but that's the way it is as walter cronkite once put it. that's why people sore angry. so angry at obama, at the republican establishment, at us at the media, at anyone they can be angry at. anyone who will listen to their pain, the pain that comes, the nastiest to those who thought things would end up better. didn't we all? i've said it before. this is going to be one hot convention when they meet down here in late august. and mitt romney is not the right guy to be standing up there with his neat hair and life so together. they, the republican red hots want someone to match their madness and newt in some mad way, is just what the doctor ordered. and that's "hardball" for now. "politics nation" with al sharpton starts right now. welcome to "politics nation." i'm al sharpton. tonight's lead -- the big fight in florida. the romney/gingrich showdown is on. and we'll cover it. and what it means for president

obama, for the hour, we begin with a picture. you want to see an image of panic? take a look at this picture of mitt romney doing his own laundry on saturday, the day of the south carolina primary. romney's son sent it out with the caption, nothing like the glamorous life on the road. does team romney really think people will consider him a regular, authentic, relatable kind of guy? the multimillion-dollar man doing a load of whites before the big night? of course not. yet again, willard trying to appear like the every man. also showing that he's getting desperate. he's attacking newt gingrich with everything he can think of. >> i don't think that the people of this country are going to choose as the next presidents of the united states a person who spent 40 years in washington as a congressman and a lobbyist. he talks about great bold movements and ideas.

what's he been doing for 15 years? he's been working as a lobbyist. and selling influence around washington. >> speaker gingrich has really had only one experience as a leader. and he failed at it. and then he had to resign in disgrace. that's not the kind of leadership i think our party needs. >> let's see the records from the ethics investigation. let's see what they show. let's see the -- who his clients were. >> he's gone from pillar to post, almost like a pinball machine, from item to item in a way which is highly erratic. >> wow. highly erratic. but careful, willard. we know newt loves to fight. >> i think the number one thing people look for in difficult times is authenticity. they want somebody who is what he seems to be, somebody who is comfortable with himself. >> i think he's been dancing on eggs trying to figure out how to find a version of romney that will work. if people want somebody who is going to shake up washington, i think i can do it.

if they want somebody who going to be timid and manage the decay, they ought to vote for romney. >> if you've been campaigning for six years and you begin to see it slip away, you get desperate. and when you get desperate, you say almost anything. >> there's that word again. desperate. and while mitt and newt trade insults, president obama talked over the weekend about where the real focus should be. fairness. president obama's campaign released this video giving americans a preview of his state of the union speech. >> in a lot of ways, my address on tuesday will be a book end to what i said in kansas last month. about the central mission we have as a country and my central focus as president. and that's rebuilding an economy where hard work pays off. and responsibility is rewarded. and an america where everybody gets a fair shot, everyone does their fair share and everybody plays by the same set of rules. >> meantime, republicans have to

decide between a candidate struggling with authenticity or one saddled with ethical questions. so who is likely to take the heat? joining me now from tampa is rod smith, chairman of the florida democratic party. and in l.a., bob shrum, democratic strategist and a professor at nyu. great to have both of you with us tonight. >> glad to be here. >> thank you, rev. glad to be here. >> now, bob is romney doing the right thing here by going on the offense and being more aggressive than we've seen him so far? >> i think he's doing the only thing he thinks he can. there have been three polls in florida so far since south carolina. and two of them, gingrich is leading by eight or nine points. one he's tied. in the national gallup poll he's all but tied with romney who used to be 23 points ahead. and they run about the same kind of race, although i don't believe this against president obama. so the electability argument

doesn't hold much water. romney is not getting much traction. in fact it may be hurting him with this argument that he's going to be the ceo of america. so what he's doing and what he's going to do in this debate tonight which i think is going to be watched by a lot of people is he's throwing the kitchen sink at gingrich. that's what people do when their campaigns are in trouble. when they are coming apart. he'll be a side heave from rick santorum. it's recycled iowa strategy. they are going to spend millions of dollars on television. but it may be that this race has at least, in florida, already to some extent bypassed romney. that he doesn't speak to republican hearts, certainly, and he isn't speaking to their heads either. >> let me ask you. i do a lot of traveling. i know people in florida. there seems to be a lot of anger among the electorate. and it seems as though mr. newt gingrich has tapped into that

