let's play "hardball." good evening. i'm chris matthews in washington. leading off tonight, what texas miracle. since he jumped into the presidential race, rick perry has presented himself as a job creator. 1 million jobs in his 11 years in office. but today, we learned that the texas unemployment rate hit 8.5% last month, the highest in texas in 24 years. and the state actually lost jobs last month, even worse than the national figure of zero jobs created. so where's the texas miracle now? and how long will it be before mitt romney or the obama white house sink their teeth into these new numbers? also, voting blights. from coast to coast, republican state legislatures are searching for and finding ways to restrict access to the voting booth. passing stricter voter i.d. laws, curbing early voting, restricting registration. and what do all these have in common? they're all aimed at preventing democrats in general and some believe african-americans in particular from getting to the polls. that's a dangerous game and it's

our lead story tonight. plus, why does wall street hate president obama? hate him?! and that's the correct word, hate. some on wall street say it's because the president hates them and even business itself. really? let's get into that one. and joe maginnis' new book on sarah palin, "the rogue." the sarah palin does get into the race, will this book hurt her chances. and let's finish with the hard test president obama faces. we'll start with what texas miracle, and we're asking that question, what texas miracle? david corn is a msnbc political analyst, and the delightful dan milbank joins us. let's take a look at these numbers here.

if you look at the numbers this way, the unemployment rate is rising, up to 8.5% in texas. texas. but it's coming down nationally, at least, it has been, it stalled a bit down, but it came down from something like well over 10% nationwide in 2009. so in a way, the directions are off. the guy who says i'm the big job creator is having unemployment rise, the president who has a problem is at least going in the other direction. >> rick perry always had a claim with the texas miracle before now, because there's been a tremendous population increase in texas, which has led to jobs going up there. and also, high energy prices have been good for texas and bad for us in the northeast, gad for texas down there and created jobs. but now, with all that being put to the side, we see unemployment going up, there's a lot of low wage jobs too in texas. so his claim to be a model for the rest of the country is falling apart. what made texas, you know, somewhat better than the other states in job creation up to now was something that couldn't be replicated in other states. it wasn't because of his policies, it was because of the weather and the conditions there. >> the conditions, the key word.

here's a guy who's lived by conditions, attacked obama by conditions, and now finds himself, dana milbank, suffering the consequences. because presidents and governments don't necessarily control the unemployment rates. >> no, right. you've got the texas miracle meeting at of the texas chainsaw massacre right now. and the massacre is this nationwide economy. now, it's not rick perry's fault that he has 8.5% unemployment. >> was it his fault -- was it his claim to fame that it was lower? >> it shouldn't have been. and it's not barack obama's fault that there's 9.1% unemployment nationwide. look, the president's going to get blamed for the economy no matter what, so he'll suffer from that regardless. but i think this is another lesson here, that these guys don't actually control anything. the trend in texas has been this way for 20 years, as mitt romney loves to point out, the job growth rate was triple under ann richards and george w. bush. it just happens -- it's the luck of the draw. when you show up in office and when you leave. >> here's his defense. a perry spokesperson weighed in by the jobs numbers today by saying, "texas is not immune to the effects of the national recession. even during this national economic downturn, which the

president's misguided policies have only worsened, texas remains the nation's top economy, attracting jobs and growing by more than a thousand people." excuse me. this is still a problem. i contend it's a problem. when your unemployment rate is going up and the nationwide employment's coming a bit down. >> listen, rick perry had a glow in the race when people didn't know that much about rick perry. now as he's in the debates and he's saying all sorts of pretty outlandish or stupid things, people are taking a second look at him, independents are falling off in droves, and on top of this, we're now looking in detail. not at the headline, texas miracle, but at the actual numbers and what's happening currently. there's no way that he can sustain the "i did great in texas" story line if unemployment goes up in the next few months there. >> and guess who's noticed? romney. romney's putting out in this e-mail today, let's take a look. >> the e-mails? >> they're out there, aren't

