MSNBC "All in with Chris Hayes" - Transcript: Mid Term Elections

Interview

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HAYES: On an extraordinary day when a Supreme Court vacancy creates the likelihood the court will shift even farther rightward, possibly shaped for decades, by yet another president who lost the popular vote, a reminder, as if we needed one, of how much elections matter.

Joining me now, Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, Chair of the Senate Democratic Outreach Committee.
And first, let me start with your reaction to the announcement of the retirement of Anthony Kennedy. Do you think Democrats should even consider the nominee or should they pledge to vote no now?

SANDERS: Well, I don`t think you vote no before you know who the nominee is. But I suspect the nominee will be just another right wing disaster. And our job is to mobilize the American people who overwhelmingly, among other things, do not believe that we should overturn Roe versus Wade, who believe that our gay brothers and sisters are entitled to be treated with dignity.

And all of those rights and all of the advances that we have made over the years are now increasingly in danger because while Kennedy was certainly not a liberal or progressive in any sense of the word on some issues, he was decent and voted to protect human rights.

HAYES: What is your read? Last night Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who we just had here at the table, won her primary. Your organization, Our Revolution, had endorsed her. She was a Bernie Sanders organizer.
Ben Jealous won in Maryland, also someone I think you had endorsed.

There is a lot of candidates you have endorsed throughout who have not won, who have lost to candidates -- you`re already nodding your head. I`m stating a fact.

So I`m asking you how you understand where the sort of primary of the Democratic Party is at right now.

SANDERS: It`s not a question of winning and losing. You can win 100 percent of the time by backing candidates with 50 points ahead in the poll and can outspend their opponents 10 to 1.

What Alexandria is about is exactly what the political revolution is supposed to be about. A year ago she was a waitress, then she got involved in politics. She ran on a progressive agenda -- medicare for All, raising the minimum wage to a living wage, making public colleges and universities tuition-free. Ben Jealous did the same, took on the entire Maryland establishment and is now the Democratic candidate for governor.

The point to be made here is that when you have candidates -- in both instances, Chris, these are first-time candidates. First time they`ve run. And when you have candidates fighting for a progressive agenda, working at grassroots organizing, knocking on doors, which is what both of these candidates did, you know what, you could take on the establishment and you can win elections that people never dream you`d could.

You`re not going to win it every single time. Great people have lost. But this is an example of what politics, real grassroots politics, is about. And I think we`re seeing this all over the country.and it`s a great thing.

HAYES: You know, there is this question about sort of mobilizing right now and tactics. There has been this kind of discussion about the legitimacy or acceptability of certain tactics, the -- not serving someone in a restaurant, heckling someone in a restaurant. I saw an interesting quote you gave that you thought it was bad idea. You did not approve of the restaurant owner…

SANDERS: That`s not exactly what I said.

HAYES: Senator, let me finish the question. The quote appeared that you said that you thought it was bad idea. And I`m curious what your feeling is about this kind of direct action or verbal confrontation that we`re seeing in so many instances?

SANDERS: Look, what I want to do is win. I want to move this country in a radically different direction than Donald Trump is. And I`m not sure that yelling at somebody in a restaurant is the way to do it. The way to do it is exactly the way Alexandria did it, it`s the way that Ben Jealous did it, it`s getting involved in grassroots politics. It is supporting president - - it is supporting progressive candidates. It is mobilizing people, and it is winning elections. That`s hard stuff to do.

Alexandria ran a brilliant campaign. She had a lot of support from people who were volunteering to help her. Ben did the same. That, to me, is what the future of progressive politics is about.

HAYES: What`s interesting to me is what I hear from you I want to win and I don`t think that`s the way to do it in the first part of that answer which I think is the shared view of Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi and a whole bunch of people who run for office who think like -- the voters won`t like this. It`s going to turn them off.

And then there is people who hear that and say I need to do something because of the crisis the country is in.

SANDERS: Well, if you need to do something, and god knows this country is in a terrible crisis,what you need to do is defeat one party rule right here in Washington, that means we`ve got win the House. We`ve got to win the Senate. We`ve got to get a new president in 2020. That`s hard stuff. It`s harder than just yelling at somebody.

It means Alexandria was involved in that campaign months after month. I suspect she had hundreds of volunteers knocking on doors. And the end result is you`re now going to have a fighting congresswoman from the Bronx who is going to be one of the progressive leaders in congress. That is what we`ve got to do.

You know, so people want to vent their anger in this way or that way, fine. I don`t stay up nights worrying about it. What I`m saying is what we have got to do is mobilize people in a productive, effective way. And that is to win elections so that we can end the disaster that`s taking place here in D.C. right now.

HAYES: Quickly, are the Senate Democrats ready for the fight that is going to happen right now over the Supreme Court nominee?

SANDERS: Well, we just learned about Kennedy`s decision today. And I`ve not yet been in any meetings. But I think what we`ve got to do is a couple of things. I think we have got to rally the American people around Roe versus Wade. Overwhelmingly, the American people support Roe versus Wade. And we have to make it clear that everything being equal, a Trump nominee is going to overturn that decision. And that means mobilizing millions of people to put pressure on the Republicans.

HAYES: All right. Senator Bernie Sanders, thank you very much.

SANDERS: Thank you.

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