Wisconsin senator Tammy Baldwin. Sen. Baldwin s about her career and wisconsin political history. Brian senator Tammy Baldwin, go back to that empty apartment. Convention night 1984 in wisconsin. What is the story . Sen. Baldwin i was fresh out of college. Had yet to land my first job. The ink was hardly dry on the diploma. I had a double major in mathematics and government. My whole future was ahead of me. My first efficiency apartment, sparsely furnished. As you suggest. Mattress on the floor. Little tiny television on the ledge between the kitchen and the rest of the room. I watched the Democratic National convention. I watched Geraldine Ferraro take the stage and with my whole life ahead of me, i said to myself i can do anything. I can aspire to anything. That image of a woman for the first time being nominated to one of the highest positions in the land, in the world. It was a transformative moment for me. That moment. Watch we have a little bit of video from 1984. R stop [video clip begins] Geraldine Ferraro as i stand before the American People and think of the honor this Great Convention has bestowed upon me, i recall the words of Martin Luther king, junior. He said, occasionally and life there are moments which cannot be completely explained by words. Their meaning can only be articulated by the inaudible language of the heart. Tonight is such a moment for me. Brian anybody told you you look a little like her . Sen. Baldwin not at the time, because i was a 20 twoyearold College Graduate at the time. It was the obvious. I think it matters, the contributions of women. Substantively. I think there is an element of symbolism we ignore. The idea that i had never seen somebody who looked a little bit like me in a role such as that. The nominee for vice president. I think when you begin to see people who have shared a life of experiences, especially when there are class ceilings. There are barriers or obstacles. I think when you see that, it opens up doors and possibilities you did not know existed. Or you were not able to open them before. Brian so you graduated from madison, wisconsin sen. Baldwin smith college. Brian so what did you do from there . Took aldwin i actually year off school before beginning law school. It was a fascinating time for me because i launched fully into politics. I volunteered for every activist organization. Well, not all of them but a lot of the advocacy organizations. Internship in the Governors Office working on womens issues. In initiativeg on in the State Government where we were looking at whether we compensate fairly between not just people who work sidebyside but classes that were femaledominated or maildominated or mixed. It was a perfect study for a math and government major. A lot of it was numbercrunching and Statistical Analysis and at the same time calling for policies to create fairness and equity in pay across State Government. So a combination of doing that during the day and following the city council and board to the evening kept me out of trouble. I might say. Aunt working on peoples campaigns. Demystifying the process. Andink between that watching that can mention have this inkling that first of all, it brings me great joy working to better peoples lives. But maybe i might run someday. That, not too long after after my year off, that i entered at law school. And started studying law and before you knew it, there was in empty county board seat. My county board supervisor who represented the campus and district announced she was retiring and all of a sudden my hat was in the ring. Brian how long were you on the county board . Sen. Baldwin eight years. That spanned the time from 19861994. I was advised by a wise professor that i should thinking carefully before i ran while in law school. But he got a glimmer in his eye and said, if you decide to do this, you will have my full support. The county board, it was dangerous for a law student, because i could write local laws or i could study law and i found the work that i did on the county board to be so exciting and so wonderful. Now, i did finish law school. Brian while you were on the county board . Sen. Baldwin yes. Brian what was the first year you got elected to the house of representatives . Sen. Baldwin 1998. Between that service in local government and federal government, i did serve six statein the wisconsin assembly. Brian and the first time you ran for the senate was what year . Sen. Baldwin 2012. Brian so this is your first term. Sen. Baldwin this is my first term. Then senior senator herb kohl, after many years of Exemplary Service to the state of wisconsin, announced his retirement. That was in2011 may of 2011 and i geared up and it was a very exciting race. Brian lets go back to madison, wisconsin. You were raised there by who . Sen. Baldw my maternal grandparents. Both were first of all, im very lucky they were there for me when i needed them. My mother was very young when i was born and going through a divorce. 19yearsold. So, i was very lucky to have them there for me when i needed them. My grandfather was a professor at the university and my grandmother, during my early years, was on staff at the university as a Costume Designer and the university theater. My grandfather, a biochemist. So i would go from costume to Biochemistry Lab and look at the fascinating work that each of them were doing. It was a wonderful upbringing, interesting, and again, i was so lucky to have them there for me. My grandmother was 56 when i was born. Born in 1906, before women had the right to vote, and lived to 94yearsold, which meant she got a chance to vote for me for congress. What to a span, right . Brian what was your relationship with your mother over the years and is she still alive . Sen. Baldwin she is. My mother was always in madison. For my young years. After having me, she was able to complete