and for more, john king usa starts right now. >> good evening. a closer look at a fear strategy debate within the democratic party. the president's approach or get more bare knuckled or pointed. social security and shipping jobs overseas. plus, a sleazy double cross. is it a desperate charge by an independent candidate or did the one-time aide secretly work to sabotage their man and share their secrets with the republican? and what are the lineses, if any, to making political ads. stay right here in west virginia if the ad is shot in a diner in pennsylvania. and is it bad taste to send out a casting call and the blue

colora collar look. at a predominantly african-american campus, president obama framed the stakes this way. >> spent the last decade decade. >> but some say the president's speech is weak and they need something more hard hitting like this. >> congressman pat toomey, he sided with wall street, voting for unfair trade deals with china. >> or this. >> he hopes that you will forget thaw voted for a republican budget to privatize medicare, that since he first ran for congress he said we should privatize social security. >> if you recognize that voice, what should democrats do and

what should we make of this public review of the president's approach. republican strategist ed rolands is with us tonight. it's remarkable, your friend, james carville, stan gene berg said the president's message is okay but it's weaker than what you should be doing. lits listen to an extended comment. >> they took a record surplus and came back with a record deficit by the time i took office. now they are talking about deficit reduction. i bring this up not to relate gate the past. i just don't want to relive the past. >> now n. this memo, mr. carville and greenberg say it's

very strong with african-american voters but compared to the other messages it falls very short. that message framework, meaning the president cannot extend the democratic vote. are they right? >> yes, they are. now now, in fairness to the president, he had a much tougher speech. i think it's a little overdrawn. other democrats are fighting with the president of the united states. that's not true. it's true for barack obama. i don't believe in bare knuckles. i believe in brass knuckles. if the other party wants to put wall street in charge of medicare and jobs overseas, we ought to run on that and make them run on it because that's their agenda. these democrats out there running, they are not enough. >> does the president need to be tougher? >> i'm much more gentler than

paul. >> the problem is his message doesn't work. he's been trying this for six or eight weeks now. obviously what james and paul understands better than anybody, these are two of the best guys in the business, you can test it ex focus group it, threatening to take away social security basically motivates democrats worried about those kinds of things. you cannot nationalize this with three weeks to go. there's too much clutter and it doesn't work. i would argue that each candidate has to take the issues that matter to them and hammer away at their opponent. it's not -- you're not going to have a national way, a presidential campaign, and it's not about bringing young college kids across the country and out to vote. you have to bring college kids in a community or african-american in a particular community or working people in a community. and whatever it takes to do that, it's what you want to do.

>> if you talk race by race, as we do, you look at all of the ads going up on the television, one, this closely tracks the message that stan greenberg talk about in the message. it's the democratic nominee, he is losing by some polls, six or seven points, others it's 10 or 12 points. he has a very tough message about his opponent. let's listen. >> congressman pat toomey sided with wall street, voting for unfair trade deals with china. they made a fortune while pennsylvania lost 90,000 jobs. but toomey wants even more trade deals. he doesn't care if americans lose their jobs to cheap china imports. >> i think you get the picture. they've got a good gong. the point here, ed, these guys are down and they are doing this and playing to something that is very right right now across america. a, job losses. b, the idea that these jobs are being lost and china is becoming

more powerful. >> well, it's an emotional message. i'm a great believe in not running campaigns and this very well in a place like pennsylvania it's lost a lot of jobs and i'm sure they've tested it and it works. i think it's a good spot. they know how to deep toomey. they've done it before. he's ahead but an ad like this is going to have an impact. >> they called him congressman. he was a congressman once. it's clever in the anti-political government to say congressman pat toomey. this is your good friend and old boss. most think this veas lost but, again, it's right out of what stan and james say will get very hard and tough knuckles on social security. here's bill clinton. >> blanche's opponent is not saying much.

did you notice that? he's depending on you to be mad so he hopes that you will forget that he voted for a republican budget to privatize medicare. that since he first ran for congress we should privatize social security. >> the question is, outsourcing jobs and clinton ad for blanche lincoln. it doesn't. >> a year where we are voting on these things. if you look at the votes in congress, congress many times has voted on this issue of canceling the tax breaks for corporations that ships jobs overseas. all of the republicans save one or two, protect jobs overseas. if you look all across the country, republicans are campaigning, saying things like social security should be privatized, from alaska to delaware. republicans are running on this. this is the debate we need.

