this monday, september the 3rd, 2012. for the journalists of fox news, i'm shepard smith. thanks for checking in and trusting us for your news and information. prime time lineup is coming up next. hope had you a great labor day. see you at the democratic national convention. the o'reilly factor is on tap. have a great night. >> the o'reilly factor is on, tonight: >> you can honestly say that people are better off today than they were four years ago. >> no but that's not the question of this election. >> are we better off today than we were four years ago when president obama was elected? >> absolutely. >> on the eve of the democratic national convention, president obama's team struggles with its message. but why are they fumbling over such a simple question. we'll have a report. >> despite all the challenges that we face in this new century, we saw three straight days of an agenda out of the

last century it was a rerun. >> president obama taking aim at the g.o.p. agenda saying it's stuck in the past. but is this an effective strategy? we will debate it? >> you might as well watched it on black and white tv put some rabbit ears on there. >> and the reason that you lost, maybe i didn't run a good enough campaign. maybe i wasn't strong enough. john mccain enters the no spin zone to talk about the personal toll of a presidential campaign. what it's like running against president obama and his relationship with sarah palin. caution, you are about to enter the no spin zone, the factor begins right now. hi, i'm monica crowley in for bill o'reilly. thanks so much for watching us tonight.

let's get right it to our top story this evening. are you better off than you were four years ago. that question, of course, made famous by ronald reagan in 1980 has taken center stage in the to 12 presidential election. it's become a campaign corner stone for the romney ryan ticket. but the obama camp is struggling it to articulate a unified response. >> david, can you honestly say that the average american is better off today than they were four years ago? here is what i can say, chris, i can say we are in a better position than we were four years ago in our economy in the sense that when this president took office we were losing 800,000 jobs a month. >> you can honestly say that people are better off today than they were four years ago? >> no. but that's not the question of this election. the question, without a doubt, we are not as well off as we were before george bush brought us the bush job losses, the bush recession, the bush deficits, the series of desert wars charged to the

first time to credit card. >> today governor o'malley walked back his comments saying americans are clearly better off. campaign manager stefanie cutter doubled down. >> are we better off today than we were four years ago when president obama was elected? >> absolutely. >> and vice president biden went on the attack today blaming the hot weather for his short answer. >> america is is better off today when they left us. and if it weren't so hot, i would go into detail why i say that but let me just sum it up this way, folks. you want to know whether we are better off? i have got a little bumper sticker for you, usama bin laden is dead and general motors is alive. [cheers] >> so, that's four different obama supporters with four

different answers to a very simple question. joiningjoining me now to analyze republic strategist and in charlotte, north carolina, democratic strategist and fox news contributor jock de graff. let me begin with you, because this is the most basic question in any presidential election especially for an incumbent president are you better off today than you were four years ago. yet nobody on team obama seems to be able to give us an answer. wow. >> well, they all gave answers. the reasons they gave to answers all varied because our experiences as americans has all varied. but the one thing we all agree on is that we are definitely better today than we were four years ago. >> who agrees with that, jacques? the president is down to 43% job approval today according to gallup. who is agreeing with you? i guess that's 43%. >> the 43% agree and you will see on november 6th that the majority of americans will

agree. >> i see. >> if you remember four years ago in september, the country was hanging on the financial precipice and the president called both obama and mccain white house. we still don't know what john mccain said but we do know obama was the only grown up in the room that offered leadership. that's why americans chosen to be president. since then he provided that leadership. >> that was four years ago, jacques. that was four years ago. >> that was the question are you better off than you were four years ago. >> the four years have elapsed and in those four years we have seen sky high unemployment. record breaking deficits and debt. and highly unpopular socialized medicine. it's no wonder that nobody on team obama even wants to say we are better off. even they can't tell us they are better off. >> it's intellectually offensive to say that you are better off than you are four years ago. we have got 15% real unemployment. a 16 trillion-dollar debt.

