Durbin: Congress needs to be functional

>>> dick durbin , thanks for being with us.

>> it's good to be here.

>> in terms of looking at the senate, too close in indiana. too close in virginia. too close in ohio. and senator has held on to his seat. still early days. i know your party has high hopes for holding on to your majority. if you do that, do you think there's any prospects of working better with the republicans in this post-election senate?

>> i do. as a member of this gang of eight, we have been working for over a year and a half to get ready for this moment. i hope we can find that bipartisan consensus. let's hope it ends on capitol hill for a few weeks. we ought to get some things done on a bipartisan basis.

>> if republicans don't feel any differently about you guys than they did the past few years, is there a prospect for filibuster reform in the senate?

>> it depends on the numbers of democratic senators elected as to whether there will be reform. i have take an look at some of the proposals. i think we need them. consider in the last six years, we have had 380 republican filibusters. when lbj was leader, there was one filibuster. they abused it to the point where the senate is a shell of its former self-. we need reform that makes a filibuster count. stick around. don't go out to dinner and tell us you'll be back in 30 hours. whatever it happens to be.

>> with a mitt romney victory in the white house , how would democrats approach an across-the-aisle presidency differently than the presidency of president obama ?

>> i would pray that not a single one would say what mitch mcconnell said when barack obama started his first term. my highest priority is to make him a one-term president. i want to work with him and the republicans. i'm going to do everything i can to work with him in a positive way for this country.

>> do you think that mitch mcconnell in pledging that was pledging something that was in his power to do? do you feel like the decisions made by republicans in congress during this this term for mr. obama actually ended up being a significant obstacle for him for trying to be reelected?

>> we consider the last two years, for example, the tea party dominance in the house marching back and forth between government closures and closing down the economy. they threaten to default for the first time in our history. responsible republicans should have stood up with the business community and said this is totally irresponsible. but they didn't. they were collared into believing this was a strategy to defeat barack obama . they were going to do it at any cost. tonight i hope they will get their message back that it didn't work.

>> senator dick durbin , thank you for being with us. i hope you enjoy your election