university education. It took a few years. Im actually up to about her shoulder in her graduation picture. And then i would often see her on a weekend, almost like a custodial relationship divorced parents might have if you can imagine that in todays terms. Ultimately, in my adult years, she had an Employment Opportunity in the twin cities area of minnesota. So that is where she is. She is now retired. Brian how would you describe wisconsin . Sen. Baldwin i think of it in sort of three respects. One is the people. The hardest work ethic you will find. In Incredible Group of people. Descendents of immigrants who built a state that makes things, else thing. Builds things. Very impressive. Also a strong agricultural tradition. Oftentimes, artisan methods that were brought from europe, various places, a lot of norwegians, swiss, german immigrants across the state, so i think a lot about the people. I think about our Natural Resources. We are a state that is blessed with freshwater sources. We have three coasts. Our east coast is lake michigan. Our north coast is lake superior. Our west coast is the st. Croix and mississippi rivers. Inland, we have these incredible Natural Resources that we cherish. And it needed to fight to protect it in these times. And need to fight to protect in these times. And then, i think about its history and political figures of great stature. I think about the progressive tradition, the involvement of people in the democratic and political process, and i think about our policy legacy, whether that be the mark that we made on National Policy by helping draft the Social Security law that still stands to this day, one of the greatest things we ever did in this country. It was two economists from the university of wisconsin who went out to be part of that drafting process. I think about all of our firsts in education, in labor law, and employment. In civil rights arenas. The historicabout figures to shape those in i also have to say, today, i think about how we have lost some of that and it concerns me greatly. Brian i read somewhere that wisconsin was responsible for the first statewide primary . Sen. Baldwin for example, Bob Lafollette, sr. , helped shepherd the change whereby senators were not appointed by the legislatures, but demanded elections. So i guess i dont know if it was the first, but the idea that it wasnt going to be the party bosses who made the decision of who the nominees were in smokefilled backrooms, but rather the people, who were going to get a chance to vote in free and fair elections. Brian we need to go back to the early 1900s to look at Bob Lafollette, sr. Heres a minute of it. [video clip] passive citizenship is not enough. Must really aggressive for what is right if government is to be saved from those who are aggressive for what is wrong. There is work for everyone. The field is large. It is a Glorious Service for the country. The call comes to every citizen. It is an unending struggle to make and keep the government representatives. Ancient one should count into a build at leastto a part of his life into the life of his country. Share in the making of america according to the plan of the others. Brian he was a republican. Sen. Baldwin yes he was. Brian but a progressive. Sen. Baldwin he founded the Progressive Movement in the progressive party. He was instrumental in that. Brian put him in perspective in your life. When did you learn about him . Sen. Baldwin i dont remember when i didnt know about fighting bob. We had a High School Named after him. We had lots of ways to remember him growing up. I dont remember not knowing of him. I do remember learning more about him, especially some interesting things when i became a member of the senate. I admired his political legacy. Ill give you an example of something very small that i learned about him. Theres a tradition in the senate of making a big deal about your first floor speech. You are supposed to wait a few months before you do it. Many of your colleagues sit and actually listen, which doesnt happen very often when people are giving floor speeches. And so i wanted to study what my predecessors had risen to talk about before i gave mine. I learned that fighting Bob Lafollett sr. Had given his maiden speech on opposing a Railroad Regulation bill because it didnt go far enough. He was known for fighting the monopolies of the day. His maiden speech went on for three days. He in fact, lets say antagonized some of his colleagues by taking such a long time. He wasnt filibustering, but he was making his point. The galleries were filled. Of course, they wouldnt be at of course, they would be at that time. So when i started, noting some progressive and populist themes, i promised my colleagues that it would not take three days. Brian so a progressive you are. What does that mean . Give us a couple major issues. That a progressive would be for. Sen. Baldwin i do think of a lot of overlap between populism and progressivism. I think it really is about restoring power and a voice to the citizenry and having a check on unfettered power, unregulated power, especially of monopolistic like entities. Lafollette went after the railroads. He went after the power plants, the ones that almost controlled washington and at the time almost controlled madison, which is the capital of wisconsin, always arguing for a stronger voice for the people. A moment ago you raised this , issue of the first primary. Again, it was, do the bosses decide who these people are or do the citizens play a role, a meaningful and determinative thesen deciding who candidates are going to be . So i do see it as a real mix of populism can progressivism. Brian the other senator from wisconsin is ron johnson. Sen. Baldwin today, yes. Brian at one point, the New York Times did a piece where they said you disagree with each other 75 of the time. How can one