they? >> this is the beginning of the opposition wars. mitt romney's campaign has been putting out those e-mails, like this one attacking rick perry this week. they were quick to circulate the jobs number in the e-mail blasts this afternoon. so you have romney trashing mr. job creation for losing jobs. let me go to this last night. here's perry last night in this fight. it's an interesting fight, that everybody's watching between perry right now and romney. let's take a look. here's perry last night in jefferson, iowa. he has taken off the gloves. he is singling out mitt romney going after the governor of massachusetts, the ex one by name -- not by name, but by position. let's listen. >> one of my opponents in the republican primary, while he was the governor of massachusetts, their job creation in that state was 47th in the nation. government mandate, government-run health care is part of what he put in place as the governor of massachusetts. it's time -- i think it's very important that we put someone as our nominee that does not blur the rights between president obama and the republican party. the job creation in massachusetts and that legacy of

health care in massachusetts even makes it worse today. >> i get the feeling that rick perry, who's always been a superstar, so far the pizazz of politics, you know, the show, the hat. now he has to get into notes. he's got notes now, and he's not as quite as fluent. >> not good to have notes for rick perry, because he should be, you know, waving his hat and riding in on his horse. i think romney's rattled him a bit. and i think in a strange sense, rick perry has been good for mitt romney, who finally found himself as sort of the economic maven in this race. but it really has emboldened romney. and you could see during the debate, perry almost being like, who are these people? how dare they question me? >> my advisers never told me this was going to happen. >> he's getting more like he's running "meet the press." because romney has now become the guy who says, let's take a

look -- like tim in the old days. let's take a look what you said a year ago on social security. like, let's take a look at what you said. and this guy's now got to defend it against a fellow republican. >> rick perry was a good prospect, but now it's like, welcome to the majors. and if you'll remember the movie "bull durham," you get the sense that mitt romney wants to call him, hey, meat, this is how we do it here. you haven't been around the last few months, but you'll have to answer this, and you're going to have to deal with bad news. because guess what, he is a functioning governor. mitt romney is not responsible for anything now except his own campaign. so on death penalty issues, on the environment, on the economy, whatever he does in texas for the next few months is going to be open to scrutiny, the way that barack obama's governance is open to scrutiny. it's a lot to -- >> so is it your sense guys who watch this all the time, before i move on with my own notes

here, do you think it's possible that here we are in september of the year before, which is coming up quickly on the iowa caucuses, which could come very quickly in the beginning of next year, which is we're in that campaign now. do you think there could be a dynamic here that romney could play the role of basically the press, because these guys don't talk to the press basically anymore. he will be the interrogator, the old "meet the press," the current "meet the press" too, he will start taking them apart every week, point by point, until there's not really much left of this guy, perry. and then romney will come along as sort of like the prosecutor, but never that popular with the tea party people and become sort of their nominee by default. >> yeah. i think you really have the potential in this race to have the sort of a donny brooke in the republican party primary that we have not seen in many, many years. i mean, not even really with bush/mccain. you really have two solid guys, well, maybe not the party's best, but very equally matched contenders. well financed, able to go at each other for a few months. the president is, you know, in a

terribly vulnerable position saying, how did he get so blessed to have this sort of thing going on. >> so the old paintings, with fists and no boxing gloves, beating each other until they're bleeding all over the place. >> think of a "rocky" film. >> cut me! >> exactly. there are fewer winner-take-all states. so if you come in second in one of these primaries, you will still collect votes, or delegates. so that will keep both of them in the race for as long as they can keep on standing. so if there's no knockout blow early on, this could go on for a long time. >> well, i was at a briefing with the president where he was like, he had quoted, but i got the sense coming out of that briefing that this is the white house, let them do this. >> well, i think right now, they're not engaging, which is the right thing to do. they don't know which -- who they're going to get out of this. let them bloody themselves up. mitt romney's opposition team, which we saw go into operation this week, is the white house's best friend at the moment, although i do think they want to run against perry. >> let's talk about how they want to do this. here's romney going after perry not just on this new jobs thing that they jumped on today, but

his fundamental charge, his fundamental, essential charge against the existence of social security. i was listening to the rundown this morning on this network and i was listening to one of these guys say, hey, look, they're not just against social security as it needs to be refined, they're against it institutionally. there shouldn't be social security, basically. if they level that charge and land it, doesn't perry have a hard time coming back and saying, oh, yeah, i really do believe in social security? >> he's had a very difficult time of it so far, and the way the democrats have handled this so far is to say, to actually try to link romney to perry and say they are identical. and the truth is, in terms of private accounts, they are basically identical if terms of social security. >> so for the next couple of months, it looks like these guys are going to be doing your job for you, basically. >> we're going to go out for a drink. >> just keep the e-mail account from romney on perry and perry on romney. thanks, david corn, and really welcome back david milback. coming up, republican lawmakers across the country are