anger and willard, despite him trying to act like the everyday guy just doesn't seem to know how to tap into the anger. am i reading this right? >> well, sure. i think you are reading it right. reverend, i think that -- i think i spoke earlier today about -- i think romney comes into florida. first of all, he comes without much momentum. and more importantly, i think as he gets to florida, there are certain parts of the state. you know florida. you know the north part of sfloerd the south and the south part of sfloerd tflorida is the. i don't think romney connects very well in north florida. i think there are issues he won't do well. when he gets to south florida, successly in southeast florida, where issues of immigration are seen differently than he sees them, i think romney's message is one that just doesn't really fit the florida electorate right now. i think that that's going to cause him a lot of problems. i think in the end, almost everywhere where they are showing problems is where the president is doing well. i think on the issues of immigration. i think south florida is much more wide open to the dream act

and i think in florida, the economy that there's a feeling we've got an enormously unpopular governor. most people in florida believe that the problem with the economy in this state is the reason we're lagging behind the recovery of the rest of the country is decision being made by our governor, a republican in tallahassee. but i think they recognize we're moving in the right direction. romney has been somewhat of a one-trick pony. if he can't talk about the economy, he hasn't had much to say. i think in florida there's a sense that we're rounding the corner and starting to come forward. i think there is a lot of frustration and particularly in a closed primary which this is the first real closed primary they have. i think that it will be a horse race. but in the end, i told someone the other day. if i had more money from our party iwould simply sponsor more republican debates because the more we get these guys talking, the better we look. >> no question about it. bob, i think that you've run a lot of campaigns. when you see the electorate angry, i think that willard is misreading. this is not about showing how

you can clean your white underwear. this is showing how you can get your hands dirty and fight for the american people. he is sending the wrong picture out. what would you be telling him tonight, and what would you be telling newt tonight, bob? >> well, listen. it would be hard to give romney advice because what you'd have to say to him is you need to be different than you are. there's nothing wrong with being rich in american politics. the kennedys were rich, the roosevelts were rich. but people had this sense that they fought for them, that they cared about them, that they were standing up for the middle class. romney who is very tightly scripted has a kind of teleprompter in his head. when he gets off that teleprompter and gets spontaneous, he always gets in danger. he tells us that $370,000 isn't much money. he tells us that he has been unemployed -- or is unemployed. he says he afraid he might get a pink slip. i think people hear that and they say he's so distant from them and he seems so stiff, so awkward and so artificial, that

to use an old word, he doesn't connect. as a result of that, i think at least in florida, and it's at least remotely possible in the republican primaries generally, the voters may actually give him a pink slip. >> rod, let me ask you. when you look at the fact now that mr. romney is coming out blasting, he can't redo himself so he's got to tear down newton. and he put out this ad today, released a new ad blaming newton gingrich for the housing crisis and slamming him on ethics. look at this. >> while florida families lost everything in the housing crisis, newt gingrich cashed in. gingrich was paid over $1.6 million by the scandal-ridden agency that helped create the crisis. if newt wins, this guy would be very happy. >> will that work, you think? rod, with florida voters? >> no, i don't think that's going to be very effective. particularly given the voters that they are trying to talk to

in the republican primary. i'm not sure that that's going to be effective. remember this. when governor romney now finds himself attacking gingrich, when he's now playing if you will, what he's been playing for the last two weeks which has been pure defense, two things are true. number one, gingrich is doing well. number two, the president is doing better. and so i think that when you see -- you are absolutely right. when he talks about people being envious or a politics of ren vee, we've had lots of successful candidates. people aren't jealous in this country of success. people want to make sure you understand their experience and what's going on with their house and driving the decisions they are making for their family. if you don't make that connection, and i think so far he's failed to do that. if you don't make it at some visceral level, i believe you'll have a hard time in florida where, remember, a lot of the voters in florida will go with one or two or three issues. on many of the issues where he is, doesn't really fit florida as well as others.

