehman Brothers.

You've got people in the state of Minnesota losing their homes and all their life's fortune. You've got elderly people worried about their pension. They're not going to listen, the people of this country, to ads about lipstick. They want a real plan and real change, and that's what Barack Obama has to offer.

MS. MADDOW: Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, thank you so much for your time tonight.

SEN. KLOBUCHAR: Well, thank you, Rachel. And thank you for making my daughter think I'm cool going on your show.

MS. MADDOW: (Laughs.)

SEN. KLOBUCHAR: I lost her when I didn't know that LOL meant "laugh out loud" on a radio program.

MS. MADDOW: (Laughs.)

SEN. KLOBUCHAR: And just being on your show makes her think I'm cool.

MS. MADDOW: Well, if you need any help on any other abbreviations, I'll hook you up. Just give me a call.

SEN. KLOBUCHAR: I'll call you. All right, thank you.

MS. MADDOW: Thanks, Senator; appreciate it.

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