rewriting laws restricting access to the voting booth. they say they're hurting obama's chances for re-election. so they're changing the name of the game, with changing the rules. guess why. guess why, so no one will actually vote. you're watching "hardball" only on msnbc. ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] the most headroom per dollar of any car in america. from $10,990. the all-new nissan versa sedan. innovation upsized. innovation for all. she won't eat eggs without hot sauce. she has kind of funny looking toes. she's always touching my hair. and she does this dancing finger thing. [ male announcer ] with advanced technology from ge, now doctors can diagnose diseases like breast cancer on a cellular level. so that women, like kristy's mom, can get personalized treatment that's as unique as she is. [ kristy ] she's definitely not like other moms.

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well, this is a hot one. welcome back to "hardball." elections are always about getting your voters out to the poll to vote for your candidate. but republican-controlled legislatures across the country in the states from coast to coast are pushing efforts now to rewrite election laws themselves in order to restrict access to the voting booth. do you get it? more than 30 states this year alone debated changes to their voting laws according to the "washington post." and this is it. in 12 states, legislators passed laws now that either created photo i.d. laws or made existing laws stricters. in some states, the governor vetoed the legislation, but not all. at least five states passed laws limiting early voting. three states made it more difficult for ex-felons to vote, and two states, texas and florida, placed restrictions on voter registration groups. and they're all rewriting the rules of the game insider to prevent democrats from getting the polls, minorities, young people, and poor people, in particular. judith brown diane is the co-director of the advancement project, thank you for joining us, and as always, cynthia, thank you, my colleague. this is such obvious

gamesmanship. when you start saying, if you do have some voter irregularities somewhere, you fix them, you catch them, you prosecute. but there is no real examples out there floating around of cheating. >> none. >> so why did they change the rules so you have to -- an older person, 80 years old, who obviously doesn't have a freaking car, obviously doesn't have a driver's license, has to go find some document. where would an 80-year-old go to find a picture i.d., government issued? >> in some cases, they have to go to the county seat. if they don't drive, they have to find a ride to get to the county seat. >> and somebody has to tell them have to do it. >> exactly. >> and they don't know this until they get to the voting booth, probably. >> let me be very clear about this part, chris. i come from a rural part of alabama. i know many little old church ladies who fully participate in society, who have never driven a car and never been on a plane.

it is not true that you are marginal just because you don't have a driver's license. >> sure. >> furthermore, they've lived in the same place for the last 80 years. >> and let me tell you about city people. they don't all drive cars either. >> so when they go to the polls, the poll watchers know who they are. how are you today, miss susy? they don't need voter i.d. but this is the republican's way of trying to construct barriers so those little old ladies can't vote. >> there's a name for this, voter suppression. >> that's right. >> sometimes suspected back in 2000 in florida. hint, hint. >> i remember that. >> let's talk about it now, here we go into 2012, which could be a close election, we don't matter.

but if it's a close election, this stuff matters. tell us what's going on. >> we have not only the voter identification laws, but we also have rollbacks on early voting. in florida, for example, african-americans are twice as likely as whites to vote early. >> why is that? what makes that happen? >> well, early voting is important because it's convenient. you don't have to wait until tuesday. you can vote on a saturday. in fact, the sunday before election day, there are drives by the churches to get out the vote because the polls are open the sunday before the election. but the florida legislature -- >> where do you go to vote, by the way? >> you go and vote down at the county seat. so what happened was, this year, they cut that back. and they specifically cut out that last sunday before the

