Guest: Byron Dorgan, Joe Madison, Ernest Istook, Jon Ralston, Adam Green,
Scott McAdams; Leo Gerard
ED SCHULTZ, MSNBC ANCHOR: Good evening, Americans, and welcome to THE ED SHOW tonight from New York.
These stories on the table and hitting “My Hot Buttons” at this hour.
Ooh, we‘ve got some trouble on the northern tier. Joe Miller says he‘s a lover and a believer of the Constitution. That means freedom of speech. But if his goons have got a set of handcuffs, doggone it, they‘ll use them on you if they don‘t like what they‘re hearing.
My commentary, plus interviews with the reporter who got arrested for asking the questions, and Miller‘s competition, Senate Democratic nominee Scott McAdams, in just a moment.
Tea Party nut job Sharron Angle has been race-baiting like crazy. And the insults, well, they just keep on coming.
Did you know that Latino kids look a lot like Asians? That‘s what she thinks. Well, we‘ll set her straight in the “Playbook” tonight.
And Rand Paul needs to man up and realize that politics is a contact sport.
I mean he is so thin-skinned, he won‘t even shake hands after the debate?
And now he‘s threatening not to show up at the next debate.
Does that sound like a man of the people to you? We‘ll have that story coming up.
But this is the story that has me fired up tonight, and it should be an alert to every journalist in this country.
Alaska Tea Party Senate candidate Joe Miller issued—used a private security detail—private security detail—what kind of authority do they have? -- to handcuff and arrest a reporter during a town hall event at a public school in Anchorage, Alaska, on Sunday. Now, I‘ll warn you, the video of the arrest here is the greatest of quality. But you can plainly see the security guard hauling the reporter down the hall in handcuffs.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Who are you, though? Are you a police officer?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I‘m security for this event. You‘re under arrest.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That camera belongs to me.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sorry.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: Where‘s the candidate? Was he in the candidate‘s face? Was that after the fact?
What you just saw was reporter Tony Hopfinger of “The Alaska Dispatch” being cuffed by William Fulton of Drop Zone Security. That‘s the name of the company, Drop Zone Security.
You can hear Hopfinger ask, you know, why is he being arrested at a public event? And why are they confiscating his camera?
Now, what you don‘t see is Hopfinger being detained for 25 minutes before police arrived and made Miller‘s hired goons force him to be released. The cops showed up, said, oh, let him go.
Hopfinger described the event to me on my syndicated radio show earlier today.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
TONY HOPFINGER, REPORTER DETAINED AT MILLER EVENT: They were chest-bumping me and getting in my face. Mr. Miller at no time said he did not want to take my questions or, you know, “Don‘t ask me anything.”
These people around him—and it was a mix of people. It wasn‘t just, you know, security guards. There were Joe Miller supporters there, and they were all kind of yelling and everything.
They just kind of cut me off. You know, tried to get between me and Joe Miller. And at that point, then Mr. Miller was gone. The next thing—it was a matter of seconds and I was in handcuffs.
SCHULTZ: Were you threatening to the candidate?
HOPFINGER: I don‘t think so, no.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: I mean, this just raises a whole bunch of questions, doesn‘t it?
I just find this absolutely unbelievable.
And where is the candidate, “Mr. Constitution,” Joe Miller? This is amazing. The Tea Party is all about the Constitution, but has no problem cuffing and detaining an American journalist against his will.
Joe Miller has no business getting away with hiring a bunch of trained thugs to silence free speech in America, does he? This is a terrible precedence that‘s being sent. Under what authority do these goons have to think a reporter does not have the right to ask questions of a United States Senate candidate in a public school?
Now, the Tea Party has carried “Obama/Hitler” signs for the last two years, but one of the candidates hired modern-era brownshirts to clamp down on the media. What‘s happening here? I think this is dangerous for our democracy.
The Republican Party has vilified the media for years. And the Tea Party has now taken it to a whole new level.
Remember who begged the Tea Party candidates to ignore the “lame stream” media. And just speak through Fox.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SARAH PALIN, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: She‘s going to have to learn very quickly to dismiss what some of her handlers want. She‘s going to have to learn that very quickly. She‘s going to have to dismiss that, go with her gut, go out there, speak to the American people, speak through Fox News.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: “Speak through Fox News.” Well, I‘ll show you that in just a moment.
Sarah‘s buddy Joe Miller won‘t even talk to a local Alaska reporter anymore? Miller wants to serve the people of Alaska but he doesn‘t want them to know anything about him? What‘s this guy have to hide?
“The Alaska Dispatch” is sponsoring a Senate debate tonight between the candidates, and at this point it looks like Joe Miller, he‘s going to be a no-show. He‘s obviously afraid to answer any questions without his goons being at his side.
Joe Miller and other candidates who duck the media are nothing more than cowards. Joe Miller loves to talk about the Constitution. I think he‘d better take another look at the First Amendment.
Get your cell phones out, folks. I want to know what you think about this.
Tonight‘s text survey question is: Should reporters face arrest for asking tough questions? Text “A” for yes, text “B” for no to 622639. And we‘ll bring you the results later on in the show.
