MSNBC Hardball with Chris Matthews - Transcript

MSNBC Hardball with Chris Matthews - Transcript

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

MATTHEWS: Welcome back to HARDBALL. It‘s a three-way race up in Connecticut right now for the U.S. Senate. Joe Lieberman running as an independent now, having lost the Democratic primary, he leads the pack right now in the numbers, followed by Democratic nominee, the guy who beat him, Ned Lamont. And in third place, Republican Alan Schlesinger who joins me right now.

So Lamont is a dove and Lieberman is a hawk. What are you?

ALAN SCHLESINGER ®, CT CANDIDATE FOR U.S. SENATE: Oh, I‘m a hawk but I‘m a reasonable, rational hawk. I think you have got to make this very clear that right now, as we speak, Joe Lieberman has spit on the president on a daily basis. If you are in Washington, you are not seeing this.

MATTHEWS: But the president has been kissing him.

SCHLESINGER: Right now he is—oh, the more he spits, the more that he kisses. I don‘t understand that. I guess a kiss is not just a kiss. And I have to tell you something. I have to tell you that this Sunday, he actually—Lieberman, actually asked for Rumsfeld to resign.

MATTHEWS: And you say Rumsfeld is doing a good job?

SCHLESINGER: Absolutely. And I will tell you something else, that as we speak today, he has adopted Kerry‘s position. Lieberman has moved into the Kerry position totally.

MATTHEWS: Which is?

SCHLESINGER: Which is I agreed with going into Iraq and ever since then, I was against everything the president did. That‘s Joe Lieberman‘s position.

MATTHEWS: I think actually to be honest to Kerry, he has done a 180 on this. He said he was wrong to vote for the thing.

Let‘s take a look at what the president said about you, sir, in yesterday‘s press conference.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

QUESTION: Would you campaign against Senator Joe Lieberman, who is a Republican candidate, may support you, but he supports you too, on Iraq?

BUSH: I‘m going to stay out of Connecticut.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE), you were born there.

BUSH: And by the way, I‘m staying out of Connecticut because, you know, that‘s what the party suggested, the Republican party of Connecticut And, plus, there‘s a better place to spend our money, time, and resources.

Right. I would listen to them very carefully. I‘m a thoughtful guy. I listen to people. I‘m open-minded. I‘m all the things that you know I am.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MATTHEWS: What do you make of the president towel snapping about you, having a little chuckle over the fact that he‘s not coming into your state? And secondly, do you believe him when he says that your party has told him not to come in in the state?

SCHLESINGER: No, it‘s just not true. As a matter of fact, the Republicans are supporting me. There‘s been some pundits...

MATTHEWS: Has your party chair told the president not to come in and campaign for you?

SCHLESINGER: That‘s absolutely false.

MATTHEWS: Well, where did he get that little line from?

SCHLESINGER: I think from Mr. Mehlman. I think Mr. Mehlman has been saying that. And, you know, I can‘t speak for what the people in Washington are doing. I‘m just a guy in Connecticut, trying to help people.

MATTHEWS: Why aren‘t they backing the party in a state like Connecticut?

SCHLESINGER: Well, you know...

MATTHEWS: Why isn‘t the president backing his own party?

(CROSSTALK)

SCHLESINGER: There is some delusion down here near the Potomac about the fact that if they can spin this right, they can make the Democrats look very, very liberal in Connecticut and across the country. And that, hopefully, in their minds, will be rejected by some logic of going with Lieberman.

MATTHEWS: So if Lamont wins in November, they‘ve won the argument—the Democratic party has tilted left. If Lieberman beats the national party, supposedly, then he‘s proven that the party was out of kilter.

SCHLESINGER: Right. They want the Lieberman scenario to say, look, even in a blue state, Connecticut rejected the liberal wackos and went with the other liberal wacko, who‘s more...

MATTHEWS: And you‘re the sacrificial lamb?

SCHLESINGER: And basically...

MATTHEWS: They‘re offering you up.

SCHLESINGER: I am the sacrificial lamb, and they want to just ignore me. And I‘ll tell you what, they‘re just not paying attention to Connecticut. And Connecticut hasn‘t even focused on the race yet.

