Richardson: President gives us a path forward

Former New Mexico governor on Obama's record

This is a rush transcript from "Hannity," September 4, 2012. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

SEAN HANNITY, HOST OF "HANNITY": We are coming to you live from the Democratic National Convention; we are in Charlotte, North Carolina. And as we kick off the first major night of speeches here at the DNC, I am joined by former New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, who will give us a preview of what is expected in coming days. Governor, good to see you again. How are you?

FMR. GOV. BILL RICHARDSON, D-N.M.: Nice to see you, Sean. I'm fine.

HANNITY: Are you all right? Staying out of trouble?

RICHARDSON: I'm good. Staying out of trouble.

HANNITY: Here's a simple question, do you think the 47 million Americans that are on food stamps. Do you think they've enjoyed the last four years? The one in six Americans in poverty? The 25 million un and underemployed? It is not only a matter of are we better off -- are they enjoying this four-year period of Obama?

RICHARDSON: Look, the economy's in trouble. People are hurting. There's no question about that. And the President acknowledges that. But you know, Sean, when he came into office, 800,000 Americans were losing their jobs per month. There's 4.7 million new jobs that have been created. I know the economy is hurting. But what this president wants to do is from the middle out; bolster the economy, for the middle class, for the worker. He's a pro-growth Democrat.

He is somebody that wants to create jobs, he saved the auto industry. He gave us what I think is a good health care plan. Internationally, he decimated Al-Qaeda. He took out bin Laden.

He has had free trade agreements. He has been a president that has brought the international community together in the Arab Spring --

HANNITY: The Arab spring is a disaster; because now the Muslim Brotherhood is in charge. They are meeting with the Iranians. Let's stop on the economy. Because it really comes down to -- he says that George Bush was unpatriotic and irresponsible -- his words in July of 2008, for $4 trillion in debt in eight years.

Here we are on this very night. The country has $16 trillion in debt, $5.4 trillion in Obama in three and a half years. We have a net loss of jobs, hundreds of thousands fewer Americans working than when he took office. That's not the guy who said he'd cut the deficit in half and get people working with shovel-ready jobs.

RICHARDSON: No.

HANNITY: So he failed, didn't he?

RICHARDSON: No! What you will see in the speech is a path forward. What he wants to do about creating jobs. He's going to talk about energy. He's going to talk about immigration, about technology, about creating jobs, about training. He's going to talk about how he, as a president is going to govern in the next four years --

HANNITY: But governor, wasn't that in the speech four years ago -- his word, not mine? He'd cut the deficit in half, $5.4 trillion later. He said four years ago pass my stimulus or we face a catastrophe. I will create shovel-ready jobs.

RICHARDSON: He got no help from Republicans --

HANNITY: Wait a minute. Two years, Democratic Congress, House and Senate.

RICHARDSON: He passed a major health care bill. He passed a stimulus bill, as a governor, it helped me. It helped my state. Teachers kept their jobs. Firefighters kept their jobs.

HANNITY: We have fewer Americans working. He said the shovel jobs were not so shovel ready.

RICHARDSON: Unemployment has gone down --

HANNITY: Unemployment is actually 8.3 percent when he came into office, it was 7.8 percent.

RICHARDSON: I think you're going to see this president talk about bringing the country together, about bipartisanship. It's really up to the other side, also, Sean. I think it makes no sense to cast blame.

I'd like to see that bipartisanship come back that we used to have in the House of Representatives, in the Clinton years. I think there's a possibility that the voters are going to send the message that everybody running -- Congress, the Senate, the presidency -- that they want us to come together.

HANNITY: Let me go back. I'm not trying to harp on one point. But to me, this is very key in terms of does the president deserve re-election. He promised to cut the deficit in half. He had Nancy Pelosi in the House.

Harry Reid in the Senate, he got his budget passed, stimulus and health care bill passed and the economy by every objective. Let me give you some numbers. When Obama took office, median income was $55,000 and its $50,000 today.

When he took office, gas was $1.85 a gallon. It's $3.78 today. When he took office, the national debt was $10.6 trillion. Today, it goes past $16 trillion. We have lost hundreds of thousands fewer Americans working.

You know, Stephanie Cutter said by every measure, things were better. I read this, by every measure things are worse and that after four years, his policies didn't work. Tell me why we should believe him this time?

RICHARDSON: The American people like him. They believe in him. They trust him. That confidence factor is very evident in poll after poll. I think what he's going to say in two nights is this.

We need to come together and these are my plans, but he's going to have to get help from Republicans. That's want happening. This has been -- I saw that Republican convention in Tampa, Sean.

HANNITY: I was there.

RICHARDSON: It was negative!

HANNITY: I have been watching this tonight. It has been --

RICHARDSON: It's positive.

HANNITY: Did you see the lady from Planned Parenthood or NARAL? It wasn't that positive. Let me ask you this. You talked about the president's popularity; I will agree up until recently that was the one thing he was able to maintain.

Gallup now has him down to 43 percent, ABC News, the lowest pre-convention popularity of any president since 1980. He's down 7 points among women and Romney got a five-point popularity bounce in the polls.

RICHARDSON: Look, there are a lot of polls. I can give you other polls going the other way --

HANNITY: You brought them up.

RICHARDSON: The key is going to be those battleground states, states like New Mexico. States like Arizona, states like Colorado, Nevada, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Florida, the president in those states, I think is still ahead.

Those are going to be the states, especially those Hispanic states where I'm from that I think are going to be decisive, Sean, because a very strong anti-immigrant policies by the other side. You're going to see.

HANNITY: What do you mean, anti-immigrant -- I don't want to get off on a discussion here, if people enforce the law, how is that anti-immigrant? My grandfather came here at the early turn of the last century and he had $40 in his pocket. He came here legally. Is it wrong to ask the people to come legally?

RICHARDSON: No. But it is wrong to usurp the federal power, the Constitution, as Arizona did, and take a position that is in contrast --

HANNITY: But, the federal government wasn't enforcing the law.

RICHARDSON: -- which was racially profiling. The Supreme Court has turned that down. So I think we are a nation of laws. We need comprehensive immigration, a plan that says to the 12 million, you have to earn a path forward to legalization. We have to enhance border security. We have to penalize those that hire illegals--

HANNITY: Let me ask you this, was it wise for the Democratic Party in 2004 in their platform, God was mentioned seven times. Last year, the word God-given potential was removed from this platform. And also Jerusalem being Israel's capital was removed. And it's getting a lot of play. Was that a wise decision by the Democratic Party?

RICHARDSON: I was chairman of the platform committee. It doesn't mean that much. And I think the Republicans will tell you the same thing. But if you look at the God language, if you look at the Democratic, there's a lot of faith-based language, the importance of faith. I think it's the strongest faith-based language any of platform.

HANNITY: Does God-given potential was removed; it was down from seven mentions in 2004. One mention in 2008, God is out, God has been eliminated--

RICHARDSON: No. This is the party of faith, the Democrats. I don't think that's going to be an issue.

HANNITY: You don't think it's an issue to say that Jerusalem shouldn't be the capital of Israel --

RICHARDSON: Sean, the United States is for a two-state solution. The United States wants to see the Israelis and Palestinians come together.

This is what this president wants to do. We're for a two-state solution. We have the strongest platform -- you heard today, all of the accolades to the president for his stance with Israel. He is the most pro-Israel president we've ever had - -

HANNITY: I don't think Benjamin Netanyahu was left in the White House would not say the same. Governor, we got to run. Good to see you.

RICHARDSON: All right, buddy.

HANNITY: Thank you. One of the few Democrat who is willing talk to me. So I gotta be very nice to you.

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