It should be pointed out that our team contacted the school today, and we could not get confirmation that this was a contracted private event. And I think we have to ask ourselves the question, under what authority does any paid security agent have to arrest somebody after the fact and then detain them for 25 minutes, when clearly he was no threat to anybody?
And of course there were Tea Partiers around the Senate candidate. As the reporter said—you heard him on my show—he was being chest-bumped. What is going on in this country?
And the videotape is very telling. If he was a threat to the senator, to the Senate candidate, why didn‘t he get arrested right there?
You know what this is? This is after-the-fact harassment. That‘s what this is. This is a get-back.
This is a guy in the hallway being accosted by some goons who are on the payroll by Miller, who I understand travels a lot with security. What for?
He said today on Cavuto‘s show—and I‘ll play that for you in a moment—that he was required to have it. Give me a break.
Joining me now is Scott McAdams, the Democratic nominee for Senate in Alaska.
Scott, put this in perspective. What do you make of this event that unfolded yesterday at what was advertised as a town hall meeting?
SCOTT MCADAMS (D), ALASKA SENATE NOMINEE: Well, thank you, Ed.
I think that you hit the nail on the head. It was a town hall meeting.
And inherent in that is opened up to the entire town, the entire community.
You know, what happened yesterday is an affront to both the First Amendment and the Fourth Estate. In any functioning democracy having a free press that‘s able to deliver a message to the people is critical in a democracy.
I think that this is a behavior that represents a very deep-seeded set of extreme views that are too dangerous for both Alaska and America.
SCHULTZ: All right.
Joe Miller, in the wake of all of this, called in on Neil Cavuto‘s show today. And I want to play this for you. Here‘s his response, and I want your response to what he said.
Here it is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE MILLER ®, ALASKA SENATE NOMINEE: So I‘m leaving and this guy is just hounding me. I mean, he‘s right in front of me, kind of blocking the way I was going. Just really being a real pain, and he was asked to leave. He was asked to get out of way.
NEIL CAVUTO, FOX NEWS: Well, what was he doing, Joe? You say he was hammering you. What was he doing?
MILLER: He was hounding me.
CAVUTO: Oh, I see. I‘m sorry. OK.
MILLER: Yes, he had a handheld camera right in front of my face. I could barely move because he‘s right there.
CAVUTO: Was he asking you questions? What was he saying?
MILLER: Oh, he asked about it the Fairbanks/North Star Borough thing. I answered one question.
He kept at it, so I ended up turning around and going the other way. And then after I left the building, apparently the security team that the contractor required us to have there ended up arresting him because he pushed one of the individuals.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: At no time was this reporter ever a threat to Joe Miller. That‘s my take on what I‘ve seen, and I‘ve talked to a number of people about this today, including the reporter.
What do you think about this? And will your campaign challenge him to apologize?
MCADAMS: Absolutely. In fact, I would challenge Mr. Miller to apologize right now.
I mean, this is outrageous behavior.
Let me start by saying that we‘ve hosted a number of town halls all over Alaska. We‘ve had town halls in museums, in rec centers, and public facilities, and we‘ve never seen a contract, we‘ve never signed a contract. We‘ve never had a contract that required that we have private security.
Now, here‘s what I will tell you. You know Alaska‘s a small state. I think folks forget how small our population is relative to our enormous geographic size. But we‘re 300 small communities, including Anchorage.
You know, people in Alaska expect their candidate to ask them directly for their vote. It‘s not uncommon to see a governor or a candidate for senator in the grocery store or out at a restaurant. I mean, we‘re a small state. I don‘t have a security detail.
SCHULTZ: Does Joe Miller travel with security all the time? Scott, I want to know, does Joe Miller --
MCADAMS: Joe Miller travels—
SCHULTZ: Go ahead.
MCADAMS: Joe Miller travels—thank you. Joe Miller travels with an entourage almost everywhere that he goes.
I‘ve never seen this anything like this before in Alaskan politics. I‘ve been a locally elected guy who‘s been engaged in local state politics for a long time. I‘ve never seen anyone with the type of surrounding and entourage that Joe Miller has.
I don‘t know what that means. I can tell you that oftentimes, I‘ll travel by myself. I‘ll travel with one person. The same is the case for everyone running for statewide offices.
SCHULTZ: OK.
MCADAMS: This is something that‘s unique to Joe, and I don‘t know what his deal is.
SCHULTZ: All right.
Lisa Murkowski, who lost in a primary to Miller, had this statement today.
She, of course, is a third candidate on the ballot as a write-in.
She says, “This behavior is particularly disturbing, especially for someone
one claims to be a ‘constitutional conservative.‘ Apparently Joe Miller
has forgotten both the First and Fourth Amendments to the United States
Constitution. Joe Miller should immediately issue an apology to the editor
of ‘The Alaska Dispatch.‘”
Now, the reporter, Tony Hopfinger, told me today that he wanted to ask questions about a lawsuit that was filed last week just seeking information on the kind of work that Joe Miller did as an attorney for the Fairbanks Borough. There‘s some allegations out there that he may have been doing some work on taxpayer dollars, campaigning when he shouldn‘t had been.