that adds up to $51,000 for every man, woman, and child in this country. the reason why they can't answer that question is because clearly this administration's policies have put this situation together for america. their message is in shambles because the economy is in shambles. in a fleeting moment of honesty the governor of maryland, a democrat said no we are not better off. stefanie cutter sounding more and more every day like baghdad bob's sister says of course we are. it doesn't matter what i say, what you say, even what governor romney or what president obama says. it matters what the american people say. they are not doing well. it's offensive to them and they will let this country and the world

examples of what we have experienced over the last four years and really what we are experiencing today. unemployment when he came into office, january of '09, 17.8%. today it's 8.3%. >> median income down. gasoline up. national debt up. the national debt has crashed through the 16 trillion-dollar mark so here we have had all of this unprecedented fiscal stimulus monetary stimulus, massive expansion of government and what do we have to show for it? >> excuse me, what we have to show for it is a choice between two individuals, the two individuals, one of whom has been providing guidance and leadership for this country. the other of whom can't even reveal his basic things his own income taxes. he won't do that his running

mate. >> this election is not about romney's taxes, it cannot create $16 trillion in debt it? >> is about who -- it is a b. a choice for americans in leadership. romney will not reveal his taxes and you don't want to talk about his taxes. >> no, because that's not what the issue. >> nobody cares about governor romney's taxes. >> of course you don't. a lot of people care about them. >> how they are doing economically and we are not doing good economically because this administration is spending and spending and spending. >> yes, the country is facing -- >> he just said. >> guys, hold on. [talking at the same time] >> i want you to address, this jacques, because there is a bigger question what is the proper

american elected to legislature. >> very unpopular 6% rejected. >> just because you say it's unpopular doesn't mean it was unpopular. it was upheld by the united states supreme court. the supreme court upheld it the both houses of an elected congress passed it. it hasn't been overturned. >> 60% of american people want it repealed. >> because a lot of people in barber shops and beauty parlors and talk radio don't like it doesn't mean it's not good. >> 60% of the american people want it repealed. all right, guys, i have got to go, chris -- >> -- of course you do. >> i will leave you with one final thought. go ahead. >> one final thought, the message of this campaign by president obama is forward. the main spokesperson will be president clinton saying 16 years ago the economy was good. so why don't you vote now for this guy. it's ridiculous.

the american people will reject it they are not doing well. they want to see governor romney in office. >> all right, guys. jacques and. >> we will see on november 6th. >> we certainly will. we agree on that, jacques. >> looking forward to it. >> thank you so much. next on the run down president obama tells g.o.p. agenda is stuck in the past. we will take a look at that situation. later, bill clinton taking center stage at the dnc. will he praise mr. obama's record or his own? those reports upcoming. that game was awesome last night.

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>> in the campaign 2012 segment tonight, president obama ramping up re-election bid. speaking today in toledo, ohio, he said this: >> despite all the challenges that we face in this new century, we saw three straight days of an agenda out of the last century. it was a re-run. you as well as watched it on black and white tv. [ laughter ] with some rabbit ears on there. [cheers] should have been on nic at night. >> the question: will this new stump speech message resonate with american voters? here now the republic leader of the new jersey assembly, john brahmnic and from

charlotte, north carolina, executive director of the young democrats of america. welcome, guys. thank you for being here. emily. >> thank you. >> let me start with you, because i am looking at the speaker's run down for the dnc, i see a president from 35 years ago jimmy carter. i see a president from 20 years ago, bill clinton. i also see biden, pelosi, and reid who have been in washington since the dinosaurs roamed the earth. so are you guys really going to argue that the republicans are the party of the past? >> well, i think if you look further down that list, you will also see rising star san antonino mayor castro, newark mayor cory booker and the president of the college democrats. but i think even just jawnd the speakers' list we are absolutely, strong message for us the democratic party is absolutely the party of the future. the republic party with the rhetoric they are going to it past past past. >> john, let me turn to you, because this president seems

to me all he has done is essentially live in the past. blaming his predecessor, whining about the situation here he inherited, and i would argue, instituting a redistributionist agenda, an ideology that had its origins in 1917. here is a president very old school state tus, big government, i would argue big government guy trying to argue that the republicans are the party of the past. isn't it the democrats? >> jeb bush said at the convention stop blaming my brother. this is now president obama's leadership that has failed. very simply, if you look at the polls, every poll shows that americans, a majority of americans believe we are on the wrong track. they believe that they are disappointed in this president. they believe they are worse off than they were four years ago, what's statistic supports the fact that this president has done the job that he says he has done? >> emily, let me pose that question to you because through the obama's