frankly, i think gives us an enormous opportunity to do better in the general election. this president takes florida again because i think the more these guys come to florida and begin to talk about what they are doing and beat up on one another, they are both upside down on the negatives right now. and the public's concerned about them. they are concerned about issues involving gingrich and they are concerned about a man who is using the cayman islands as his depository. in florida if you were putting your money in the cayman island, there's only a couple of things you are there for and none of them are very good. >> it's very interesting, rod. we have a campaign of a guy who seems to be crookedly awkward and another one awkwardly crooked. but let me ask you this, bob. mr. santorum is also in this race. now let me show you something very quickly that really bothered me today. a woman at one of his events stood up and said that the president -- president obama was a muslim. watch this. >> i never refer to obama as

president obama because legally, he is not. he is an avowed muslim and my question is, why isn't something being done to get him out of our government. >> i'm doing my best to try to get him out of the government. >> now this is outrageous to me. he doesn't stop to correct this woman that the president of the united states is not a muslim. though there would be nothing wrong if he was. and that he is not legally -- he is not holding office illegally. he doesn't correct any of that. he just ignores all of that and goes for, i'm trying to get him out. while the audience is cheering this misinformation. this is the kind of ugliness that i think will hurt the republican party and should be denounced by everybody in this country. >> well, first of all, santorum himself constantly appears --

appeals to the daerk impulses of the elector rate. it's the opposite of what john mccain did when asked a similar question in a town meeting in the fall of 2008. someone stood up and said at that -- in that instance, he's an arab. he's not an american. he shouldn't be -- even be running. and mccain put his hand out and he said stop. you're wrong. he's a good american. he and i just disagree on the issues. this might not be a bad question, and i'm not in the business of recommending questions. this might not be a bad question to ask all those republicans tonight. to see if they'll distance themselves from this kind of paranoia and this kind of infection in american politics which i think tries to paint the president as other. uses the fact, without admitting it, that he's african-american, to make him somehow or other seem alien to the american experience when in fact, he's a fulfillment of our best ideals. >> when reporters question santorum later, he said it wasn't his job to correct people

in a town hall meeting. well, then whose job is it, mr. santorum? maybe that's why you shouldn't be running for the biggest job in the country. rod smith and bob shrum, thank you both for joining us tonight. >> thank you. more on the big debate tonight. that's next. e discovered how eas to use legalzoom for important legal documents. so start your business, protect your family, launch your dreams. at legalzoom.com, we put the law on your side. yeah. it's his thing. i don't even participate. boom! here it comes! bring it back! bring it home! [ male announcer ] when you combine creamy velveeta with zesty rotel tomatoes and green chilies, you get a bowl of queso that makes even this get-together better. [ british accent ] i host a book club. so sexy... vaga had no tolerance for such dastardly deeds. finally... [ male announcer ] when you combine creamy velveeta with zesty rotel tomatoes and green chilies, you get a bowl of queso that makes even this get-together better.

as mitt and newt prepare for a slugfest tonight, president obama's preparing a major speech on the central issue of this race -- fairness. big news on the strategy for re-election tonight. stay with us. uch as $200. olay says challenge that with an instrument that cleanses as effectively as what's sold by skin professionals for a whole lot less. new olay pro x advanced cleaning system.

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welcome back to "politics nation." the eyes of the political world are on tampa, florida, tonight. in just a few hours, willard and newton will go head-to-head in what's expected to be an absolute slugfest. the stakes couldn't be higher. willard's camp is in panic mode. on the offensive against newton. but newton is at his best attacking on the big stage. and nights like this play a major role. the drama is building. so how will it all play out? joining me from tampa, erin mcpike from real clear politics. and bob franken a kings feature syndicated columnist. bob's covered newt gingrich for years. thank you both for being here tonight. >> thank you. >> erin, let me start with you. what are you expecting to see from both mitt and newt tonight? >> i think it's going to be a

fight about character. at least that's what both of the campaigns are telling me. mitt romney's been saying gingrich needs to release his contract from his consulting fees with freddie mac. earlier this decade and -- or i guess six, seven years ago and newt gingrich's campaign, his lawyers are releasing that contract tonight which we talked about that last week, al, as you remember. newt released his tax returns going into that debate. he's doing the same thing again as a preemptive strike at mitt romney. >> now, you know, bob, you learn from lawyers. i've never been a lawyer, but a lot of my friends are. you never -- >> more power to you, al. >> you never ask a question you don't know the answer. and it seems to me that mr. romney in asking this, is he shooting in the dark or does he know there's something in these contracts. what i'm going at here, bob, is