Do you want to comment on that? Is that how you understand it?
MCADAMS: That‘s what I understand. And I know the former borough mayor, Jim Whitaker of Fairbanks. He‘s a good man. I know that this probably weighed heavily on his heart throughout the whole course of this campaign.
But you know what? What we‘re trying to bring this case back to, this campaign back to, is the issues.
I mean, this whole campaign has been a circus. And, you know, Sarah Palin‘s endorsed candidate, Joe Miller, and all of his personal baggage, all of his issues, Lisa Murkowski and her voting record, voting with Mitch McConnell—
(CROSSTALK)
SCHULTZ: OK, I‘ve got all that. You know, Scott, I got all that.
The issue here is, is there a candidate that has been endorsed by the Republican Party strong-arming journalists when the questions get a little bit too tough? And you‘re telling us tonight that this has never happened before in Alaska politics and that you‘ve never seen anything like this. And this guy travels with an entourage, and he‘s passing it off as if he was being accosted of some sort when the videotape clearly shows—here it is—after the fact—after the fact he is nailed in the hallway and he is handcuffed and detained for 25 minutes.
I want you to comment on an Alaska citizen being detained for 25 minutes and then the cops show up and say, let him go, no big deal here.
MCADAMS: You know, I believe it‘s absolutely outrageous. I believe that the gentleman‘s rights were violated. I wouldn‘t be surprised if there‘s a criminal charge that accompanies this.
But from a broader context, you know, I feel tremendously for the individual who was detained for 25 minutes. I think that if Joe Miller‘s elected to this office, the entire state of Alaska, as well as the entire United States, is going to be in a six-year prison sentence with this guy. He‘s wrong for America, he‘s wrong for Alaska.
SCHULTZ: Yes. Scott McAdams, it‘s great to have you with us tonight.
But I think here‘s the bigger picture. Does this mean that at a town hall meeting, that Tea Party candidates can go hire goons, put them on the payroll for that one event, or whatever, and if they don‘t like the question, hell, they‘ll just go put handcuffs on people?
You know, this is the kind of stuff that they did back in Germany in the 1930s.
NewsBusters, did you get that? Defend this!
I want conservatives to defend this. This is wrong.
That reporter was no threat to that guy, who announced last week, Joe Miller, he wasn‘t going to be taking anymore personal questions. He wants to represent the people, but he‘s not taking anymore personal questions.
And we checked out this Alaska Media Center, and let me tell you something, they are accomplished journalists. This isn‘t a left-wing media outlet. And I dare Fox to do the story.
Coming up, I have a message for the Tea Party king, Rand Paul. If you can‘t take the heat, get the heck out of the kitchen.
Paul‘s skin is so thin, he won‘t even shake his opponent‘s hand. Well, I‘ll show you what‘s really got him hot under the collar in just a moment.
Psycho-talking Sharron Angle has just stepped in it again. She told a bunch of Latino students that they look like Asians and wants you to think that the Mexicans in her anti-immigration commercials are Canadians. We‘ll cross that border in just a moment.
All that, and we‘ve got Nancy Pelosi proves she is iron maiden. And Fox News‘ Brian Kilmeade spins into “The Zone.”
You‘re watching THE ED SHOW on MSNBC. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SCHULTZ: Welcome back to THE ED SHOW.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi fired up the base at the United Steelworkers Women‘s Conference in Pittsburgh today. She urged workers to move America forward by voting in the midterms and vowed not to fall back of the failed policies of the Bush administration.
Then she addressed those anti-American money bombs, foreign money being poured into our electoral process.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA), HOUSE SPEAKER: You see what‘s happening now in this election. All this money is pouring in from special interests, unidentified, unlimited money from any source, including foreign sources.
And why is that? What is it that they want to stop or reverse? Well, one thing that really makes them angry is the fact that we passed the Wall Street reform bill.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: Well, big labor is stepping up the fight and spending millions. These hard-working Americans know the Democrats are for the middle class and that the Republicans only care about the top two percent.
For more, let‘s bring in Leo Gerard, international president of the United Steelworkers of America.
Mr. Gerard, this could be one of the last major speeches that Nancy Pelosi gives as speaker. Do you sense that she is very nervous about this election and the way it‘s going for Democrats as far as the polling is concerned?
LEO GERARD, INTERNATIONAL PRESIDENT, UNITED STEELWORKERS OF AMERICA: Ed, what I noticed is that she spoke to 1,200 working class women today, and as they say, she was fired up and ready to go. I didn‘t sense any nervousness. What I sensed is determination.
The Speaker was very, very clear about her agenda, about creating jobs, about putting people back to work. And she went through each one of the issues where the Republicans had been the problem. And she did spend some time, although she didn‘t spend all her time, but she did spend a fairly good piece of time about that foreign secret money that is in the elections, and it‘s only being used to attack Democrats.
