MSNBC "The Ed Show" - Transcript: 2014 Elections

Interview

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Joining me tonight on our Rapid Response Panel Congresswoman Gwen Moore of Wisconsin and Ruth Conniff, Editor-in-Chief for the Progressive Magazine, great to have both of you with us tonight.

Congresswoman Moore, let`s talk about Milwaukee, the turn out. The President has been there, the first lady has been there. There has been a lot of push in the area of Milwaukee for turn out. Will it be there? Are you encouraged by early voting and what kind of an impact is it going to have on this race?

REP. GWEN MOORE, (D) WISCONSIN: Well Ed, we certainly have seen an increase in early voting above the 2010 levels and even above the recall levels here in Wisconsin and here in Milwaukee. So, we find that very encouraging.

We certainly have appreciated all of our visitors especially the President who`s been here stumping for Mary Burke but you did mention one thing and that`s the enthusiasm gap.

We`re concerned about the enthusiasm gap because Republicans are just so enthusiastic that they are poised to intimidate voters.

We just got word that the Department of Justice has really answered our request to have election monitors because the election observers here are going to benefit from a law that Scott Walker put into place where they only have to be three feet away from a voter and we`ve seen already calls for election observers to be vigilant.

We`ve seen during early vote where these election observers have tried to get into the personal space of voters. So, Republicans are -- not only enthusiastic about electing this right -- reelecting this right-wing governor but...

SCHULTZ: Yeah.

MOORE: ... intimidating and they`re suppressing the vote for our voters.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

SCHULTZ: It would make him a battle tested, election tested unlike any other Republican in the country, from the middle of the country. But it seems to me, Congresswoman Moore that Scott Walker is a lot like Washington. He`s not like the middle of the country, your thoughts?

MOORE: Well I could tell you, I`ve known this guy for a really long time, having been the only person that successfully defeated him. But I`ll say this, to Ruth`s point. You know, when he won the recall election, it was because he repudiated workers but since then, he has thrown everybody under the bus.

Women, he`s taken $800 million out of the education fund, K through 12, technical college and universities. No other governor, Democrat or Republican has done that anywhere. He has, you know, he has approved strip mines, ruining the environment. He has no concern for air and water quality.

The elderly ill and infirm, didn`t take the Medicaid expansion money, something that cost voters $260 million, and I`ll tell you, a lot of these small towns and villages, these Republican enclaves...

SCHULTZ: Yeah.

MOORE: ... are giving second thought to a Republican Scott Walker, because he is -- there is concern that he`ll dip into our pension fund and treat regular citizens like he did those public workers.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source