MSNBC "The Rachel Maddow Show" - Transcript

Interview

MSNBC "The Rachel Maddow Show" - Transcript

MS. MADDOW: Is Obama's team on the shores of Lake Michigan, deliberately releasing one trial balloon after another? Is this a crazy-like-a-fox message discipline demonstration? Or is this maybe the media still figuring out which sources actually know what they're talking about? Or maybe -- and I hope this is not the case -- is this how an Obama White House will run?

Here to try and talk me down is Illinois Congresswoman Democrat Jan Schakowsky.

Congresswoman Schakowsky, it's nice to see you. Thanks for being here.

REP. SCHAKOWSKY: I'm very happy to be here to try and talk you down, Rachel. First of all, you've got to stop believing everything you read.

MS. MADDOW: (Laughs.)

REP. SCHAKOWSKY: This is rumor-mill time. This is definitely rumor-mill time. All kinds of people are putting -- may put things out, but it is not the campaign. I have checked with the campaign about all of those things that you're talking about, and actually these are from -- you know, as you said, you've got to know who you're talking to.

And I want to remind you that there were times during the campaign itself, the "No Drama Obama" campaign -- and indeed it was -- where people who were unauthorized to speak for the campaign did speak for the campaign, and it was reported as the campaign.

And so I think that what you're seeing really is just a lot of speculation that is very, very typical for every transition, for every president. And this is still a very, very disciplined campaign.

But let me say one other thing. If you want a really buttoned- down administration, then I think you ought to look to the Bush administration, kind of leak-proof in many ways unless they want to send something out. And that's because only very few people were involved in decision-making. The vice president was in undisclosed locations. They would hold meetings that were completely secret and no one could even know who was there.

This is going to be a much more transparent and inclusive administration. We're going to know a lot more about what's going on. And that's a good thing.

MS. MADDOW: Transparency and inclusion definitely sound like good things, particularly when you contrast them with what we've been going through for the past eight years. (Laughs.) But the "Yes, we meant it," "No, we didn't," "This is being floated," "No, it wasn't being floated," back and forth -- it may be that the stuff is being sourced to people who really ought not be talking to the press.

But isn't it part of the responsibility of the transition team to make sure the right people are talking to the press so the reporters aren't freelancing, trying to find their own sources, then end up putting out troubling or wrong information?

REP. SCHAKOWSKY: Well, first of all, let me say about Rahm Emanuel, who I've known since he graduated from college, Rahm Emanuel is a really, really smart guy. He is the most focused and disciplined person that I know. And so you're not going to see anything coming from Rahm, and I think he'll have a lot to do with controlling message out of the administration. Of course, Barack Obama will be completely in control, as he really was of the campaign itself.

But I don't see that you're going to see trial balloons or you're going to see, you know, leaks used for political purposes. You're going to see an administration that people are going to be able to feel comfortable that they're getting the real straight talk from that administration. I think that's been a hallmark of Barack Obama's campaign, and I think it's going to be true of his administration as well.

MS. MADDOW: Now that President-elect Obama's Senate seat is going to be open in Illinois, there has been a lot of discussion about who's going to be appointed to that seat. Your name, of course, has been mentioned. How interested are you in potentially becoming a senator?

REP. SCHAKOWSKY: Well, I guess what I'm most interested in, excited, having been a progressive activist for almost four decades, is working with the president of the United States and a Democratic majority. But clearly it would be a wonderful thing to have the honor of taking his place in the Senate and working with him from there. But I'm pretty happy right now. I think that the outcome of this election bodes very well for our country, and I am so excited about being part of it, wherever I am.

MS. MADDOW: Well, I'm sure he will be very happy with your somewhat effective efforts to talk me down out of my concerns about the leakiness. So if that helps --

REP. SCHAKOWSKY: Only somewhat, huh?

MS. MADDOW: (Laughs.) Yeah, somewhat. I've never actually officially been talked down from anything, which says more about me than your skill at this. (Laughs.) So, sorry about that. Jan Schakowsky, good luck to you, and thank you for being here tonight. I appreciate it.

REP. SCHAKOWSKY: Thank you, Rachel.

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