before, it will be as pri mordall as a school of salmon heading up river to spawn.ç that's "hardball" for now. thanks "the ed show" with ed schultz starts right now. good evening, americans. welcome to "the ed show" tonight live from minneapolis. iowa republicans have less than a week to decide who will battle president obama in the 2012 election. let's look at it. rick perry has spent millions of dollars. rick santorum has been to 99 counties across the state. michele bachmann is from iowa. but ron paul is the leader in the clubhouse. so i went to iowa today to see why. i'll have my commentary and coverage coming up. this is "the ed show." let's get to work. what do you like about them? >> about ron paul? >> yeah. >> what is there not to like about him? >> with the first vote just six days away, i stop by a ron paul event in newton, iowa, today, to talk to supporters. >> are you unhappy with the current gop field?

let me tell you something. you are not alone. >> and the anybody but mitt crowd continues with a new radio ad calling for sarah palin to jump into the presidential race. democratic strategist bob shrum handicaps iowa and beyond. our plan was righting for our state, and in my view, it was based upon conservative principles. >> mitt romney is touting the individual mandate as a conservative principle but still wants to repeal obama care. tonight, we'll highlight the republican hypocrisy. the republican effort to strip voting rights continues. and the justice department is taking action. the aclu's katie o'connor and professor at occidental college, caroline heldman will talk abouç further action and have the latest on the gop voter obstruction. good to have you with us tonight, folks. thanks for watching. the story was in newton, iowa, today. i was there. it was the same old stuff. let's see. freedom, the constitution, limited government, protect

liberty, repeal regulations. all pretty simple stuff and straightforward. kind of like iowa. a crowd of about 150 people showed up today. let me tell you, they were staunch ron paul supporters. through the polling that's out there, very favorable to ron paul right now down the stretch. what does it feel like on the ground? >> i've been involved in a number of campaigns and i can tell you from this one here, there's a -- it's positive and it's growing. now, is it growing by leaps and bounds? i would say no. it's a pretty consistent, steady growth we've experienced throughout the whole campaign. >> what's the attraction? >> i think the attraction, the young people probably reflect it best, and that is they see an honest, humble statesman talking about the future, their future, not just the election. presenting realistic comments

and questions about the problems and solutions. and i think people are saying, you know, this guy is honest and he is saying the right things and he has been for a long time. and the credibility of the messenger has to match the credibility of the message. and ron paul's got them both together. >> that straight talk ivers is talking about was rolled out inç a new television campaign ad today titled "the one we've been looking for." >> the washington machine is strangling our economy. politicians who supported bailouts and mandates, serial hypocrites and flip-floppers can't clean up the mess. one man stands alone. a real plan to cut $1 trillion year one. balance the budget in three. consistent, incorruptible, guided by faith and principle. ron paul. the one we've been looking for. >> what do you like about him? >> about ron paul? >> yeah. >> what is there not to like about him? military, i came from indiana.

i was raised on principles and morals. and go back 5, 10, 20, 30 years, ron paul has had the same, consistent message, something none of the other candidates can fake. message on principles, morals, our personal rights, our personal liberties, restricted government that keeps out of our pockets, out of our lives. something the government was never meant to do. our founding fathers were very specific about that. >> how old are you? >> 23. >> what do your friends say? >> most of them, i don't have friends many my age because most of them i'm kind of distant because i'm in politics, i'm a little above the age level. most the kids my age are worried about college, worried about what club to go to tomorrow night, not about their future. >> ron paul speaks to you. >> yes. >> you got up and said he's the only one. >> yes, sir, absolutely. >> what's the attraction? >> because he follows the constitution. that, for me, that's it. all the other people want to -- he follows the constitution, ed. good, bad or different as you want to explain that, when i was

