MSNBC "The Rachel Maddow Show" - Transcript

Interview

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Joining us now is one of Maine`s two Democratic members of the House of Representatives who is reportedly considering running for the Senate seat, by why take reportedly for an answer when we can just ask her?

Congresswoman Chellie Pingree represents Maine`s first district. Thank you for being with us tonight.

REP. CHELLIE PINGREE (D), MAINE: Absolutely. Thank you for having me.

MADDOW: Do you think that the national Republican Party and Maine have become a bad match?

PINGREE: Well, I do think Olympia Snowe was accurate in her reflection of the fact that the party had changed, she hadn`t. And, you know, in her statement in speaking to her on the phone, I think she found
this just untenable. I think you did a great job explaining the fact that it`s the Republican Party that`s gone to the extreme, while Democrats have actually gotten more moderate or conservative, or at the very least stayed the same.

It`s made the Senate a very difficult place to operate.

MADDOW: Is it a place you might ever want to work? Are you in fact thinking about running for the seat?

PINGREE: Oh, I am absolutely thinking about running for the seat. You know, this isn`t anything I was contemplating. You know, as of yesterday, we had two U.S. senators who were going to stay for a long time,
but we have been flooded with calls and e-mails and people offering to help.

And I think People understand nationally and certainly in our home state, this Senate seat could tip the balance or make it possible for Democrats to stay in control in a time when Republicans have gone way too
far to the right for my state for any other state frankly.

MADDOW: Speaking to the state of Maine right now -- obviously, a lot of liberals from the state of Maine watch this show. But we hear from a lot of conservatives, too. If you were making your case to the voters of
the state of Maine right now, would you tell them that as a senator, they should expect you to be essentially a moderate in keeping with the record of Olympia Snowe, who`s basically a moderate in her own party, although she leaned further and further right in recent years? Or would the state of Maine expect you to be a strong progressive in that seat?

PINGREE: Well, I have been a strong progressive in the House. I was previously in the Maine senate. And Maine has chosen to reelect me over and over.

So, I think I reflect the views of many Mainers, but I think we look at t differently. We`re not a hyper partisan state. We`re a third Republican, a third Democrat, a third independent. We like Olympia Snowe.
We like Chellie Pingree.

So, the fact is, people in Maine, they look for common sense solutions. They look for people who reach across the aisle, find common ground. You know, we`re a state I think that in the long run wants to fix
the problem not get stuck in ideology, and I think that`s what people want you to run on.

They want you to talk about what you`ve done, your record, you know, the things you`re engaged in, fighting for the middle class, clean energy jobs, health care -- you know, things that matter to everybody, that aren`t left or right. And I think they want us to move beyond political ideology, constant elections, you know, one fight after the other, they want things to start being fixed and feel good about America and feel good about their children`s future.

MADDOW: Because of that reputation and I think frankly a lot more states are like that than get credit for it, in the country, I think that reputation is why it was so surprising in 2010 when Maine elected not just
a lot of Republicans at the state level, but elected a Tea Party guy, pretty extreme far right guy, Paul LePage to be governor of the state. Republicans took control of the House and Senate there.

How has Republican governance at the state level under Paul LePage and those Republicans at the state level affected Mainers` view and your viewof the two parties?

PINGREE: Well, I think it`s gotten people feeling a little frustrated with the Republican Party. And remember, we put Governor LePage in the statehouse with 38 percent of the vote. It was a three-way race. You know, that can happen in Maine politics, you get an independent, a Republican, a Democrat and you end up electing somebody that doesn`t reflect everyone in the whole state of Maine.

I think people are very frustrated about that. I spent all Sunday at the caucuses in Maine, even before I knew I was considering this seat.

And the fact is people -- they are frustrated, they`re tired, they don`t like the agenda of the governor or the way that our legislature has moved too far to the right. I think they are ready for a big change and I
think we`re going to see a lot of changes in this election cycle.

MADDOW: Congresswoman Chellie Pingree, Democrat of Maine, a lot of attention paid to you in the next few days as you make this decision -- thanks for talking with us about it tonight. I really appreciate it.

PINGREE: Thanks for having me on.

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