Live from Music Row Friday morning on the Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy – broadcast on Nashville’s Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. – host Leahy welcomed Tennessee (R), Sen. Marsha Blackburn, to the newsmakers line.
During the third hour, Blackburn discussed the momentum she was seeing for President Trump and felt optimistic about the upcoming election but noted that there was still more work to do. She also weighed in on the Senate races in both California and Minnesota suggesting that the people of those states were tired of the violence and will vote accordingly and therefore flip the House.
Leahy: We are joined on the line now by our good friend Senator Marsha Blackburn. Good morning, Senator Blackburn.
Blackburn: Good morning. How are you?
Leahy: Crom and I are great here. And you wanted to talk a little bit about the election four days from today. I see momentum out there for President Trump. What do you see?
Blackburn: I’m seeing a good bit of momentum for him all across the country and this is a good thing. You know, this race is pretty much where it was in 2016 when everybody was saying, oh this is going to be a runaway for Hillary Clinton. No contest. She’s got this. They had ordered the balloons. They had ordered the confetti and the fireworks. And then what do you know about ten o’clock election night. They started canceling all of that. The polling had been so off base.
Carmichael: Let me ask you a couple of questions about Senate races. Is Joni Ernst going to win in Iowa?
Blackburn: Well, of course, we don’t know what the outcome is going to be. But when you look at states like North Carolina, South Carolina, Iowa and Michigan, and Minnesota, and now this week after that last debate New Mexico because of the oil and gas issues. When you look at Arizona, because of the oil and gas issues and Biden’s comments we are doing really well. We are doing really well. We’re not comfortable but we are optimistic.
Carmichael: Well, that’s a very good position to be in because you then were still pushing all the way through the last possible vote on election day.
Blackburn: You got it. That’s exactly right. You know like Fred Thompson used to say and I know you heard him say it many times when he was around with us. He would say there are two ways to run, unopposed or flat-out. (Laughter)
Leahy: I love that saying.
Blackburn: So we are running flat out.
Carmichael: Well good.
Leahy: So Senator Blackburn, you are not up this year. But for the next four days, how will you spend your time?
Blackburn: I am going to be out campaigning. I’m in Alabama right now. I will go to Arizona. I will be in Tennessee. I’ll be in Georgia. We are working and trying to help hammer out this vote. There’s a couple of things, we want as many votes in the ballot box as possible so that President Trump has a greater share of the popular vote as he can possibly have. And likewise, we want all of our up and down the ballot races to have a hefty turnout. So you’re going to see us working non-stop.
Carmichael: It looks to me like that Republicans running for the House in California have got a good bit of momentum going for them. Can you give us any comment on that?
Blackburn: Yes I do. You know that is something. They lost about six seats out there. It’s what gave Pelosi the margin and they did it because they had harvested all these ballots. Those races were lost after election day. And so Republicans have been very careful and watchful of that. I think they’re wiser to what the Democrats were doing with the harvesting. Plus when you look at the issues around COVID, the massive lockdowns in that state, and the wildfires because they will not manage their forest and the underbrush.
And people are going hey, wait a minute. Joe Biden says he’s going to keep us in lockdowns. Keep people out of work. Keep kids out of the school. Ruin all of these businesses. The live entertainment industry is dying on the vine. All the guys that are grips and gaffers and stagehands and lighting techs and sound techs. They have zero business. Zero. So you’re going to see some changes in these California Houses.
Carmichael: Good.
Leahy: Senator Blackburn. Where will you be election night Tuesday?
Blackburn: I’m going to be back in Tennessee on election night. Looking forward to getting home. I’ve got to tell you, it’s been a long time in DC working on Judge Barrett now Justice Barrett confirmation being a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee. So, you know, I have that not had an October in the state. I’ve had an October working on federal judges and a Supreme Court Justice.
Carmichael: Well, we appreciate everything you do. I’ll tell you that.
Leahy: Four words I love to hear, Justice Amy Coney Barrett. And thank you for your help with that.
Blackburn: You got it. Yeah, I tell you I think everybody’s happy that she’s there.
Leahy: One last question. How many hours of sleep a night have you gotten in this last week of the campaign?
Blackburn: (Chuckles) Not much, but that’s okay.
Carmichael: How are we doing in the Minnesota Senate race?
Blackburn: You know, we’re doing great. I just did a radio show up in Minnesota. The president is going to go up there today to do a rally. That Senate seat is tied up. This has turned into a turnout race so it’s a toss-up.
Carmichael: Well, I would imagine that with all the violence in the Minneapolis area and the destruction of property the people up there have to be looking at that and saying I have a Democrat governor. I have a Democrat mayor. I have a Democrat senator, and I have a destroyed city.
Blackburn: That’s exactly right. And safety and security is the number one issue up there.
Carmichael: And that’s logical.
Leahy: And the Republican candidate up there, Jason Lewis was your colleague in the House I think for a term?
Blackburn: He was. He has run an outstanding race. And you are so right in your summation of that. People are going hey, wait a minute. We’ve got Ilhan Omar. We got Tina Smith. They’re voting with Pelosi and Schumer about a hundred percent of the time. And we’ve got Minneapolis, St. Paul cities that are in ruins. We’ve got Biden saying no oil.
Leahy: All these are bad things for Minnesota. Senator Marsha Blackburn, thanks so much for joining us. Be safe in your travels and we look forward to seeing you in Tennessee on Tuesday.
Blackburn: Absolutely.
Carmichael: Thank you. Thanks so much.
Leahy: Thank you very much, Senator Marsha Blackburn.
Listen to the third hour here:
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Tune in weekdays from 5:00 – 8:00 a.m. to the Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy on Talk Radio 98.3 FM WLAC 1510. Listen online at iHeart Radio.
Background Photo “U.S. Capitol” by Gage Skidmore CC BY-SA 2.0.
