>> production assistance for "inside washington" was provided by allbritton communatio and "politico," reporting on the legislative, executive, and political arena. >> the press thinks because they are angry, they are angry at us. >> this week on "inside washington," anger, fear, and loathing on the campaign trail. what is happening to the obama coalition of two years ago? >> you ran on a high rhoric, hope and change, at the democrats seem to be running on

"please, baby, one more chance." [laughter] >> also, have you ever seen an election cycle this ugly? >> i have been called a liar, a poor, a nazi. >> jon stewart and stephen colbert bring the act to washington. >> jason, or are you? >> i cannot find this thing but six-lane traffic circle leads to an underpass. captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org-- >> in rhode island, the democratic candidate for governor, as you just heard, tells the president of the united states that he can take his endorsement and shove it. in alaska, a candidate's bodyguard and cups are reporter tries to ask the candidate a question. a senate candidate in nevada

will rally and a protester get your head stomped hundred and two comedians take over the mall for a rally. how did they make a mockery of the political process? colby, the conventional wisdom is that the democrats are about to take a bath. you have been challenging that for months. are you about to change your mind? is your last chance. >> gordon, i would like to revise and extend my remarks. [laughter] i think the house is likely to go republican. there is a good chance -- tre is a chance that the senate will stay in the hands of the democrats, but that is not a given, either. >> nina, paul krugman says that if the election goes as expected, be afraid. should we take his advice? >> i am already afraid. it is not like the government is going great. i don't know whether i should be a free, but it will be gridlock.

-- whether i should be afraid, but it will be gridlock. >> evan, a future historians may say this will be a catastrophe for america. you are a historian. would you say that? >> no, but it is kind of a joke. it is, in a dark way. paul krugman is a professional doomsayer, so you have to take up with a grain of salt. but the political system is a mess. >> jeanne, how bad for democrats, how good for republicans? >> most political prognosticators are looking at the 40 they need to take the house, and maybe as much as 60 and even a little higher. there were about 100 seats in play, and there was a point where some of the predictors thought it was going to be a tsunami wave, and they recently have been pulling back, because the democrats have made up some ground with the gis as some gap.

it is big, -- with the enthusiasm gap is big, way bigger than we usually see for a midterm. >> the president has been traveling around the country trying to be energized to obama the gates of 2008 and saying, don't blame us, blame the other guy." >> republican leaders in washington made a different decision. instead of trying to help obama and hariri to solve problems, we are going to stand on the sidelines, sit on our hands, and basically just say no to everything. >> republican national chairman michael steele says oh, yeah? wait until wednesday. >> when you wakep on that wednesday and you see the headlights and you watch the liberal press choke on the words "republican majority." >> here is bloomberg news with its bold bid to obama administration cut taxes for middle-class americans, it

expects to make a profit on the billions of dollars spent to rescue banks, and most voters don't believe it. likely voters by a two-one margin believe taxes have gone up, the economy has shrunk, and billions led to banks as part of tarp will not be recovered. how does this happen, colby? >> it happens because democrats lost control of the narrative. they lurched from issue to issusu shelter being the big issue. -- health care being the big issue. they got swept up in washington instead of realizing constituents out there need to be kept informed and energize and mobilized. they got into the washington, got back into the weeds, and republicans to get away from them. >> here is jean cummings' anysis iolitico. "abbott the in the liberal base,

republican -- apathy in the liberal base, republican rage, and the white house i the miscalculated the risk -- the white house miscalculated the risk. >> if you look at what -- those are the head winds. they are coming from three different directions. if you look at liberal apathy, it begins and the first week, when the progressive community was upset that obama gave on his own stimus plans the and that was t big enough, speaking of paul krugman. then you look at the flight of the independence that started in the spring of last year. that was when the economy was 9.5% independents were with him in the beginning on the stimulus, but then when the unemployment rate kept going up and hit in 9.5%, the bottom falls off. and then, of course, republican rage is all about health care and all the bills they did pass.

>> what is interesting is how meone as overexposed as obama could appears to really irrelevant -- could appear so really irrelevant his staff got sucked into washington. the watch too much tv or something. but he has this sort of a serious quality, sort of, " don't bother me -- sort of imperious quality, sort of, " don't bother me." he is slightly standoffish about the whole process. it's a bad combination of your staff playing the washington game and you not want to do that, and the net result is he does not have much impact. >> i think there is a greater mystery in some ways. they have done, as you point out -- passed legislation. you did not even mentioned the reform of credit cards. >> the automobile industry --

>> is on the way back and starting to repay money. how is it that somebody who ran such a successful political campai, that was so on message, to use code words, has stumbled back entirely when they do have bragging rights to a lot of things? they don't seem to have been able to convey that. it was as if they just ought to what happened. they were way too passive about it. >> they'd lost control of the narrative. the stimulus package to not work -- did not work -- well, if you look a what comes out of the cbo, the stimulus package created 3 billion jobs that might otherwise have not been there. if you let criticism of the health care reform bill go through, you need to get the fact of the 30 million people are now going to have access to health care that might not have had before.