in, i swore to the constitutionç from all enemies foreign and domestic. as far as i'm concerned, half the politicians we have now should be -- they haven't followed the constitution. >> will he win iowa? >> yes, sir. >> you think ron paul will win the caucus? >> yes, sir. >> and beyond that, what does a victory in iowa do for him, you think? >> well, you know what, that's a hard one. i don't think -- >> i mean, how do you feel about the establishment being against him? i mean, the republican establishment -- >> screw them. i'm sorry. screw them. they gave us mccain. republican establishment gave us mccain in 2008. what did it get us? nothing. >> the latest polling in iowa shows ron paul with a four-point lead over mitt romney. 24% to 20%. paul seems to be holding his

lead and with the front-runner status comes all the media attention. there was more media today there than he's ever seen on the campaign trail so far. i caught up with politico's roger simon. roger, what's happening here? what's happening on the ground? how do you see this unfolding in the final week? >> all a bit of confusion. all the campaigns i talked to are a bit worried because they're calling their supporters in these last few days, identifying the most devoted supporters and making sure they come out to the caucuses on tuesday. but what they're finding is very soft support. people saying, yeah, i like romney, yeah, i like paul, yeahç i like gingrich, but i really haven't seen the other guy yet. and so, you know, don't count on me. and that's worrying them. >> this undecided number is a real deal. >> yeah. i think it is a real deal. and it may suppress turnout.

the general rule of thumb is the lower the turnout, the better that organization counts, and ron paul, it is said, has the best organization. so a low turnout could hurt a ron paul campaign. high turnout probably, i'm sorry -- a low turnout would help a ron paul campaign, high turnout would probably help a romney or gingrich campaign. >> is romney the guy to beat from ron paul's perspective at this point? >> i think he is, although his ads are attacking everybody. but there are three elements here. there's passion, there's organization, and there's electability. ron paul probably has two of those three. passionate supporters, good organization, but very few people probably can see him behind that desk in the oval office. mitt romney, on the other hand, has that electability going for him. you can actually envision him. his organization is probably pretty good. he lacks passion.

newt probably has some passion, lacking in the others. so it's -- you're struggling to get at least two out of the three if you can. >> you talk about organization. last night at a basketball game >> yes. >> -- in small town iowa, look at this folder that the ron paul people put out. i mean, that's quite a commitment.ç >> yeah. >> this is -- i mean, his position on national fence immigration, war in the middle east, health care, jobs, taxes. this pretty much spells it out. from what you've seen, is anybody else doing this stuff? >> they all have literature. this is a good piece of literature oddly enough, iowans read this stuff. >> yeah. >> when you go knocking on doors, volunteers go out, somebody's going to ask you what's your position on immigration, your position on taxes, what's your position on hog lots which is big in the state? the volunteer is expected to know or have a piece of literature to hand them and say, it's all in here, ma'am, it's all in here, sir.

read this, he'll know where ron paul stands. that's helpful. >> very good. here it is. this is the ground game that we have been talking about with ron paul. and it's true that everybody out there that's running for president in iowa does have material. but not like this. not the kind of ground game. i mean, to go out to basketball games and public events and put this kind of material out there for people to read, i think is pretty, pretty amazing. it's pretty organized. i mean, if you look at what ron paul is telling the people of iowa, if he is president of the united states, he's going to get rid of the irs. he's going to end the income tax. he's going to bring our troops home. he's going to end foreign wars, end the fed, stop foreign aid, fix the borders, fix health care, repeal the patriot act. he was big on that today in newton, iowa, talking about how we have to get rid of the patriot act. violates the fourth amendment. he would return power to the states.ç the ninth and tenth amendment. balance the budget if he could do that.

abolish corporate subsidies. good-bye farmers in iowa, you're not going to be getting any help from this guy. and, of course, return spending to the 2006 levels. now, this kind of stuff works in a state of older demographics because as roger simons says, hey, people read this stuff. they do read it. this has had a big impact. since they've been putting this kind of stuff out, this is when ron paul has been moving up in the polls. it's the direct mail tactic that is an old conservative thing that was put together way back when, 30, 40 years ago by richard viguerie and the old conservatives. this is how ron paul's ground game is getting people into the fold. the question is, is he going to be able to turn people out? he's already picking and choosing his media. the candidate has stopped doing national interviews, maybe it has something to do with the ordeal he had the other day with cnn. they talk only to local voters and local iowa media. ron paul did a job today, did a good job today of giving the cold shoulder to the national

