MTP Transcript for Nov. 5

REP. REYNOLDS: I’m in a tight race because some said that a guy putting $2 ½ million on my head would make it a close race. I know Rahm was certainly pleased to recruit my opponent back for a second round of it. We’ll see what it is. I can tell you, the polling says that the top issues in our district are jobs, taxes and Social Security.

MR. RUSSERT: But the concern people have is that Foley gave $1/2 million to your committee, spent $200,000 around the country for other Republican candidates, was thinking about resigning himself, not running for re-election, and that the Republican leadership were more concerned about holding the Foley seat than they were about this young page.

REP. REYNOLDS: Look, there are two instances. One was the overly friendly e-mails that were out, where two reporters from the St. Petersburg Times looked at this, didn’t find anything. I understand the FBI looked at it, didn’t find anything. And the Miami Herald has put an editorial out that they didn’t see anything, didn’t even see it newsworthy.

And then we see the second set of instant messages and the types of things that ABC released on Friday. In that, within two hours, Foley was gone from the Congress. And I think that the people in western New York, after all of the politics and all the flurry of, of my opponents and those types of things came through, and so people understood that. That had a dramatic change in western New York, once they understood two sets of e-mails, two different sets of actions.

MR. RUSSERT: Is the Foley scandal playing around the country?

REP. EMANUEL: Well, it’s, as a part of a culture. What is playing, and I think, Tim, is as Tom said, the economy. People want a new direction, they want a minimum wage increase, they want direct negotiations for lower prescription drug prices—part of our agenda. And they also want a Congress that will meet the challenges facing America, both in Iraq, at home and they want to end the partisanship.

MR. RUSSERT: But, but your campaign committee and many of your candidates are emphasizing the Foley scandal, emphasizing the corruption...

REP. EMANUEL: Yeah.

MR. RUSSERT: ...emphasizing those kinds of issues.

REP. EMANUEL: Well.

MR. RUSSERT: Are they playing?

REP. EMANUEL: Well, yeah. Well, look at Patty Wetterling, who has a career in Minnesota in fighting for children, an advocate for children, is—has made this an issue because of her career. It is playing—what’s playing is a Congress that is out of touch and in touch with the special interests and a Congress that, look, the Republicans came to power in 1994 to change Washington, and Washington changed them. They promised to do a balanced budget and they gave you $3 trillion in new debt. They promised you a Congress that would work and clean up the act, and what happened here is you got Tom DeLay, Bob Ney, Duke Cunningham, all who have in one way—and also Curt Weldon, all in one way or another in ethical trouble. And third, they promised you a sense of a—putting “morality” back in our politics, and they’ve lost their way in each step of the way on fiscal issues, moral issues and a Congress that would live by the laws.

MR. RUSSERT: Senator Dole, the Democrats are trying very hard to link Republican candidates with George Bush. In the local House race in Virginia, “Bush/Wolf”—he’s a local congressman—in ‘06, as if they’re running as a team. And yet, and yet your candidates seem to be distancing themselves from the president. Here’s Lincoln Chafee, Republican candidate, this is a commercial he paid for. Let’s watch.

(Videotape of Chafee campaign ad):

SEN. LINCOLN CHAFEE (R-RI): All the time, people tell me, “Linc, I really like you, but I have to send Bush a message.”

(End videotape)

MR. RUSSERT: Mike McGavick in Washington state, Republican, this is what he’s saying in his paid commercial.

(Videotape of McGavick campaign ad):

MR. MIKE McGAVICK: And President Bush isn’t getting our frustrations. It’s time to be decisive. Beat the terrorists, partition the country if we have to, and get our troops home in victory.

(End videotape)

MR. RUSSERT: These are Republican candidates. And that, coupled with this story, “A Republican president normally would not need to come to a conservative bastion such a Montana this close to an election, nor to Nevada’s 2^nd District, which has never voted for a Democrat since it was created in 1982. But Bush is playing defense in red-state territory.” Why are Republican senatorial candidates running away from the president? And why is he only campaigning in traditional Republican states?

SEN. DOLE: OK. Tim, once again, let me say that this is a year, a midterm, when a president has been re-elected. And you look through history, tradition has it that that’s a tough, tough cycle. Now, obviously, the campaigns are going to determine where it fits best to have the president come in and where, where it’s, where it’s not the best idea. I mean, this is, this is just politics.

MR. RUSSERT: But why? It’s just the times?

SEN. DOLE: But, but let me...

MR. RUSSERT: What—is there an issue that’s driving this?

SEN. DOLE: No.

MR. RUSSERT: No issue.

SEN. DOLE: No, well, actually, what, what Chuck Schumer is trying to do is to nationalize the race.

SEN. SCHUMER: Darn tooting.

SEN. DOLE: He’s trying, he’s trying to make it a referendum, and what our candidates have done and what I have certainly done with the Senatorial Committee is to focus on just what Tom Reynolds has said, as Tip O’Neill used to say, “all politics is local.” So, yeah, our, our candidates are comparing their records with their...

MR. RUSSERT: Does the Iraq war have anything to do with this?

SEN. DOLE: ...with—now, let me—may, may I just finish this...(unintelligible)...

MR. RUSSERT: Does the Iraq war—the Iraq war have anything to do with this?

SEN. DOLE: May I finish this sentence? Just a moment and I’ll go to that.  I just want to point out that it is a choice between two people. It’s a comparison. Our candidates are talking about their records on important issues that matter in their states. And that’s what they’re focused on.

In terms of Iraq, people are concerned, you know. I’m frustrated. You know, obviously, the important thing here is to win this war. And so I want to—I want to read to you what I think is very effective. This is Mark Kennedy, an ad of Mark Kennedy’s.

MR. RUSSERT: Oh, we had, we had the debate here with, with Miss Klobuchar and Mr. Kennedy, and he, and he talked about that extensively, believe me.

SEN. DOLE: Well, here’s a—just quickly, though, “None of us like war, and we’ve made some mistakes in Iraq. We’re facing an enemy that must be defeated. Leaving Iraq now will create a breeding ground for new attacks on America. That’s the harsh reality. My opponent says the answer is diplomacy, but you can’t negotiate with people who want to kill you. I’m Mark Kennedy.  Securing the peace is a lot harder than wishing for it. I approve this message even though I know it may not be what you want to hear.” Now our candidates are making their own statements in terms of their views from their heart, their conscience. And then they’re moving on to other issues. So...

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