that is not talked about. >> obama had one great stump speech where he unleashed jefferson-jackson day, 2007. before that, he was kind of petulant, peevish, and that the guy we're seeing -- >> i think that is sort of revisionist history. they had jeremiah out what's-is- face, lots of things they had to do with -- had to deal with. he has not done that here. >> harry reid referred to barack obama as "a light-skinned african-americans with no dialect." >> that is from nevada, the u.s. senate race. happy couple, sharron angle and harry reid. it looks like she has the edge, would you say? >> in the polls, she is ahead.

out of the margin of error, but she has been consistently ahead, so that is good for her. it really does come down to turnout, because it is that close to both sides are working really hard. some of the early voting patterns suggest that the republicans have the best of that as well. it does not look good for harry reid in nevada right now. >> even if he wins, i would not put any money on his remaining leader. >> colorado, michael bennet, to close to call? >> tossup, but michael bennet has a slight lead, a couple of points. >> to close to call. >> it is possible that voters will record as he is a good guy and deserves to be there. -- will recognize tt hes a gooduy and deserves t be there.

>> what about barack obama's illinois senate seat? is that leading republican? >> yes. it is surprising that it is not more so, but that race is tightening up. we have to focus on turnout. >> washington state, patty murray is the incumbent. >> tossup. >> i was in chicago earlier this ek, and there are nasty advertisements. >> they are everywhere. i was on the colorado, new mexico, and arizona last week, and i learned that nancy pelosi is was possible not only for the deficit and unemployment, but also for the declining honeybee population, you name it. [laughter] connecticut, attorney general versus the wrestling ceo. >> that is leading in his direction. >> o oy in this year would even be close.

she is kind of a ridiculous candidate. >> millions of her own dolrs -- >> she is a wrestling tycoon. >> she is a better candidate than many thought she was. >> setting a pretty low bar. >> west virginia -- >> the argument is that if he goes to washington he will be another obama clone -- >> his opponent is against raising the minimum wage. how do you get away with being against the minimum wage in west virginia? >> he is still only in -- the best pull for him, he is only at night two or three points. -- only ahead by two or 3. points.

>> pennsylvania. >> pat toomey was supposed to win this one in a walk. it is still close. >> michelle obama is going there on monday where they are trying to energize the voter base. >> is that helping democrats? >> yes. >> wisconsin, russ feingold. still in trouble, evan/ >> tossup. >> gone. >> barbara boxer? >> the amazing storie -- stories about these two high- powered executives trying to buy more rhythm, but they just don't sell with the voters. >> jerry brown is ahead in the california governor's race. >> you don't have an advertisement talking nostalgically about how good it

was in the 1980's, and then jerry brown saying, "yeah, i was governor." >> she had spent $160 million or so -- she has a turnout operation of her own. it worries me. if the races are tight -- >> kentucky looks like rand paul. finally, alaska, this is the duty. joe miller is the senate candidate, lisa murkowski gets be, but she is ahead in the polls. >> to miller has had a bad month, with charges against them having -- joe miller has had a bad month, with the charges against them haven't been disclosed with the ethical problems he had gat he is nosediving in the polls. >> for the record, politico, abc news, ne"new york times"

saying that bill clinton trying to talk kendrick meek out of the florida senate race. he says, no, i am in. >> if she takes the right negative ads as easily defined, i will take mine off, no question b. >> i will take out anything tt could be construed as a personal attack, but i don't think we can take down the ads that talk about where governor brown stands on issues. i just a big is the right thing to do. -- i just don't think it is the right thing to do. >> meg whitman has spent in excess of $120 million of her own -- >> up to $160 million. she has broken all records. she has basically builds a republican party that is the mega wittman party. she has done the ground game, advertising and the hispanic community and radio and print.

she has used new media. she has done everything she could possibly do, spent money on every single tool, and she is still 10 points behind. >> even if she loses, will she be back in another venue? >> it is possible, because i don't think california is a typically it blue state. she will do well, given the year. i don't think she is not a bad campaign. but she may not like it. does is the eternal question, can you buy a seat? meg whitman is not your of his political candidate di -- not your obvious political candidate. she is not someone with the charisma to do it. but if your part is in the right place, you can do it. she is the third businessman to run in california and essentially failed to do it. >> she is not a businessman.