presidency, this is the way he has governed, this is his lifelong philosophy of really big government as i say, a massive expansion of government and the welfare state, which hasn't worked under his presidency, has never worked and is currently imploding all of western europe. so how you can guys say that that's the future when we have all of this empirical evidence both from obama's term and for decades now here and abroad that that kind of big government socialism does not work? >> well, i certainly have to take issue with the point that it has not worked. we have had 29 straight months of private sector job growth under president obama. we have more students than ever going to college at an affordable rate, young people who i represent. the rate for their student loans were about to double under president obama's leadership kept it affordable. look at the plan that romney -- that the ryan-romney plan with the ryan budget. for young people, you know, who i represent, it would make going to college basically unaffordable. romney, when he was in ohio,

when asked how outcome people should pay jung people should borrow from their parents. i don't think that's forward looking. >> emily, 8.3% unemployment jobs report coming friday just hours after the president accepts his party's renomination. we have got enim nehemiah mick 1 anemic 1. a 5. you guys are stuck with talking about college loans. that's an important issue but that's not what most americans are talking about. >> sure, no, we absolutely should be talking about the economy. we just had an entire week for romney, ryan to unveil their program. their plan. it is not something that we saw. this week in charlotte we will see concrete plans from president obama talking about how we are going to keep and raise a strong middle class. >> all right. assemblyman, go ahead. >> if we talk about history repeated itself, we heard all of these promises from president obama four years

ago. they didn't work. look, governor romney was clear. he said, look, we wanted him to succeed but he didn't. all the statistics show he didn't succeed. median income is down $4,000 per family. how do you answer that question to the american public where 23 million people are out of work? how do you explain that at your convention? >> emily? >> well, i mean you talk about running away from your record. why can't governor romney talk about his record? i know in your earlier segment you were talking about how he wouldn't release his tax returns. he doesn't talk about his record. his record. >> again, this makes me -- this drives me crazy, nobody cares about romney's tax returns. that's not what this election is about. his tax returns did not pile on $5.3 trillion in the last three and a half years to the national debt. by the way we are going to hit 16 trillion tomorrow. his tax returns and actually mitt romney himself is not the issue in this campaign. this election is a referendum on barack obama. jon, final word. go ahead. >> a bad argument is to argue

success is not what we want in america. you keep talking about tax returns. i'm sure he has done very well. that's what we want everyone to do in america. >> emily, just finally, you know -- >> -- absolutely that's why president obama has a plan for the middle class. >> listen, i speak as a conservative. the republicans last week were happy warriors, what you guys seem to be arguing and you are arguing today the republicans are much worse than us. that doesn't seem to be a very uplifting or true message. >> no. i think what we're arguing is the president has a strong record that he can run on. and he will run on. we're just wondering why won't governor romney run on his record as governor. the strongest thing he had as governor was, in fact, healthcare. >> we will will see how it all plays out assemblyman, emily, great to see you guys. will bill clinton upstage president obama at the democratic convention this week? there is a question. we will take a look at that situation and, yes, it is a situation. also ahead, mayor me a love, a

standout speaker at the rnc will enter the no spin zone moments away.

>> in the impact segment tonight, bill clinton is set to play a role on the democratic convention. on wednesday he is scheduled to deliver a prime time speech formally nominating president obama for re-election. but will former president clinton be promoting mr. obama's record or his own. joining me now from charlotte to analyze bernard whitman a former pollster for president bill clinton and the author of the new book "52 reasons to vote for obama." let's talk about if this in fact is what team obama is

reduced to. they can't run on their own economy so they are essentially saying pay no attention to the obama economy, but check out the clinton economy from 20 years ago. is that about right? >> monica, no surprise. i completely disagree with you. we don't hide from our presidents, we showcase them there is a reason for that the fact is bill clinton in addition to remaining incredibly popular both men and women, whites, people of color, across all age groups, a lot of the republicans, a lot of independents, a lot of moderates like him a lot. they liked his economic record which created 26 million jobs and they understood that bill clinton's vision of shared prosperity is the same vision that barack obama has which is why barack obama is trying to get back to the clinton economic policies, including that of fair tax rates where everybody contributes their fair share and everybody reasons the benefits instead of an approach of romney/ryan where the winner takes all and at the top do better and better and those in the middle and the bottom fall further and further behind. >> let me stop you bernard

because you brought up the comparison between obama and bill clinton. let's go through it because i don't think the comparison is going to be all that flattering for barack obama. under bill clinton he gave us a balanced budget. under barack obama we have had a record-breaking four years of trillion-dollar plus annual deficits. under bill clinton, we had real economic growth. under barack obama very weak economic growth. under bill clinton, spending cuts. under obama an unprecedented spending blow out and also under bill clinton, he cut the capital gains tax rate. barack obama wants to raise taxes pretty much across the board almost pretty much on everybody. so i don't think if you have got bill clinton speaking in prime time formally nominating barack obama that the comparison is going to work to obama's advantage. >> let me take an issue with a couple perform your facts, first of all, president obama has actually cut spending by a trillion dollars. and, in fact, nondiscretionary spending. >> bernard, $5.3 trillion added to the national debt in three and a half years.

