This is a rush transcript from “Hannity,” January 20, 2010. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.
SEAN HANNITY, HOST: Now last night Republican Scott Brown defied the odds defeating Martha Coakley in Democratic stronghold of Massachusetts. Now the win has put Democrats on their heels and their health care reform bill in serious jeopardy.
And joining me now on the phone with reaction to all of this is former Alaska governor, Fox News contributor, Sarah Palin.
Governor, the people’s republic of Massachusetts, who would have thought?
SARAH PALIN, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR (via phone): This is good. I think there are a lot of people who woke up this morning across the country feeling quite empowered and thankful for Massachusetts sending this message.
HANNITY: Well, what do you think? Is this a bellwether of the 2010 elections. First it’s Virginia, and New Jersey, now Massachusetts. What does it mean?
PALIN: You bet. This is, and there is more of it to come. The momentum that’s on the side of the people. We’re going to work hard to get the values and the policies back in place to get our country back to work.
And that’s what Scott Brown’s campaign represented.
HANNITY: It’s one year ago that Barack Obama was inaugurated. What does that one year mean to you? What do you think about his presidency? How do you grade his presidency?
PALIN: Well, I’m not impressed. Because I think I along with so many other Americans are looking at what the White House is doing to us instead of for us and we’re quite disenchanted.
I think there are so many people with high hopes for a positive change that was going to be ushered in. And there’s a lot of disappointment. Now what we have to be aware of, though, is the tactics that I believe will happen next on the heels of Scott Brown’s election and the shake-up there in New Jersey, and elsewhere on the east coast.
I think next what we’re going to see Obama have to shift towards is more lip service given to the American people in terms of he and the White House claiming that they understand people’s frustration but the problem is Americans, at this point, I believe are frustrated with the White House, with Obama’s administration and — I want to make people to be aware of the lip serve from D.C. saying, yes, we understand the people’s frustration.
HANNITY: Governor, what do you make of — the president today said well, no, this really is about, you know, George Bush and the last eight years as much as it is about me. Same comments, similar comments by Robert Gibbs, similar comments by Steny Hoyer.
Does that show a little bit that they are a little tone deaf, a little out of touch, and maybe misinterpreting what happened last night?
PALIN: They are very much out of touch and this is what I mean when I want Americans to be aware that they’re going to have to hang on to their hats as they observe now the left trying every trick in the book to ram through some pieces of their agenda in sort of panic mode, Sean.
Because these folks are not stupid. And they see that they messed up by assuming that Americans wouldn’t rise up against their agenda and their friends and the media’s agenda. But they’re smart enough to know that they may not have much time left to ram some things through.
So we’re going to get that lip service from D.C. saying that they understand people’s frustration. But what they don’t understand is that people are frustrated with growing government with that intrusion expansion of government into our lives and that’s what the Obama administration represents.
• Great American Blog: Sound off on Massachusetts shocker!
HANNITY: I noticed, Governor, on your blog you actually made the statement that a lot of people voted for Scott Brown and his campaign because they viewed his candidacy as a vote against the Democrats’ health care bill.
With that said we’ve had the president come out today, Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, David Axelrod, all saying that it’s full steam ahead. They’re going to go forward with this.
PALIN: That’s a illustration of the disconnect. Because Americans are looking at this as they certainly did last night in Massachusetts and cast their votes accordingly. They’re looking at this health care scheme as being not bipartisan, it’s full of some pretty sick backroom deals, that were buying votes on the scheme.
They’re looking at this as something that’s going to hurt Medicare and will wreck job opportunities and will rack up immoral and unsustainable national debt that we’re going to hand to our children.
A lot of people are looking at this saying this is why we are saying no to what the White House wants to ram down our throats today. So that disconnect there is just quite glaring, quite perplexing that even the comments today, via Reid, Pelosi, Obama, they still don’t get it.
HANNITY: Yes, it seems to me, especially the lead-up to this, Governor, that, you know, the payoff to unions, it’s like, if you supported Barack Obama and you helped him get elected, you don’t pay taxes. The Louisiana Purchase, the cornhusker kickback.
All of these things, you know, leading to the only way they can get this bill passed. And now they’re saying they’re still going to go forward with it, is the term arrogant, out of touch, tone deaf, all of the above? You know?
PALIN: It’s all the above. And that vote cast in Massachusetts yesterday was against that arrogance. Now when we talk about these payoffs, these backroom deals to get the health care vote purchased it’s quite frustrating for so many of us, especially with the unions.
I’m probably more of a pro-union member GOP-er than many because I really happen to like the people, the blue-collar men and women who are building this country and some happen to be members of a union.
It’s their leadership that I think many union members should be embarrassed by. That leadership that went in the backroom and struck that deal that they would be exempt from paying taxes when the rest of us will be paying taxes and ultimately subsidizing their health care.
It’s just another one of those provisions, one of those problems in the health care bill that people are saying, no, enough is enough. We’re going to rise up, our voice will be heard and we will have that voice heard via vote cast.
HANNITY: Governor, you — moving forward I did notice also on your blog that you’re going to be campaigning for Governor Perry. We just had Senator McCain on, I know you’re going to be in Arizona campaigning for him.
And I know you’re supporting Congresswoman Michele Bachmann in her race for reelection. You’re going to do a campaign for her. If you had to look into the Governor Palin’s crystal ball for 2010, what do you happening? Do you see this continuing? Do you see the Republicans taking over Congress? Do they have a shot at the Senate?
PALIN: I do. I have a lot of optimism towards some takeover of just common sense conservatives being elected and being reelected to make sure that we have a sound agenda and sound policies to get our country back on the right track.
I see the momentum is on the common sense and the constitutional conservative side and that should provide a lot of optimism for all of the country.
HANNITY: All right, Governor, thanks for being with us. Stay warm in Wasilla. We appreciate you being with us tonight.
PALIN: Thank you so much. Talk to you soon.
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