CBS "Face the Nation" - Transcript

Interview

MR. SCHIEFFER: And we're back now at CBS News election headquarters in New York. And joining us for our campaign quick-check this morning, Senator Chuck Schumer, who is the chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. He's with us here in the studio. With us in Las Vegas, Senator John Ensign, his Republican counterpart.

And basically, you two senators -- I think a lot of people don't understand this -- in the Senate, the Republicans pick one person, the Democrats pick one person, and they sort of chart the national strategy for Senate campaigns and do a lot of the fundraising for the Senate candidates. And you are the two gentlemen who do that.

Let's start off with you, Senator Schumer. Most of these polls are suggesting Democrats are going to have a pretty good night.

SEN. SCHUMER: I think we are going to have a pretty good night. If you would have told me a year ago that we'd be where we are now, I'd be very surprised. I mean, the bottom line is I think Wednesday morning Democrats are going to be very happy because we're going to pick up a whole lot of seats. As for 60, that's very, very difficult. It's possible but unlikely. And the reason is because the terrain is so tough. In other words, of the 11 contested states, none are deeply blue, a whole bunch are deeply red. So even though the wind is at our back, it's hard.

But I will say this, with 56, 57, 58 (seats), we'll be able to get a lot done in the Senate and help change the country.

MR. SCHIEFFER: So you think you might pick up as many as seven or eight seats.

SEN. SCHUMER: Well, look, I think that, you know, we're doing really well. Everyone always asks about 60 (seats). And as I said, possible, but unlikely. But to pick up a whole bunch, that's likely.

MR. SCHIEFFER: Well, Senator Ensign, I'll give you the floor here for a second. What do you think is going to happen?

SEN. ENSIGN: Well, there's no question we are facing a fairly strong political headwind at this point. And the Democrats are poised to pick up some seats, the exact number we don't know because there are so many races that are within the margin of error. There are six or seven races out there right now, including the race in Louisiana where the Democrats are defending down there. We have that race dead even now. So it's going to be an interesting night on election night.

The bottom line is, though, this is the most liberal, left-wing, radical group of candidates that Democrats have ever put up. And if they get in, if they get the kind of numbers that Chuck Schumer is talking about, they're going to take this country way left. They're going to increase taxes. They're going to increase spending. They're going to make us more dependent on foreign sources of oil.

MR. SCHIEFFER: Well, that's exactly what Senator Graham said just a minute ago if Barack Obama is elected.

So is this going to be the most liberal, left-wing bunch of senators ever brought to the Senate?

SEN. SCHUMER: Absolutely not. The Senate candidates are thoughtful, they're moderate, they're nonideological, Bob. Look, they come from deeply red states. These are just the people America wants, people aimed at the middle class, not too far right, not too far left. But unlike the Republican incumbents they're running against, they do want change. They don't believe in Bush's policies.

MR. SCHIEFFER: Well, Senator Ensign, when you said that, you said it looks like the Democrats are going to pick up a bunch of seats. Why is that all of a sudden that Democrats have such a good chance in so many places?

SEN. ENSIGN: Well, first of all, Al Franken up in Minnesota, to say that he's a moderate, thoughtful candidate is laughable. He has, you know, joked about rape. He has been a partisan, left-wing liberal for a long time. And the candidates they have around the country, from Oregon, North Carolina, New Hampshire, you name it, have voted for tax increase after tax increase after tax increase. To call those thoughtful, moderate people, it really is not believable.

But the reason that we Republicans have a tough time right now is because we do have an unpopular president. We also are defending a lot more seats than Democrats are. But having an unpopular president, we have an unpopular war, and we started to do very, very well, but when the financial crisis hit, that financial crisis really has been almost a body blow to Republicans.

And unfortunately, it was allowed to be portrayed that this was somehow the result of deregulation when in fact this was the result of overregulation. The fact that Bill Clinton allowed Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to get into the subprime market and then encouraged every single year for Fannie and Freddie to increase the amount of these subprime loans, these high-risk loans under the Community Reinvestment Act, it required banks to lend more and more of their money to these high-risk loans.