do we want to privatize social security, which means to put social security in charge of it, republicans do? that's what they believe in. democrats believe in something different. this is about ideas and this is exactly what a campaign should be about. >> you're talking about ideas here. we're going to have a quick time out. and then we'll talk about the inner workings of what you do. what is the code of ethics for campaign workers. there's campaign sabotage. stay with us. sure i'd like to diversify my workforce, i just wish that all of the important information was gathered together in one place. [ printer whirs ] done. ♪ thanks. do you work here? not yet. from tax info to debunking myths, the field guide to evolving your workforce has everything you need. download it now at thinkbeyondthelabel.com.

got the mirrors all adjusted? you can see everything ok?d. just stay off the freeways, all right? i don't want you going out on those yet. and leave your phone in your purse, i don't want you texting. >> daddy... ok! ok, here you go. be careful. >> thanks dad. >> and call me--but not while you're driving. we knew this day was coming. that's why we bought a subaru.

shocking allegations in my home state of massachusetts. a running mate quickly quit the ticket. >> to try every back room deal they can to make me quit the race. well, they've got the wrong guy. >> but it's what he says that is so shocking. he alleges several former top aides worked to undermine his

effort roll land martin is with us right now. among the aides who has resigned is john weaver, who many remember as the campaign, several other campaigns, and what they are accused of doing is deciding kahill can't win, let's quit that campaign because if the republican loses, one of the e-mails mentioned in the lawsuit is john weaver eechlt mailing saying that the cahill runningmate will be offered a line, they will take care of him. ethical? >> in boston -- by boston ethical standards, you know what

the politics are. he was the master of john mccain when he was an independent. the bottom line is, you never want to do anything. you never want to do anything to hurt your candidacy. and any strategist that does that, they've got to be run out of the business. i don't know what the story is. it sounds like a bunch of nothing to me. >> paul, when you guys sign on for campaigns, do you have to take any kind of an ethics pledge? >> no. maybe they should -- honestly, in my day , it was a handshake agreement. he honored him and so did we. there ought to be some honor among thieves. my view is, if someone was smart enough to hire me, i need to be smart enough to respect them and not betray them. >> roland, we've got to be clear. nobody has been convicted or proven anything, but one of the guys involved got an e-mail

through a cahill e-mail server. it says and clearly suggests, number one, they want to get this guy to drop out and they are having conversations with the republican association and campaign manager for the republican candidate saying, maybe we know some things that might help you guys. that's really going to make people inspire and give faith to politics, right? >> from a voter standpoint, do you care? i mean, look, cahill can sit here and complain about his former aides. he should be focused on getting as many votes as possible. if you're turning your attention away from the campaign by talking about a lawsuit, that doesn't help you. republicans nationally want to defeat governor duval patrick because they'd like a pickup in massachusetts and of course patrick very close to president barack obama as well. so, again, cahill, focus on the

voters. nobody cares about the back room or what happened with your campaign. >> i think, a, he wants some attention but, b, he wants people to say, wait a minute. i think ees trying to stop him. when we come back, imagine being in a political ad and you got a casting call looking for somebody with a hick key, blue collar role. where is the line in the political ads? we'll take a look at that. also, a conversation with kathleen parker and eliot spitzer. and the change for politically incorrect realtime. after i got the job at walmart, things started changing immediately. then i wrote a letter to the food stamp office. "thank you very much, i don't need your help any more." you know now, i can actually say i bought my home. i knew that the more i dedicated... the harder i worked, the more it was going to benefit my family. this my son, mario and he now works at walmart. i believe mario is following in my footsteps. my name is noemi, and i work at walmart. ♪

it was a real shock. i remember being at the hospital thinking, "i should have done more to take care of myself." you should've. that's why i'm exercising more now. eating healthier. and i also trust my heart to lipitor. [ male announcer ] when diet and exercise are not enough, adding lipitor may help. lipitor is a cholesterol-lowering medication that is fda approved to reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke in patients who have heart disease or risk factors for heart disease. lipitor is backed by over 18 years of research. lipitor is not for everyone, including people with liver problems and women who are nursing, pregnant, or may become pregnant. you need simple blood tests to check for liver problems. tell your doctor if you are taking other medications, or if you have any muscle pain or weakness. this may be a sign of a rare but serious side effect. dean will never forget what he went through. don't take your health for granted. [ male announcer ] have a heart to heart with y.

