MSNBC "Tucker" - Transcript

Interview

MR. CARLSON: John McCain is offering Barack Obama the biggest compliment in politics. He's treating him like a rival. This being a presidential campaign, McCain is doing that by attacking him. But does Obama really have the nomination in the bag? What if Hillary doesn't feel like going gracefully into that good night? What then?

Joining us now is Obama supporter, long-time Obama supporter -- he saw this coming a long time ago -- Democratic Congressman from Washington State Adam Smith.

Congressman, thanks for coming on.

REP. SMITH: Thanks for having me, Tucker.

MR. CARLSON: And congratulations. You've been coming on this show for a long time -- (laughs) -- on behalf of Barack Obama, and it looks like you were right all along. It looks like he's going to get the nomination. But what if Hillary Clinton doesn't buy into that program and doesn't feel like ending her campaign? What are you going to do?

REP. SMITH: Well, I don't think we should start celebrating just yet. Certainly we're a lot further along than we were six, eight months ago when you and I first started talking about this, and we're very pleased with that. But this campaign continues in Ohio and Texas, and perhaps beyond. And I think, you know, regardless of what Senator Clinton does, Senator Obama is going to continue to deliver his message. He's going to continue to keep working hard. This campaign is far, far from over, and we know that.

MR. CARLSON: But he said -- Senator Obama said last night, he said, "Look, you know, this is going to be wrapped up pretty much on March 4th. At that point the party is going to want to" -- this is a paraphrase, but it's pretty close -- "going to want to declare a nominee, and it's going to be over." But what if Hillary Clinton says, "You know what? No. And he doesn't have the number of delegates needed, and we're going to take this all the way to the convention."

Do you think that the elders, such as they are, in the Democratic Party will stand back and let that happen?

REP. SMITH: Ultimately, I don't think they will. And I don't think the voters will. As you've pointed out, Senator Obama has won 10 straight contests by overwhelming margins. And the more the voters do that, the more delegates Senator Obama lines up. And then it becomes simply a fact that he has the delegates necessary.

And, yes, I think the so-called super-delegates -- hard to think of myself as an elder, by the way, Tucker; I'm know I'm getting there -- but as one of those super-delegates, I think increasingly those delegates will throw their support to Senator Obama until he has those numbers. But again, I think this is a little premature.

MR. CARLSON: Okay.

REP. SMITH: You know, we've got 13 days to campaign now to Texas and Ohio, and we're going to work very, very hard on that on the Obama campaign.

MR. CARLSON: Well, here's one of the questions people are going to be asking in those 13 days. Some time ago, Barack Obama said this. Quote: "Yes, if I am the Democratic nominee, I will aggressively pursue an agreement with the Republican nominee to preserve a publicly financed general election." In other words, "I will take public funds, not private funds."

That's a pretty direct statement from a guy who's running on his own personal integrity. Now he seems to be hedging on that and saying, "Well, maybe I won't run with public funds." Why doesn't he just stay true to his word?

REP. SMITH: Well, I think you're a little bit overstating the importance of that commitment. This is a decision that every campaign has made in a variety of different ways. I mean, frankly, we've never been in a position where a candidate had the breadth of support that Senator Obama has. I mean, he has 700,000, 800,000 contributors. I think the average contribution is still around $100.

MR. CARLSON: Well, wait --

REP. SMITH: And you're talking about the average folks in the country who are giving to his campaign, and he's weighing whether or not to take their contributions or to take federal money.

MR. CARLSON: Talk about throwing principle overboard. I mean, he said -- this is about principle; it's not about what's politically expedient. Of course it's easier. It's better for him. He's raised more money than anybody in the history of American politics, ever, bar none.

REP. SMITH: Right.

MR. CARLSON: But he said, "The publicly financed campaign system is worth preserving, and for that reason I'm going to participate."

REP. SMITH: Right.

MR. CARLSON: He said, "Yes, I will do that." Can he really go back on that? I mean, that is in contravention of everything he claims to stand for.

REP. SMITH: I don't agree that it's in contravention of everything he claims to stand for. I think you're way overstating the case.

MR. CARLSON: Well, quite a few of the things he claims to stand for, anyway.

REP. SMITH: Well, come on, Tucker. I mean, to say that this is going to contravene all that he stands for and everything that he's worked on, from being a community organizer to working for health care in the state legislature to what he's worked on in the United States Congress, as a United States senator, I think that overstates it.

And again, this is a decision that has not yet been made, as far as I know. And I think there are other far more important issues in this race. And I look forward to the debate -- you know, listening to Senator McCain's comments, I look forward to the opportunity to have Senator Obama debate Senator McCain on those issues, on Iraq, on the economy; on the economy, which, interestingly, Senator McCain barely mentioned in his speech after Wisconsin.

MR. CARLSON: Well, here's a question, very quickly. We're almost out of time, but this is a sincere question because I don't know the answer. I've read a number of accounts where Senator Obama stands on school vouchers. Is he for the possibility of school vouchers or is he not?

REP. SMITH: My understanding is that he does not support school vouchers. But I'd have to go and look at a variety of different accounts. That's not an issue that I'm, you know, personally 100 percent certain on. So you'd have to check elsewhere in the campaign.

MR. CARLSON: All right, Congressman Adam Smith from Washington, thanks a lot for coming on.

REP. SMITH: Thank you.

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