if mr. gingrich releases the contracts and nothing in them or even worse, they do in effect make him look like a historian. won't this blow up in willard's face? >> well, it's possible. it's also possible that what gingrich is going to do is what he did with his tax returns. yes, he released them, but really he released them in very general form. and if that what he does with these contracts, then they're not going to really shed any light. what we have with mitt romney is somebody who is suddenly flailing around. i mean, he's just punching wildly. but he's never really been in a fight before because he's always been around his amen chorus of fellow rich guys and now he is in a fight. and he just doesn't really know how to land any punches. and newt gingrich in the meantime is somebody who absolutely knows how to land punches. and if he's called for a low blow, then he turns on the referee. the referee being media chorus. if i were brian williams, i'd

really be on my toes tonight. >> the problem, i think, is that he is in a fight. he being willard. with a street fighter, newt gingrich. and there's different rules. in a professional fight, you have a referee. you have gloves. you have the cut man. all that in the corner. in a street fight you break a bottle. you take a garbage top. he's coming in with his gloves and his trunks and his cut man and newt is coming in with whatever it takes. let me show you when he tried to rumble with john mccain who was not even a street fighter what happened with mr. willard romney. >> that was quoted in ap and happened to be wrong. let me -- >> well, could i -- >> it was misquoted. that does happen from time to time. but let me -- it does actually. >> when you change positions on issues from time to time, you will get misquoted. >> he doesn't do well in the aggressive kind of street fight.

and newton has a way of making street fighting almost appear scholarly when it's really street fighting that he just puts a nice little polish to it, but it is street fighting. >> sure. tonight we're going to hear from newt gingrich that mitt romney is desperate. but you know, al, this looks like it's mitt romney's last chance to run for president. and he wants to be president badly. i don't know that i would use the word desperate, but newt gingrich is the thing standing in his way right now to the white house. obviously then he'd have to get through a general election if he becomes the nominee. but we'll see more fight out of mitt romney. this may at the end of the day make him a much better candidate for it. he's in a tough time right now. for each president there's always a big test. >> now, bob, newton on the other side has used the media as his target. he has almost, throughout every debate, his main target and the

one that has gotten the crowds really energized is when he goes after the media. in many ways because he's tapping into a lot of conservatives in the republican party that feel the media looks down on them. that they are marginalized. they have real anger. do you think that this is going to be effective all the way through and how will newton deal with attacking willard and the media in your opinion tonight? >> well, first of all, with brian williams, he's going to get somebody who really does keep his cool. i think what happened the other night with john king who is a consummate professional reporter, longtime colleague of mine, he was blindsided and, quite frankly, he sort of enabled newt gingrich and, in terms of debate history, he temporarily became newt gingrich's dan quayle. you know that famous moment. he was a straight man. but it's going to be interesting. brian williams will have had the benefit of seeing that. and as i said, this is the guy who epitomizes cool.

it may not work the same. however, there is a real grudge among republicans, particularly the conservative republicans, that newt gingrich is appealing to, that the media, the elite media, that's one of those frank luntz words. the elite media are out to get conservatives and republicans. and it works. i mean, we have a whole network. fox news network has been smashingly successful on that premise. >> now, erin, tonight when we see this debate and we see them all taking whatever position they can, this really is going to be extremely important because if gingrich is successful in florida, he really has turned the whole party totally upside down and may not be able to get it front side up. and if willard can't succeed tonight, it may be over. and if santorum can't put himself in the mix it may be over. so everyone has got to go in there with some level of

desperation. >> right. i think that we're going to hear both from rick santorum and romney that gingrich is a raddic. it's going to be a debate about character. and again, desperation is one thing and errat sick another word we're going to hear. we'll not hear a lot about issues. they're going to draw this fight out into each other's character. >> so you have one guy that was at bain and was supposed to have closed a lot of companies after they bought them causing jobs and doing a lot of things in the private sector that's questionable. another guy hit with ethics in congress and they want to talk about character. this ought to be amazing. erin mcpike and bob franken, thank you for your time tonight. don't forget to tune in to the debate tonight on a special edition of "rock center." that's tonight at 9:00 on nbc. coming up -- president obama's re-election

announcement. it's all about fairness. big news ahead on the state of the union. plus, newton said he'd be glad to talk to me, but will it happen? my comments coming up. stay with us.