and about lipitor. [ man ] i thought our family business would always be boots. until one day, my daughter showed me a designer handbag. and like that, we had a new side to our business. [ male announcer ] when the martinez family saw an opportunity, the hartford was there. protecting their employees and property, and helping them prepare for the future. nice boots. nice bag. [ male announcer ] see how the hartford helps businesses at achievewhatsahead.com.

the national republicans pay for the ad but the production company shot it in philadelphia and put out a casting call for a actors with a hick key, blue collar look. >> obama is messing things up. >> spending money we don't have. >> stimulus, obama care. >> and joe supported it all. >> he turn it is into washington joe. >> and washington joe doeses whatever obama wants. >> we better keep joe mansion right here in west virginia. >> so where do we draw the line? is there any such thing as truth in political advertising? we're back with roland martin, ed rollins and paul. they shoot things in hollywood and say that they are anywhere in the world. can you shoot in a diner and say here in west virginia? >> no. no. >> you've never been at a campaign where -- >> no, not that i know of. seriously.

we have real people. real people are always going to be more credible. maybe they are not as smooth and slick but i think that's an advantage. we always want real people. and this was an insult. i have to say, as somebody who grew up in a small town, what an insult to call us hicks. >> roland a very real. let me read you something from a casting call. each character should bring several options and stay away from all black or all white or thin stripes, thicker stripes and plaid are good. a down-filled vest, john deere hats and no e at the end. trucker hats, not brand new, preferably beat up. >> okay. so if it was a campaign in texas, do you not think somebody would probably have a cowboy hat on? also, let's talk about the hair wry and louise ads.

were they real people? you can talk about somebody on a set in philadelphia and if we didn't know that this company put this out, those could be shot in west virginia. the whole point is not where it was shot. it's really what are they saying in the ad. i'm not shocked. they are actors in political ads. >> do you have a john deere head that is beat up? >> i have a lot of john deere hats. this was not the campaign in virginia. this was an independent expenditure and one of the dilemmas that you face is you get some benefits sometimes and you pay a price. and they had paid a price. jim, who managed the campaign, is one of my old buddies and is a great campaign manager and would never make this mistake. but the message is a pretty strong message. if it runs, you'll have some impact that goes beyond the one or two day story. >> i disagree with that. they had to take responsibility for this.

>> how could you take responsibility for -- >> who hired them? >> here's my john deere -- >> can you zero in on this? i have a john deere tractor and got free with that tractor a key chain. >> independent expenditure and if you do them, we do them. you can't coordinate them with the committees. you can't. that's the law. you know that. >> and that's right. >> independent expenditures, put this thing up there. >> the people at the national republican senate -- they did not pay for it they did not pay for it. this was an independent expenditure against the governor. >> look. the thing is, they are patronizing the people in west virginia. >> that is the message -- the message in the ad has stuck, regardless of before what we knew about the ad. that message is sticky. let's move on. christine o'donnell is out with her second ad. the first one got a lot of attention because she started off with, i am not a witch. but the other signature line is i am real. listen to round two.

>> i didn't go to jail. i didn't inherit millions like my opponent. i'm you. i know how tough it is. they saw what i was made of and so will the senate if they try to increase our taxes one more dime. i'm christine o'donnell and i approve this message. i'm you. >> it's an interesting approach in that she's down double digits in most polls. and this is a relatively positive ad. she didn't say i didn't go to yale. she went in on, i'm you. some people mock it. the idea in this anti-establishment, anti-politician mood that you say yeah, i'm not rich and not terribly polished, i'm normal. >> okay. i get that. when you say, i didn't go to yale, when there are questions saying that you went to two