she is able mad- she is a woman. >> business person. >> you talk to british journalists and other european journalists, they say that our political system is totally corrupted by money. do you agree with that? >> yes, i do agree with that. there are times weren't there is more does this month, there are times -- times when there is more business money, there are times when there is more union money. >> citizens united? >> that, and other things. all kinds of creative ways. >> when people tell you, for a journalist, that our system is corrupted by money, what do you say? >> money can have a corrosive impact on the system, particularly when we don't know the source of the funds. that is what has happened in

this case. some of the worst ads have been put on not by the candidates themselves, but by the congressnal campaign mmittees that are sponsoring. some of the worst being done by the democrats, and the republicans, and not the candidates, but it is coming from all sides now. they keep throwing it out on the wall to see what will stick. >> to me is not that money tilts the balance one way or the other -- jeanne is the expert on this -- but the problem is the amount of time the candidates have been spent raising money. >> ask a retiring member of congress but he is was about the job, and that is what he will tell you, -- what he hates most about the top, and that is what he will tell you, raising money. >> and there is a part of it that is not so corrosive, and that is that if you want to run

for public office, you need to demonstrate you have some support, and that is what way to measure it. the problem is that the scale is completely out of whack and will be much, much worse in 2012 because of the new ways that both sides are starting to fight to spend money this year. >> how ds a rson with a 5- digit income aspire to national politics and this environment? >> why would you even want to do it anymore? i used to think that these crazy races were the aberration and a really great people should do this. i am not sure anybody would want to anymore? >> i wish i could say, "oh, come on," but i'm starting to agree. i see that really good people just don't want to do it. we've been talking about this for years, but at some point it actually is a problem. >> jon stewart at stephen colbert come to washington for a

weekend rally. >> in fairness, larry summers did a heckuva job -- [laughter] >> you don't want to use that phrase, dude. >> i don't think i have ever heard anyone call the presidenen "dude" before it a lot of politicians are worried abt this, but it will take away the focus from getting votes. >> i said as much a few weeks ago, and what i said maybe wasn't right. this become an outlet for people all the liberal side to demonstrate how they feel about the country and issues as well. it is something i was not -- it is of the i did not think was going to be manifested just like the glenn beck rally, which brought out a lot of people on the right. >> jon stewart says this will be

polite, that there will be signs that say, "i disagree with you, but i don't think that you are hitler." >> democratic operatives are upset because it takes people away from their home base on a critical weekend, when it is getting people ready and organizing the get-out-the-vote operations. one of the bases here is the liberal base, and the youth days. if this generates a real kind of excitement that goes back on sunday, it will have done something significant for the democrats. >> jon stewart talks about 75% of the people in the united states who want to be governed by common sense. which makes sense to me. >> injecting stability back into politics has been a hobby horse that jon stewart has been on for years. this is something that he has preached about. i think it will be interesting if this rally could actually get

people thinking in that direction. i don't know that it is -- i don't know what people to think partisan outcome is, but if he could get some stability going, that would be good. >> it is a fine line between being a comic and activist. i don't think it works well if he is an activist. >> let's go back to frank caprio of rhode island, who told the president to shove his endorsement. he is running third. lincoln chafee, a former senator, who endorsed the present time is running first -- who endorsed the president, is running first. >> it is quite a comeback for him. he is so well known in that state -- >> some of the distinguished senator -- son of the distinguished senator john chafee. >> it is a political comeback,

and obama wanted to stand by him because he endorsed him. frank caprio got the short end of the deal, and did not handle it very well. iny little ray of hope. he is a moderate republican, actually a liberal republican, the type used to exist and that did the party a lot of good. virtually extinct. he himself was swept out of office. now he is coming back. maybe it is because it is a small state, a funny state, and they all remember the chafees. >> a lot of people endorsed him, he just would not endorse -- obama had no choice. chafee did come out for him early. >> if the house goes republican, and everybody seems to think it will, and even colby is leaning in that direction, how does the

present government? > -- how does the president govern? >> john boehner has been shrewder about this than mitch mcconnell. john boehner at least pretends he wants to do business. mitch mcconnell said that his top, in an interview with "national journal," if they do when the senate, is to make sure that barack obama is a one-term president. i don't think that is the kind of message that americans by and large want to hear. you may not even like obama, but you know what to wished failure. -- but you don't want to wish a failure. >> if you ask voters in kentucky how they feel about the estimate, i would be interested to see the call. -- poll. >> nothing is going to happen for the next two years. it is really about 2012. we might as well face up to it.

that is going to be the real election. >> i am not so sure that nothing is going to happen. republicans to gain control of the house will have to produce something. there will have to say that they made a difference in some ways -- they will have to say that they made a difference in some ways. >> i have been out in the last two days doing interviews for a story where i was on the tea party world, and they want proof. they are still highly suspicious of the republican party hierarchy. they want to -- they want to see demonstrations that these guys have learned the lesson and can affect change. >> does the tea party have legs beyond 2010? >> i think they do. this movement is a vibrant, it is healthy, it is learning how to raise money. the movement definitely goes

into 2012. >> john boehner himself says that if they get this, they will have to produce. >> one reason they want is because the tea party -- >> we can talk about this after the election, but does john boehner have to watch his back when he gets to be speaker? >> they always do, but he actually has done a really good job of managing his own ambitions. there is no challenge to him to becomi speaker, if the do take the house. >> he is going to have a cadre of committee chairmen who will help him as well. >> last word. see you after the election next week. for a transcript of this broadcast, log on to insidewashington.tv.