MSNBC "Hardball with Chris Matthews" - Transcript

Interview

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SEN. RICHARD DURBIN (D-IL), MAJORITY WHIP: I think people want us to move forward. That might have been the election"s most--the clearest message coming out of it. And they want us to be constructive, and that means that we have to give. The Democrats have to give on some of their ideas, Republicans on theirs. That"s how we"re going to solve the problems facing this country.

MATTHEWS: Well, let"s take a look at these numbers, here they are, the brand-new NBC/"Wall Street Journal" polls out tonight -- 59 percent of the country likes the deal we"ve been talking about for weeks now, 36 percent disapprove. and 61 say -- 61 percent--it"s a fair compromise. Just 23 percent think that Obama gave up too much, 10 percent say the Republicans gave up. So there"s a little bit of tilt there, to say the least.

What do you think of that tilt? Among the people that don"t like the deal, it"s the left that doesn"t like it a lot more than the right, who seems to relatively like it.

DURBIN: So let"s try this question. Ask the American people, would you be in favor of tax cuts for wealthy people if you knew that it added $70 billion to the deficit, money that we"re going to have to borrow from China? Chris, you and I know what the answer is to that question. The way you ask the question has to a lot to do with the results.

MATTHEWS: Yes, but let me ask you about this. Back to my question. You"re the political figure. You"re a leader of the Senate. Why is all the noise at the polls and why--and maybe a bigger question, why is there no sound coming from between the 40-yard lines? Why do we never hear from people who are middle-of-the-road Democrats, middle-of-the-road Republicans?

DURBIN: Most of them are not watching political shows.

(LAUGHTER)

DURBIN: Most of them are worried about the basics of life, you know? The bottom line is, the people who really care and really get intense tune in to their favorite cable channel, and one of them happens to be Chris Matthews.

MATTHEWS: Well, I don"t mind that. Let"s take a look. Anyway, so your thoughts about the House. Do you think we"re going to get a big conference flip-flap or flap over this? Do you expect this to go down through Christmas, or do you expect to see your colleagues on the other side of the Hill backing this eventually?

DURBIN: Well, I can just say this. It"s heartfelt. The opposition to the bill among the liberal members of the House Democratic caucus is heartfelt, and they deserve their day to argue their point. They may prevail. My guess is, looking at the vote in the Senate, 81-19, across the political spectrum, it"s likely that the version of the bill that we enacted is going to pass in the House of Representatives. We"re going to see it finalized sometime next week.

MATTHEWS: Thank you so much for joining us. Congratulations, by the way, on getting it done here in the Senate. Thank you, Senator Durbin.

DURBIN: Thanks, Chris.

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