media when they were hounding him. but he did respond to my question when i got in close to him about infrastructure. get somebody to stand up and talk. do you feel like you have that infrastructure? i mean, like, people would go into a caucus room and they i5ñr would stand up and make a pitch for the candidate. all of these places around the state, do you feel comfortable you got a spokesman in each one of these places? >> i don't have that information to answer it. >> he doesn't have that information. i mean, i find that surprising. it's all about organization in iowa. ron paul could not confirm to mç that he will have 1,774 people ready to step up and speak out at caucus night. he's actually not going to need that many. he's going to need about a thousand, because that's how many caucus sites they've condensed it down to. this is how it works in iowa. what's going to happen, there's going to be a small town, people are going to caucus at a given location. there may be 50, 100, 200 people show up. each candidate has got to have a

surrogate. a selected surrogate from that area to step up and give a pitch about any candidate that they support. and if you've got a high number of people who are undecided, all of a sudden, well, there's suszsy brown sitting over there, she runs the hardware store, there's farmer johnson off the road. he got off his tractor and came in this evening to find out what's going on. he's undecided, too. all of a sudden they start milling in groups. somebody makes a strong pitch and says, i'm going to go with that guy. this is the ground game i think maybe rick santorum has and the ground game maybe michele bachmann has. this is the wildcard in all of this. of course, both romney and gingrich are attacking the front-runner, ron paul, on past controversial social positions. the staunch ron paul supporters think fellow iowans will see through all of this. >> iowans are very politically

savvy and they'll see through that. we hear the message and see the message that comes from him. it's very -- he's a simple man and says it in a simple planned way. we see through that. >> so the straight talk will overcome any controversy? >> yes, sir. i was telling somebody else, michele bachmann this morning ç said ron paul wouldn't defend our country if it were attacked. that's a bunch of huey. >> the paul campaign admitted to me this afternoon, their official, rick santorum is having a surge. they don't know what to make of it. i'll visit with the candidate, rick santorum tomorrow. they think the public in iowa figured out what 84 ethics violations by the former speaker of the house is all about. some campaign workers told me they think newt gingrich is history. late word this afternoon gingrich will spend a half a million dollars the rest of this week going up to the iowa caucus trying to fix his poll numbers in the state. but watching the crowd today in newton, iowa, there's nothing

rah-rah about ron paul. he almost has a fatalistic type of message. if we don't do this, this is what's going to happen to america. there's no talk about hope or change. there's talk about change, but it is if we don't do this, we're going to explode as a country. the crowd, it's like a -- it's like a college professor and he is 76 years old, a grand old statesman. standing up, not looking or giving the big line to the people to get a bunch of rah-rah going. they're very intent. it's like it's a college classroom and he's explain to them what's wrong with the country, why he should be president and where we have to go as a nation. the people who are there following ron paul, i mean, they are staunch believers. i mean, they would -- they would try to do -- they'd run through fire for this guy. and they sit there and consume this stuff and they believe in what he is all about. if they turn out to vote on caucus night, ron paul could win big-time.ç it's all about the turnout. they think that the young vote,

and they also think the independent vote, will go to their camp. get your cell phones out. i want to know what you think. tonight's question. who will win the iowa caucus on tuesday? give you three choices tonight. mitt romney, text "a" for mitt romney. text "b" for ron paul. text "c" for rick santorum to 622639. go to my blog ed.msnbc.com. new polls are showing last minute surprises in iowa. bob shrum will join me next to break down the strategies as we head into the caucuses. mitt romney says health care mandates are a good, conservative principle, but only if he does it. not if barack obama does it. stay with us. we're right back on "the ed show." m@n@=@sñññ

coming up, a rogue element in iowa is urging people to caucus for sarah palin? more iowa headlines with bob shrum coming up. rick perry spent $6 million in iowa. he may want to spend a few bucks