I think the clip that you played hits it right on the head. Why are they doing that? And she addressed that, and I was very proud of her.
SCHULTZ: Do you think, Mr. Gerard, that union support across the board, the Latino vote and the African-American vote in this country, the minority vote, can pull the Democrats through and maintain the majority? What do you think?
GERARD: I think that we can pull them through and maintain the majority, but in addition, Ed, I think that we have to challenge why these moneyed interests are putting this secret money in to attack Democrats. We have to make sure that we understand what the president said. And this is a choice.
I mean, just some of the clips you played earlier in the show, God help us if those kind of people take over our democracy. And if foreign money is flowing in, our democracy is being eroded by these special interests.
And so we‘re going to work as hard as we could. The Speaker fired up 1,200 working class women from all over the country today.
Tomorrow night, after the session, they‘re going out on the street, knocking on doors. They‘re committed to going home to their districts, working for their candidates, pushing hard to make sure that we keep the best Speaker ever in the Speaker‘s chair, and that‘s Nancy Pelosi.
Ed, they passed over 400 bills in the House of Representatives. The overwhelming majority would be good for working families. They‘ve been stalled by Republicans in the Senate.
SCHULTZ: Mr. Gerard, I want to ask you, because the right wing is throwing out all this conversation about how there‘s foreign money in American unions, is that true?
GERARD: No, it‘s baloney.
SCHULTZ: So they‘re lying?
GERARD: It‘s an out and out lie. Here‘s what happens.
We‘re an international union. We have members in both countries. The union dues that are paid in Canada stay in Canada. The union dues that are paid in the U.S. stay in the U.S.
But even without that, we‘re not allowed by law to accept that kind of money. Our political action committees are moneys that are raised from our members, and we have to have a documented record that our members have agreed to commit that money. And I‘ve said on this show and on other shows before, I challenge the Chamber of Commerce and those secret clubs that are putting foreign money into this election, I challenge them to come out and show us where their donations are coming from.
SCHULTZ: So, when every union in this country, whether it be your union, the Steelworkers, the AFL-CIO, or the Service Employers International Union, AFSCME, if an auditor were to go into the front office and say show me your books, you could detail out, the union‘s could detail out exactly where every dime comes from and where every expenditure is, whereas the Chamber of Commerce can‘t do that. Correct?
GERARD: Absolutely correct. Not only can we detail out, we have to submit a report.
We have to submit a report of where we got our money, who contributed, and how much they‘re contributing. Our books are open. We‘re prepared to show anybody.
But I want the Chamber of Commerce and I want these other secret clubs that have materialized in the last three months to do the same thing. Ed, I can‘t begin to tell you how distressful it is to think that our democracy is being put up for sale.
SCHULTZ: Yes. Well, I challenge Frank Rich of “The New York Times” to do the damn story. You know, he‘s insinuating that there‘s foreign money in unions in this country.
Mr. Rich of “The New York Times,” I hope you‘re watching tonight. And I hope you follow up on an interview that I just did here.
You know, it is amazing to me how many lies there are and distortions in the media when it comes to the working folk of America. They just throw it out there. They just throw it out there.
GERARD: And I would invite him or anyone else that wants to see our donations. Our donations come from our members. We document every one of them.
SCHULTZ: OK.
GERARD: And so we know every member who‘s donated and how much they‘ve donated.
SCHULTZ: Mr. Gerard, keep up the fight. I appreciate your time tonight.
GERARD: Thank you.
SCHULTZ: Thank you.
Coming up, here‘s a disgusting duo. Kilmeade‘s getting—well, he‘s getting hammered for defending O‘Reilly‘s Islamophobia, and now he‘s pretending to be sorry.
Well, we‘ll get into the foxhole on this one next in “The Zone.” Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SCHULTZ: And in “Psycho Talk” tonight “Fox & Friends” newest bigot, Brian Kilmeade.
Kilmeade is what I call a 550, five cent brain, $50 haircut right in front of the tube. You know what I mean?
He showed off his intellectual ability by defending Bill O‘Reilly‘s anti-Muslim comments on “The View.”
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRIAN KILMEADE, “FOX & FRIENDS”: They were outraged that somebody was saying there‘s a reason—there was a certain group of people that attacked us on 9/11. It wasn‘t just one person, it was one religion. Not all Muslims are terrorists, but all terrorists are Muslims.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: Well, leave it to a guy like Kilmeade to make a bad situation worse. And he did multiple times over the past several days.
But then he started getting hammered for it. So the “Fox and Friend” all-star spun into damage control this morning. Here is his extremely lame and insincere attempt at an apology.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KILMEADE: Meanwhile, on the show on Friday, I was talking about Bill O‘Reilly‘s appearance on “The View,” and I said this: “Not all Muslims are terrorists, but all terrorists are Muslims.”
Well, I misspoke. I don‘t believe all terrorists are Muslims. I‘m sorry about that, if I offended or—offended or hurt anybody‘s feelings. But that‘s it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: That‘s it. Don‘t you just feel the love? It‘s just so sincere.
He hits the meter as a 10 when it comes to sincerity.
