1 00:00:02,433 --> 00:00:04,800 GEOFF BENNETT: Well, Pennsylvania is shaping up to be a critical country. State in this presidential 2 00:00:04,800 --> 00:00:08,233 election, with both the Trump and Harris campaign spending considerable time and money there. 3 00:00:10,133 --> 00:00:12,000 Congresswoman Madeleine Dean represents the state's Fourth District. That's a 4 00:00:12,000 --> 00:00:13,833 suburb of Philadelphia. And she joins us now. 5 00:00:13,833 --> 00:00:16,000 Great to have you back on the program. 6 00:00:16,000 --> 00:00:18,433 REP. MADELEINE DEAN (D-PA): I'm delighted to be here with you on this exciting night. 7 00:00:18,433 --> 00:00:22,300 GEOFF BENNETT: Well, look, when we last spoke in early July, you were among those Democrats 8 00:00:22,300 --> 00:00:27,300 who was supporting President Biden, even as party leaders were at the time privately suggesting he 9 00:00:29,466 --> 00:00:32,900 exit the race. You said he defeated Donald Trump once and that he had the record to do it again. 10 00:00:32,900 --> 00:00:35,166 I wonder what you make now of the way in 11 00:00:35,166 --> 00:00:38,666 which this party has so quickly coalesced around Kamala Harris. 12 00:00:38,666 --> 00:00:42,133 REP. MADELEINE DEAN: Well, and I do stand by Joe Biden. What a record of accomplishment, 13 00:00:42,133 --> 00:00:47,100 50-plus years. And I am delighted to see the kind of response that he gets tonight. 14 00:00:48,433 --> 00:00:50,333 It will blow the roof off this place, I'm certain. 15 00:00:50,333 --> 00:00:52,666 GEOFF BENNETT: As they start the sound check here as we're speaking. 16 00:00:52,666 --> 00:00:53,500 REP. MADELEINE DEAN: Exactly, yes. 17 00:00:53,500 --> 00:00:55,300 GEOFF BENNETT: Yes. 18 00:00:55,300 --> 00:00:58,033 REP. MADELEINE DEAN: But -- and all the lead-up speakers before him. 19 00:00:58,033 --> 00:01:03,000 But I was also clear-eyed about the challenges ahead of us. And I expressed that to my caucus, 20 00:01:04,933 --> 00:01:09,100 as well as to the campaign. I stand by the president and all of what he has done, 21 00:01:11,300 --> 00:01:14,233 all the accomplishments, I will say, alongside a Democratic Congress and a Democratic Senate. 22 00:01:16,333 --> 00:01:19,533 Think of all the bills that we have passed that he spearheaded and signed into law that changed 23 00:01:21,900 --> 00:01:25,233 our economy, grew jobs. So I'm just delighted with where we are. The enthusiasm is palpable back in 24 00:01:28,433 --> 00:01:33,433 my district, in the Fourth Congressional District, suburban Philadelphia. And delighted to be here. 25 00:01:34,300 --> 00:01:35,133 This is my first convention. 26 00:01:35,133 --> 00:01:36,033 GEOFF BENNETT: Really? 27 00:01:36,033 --> 00:01:37,900 REP. MADELEINE DEAN: Yes. 28 00:01:37,900 --> 00:01:39,900 GEOFF BENNETT: So, what do you expect we will hear from President Biden 29 00:01:39,900 --> 00:01:42,233 tonight as he makes the case for Vice President Harris as the party's nominee? 30 00:01:42,233 --> 00:01:44,966 REP. MADELEINE DEAN: I think we will hear more of the accomplishments and 31 00:01:44,966 --> 00:01:49,866 the record that they have set. And you can talk number one about the economy. And we 32 00:01:49,866 --> 00:01:54,233 have seen Donald Trump and J.D. Vance try to talk about the economy. They have put 33 00:01:54,233 --> 00:01:59,200 forward Project 2025. They have put forward the notion of big tariffs and mass deportations. 34 00:02:01,233 --> 00:02:04,866 That will be incredibly inflationary. Every economist tells us that. So they will talk 35 00:02:04,866 --> 00:02:09,033 about the economy. They will talk -- he will talk about the accomplishment 36 00:02:09,033 --> 00:02:14,033 of growing 15-plus million jobs, bringing inflation down, bringing manufacturing back, 37 00:02:16,133 --> 00:02:20,733 bringing the Safer Communities Act into law, which is actually saving lives from gun violence. 38 00:02:22,633 --> 00:02:27,066 It's just such a stark contrast of going back to something that was incredibly dark 39 00:02:29,000 --> 00:02:33,900 and caustic to our democracy, as capped off by January the 6th, as you well know, 40 00:02:36,800 --> 00:02:41,800 just a very criminal, corrupt set of norms for the former president. 