MSNBC "Race with the White House with David Gregory" Interview

Interview

MSNBC "RACE FOR THE WHITE HOUSE WITH DAVID GREGORY" INTERVIEW

MR. GREGORY: Joining me now is Republican Senator from Alaska Lisa Murkowski.

Senator, welcome.

SEN. MURKOWSKI: Thank you.

MR. GREGORY: Vice presidential nominee Joe Biden reacted to Sarah Palin's speech specifically today on MSNBC's "Morning Joe." This is what he had to say, and we'll get your reaction.

SEN. JOSEPH BIDEN (D-DE, Democratic vice presidential nominee): (From videotape.) Look, the amazing thing to me is I didn't hear a single, solitary word in that -- I didn't hear the word, the phrase "middle class" used. I didn't hear a word about health care. I didn't hear a word about education. I didn't hear the word Afghanistan or Pakistan, where al Qaeda and bin Laden live.

I didn't hear a single substantive thing. All I heard was a distortion of Barack's position and our position on taxes. And so, you know, this is right out of the playbook, I guess. This is a Karl Rove kind of deal.

MR. GREGORY: So to use the McCain campaign's criticism of Barack Obama -- "He can give a great speech, but where are the specifics?" -- let me turn that question then back around to you and Sarah Palin.

SEN. MURKOWSKI: Well, you know, you can say that there wasn't enough specific in terms of policy proposal. I think what Sarah Palin needed to do last night was introduce herself to the American public. We in Alaska know who she is. We've been following her as she has built her career. She has taken on every challenge and met them.

But Joe Biden, Barack Obama, none of them, none of them knew who Sarah Palin was. And so if she had moved straight to the specifics and laid out a detailed energy plan and yet had not kind of laid out to the American public who she is, then there would have been criticism for that. So, you know, to suggest that she needed to cover everything in this debut speech, I think, ignores what she is able to do, given the time period she has in this convention speech.

MR. GREGORY: Senator, there's a lot of criticism of the left- wing media, some of the speakers put it last night, for asking questions about how well her record is known and how the vetting process went.

On McCain's decision to pick Governor Palin, Dan Balz of The Washington Post writes this today. "There is consternation even within some parts of the GOP that McCain has recklessly risked the party's chances of holding the White House by making a visceral decision rather than a thoughtful one."

Despite these attacks on the media, would you not say that rank- and-file Republicans are just as concerned as everybody else about making sure the McCain campaign understands the full background in her record to make sure there's nothing that's disqualifying?

SEN. MURKOWSKI: I think we all want to know that we know everything going into it. But I think what we need to recognize is just because the full media didn't know Sarah Palin and know everything about her before John McCain made this announcement last week doesn't mean that she's not a qualified individual to step into this role as vice president.

I think we need to keep in mind, she's been out there. She has been in a leadership position. Let's give her that credit. But to suggest that she's not ready for primetime, I think the people who were watching her, the millions of people who were watching her last night, would disagree. I think they're saying, "She's ready. We're ready for Sarah."

MR. GREGORY: Well, the question of whether she's ready for primetime may not be as important as whether she's ready to be president. Is she?

SEN. MURKOWSKI: I think that John McCain has looked high and he's looked low for that person who can serve with him to move this country forward. I trust John McCain's judgment. And in looking at how she complements what he brings to the White House, I think she is ready.

MR. GREGORY: What's at the top of her to-do list now as she moves beyond electrifying this convention and the Republican Party? What does she have to accomplish in the weeks and months ahead?

SEN. MURKOWSKI: She's got to keep this momentum going. Right now there's kind of this love-fest going on with her as people are getting to know her. They are excited. They are charged up. They're enthused by this fresh face, this tenacious, tough Alaskan woman.

What she needs to do is take it to that next level and let the American public know how much substance there is to this woman, how much she can truly provide for this country in terms of a leadership role. No doubt about it, she's got a tough road ahead of her. She's been focused on Alaska issues and she's been doing a good job representing us in the state. She's now got to move that focus, obviously, to the broader picture domestically, around the nation, and internationally. So she's got her work cut out for her.

MR. GREGORY: All right, Senator Murkowski, thanks very much for being with us tonight.

SEN. MURKOWSKI: Thank you.

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