you are telling me he has not cut spending. >> he has cut spending by a trillion dollars. that is a fact. >> blow out in american history over the last three and a half years. >> of all, let's compare vision and facts. number one, president obama has cut spending by a trillion dollars. nondiscretionary spending it at its lowest level in since eisenhower was in the white house, number one. with it number two. >> no, that is actually inaccurate. that is not true, bernard. >> it is true. i'm sorry, it's not nondiscretionary. discretionary spending at its lowest level since eisenhower was n the white house. president obama had to accept the extension of the bush tax cuts because the republicans railroaded him. what he has been seeking and what he will implement in his second administration is a tax plan where everybody pays their fair share where middle class americans continue to see their taxes lowered and those at the top continue to pay their fair share. my recollection is. >> that's your strategy then and i guess that's going to be the president's strategy this week two more class warfare, right?

raising taxes on the job creators? and you are saying that the tough 1% which already carries 37% of the tax burden in america are not paying enough and they should be paying more. >> top 1% have the tax rate back under president bush. >> i don't know a single person 1% who would go along with w. that bernard. voluntarily. >> the 1% did very very well under president bill clinton. proven the fact that the 1% would do very well under an economy where everybody is gaining rather than an economy that splits people. you talk about class warfare. the real class warfare is being waged by the republicans where the only cuts to that budget are fall on the poor and the disadvantage. >> absolutely not true. no. what romney and ryan are proposing is fundamental tax reform where you lower the rates for everybody you broaden the base and close the loopholes, especially on that 1%. of the 1% that you would like to wage war on. so don't tell me that somehow

the republic plan is a class warfare plan. you know that's not true. >> no, not only is class warfare. >> unleashing the private sector, bernard, that's how you get the economy going not for more government. >> the fact checkers which the romney campaign clearly does not trust or appreciate have shown that the romney-ryan plan would add $5 trillion deficit. crin december defense spending and cutting of taxes. we have been through this situation before. we do not want to put america's future on the credit card. invest in education, invest in environment and invest in healthcare like bill clinton did. >> investing code word for more government spending and you know, what bernard we can't too it american people don't want it and we are broke. $16 trillion national debt we are hitting that mark tomorrow. there is no more money. bernard, we. >> the to leave it there have a great time at the dnc. thank you so much. >> thank you. >> plenty more ahead as the factor moves along tonight. rising g.o.p. star mia love says president obama's version of america is a divided one.

she will be here to explain. and then john mccain one-on-one with bill on n. a very candid interview you don't want to miss. we hope you stay tuned to those reports. as the world around it. with the available lexus enform app suite, you can use opentable to make restaurant reservations. during the golden opportunity sales event, get great values on some of our newest models. this is the pursuit of perfection. [ male announcer ] you've reached the age where you don't back down from a challenge. this is the age of knowing how to make things happen. sowhy let erectile dysfunction get in your way? talk to your doctor about viagra. 20 million men already have.

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>> in the unresolved problem segment tonight, telling the truth in politics. as you know the rhetoric in this election cycle has already gotten heated. here is the very latest from white house senior advisor david plouffe. >> their campaign is built on a tri pod of lies. a welfare attack that has just absolutely untrue. the suggestion we are raiding medicare absolutely untrue and then this whole we can't build it nonsense. i don't think i have seen a presidential campaign built on a foundation of absolute lies. i think ultimately they are going to pay a price for that. >> joining us now to react from salt lake city the mayor of sara toba springs, youtube and mia love running for

