Washington, DC - U.S. Congressman Mike Pence, Chairman of the House Republican Conference, appeared on MSNBC's "The Daily Rundown" today to discuss the election in Massachusetts and health care.

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Excerpts:

Well I think the real message is that it wasn't in Massachusetts or Virginia or in New Jersey, Chuck, I don't think it was so much a victory for the Republican Party as it was a victory for the American people.  What you saw happen in Virginia and with the historic reversals from a year ago there and in New Jersey and then the extraordinary events in Massachusetts is the American people are stepping up, they're setting aside traditional party affiliations, and they're saying we're tired of the borrowing, the spending, the bailouts, the takeovers.  They're saying enough is enough, and House Republicans are on the side of the American people in that fight.  In the last year we've battled against runaway spending, failed economic policies, the big government schemes for energy, and of course the government takeover of health care.  So our message isn't so much that it was a Republican victory there or in the other two states.  This was a victory for the American people, and House Republicans are on the side of the American people.
 
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We welcomed the President to our Conference meeting just days after he was innaugurated last year.  I told him then the door to our Conference would always be open.  Throughout the year we offered substantive Republican alternatives on the economic stimulus, on the budget, on our all of the above energy alternative, and on health care reform, we offered a substantive alternative that would lower the cost of health care and not grow the size of government.
 
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I'm ready to get to that conversation if the administration and Democratic leadership decides not to say no to every Republican idea, which the American people I think deserve to know and many do know that Republicans offered substantive alternatives on all of these issues and the reflexive answer from the Obama Administration and Pelosi Democrats was no to every single Republican idea.  My hope is, when Speaker Pelosi said she will heed the voice of the American people is that now we're going to begin anew.  You all know we've invited the President, again that open door, we've invited the President to come to our Republican retreat in a week, and he is coming, Chuck, but we're going to take that opportunity to remind the President of all the alternatives that we've put forward and our desire to work with him to secure this nation, get this economy moving again, and put this fiscal house in order.

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Well let me tell you, I've been very humbled and very flattered by the encouragement we've received from people across the state of Indiana and some here in Washington.  As was reported this morning, I'm going to meet this afternoon with the leadership of the Republican Senatorial Committee, and Chuck I'll tell you, I'm going to hear them out, but my focus right now as I stand in front of you today is serving the people of eastern Indiana in Washington and doing everything in my power to hear the voice of the American people and elect a Republican majority to the House of Representatives in 2010.  I believe we can do that.  I'm not ruling anything out.  I'm going to have an open mind this afternoon, but my focus is serving Indiana and electing a Republican majority which I believe we can do.