MSNBC "The Rachel Maddow Show" - Transcript

Interview

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Senator Tester, thank you for being here.

TESTER: Hey, it`s great to be with you, Rachel. Thanks for having me.

MADDOW: You have said that the Supreme Court ruling rolled Montana back 100 years. Back to when the zillionaires just bought the elections outright. What do you think the immediate effect is going to be on your state?

TESTER: Well, I think it`s going -- what you`re seeing at the national level in Senate races and House races, Montana is going to see it in the state-wide races, too. I think it`s very unfortunate.

You know, about 100 years ago, back in 1912, the voters of Montana got tired of folks like William Clark buying their state, buying their government, and becoming a government that serves corporations. And they said enough is enough, and in 1912, they changed it.

Unfortunately, the Supreme Court, I don`t think, used good judgment or common sense when they made this decision to make corporations like people
to give corporations more rights than people. And now, what we`re going to
see in Montana is corporations and their big money controlling elections a
lot more than people and their ideas.

And people and ideas are what elections should be about. That`s a Montana value.

MADDOW: You have never been a particularly ideological guy. You`ve always been a pretty independent, centrist Democrat in Washington in your career before that.

When you talk to people in Montana about this, does it have an ideological cast? Do people have an opinion on this based on where they`re coming from on other political issues or is this something on which Montanans you think can see eye to eye, even across the aisle?

TESTER: I think it cut party lines for sure. I have people come up to me all the time, and I guarantee they`re not all Democrats, they`re not all Republicans, they`re not all libertarians, and they say, what`s going on with Citizens United? Is Congress going to be able to do anything about it?

Because they understand -- I mean, Montanans understand what a negative impact this is going to have on elections. It really is a kick in the teeth to our democracy, and I think Montanans understand it. And I think it does cut party lines.

Interestingly enough, my opponent in the race believes the Citizens United decision was a smart decision. He said that in a debate a few weeks ago. And he`s endorsed by Citizens United.

So, the differences between me and my opponent on this issue are very, very stark. But, you know, he`s you now, he`s -- you`ve said, has nearly $4 million they have spent all on negative ads, trying to make me into something I`m not and if they`re able to do that and have fiction trump fact, they`ve got a chance of winning this election. We have been holding our own pretty well even though the amount of money coming from third parties, secret money you talked about in the previous segment, is ridiculous. No transparency, no accountability, and not good for democracy.

MADDOW: When you have run in previous races, in a political climate that was not like this in terms of there being dark money around, can you give us what the difference is? Obviously, you have done well raising money. You have raised more in your campaign fund than Denny Rehberg has raised in this. It`s just that there`s all that outside money going to support him.

How do you have to run differently given the outside money that you don`t know the source of?

TESTER: Well -- I mean, we`ve got to be smarter. We have got to run better ads, we have to outwork them. I mean, just up and down the line, we`ve got to do a better job.

The unfortunate part is, and, Rachel, and your viewers, Montana has been a very transparent state. Their government is very transparent. I think that`s a good thing. I think that`s the way it should be in Washington, D.C., too, as transparent as possible.

What ends up with the secret dark money is there`s no transparency, there`s no accountability. We don`t know where this money is coming from at all, and there`s absolutely -- could be from out of foreign corporations that are putting the money into this thing. It really -- it really allows itself for a high level of corruption.

And that`s not how -- that`s now how the government should work and certainly not how a democracy will work over the long haul. There`s got to be change.

MADDOW: Do you think that Congress can do anything to stop it? Obviously, the bar got a lot higher with this Supreme Court decision?

TESTER: Yes, well, I think the only way it can be done is a constitutional amendment. Hopefully, people will get sick of this in short order and understand they need to take their government back. I they think they will.

I think this cycle is going to show them what it`s like. If it`s not repealed by 2014, I think it will be shortly thereafter. Obviously, the court isn`t going to help us with it.

MADDOW: Montana U.S. Senator Jon Tester, thanks very much for your time tonight, sir. I know you`re a busy man. I really appreciate it.

TESTER: Thank you, Rachel.

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