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as the country prepares to hear president obama's state of

the union tomorrow, at least one gop congressman refuses to be there. colorado republican doug lamborn won't attend the speech because a spokesman says, quote, the president will be in full campaign mode and will use the address as an opportunity to bash his political opponents. so because the congressman doesn't like president obama's policies, he's willing to disrespect the president and the office of the president. but maybe we shouldn't be surprised considering what else lamborn is known for. the last time we heard from him, he was apologizing for saying associating with president obama was like touching a tar baby. unfortunately, this behavior is affecting people outside of washington, too. today president obama honored the boston bruins for winning the stanley cup championship.

the team's star goalie tim thomas refused to go because he opposes president obama's policies. thomas was on the u.s. hockey team in the 2010 vancouver olympics. so he represented this country in the olympics but he wouldn't accept congratulations from the president of the united states for his team. pathetic. copd makes it hard to breathe, so i wasn't playing much of a role in my own life, but with advair, i'm breathing better so now i can take the lead on a science adventure.

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and it hasn't been going exactly as planned. cut. cut! [ monica ] i thought we'd be on location for 3 days --

it's been 3 weeks. so i had to pick up some more things. good thing i've got the citi simplicity card. i don't get hit with a fee if i'm late with a payment... which is good because on this job, no! bigger! [ monica ] i may not be home for a while. [ male announcer ] the new citi simplicity card. no late fees. no penalty rate. no worries. welcome back to "politics nation." this election will boil down to two separate visions for this country. and in his state of the union address tomorrow night, president obama will lay out his vision. it's based on fairness. >> this is a make or break moment for the middle class. and folks trying to work their way into the middle class because we can go in two directions. one is towards less opportunity and less fairness or we can fight for where i think we need

to go. building an economy that works for everyone. not just a wealthy few. >> an economy that works for everyone because right now that's not the case. 66% of americans thinks it's harder to move up in this country, and it is. we live in a nation where the income for the top 1% has grown 275%. yet the poor has barely seen progress at all. this dynamic is what this election should be about and will be about. and it's why you see mr. 1% romney selling himself as mr. every man. as someone who does his own laundry. >> are you doing your laundry on primary day? >> we do our laundry at least once a week because we'll be on the road for 30 straight days. who else do you think is going to do our laundry? >> it's why romney insists he can connect with real people. >> i don't think that i have any

challenge whatsoever connecting to people on an emotional level. >> except it is a challenge, willard, because if you did connect with real people you wouldn't shout down questions about real inequality. >> corporations are not people! corporations are not people! we are the people! we are the people! >> i love these guys, by the way, who don't like america and our free enterprise system and they have something else in mind. take a look at cuba. take a look at north korea. take a look at the former soviet union. our system works. what they're fighting for does not work. i believe in america. >> i believe in america, too. but my vision is different than yours. joining me now is congresswoman donna edwards, democrat from maryland. and ed rendell, nbc news political analyst and former dnc chairman. thank you both for coming on the show tonight. >> our pleasure. >> congresswoman edwards, let me start with you.

you'llant t be at the state of union tomorrow night. what do you make of your republican colleagues who are already slamming the president's speech. let me show you mitt romney admitted in an interview on friday that the economy is getting better. let me let you hear that first. >> how do you answer the president's argument that the economy is getting better in a general election campaign if you yourself are saying that it's getting better? >> well, of course it's getting better. the economy always gets better after a recession. there's always a recovery. >> isn't that a hard argument to make if you're saying, like, okay he inherited this recession and he took a bunch of steps to try to turn it around and now we're seeing more jobs but vote against him anyway. isn't that a hard argument to make? is that a stark enough contrast? >> have you got a better one, laura? it happens to be the truth. >> so he says himself the economy is getting better, but then speaker boehner says the economy isn't improving.