41 00:02:43,866 --> 00:02:46,600 We're not going back, as my granddaughter says, who's 3. We're not going back. We're 42 00:02:46,600 --> 00:02:50,966 going forward for the American people, for my children, our grandchildren, 43 00:02:50,966 --> 00:02:55,933 for the economy, for the environment, for education, for women's rights, for freedom. 44 00:02:57,833 --> 00:03:00,066 GEOFF BENNETT: All of the enthusiasm, energy, unity on the Democratic side, 45 00:03:00,066 --> 00:03:04,466 is there a risk that that masks the fact that this is still a competitive race? And, 46 00:03:04,466 --> 00:03:07,433 as one Democrat today told me, this is Donald Trump's race to lose. 47 00:03:07,433 --> 00:03:11,700 REP. MADELEINE DEAN: I absolutely think you're right. We mustn't get overly enthusiastic, 48 00:03:11,700 --> 00:03:16,700 and so rose-eyed glasses that we think that this is going to be a cakewalk. It is not. 49 00:03:19,066 --> 00:03:21,533 And my district, suburban Philadelphia, is going to be the place to watch. Pennsylvania will be 50 00:03:21,533 --> 00:03:26,533 the Keystone State again. We have to dig in. We have to do the work to protect our democracy, 51 00:03:28,600 --> 00:03:31,600 to grow our democracy. And what a better place to do it than in the birthplace of our democracy? 52 00:03:31,600 --> 00:03:36,600 So I'm also clear-eyed about that. This is not just such enthusiasm that you win 53 00:03:38,700 --> 00:03:42,033 a presidential race this way. We have to dig in and do the work and tend to our democracy. 54 00:03:43,966 --> 00:03:46,600 GEOFF BENNETT: Are Democrats in a better position to hold the House -- or, rather, 55 00:03:46,600 --> 00:03:51,266 win the House, in your view, with a Harris/Walz ticket than they were with a Biden/Harris ticket? 56 00:03:51,266 --> 00:03:55,433 REP. MADELEINE DEAN: I feel the enthusiasm. And one of our worries was that there was -- perhaps 57 00:03:55,433 --> 00:03:59,166 people would sit out the election, particularly the congressional elections, 58 00:03:59,166 --> 00:04:03,900 not knowing the difference between a majority and a minority and what difference that makes. 59 00:04:03,900 --> 00:04:08,066 Take a look at the difference that it has made this Congress as Democrats went into the 60 00:04:08,066 --> 00:04:13,066 minority. We passed six massive big bills when we were in the majority. This year, 61 00:04:15,000 --> 00:04:17,933 the Republican majority can't get out of their own way. You saw what they did in 62 00:04:17,933 --> 00:04:22,666 terms of having a speaker. You saw what they have done in terms of passing budget bills. 63 00:04:22,666 --> 00:04:27,666 They let us go home a week early in this incredibly crucial cycle because they couldn't 64 00:04:29,966 --> 00:04:32,900 get their own members to do the work of passing budget bills with a seriousness about governing. 65 00:04:34,600 --> 00:04:37,233 GEOFF BENNETT: You represent a solidly Democratic 66 00:04:37,233 --> 00:04:42,233 district President Biden won by some 24 points back in 2020. In many ways, 67 00:04:44,366 --> 00:04:46,800 what happens in your district is a case study for how Democrats might vote across the country. 68 00:04:46,800 --> 00:04:50,433 How are they responding to Kamala Harris and to the policies she's put forward so far? 69 00:04:50,433 --> 00:04:54,666 REP. MADELEINE DEAN: Well, I have been doing a number of canvass launches and helping people get 70 00:04:54,666 --> 00:04:59,233 their literature together, picking up their signs and getting their turfs to go knock on doors. 71 00:04:59,233 --> 00:05:03,100 And I will tell you I have met person after person. One man, in particular, 72 00:05:03,100 --> 00:05:06,466 he said -- he walked up to me and he said: "I'm not even sure that I know you, 73 00:05:06,466 --> 00:05:11,466 but I know you're my congresswoman. I am 59 years old. I have never put a yard sign up. 74 00:05:13,733 --> 00:05:16,933 I have never contributed to a campaign. I have never knocked on a door for a candidate. I'm in." 75 00:05:18,866 --> 00:05:21,866 That's really the feeling we are getting in our district. People are in. They want 76 00:05:21,866 --> 00:05:25,900 to do the work of democracy because they recognize how important it is. 77 00:05:25,900 --> 00:05:28,466 GEOFF BENNETT: Democratic Congresswoman Madeleine Dean, thanks so much for being with us. 78 00:05:28,466 --> 00:05:29,633 REP. MADELEINE DEAN: Thanks for having me.