on a map of the united states. wait until you hear his latest gaffe. it's a dandy. justice department threw out a voter i.d. law in south carolina last week. now republicans are claiming it's the obama administration that's playing politics. á5)uá thoughts during the show, throughout the program using #edshow. nature fusion cold & flu syrup. flavored with real honey. powerful cold medicine that leaves out artificial flavors and dyes and instead uses something more natural, honey. new vicks nature fusion cold & flu. ♪ wait -- scratch that -- what makes you trust a car insurance company? a talking animal? a talking character? a talking animal character? how fancy their commercials are, maybe? or how many there are? well what about when a company's customers do the talking? esurance customers are saying stuff like "awesome" and "rockin'." and they aren't even paid to. fancy that.

esurance. insurance for the modern world. click or call. well, the picture today in iowa is no clearer today than it was yesterday. new cnn/"time" poll pus mitt romney in the lead.ç ron paul in the margin on error. newt gingrich tumbled to fourth

place rick. four other candidates are in a dead heat for third place within the poll's margin of error. romney added to his upward momentum, getting another newspaper endorsement today. this one from the iowa "press citizen." meanwhile, rick santorum is telling iowa voters to pick him as the clear conservative choice in the field. >> how much trust do you have? it's not popular being conservative. those values are deeply rooted and that person will stand by. well, here you have someone that you can trust because i've done it. >> some republicans in iowa are still not satisfied with any of the options the party is offering. an independent political group is running a radio ad in iowa to urge caucusgoers to write in someone else. >> are you unhappy with the current gop field?

let me tell you something. you are not alone. join thousands of iowans as we vote rogue. it's the caucus for sarah palin on january 3rd. let iowa and the entire country know we want real leadership and real reform in d.c. >> with six days to go, the iowa vote is still up for grabs. and there will probably be more surprises in the coming days. let's turn to bob shrum. he's been down this road before. democratic strategist and professor at new york university. bob, great to have you with us tonight. >> great to be here. >> you bet. which candidate as it stands ç right now has the momentum in iowa? how do you call it? >> i think momentum. romney has the momentum. he has a ceiling. he keeps adding inch by inch to his total. there's apparently going to be very good weather monday night. that's going to help him. the somewhat less committed people tend to favor him. he's efficiently pursued a kind of cold mechanistic kind of strategy where he leans as far to the right as he has to to try

to satisfy the social conservatives. if you had to bet on someone, you'd bet on him. the other person who has momentum in my view is rick santorum. that's because conservatives, the religious right, who've gone shopping for a non-romney over and over and over are finally down to one guy. that's santorum. he's sitting there at least in the cnn poll at 16%. he could finish second. i think it would be hard for him to finish first. i think he could finish second. >> this is rick santorum on cnn talking about his caucus strategy. here it is. >> we have a thousand caucus captains. some cases we have four, five, six people at a caucus that are going to be caucus captains for us. go into a caucus and give a three to five-minute speech for your candidate. wear the badge. go and talk to people and, you know, gently twist a little arms. we've seen from a lot of the polls a large number of people are still, you know, moving around. as you've seen from all these polls. there's a lot of movement. >> you know, this plays into the

undecided people that are going to be showing up. are these voters swayed by caucus captains, bob? what do you think? >> i think pretty much by the time they go into the caucus they know what they're going to vote for. we've been talking about polls. wait and see what the "des ç moines register" poll which has a track record for accuracy says when it comes out this weekend. one of two things is going to happen here. either romney is going to win this thing, win new hampshire, do okay in south carolina, win florida, wrap this up early. or he's going to stumble a little bit. i think in the end he still wins the nomination. because the republican establishment cannot abide the idea of ron paul. i don't think rick santorum has the plausibility or money to challenge romney over the long term. it would be a fun battle. it would be the battle of two stiffs and be interesting to see them on stage with each other. >> let's say santorum comes in second place. you know, he gathers the social conservatives, hooex asking conservatives to unite. let's say he finishes second in iowa.

let's say either paul or romney win it. does santorum skip new hampshire and go right to south carolina? he doesn't have much going for him in new hampshire. take a look at this latest c nn/"time" poll. if they win, should they skip new hampshire and go straight to south carolina? >> unless romney finishes third, by the way, if he finishes azrr third, that's going to create waves in new hampshire and open room for huntsman. gingrich will be there. he has the support of the manchester "union leader," the state's biggest newspaper. then there'd be an opening. if romney is second or first, and if the alternatives are paul or santorum, maybe santorum, especially, ought to just go to south carolina.ç there are folks in new hampshire for whom paul might have an appeal. i don't think santorum has much of anything going in new hampshire.