You‘re sorry if you hurt anyone‘s feelings? Brian, you offended an entire religion that‘s over a billion people in number.
It‘s not like this is the first hateful thing he or his fellow Foxers have said about Muslims. Brian and his buddies on the right-wing network have tried to scare the old, white, angry members of their audience about Muslims countless of times, most recently over building a community center near Ground Zero.
For Kilmeade to offer a lame apology after repeatedly telling a bigoted lie is nothing more than intellectually dishonest “Psycho Talk.”
Coming up, 35,000 people, well, they just loved it when the president was at a rally in Ohio. But it‘s going to take a lot of heart and soul for the Democrats to hang on to the House in this election. Americans are mad as hell about what‘s wrong in their lives. The righties are fueling that fire.
Senator Byron Dorgan has just spent several weeks on a bus tour throughout his state fighting for the folks, and he‘ll join us in “The Battleground” story to talk about that.
And only in New York, tonight‘s debate promises to be a total freak show. Crazy Carl Paladino is going head-to-head with Eliot Spitzer‘s Manhattan madam? Yes. Folks, can you make it up? And the answer to that is, no. Only in New York.
All that, plus, Meghan McCain calls Christine O‘Donnell a nut job. Ken Buck compares being gay to being an alcoholic. And Sharron Angle tells Latinos that they look Asian. You‘re watching THE ED SHOW on MSNBC. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SCHULTZ: Welcome back to THE ED SHOW. The “Battleground” story tonight, well, Americans are fed up and frustrated that the Democrats are not responding to their anger or are they? President Obama has hit the road to fire up the base, 35,000 people turned out for a rally at Ohio State last night where the president tried to convince them to believe again.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA (D), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We‘re not just calling for change, we‘re doing the hard work of change. We‘re grinding it out. Sometimes it‘s frustrating. We‘re delivering change inch by inch, day by day, it‘s not easy. Believe me, I know it‘s not easy. I know—I know it gets discouraging sometimes. But—but don‘t let anybody tell you this fight isn‘t worth it. Don‘t let them tell you you‘re not making a difference.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: Remember when President Bush used to talk about the Iraq war and he used to say, “this is hard work.” He used to tell the base that, you know, “we‘re going to get there.” And they stuck with him. They stuck with President Bush through the 2004 election and they were there when he asked, and for the life of me, I don‘t know why the base can‘t put whatever problems behind them and just turn to this president and say you know what, the guy deserves more than 24 months. And it‘s going to take a lot of heart and soul for the Democrats to hang on to the House. There‘s no question about that. The turnout‘s crucial.
The Democrats in the eyes of some just haven‘t been aggressive enough of making the case the American people that were headed in the right direction. Americans basically were mad as hell right now. They‘re frustrated. I was out in Western North Dakota this weekend doing some pheasant hunting. You know what they‘re doing out there? They‘re filling up their propane tanks, they‘re stocking up on water and ammunition and they‘re just kind of getting ready for whatever might happen. And I bump into a few landowners and I say, what are you worried about? Well, they just don‘t feel good. I said, well, did you get in the market when the market—“yes, I got in the market.” The commodity prices good? “Yes commodity prices are good.” Well, what‘s the matter? Why you just don‘t feel—“you know, this Obama, I don‘t know.”
And so this is going to be really a heavy lift, I think, for the Democrats to convince the country that running all this corporate power and running all of the favors to the top two percent and being tight with the dollar in the lending institutions in this country, it won‘t do anybody any good. And I really do believe that you know, this president has done a lot of good things but in terms of legislative accomplishments, people—they don‘t have the pulse of that. Passed health care, you know that‘s—legislative accomplishments, it‘s—it‘s crazy. It‘s how they feel.
North Dakota Senator Byron Dorgan has been on a bus tour campaigning for his friend Earl Pomeroy, who is running for Congress. Senator, good to have you with us tonight.
SEN. BYRON DORGAN (D), NORTH DAKOTA: Thanks, Ed.
SCHULTZ: Do you get a drift of what I‘m saying, do you agree or disagree with me, what do you think?
DORGAN: No, I think that all of us understand there‘s a lot of nervousness, people are anxious. Some very angry about what‘s going on. But you know, Ed, it is neither partisan nor inaccurate to point out that this president inherited this mess. And the fact is, this is the biggest mess since the last depression 80 years ago and this president is not going to be able to fix it just like that in a year, a year and a half. And you know, he‘s trying very hard. I think we‘ve made some progress, this country was about to collapse, having a collapsed economy. And now the economy is at least growing a bit. So, the one thing I have seen out in the campaign trail though, Ed, is the dominant story is this fire hose of cash that‘s out there from secret sources. You know, political TV campaigns, direct mail with you know, coming from the bottom feeders of politics, Karl Rove and others, $75 million from the Chamber of Commerce.
(CROSSTALK)
SCHULTZ: Is it having an impact? Is it having an impact?
DORGAN: Oh, sure. Well, it has an impact when you have that kind of money coming in, the question is, you know, who‘s trying to buy the election? Is this an auction or an election? This is the first time that we‘ve had this, I mean...
