A candid conversation with Hillary Clinton

CLINTON:  Well, that’s what I’m finding.

And take gas prices that are up, on average around the country, $3, and going up according to the projections.  And there’s short- term, medium-term and long-term solutions to this, but we just haven’t been organized or led in the right way recently.  And I think that there is this yearning on the part of people.

You know, when I got to the Senate there were many people who were surprised I got there and, kind of, unhappy that I did, and then wondering whether I would work with people across the aisle.  And, you know, I come at this from a very results-oriented perspective.  I think my job being in public life is to help people make the most of their own lives; you know, try to provide the tools that people then can be responsible in using to, you know, have a better future for themselves and their kids.

I work with people who, you know, some folks thought I’d never talk to and we found common ground.  And I think that if I can find common ground with people who were so, you know, vitriolic during the 1990s, who are now saying, “Look, we’ve got to put this aside; this has been a diversion in America’s, you know, forward movement; we can do better; let’s figure out”—we may have some disagreements about the path to take to alternative fuels and create a, you know—I would argue a strategic energy fund like an Apollo Project that really puts our best minds to work on it.

We may have some differences about how to do global climate change or universal health care or try to make college affordable again:  all the things people talk to me about as I travel around, but for goodness sakes, let’s set some goals again as a country.

You know, when I ask people, “What do you think the goals of America are today?” people don’t have any idea.  We don’t know what we’re trying to achieve.  And I think that in a life or in a country you’ve got to have some goals.  And I think that we can do this again.

So I’m actually very excited by what I’m finding as I talk with folks.

SCARBOROUGH:  Well, we’re very excited to have you here.

And also, let me just say, people we’ve been talking to this week that have talked about you said—like, for instance, Trent Lott said that he was very surprised that you kept your head down, you worked very hard.  Again, a lot of people that probably said some very nasty things about you in the 1990s, extraordinarily impressed with the type of leadership you’ve provided since you’ve been in the Senate, how you have been a unifying force.  And we want to thank you.

And, of course—who was it?  Was it General McCaffrey that said—General McCaffrey I think said, or maybe it was Joe Klein, who said that he had asked a general, “Is there anybody in the United States Senate that understands the way you think?”  And the general looked at him and he said, “You mean other than Senator Clinton?”

(LAUGHTER)

And, again, that has to do with keeping your head down and working hard and being a very unifying force.  And we thank you for being with us.  And I apologize for anything that I’ve ever said that may have been unkind about you or the president, and wasn’t really serious about that whole impeachment thing.  It was really guys who recommended that I do that.

(LAUGHTER)

CLINTON:  And, Joe, I apologize to you if I got you in trouble for Mother’s Day.

(LAUGHTER)

SCARBOROUGH:  Well, I’m not so concerned about the Mother’s Day thing, but you have outed me about the fact I’ve had more plastic surgery since I’ve been on TV than Michael Jackson.  That’s OK.  I’m going to have to...

CLINTON:  You look great, Joe.  You absolutely look great.

SCARBOROUGH:  Well, thank you so much.

CLINTON:  Thanks, everybody.

SCARBOROUGH:  It’s yoga.

(LAUGHTER)

Thank you so much, Senator Hillary Clinton.  Greatly appreciate you being with us.

CLINTON:  Bye-bye.

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