congress. mia, great to he sue, you had such a star turn at the rnc last week. it's wonderful to have you here. >> thank you. i'm happy to be here. >> all right. let's start with what we just heard there from david plouffe because it seems to me there is a lot of projection going on there. they are all accusing team romney of lying when it seems that all team obama does is lie. so, let's go through the david plouffe comment one by one and i will let you address each one of his charges first is the romney welfare ad which he talked about and romney campaign has been going wild on that. the truth is that the obama administration changed the legal framework of welfare to actually allow the work requirement to be stripped. >> it's interesting because what his policy did was incentivize bad behavior and punish good behavior. they removed the incentives for people to actually go out and work and not lose everything what we're doing is

crippling americans and saying we are going to hand you a paycheck and you don't have to do anything about it. that fits into obama's strategy which he has carried out over the last three and a half years of making as many people as possible dependent on government, right? >> we spend $900 billion on property programs that's supposed to end poverty. it continues to grow and grow and grow which tells you it is not working. he would rather rate his success on how much money is he giving out than rating success on how many people actually need those programs. >> so this is, i mean, the modern democratic party, mia is a cult of victim hood. stripping out the requirement even though they argued that's not the case when you look at the ghangt hss mandate that came out of this administration a couple of months ago, that's exactly what it does it creates victim hood and perpetuates dependency certainly not mercury know. the mercury know is grounded on hard workers.

people who have been able to come here and who have been born here who were have ideas and are able to go out and make a life for themselves and a life for their children. and i think that he is stripping away the american dream and the america as we know it. >> all right. his second charge in that clip mia was about raiding medicare. he claims that team romney is falls phiing the facts they said no we have no intention of raiding medicare that's not what we are doing. robbing $716 billion at least from medicare to pay for obama care, that looks like a raid to me. >> these rab salute facts. it's interesting that we are in a race where a president would say by the way, these are my policies and you are not allowed to talk about them because it hurts me. i mean, i think it's absolutely ridiculous. the fact is he did take money out of medicare to pay for obama irca. we're pointing out those facts. i think that my parents need to know and senior citizens everywhere need to know those

who are receiving benefits medicare should know about it absolutely that's why we are educating about the truth. david plouffe said in that clip he called it nonsense when republicans and regular plernts talking about obama's own comment you didn't build that david plouffe dismisses that as nonsense. you didn't build that is obama's own words number one. number two, that's been obama's lifelong philosophy. it's also been the way he has governorred for the last three and a half years. >> well, president obama should really go look for that person that was impersonating him when he was talking about those. because i find it absolutely ridiculous. we saw him say that we say you didn't build that. and, you know, just to let you know, there was a survey that came out they support romney 61% to obama 26%. obviously it's hurting him. obviously the american people

are awake. they see what's happening. and they are saying we are not going to allow you to do this anymore which is why races in this state and all over are so important. we are looking at $2 million of attack ads coming up against me. people who support mitt romney. people who support small businesses to keep us out. and we are going to make a strong statement that we're not going to allow the left to buy this race and i hope everyone will go to love -- donate to the campaign. >> i know you guys had some very serious mud slides. how is everybody doing? everything under control there? >> i have to tell you so many homes were affected but the best thing that i have seen is 5,000 volunteers go and work really hard and get these people back on their feet. we do have a blog spot saratoga springs relief dot blowing dot spot. go and donate.

saratoga springs relief dot blog spot.com. we are going to get back on our feet and not depend on government to do it for us. >> amen to that mia love thank you so much. >> thank you. >> when we come right back, senator john mccain will be here in a factor exclusive. don't miss it up next. with the spark cash card from capital one,

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>> thank you for staying with us. i'm monica crowley in tonight for bill o'reilly. in the personal story segment tonight, what does it take to make a run for the white house? what kind of inner strength, stamina, and fortitude? what and what kind of toll does a tough campaign take on a candidate's life? in an extraordinarily candid interview with bill, john mccain lays the hardships and highlights highest office in the land. >> senator, what was the most difficult thing personally about you running for president four years ago? >> i think probably the most difficult is the pace, you know, it's 24/7 even when you lie down to go to sleep you are thinking about things. the pace of things. at the same time, bill, i was always cognizant of the fact that here is a guy who stood fifth from the bottom of his class at the naval academy. >> crashed four airplanes at

taxpayers expense that could run for president of the united states and get the nomination of the republic party. most of it exsill lear ration to tell you the truth. >> do you have to sleep at night -- you are jacked up because the adrenaline is going all day long. i can't imagine you got more than 4 hours or five hours of sleep per night. would that be about right? >> that would be about right. and the thing you have to guard against, too, you know, is every mistake i have ever made and i bet you it's the same with you is when you are tired. so you try not to get too tired because that's when mistakes are made. and i think that's true with other politicians we can name those incidents in history. you try to get as much sleep as possible, which is four or five hours but at the same time, don't get so fatigued that you lose your temper or say something stupid. probably going to say something stupid anyway.