SCHULTZ: Yes. Do you sense that people are—have a lot of angst about foreign money being in this equation? Do you think that they‘re bothered by that or does that matter?
DORGAN: Well, they‘re bothered about two things. Number one, a massive quantity of money that comes as a result of the Supreme Court decision, Citizens United, in which corporations can essentially put massive quantities of money in and not have it disclosed where it came from, number one. And number two, the question is, is there foreign money coming in? Now, the Chamber of Commerce knows we‘re spending $75 million but it‘s not foreign money. Well the fact is, they get some foreign money. They say just trust us. Well, I say, well you know what, why don‘t you just show us? How about showing us? Tell us where the money comes from.
SCHULTZ: Yes, you had an amendment that didn‘t go very—well, did got shot down. And you put the connection there of how the Chamber of Commerce fought so hard against your amendment in dealing with bringing jobs back to America.
DORGAN: Yes, just a couple of weeks ago, an amendment that would have shutdown the tax break for shipping jobs overseas. Pretty—you know, the right thing do. Pretty common sense. The Chamber of Commerce was aggressively opposed to it. I got over 50 votes but in the Senate, the minority insists on 60 votes because they filibuster.
SCHULTZ: Yes.
DORGAN: But you know, the fact is, the same group that is opposed to shutting off the tax break for shipping jobs overseas, now comes in with massive quantities of money to try to affect the election and it‘s secret money.
SCHULTZ: So who are they protecting? You have to ask the question, who is the Chamber protecting?
DORGAN: Yes, good question.
SCHULTZ: Senator, good to have you with us, thanks so much.
DORGAN: Thanks a lot, Ed.
SCHULTZ: Now let‘s get some rapid fire response from our panel on these stories. The Tea Party Senate nominee in Colorado Ken Buck says, being gay is a choice. But it‘s also kind of like alcoholism.
And how‘s this for Fair and Balanced, FOX News parent company News Corp. just dropped another quarter of a million dollars to help the Republican Governors Association yet, its people elected in the midterms.
With us tonight, Joe Madison, XM Satellite radio talk show host. And Ernest Istook, former republican congressman and fellow at the Heritage Foundation.
Well, Joe, I‘ll give you the first shot at this. We know that Mr. Buck is not an expert on sexuality, that‘s for sure. Can a comment like this motivate the gay and lesbian community in Colorado to make sure that he doesn‘t get in? How does this play, you think?
JOE MADISON, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: It should motivate most of the voters, particularly independent voters because he also said in an attempt to, you know, moonwalk on this one that he got nervous because he was on “Meet the Press,” which says to me and it should say to voters, he‘s not ready for prime time. I mean, Ed, this segment can be more intimidating than “Meet the Press.” I mean it was a very simple question that he quite honestly was not ready. And when you start spending millions of dollars and you obviously have consultants that should prep you before you go on a national program like “Meet the Press,” he should have been prepared. He‘s not ready for primetime.
SCHULTZ: Yes, here is the exchange on “Meet the Press” with David Gregory. Here it is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID GREGORY, HOST, “MEET THE PRESS”: Do you believe that being gay is a choice?
KEN BUCK ®, COLORADO SENATE CANDIDATE: I do.
GREGORY: Based on what?
BUCK: Based on what?
GREGORY: Yes, why you believe that?
BUCK: I guess that you can choose who your partner is.
GREGORY: You don‘t think it‘s something that‘s determined at birth?
BUCK: I think that birth has an influence over it, like alcoholism and some other things, but I think that basically, you have a choice.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: Ernest, what would your advice be to Mr. Buck at this point?
ERNEST ISTOOK, FORMER GOP CONGRESSMAN: There‘s a scientific controversy over what really is this relationship. A lot of same-sex activists want to say, we don‘t have any choice because they believe that improves their legal position. If you look at the studies, scientists are still split over at how much is genetics, how much is hormones, how much is personal choice. And frankly, some people in the same sex community don‘t like being told that, oh, you can‘t help yourself. This is something you were born with and you don‘t have any free will in the process. So, there‘s a lot of controversy. I don‘t know why David Gregory was asking a question like that unless his intent was perhaps to stir up controversy within that community.
MADISON: Well, I know why he asked the question, he asked the question because it had to do with “Don‘t Ask, Don‘t Tell,” which is going to be voted on hopefully by the United States Senate. But, Ernest, you should be running for senator of Colorado because you just answered the way the question should had been answered by a person who‘s thinking about running in the United States Senate.
ISTOOK: Can I get on your vote? Well, don‘t go overboard.
(LAUGHTER)
SCHULTZ: Well, Ernest.
ISTOOK: Yes.
SCHULTZ: There are people in the gay community that are obviously outspoken about this. They have no choice.
ISTOOK: Sure.
SCHULTZ: They have no choice. They have no choice in this. I mean, this is a senator or a candidate, should I say.
ISTOOK: The science differs on that but.
SCHULTZ: Tell that to a gay first.
