CNN "The Lead with Jake Tapper" - Transcript: 2014 Congressional Elections
Interview
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TAPPER: So, how is the vice president's acknowledgment that Republicans could pull off an Election Day sweep, how is that sitting with members of his party?
Joining me now live is Florida Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz. She's chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee.
Congresswoman, thanks so much for joining us.
REP. DEBBIE WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (D-FL), DNC CHAIRWOMAN: Thank you, Jake.
TAPPER: Vice President Biden says Democrats are going to keep the Senate, but clearly preparing for a change with all the lessons, historical precedents that he gave, Gloria, talking about how the White House should be ready to compromise with the Republican Congress. Should the Democratic Party as a whole be preparing for this takeover?
WASSERMAN SCHULTZ: I agree with the vice president. We're going to hold the Senate tomorrow night.
And the reason we're going to hold the Senate, Jake, is twofold. We have -- going into Election Day -- a superior ground game that's run circles around the Republicans. We have more absentee ballots, 25,000 more absentee ballots requested in Iowa and more returned in Iowa. We have almost 50 percent of the early vote in North Carolina, is Democrats, to 32 percent for the Republicans.
We really significantly increased our early vote turnout here in Florida over our 2010 turnout. And this was a razor-thin election four years ago. Charlie Crist will be elected the first Democratic governor in the 21st century in Florida because the bottom line is voters are going to the polls the last few weeks and tomorrow asking themselves one question, who has my back, who cares about the issues that matter the most to me, making sure I can reach the middle class and fighting for me to be able to succeed and Republicans who have taken us backwards.
So, in terms of compromise --
TAPPER: I guess we'll see, yes.
WASSERMAN SCHULTZ: Yes, sure, we'll see.
But in terms of compromise, you know, Republicans have been obstructionists over and over again. And Ted Cruz just today doubled down on that obstruction and promised that if for some strange reason they do take the majority, that he's going to push as hard as he can to make sure that just like the obstruction in the House, that the Senate digs in and does as much to block the president and stop him from making progress as they could. That's we can express.
TAPPER: Congresswoman, do you think it's been an effective strategy for so many Democrats to distance themselves from President Obama as much as they have this cycle? Or should more Democrats in battleground districts, battleground states have talked about President Obama in a positive way, tried to get the Obama coalition out, talked about the economy improving?
WASSERMAN SCHULTZ: Jake, the president really is our best asset. He's our best GOTV motivator, our best fundraiser. He's let us --
TAPPER: But he hasn't been deployed, he hasn't been deployed.
WASSERMAN SCHULTZ: Look, I'll sack up our surrogates against Republican surrogates any day. We've got President Obama and Vice President Biden, Secretary Clinton, President Clinton, and they've got Ted Cruz, Chris Christie and Rand Paul. So, we're in pretty good shape in terms of who's been deployed to stump for our candidates.
But look at what we've got in terms of President Obama's success as a president, 55 straight months of job growth in the private sector --
TAPPER: But this is exactly my point.
(CROSSTALK)
WASSERMAN SCHULTZ: -- since the Great Depression.
TAPPER: Congresswoman, this is exactly my point. This is what I don't hear from a lot of Democratic candidates.
In fact, let's just take one -- in Colorado, Democratic Senator Mark Udall, he's in an incredibly tight reelection race. You don't hear him talking about what you were just talking about, as much as you hear him talking about women's reproductive rights. He's been mockingly referred to as "Senator Uterus." And according to "The Guardian" newspaper, Udall on Sunday was giving a speech to the faithful, the Democratic faithful, he said, "I'm proud to stand for reproductive freedom", and immediately, a top Colorado Democratic donor in the crowd yelled out, "That's the only thing you stand for, Jesus Christ!" He's giving voice to the frustration many Democrats have expressed that Udall has talked too much about women's reproductive rights and not enough about other issues like the economy.
Do you think it's time to get a new playbook for Democrats, instead of this war on women thing that has worked in the past but doesn't seem to be that effective this year?
WASSERMAN SCHULTZ: Jake, there's a reason that women voters are turning out and overwhelmingly supporting our Democratic candidates like Mark Udall, like Bruce Braley. I mean, the gap between Republicans and Democrats with women is huge not only because we've supported women's right to make their own health care choices instead f of their bosses or politicians, but also because we support equal pay for equal work and the Republicans have blocked it at every turn.
And we support an increase in minimum wage and Republicans don't and have blocked it every turn.
So, the pocketbook, bread-and-butter middle class issues that voters are going to be deciding these elections on are what is going to drive our success tomorrow. And at the end of the day, that is the question that will turn on for every single voter. They want to make sure that they've got elected officials all across this country -- and I'm on the ballot tomorrow, too -- I know what I hear from my constituents is that they want us to work together. They want us to focus on jobs and the economy.
What they don't want is a Republican majority in the Senate that would double down on suing the president for doing his job or shutting the government down like Ted Cruz led the fight to do it a year ago which cost our economy $24 billion.
TAPPER: All right.
WASSERMAN SCHULTZ: That's what we can expect. And if Republicans do take over -- I don't think they will, because I think voters across the country will reject their brand of Republican Tea Party extremism.
TAPPER: And the beauty is we get to see what they're actually going to do tomorrow.
WASSERMAN SCHULTZ: Yes, we do.
TAPPER: Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, thank you so much.
WASSERMAN SCHULTZ: Thank you.
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