'Meet the Press' transcript for Jan. 13, 2008

MR. RUSSERT: In Newsweek, you gave an interview to Jon Meacham, and you talked about the personal narrative that candidates develop. You seem to compare Barack Obama to, you say, demagogues like Huey Long.

SEN. CLINTON: Oh, that is so untrue and unfair. Look, if you are running for president based primarily on a speech you gave in 2002 and speeches you have given since, most notably at the Democratic Convention, then I think it is fair to say we need to know more beyond the words. You know, if you are part of American political history, you know that the speeches are essential to frame an issue, to inspire and lift up people. But when the cameras are gone and when the lights are out, what happens next? How do you translate your words into deeds?

And I think, you know, starting in New Hampshire it became clear that one of the significant contrasts in this campaign is between talking and doing, between rhetoric and reality. And I have the greatest regard for rhetoric and particularly the ability that Senator Obama has to, you know, lift our sights and our hearts with his oratory. But I think it is fair to point out that he has not had a record of actually producing positive change. Translating those words into action is something that is the, you know, the slow, hard, boring of hard boards in politics, and I think that people, you know, deserve to ask themselves questions about that contrast.

MR. RUSSERT: You use the terms in Newsweek you'd be a work horse, and suggested he's a show horse. Isn't that a bit patronizing?

SEN. CLINTON: No. There's a wonderful phrase in Senate lexicon whether senators are show horses or work horses. And what I was saying is that when I arrived in the Senate in 2001, a lot of people thought I'd be a show horse, you know, somebody who frankly was on your show all the time, Tim, somebody who was doing the press conferences all the time. But I said to my colleagues the very first day that we went into session, I intend to be a work horse, because I think it's important the results you deliver for people. That...

MR. RUSSERT: Is Senator Obama a work horse or a show horse?

SEN. CLINTON: I was talking about myself. I believe I am a work horse. I believe that that is what our country needs right now. We need a president who will, you know, roll up our sleeves collectively as a nation and tackle the problems that we confront. And that's what I've been doing. You know, here in South Carolina, 68,000 children have healthcare because of the Children's Health Insurance Plan that I helped to create 10 years ago.

MR. RUSSERT: In New Hampshire, now, the famous scene in Portsmouth where you showed some emotion, was that exhaustion, frustration? What was it?

SEN. CLINTON: No. It was actually, Tim, a moment of real emotional connection. Those of us who are running for office and holding office, I know it may be hard to believe, we're also human beings. And when I spend my time out on the campaign trail, it's usually about what I can do for somebody else. You know, I'm very other directed. I don't like talking about myself, I don't like, you know, sort of the, the whole atmosphere of how people, you know, are judged in American politics too often as to, you know, what you say instead of what you do. And so for me it's always about what can I do for you? How can I help you? And I was very touched when that woman said, "Well, how are you doing? How do you get up in the morning?" Because really, the question is for so many of the people that I meet, how does anybody get up in the morning?

I just went door-to-door in Las Vegas. I met construction workers who've lost their jobs, I met a man who's been laid off from the casinos because the economy is beginning to go down. I meet people who can't get healthcare for their families, people who are just distressed over, you know, what is happening in our country. So when somebody asks me, "How do you get up?" it really triggered in me, you know, the feeling that, you know, that's what I, I want us all to think about each other. How do we get up? How do we, you know, pull on our shoes, go out and deal with the problems America faces. That's what I intend to do as president.

MR. RUSSERT: The woman who asked the question said the next day that she wound up voting for Barack Obama.

SEN. CLINTON: Mm-hmm.

MR. RUSSERT: Because after your emotional moment, she said that, "You stiffened up and took on a political posture again," and said that some, "Some of us are right, some of us are wrong, some of us are ready and some of us are not." Do you believe that Barack Obama is ready to be president?