MADISON: Yes, I mean...
SCHULTZ: Tell that to a gay—when did you find out you were straight, Ernie? I mean, come on. I mean, this sets the table for discrimination, doesn‘t it? Doesn‘t it set the table for discrimination?
MADISON: Absolutely.
SCHULTZ: I mean, he‘s going to say that, oh, it‘s just a choice. So let‘s get rid of—let‘s just keep “Don‘t Ask, Don‘t Tell.”
ISTOOK: But, Ed, you‘re making a legal argument that has used by a lot of same-sex activists because they think they have a stronger, legal position if they argue that I have no choice in this matter whereas if you look at the scientific surveys, they differ on the answer to that.
SCHULTZ: Who would be in favor of being—Ernie, who would be in favor of being discriminated against? Joe, do you want to take that one?
ISTOOK: It is based on what you do?
MADISON: The question I always asked is, where do you want gay people to go? I mean, you just want them to disappear? They have a right for insurance, they have a right for housing.
ISTOOK: Sure.
MADISON: They have a right to do in this country anything that they want to do. The constitution doesn‘t speak to homosexuality, and if one looks at the history of this country early on, there were a whole lot of gay people that were in this country.
SCHULTZ: Gentlemen, we have to go.
ISTOOK: There is no constitutional guaranteed to serve in the military.
SCHULTZ: Joe Madison, Ernest Istook, good to have you with us tonight.
MADISON: Thanks, Ed.
SCHULTZ: Coming up. Sharron Angle has either gone blind or she has lost her mind. First she told a bunch of Latino kids they look Asian and then she suggested the Mexicans featured as, quote, “equal illegal aliens in her commercial are Canadians.”
My next guest is Nevada‘s top political reporter. He says Angle‘s slogan should be, “if you say it, people may believe it.” He‘ll dish it out, the truth. That‘s next on THE ED SHOW. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SCHULTZ: And it‘s not too late to let us know what you think. Tonight‘s text survey question is, should reporters face arrest for asking tough questions? Text A for yes, text B for no to 622-639, results coming up. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SCHULTZ: And in my “Playbook” tonight, Tea Partier Sharron Angle has hit rock bottom with the race-baiting. Her campaign was forced to pull an anti-immigrant commercial featuring a picture of Hispanic men with a scary voiceover about how illegal immigrants are threatening Nevada, her state. Turns out, the men aren‘t illegal aliens, it was a photo from a magazine article on Mexico featuring pictures of Mexican men who live in that country. The commercial didn‘t play well in Nevada, where more than a quarter of the population is Latino. The psycho talker tried to explain her border-baiting commercial last week. At an event with Hispanic student union at a Las Vegas High School.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SHARRON ANGLE ®, NEVADA SENATE NOMINEE: I‘m not sure that those are Latinos in that commercial. What it is a fence and there are people coming across that fence. What we know is that our northern border is where the terrorists came through. That‘s what that was about, is border security. Not just our southern border but our coastal borders and our northern borders.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: Wow, she is saying the alleged illegal immigrants could have been Canadian? Then she tried to further prove she‘s not biased against Latinos. You won‘t believe this one.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANGLE: You know, I don‘t know that all of you are Latino. Some of you look a little more Asian to me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: Joining me now is Nevada Politico reporter Jon Ralston, the insults just keep on coming. John, how is this comment being received in that state?
JON RALSTON, NEVADA POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, I think it‘s being received at a way a lot of her comments are received which is with disbelief. This is a campaign where you continue to say, just when you thought it couldn‘t get more bizarre, it gets more bizarre. I mean that whole thing, why they sent her to talk to a group of Hispanic high school students here is beyond me. What good did they think in her campaign was going to come of it? And now look at what‘s happened. I mean to say that those might not had been Latinos even though she knew that they were Latinos, and then that bizarre shift up to the northern border, as if they were, you know, hockey players coming over to play for the Detroit redwings, I mean, what was she talking about there?
And then, the second clip you played where she says, she knows it‘s a Hispanic group, Ed. It‘s Hispanic student union at Rancho High School here in Las Vegas. Some of you look Asian, and the place, the part that you didn‘t play right there at the end, she‘s actually tried to empathize in some bizarre way, and say, you know what when I was first elected to the legislature, they said that I was the first Asian legislator, which is one of the strangest things, and this is saying something for Sharron Angle, she said all campaign.
SCHULTZ: Jon, how in the world could Harry Reid not be way out in front of her by double digits? I mean, that‘s what people around the country were asking. I mean, she just continues to offer up more what we call psycho material day after day. Yet Harry is neck and neck with her. What about it?
RALSTON: Well, what I‘ve told a lot of people, Ed, and I‘ll tell you today is I think Sharron Angle could go out and say the craziest thing in the world, and she‘s tried. She could go out and publicly commit a felony and people would still vote for her over Harry Reid. Harry Reid is just absolutely reviled by a large percentage of Nevada, population is a symbol of someone who‘s been around too long, of a democratic agenda, that‘s unpopular. We have the worst economy in the country here, Ed. Their people are looking for someone to blame. He supported the stimulus, supported health care reform, and so Angle has exploited that and the Republicans have exploited that and he is manifestly unpopular. We‘re pretty much anybody on a ballot would have a chance again.