state have somebody who is progressive and somebody who is very conservative both being senators . Sen. Baldwin we can add to that mix our governor. Then you can reflect on other folks that wisconsin has elected over time. I am sure we will talk about that. The senator, my senior senator, is a product of the 2010 election. I think that was known commonly as the tea party revolution. So was our governor, scott walker. It was a moment where perhaps president obamas most significant achievement, the Affordable Care act, had recently passed. There were folks storming town Hall Meetings and saying that the sky is falling. It swept into office a significant number of people who had very, you know, an ideology that i think was common among them, and it was a national election. It was not played out necessarily on local state issues. I think that is one way in which you can explain how we can have senators who are so strikingly different in much of our outlook. That said, i will say that there are especially wisconsinspecific issues that we have worked on that shouldnt have and dont have a partisan element. I would give the recent example, last friday, senator johnson and i, who both of us sit on the Homeland Security committee, had a joint field hearing in wisconsin on the opioid and heroin epidemic. We took testimony from a couple of panels, wide rangof perspectives. But i think we both acknowledge over and over again that this is an epidemic that sees no partisan lines and that we must Work Together to face this as a nation that in the as a state. Brian i looked at some statistics about the election in wisconsin back in 2010 when ron johnson was running. There were 2. 1 million votes cast. In your election, there were 2. 8 million votes. That is 700,000 votes difference. One was a president ial election, when you ran, and one was not. How much do you factor i mean, when you are up again in 2018, no president ial election. So, does that worry you . Sen. Baldwin i would note that it would also be a gubernatorial election. It will be interesting from the perspective that another candidate, scott walker, was also elected in the 2010 tea party revolution, will also be standing for reelection should he choose. And, he is saying he will. And so i think there will be reason for wisconsinites to participate in perhaps unusually high numbers for nonpresident ial election. Now, i think this variation in voter turnout probably exists in every state, but it has been pretty profound in the state of wisconsin. Especially given what weve been through as a state in recent years, which ive been calling out especially with regard to funding for our university system, and policies that are increasing the level of poverty in our state in astounding and frightening ways, i think that theres going to be a great interest in participation in that election, fighting for the the very soul of our state. Brian heres another wisconsinite who is still very prominent in history. What do you want to tell us about this guy, Joseph Mccarthy . [begin video clip] just what do you believe you symbolize in the american political scene now . [indiscernible] lets put it this way. Many people have been waiting for someone to expose the extent of which our suicidal Foreign Policy has been dictated from the kremlin. Theyve been waiting for someone to get up and fight corruption. The way men like senator williams have fought it. I think people in wisconsin were voting in approval of a fight against communism, corruption. The sellout of american interest. They werent voting for joe mccarthy. I happened to be the recipient of the votes and i appreciate it a great deal. [end video clip] brian didnt turn out well for him. He died very young. 49yearsold. What impact did he have on you growing up . Do you know much about him . Sen. Baldwin i certainly had heard from so many felt like careers were threatened, lives were harmed, by the sort of witchhunt that occurred during his tenure. Whether it be academics, whether it be other community leaders. And i think there is agreement that that was a very dark time for our nations politics say for our state. Our nations politics and for our state. I do sit in both the lafollett seat and the mccarthy seat. It was both the lafollette senior, then junior, then mccarthy, and now i have the honor. I also have sat on the subcommittee that he chaired, where he so abused his authority a and privileges. Fews one of the subcommittees with subpoena power and he abused that subpoena power. And i remember when i came to the senate and met with our subcommittee chair, carl levin, and it was a private meeting between the two of us, but he showed me his gavel and he said, i take this responsibility very seriously because it has once been abused and i will never oversee that happening again. And, it was a very moving that moment for me as a brandnew senator. Brian but you know, and it has been proven. There were communists in the government. And i wonder, where do you draw the line on this. Should it have mattered back then . Senator mccarthy used tactics that i know you said you do not admire but what would you have done if you knew there were communists actually working in the state department . Sen. Baldwin you know, i cannot imagine. That time was before i was born. You know, the blackmail, the tactics, were despicable. Lives were ruined. There was innuendo. People were sort of caught in a widely cast net, illegitimately. And, there are orderly and better ways to i think appropriately deal with anybody who is not loyally serving this country and their government. Brian how did you beat former governor Tommy Thompson for the United States senate seat . Sen. Baldwin i would not like to think of it as that, other than making my case in 2012, that we needed to address, and we still need to address reviving the american dream. And