MSNBC "The Ed Show" - Transcript
Interview
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SCHULTZ: You can tell that Harry's been watching THE ED SHOW. That was my op-ed on Friday. The Republicans have shown us their playbook. They are basically going to stand against everything that could possibly help President Obama and this country, from health care reform to the Olympics.
Joining me now is Maryland Congressman Chris Van Hollen, chairman of the DCCC. Congressman, good to have you with us tonight. Can you capitalize on all this negativity that was spewed out at the end of last week and then through the talking heads this weekend? Do you think this is really who the Republicans are?
REP. CHRIS VAN HOLLEN (D), MARYLAND: Look, Ed, I thought this was a very revealing moment. It was a very sickening moment. It does show the Republican right for what it is. Because, for months, they've been saying they're not against Obama; they're against Obama's policies.
But when they come out and root against America's getting the Olympics, it's pretty clear that this is not about policies. This is about being against whatever the president is for, wanting the president to fail, wanting-relishing America's loss of the Olympics.
So when Jim Demint, Senator Demint, said some weeks ago that they wanted to use health care to break Obama, we know what they're saying. They want him to fail. They want our country's health care policies to not succeed, because, in this sense, they're putting politics over country. And what happened over the Olympics I think was a great eye opener for the American people. They got to see, once and for all, that these guys were rooting against the country, and relishing a loss for the country over the Olympics. That's pretty scary.
SCHULTZ: If there was an election right now, would you lose any seats in the House?
VAN HOLLEN: Well, I might have said something different about a month ago. I do believe that now people are beginning to see that this is not about-this is about trying to break the president. This is not about trying to improve health care in this country, that the Republicans have turned this into totally political warfare.
SCHULTZ: Sure, they have.
VAN HOLLEN: When you're taking on America getting the Olympics, this is not about what's best for the country. This is about pure, raw politics and trying to bring the president down. Jim Demint said it. And what he said publicly is what the Republican leadership has been thinking privately.
SCHULTZ: I mean, this is a pretty bad day in America, when we can't getting together on amateur athletics. What about the athletes? What about the American athletes? Anybody take them into consideration? What about the kids that could have gone to this competitive atmosphere, which is-you know, could give you memories for a lifetime? I don't know where the Republicans are coming from. They constantly say, we're going to get a repeat of 1994, when there was a shift in the House.
I want to go to some numbers here. In 1994, it was 49-51 when it came to favorability. Of course, the Democrats were at 49. The GOP was at 51. Right now, the Democrats are at 56. The GOP is at 27 percent when it comes to favorability.
It looks like, by those numbers, cap and trade is not going to hurt you. There was a pretty courageous vote taking place over in the House when you didn't have the votes in the Senate. Have you overcome that? What do you think?
VAN HOLLEN: Well, I think we have overcome it. What's happened is that the American public is finally seeing the Republicans for what they are, that they're just against everything that Obama's for. Most Americans, as we know, Ed, are for reforming America's health care system. They want to make sure we fix what works-keep what works, but fix what's broken. The fact of the matter is there's a whole lot broken out there.
So for the Republicans to say they want us to fail on that issue, and to use that as an issue to break the president, has been a great eye opener for the American people. That's why this Olympics issue is so revealing, because every American is for bringing the Olympics to the United States. That was a loss for our country. To see people relishing in that loss exposed these guys for playing the cynical politics. It really did.
When you see people erupting in cheers because America lost the Olympics at places like the "Weekly Standard" and Rush Limbaugh and all these places the right wing talk show hosts, who are proxies for the Republican leadership-and I have to say that we haven't heard the Republican leadership condemn them.
We saw what happened last time they came out and condemned them. All of a sudden, they had to apologize to Rush Limbaugh. You remember that?
SCHULTZ: I do.
VAN HOLLEN: He said, I hope the president fails. And a few of those Republicans got up their courage-
SCHULTZ: I'm glad you're wound up about this. I'm glad you're wound up about this, because on Friday I thought I was going to be-on Friday, I thought I was going to be the only one. I'm glad you're cranked up about it. Chris Van Hollen, thanks for joining us tonight.
VAN HOLLEN: Good to be with you, Ed.
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