SEN. CLINTON: Look, this is up to the voters of our country to determine. But I want them to have accurate information about our respective records, what we've accomplished, the working that each of us have done when given a chance to serve. And I think it is relevant. I mean, we face huge problems at home and around the world. Nobody can diminish those. And the next president is going to walk into that Oval Office on day one having to end the war in Iraq, having to deal with what's happening in Afghanistan, the Middle East and across the world, dealing with our tough problems from the economy going south to 47 million people uninsured. And I think we're going to need a president who has really prepared and thought about what to do on that very first day. That is...

MR. RUSSERT: But is...

SEN. CLINTON: You know, that is my case to...

MR. RUSSERT: But is Barack Obama ready to be president?

SEN. CLINTON: That is up for voters to decide, Tim. You know, you can ask that question of him, voters can ask that question, but that's what I want. I thought the campaign really started at the debate in New Hampshire. For the first time we really had a debate that compared and contrasted our records. When Senator Obama was asked, what is your major accomplishment in the Senate, he said it was passing ethics reform and getting legislators to be prohibited from having lunch with lobbyists. And then, you know, Charlie Gibson said, "Well, wait a minute. You can have lunch if you're standing up, not if you're sitting down." So if that's his main claim for legislative accomplishment, people deserve to know that. And finally, in New Hampshire, we had an atmosphere where tough questions were asked and answered. I answered hundreds and hundreds of questions, saw thousands and thousands of people, and I think that the results really speak to what people are hungry for. They want to get beyond, you know, just the coverage of the campaign, to really understand what motivates us, what we bring to this campaign, and what we will do as president.

MR. RUSSERT: If you don't think Senator Obama is ready to be president, then he wouldn't be ready for vice president.

SEN. CLINTON: Well, you know, I'm not--you're once again taking words I didn't say. I'm asking people to compare and contrast our records. I believe that we need a president ready on day one. I'm putting forth my qualifications, my experience, my 35 years of proven, tested leadership, sometimes, as you well know, you know, walking through the fires, being prepared to take on whatever the Republicans send our way. I want people to make an informed decision. Look, I trust voters. Voters decide on whatever basis they think is important to them. I just want them to have a full range of information to make that decision.

MR. RUSSERT: We had the event in New Hampshire, the so-called emotional event. When I did the debate with Rick Lazio, with you in Buffalo in 2000, Mr. Lazio walked over to your podium and asked you to sign a document that banned soft money, and people said that he had violated your space. One of your campaign advisers said he was menacing. After the Philadelphia debate, your campaign said that the men were piling on, which led some women, commentators, writers, to say this. Maureen Dowd:

"If the gender game worked when Rick Lazio muscled into her space, why shouldn't it work when Obama and Edwards muster some mettle? If she could become a senator by playing the victim ... surely she can become president by playing the victim now."

Ruth Marcus, Washington Post: "Hillary Clinton doesn't need to play the woman-as-victim card ... using gender this way is a setback."

SEN. CLINTON: Well, you know, I don't think that either of us should use gender. I don't think this campaign is about gender, and I sure hope it's not about race. It needs to be about the individuals. Each of us is running for the highest position, the most difficult job in the world. And, you know, I am, I think, very clearly someone who's gone through a tremendous amount of criticism, you know. That's fine. I'm more than willing to shoulder that. I think voters and viewers can draw their own conclusions when they watch whatever it is that we are doing.

And I believe that, you know, for me, this is about who is ready on day one. And much of what I've gone through in my entire life is, I believe, preparation for being able to go into that Oval Office. Clearly, I bring the experiences of women. As a daughter, as a mother, as a wife, as a sister. That is who I am. Those experiences are part of me. And it is part of our American journey that we have moved through so much of what used to hold people back because of gender, because of race. Are we there yet? Is the journey over? I don't think so, and I don't think any fair person would say that.

So we still have to overcome barriers and obstacles. And the very fact that Barack and I are in this campaign, each of us having won one of the first two contests, being prepared to take our case to the country, I think will do more to put to rest so many of these old shibboleths, and all of the, you know, kind of commentary and punditry. Just look at us as individuals. Take us as to who we are, analyze our records, compare and contrast us, and then let the American people make their own decision.

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