>> as soon as i touched down downstairs, i'm going to call the program. do what i've got to do, for myself, my family. my son. the republicans versus president obama. is it personal? let's play some "hardball." good evening. i'm michael smerconish in for chris matthews. leading tonight dissing the president of the united states.

john boehner's refusal to allow a wednesday jobs speech was an example of the republicans saying no to anything that obama wants. republicans neither fear nor respect this president. is it personal? is it political? is it in some cases racial? what can the president do to turn this around or push back hard? that's our top story. also, rick perry is about to feel the heat. >> rick perry doubled spending in a decade. and this year rick perry's spending more money than the state takes in. >> that's not from the dnc. that's from michele bachmann's pac. the word is that sarah palin is about to go after perry as well. it's not easy being the front-runner. democrats and republicans alike are taking it to cantor to say that fema money for hurricane

victims has to be offset by spending cuts elsewhere. and the new jobs report, no new jobs created. as we head into labor day weekend, some say let's remember who got us here. george w. bush and dick cheney. and finally, let me finish tonight with the catch 22 of the republican party. anyone conservative enough to be nominated might be unelectable. and anyone moderate enough to be elected can't get nominated. we start with the disrespect shown towards president obama. roger simon is chief political columnist for politico and ron reagan is a political commentator. i want to show you something from "the new york times" that ran today. it says this. american presidents often have highly disagreeable relations stem from deep policy divides, the relentless acrimony between president obama and congressional republicans also seems strikingly personal, almost petty.

ron reagan a lot comes with the territory, but did your dad ever have to face anything like what president obama has been through since day one? >> no. there was certainly acrimony as there is under any president, but not to the sort of level that we see today and not with the tone of disrespect that ink we see today. i'm astonished by the level of pettiness on the part of the republicans and, again, the tone that they take. this starts, of course, with some of the bloviaters on right wing radio who virtually call the president boy, sometimes literally call him boy, which is pretty offensive right there. but it trickles down to the elected officials shouting "you lie" during a presidential speech is a pretty good example of this. no, it was not like this during my father's administration. >> what amazed me through this time period are those who openly pray for, request that he fail, all the way congratulating one

another for their relative level of patriotism. >> they've made this quite obvious. mitch mcconnell said job one for the republicans was getting rid of barack obama. you would think that maybe they were interested in national security or improving the economic picture, but apparently it's all about getting rid of him. yeah, again, this is virtually unprecedented. >> roger, yet another terrific piece for politico today. >> thank you. >> you quoted a white house source saying that they didn't think boehner's snub was a big matter. it is a big deal that the house said no to the president from our end. this confirms what we all know, they will do anything to 'n the house to muck us up. perhaps i was reading between the lines too much, but if he got that scoop, the white house wanted people to know that they were p.o.'d. >> sure, they did. and they're starting to identify

villains. you go back and you look at president obama's speeches about congress, he never uses the word "republican." he says congress hasn't done this. congress has been ineffective. congress refuses to pass my plans. well, he doesn't really mean the democrats of congress. he means the republicans, but he is very consciously trying to be bipartisan. and i think some in the white house, perhaps with his permission, have finally decided to say, look, bipartisanship is not working, will not work. it won't help the country. it won't get you re-elected. and it's time to say, look, it's the tea party who is frustrating us. it is boehner and cantor who are refusing to deal with us fairly. it is ultraconservatives who are frustrating the will of the people. and i think they're beginning to get in place their talking points for the 2012 campaign.

>> we're having this conversation about the climate that exists right now with regard to the president given those jobs numbers that came out or lack of jobs numbers this morning, my suspicion is that his opponents will now feel emboldened to go even further in this regard. >> oh, i think they will. when you have mitt romney sort of really tearing him up today and romney is, by far, not the worst person or the most vicious republican in the field. quite the opposite. but they all feel that they have a wounded president, a vulnerable president, and all they have to do is twist the knife a little more to bring him down. i think they're underestimating just how good a campaigner president obama was last time. he beat hillary clinton, and she was pretty tough to beat. but i really think that they believe they almost cannot lose. >> and i want to make clear. i thought that the atmosphere

that surrounded president bush's administration at the end got way too nasty, but some specifics of the sort of thing that we're talking about on president obama's watch, here they are. remember the infamous outburst from representative joe wilson when president obama was speaking before a joint session of congress about his health care plan. it was this -- >> the reforms i'm proposing would not apply to those who are here illegally. >> you lie! >> here's another one. earlier this summer doug lamborn had to apologize to the president for what he said on a local denver radio program. >> even if some people say, well, the republicans should have done this or should have done that, they will hold the president responsible. now, i don't even want to be associated with them. it's like touching a tarbaby and you are stuck and you're part of the problem now. >> here's another criticism of the president during a congressional debate on the debt

ceiling this july, it required representative steve latourette to admonish his fellow republicans. >> disparaging remarks directed at the president of the united states are inappropriate. >> hey, ron reagan, why does it go on? it goes on because it works. i had jon huntsman on my radio program today. here's a guy who can't break out of the pack. and i think why? because he's saying that barack obama's a good guy. he disagrees with him, but he thinks he's a good guy. we reward this behavior. >> john mccain did that when barack obama was identified as a muslim terrorist. he's a good, decent american, he's just somebody i disagree with. but there are many republicans here who think that any democrat who gets into the white house is, by definition, illegitimate. there are republicans who simply feel entitled to the white house. i get a chill every time i hear president obama now say the word "bipartisan."