election day, because they know who it's going to impact. the people who turned out more in 2008. >> this is so obvious. by the way, here's senator lindsey graham, a guy who i respect on a number of issues, at a hearing last week praising the new law passed in his state, south carolina, that requires voters to show a government-issued i.d. card with a photo on it. more than 178,000 registered voters in that state alone do not have that identification card. let's listen to senator graham. >> i think what south carolina did makes imminent sense to me and the law of the land, as i understand it, is the indiana system's been upheld and you will see more of this, mr. chairman, not less. 30 states have some form of voter i.d. requirement, so i think this is the future of the country. something we should embrace at the federal level, because elections do matter. >> where you sit is where you stand. his votes are probably overwhelmingly white, probably overwhelmingly middle class, and they have i.d. cards, because they have cars. after this week's republican debate, herman cain was asked by a reporter what he thought of senator graham's proposal for a federal law to requiring voters to show a government-issued photo i.d. in order to vote. he said he'd support it. let's listen. >> if you need a license to get -- a picture to get on an airplane, why shouldn't you need one in order to be able to vote? >> do you want to respond to that? >> well, flying on an airplane isn't in the united states constitution.

the united states constitution does not guarantee our right to fly. it does, however, guarantee our right to vote. and let me just say again, you know, republicans love to say that a photo i.d. is required for modern life. if you're going to get on an airplane. but there are -- i know lots of voters who don't fly. and so the comparison simply doesn't hold water. >> but it's also a myth. >> i could live my whole life in a big city, i could take the subway, go to my atm machine, go to work, go to movies, i never need a photo i.d.. >> and it's a myth. actually, tsa will allow you on a plane without a photo identification if you have other pieces of i.d. this is about whether or not -- >> if you're willing to spend a half hour talking to them. >> right, you can talk to them. right. but you can get on a plane. so this is about, why do we have to restrict it to this one piece of identification.

>> don't tell people that, by the way, because they'll show up without -- but let's talk about the politics of this thing. you know this stuff. what is going on here and how -- what are the democrats in the state legislatures do when they see this being passed? don't they raise red flags? >> they raise red flags, but these are mostly in the states where the republicans took over the state legislatures, so they can't do anything to slow these things down. this is like poker. it's really stacking the deck. we are going to see a different game. >> let me go home to the state i grew up in, pennsylvania. they're now talking up there, the republicans, of getting rid of the effectively blocked voting of the electoral college, the rule that everybody fights for pennsylvania. why are they trying to break up the electoral college? >> because obama might win pennsylvania. and if he gets the most votes in pennsylvania, he gets all the electoral college votes. that's the way it has worked in most -- >> 23, i think it is. >> -- in most of the states forever. >> but you have to give republicans credit for this much. they're all about power, they're all about getting elected. and any advantage they can get to turn an election in their favor, they're willing to go for. so destroying the electoral college system, that's fine with

them if it gives -- >> -- tom delay having a new redistricting halfway through the decade. >> exactly. >> what about this breaking up the electoral college vote? first of all, it destroys the power of the small states that tend to be republican, so this could be counterproductive, right? >> well, we'll see. i mean, except for the fact that, you know, in states where they took over the state legislature, we'll have to see what the outcome is. i mean, if you move to this new system and you've taken over the state legislature and you've redistricted yourself into power, then you're always going to get the vote. >> bill clinton joined us, he told a group of liberal youth activists that republican governors and legislatures around the country were trying to limit people from being able to vote. let's watch the pro. here he is, bill clinton. >> there has never been in my lifetime, since we got rid of the poll tax and all the other jim crow burdens on voting the determined effort to limit the franchise that we see today. >> well, he was comparing this to the worst of the stuff. >> well, and let me just say

that many activists have made that same comparison, and it doesn't apply broadly. i will have no problem voting, because i have a driver's license. but they will try to shave off enough votes of elderly folks, poor folks, young voters to affect close races. and a lot of these races are going to be close, chris. >> look at this. 25% of african-american voters do not have valid government-issued photo i.d.s to compared to 8% of whites. 50% of voters earning less than $35,000 a year don't have photo i.d.s to. so it's almost perfect, isn't it? >> why don't republicans just campaign for the votes of african-americans and latinos and poor people? why don't they just go out there with some policies that would appeal to african-americans and latinos and poor people instead of trying to restrict their access to the ballot box? >> are you being sincere here? >> yes. >> even though you know why they won't, because it's too much work to make the case. anyway, it's great having you on. but this is the kind of thing voters, i think, in both parties have got to look seriously at. because you start playing these kind of games, both parties start playing this kind of game and we don't have a fair system.

why don't they appeal to programs that would appeal to african-americans and latinos instead of trying to restrict their access here. >> are you being sincere here? >> very sincere. >> even though you know why they won't, because it's too much work to make the case. good having you on. this is the kind of thing that voters with both parties need to talk about. you start playing these games and we don't have a fair system. thank you. >> thank you. coming up, mitt romney is, again, on both sides of an issue. big surprise. that belongs in the sideshow. you're watching "hardball" only on msnbc. emily's just starting out... and on a budget.

