Mika Brzezinski: ..following developments on the Republican front, perhaps word on a Vice Presidential choice for John McCain's running mate-
Joe Scarborough: Yep.
Mika Brzezinski: -any minute now. We're working that story. We're hearing it's not Tim Pawlenty. But a lot to talk about in terms of what happened last night at Invesco Field. What a night it was.
Joe Scarborough: It really was. It was a historic night. I, I just, I wasn't alive in 1960, but I've got to believe you would have to go back to JFK's acceptance speech-
Mika Brzezinski: Yeah.
Joe Scarborough: -at the Los Angeles Coliseum in 1960 to have a political event that could've come close to rivaling this. This really was - and I'm just going to put it a sports analogy to it -
Mika Brzezinski: Go ahead. Yup.
Joe Scarborough: -this was Bolt-
Mika Brzezinski: It was.
Joe Scarborough: -running ahead, so far ahead of the field in the 100 and the 200 meters that nobody can come close to this guy. Pat Buchanan uses the term 'political athlete'.
Mika Brzezinski: Yes.
Joe Scarborough: This guy is second-
Mika Brzezinski: That he was-
Joe Scarborough: -to none.
Mika Brzezinski: -last night.
Pat Buchanan: Yeah.
Mika Brzezinski: There were two big stories last night. The, the hi- history, the cultural change happening in this country as well as the big political story and the challenges facing this country. And joining us now Democratic Governor from Kansas, Governor Kathleen Sebelius and also MSNBC analyst and retired General Wesley Clark. Thank you both for joining us along with Pat Buchanan-
Joe Scarborough: Well, Governor-
Mika Brzezinski: -getting ready to go.
Joe Scarborough: -we heard a big roar coming up from the Kansas delegation-
Mika Brzezinski: Yes.
Joe Scarborough: -on the other side of the, the arena-
Mika Brzezinski: They were going wild.
Joe Scarborough: -w-when they were doing the bio. How unbelievable is it that a kid with a family from Kansas could've risen to, to the, the heights that Barack Obama did last night - just history making, epic politically?
Kathleen Sebelius: (inaudible)
Mika Brzezinski: Okay, hold on Governor. We just need to put a mic on you. That'd be great. Thanks.
Joe Scarborough: That's alright.
Mika Brzezinski: We'll try that again-
(chuckles all around)
Joe Scarborough: You know s-
Mika Brzezinski: -as we look at pictures from last night-
Joe Scarborough: Yeah. Boy, those are great pictures.
Mika Brzezinski: -to cover our awkward moment.
Joe Scarborough: Yeah.
Mika Brzezinski: That looks a little better. I think we're going to be able to hear you now.
Joe Scarborough: Well, you know, you know, sometimes we put the mic on first and then let people talk.
Mika Brzezinski: Yeah.
Joe Scarborough: Sometimes we do it the other way just-
Kathleen Sebelius: So-
Joe Scarborough: Exactly.
Mika Brzezinski: Now you can think, rewind-
Kathleen Sebelius: (mic popping) at the mic.
Joe Scarborough: Alr-
Kathleen Sebelius: It's good.
Joe Scarborough: We, we wanted- we wanted you to get your thoughts together-
Mika Brzezinski: Yeah.
Joe Scarborough: - and now that you have, just a remarkable story last night.
Kathleen Sebelius: Well, it really is, and he has very strong Kansas ties. We're thrilled with the (mic pops) connection with the family. El Dorado, Kansas is right outside of Wichita, and his mom and his grandparents come out of Kansas, and there's a lot of pride. He came to Kansas on the day that we celebrate becoming a state. And that was the day I was able to endorse him, and standing room only crowd, people were thrilled.
Joe Scarborough: Yeah, you know, there was a book four years ago called What's the Matter With Kansas.
Kathleen Sebelius: Right.
Joe Scarborough: And it was elitist, and, and I like, I like Frank, but it was, it was elitists who were trying to figure out why Middle America always voted Republican. But last night-
Kathleen Sebelius: Yeah.
Joe Scarborough: -the convention I went to-
Mika Brzezinski: Yeah.
Joe Scarborough: -last night, that wasn't about Manhattan or Georgetown. That convention was Middle America if I've ever seen it. It looks like the Democratic Party is back, and they're reconnecting with people like my family that, that were-
Kathleen Sebelius: Right.
Joe Scarborough: -Democrats-
Kathleen Sebelius: Right.
Joe Scarborough: -their entire lives.
Kathleen Sebelius: That's right. I think there's this feeling that Middle America has been forgotten for the last eight years, that not only are they in real trouble in terms of economics, but they, this administration hasn't paid any attention to what's happening with families across America. And they're really looking for a leader who connects with them again, and I think Barack Obama last night made it very clear that he's that guy. He understands what's happening and telling that life story. The notion that a guy raised by a single mom who, you know, really worked hard to get where he is is somehow not connected to America, marrying Michelle who came out of a blue collar family, but again-
Joe Scarborough: Right.
Kathleen Sebelius: -you know, went to great schools, worked hard, and both of them chose public service rather than-
Mika Brzezinski: Whoa.