what is the bipartisan compromise between i'd like to have a nice jobs program for america because we've got a real unemployment problem here and we don't want to do anything to help the economy until after 2012 because we're only really interested in destroying you? where's the 50 yard line between those two positions? i can't find it. >> roger simon, did you get any indication from your highly placed source at the white house today with regard to their response to this sort of behavior, that there will be a change in the president's demeanor? will he continue to pursue what i describe as the reasonable ground, or did they give that you story today because they want people to know we're now drawing a line in the sand? >> i can't say for sure as to the president. i think his staff is tired of what has been going on and would like to see -- not just his staff. his democratic base would like to see a tougher barack obama. now, that may not be in him. he didn't run a very mean

campaign in 2008. he ran a good campaign, but it wasn't mean. maybe he's going to have to get meaner if he wants to win in 2012 because he certainly doesn't have the economy on his side any more. >> when you study ron reagan those numbers about the president while his disapproval rating is at an all-time high when you look into some of the cross tab, you see that many americans continue to like, believe he's a very decent individual. i'm not talking about the hard core opposition that, frankly, will never be dissuaded from that opinion. i guess my question is does he run the risk of alienating those people who like him at his korean if they disagree with his politics if he changes his demeanor? >> no, i don't think so in this case. what roger is suggesting is true, he needs to be stronger. people vote for the guy or the woman who they respect. and what's not happening here is president obama is not getting the respect of the republicans. if they need to make him fear him in order to get them to

respect him, so be it. then he needs to do that. but he needs to be more direct about what he wants to do and be clear about what their agenda is, which is not good for america, at least until 2012. these are people actively trying to stop him from helping the economy at this point. he needs to make that clear and he should start in his speech before the joint session. >> a far cry we are from that scene that you've discussed and written about where tip o'neill comes to pay his respects at your father's hospital bed, which is really -- >> can't see john boehner doing that for barack obama. >> appreciate roger simon and ron reagan being here. a schedule reminder, the presidential debate at the reagan library will be here on msnbc at 8:00 p.m. eastern. then join the president for the big jobs speech at 7:00 p.m. eastern. rick perry discovers the flip side of being a front-runner.

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welcome back to "hardball." it's becoming an old story. texas governor rick perry leads the candidates for president. he's well ahead of his challengers, even when you only poll for candidates who officially announced when they're running he still remains number one. but with that front-runner status comes criticism. tea party favorites michele bachmann and sarah palin are both launching attacks on perry. perhaps they feel their appeal slipping as they try to appeal to the same crowd. michelle bernard is the president of the bernard center for women in politics. and both are msnbc political analysts. a pro-bachmann super-pac called

keep conservatives united. keep that title in mind. >> good luck. >> that's what this is all about. >> have started running an attack ad against rick perry in the early running in south carolina. here it is. >> rick perry says he's one tough ombre on spending. >> number one is don't spend all the money. >> what's his record? rick perry doubled spending in a decade. this year rick perry is spending more year than the state takes in, covering his deficits with record borrowing. and he's supposed to be the tea party guy? there is an honest conservative and she's not rick perry spokesman pushed back saying that governor perry is a proven fiscal conservative havi buets led texas t become the top job creating state. congresswoman bachmann's front-group ad is patently false unlike washington, the texas government does not run deficits

and limits spending, even as texas added jobs and population in big numbers. i'm loving this. this is what i was hoping for. >> we'll talk about sarah palin's attack, too, on rick perry in a moment. i think he wants -- mitt romney would want sarah palin just full ne the race. right now rick perry has leapfrogged over mitt romney. that's getting michele bachmann and sarah palin worried and it's worrying mitt romney. he thought he'd only have one tea party candidate to worry about, michele bachmann. they're shooting at each other with that saloon music behind them? i love that in the ad. that will help mitt romney. he'll get the noncrazy republican vote. it may help him to in some of the contests. >> the defireworks are really going to begin. >> i think the fireworks are going to fly. it will be very interesting to watch the dynamic between the

candidates, particularly the male/female dynamic. this is still new to us. hillary clinton and sarah palin on the ticket in 2008 and then this year going forward for 2012 will be very interesting to see how the males and females relate to one another in the next debate. it will be interesting to see how rick perry does. i suspect he's going to do very well, if he is your cup of tea, and pun is intended there. in case you didn't get it, ombre. but he's folksy, he's articulate, he's a good campaigner. people seem to really, really like him. as soon as he entered the race, he just jumped ahead of the entire pack in the polls. but then again the question is winning the primary is very different than winning a general election. all of this i think personally inures to the benefit of mitt romney. >> if i could add for a second, michael, right now the idea of rick perry is what's polling well. >> yeah. >> he hasn't campaigned much,