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back to "hardball" now for the sideshow. first up, so what is it? in an interview yesterday, gop candidate mitt romney was asked for his reaction to his opponent, rick perry, calling president obama a socialist. let's hear what he said. >> the words have had a lot of unintended meanings and calling people socialists probably goes beyond the fact that it is true that president obama's team and the president himself seem to believe that government has a better approach to our economy than does the private sector. i don't use the word "socialist," or i haven't so far. >> oh, yeah? it seems like a reasonable approach, but he seems to be emitting a well-documented statement from his own book. in that 2010 book, romney wrote, "it is an often remarked upon irony that at a time when europe is moving away from socialism and its many failures, president obama is moving us toward that direction." well, perry accuses obama of being a socialist and romney accused of him of moving towards socialism, big difference. next up, how to avoid a crisis in an interview.

yesterday, speaker john boehner gave a glimpse of some of the insider moments of his job. perhaps most interesting was boehner's strategy for getting some stray house republican freshman to change their minds on that deficit reduction bill. let's listen. >> there were a couple of freshman who, a couple of young whippersnappers who seemed to have all the answers, so i brought them to my office and closed the door and i know these two pretty well and i looked a at them and i said, boys, that door's not going to open until you say yes. it's going to be 30 seconds, 30 minutes, doesn't matter, could be three hours. i said, i've got a week and a half's worth of cigarettes in that chest over there, so -- it still took about 45 minutes. >> wow. well tip o'neal's version of that little effort was to hold a meeting in his office, light up his big cigar, let the heat rise and the air grow thicker. i could remember, by the way, how great, how clear and cold

that air was in the hallway afterwards when you got out of that room. now for the big number, a new cbs/"new york times" poll out today puts disapproval of congress at an all-time high. not much surprise there, but here's something to consider. now people are including their own members of congress, their own representatives in a group of lawmakers who should be shown the door. what percentage of voters don't think their own congressmen deserves to be re-elected? 57%. it's typical for voters to want to see fresh faces in congress, but not at the expense of their own congressmen. now, 57%, that's tonight's big number, want the guy or woman out! up next, corporate profits are up, ceo income is up, so why does wall street hate president obama? i'm not sure. but you're watching "hardball." we're going to find out. why do they hate him up on wall street, coming back on msnbc. sun life financialrating should be famous.d bad, we're working on it.

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military authorities have locked down an air force base in arizona after an armed civilian barricaded himself inside of a building. authorities are negotiating with the man but so far no hos stablstablges are involved. the u.n. made up of former rebels and set for a showdown over palestinian stage hood. he will grant his people full u.n. after israel and the u.s. the justice department says violent crime rates plunged 12% last year accelerating a downward trend. a blockbuster week on wall

street resulting in gains of 4 and 6% on the major indices. and now back to "hardball." i did not run for office to be helping out a bunch of, you know, fat cat bankers on wall street. >> wow. welcome back to "hardball." that's president obama on "60 minutes" about a year into his presidency. and although he may not have wanted to help "fat cat bankers" on wall street, the stock market has risen about 30% since the day he was inaugurated. indications are wall street should be happy with the president. but if you talk to wall street, they're not at all happy with him. what's going on here? why do they seem to hate him up on wall street? jim cramer is the host of "mad money" on cnbc.

the disconnect between where you work and think and where i work and think is so great, all my producers and friends don't get it. the stock market is way up from where it was, everybody's up there is doing great if you look at the numbers, hate this guy. why? >> okay, first, i'm going to agree with you, that the market has been fabulous. which is one of the reasons i'm always so astonished when people tell me that the problem is obama. i mean, it's clear washington can be dysfunctional, but democrats and republicans not getting together. but when you get offline with ceos, it's not just wall street, but industrial america, what they tend to say is, listen, we want to add, we want to hire, we want to grow in the united states. but everything is so up in the air and when it gets to the point where we're thinking about what washington's going to do, we know we're going to be the loser if president obama is making the decision, because president obama does not favor wealth creation and corporate profits. now, the profits are huge. people have made a lot of money. but that is the wrap that i hear.

