MSNBC "The Rachel Maddow Show" - Transcript: 2014 Election

Interview

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So you want to talk people like that. The only people you want to talk to in the middle of a race like this, in a middle of a state like this while the Democratic Party is trying to extrapolate what happens here to the whole nation, is the guy who made it happen here first, who is now trying to make it happen for Democrats across the country. He is Senator Michael Bennet of the great state of Colorado.

SEN. MICHAEL BENNET (D), COLORADO: Thank you very much for having me here.

MADDOW: Thank you.

Let me ask you about the fight club assertion there, first. What I`m hearing, no Republicans will talk to me. But what I am hearing from people who Republicans will talk to is that Republicans actually have spectacularly upped to their ground game. They think they are in great shape and staying quiet about it until the election.

Do you think they`re blowing smokers? Do you think they`re opted?

BENNET: We haven`t seen any evidence of it. We know that AFP has knocked on doors and I can`t imagine what it`s like to come to a door and say I`m here to knock on door on behalf of the Koch brothers, you know, as opposed to on behalf of your party.

And that I think they claimed yesterday did knock on 140,000 doors since June. Udall`s campaign knocked on 145,000 doors last week.

So it maybe a difference of approached, certainly different of philosophy but the reason we do this is that particularly after citizens united, there`s no way we can compete on the air waves. And what we`ve got to do is this house by house, block by block. That`s what we did in Colorado in 2010. And that`s what we`re doing here and in the last year Arkansas and North Carolina, all across the country.

MADDOW: Is it just more of traditional door to door, knocking on doors hanging mails on door knobs, old school, shoe leather, get out the vote? Is it just more of it or you`re doing something substantial to that?

BENNET: It`s that combined -- so let`s talk about that, first of all. In order the do that, you have to have people that believe in the candidates and believe in the ideas and that are willing take on extra shifts and make extra phone calls. You know, this isn`t something that you pay for. Some people try to pay for it, but they don`t -- they`re not successful.

And by the way, I could have told you, you can called me a month before the Romney-Obama election here, I could have told you that Mitt Romney was not going to win. Not just because I saw polling but because there was no evidence of any field programs at all here.

But you asked what`s different. What`s different is the level of precision that people have when they know which door they`re knocking on and which, you know, which call they`re making. We`re much more precise today than we ever have been.

MADDOW: Why are the polls always so wrong here? Like, there`s all this excitement today in the national press. The polls show Mark Begich in Alaska surging ahead. And I`m thinking there`s never been an accurate poll in Alaska within 20 points of the actual result.

It`s hyperbolic but Alaska notoriously terrible, why should call to take up?

BENNET: It`s very -- it`s very hard poll Alaska, first of all. Second, you know, you only need about 132,000 votes to win in Alaska.

MADDOW: Right.

BENNET: For the entire senate race so there sometimes that poll --

MADDOW: But this is a big state?

BENNET: There`s so much bigger state.

MADDOW: Yes.

BENNET: And what -- I`m not sure I can answer the question, I could tell you that my poll. Thank you by the way, for reminding of that long summer when every single public poll said that I was going to lose and I was taking calls from my mom and everybody else saying, why keep you get it together out there.

Our poll had whole time actually had me up by one. The only time we were behind was in the very last week, and I can remember two nights our track head me down one a night. So thought well maybe going to get use the idea that we`re going to lose. But at the end we did -- actually win was nice to say, we won by 2.51 by 1.3.

MADDOW: Yes. Not that`s going to burn to your memory or anything.

BENNET: Right.

MADDOW: Senator Michael Bennet --

BENNET: Thirty-three thousand votes.

MADDOW: As you try to extrapolate your experience here to the rest of the country. There s a lot of doubters but it`s fascinating to watch who each eats crane (ph) that they afterwards.

BENNET: We will see.

MADDOW: Thank you Senator Bennet for staying.

BENNET: Thank you for having me here.

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