MSNBC "Hardball with Chris Matthews" - Transcript: New Hampshire Primary
Interview
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Will Hillary Clinton sail through the New Hampshire primary this time
around, or will she have to work for a victory, like she did back in 2008?
One person who knows New Hampshire and Hillary Clinton better than anyone
is the Granite State`s senior senator, Democrat Jeanne Shaheen. As it
turns out, every candidate that she has endorsed since Jimmy Carter in 1976
has gone on to win the New Hampshire primary. She was one of the few
Democrats to win reelection, by the way, in 2014, defeating Republican
Scott Brown by 3 points. She joins me now.
Senator, thank you so much. Also joining me right now is political
expert and "Boston Globe" reporter James Pindell -- Pindell. Let me go to
Senator Shaheen. I was so taken, as I`ve told you, with your ground
campaign and your effort up there last November, coming up and seeing you.
It was so gung-ho. So I`m going to ask you a couple -- you have endorsed
Secretary Clinton, is that right, for president.
SEN. JEANNE SHAHEEN (D), NEW HAMPSHIRE: Well, I think Hillary Clinton
would be a terrific president. I was one of the Democratic senators in the
Senate who -- the women Democratic senators who sent a letter to her,
urging her to consider running. And I hope she does. He hasn`t gotten
into the race yet, but I think she`d be terrific.
MATTHEWS: You want her to run and you support her, right?
SHAHEEN: I do. If she runs, I think -- as I said, I think she should
run. I think she`ll be a great candidate, as she was in 2008. And I think
it`s a tribute to New Hampshire and the New Hampshire primary that
candidates come into the state, they go into living rooms, they talk to
voters, they engage with voters, they answer questions. New Hampshire
voters are very smart on the issues. They pay attention. They talk to all
the candidates and then they make up their minds.
MATTHEWS: Well, the most recent polling among New Hampshire Democrats
shows that Secretary Clinton has an overwhelming lead over potential
Democratic rivals -- 62 percent, 3 in 5, of Democrats said they would
support the former secretary of state in a 2016 Democratic primary.
Massachusetts senator Elizabeth Warren, who says she`s not running right
now, registered at just 13.
Let me ask you about -- I know I was bothering the chairman of your
party up there, but I`ll ask you only one time. Do you think there should
be, as a matter of principle, debates leading up to your primary in New
Hampshire?
SHAHEEN: I think we`ve always had debates in New Hampshire. As I
said, one of the great things about the New Hampshire primary is that
candidates go into living rooms. They have to answer questions from real
voters. If you ask John McCain or Al Gore or Bill Clinton or Hillary or
Barack Obama, they will all tell you that that`s the strength of the New
Hampshire primary.
And of course there should be presidential debates. I think that`s --
voters are entitled to hear what candidates think about the issues.
MATTHEWS: Well, Associated Press reporter Ken Thomas (ph) writes
that, quote, "Few Democrats see an insurgent candidate in the mode of
Barack Obama on the horizon. Well, that raises the potential of a
pedestrian -- a pedestrian Democratic primary season with few televised
debates and little of the drama expected from a crowded and likely
combative race on the Republican side."
I think he`s being a bit premature there, but Democratic primary
voters may not be thrilled about the lack of competition. One Clinton
supporter told CNN: "The American people don`t like to see a candidate
assume that something is theirs for the taking."
And a Democratic strategist said, "If Hillary Clinton is trying to
avoid a coronation, it really is a terrible way to go about it. It sends a
message that we don`t have a campaign in the primaries."
I think there`s going to be debates as well.
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MATTHEWS: Let me go back to Senator Shaheen.
You know that state. What is about New Hampshire that everybody like
me seems to like? You put it in your words, because I love going up -- it
used to be every four years, I would bring one of my kids up there, I would
sit in the bathroom knocking out my column for the San Francisco papers,
and they would be there watching television and then we would go out to
dinner or some place in Manchester or somewhere. I love Portsmouth. I
think I would like to retire to Portsmouth. It`s so great.
SHAHEEN: Oh, good. Come on up.
MATTHEWS: It`s a fantastic state. There`s something gritty about it.
How would you describe it? What would be your word as a Democrat? What
says New Hampshire to you?
SHAHEEN: Well, let me do that, but let me first respond to your
question about Bernie Sanders.
Bernie is well known in New Hampshire.
MATTHEWS: Sure.
SHAHEEN: And I think he and Elizabeth Warren, whether they actually
get into the race or not, are speaking to a disenfranchisement, a
frustration that too many Americans feel right now about whether they`re
being left behind by -- as members of the middle class.
And so I do think it`s important to speak to that disparity that
currently exists in our economy, in jobs, and the frustration that middle
class Americans feel.
Now, what is so exciting about the New Hampshire primary and our state
is that we have had the presidential primary, we have been the first since
the early 1900s, and people are used to checking the tires on presidential
candidates. They want to hear what they have to say.
You can`t get by with just bumper ticker answers, 10-second responses.
You really have to go in, you have talk to people, you have to engage with
them on what`s really on their minds, talk about a vision for this country
and where we need to go.
And that`s I think what is so special about the New Hampshire primary,
and there are very few places in the country today where you still have to
do that.
MATTHEWS: Would Kelly Ayotte be a good running mate on the Republican
ticket?
SHAHEEN: I think New Hampshire would be very happy to have Senator
Ayotte on the ticket.
MATTHEWS: Because it wouldn`t be -- she wouldn`t be senator from New
Hampshire anymore, right?
SHAHEEN: No, because, listen, any time we have somebody who
understands the state, who knows what we need, who appreciates and is
committed to New Hampshire -- that`s one of the reasons we like having all
the presidential candidates there so much is because it gives us a chance
to talk about what`s on people`s minds in the state, what we want to see.
And that`s good for New Hampshire. It`s good for the country.
MATTHEWS: Senator Jeanne Shaheen, who knows that state and she just
won it 51-48 in a very tough race with the attractive, of course, Scott
Brown. Beat his number. Two women in a row beat him in two different
states next to each other.
What an amazing history Scott Brown has got.
SHAHEEN: That`s history.
(LAUGHTER)
MATTHEWS: Is he heading to Maine?
(LAUGHTER)
MATTHEWS: Anyway, thank you very much.
James Pindell, thank you, sir, for joining us. Please come back, both
of you.
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