>> bill: sure people get tired and run down thought processes aren't as sharp. when you are out on the road, you have a schedule, a schedule. now, president clinton notorious for being late. president obama is late a lot. you were punctual pretty much on that schedule. is that your military bearing or did you insist on it? bill, look i admire bill clinton as one of the politicians. the rudest thing you can do is keep people waiting. they are there to see you. sometimes they have to get there way early anyway because of the secret service. in all due respect i do not respect politicians keep people waiting that are there to see them. >> that was something that you personally insisted upon i'm going to be punctual, don't load me up so i can't make a to z. >> yes. >> bill: scijly, you are barraged with a lot of press. did you read and listen to the press while you were

campaigning? it's a jammed schedule you are a little bit in bubble in that respect. i knew when the stock market crashed 700 points in one day and we went down seven points i knew that we had a very difficult struggle and so i kind of avoided some of the media just for my own morale sake. >> you selectively look -- i assume in the morning they give you polling, overnight folder of what your handlers think you should know, right? you get a briefing, right? >> yes. and also, you know, when i get up in the morning i watch the early shows and of course have to tune in on "fox & friends" and all that. >> bill: you want a good laugh you go with doocy and kilmeade and carlton. so the movie that portrayed you and sarah palin. i know you didn't think much

about that hbo movie. ed harris played you. he played you as a guy who was in campaign but did defer to some of your advisors. they would come in and say listen, senator, you have got to do x, y, and z. woody harrelson was playing the lead in. that is that true? did you run at all or did you defer to some advisors? >> well, first of all, about the movie and i didn't see it, but i'm told that i'm portrayed as someone who uses the f word every other word. >> harris cursed a lot. >> i'm an old navy man and i don't do that because i think it's a sign of a lack of vocabulary and intellect. put that aside, i pretty much ran my own campaign. >> there was a time when when michigan was a bone of contention in your campaign. and this is true. we know this because sarah palin works for fox. she wanted to campaign in michigan. you wanted to use resources elsewhere.

so i'm assuming that was your decision, that you saw the polling and you deployed the resources that you had where you wanted them. it's like a chess game and you are the guy moving the pieces. is that correct? >> well, i think that's correct. the polling unfortunately showed that we had no chance in michigan. i talked to sarah about it she wanted to go there because sarah felt that she could turn it around. and we had long conversation about it. but there was never any space between me and sarah palin. i love her and i cherish her and her family and i'm grateful for her running with me and i still regret the only thing i regret is i had no idea that she would be attacked as viciously as she still is today. >> bill: absolutely. >> by the liberal press. >> still to come, lessons learned, what advice does john have for mitt romney. more with the senator in just a moment.

>> continuing now with bill's candid interview with senator john mccain. no one knows better than he what is it it is like to run a campaign against president obama. what lessons would he pass on. >> new to give one piece of advice to romney you would say. >> my advice is the reality is all these hundreds of millions of dollars of negative ads by obama the most vicious campaign i have observed has driven up his unfavorables. now here at the convention i'm sure this is going to happen, is he going to have a chance to talk directly to the american people and show the american people what a good and decent person he is. and what a fine family he has. and that the qualities of the guy, look, he and i had a tough primary in 2000 2008 as

you know. i got to like and respect mitt romney. i think that part of him has been damaged by this hundreds of millions of dollars of negative attack ads on him which i don't think is going to work at the end of the day. that's his challenge, i think, at the convention and i'm confident he will will do it. >> bill: so you are going to say to him you have got to be more personal. you have got to get out there and let the folks know how are in a sincere way. it's not a phony political deal. you have got to reveal something of yourself so they feel more comfortable with you. am i incapsule late that correctly. >> that is correct but that is because of this incredible attack campaigns he has faced. i'm also confident is he doing that but now the eyes of america will be on him when he speaks and i think it's a great idea to have ann romney speaking first. that will rebut a lot of the stuff that you have seen.