>> what is it particularly when a banker or a rich guy, anybody who's got to make these big decisions -- well, let's look at some of these numbers first, because i think they're really informative. when president obama took office january 20th, 2009, the dow at 7949. today it closed at 11,509, up from yesterday, that's a 31% increase since obama's been president. well, that alone should be, wow, this guy's good. and then there's corporate profits. "the new york times" cites a study by northeastern university, an economist reports, "since the recovery began in june of 2009, corporate profits captured 88% of the growth in real national income while aggregate wages and salaries accounted for only slightly more than 1% of that growth." this is the stuff that causes revolutions, from the bottom, not from the top. why would louis xvi at the top be angry at the rabble, if you will, the way they might look at it, when the rabble ain't got squat out of this thing, the regular people? explain. >> i've got to tell you, it's a mind-set, chris, it really is. what'll happen is, you'll say to these guys, your stock's up big, you're paying yourself a lot, you're doing real well, and they'll come back and say, in

this country, we can't grow. we can't grow because the government overregulates us, and i say, give me regulation, and usually cite the oarb. this president, we can't sit down with him and tell him how to improve the economy. and i say, how can you blame the president? doesn't it seem like both sides are equal to blame? it's this guy. they say, the first two years, we think he didn't get it. now we think he gets it and he just doesn't think we should do as well as we're doing. >> well, here's the president in december of 2009 in anger against wall street. let's listen to some of his rhetoric. >> they don't get it. they're still puzzled. why is it that people are mad at the banks. let's see. you guys are drawing down $10 million, $20 million bonuses after america went through the worst economic year that it's gone through in decades? and you guys caused the problem. and we've got 10% unemployment. why do you think people might be a little frustrated?

>> let's get the atty-tude, as we say in philly. is that what it's about? we're operating under the same tax rate that bush left us. don't give me all this cry baby stuff about taxes being higher under this guy. it hasn't been the case. so it's atty-tude. do they think he's a socialist? >> yes, they do. i want to divide the world between the bankers, of which i've got to tell you, could you agree with obama more? the horrible things that they did, they should pay. they should be giving back the money they just paid themselves because of all the mortgage shenanigans. but these other just kind of regular, industrial guys. they're trying to find out where to put the marginal dollar. and chris, they'd rather put it in ash that, rather put in

africa and -- >> where you can make a pair of pants for a quarter. isn't that why they go to asia? get a pair of khaki pants stitched together for a few cents. get sneakers made in vietnam for about a dime. of course they want to make them over there. >> but they want trade deals that we don't -- >> that's not obama's fault. >> no, look, i'm telling you that when you get off the desk with them, they really just feel like, look, if we got a republican in there, we could really do a great thing in this country by hiring a lot of people. >> okay, okay -- >> that's what they think. >> one problem, george w. bush, that genius those guys cooked up there, that guy ran the country, lowered taxes, did it all his way, yeah, and the economy tanked. and everything fell to hell, and this guy comes in and tries to fix it. he hasn't fixed it fast. it's not going up, but he certainly didn't create this mess that bush left us with his no tax, low tax regime. why do they think the bush enterprise will succeed a second time anymore than the first time? >> well, i think that they just like to have washington out of their hair. i think they feel they can make

more money for everybody if they don't have to worry about any regulations. and that's -- look, that's what they think. >> so january 20th -- january 20th, 2013, rick perry's in office. okay, he's a little erratic sometimes. i don't think he's stupid or anything. he's a little erratic. will they unload the $2 trillion they're sitting on? because rick perry has given them the confidence to invest? i'm serious about this. rick perry has given wall street the confidence to invest that $2 trillion they're sitting on. will they invest it, because they've got a happy republican and the good times are back? or will they be scared to death of this guy? >> no, i don't think so. we have a treasury secretary right now that has done more to help business than anybody i've seen in years. he is a straight shooter, everybody respects him. i doubt you'll ever get a guy of geithner's quality in a perry administration. no way. >> well, why do they want perry in there? why are they leading all the republican polls, a guy who really could be a little more confidence building? i'm not saying, again, he's lightweight, but he hasn't proven himself as a guy wall