different universities you didn't go to, you might not want to bring up the college issue. she's been criticized by former campaigners you might want to explain if you actually use the money for personal use. you know what? focus on the issues. the reality is that the videos are out there. she made the comment about the witch and so it's ridiculous to try to refute that. it's there. you said it. focus on the issues at hand. it's nonsense. issue also matter. not this whole notion if you're an elite or not. >> jim acosta got an exclusive interview with her. jim was up there and in talking to her she did explain to him why she's using this i'm you thing. >> i'm not a career politician. i'm not someone who has been groomed for office or someone who has been hand picked by her

party elite by the party bosses, obviousesly. >> right. >> i'm an average american citizen. i'm an average delawareian. i want to go to washington, d.c., and do what most delawares would do. i would not vote for the spending bills putting us into bankruptcy and neither would you. that's the message of i'm you means. i would do what you want to do in washington, d.c. >> you've advised a lot of people behind in a race. she's run before but new to this level of attention. how would you rate this that? >> she looks very young. she looks like she's running for high school student body president. the i am you part bothers me. she needs to talk about substance, her own substance. and i think it's a mistake to do the class warfare thing and it won't work on her. >> i am you.

who comes first? me. it's all about her. how did she make a living? why is she well known by a think tank? >> that's what karl rove says. republican strategist in america, she says nutty things and has a chueckered background. >> the campaign is going to roll on this and all right. >> karl rove, that's all -- >> paul has a wonderful way of abusing words. >> i love karl. >> thank you, ed, roland as well. strong push back from the white house after accusations that it deliberately didn't tell us how bad the bp oil spill really was. it's our honeymoon.

but we've parted ways with our old airline credit card that promised flights for 25,000 miles. it was always... [ laughing ] that seat's not happening without a big miles upcharge. a miles upcharge wasn't part of the deal. was i supposed to go without my wife? [ elevator bell dings ] [ grunting ]

haha, that was awkward. so we upgraded to the venture card from capital one. we've had it with the games. [ male announcer ] don't pay miles upcharges. don't play games. get the flight you want with the venture card at capitalone.com. what's in your wallet? can stop frequent heartburn before it begins? heartburn happens when stomach acid refluxes into the esophagus. prilosec otc uses a unique delayed-release system that protects the medicine as it passes through the stomach's tough acid. then it gets absorbed into the body,

turning off many acid-producing pumps at the source. with just one pill a day, you get 24-hour heartburn protection all day and all night. prilosec otc. heartburn gone. power on. welcome back. let's check in with jessica yellin. >> president obama is at a chicago fund-raiser right now and we've learned le also make a three-day campaign stream to washington, california, and nevada just before the election in an effort to help vulnerable senators. the ethics committee will not hold trial-like hearings against charlie rangel and max even waters until after the november

election. a staff report accuses the white house office of the budget deliberately not putting out worst case estimates about how much oil was spilling even though scientists had better information. >> no information was altered, no information was withheld. we always provided the best information as we were engaged in the most robust federal response that we've ever seen to an accident of this magnitude ever. >> back to you, john. >> jessica has made his way over here. and we are fully transparent. just to underscore why this is so important, early on, bp and the administration, the first line was about 1,000 barrel as day. we realize it was not quite right and they went up to 5,000.

and then scientists decided this is a lot worst than that. a big month there. a month that the government estimate was here and then jumped from 12 to 19 and then a couple weeks after that we got even a bigger estimate and by the middle of june we were way, way out here. but the question facing the administration, let me get this to turn on here, it's what did they know in this period right here. in this period here, universities were saying it's higher, did the administration have any indication that it was higher than this number and it was embarrassing. you just heard robert gibbs say no. they would have to be nervous about that. remember how far this pushed back. they are not competent, did not respond as quickly as possible. they say, you can't make that comparison. >> to answer your question, what did they know in that first week or so, this new report from the commission, preliminary, by the staff, it's not the final report, nevertheless, they

alleged that the white house knew in the first week or so that bp was saying, this could be up to 60, 70,000 barrel as day. much more than they were saying publicly. on the flip side, you have to say, it's sort of interesting that critics are saying, why didn't you listen to bp early enough? because months ago people were saying, why are you listening to bp too much. you can't trust what they are saying. they are going through a buzz saw here with what the critics are saying. it's a commission appointed by this president. it's hard for them to sarks ty, is your own commission. they are raising questions about your credibility. that's tough for the white house. >> two questionses. were they transparent? did they have documents that said we don't agree with this one, i'm sure it's right? and the other question s. the competition tense question. then you get into the competence. >> you can talk to people working for these agencies and

