Singer: So what would you like to see done if you were in Washington to help balance the budget?

Ashdown: One thing that I would immediately start with is trying to pull back the flow of bills in Washington. The fact that they don't read everything, the fact that some of these budget bills are enormous and people have no ideas what's inside of them is the first thing that I attack.

The second thing is I believe we need to go after some of these egregious tax credits. When an energy company makes $36 billion in profits and they're still getting tax credits, that isn't fair to a small business like me, who asks nothing of the government and pays their taxes. So I think that's an approach we can do to kind of balance the income to the debt.

Singer: Looking at some other domestic issues, of course the Senate and the House passed three years ago, two and a half years ago now, the Medicare prescription drug bill. Do you have any thoughts on that piece of legislation?

Ashdown: Yeah, I think I stand with a number of Democrats - well, some of the Democrats signed off on that - but I stand in amazement that they are not allowing the government to negotiate pricing on those prescription drugs. I think that was specifically a nod to the pharmaceutical lobbyists and wasn't beneficial to the people.

Singer: Utah is near the United States-Mexico border. Of course it doesn't share the border with Mexico, but it is in the Southwest/Mountain region. How big of an issue is immigration there? I know President Bush is pushing a plan. Tom Tancredo up in Colorado is also pushing a harsher plan. Where do you stand on the issue of immigration?

Ashdown: It is an issue here, and a lot of people have asked me about it, and what my approach has been is we need to immediately shore up the borders with technology, provide an efficient, clean method for people to cross. That is if they have a gateway that they're able to go through in a safe manner, in a quick manner, then they're not going to be as tempted to use some of the illegal manners.

The second portion of that is bringing back things like the green card, having a counterfeit-proof chip-based green card that employers are forced to use when they're hiring guest workers. That will help reduce the motivation, as well, for people to come across.

And I've been discussing this for months, and I've been surprised to see the Governor of Utah, Jon Huntsman Jr., is now talking about the exact same thing.

Singer: Somewhat akin to the issue of immigration is the issue of port security. Again Utah does not share an international border, nor does it touch an ocean, however I would imagine that the issue of port security is still playing there. Where you come down on this Dubai Ports World deal?

Ashdown: I'm against it. I'm against outsourcing any of our infrastructure to foreign nation. I think it's a sad state of affairs that we can't find companies inside the United States to do this kind of thing. If the companies inside the United States are not able to bid out properly on it, then I think the government should have a role in managing it.

Singer: Just a few more issue questions before we get to the politics. Orrin Hatch is not directly tied Jack Abramoff, to my knowledge. However, the Jack Abramoff and other scandals are quite affecting the Republican Party today. How much are you talking about Republican corruption in your campaign?

Ashdown: To me it's not just the Republicans, it's a broader issue of money and the influence it buys. That's something I've been attacking on the campaign trail. If the Democrats really wanted to see reform in this area, they wouldn't need legislation on lobbyists and they wouldn't be needing to sign ethics declarations, they should do it by example. They should say, "OK, my office is open from now on. I'm going to post my meeting schedule on the internet I'm going to post the calls I'm getting and what they're about on the internet, and with permission of the people who are petitioning me, post those petitions on the internet."

I think transparency in the government is something that is absolutely lacking, and it's not just one party that's doing it; it's everybody back there. The government needs to be completely transparent. Of course in the case of individual privacy and national security, those need to be evaluated aside from that. But right now we have a government that wants the people to be completely transparent and not their own positions in Washington.

Singer: Do you see a difference between the issues facing the Republican Party and the issues facing the Democratic Party on the issue of lobbying or not?

Ashdown: I'd say the Republicans are in a more of a defensive mode, but I think they're equally guilty when it comes to granting favors to lobbyists and listening to those voices above the voices of their constituents.

Singer: Let's do one more issue. Iraq is a huge issue. Orrin Hatch has largely been in line with the administration on the issue of Iraq, whereas many Democrats have serious qualms about the administration's Iraq policy. Where do you come down on the issue of Iraq?

Ashdown: What I have a problem with is I get conflicting stories. I have some friends in the military and they tell me things are going great over there, and then I read reports in the media and it doesn't look to great to me. I don't know what the truth is.

In conjunction with this collaborative campaign that I've been running, an anonymous individual came on to the website and suggested a referendum in Iraq. That is the people that know the situation the best are the Iraqi people themselves. And if we propose a referendum to the Iraqi parliament and they push it out to the people and the people decide whether they want the Americans to stay or not, then suddenly it's very clear as to what the truth is. If they want us to stay, that's great, I think there should be some compensation for the cost of being there. If they want us to leave, we should retreat to the borders and watch the Iranians closely.

Singer: Let's move on to a few political issues. As of the last filing period, Orrin Hatch had about 1,000 times more cash on hand than you. Can you make your campaign more financially competitive?

Ashdown: It's absolutely been a struggle. The horserace aspect of it is readily apparent to me. I've been doing this for nine months, and typical people that donate big amounts of money to the Democratic Party will write me a $100 check and slap me on the back.

So I have to be creative in how I'm approaching this campaign and other avenues. We've saved a lot of money by instead of having a $30,000 focus group, we put the vote out on the internet and have a random selection of people look at pictures or advertisements and decide that way.

I think it's horrendous that a Senate race costs over a million dollars. When Orrin Hatch ran in '76, in inflated dollars, he won on $500,000. That's what I'd like to see politics return to rather than this enormous industry that has cropped up around federal offices.

So we're still shooting for the stars, as far as the money goes, but we're trying to be creative with this campaign so everyone can be involved in politics, rather than just the rich.

Singer: Utah, as you know, is among the reddest, if not the reddest state in the nation. Can any Democrat win a statewide race there?

Ashdown: It wasn't so long ago that Jan Graham won the Attorney General's race, and in 2004, when Utah went 70 percent Bush, they also went 43 percent for the Democratic candidate in the gubernatorial race.

I think that the majority of Utahans out there are right-leaning independents, and as I travel the state, I see a lot of straws breaking camels' backs. A lot of people saying, "You know I was voting Republican up until this point, but I saw this happen in the administration, and now I'm interested in your campaign."

The polls, as far as Orrin Hatch goes, show that he's not extremely popular in Utah - the most popular politician in Utah is a Democrat, Jim Matheson, our House Representative for one of our districts - and the naked reelects on Senator Hatch show him losing to somebody else, somebody else in the sense that the polls asked give somebody else a chance.

However, my numbers are about 27 percent to 55 percent right now. That's with no advertising, that's with just the efforts we've done right now. My struggle is getting my name, my background, and my message out to the people of Utah who don't know about me.

Singer: One final question. What would you like to say specifically to members of the progressive blogosphere to get them more involved in your campaign?

Ashdown: I get it, as far as the internet goes. I have been on the internet since 1987 and I realize the power that it has, not only in news reporting and social aspects, but I realize the power that it can bring to government. And that's my mission: to knock down the walls of government, make it interactive with the people in a two-way sense rather than in a one-way sense, and make our democracy democratic.

Singer: Terrific. Thank you so much for your time and good luck in your campaign.

Ashdown: Thank you.

[THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.]