listen to this, congresswoman. >> you know, i've read a lot about what the president is going to talk about tuesday night. and it sounds to me like the same old policies that we've seen. more spending. higher taxes. more regulations. the same policies that haven't helped our economy. they've made it worse. and if that's what the president is going to talk about tuesday night, i think it's pathetic. >> so you have the speaker saying that the president has made the economy worse. you have willard saying, yes it is getting better. i mean, some -- one of your colleagues, the republicans already said he's not even going to go. what's happening here, congresswoman edwards? >> well, the facts are the facts. the economy is getting better. unemployment has come down. we know that under the president's leadership, we've added 334,000 new manufacturing jobs in this country over the last two years. that's the first time that's happened since my son who is an adult was in grade school. we know that 1.4 million people are employed now in the auto

industry, an industry that speaker boehner and mr. romney actually wanted to see in bankruptcy this year. instead, people are working and we have the most robust american auto industry that we've seen in years. i mean, the fact is the fact that the economy is improving. it's improving because of policies pushed by the president and by democrats in congress. definitely not by the policies. we haven't had any policies, frankly, from the republicans under their leadership in the house and wouldn't get that in the presidency. >> now let me ask you, governor rendell, you headed the dnc. you also have been the governor of pennsylvania. isn't it strange, maybe it's me. isn't it strange if a man has been governor of massachusetts that he's not running on how he governed. he's running on how he ran a private business. isn't that a little awkward that if you want to convince people you can govern, you don't even

want to mention what you did as you governed. let's talk about how you got rich and what you did with those riches. >> it is strange. romney should be talking about all of his experiences. his experience in the private sector, but also his experience as governor because he did some good things as governor. he cooperated and got the cooperation of an 85% democratic legislature and he shouldn't run from things. i mean, romney care or whatever they call the health plan in massachusetts, that's a fundamentally sound plan and it worked for massachusetts. but he runs from it because he's trying to appeal to this conservative base. and he has moved so far to the right that i believe even if he's successful in winning the nomination, and i think he still will be, he comes in as damaged goods. he has endorsed the ryan plan 100%. a plan that dismembers medicare and he's going to have to sell that in florida but he's also going to have to sell it in pennsylvania, the third oldest state in the union. it's not going to wash. >> now congresswoman, willard

romney in october says foreclosures should run their course. but today he was singing a different tune. watch this. >> don't try and stop the foreclosure process. let it run its course and hit the bottom. >> look, i'm going to do my very best to help. it breaks my heart to hear your stories, your experiences. some of the institutions aren't willing to write it off and say they made a mistake. they loaned too much. we're overextended. >> so congresswoman, in october he said let it run its course. you know, let the foreclosures run its course. today it breaks his heart to see what's going on with the foreclosures in florida. >> well, in typical fashion, mitt romney can't decide which side of an issue he's on. the fact is that in my congressional district and across this country, people have suffered under the abusive practices of a financial industry that ran amok, that the president has tried to fix.

he put somebody in charge of a consume procedur protection bur order to make sure that doesn't happen again. you cannot say republicans in congress that you won't do anything that holds these institutions accountable, that makes sure that people actually get value out of their homes and that keeps people from losing their homes. that's what we need to do. that's what the president has been focused on. if mitt romney wants to join the president's actions in doing that, then let him do it, but you cannot be on both sides of the issue, which he's been even within months. >> now governor rendell, on that stage tonight and the next debate and into next tuesday's florida primary, he's on the stage. willard romney, who you say you said a minute ago you still feel will be the nominee. he's on there with newt gingrich and santorum and paul who are going all the way to the right. will they be able to pull him so

far over to where he will never be able to get back to the center and in effect, they will make it almost improbable for the republicans to defeat barack obama as president of the united states? >> i think that's very true. your analysis is dead on. i think this is, first of all, the clown aspect of this republican primary season with herman cain and with michele bachmann and rick perry. it's got independent voters shaking their heads and saying this is the best they've got? that's strike number one. strike number two is they've already forced mitt romney to go so far to the right on so many issues. issues like immigration. issues like the ryan budget. i think it's going to be very difficult if not impossible, for him to recover. so the only one who has benefited by this republican primary season so far is barack obama. no ifs, ands and buts about it. >> what does he need to do

tomorrow in the state of the union speech, governor, and is it dangerous for him tomorrow night? >> yeah, it's dangerous. i don't think he should be too partisan. and if i were advising the president, i would say, don't use it as a campaign speech. talk about -- he has this great speech that he gives about we can't wait, meaning we can't put the problems of this country on hold until next january. he should talk about we can't wait. he should talk about the things he wants to do with the economy. he should talk about his balanced approach to getting rid of the deficit and he should issue congress an invitation and maybe a challenge. come along with me. let's put our political differences aside. let's do something to straighten out this country right now. let's not wait until after the election. i think that message would be a message the american people would really like to hear. >> congresswoman donna edwards and governor ed rendell, thank you both for joining me tonight. >> thanks, al. have a good night. still ahead -- newton says he'd be glad to meet with me and