-- this plummets depths i have not seen before in any political campaign. >> bill: final question for you. i would like to have you back before the debates. >> sure. >> bill: you went one-on-one with barack obama. i have done that is he quick. all right? you underestimate him at your peril. you would agree with that correct? >> i would totally agree with that he also gives a great speech. i'm sure he will give a great speech at his convention. >> bill: but i'm talking the debated now. >> yes. >> so you are up there with him. you say to mitt romney, look, when you are debating barack obama, based on my experience, here is what you have to do to win. what do you say to the governor? >> take the offense and attack his record. he cannot defend his record. take the offense and, by the way, senator rob portman is playing obama in the practice. i guarantee you portman will

prepare him. i hate rob portman to this day. preparation for the. you didn't. >> bill: you didn't attack barack obama's record. you went light on him. you went light on the reverend wright stuff. you went light on his background his achievements he voted present. you went light on that. in hindsight is that a mistake. >> i went hard on him about his philosophy on government. remember joe the plumber and that i didn't think it was appropriate to go to the reverend wright and all of that. i thought it was about the campaign was about the economy you know, whenever you lose, there is always lots of postmortems and i will plead guilty to all of them. the failure of that campaign to win was my fault and mine alone. >> bill: and the reason that you lost? >> maybe i didn't run a good enough campaign. maybe i wasn't strong enough. i also would point out though

without making any excuses when the day the stock market went down 700 points, my friend. that was a bad day for us. >> bill: you were running against the economy and so is president obama this time around. is he right where you were. thank you, senator. we really appreciate it. >> thank you. >> and on deck, a new book features 50 things liberals love to hate. and the list just might surprise you. we'll have it for you in 60 seconds. that game was awesome last night. we got crushed, dude. awesome game. nice. saints are getting good, huh? shotgun formation... yes. zone blitz, they disguise it so well. with nfl mobile from verizon, no one will know the game better than you. best defense in the league... well, almost no one. i will eat you. watch live games thursday, sunday and monday nights, plus get nfl redzone and nfl network coverage 24/7 on nfl mobile and experience football on verizon 4g lte.

what do football and wal-mart have in common. according to a new book they are among the saitd same set liberals in america love to hate most. here to explain. mike gallagher and fox news contributor and the brand-new book, 50 things liberals love. >> welcome. by the way.

when i saw only 52. then i thought if you listed everything they love to hate. would be the obamacare bill. >> i would be like the encyclopedia britain any ka. i make a distinction between liberals and details. these are liberties. nancy pelosi and michael moore, the checkout help at whole foods wearing the che guvarra headband. they like to coddle and nag and hate most of the things that americans love. >> you also say they spend a good deal of time, the liberals or the kooks away from the rest of us? >> its full-time job. listen, they are exceedingly well educated and never miss an opportunity to tell us so. they got to have a good income because it takes a lot of money to maintain that latte a day at

starbucks. they tell us what they don't like what we like. speaking of that. the founding fathers? >> old white guys with powdered wigs. they hated the fact if this group formed the u.s. constitution, they still explode about the constitution. it's more of an attack about the attack on the constitution. but they never miss their wine and tobacco in their mouths. >> so the founding fathers sound like that. let's talk about success the left hates success? >> look what is happening today with, they call it out all the time the class warfare garbage. they don't like people who have succeeded in this world so they wanted, their idea of success is far different from you and me. >> the football, n.f.l. regular

season starts on wednesday. you say the left hates football? >> that is because it's not football, everything this n soccer is designed to appeal the liberal's spence bills. they hate smash brand of football. that is war with completes. it's militaristic. >> what about mcdonald's? >> if you had a time machine, you tell people hundred years ago, poor people are fat. they would say, poor people are fat. that is because of the advancement of the double cheeseburger. poor people can heat pretty good and the dollar menu but they hate mcdonald's, it represents entrepreneurism and good how about the happy meal they want to take away. >> and wal-mart? >> possibly the best example of what i mean how liberals hated

to most of the things we love. who doesn't like walmart? however, liberals are fixated against walmart. they don't like unions and knock out mom and pop shops. they don't complain about that with starbucks or apple because those are cool, liberal businesses but walmart, no. >> walmart is middle america and capitalism at its fine zblestd bingo, two of things they hate the most. >> they despise all of the above. that is the best example in the book. >> mike, great to see you. >> your book is called, 50 things liberals love to hate. >> before we go tonight. pleats don't forget to check out my brand-new book, what is the bleep just happened because if you haven't, what the bleep. follow me on twitter at monica crowley and check out