>> bob shrum, great to have you with us tonight. thanks so much. >> thanks, ed. thank you. >> you bet. a republican wildcard could win the iowa caucus. i'll show you how rick perry still isn't playing with a full deck. that's next. mitt romney is running for president as an expert on business. now, someone from his past is coming forward to ask whether romney's business leadership is good for the country. you won't want to miss it.

our team was on the ground in iowa at a ron paul event today. here's what people are telling me. the rise of a republican wildcard candidate is very real. rick santorum is surging. michele bachmann is getting a second look. rick perry has the ground game to gather votes from the cultural social conservatives. he has spent a ton of money on television ads in iowa. in fact, every time you turn on the tv, there he is again, rick perry, throwing millions into this and focusing on the social issues. he told one group watching a dvd led to his transformation on abortion. and while he's no longer selling himself as the so-called jobs candidate, perry did talk energy independence with an iowa crowd yesterday. here's the quote that gets us.ç "every barrel of oil that comes out of those sands in canada is a barrel of oil that we don't have to buy from a foreign source."

now, that doesn't mean that if rick perry somehow becomes president that we're going to be invading canada, does it? no. republicans don't invade anybody. we're safe. you canadians have to feel pretty close to us tonight after that, huh? well, you know what, i'm going to miss rick perry because of comments like that. i would have really looked forward to him going up against president obama. but it isn't going to happen. a preview of how mitt romney will twist himself in knots if he is the republican nominee against barack obama. that is next. the justice department calls a new voter i.d. law discriminatory. what will it mean for the 2012 elections? stay tuned. we're right back.

welcome back to "the ed show." thanks for watching tonight. this is a dandy. today mitt romney gave another preview of how he will twist himself into knots if he is the republican nominee to go against president obama.

he insists, insists the health care mandates are a conservative principle, but only at the state level.ç the state level. okay. so here's what he said on fox news this morning. >> look, our plan was rights for our state, and in my view, it was based upon conservative principles that frankly came from newt gingrich and the heritage foundation which was instead of people relying on government to provide their care, they should take personal responsibility. and it is fundamentally a conservative principle to insist that people take personal responsibility as opposed to turning to government for giving out free care. >> but romney promises again and again to repeal the affordable care act if he becomes president of the united states. the conservative principle of the health care mandate doesn't apply at the federal level, apparently. we can give him credit for one thing. that is he has been consistent in talking about what a great idea mandates are. >> no more free riders. people have to take personal responsibility. i consider it a conservative

plan. >> if the state chose a mandate, it wouldn't bother you? >> i think it's a terrific idea. after all the states that are the laboratories of democracy, get their chance to try their own plans. those who follow the path that we pursued will find it's the best path. we'll end up with a nation that's taken a mandate approach. >> think about that for a minute. he says we insist they buy it. a mandate is when we, the government, insists people buy health insurance. but for romney, it's only a good conservative principle if a state government imposes it. not the federal government. i'm joined tonight by wendell potter, senior analyst at the center for public integrity and ari melber of "the nation" magazine.ç gentlemen, good to have you with us tonight. ari, how can he make this case? okay at the state level, not good at a federal level? how is he going to work through this? >> he doesn't get very far. it doesn't add up. if it's a good idea, a matter of