MATTHEWS: We talked about—earlier off the phone—on the phone—and you said that you thought you could get enough coattail from the governor. She‘s very popular, Rell. And you think she might be able to bring you in in a three-way?

SCHLESINGER: Well, what I‘m saying is that if I can get my numbers into the 20‘s, which we believe we can once we get our conservative base back, then I believe with that, the help from Rell, who is very popular right now, we will win this election.

MATTHEWS: Is that a good bet?

SCHLESINGER: You couldn‘t resist, could you, Chris?

MATTHEWS: Well, you‘re known as the—you‘re known for a guy who puts a few bets down.

SCHLESINGER: Well, I‘m telling you, I have been getting so many calls and e-mails from everyone, saying, we‘re all in with Allen.

MATTHEWS: Good. Let me ask you about the following people, if you‘ve talked to them. Elizabeth Dole was chairman of the Senate campaign committee for Republicans. Her job is to get Republicans elected, not conservative Democrats or hawkish Democrats, but Republicans elected. Has she talked to you?

SCHLESINGER: Look, I can save you a lot of time.

MATTHEWS: I‘m asking you!

SCHLESINGER: Well, I can save you a lot of time. The Washington folks aren‘t talking to me. They basically are taking their orders from the White House.

MATTHEWS: Have you heard from Karl Rove?

SCHLESINGER: No, absolutely not.

MATTHEWS: Really? Absolutely not. He‘s the party—he‘s your top kick in political campaigning.

SCHLESINGER: As I said, it doesn‘t fit in with their scenario.

MATTHEWS: Who‘s...

SCHLESINGER: And there‘s the irony. Here‘s the irony, Chris.

MATTHEWS: Who designed this scenario to screw you? Who designed this thing?

SCHLESINGER: They‘re not trying to screw me. That‘s the whole point. They‘ve designed a scenario that they think will work to help Bush and to help the Republicans nationwide by saying, listen, the liberal wing of the Democratic party has gone nuts. They‘ve gone with this guy Lamont, and now the Connecticut voters have rejected that by going with Lieberman. The problem is, Lieberman is just one step—a half a step to the right of Lamont.

(CROSSTALK)

MATTHEWS: ... of the war.

SCHLESINGER: The last time—it‘s only the war. That‘s right. And even now, as I said, he‘s basically adopted Kerry‘s old position.

MATTHEWS: Where‘s the big—let me ask you this. Why did the Republicans hold a primary in Connecticut if the winner—if winning it didn‘t matter?

SCHLESINGER: That‘s a very good question.

MATTHEWS: Why did they bother to let win that thing if it wasn‘t going to mean anything?

SCHLESINGER: Unanimously. I got nominated unanimously! And let me tell you, the rank-and-file of the Republican party has been great. And they‘re there. And I want you to know with this—the recent polling was right after the primary. My numbers have been between 10 and 15 percent.

MATTHEWS: Can you rig—let me ask the big question in politics—can you get a three-way debate on television?

SCHLESINGER: Oh, absolutely. We‘ve already been asked.

MATTHEWS: And you‘re going to be it?

SCHLESINGER: Oh, of course. I‘m the Republican candidate.

MATTHEWS: What are you going to say—so what are you going to say against Lieberman?

SCHLESINGER: I‘m going to say listen, Joe, let‘s be honest about Social Security, let‘s be honest about Medicare. This is the guy who talked about the lockbox with Al Gore, which he knew at the time there‘s nothing in that lockbox but an IOU from Al Gore and Bill (sic) Lieberman.

MATTHEWS: Yes, I saw them in the bathtub together on "SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE." Remember that, with the...

SCHLESINGER: Yes!

MATTHEWS: ... the Russian handshake.

SCHLESINGER: Exactly.

MATTHEWS: Thank you. We gave you a good shot on that, right? You‘re treated with respect.

SCHLESINGER: You...

MATTHEWS: Only one reference to gambling.

SCHLESINGER: Only one. You couldn‘t resist.

MATTHEWS: I haven‘t even mentioned the Whomp ‘Em card yet.

SCHLESINGER: Oh, here he goes.

MATTHEWS: OK, thank you. Alan Schlesinger, a Republican candidate for the United States Senate from Connecticut.

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