they were frustrated that the white house was not getting out the message that they felt needed to be true. there was a lot of competing information and it's astonishing, when you cover the white house, you realize how slow and hard it is to communicate within this government system. it could be really, really horrifying troublesome. >> a lot of politicians to talk about just ahead. the president is in chicago tonight. that's his home base. he's raising money for the guy running for his seat right there. there you can see the president right out there right now. this has to worry the white house a little bit. the obama seat, if you will, it's at risk. >> right. and the symbolism matters. i talked to a very senior democratic senator who said, he's going back again between now and november 2nd. that's big because, as you know, better than anyone, a president's time is so valuable. he has a lot of states to go to. going to his home state is not one that the white house wanted to do in the final three weeks. the seat is up for grabs and they are worried on election

night if it goes down, even if his seat goes down, he's working hard to keep it. >> they held a briefing for some reporters saying, we think he can win this in illinois. it's not the phrase that he wants to be saying, which is alexi is going to be winning this but they are emphatic that the president being there can make a difference and this playing field is going to help him in 2012. when we come back, who at the white house is a secret admirer of sarah palin? s. and aleve was proven to work better on pain than tylenol 8 hour. so why am i still thinking about this? how are you? good, how are you? [ male announcer ] aleve. proven better on pain. fabulous! they gave me this great idea. yea? we mail documents all over the country, so, what if there were priority mail flat rate... envelopes? yes! you could ship to any state... for a low flat rate? yes! a really low flat rate. like $4.90? yes! and it could look like a flat rate box...

only flatter? like this? you...me...genius. genius. priority mail flat rate envelopes. just $4.90. only from the postal service. a simpler way to ship. but now i see the splash.,

♪ i wanted love, i needed love ♪ ♪ most of all, most of all... ♪

a republican won the

nomination and that poll is in dead heat. sharon angle is a little bit ahead. jessica yellin is with us. this is a very tough ad from sharon angle. >> want to know how out of touch harry reid is snp spending 700 billion on a stimulus is a start or voting to give illegal aliens a break is another big clue. here's the clue. reid actually voted to use taxpayer money for viagra, convicted child molesters and what else do you need to know. >> the blockbuster in that is the idea that harry reid voted to use taxpayer dollars to give viagra for child molesters, et cetera. there is no explicit vote to do that. tom corbin, a whole bunch of republicans that made no secret

about it. they went to the floor and. >> i remember being on the show when that happened. it turns out it's used in an ad. what she's trying to do is turn the attention in that ad from her. harry reid is unpopular in nevada. the issue is can she distract others from her problem and that's her ticket to winning, reminding people the bad votes that he's taken. the reason is democrats are saying privately, they think it's getting worse for senator reid because they say it's a dead heat but down 42/40. he's been beating angle for weeks and weeks, out of the

mainstream and yet he can't break the low to mid-40s as an incumbent. >> ouch. but he knows how to turn out the vote. he has the unions you never know what happens on election day. >> this is david axelrod last night on david letterman a special kind of charisma, i have a soft spot for her. she was at the vice presidential debate and he says that she -- are you ready? >> are you ready? >> i can't wink. >> i was watching you on tv. you wimpged at me. >> that's what all of the men thought. >> so he thought she was winking at you a? >> i think so. >> it was at this briefing when they thought they would give palin the 2012 and not get that lucky? >> yes. >> ouch.

he also said that they are having a colossal failure. >> unless republicans are in the world series, the super bowl, the house, the senate. >> jessica and ed, thanks a lot. when we come back, if you get food stamps, should you be able to buy drinks with sugar? that's weighed in when we come back. yer am, an extra strength pain reliever with alertness aid to fight fatigue. so get up and get goin'! with new bayer am. the morning pain reliever. [ indistinct shouting ] ♪ another day ♪ another dollar ♪ daylight comes [ dogs barking ] ♪ i'm on my way ♪ another day ♪ another dollar ♪ working my whole life away ♪ another day

