MSNBC "Hardball with Chris Matthews" - Transcript

Interview

MSNBC "Hardball with Chris Matthews" - Transcript

MR. MATTHEWS: President Bush is set to address the country tonight on his proposed bailout package after Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson endured a second day of criticism from Congress members over the plan. And John McCain wants the first presidential debate delayed so he can focus on the rescue package on Wall Street. That's John McCain's -- well, what is his motive? We have to get to that.

Republican Senator Orrin Hatch of Utah is a member of the Finance Committee.

Let me ask you, Senator Hatch, why does John McCain want to call off the debate Friday night?

SEN. HATCH: Well, he knows that this is rug-cutting time here and we're not making a lot of headway here in Washington. And, you know, I think it's -- this is the John McCain I know. He's willing to risk election to be able to do what he thinks has to be done for the country. And I think it's good that he's willing to come.

We have three senators in this race, and he's the only one that seems willing to come here and help with this problem. And it's a problem, because both Nancy Pelosi, the speaker, and Harry Reid have said -- they challenged him to come, if you'll recall.

MR. MATTHEWS: Yeah.

SEN. HATCH: They challenged him to come. And he said, "Okay, I'm going to take up the challenge." Like I say, John's an unstoppable force once he gets going.

SEN. HATCH: Well, he had his spokesman on our network a couple of hours ago, right before he made his announcement about putting off the debate, saying he'd only come back if his vote was critical to the decision. Are you sure -- when's the last time you saw Senator McCain? He hasn't been in Washington.

SEN. HATCH: No, I've seen him a couple of times in the last couple of months. But the fact is, there's no question all three of those senators are out there campaigning full-bore.

MR. MATTHEWS: Yeah.

SEN. HATCH: But I think John realizes that unless we solve this problem, and solve it soon -- because, like I say, it's rug-cutting time; this is the last few days of the Senate -- he wants to get it solved before next Monday. We're going to have a lot of troubles in this country.

Look, we have a financial crisis on our hands. The underlying economy, as of last quarter, was actually plugging along pretty good. But let's face it. If that financial crisis comes into the underlying economy, it could hurt this country for years. And I think this is the kind of leadership that I like to see in John, I'd like to see in the other -- in Barack and also Joe. I think they ought to all come back and they ought to work with us, and let's get this doggone thing taken care of. I don't believe that --

MR. MATTHEWS: Well, the debate has been scheduled.

SEN. HATCH: You what?

MR. MATTHEWS: The debate has been scheduled, Senator, for months now. It's going to reach perhaps 100 million people. Isn't it a good time, between 9:00 and 10:30 Eastern time this Friday night, for the candidates for president to let the public know where they stand on this critical issue?

SEN. HATCH: When you're in the last couple of days of a session, let me tell you, you're going day and night. Even in your sleep you're thinking about "What can I do to help get this thing over with and help get it resolved?" No, I think, look, he was challenged to come. He's coming. When Barack -- what Barack said is he talked to him and said, "Let me know if I can help."

Now, contrast the two approaches towards leadership and I think you've got to say this is typical of John McCain. He gets on some people's nerves because he's so aggressive. When he gets a bit in his teeth, boy, he's a race horse that isn't going to be stopped till he wins.

MR. MATTHEWS: Why do you think he's plunging in the polls? In the Fox poll, he's all of a sudden down six. He was up three just two weeks ago. That's a nine-point drop in two weeks. He's lost -- he's down 10 points in the ABC/Washington Post poll. Our poll has him only two points down. But everybody else has got him --

SEN. HATCH: Yeah, that poll's right.

MR. MATTHEWS: -- plunging in the polls. What's that about? Why are we blaming -- the public blaming John McCain for this crisis?

SEN. HATCH: Well, I don't think he's plunging. I think you're going to see both of them go up and down over the next five weeks plus. And you're going to see an awfully good race between the two of them. But, no, I don't think he's plunging. I think he'll be down one week, but Barack will be down the next.

And I think the key here is to -- let's look and see which one of these two fellows is going to be the best leader for our country at this time. Naturally I think John McCain is going to be the best leader. I've only been here 32 years and I know them all, and I respect all three of our senators, and I certainly love Sarah Palin. But, by gosh, if you want leadership, this is a perfect example of what John McCain really is.

MR. MATTHEWS: Let's talk about leadership in the White House right now with the president.

SEN. HATCH: Sure.

MR. MATTHEWS: You and I know, having grown up and read history, that Franklin Roosevelt was pretty good at explaining complicated issues to the public in his fireside chats. Why hasn't the president come on at some point in this critical time, as you've recognized and pointed out, and explained it in basic English to us so we, as a people -- I keep asking people coming on this show -- journalists, experts -- "Explain this to me. How'd we get here?" Why can't the president do that?

SEN. HATCH: Well, I can tell you how we got here. I go back to that 1999 September 30th New York Times article where the Clinton administration wanted to get subprime loans so they could get more people into homes, whether they could afford them or not.

MR. MATTHEWS: Yeah.

SEN. HATCH: And even in that article, it was predicted that we would wind up in this kind of a mess. So, you know, let's be honest about it. The president will be on, I think, tonight. And let's also be honest about it. He hasn't been treated very fairly by the media. And, you know, a lot of people are more interested in what John McCain and Barack Obama have to say about this. And John McCain's going to come here and he's going to say, "Well, I have this to say, and this is what we've got to do, and let's see what we can do to resolve this problem."

And I just hope, I just hope for the sake of the country, that these Democrats and these Republicans and all of us will get together and do what's in the best interest of our country. It's a tough time. We're tough people. We ought to be able to do it. But we have so much partisanship here, it's just pathetic. And I think John, he's been known to be able to bring both sides together. That's something that, you know, Barack is not known for. But he's had a limited time --

MR. MATTHEWS: Fair enough.

SEN. HATCH: He's had a limited time here, and I'm not meaning to find fault with him. But to make a long story short, this is typical John McCain. It's typical leadership. He's willing to risk being president in order to help this country in what really is a very, very trying time.

MR. MATTHEWS: Thank you very much, Senator Orrin Hatch of Utah. Thank you very much for coming on tonight, Senator.

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