personal responsibility, i do agree with him the way he puts it. it's true, one way or another society has to deal with the problems associated with health care and lack of health care. which is why i think having a mandate at the federal level that president obama pushed so hard for is a good thing. if that's true, it's true at whatever level you operate it at. that's why romney doesn't sound very convincing here. >> wendell, if mandates accomplish anything at all, why would it be good at the state level and not at the federal level? how do you see this? >> well, that dog just won't hunt because republicans have tried this at the federal level in years past. it was, indeed, birth by the heritage foundation. and it was a big part of republican piece of legislation in 1993. the consumer choice health security act which was sponsored by senator nichols and had 24 republican co-sponsors. back then it was a great idea

for the federal government to be involved in instituting a federal mandate. it's always been something that republicans have felt was important for and appropriate for the entire country. >> well, i tell you what. for him to pass it off, ari, as a conservative principle, is ç really a reach. the other funny thing about romney saying mandates are a personal responsibility, it only works if the government imposes it. ari, how is this going to play with the tea partyers? they hate the idea of the government getting involved in anything. what do you think? >> they don't like it. we remember the sad moment at the debate where people cheered in response to the libertarian idea that you have to let folks who are sick die, that there's no protection for them. i don't think the issue is going away because you said the tea party is very, very concerned about this. we have, of course, the supreme court which will ultimately rule on this. i find the whole thing ridiculous. the government has the power to make rules that require you to

do things. you have laws that require you to buy clothes and wear them in public, laws that require you to pay into social security which is a form of insurance and helps with disabilities as well. you have laws about driver's licenses. i don't think the tea party or the ron paul libertarian crowd for all of their energy -- they have great energy, as you reported from iowa. i don't think they get very far on the jurisprudence or the policy argument that the government cannot or should not take a role in regulating a market which, by the way, is still pro dominantly insurance carriers. >> mitt romney likes to throw out the heritage foundation and newt gingrich. iñi passionately defend mandates but no more. listen to this. >> the difference between romney and me, we both used to have the same idea. i'm willing to say it's the wrong idea. he's not. it's funny they want to attack me for admitting i was wrong but they want to admit he's still

wrong to think he's still rightç when he's wrong. >> wendell, where should people in this country be on this issue in your opinion if we're going to have a better country when it comes to health care delivery? is a mandate something that is going to be better for the country? >> well, absolutely. it is better for the country because we need to bring everybody into coverage. there are people who simply have chosen not to get coverage when they possibly could afford it. they are, indeed, free loaders, as they have been called -- or free riders, by newt gingrich in the past. we need to bring everybody onto coverage. many people that are uninsured are that way not by choice but because they can't get coverage at any price from insurance companies. they won't sell it to them. we need to have this. we need to have everybody in coverage. the only way to do this with the legislation we have which has been legislation that's been modeled after conservative legislation in the past is an individual mandate. it's very important. >> yeah.

well, it would seem to me mitt romney would be in favor of universal health care if he's for the mandate because that does open the door to something much broader that all the industrial nations in this world have except the united states. i hope we do go down that path. wendell potter, ari melber, thanks for your time tonight. mitt romney is smiling in this photo. next, you'll hear from a man who was caused nothing but pain when mitt romney and his buddies got real wealthy.

this just in. a few moments ago, we're told the situation on the ground in iowa is more fluid. this literally just came in from our reporter with the ron paul campaign. michele bachmann's state co-chair, kent sorensen, just appeared at a ron paul event in iowa and endorsed the texas congressman. stay tuned, folks. while there are only six days left, but the ground is clearly shifting.

so the co-chair of the bachmann campaign has jumped ship and gone over to ron paul. up next, romney made millions of dollars at bain capital by putting my next guest and his co-workers at ampad on the unemployment line. don't forget to tweet us using #edshow. stay tuned.