SCHULTZ: Can Bill Clinton help him?
RALSTON: Well, Bill Clinton was here, Barack Obama is coming this week to turnout the base. Harry Reid needs two things to happen, Ed. He need the base to turn out in force and you know there is that enthusiasm gap. Clinton/Obama can help with that and then he needs to pull Republicans, moderate Republicans and independent away from Sharron Angle and vote for this crazy thing we have on the ballot here called none of the above or maybe, the other Tea Party candidate, the guy by the name of Scott Ashjian.
SCHULTZ: Jon Ralston, good to have you with us tonight. It is one interesting race, no doubt about it.
Coming up, I can‘t believe how thin-skinned Rand Paul is. I‘ll show you some amazing tape, next, stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SCHULTZ: And finally tonight, it‘s getting ugly and very personal in Kentucky Senate race. In a heated debate last night, Democrat Jack Conway slammed Tea Party extremist Rand Paul for being part of a secret society in college that mocked Christianity and faith. That led to this exchange.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JACK CONWAY (D), KENTUCKY SENATE CANDIDATE: When is it ever a good idea? A good idea to tie up a woman and ask her to kneel before a false idol, your god which you call Aqua Buddha?
RAND PAUL ®, KENTUCKY SENATE CANDIDATE: You know, Jack, you know how we can tell you‘re lying is when your lips are moving, OK?
(LAUGHTER)
You‘re accusing me of crimes. You just—do you know nothing about the process? You‘re going to stand over there and accuse me of a crime for 30 years ago from some unanimous source? How ridiculous are you? You embarrass this race.
CONWAY: Values matter. And when is it ever appropriate to tie up a woman and ask her to kneel before a false god that you call Aqua Buddha.
PAUL: You just out and out lie because you have nothing to stand on. Run a race as a man. Stand up and be a man instead of just calling me names.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: Well, speaking of that, when the debate ended Rand Paul darted off of the stage without even shaking Conway‘s hand. Pretty low-class move I think.
Joining me now, Adam Green, co-founder of the PCCC. Speaking of manning up, Adam, he is now saying Rand Paul that he might not be at the next debate, so what do you make of this? Your organization heavily supporting Jack Conway because of the Social Security issue. Does he have a chance at winning against a guy who offers up psycho talk day in and day out?
ADAM GREEN, FOUNDER, PROGRESSIVE CHANGE CAMPAIGN COMMITTEE: He absolutely has a chance. And today, Jack Conway was one of over 200 bold democratic candidates who came out swinging on Social Security. Saying that they will absolutely oppose any republican attempt to cut it or privatize it. And what‘s great about Jack Conway on the campaign trail is that in speeches in his debates, he‘s actually doing what progressives have been urging democratic leaders to be doing all year, which is when the public is overwhelmingly on your side on an issue like Social Security, you go on offense. You fight. You win. So I think people like Jack Conway and these other candidates deserve a lot of credit and they deserve our support and they will win if we‘re there fighting with them this year.
SCHULTZ: Rand Paul today, here he is talking about ducking the next debate.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PAUL: I‘m disappointed where the level of the debate‘s going. It does affect me and my family to talk about my faith. And I‘m not sure if I will appear again with him, but we haven‘t fully decided but I‘m not sure if I‘ll appear in public with someone who‘s going to question my religion.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: What do you make of that, Adam?
GREEN: Rand Paul has a very consistent record. You know, right after he got the nomination, he went on the “Rachel Maddow Show.” She asked him some very intelligent questions about his position on the civil rights act where he said, he basically opposed it and then all of a sudden, whoops, I‘m not going to go back on MSNBC again. Last night, in a debate, in addition to this TV ad, coming up, Jack Conway brought up Rand Paul‘s comment last year on FOX Business Channel where he said that the constitution has not been followed since 1937, 1937, being the year that Social Security was maintained by the Supreme Court. So, he‘s really running scared of his own record and when people pose legitimate questions or make legitimate points, he runs away.
SCHULTZ: It sure doesn‘t sound like a man of the people to me. It would seem to me that he would want to debate anybody, anywhere, if he really wants to be in the Senate.
GREEN: And especially—especially a republican—supposedly a republican year, and supposedly a republican state like Kentucky, he should be dying to have a debate. But this is a neck-and-neck race. It‘s a neck and neck race because Rand Paul is pretty crazy and Jack Conway happens to be a great candidate running on very populist issues like Social Security.
SCHULTZ: Adam Green, thanks for your time tonight. Appreciate it.
GREEN: Thank you.
SCHULTZ: Our text survey question earlier, I asked, should reporters face arrest for asking tough questions? Four percent of you said yes, 96 percent of you said, no. That‘s THE ED SHOW, I‘m Ed Schultz. “HARDBALL” with Chris Mathews starts right now. We‘ll see you tomorrow night.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
END
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