♪ another dollar

can stop frequent heartburn before it begins? heartburn happens when stomach acid refluxes into the esophagus. prilosec otc uses a unique delayed-release system that protects the medicine as it passes through the stomach's tough acid. then it gets absorbed into the body, turning off many acid-producing pumps at the source. with just one pill a day, you get 24-hour heartburn protection all day and all night. prilosec otc.

heartburn gone. power on. new york city wants to keep people from buying sugary drinks. what role should the government have in running your life, even if it's looking out for your best interest? let's head up to new york. kathleen parker and former democratic governor, eliot spitzer. too much breach of government or the right idea to get people off soda if they are on food stamps? >> you know, i'm of the school that you can do more with education and volunteerism than

you can with government imposition of rules. i've just recently moved to new york and i was told by the fella that installed by cable, he had to go to new jersey to get ap recent donut. >> wait a minute. new york city has the best donuts in the world. i'm not going to put up with that. >> we understand what it is. food stamps make sense to me. they shouldn't be used for alcohol and cigarettes but at some point you have to stop directing everybody's decision. >> here's the thing. when the state stepped in and said we're not going to let kids buy cigarettes and then started saying women who are pregnant should not be smoking cigarettes, the magnitude of the problem of childhood obesity, that michael bloomberg and taxpayer money, we're saying use it for good nutritional food. i understand what mike bloomberg is saying and i think he's doing

the right thing. >> i don't even believe he means it. >> hold on. i want to get the mayor vofred he says despite the great gains that we've made, there are two areas where we are losing ground. obesity and diabetes. this would give families more money to spend money on real nourishment. you say no but should it be -- >> it's a great idea. it's a great idea. and what it does to us, it let's -- the assumption is poor people are too stupid. it's insulting. >> this is not paternalism. >> yes, it is. >> we want it to be used for the right thing. i would think the tea party folk who is certainly don't like big government would say, if it's our dollars being used, let us

buy nutritional food. >> i stay clear of sugar because it's bad for me and would make me fat and i think money is better spent on education and letting people make decisions for themselves. >> this is interesting because this is essentially having the government say you can't get this if you get this benefit. we get a mortgage deduction if we buy a home. that is the government incentivizing us to buy a home. how do you draw a line between a punitive step saying you don't get this if you do this or saying here, do this, where they encourage you. >> there's a level of invasiveness where they say, i don't want the government telling me in such detail what to do. the nanny state has to go away. the government is not going to let you use food stamps to buy liquor or cigarettes. sugary soda for kids is the same thing. it's a balance so there is no

pure right or wrong. it's a judgment call. i think mike bloomberg is trying to do the right thing here. >> there was a study, if you eat enough broccoli, it will cause cancer. we should look into whether poor people should be allowed to eat broccoli. >> here's another one. the governor from south carolina says if you get unemployment benefits, you should have to take a drug test. good idea or bad idea? >> if you get unemployment benefits you should have to -- >> i think everybody who issues any ruling like that should have to take a drug test. >> you know, that's a tough one. i would have to sit down and think about that. i think what -- kathleen has this commonsense approach. i'd like to see the candidate take the drug test there. are certain areas where we feel pretty good about requiring drug tests, people driving buses, people where there is a safety impact t seems to me giving people unemployment benefits is a statement about economic circumstances and we're not in that context going to start monitoring every little peels of their lives. these are not people on

probation. i think that's wrong. >> if you are doing something, hand delg machinery or responsible for other people's lives, when i applied to the centinal, i had to go behind a curtain to provide a spes minute. the health care program has created this idea that if you're going to eat something that is going to cause you health problems, then we have a right to direct whatever that consumption is because ultimately your bad health is going to cost us money. i think it's a very slippery slope. >> we started about sugary drinks. let's end with a catch nated note. you're known for having a five-hour energy drink. i don't see one in front of you today but -- >> i had to give them up. >> christine o'donnell, the republican candidate was doing a forum. at the end there was a lightning round and she was asked this. >> okay. this is my last one-liner for

you. five-hour energy drinks. >> i don't drink them, believe it or not. i don't drink them. diet rockstar. >> a little plug for diet rockstar from christine o'donnell. >> when you're a witch you don't need to get energy from five-hour energy drinks. energy. you look up to the lightning, strikes, boom, you're set. >> they work. >> have a great night. see you in a few minutes. christine o'donnell says a subject she won't talk about is the past friendship with bill maher. >> why? what i did or said on a comedy show, you know, over a decade over ago is not relevant to this election. ♪