well the 2012 election is going to be about the economy and jobs. i think we can agree on that. most polls show that across the country. mitt romney's history at bain capital is not going to help his image as a job creator. now, we want to disclose nbc universal and bain capital are each a part owner of the weather channel.ç bain capital's main business model is buying companies like american pad and paper and restructuring them. in many instances, bain turned a profit by strip mining these companies. american, ampad is what it's

known, the stock was driven down and the company went bankrupt. they fired hundreds of workers along the way. one of the people who lost his job at an ampad factory in marion, indiana, was randy johnson. he recently told abc news what it was like to see his fellow ampad workers trying to find new careers. >> it was really one of the worst things i think i've had to deal with because people the age i am now were at my desk crying. what did i do? i don't have a high school education. how do i get a ged? i just want to get to retirement. some cases we had the husband and wife both working there. they lost all income. and it doesn't get much worse than that. >> randy johnson told his story to the voters of massachusetts back in 1994 when mitt romney was challenging senator ted kennedy. romney lost that race. randy johnson is telling his story once again and hopes it has the same effect. we're joined tonight by randy

johnson, currently on the staff of the united steelworkers. good to have you with us tonight. you've seen this song and dance before. do you believe bain capital under mitt romney profited from putting people out of work? >> i think a lot of times that during the purchase of these companies, they learn that running up debt, developing stock, actually putting a ç company out there to make the best profit for its shareholders, but not the workers. and that's what they did. it's a scheme that kind of goes on. i think that's proved out by some of the board of directors from the ampad and some of the things i've heard since then. they actually go out -- >> romney -- >> uh-huh? >> they actually do what? >> they actually go out and look for these companies in distress. that's what ampad was. and then ampad bought my plant and when we kind of stood up and said, wait a minute, you're cutting our health care, you're cutting our benefits in all ways, shapes and form, we no

longer had a pension plan. all these things happened to us. we said no more and we had a labor dispute over it. their answer was, okay, we're going to pick the plant up, move away and just leave us, the workers, holding the bag. not only us, the community. >> it romney unfriendly to labor or just looking to make a dollar? what do you think his philosophy is? >> he's unfriendly to labor. he has no love there. he's out to make a buck. he's always been out to make a buck. that was his major thing. we have a fundamental problem. whenever all they think about is profit at the expense of workers, families, communities. that's what really happens. >> i want to play something romney said at a recent debate in sioux city, iowa. here it is. let's take a listen. >> government doesn't create jobs, but the private sector does. i spent my life, my career in the private sector. i understand, by the way, from my successes, and failures,what it's going to take to put americans back to work with high

paying jobs. >> what goes through your mind when you hear mitt romney say he knows how to put people to workç after what he's been through? >> first of all, i don't think he spent a lot of time in low-level management working with real workers on the job. i don't know how he can really tell that part of it. it's even bigger whenever you start thinking about what happens to these people. i mean, i keep going back to that. he needs to have an understanding that just by creating wealth doesn't do it. you've got to put some of that wealth back into your jobs in the communities so people have a chance. an opportunity in the future. i don't believe he's ever had to do that. i don't know how he ever worked in a plant or factory and come out with a concept that it doesn't really matter what happens to the workers. >> is it true that mitt romney wrote you a letter when he lost the senate race in 1994 after you told this story? >> he wrote me a letter and faxed it in to many on the day the plant closed.

what a time to receive a letter, when you needed help sooner, not when it closes. he did say no one more than him wished it hadn't happened. that's probably true. >> but he's anti-worker. i mean, this guy will gut jobs, ship them overseas, run the profit to the bottom line to benefit a very few. is that a fair description of mitt romney? >> yeah. i don't think he really worries about the companies or the workers. i think it's about profit. it's pure profit. >> randy johnson, good to have you on "the ed show" tonight. thanks so much for joining us. >> appreciate it. a victory for voting rights in this country. but it is too little, too late. or isn't it? professor caroline heldman and ç katie o'connor of the aclu will join me to talk about south carolina and other states.