street should be proud of or confident of. >> they want a guy who's -- look, they really want business people. they want to hear more chatter about how they were called into the white house and they told the white house, look, here's the five things you should do. and then those five things get done. >> i know what they want. >> this is not that kind of administration. they want someone to tell their kids that they're great. >> well, you know. >> because all their kids voted for obama and it drives them crazy. anyway, thank you, jim cramer, you know that's the problem. not only do the kids vote for the other guy, they listen to the guy who's been trashing him. i know the problem. but i think it's rhetoric and i think they need psychological support up there. they need to feel better about themselves. thank you, jim cramer, you're the best. >> thank you. up next, a new book about sarah palin is out. talk about building up confidence, will it ruin her chances of running for president? introducing the schwab mobile app.

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that's one in eight of americans approve of the way congress is doing its job. one in eight. only 28% approve of democrats. and as bad as that sounds, the approval number for republicans, 19%. that's the approval number. and here's the kicker. only 33% of americans believe their own member of congress they have elected deserves to be re-elected. we have never seen a number like that. we'll be right back. [ venus ] what are they doing to stufy? they're making him triple double. why? this! new triple double oreo. ♪ yo stufy, come here! [ shoes squeaking ] looked better on paper. [ strike! ] a living, breathing intelligence that is helping business rethink how to do business.

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investigation into palin on the "today" show with savannah guthrie just yesterday. >> an absolute and utter fraud. >> you call her a tenth grade mean girl. >> oh, that's -- those are kind words compared to a lot of what you would hear in wasilla today. the thing that i found, savannah, that really surprised me was that the people who know her best like her least. >> wow. well, next week, maginnis' book "the rogue: searching for the real sarah palin" will finally hit bookstores. my question, if sarah palin decides to run for president, who knows what she's up to, will this book hurt her chances? right now, the co-author of another book on sarah palin, and frank bear is up in alaska. we're kind of previewing the fact that the author is coming on this show next tuesday. shanna, is there anything in this book that you've heard about so far that would keep her from running for president? >> i actually think the opposite, chris. we've talked about this for a

very long time. i still don't know which way she'll go, but i think, if anything, the claims in this book will make her want to run more and will inspire her to say, you know what, i can show that joe maginnis, i can show everybody that i am going to run for president and i think it would encourage her more. and i think you'll see that in her supporters as well. but still, we don't know. >> so it's not so much the desire to take a job in government, like president or governor, as it is the desire to show people that the big shots can't tell her what to do? >> i think that will definitely be a part of it if she decides to do it, and i think that's always been a part of it, and it's how some of her moves are based on. and i think if that you do see her getting in and if you do see her react to this book in the next few days, i think it will be based on that. >> let me ask frank, who's written about it and works for her and knows her close in, is this the kind of thing, dishing

on her, that excites her, that actually helps her pr nationwide with her people? >> chris, absolutely. i mean, sympathy is the one-trick pony that palin has been riding now for six years. she thrives on it. we used it in the campaign to actually, you know, fire up the base and help her, and she will absolutely use this. it will benefit her. >> let's take a look. maginnis, the author of this new book, believes that palin is guilty of abusing her power, and she points to the now-famous meeting in 2007 as an example. he writes, "overcoming her distaste for life in the governor's mansion, sarah invited editors william kristol and fredbarnes and "washington post" columnist michael gerson, former chief speechwriter with george w. bush for lunch. sarah dazzled her guests by taking them on a helicopter ride which she billed the state there are 4,000. the path was immediate. barnes waited for the cruise to win before writing in "the weekly standard" that sarah was a republican star.