And then on a party-line vote, the Democrats blocked a strong regulator with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac -- party-line vote, literally every Democrat voted against a strong regulator which could have stopped this whole financial crisis --

MR. SCHIEFFER: All right. I take your point.

SEN. SCHUMER: Let me say one thing. My good friend John said the reason the Republicans are in trouble is George Bush is an unpopular president. Well, just about to a person, every one of these incumbents has voted with George Bush up and down the line. So if the public doesn't like George Bush's policies, they're not going to like the policies of Elizabeth Dole or Norm Coleman or Gordon Smith, and that's why they're having such trouble.

The bottom line is these folks, when Bush said jump, they said, how high? Everyone sees the mess and the war in Iraq. Everyone sees the mess in the economy. And they say, we need change! And that's why we're winning, very simply. And you can't say, as my good friend John did, well, Bush is an unpopular president, and then try to separate the Senate candidates. They've been with him up and and down the line.

MR. SCHIEFFER: Let me ask you one other question, Senator Ensign. I'm told that you said the other day in an interview that Governor Palin has been a drag on the Republican ticket and that in fact that you thought that Joe Biden was more qualified to be vice president. Did you in fact say that?

SEN. ENSIGN: No, I did not say that. What I said was Sarah Palin has brought out record crowds. That she, I believe, was mishandled by the campaign. But she has actually energized a large part of our base. But the presidential campaign is about the top of the ticket.

Barack Obama does not have the experience to be president of the United States. That was the point I was making in those comments the other day. John McCain has the experience, and he has the judgment to be president of the United States. And I believe that he will support the policies, keeping our taxes low. Barack Obama wants to raise our taxes, redistribute wealth, punish success. Right now, that is the wrong agenda. When you're in a recession, you don't want to raise taxes.

MR. SCHIEFFER: And what about Senator Stevens, the senior Republican in the Senate? Of course, he was just convicted on seven counts. Do you think that he ought to step down, Senator Ensign, because he's still on the ballot there?

SEN. ENSIGN: Yeah, I think it would have been better, first of all, for this to have happened last year. The Justice Department had the information. They should have done this last year so the people of Alaska, if he was convicted, like he was, they could have had a clearer choice between a Republican and a Democrat. Mark Begich couldn't have won that state if it would have been a clear choice between a normal Republican running up there. The only way he can possibly win is because Ted Stevens was convicted.

I have said that it would be the best thing for Ted Stevens to step down. And I said that last week.

MR. SCHIEFFER: And let me ask you, Senator Schumer, about Joe Lieberman, a Democrat who's been campaigning for John McCain. Should he leave the Democratic Party now? He still votes in organizing the Senate with the Democrats. What do you do with Joe Lieberman now, one way or the other?

SEN. SCHUMER: Well, Leader Reid, who's a good friend of Joe's, has said we're not going to debate that, discuss it until after Tuesday. And I'm sticking with Leader Reid on that one. (Laughs.)

MR. SCHIEFFER: So what --

SEN. SCHUMER: So I'm waiting. We're going to wait until Wednesday to even discuss that publicly or privately. There have been no discussions about it among our Senate leadership or in the caucus.

MR. SCHIEFFER: All right, gentleman.

SEN. ENSIGN: Bob, I will say that if Joe wants to leave the Democrat Party and join us, we'd welcome him with open arms.

MR. SCHIEFFER: All right. Well, I want to thank both of you for being with us this morning.

SEN. SCHUMER: And let me wish you good luck, John. We may not speak until Tuesday night. Good luck to you.

SEN. ENSIGN: You too, Chuck. You've done a great job.

SEN. SCHUMER: It's been a long two years.

SEN. ENSIGN: It has. (Laughter.)

MR. SCHIEFFER: All right. Thank you, gentlemen.

Back in a moment with some final thoughts.

Source