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[yawning] homeowner's discount. safe driver discount. chipmunk family reunion. someone stole the nuts. squirrel jail. justice! countless discounts. now that's progressive. call or click today. "the ed show" survey tonight, i asked who will win in iowa on tuesday? iowaaid mitt romney. 42% of you said ron paul. and 39% say rick santorum. coming up, can the department of justice do more to stop voter suppression around this country? katie o'connor of aclu and professor caroline heldman coming up next with that discussion.

for the first time in 20 years, the federal government has rejected a state voter i.d. law. the justice department blocked a

new i.d. law in south carolina from taking effect. south carolina is one of several states required to get federal preclearance on voting changes. because of its history of racial discrimination. the south carolina law requires voters to show one of five forms of photo i.d. however, the state's own data shows registered minority voters are 20% more likely than whites not to have the necessary identification. well, the department of justice says tens of thousands of minorities in the state might not be able to vote under this law. predictively, of course, the republicans are attacking the justice department's decision. south carolina governor nikki haley calling it outrageous. rnc chairman priebus tweeting today, "obama's south carolina ç voter i.d. decision shows he's putting the 2012 election above policy by oppoing efforts to protect against cheat and fraud." priebus doesn't have proof to

back up his claim. the justice department said south carolina voted no evidence that voter fraud was occur in the state. i'm joined by katie o'connor, with the aclu voting rights project. caroline heldman, professor of politics at occidental college. great to have both of you with us tonight. this story is one that gets my blood boiling because it's about suppressing the voices of americans across this country. miss o'connor, your reaction? is this the tip of the iceberg of the justice department? >> i'm hopeful it is and hopeful it turns the tide on the way of voter suppression efforts we've seen over the past few years. the department of justice under section 5 still has several other laws it can refuse to preclear. most notably the voter i.d. law that's coming out of texas but

also alabama and mississippi have those laws as well. and also the department of justice can bring section 2 claims in court to challenge the same sorts of laws for those states that aren't subject to section 5. so i'm hopeful that that's exactly what they're going to do. >> and katie, are you confident that they will do these kinds of things? >> you know, i really believe %-pthe tide is about to turn. i think we've done a great job of sort of educating the public about why the laws are bad in the first place. i also think that the department of justice has finally seen it as really, you know, sort of an emergency situation where we've got ten states that have passed voter i.d. laws in the past five years. seven states that are limiting early voting. two states that tried to get rid of election day registration. the list goes on and on.

as you know. so i think that that's finally sort of off the back burner and i do think that the tide's going to turn. >> i hope so. professor, if the law is considered discriminatory, why isn't the department of justice rejecting similar voter i.d. laws in other states? what do you think? >> i think it's probably because those states aren't on the list of eight states that require preclearance because of their history of discrimination, as katie has pointed out. he's specifically going after south carolina and texas because they're on that list. eric holder could under section 2 also go after any law that is discriminatory under the voting rights act of 1965. he's not chosen to do that. i guess i'm a little more pessimistic because i think it's hard for the average american because of the way this has been framed as voter fraud. who doesn't want to stand against fraud? because of the way it's been framed by a lot of conservative outlets, i think it's hard to make the case that we shouldn't require i.d.

i think it's hard for people to understand that if they have i.d., it doesn't mean everyone can get it. that's the uphill battle.ç it's a political hot potato for president obama to step into this mess. he will face backlash from people who think it's common sense that people should have i.d.s even though 11% of the american public does not. >> well, not everybody in thus country understands how the poor actually lives and how destitute some people can be and want to throw all sorts of restrictions on them. this is a bunch of hoops they have to jump through if they're going to have the process of having their voice heard. you know, professor, when you look at this, if there's no voter fraud, it seems to me the republicans are going to do everything they possibly can to make the case to the american people that there's fraud everywhere. what about that? >> i think what we're doing is lumping three types of fraud together. one is voter registration fraud which a.c.o.r.n. did engage in. these laws only affect voter impersonation fraud which

wouldn't be at all affecting what happened with a.c.o.r.n. the second, our poll workers or others in positions of power engaging in fraud. again, this only deals with voter impersonation. when i have conversations about this with folks on the right, they lump all of it together and say it's a big issue. as you know, ed, you're 39 times more likely to be struck by lightning than engage in voter impersonation and four times more likely to report a ufo. i wish eric holder would go after the states to justify the decisions. in south carolina, they weren't able to show an issue with fraud which is the boldfaced lie on which the efforts are based. >> quickly, katie, what would be the next state you would recommend the department of justice goes after that would paralíel south carolina? >> sure. well, texas does have a submission that is waiting for a determination by the department of justice. >> sure.