[ deb ] people don't just come to ge capital for money. they come to us for help. at ge capital, we've been financing taylor guitars for over eight years, helping them build a strong dealer network. bringing music to people... i like that. ♪ ♪ [ bob ] i didn't know you could play. i didn't either. ♪

as we pass 26 days until the midterms, we are hearing complaints that the country's political discourse is getting too coarse. here to talk about it politically maybe is bill maher. let's start on that point. remember when you started "pli cli incorrect" in july of 2003 you called it the mccoughlin group on acid and said you like getting people upset. give us a little then and now in terms of not only the talk show world but the political discourse. >> well, you know, i was asked this question recently. what do you have to do to get thrown out of a race? you are correct. in the last couple of decades, that -- that's really changed a lot. and it came to mind because of this guy running for governor in new york on the republican ticket, paladino.

because he got caught forwarding e-mails that were so blatantly racist and sexist, a woman having sex with a horse. i mean, i understand in russia, katherine the great, but here in america, we never did that kind of thing. and he's okay to stay in the race and yet george allen, remember george allen four years ago? >> makaka. >> yeah. and he had to go immediately. i just don't understand what the rules are or take newt gingrich versus john edwards. john edwards had to leave the race because he cheated on his wife. lots of guys have done that. oh no, he cheated when he was sick. newt gingrich did that but he's on the sunday morning talk shows all the time. i'm confused at what the rule is of who has to go aaway and why. >> the language is interesting, too. the republican candidate for governor in maine quoted saying

the message to the president would be to go to hell. not that oppose you and listen and i know you are not a fan but listen to rush limbaugh who uses interesting language from time to time in describing the president of the united states. >> this neophite genuinely is an economic ig nonoramus. they have taken their trillion ball home and sitting on it you jackass. >> i guess that's in now? >> yeah. you will not convince me, although it very much angers the right wingers, to hear this said that it is not a racial thing. i truly believe that if he was a white president that people would not be talking about him that way. and i know the tea baggers absolutely hate it when you say they're racist even though 99.99999% of them are white and the president that drives them

insane is black. of course, the other thing they hate is black people or maybe they don't hate them but -- >> tea party people watching might be mad at you and saying we're activists and americans and they don't like the word tea bagger. >> they're the ones who chose it. they chose for their name, something that previously been -- something that described a day sex act. so they're not very bright people. >> now, calling the president the jackass i would say is out of line. you should call him the president of the united states and make the difference crystal clear. i think that's out of line. sometimes democrats use interesting language, too. this is the vice president at a fund-raiser in minnesota. if i hear one republican tell me about balancing the budget, i am going to strangle them. to the press, that's a figure of speech. do we need that kind of rhetoric? >> i don't think -- you know, john, i really don't think that's an i quef len sy. to say i want to strangle

people, it is a figure of speech. that's a lot different than calling the president of the united states who also represents the office. he's not just a person. we're all supposed to be patriots in this country, i thought. i think that's a real different thing and that's a problem in the media. we're always trying to make things equal. fair and balanced. this side does it and this side does it. you hear it all the time. it is not always fair and balanced. we should go after the truth. and not this false equivalency. for example, in campaign finance you hear corporations and unions -- well, unions are very weak right now and corporations are very strong. they're not equivalent. >> one of the great debates in the country right now, i'm going to hold up the cover of "the weekly standard, adequacy conservative magazine saying "gone to pot, request medical marijuana ska racharade" and op the debates where you live in

california. where's that one going and how's bill maher going to vote on that? >> that's a well-guarded secret, john. how will i vote on prop 19? these people working for "the weekly standard," "the weekly standard," "the national review," the godfather of them, "the national weekly" was william f. buckley and would have voted yes on prop 19. he was a true libertarian and barry goldwater. i don't know how this party drifted so far from their roots. and, you know, marijuana. that's a real no-brainer. if you can't get behind that issue you haven't done your research. administration after administration has kicked this down the field because they're too afraid to act. and done studies, studies, studies. they always say the same thing. it makes you eat cookie dough. probably the worst thing it does