is that kind of abuse, some people say is the normal way politicians abuse their office anyway, spending $4,000 to show off with conservatives who have shown up on a boat cruise, is that going to hurt her? >> i don't -- in this situation i don't see this as a big problem. i mean, this incident has been reported over and over again about how they had lunch, went on a helicopter ride. the issue could rear its ugly head though it's been reported over and over again. in that situation, there was a situation where there was an abuse of power and that could be brought back up i think. but with this specific one, i just don't think it's that big of a deal especially because we already know about it over and over again. i mean, i don't think this is a really revelation that could be brought back on the campaign trail. >> is there any pay dirt there, frank bailey, in this book or elsewhere about her abuse of authority that would make people question voting for her in a primary? >> chris, we wrote about it. i saw it firsthand.

abuse of power took place. she was shown to be guilty of that. we saw her absolutely destroy constituents. and another network that i went on said this was all no big deal. her, you know, violating campaign finance law and all these things were, "no big deal." it is a big deal. conservatives need to take a very, very hard look at it. >> let's take a look at this other one here. "standard & poor's loves to pointblank blank sarah palin loves to point out points of -- he writes, sarah was peopling her administration largely with her high school friends and/or born again christians whose qualifications in no may match their job descriptions. she named talis colberg as state attorney general. directed the agriculture and directed the alaska railroad. this took cronyism in a level that frank murkowski had dared

to contemplate. does this hurt her? >> i think this is a really interesting point and something we've talked about. it's more i think about how she doesn't really trust people. and she wants to surround herself by loyalists and that is what's going on now. it went on then. frank can attest to it. i mean, there were people that were and continue to be that surround her that don't have a lot of political experience, but they are very loyal to her. frank would say it probably is to himself -- i mean, he started at the campaign by saying that he wanted to work for her and he was a supporter. that continues with other people. and i think that's something you'll continue to see. that she trusts very little people so -- people that say they're loyal to her are part of that book. >> well said. >> they believe palin is a political extremist. he writes for at least ten years sarah subscribed to an evangelical christian ideology frequently referred to as

dominionism. the goal of dominionists to put christian extremists of positions of political power. to you believe she's a theocrat, somebody that believes the -- >> i think joe misses the point. trust is the bigger issue that shashana pointed out. it's hard for me to see her as a religious extremist. when i saw her be dishonest and lie to alaskans and things like that. i mean, it just doesn't wash out. >> sounds like it's for show. thank you, shashana and frank. we'll have you back again and again. when we return, let me finish with the hard test that faces president obama in the weeks ahead. he has a tough one.

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let me finish tonight with this. president obama faces a hard test in the weeks ahead. he's up against the growing perception that republicans have the upper hand. that this battle between rick perry and mitt romney, the nomination between the american presidency, others have dismissed losers and an election and the president still enjoys the democrats and in the ring and accused of backing the party and use it as a springboard and roaring back and other recession and with the country's intention and bringing this into a full depression and in the 1930s and the history lesson, government can do now at a time when people aren't buying business is cut back on spending, tighten up,

avoid borrowing. the overwhelming support he has of democrat, four ut of five back him. when everything seems to be breaking against him. 80% is with him as he's been worked into the corner of the ring. look at the support the party's given him. democrats have been fairly accused of shooting their wounded are sticking with this guy. the question is how the president will use this party support. this diehard backing of his party. rest on it or use it as a spring board to come roaring back into the center ring of this country's political debate? will he challenge republicans who say it's time to cut government spending though we're risking another recession? will he grab the country's attention with the charge that by doing exactly what perry and romney are saying we should do we'll bring this country into a full depression? giving us the economy that led to the first one in the 1930s? will obama give the country a history lesson many of us grew up that the worst thing a government can do at a time when people aren't buying and business isn't investing is to do what they're doing, cut back on spending? tighten up?

avoid borrowing? in other words, contribute to the same pattern of deflation and depression that is now scaring you. the same pattern of retrenchment that is pressing the economy downward. when it's time for the president to make this fight. he's out there talking about bridges and roads that need fixing. he needs to go further and say the enemies are put people to work, forcing this country into something worse than tough times. they're attempting to slow the economy so it stalls all together. this is a danger in which the president needs to warn the country. place the responsibility for this peril for those who prefer it, prefer anything to another four years of barack obama. and that's "hard ball" for now. thanks for being with us. "the last word with lawrence o'donnell" starts right now. it was a great day for the obama re-election campaign. >> rick perry and mitt romney are stepping up attacks on one another. >> governor romney's misguided health mandated health care