hasn't done a single debate. he's done well in politics. a political juggernaut down in texas, but when he gets on the national stage, he would wealth up. what people said about fred thompson in the debates. >> a lot of time on the clock. you mentioned the male/female dynamic. scott conroy of real clear politics records that this weekend in an iowa speech palin will lean on loaded phrases like crony capitalism and permanent political class in laying out her view of the us.system's dee though she will not call perry out by name, her carefully couched rhetoric will leave the impression that she may soon draw more overt attention to one of the texas's potential vulnerabilities as a kacandidat. i'll give aw chance to call me a sexist. i always thought what motivated her to get on the bus was she couldn't stand michelle back mang getting all the notoriety.

for her to go after perry, that will be a surprise to me. >> i disagree with you. i won't call you a sexist. i can understand how you would make the connection. but i disagree. i feel that sarah palin has always been motivated by the same things that motivate male politicians. >> what? >> it's power, power, power. and frankly, look at all of the -- >> what about money? money, money, money, money power? >> look at all the money she's making. for people who are members of the tea party, they love her. they feel that the moon and the earth revolve around sarah palin. but she can't possibly win a general election. >> if it were about power, she would have kept the job she had and continued to serve in that regard. >> here's the question, isn't she more powerful running or not running, whatever you want to call it what it is that she's doing, on a national ticket rather than being governor of alaska. she has a national voice. >> but right now she has the power of celebrity, which is not the same thing as power of

government or politics. when she attacks someone for being part of the permanent political class, she has lost the standing because she left that class before her job was even over. >> let me ask you, we love playing palin-tolojists trying to figure out what motivates her. is it possible that she regards herself as the mother of the tea party movement -- >> a tz queenmaker. >> and the idea that the support from the tea party could so quickly go to rick perry, who is a newbie in this regard, she can't take that. >> my thought is there's a poll out today on another network, which will go unnamed, that says that 71% of republicans -- republicans do not want her to run for president. >> but it doesn't matter to her. >> it doesn't matter to her. but she can get in the race and she can see her standing even with the tea party folks fall, which would be less money and maybe less power for her. >> i still say it never happens.

david corn, thank you as always, michelle bernard as well. good seeing both of you. up next michele bachmann is joining the ranks of another historical figure. according to her, that is. that's in the side show. e annou] sitting. waiting. hoping. that's a recipe for failed investing. open an e-trade account and open doors, seize opportunities, take action with some of the most powerful yet easy-to-use trading tools on the planet all built to help you maximize the potential of every dollar you invest. successful investing isn't done by throwing ideas against the wall and hoping. it's done by lowering your costs and raising your expectations by using unbiased research and powerful screeners to build a diversified portfolio with stocks, bonds, mutual funds, and every etf sold. and we'll help you every step of the way. with 5-star research and free education covering everything from the basics to advanced investing strategies. start now and we'll give you up to $500

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hey, welcome back to "hardball." time for the side show. it's become pretty common for michele bachmann to invoke classic american heroes to inspire audiences on the campaign trail, albeit with a few history snafus along the way. yesterday bachmann pulled into her history grabbag and pulled out a heroine from across the atlantic. >> both ronald reagan and margaret that mucher contributed greatly to the military greatness of the nation during their respective time period.

we need strong viable leadership. both with military and with our economy. they're both tremendous examples. >> the iron lady, margaret that mucher. who knew bachmann was getting at something much larger when she described her own titanium spine in an interview a few weeks ago. the strug toll be first in line does not end in elementary school. jan brewer is moving up her state's primary to tend of january stepping on the sensitive toes of traditional early voting states like iowa, new hampshire and south carolina which guard their early positions like the family jewels. well, let the race begin. what did south carolina gop chairman have to say about brewer's intentions. i don't care what date they pick, we're going to jump them. we're going to be the first in the south. one group that dreads that game of leapfrog -- the media. reporters would not prefer to spend christmas and new year's in iowa, new hampshire away from their families.

now the big number. we the people. that's what the white house is calling a new feature that allows people to create and sign petitions on issues important to them. if within 30 days a petition has reached a certain number of signatures, the white house guarantees that policy officials will review and respond on the topic sp topic. so what's the number? 5,000 signatures. quite a bit of legwork in 30 days. 5,000 signatures. that's tonight's big number. that's "hardball" for now. up next "your business" with j.j. ramberg. they can end up with shaving irritation. ♪ get gillette irritation defense shave gel and gillette fusion proglide razor to help defend against five signs of shaving irritation. ♪ try gillette fusion proglide and the irritation defense line. help defend your skin. ♪

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