Kathleen Sebelius: -making a lot of money - they know what happening with families across America. They know how to connect, and they know the programs that we're going to need to turn this country around.
Joe Scarborough: Alright, we-
Mika Brzezinski: Okay, we, we have to talk about what - Did you get this from Chris?
Joe Scarborough: Yeah, we've got some breaking news right now. Chuck Todd is reporting that Mitt Romney will not be the Vice (bursts out laughing) Presidential nominee.
Mika Brzezinski: That he will not- no, no, no, no. He's no-
Joe Scarborough: No, I'm sorry, he will not be in Dayton.
Mika Brzezinski: Which-
Joe Scarborough: Okay, I-
Mika Brzezinski: Which would lead one to believe that he will not, unless they're doing something via satellite. (laughs)
Joe Scarborough: Yeah, I, and I doubt that's going to happen so-
Mika Brzezinski: Oh my gosh. He will not be in Dayton.
Pat Buchanan: Uh oh.
Mika Brzezinski: That's what Chuck Todd is reporting.
Joe Scarborough: Another on bites the dust.
Pat Buchanan: They don't have anymore but Lieberman, Joe. (bursts out laughing)
Mika Brzezinski: Andrea-
Joe Scarborough: Pat Buchanan has Lieberman chained to a radiator somewhere in Greenwich. It- we may be-
Kathleen Sebelius: Wow.
Joe Scarborough: -seeing an Alaska Governor-
Mika Brzezinski: It, it's not-
Joe Scarborough: -unknown by most of America.
Mika Brzezinski: That doesn't make sense.
Pat Buchanan: It-
Joe Scarborough: Well, you know what? If- I, I will say this, and let's just be really blunt about it, if John McCain's campaign thinks that by simply appointing a woman they are going to get Hillary Clinton's voters, that is condescending and insulting to women, and it is a terrible, terrible political faux pas.
Mika Brzezinski: There's something we don't know. There are-
Joe Scarborough: This will be a mistake.
Pat Buchanan: She is- She'd be-
Mika Brzezinski: There is something we don't know.
Pat Buchanan: Her immediate appeal is to the conservatives. They will love her. Fr- quite frankly, she is really one of them.
Joe Scarborough: But, but Pat-
Pat Buchanan: She's a heroine-
Joe Scarborough: -this is not 1994.
Pat Buchanan: I-
Joe Scarborough: It's not 1980.
Pat Buchanan: I agree, I agree with you.
Mika Brzezinski: It's not (inaudible)
Kathleen Sebelius: Right.
Pat Buchanan: Given the foreign policy-
Kathleen Sebelius: Right.
Pat Buchanan: -problems we got - and the General can talk about, you talk about Pakistan and Russia and Georgia, and given the fact that Joe Biden is on the ticket and she would be in a debate with him in probably a month, and you couldn't get up to speed on foreign policy, it's a real potential for a real disaster.
Joe Scarborough: You know, it sounds, it sounds - and I know I'm going to get blasted for saying this, it sounds like a Harriet Myers selection. 'Let's find a woman, whether she's experienced-'
Pat Buchanan: Yeah.
Joe Scarborough: '-or not.' And, and, General, I don't-
Mika Brzezinski: (laughs)
Joe Scarborough: -I don't know the Governor from Alaska.
Mika Brzezinski: Well-
Joe Scarborough: But perhaps if she were a two term Governor, I'd be talking differently. She's been there for a year and a half. Talk about the crises-
GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: Well-
Joe Scarborough: -that we are facing as a country-
GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: I know.
Joe Scarborough: -and what type of leadership's going to be required over the next four years.
GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: Well, I think the most immediate crisis we're actually facing is what's happening in Georgia-
Joe Scarborough: Yeah.
Mika Brzezinski: Yeah.
GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: -where Europeans are looking for American leadership and the Russians are stonewalling us and throwing it back in our face and saying that, they're even, Putin's even accused a Presidential candidate of having something to do with, with, with this or at least it having something to do with our Presidential campaign. So, this Georgia crisis is going to roll along, and it's going to distract Americans' attention it's going to be-
Joe Scarborough: And, and, and we've talked a-
GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: -a problem.
Joe Scarborough: We've talked about Pakistan for some time as the most dangerous country on the globe-
GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: Pakistan is a real-
Joe Scarborough: -not Iraq.
GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: -enigma right now
Joe Scarborough: Mushharraf-
Mika Brzezinski: Absolutely.
GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: Right.
Joe Scarborough: Musharraf's gone and they're trying and grappling.
GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: Nuclear armed, a haven for Al Qaeda.
Joe Scarborough: Who's, who's going to control those- Yeah, who's going to control those nuclear arms? Who's going to chase down-
GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: Well-
Joe Scarborough: - the Taliban? We don't have the answer.
GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: That's what Americans are going to ask, and they're going to expect people like Joe Biden-
Mika Brzezinski: Yeah.
GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: -in the Vice Presidential debate to be able to handle those questions. I just can't imagine who's going to go up against Joe Biden based on the discussion we're having right now, because what you saw from the Democrats last night is a really strong team. You saw Barack Obama who's talking about judgement. He's talking about the important judgement calls the President has to make. He's saying if there's going to be a debate about who's ready to be Commander in Chief and who's got the judgement and temperament, let's have it. And then you've got Joe Biden right behind him who's very experienced and savvy, just returned from Georgia. It's a heck of a line-up, and I think it's the-
Joe Scarborough: Yeah.
Mika Brzezinski: We-
GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: -kind of line-up that's going to reassure-
Mika Brzezinski: We've got something?
GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: -Middle America that Democrats are-
Mika Brzezinski: We have the mic? Okay.
GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: -a party that can take care of this country's national security.
Mika Brzezinski: Okay-
Joe Scarborough: Alright.
Mika Brzezinski: -Chuck is saying now it's not Romney.
Joe Scarborough: Alright.
Mika Brzezinski: It's definitely, we, we, we-
Pat Buchanan: It's not Romney?
Mika Brzezinski: Moments ago it's that he's not going to be in Dayton. Now, he's saying it is not-
Pat Buchanan: It's not Pawlenty and it's not Romney.
Mika Brzezinski: -not Pawlenty, not Romney.
Pat Buchanan: And the other two are Palin and-
Mika Brzezinski: Andrea just-
Pat Buchanan: -and well, Lieberman. Who was the fourth, who was the fourth one they were, been talking about? Oh I'll tell you it was-
Joe Scarborough: Wh-
Pat Buchanan: Ridge.
Joe Scarborough: Yeah.
Mika Brzezinski: Oooh, Ridge.
Pat Buchanan: Nobody's mentioned Ridge.
Joe Scarborough: Well, and, and-
Mika Brzezinski: That could be it.
Joe Scarborough: -let's put some perspective on this. I said it wasn't 1994. It's not 1980. Obviously John McCain won running to the center, and McCain has let people very close to him know for some time that if he had his way, he would go with Lieberman or he would go with Ridge.
Pat Buchanan (in harmony): With Ridge. Yeah.
Mika Brzezinski: Yup.
Joe Scarborough: And, so-
Pat Buchanan: It ain't going to be Lieberman, I'll tell you, because that would tear that convention to pieces over there.
Joe Scarborough: Well, a-and Buchanan-
Pat Buchanan: There would be a 'Stop Joe' right on the floor.
Joe Scarborough: Well, Buchanan, you would be the one leading it, shooting tear gas-
Pat Buchanan: Well, that's- (laughs out loud)
Joe Scarborough: -right across the bow. Governor, I want to show you another clip of Barack Obama -
Mika Brzezinski: Yes.
Joe Scarborough: -He had such, just a masterful speech last night - and get your response.
(from the convention speech)
Barack Obama: I know there are those who dismiss such beliefs as happy talk. they claim that our insistence on something larger, something firmer and more honest in our public life is just a Trojan horse for higher taxes and the abandonment of traditional values, and that's to be expected. Because of you don't have any fresh ideas, then you use stale tactics to scare voters.
(cheering)
If you don't have a record to run on, then you paint your opponent as someone people should run from.
(cheering)
You make a big election about small things.
(end clip of speech)
Pat Buchanan: I can't hear that either.
Kathleen Sebelius: No.
Pat Buchanan: Which part was it?
Mika Brzezinski: (laughs)
Joe Scarborough: Alright, talk, talk, talk about, Governor, if you will, how his words inspired that crowd and how the bar was set high, but somehow he exceeded those expectations.
Kathleen Sebelius: Well, I don't think there's any question people wanted to hear some specifics about where Barack Obama would take this country and he laid that out very clearly. They also wanted the notion that we can work together once again, that we really belong to one another, that we are our brother's and sister's keeper. I think Americans long for the time that we really are together again as a country and we rise together to the challenges we face. And he, he did a, I think, a brilliant job of combining those two - laying out the specifics, making a clear case about where he differs from John McCain and why he is the change we need and then calling on us to be, to be better, that America is a better country. We, we are better than the last eight years and we can do better of we work together.
Mika Brzezinski: Okay.
Joe Scarborough: And, a-and again, the Democratic Party, General, a changing Democratic Party, it was clear on the floor. This-
GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: Very much so.
Joe Scarborough: -this, this was not an elitist Party last night.
GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: This is everyday America.
Joe Scarborough: Yep.
GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: And as Barack Obama said, it's about young people as well.
Joe Scarborough: Yeah.
GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: And they're out, and they're with this Party.
Mika Brzezinski: Alright.
Joe Scarborough: Alright.
Mika Brzezinski: General Wesley Clark,-
Joe Scarborough: General, thank you.
Mika Brzezinski: Governor Kathleen Sebelius-
Joe Scarborough: Governor, thank you.
Mika Brzezinski: -thank you very much.
Joe Scarborough: Next time you come-
Mika Brzezinski: (laughs)
Joe Scarborough: -just for the heck of it, we'll make sure your ear piece-
Kathleen Sebelius: I can hear.
Joe Scarborough: -and microphone work.
Pat Buchanan: (laughs)
Mika Brzezinski: Uh, maybe.
Kathleen Sebelius: I can hear you.