MSNBC - Transcript

Interview

MSNBC - Transcript

MR. TODD: Right now, I'm joined by Utah Republican Senator Orrin Hatch, who's a McCain supporter.

Senator Hatch, nobody can say that John McCain is not feeling comfortable now on the stump. Do you wish you had seen this John McCain three weeks ago? He seems pretty fired up now.

SEN. HATCH: Well, I think he's been fired up throughout, but he's really fired up now. And you know, it's the real John McCain. He has guts. He stands up against his own party from time to time. I've seen it. I've been there with him.

I have to say that he's -- you know what you're getting. You know you have somebody who really understands foreign policy and national security issues and who has been there long enough to know what's right and what's wrong. And he'll do what's right, I'll tell you.

MR. TODD: Well, I'll tell you, you said the real John McCain and this is the guy you know and the guy I know in the Senate you've had to fight against sometimes. But what happened? Why are we here seeing, in your words, the real John McCain now? Where was he three months ago? Why has he struggled to get to this point where he is today?

SEN. HATCH: Well, three months ago, he was way down in the polls. Everybody was writing him off.

Barack Obama is very eloquent, but if you look at what Barack Obama says, it's all platitudes and generalities. The fact of the matter is that he really -- everything he calls for is more spending, let's strengthen our government. He doesn't seem to understand our energy needs when he calls for getting rid of clean coal technology, which we've got to have. Fifty percent of our electricity comes from coal.

MR. TODD: Right. Right.

SEN. HATCH: He says he's going to put people on the Supreme Court that basically -- you know -- and this has all just happened recently -- people on the Supreme Court that basically will do feel- good decisions and legislate from the bench legislation that the elected representatives in Congress could never get through the Congress of the United States.

And I think John feels this surge coming and frankly, I would never count John McCain out. I've told people -- I've told people everywhere, don't count him out. This man has risen from the dead many times --

MR. TODD: Right.

SEN. HATCH: -- and he'll do it this time, too. I think he'll win this thing.

MR. TODD: Well, Senator, I'm sure you're as familiar with the battleground map as we are here. It's clear that he's got to run the table, not only win all these toss-up states but pull an upset in Pennsylvania. Well, to win Pennsylvania, he's got to win those Philadelphia suburbs. And one thing I've noticed is the Republicans across the board are struggling in the suburbs. That used to be a base vote for the Republican Party. What's happened that this has become such a problem for your party, Senator?

SEN. HATCH: Well, not really in Philadelphia, but I think he's going to win almost all of the rest of Pennsylvania. When people really realize what -- that Barack Obama really hasn't described what he's really going to do, that he really doesn't have the experience to really run this country in a time of real international exposure and difficulty and that he, basically, like I say, talks in platitudes and generalities. When they start to look at that -- one other thing, Chuck. You know this, in almost every poll, he's below 50 percent. Now, some --

MR. TODD: Right.

SEN. HATCH: -- he's over 50 percent, but in almost every poll -- you know that a lot of the -- a lot of the undecideds are starting to break for John McCain. They're starting to realize that this country needs somebody of great dimension and strength in this position, somebody with the experience.

As much as I like Barack Obama, he is a nice, charming person. He gives an eloquent speech, let's face it. Hardly anybody knows what his experience factor is. You're just throwing the dice when you go with Barack Obama. And I think people are waking up to that and starting to say, look, we know John McCain. There's some things we don't like about him, but --

MR. TODD: Okay.

SEN. HATCH: -- but by gosh, we know he's a hero and we know he'll do what he says he'll do.

MR. TODD: Senator, very quickly. The economy, President Bush or the Republican brand, what's been the thing that has been the bigger drag on John McCain's chances so far?

SEN. HATCH: Well, they have continuously run down Bush and tried to align McCain with Bush. Look, I've been in the Senate where McCain has taken on President Bush time after time.

But I think it's despicable to continue to run down the sitting -- the sitting president. They don't even know -- Barack Obama isn't on the Intelligence Committee -- if they knew what I knew, people would really appreciate this president for making the tough decisions to protect America.

But be that as it may, we know John McCain has the background to do it. We know that John McCain has the guts to do it. We don't know enough about Barack Obama to give him the reins of the greatest government in the world at a time when we have some of the greatest foreign policy and national security problems that the world has ever known.

MR. TODD: All right.

SEN. HATCH: And he's going to add a trillion dollars in spending. My God, when are the American people going to stop and center on that and realize that he's a typical, liberal, spending Democrat.

MR. TODD: All right.

SEN. HATCH: No wonder he's considered the most liberal senator in the United States Senate.

MR. TODD: Senator Hatch, I'm going to have to leave it there. I appreciate you joining us.

SEN. HATCH: Nice to be with you.

MR. TODD: Okay.

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