defend his racially charged talk on the campaign trail. we'll talk about that. also, my debate tips for tonight's pivotal gop showdown in florida. we'll be right back. in america, we believe in a future that is better than today. since 1894, ameriprise financial has been working hard for their clients' futures. never taking a bailout. helping generations achieve dreams. buy homes. put their kids through college. retire how they want to. ameriprise. the strength of america's largest financial planning company. the heart of 10,000 advisors working with you, one-to-one. together, for your future. ♪ what is this shorty? uh, tissues sir, i'm sick. you don't cough, you don't show defeat. give me your war face! raaah! [ male announcer ] halls. a pep talk in every drop.

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this weekend in south carolina, newt gingrich told a voter he'd be glad to meet with me to talk about his racially charged comments on the campaign trail. well, on live tv saturday night, i told newt to name the time, the place. >> i would welcome it because -- >> al, are you available monday at 6:00 p.m.? >> i'm available monday at 6:00 p.m. in this studio. i'll make it better. i'll go where mr. gingrich is. i'll meet him in florida or in south carolina. >> it's been two days, newt, and i still haven't heard from you. maybe because you know talk like this is indefensible. >> if the naacp invites me, i'll go to their convention and talk about why the african-american community should demand paychecks and not be satisfied with food stamps. >> the fact is that more people have been put on food stamps by

barack obama than any president in american history. >> that's just not true, newt. these are the facts. under president bush, there were 14.7 million new food stamp recipients. that's nearly 500,000 more than under president obama, newt. and now 40 catholic leaders have sent a letter to newt demanding he recant these statements. they say, quote, labeling our nation's first african-american president with a title that evokes past myths of welfare queen and inflaming other racist caricatures is irresponsible, immoral and unworthy of political leaders. joining me now is joe madison, host of "mornings with madison" on sirius xm radio. thanks for being here, joe. >> why do you have all the fun, man? you get to have all the fun with newt, but you are telling the

truth. i have got -- it's right here. it's right here in black and white. guess what. from george bush's department of agriculture. >> that's right. >> which is where the program comes from. bush brought on far more new food stamp recipients than president obama. yet mr. gingrich never called him a food stamp president. almost 500,000 more. newt, we're not talking totals. newt. now let me ask you this. when you deal with all of this. now the catholic leaders are coming out. when you can tell some misinformation, it becomes a chorus on the right. look at all of them that chimed in on this food stamp stuff. watch this. >> here's the food stamp president. look at the numbers. they speak for themselves. 32 million to 46 million. 12 million increase. obama's policies. resulted in a lot more people being on food stamps. what's the problem? >> he is the food stamp president. >> more people have joined the

food stamp program under obama than any other president. >> i mean, just totally wrong. we just gave the facts. according to the government data. totally wrong. totally using this to try as the catholics leaders said and you and i have been saying, to try and use some racial reference because mind you what he said. that's why we played the tape. he said that he would tell blacks to demand jobs and not continue to be satisfied with food stamps. like blacks are satisfied with getting food stamps. >> when your mother, my mother, my grandmother, the reality is they did everything that they possibly could to avoid it. but let's go back to this. we're talking about a point in time at the end of the bush administration, actually throughout that period. we saw that this massive unemployment and underemployment was going to take place.

it was under the bush administration. and we knew that by the time that barack obama was sworn in, there would be this need. now who is in need? now this is what the american people should hear. who is in need of -- to be fed in america? mostly women and children are recipients. and so if you don't have this program, what happens? these people do not eat. and that's what is going on in the united states of america. so i hope he does come on your show. i hope he comes on everybody's show. i hope that the other candidates have the decency to tell the american people the truth. but finally, this is not new. this goes back to ronald reagan's era when everybody saw the same welfare queen. you remember her. she had a cadillac, food stamps, bought cognac and potato chips

and showed up in every conservative neighborhood in america. >> now when you -- let me show you the breakdown of what you said. 47% children. these are people on food stamps. 8% seniors. 41% working families. people that work. and just can't make ends meet. now when you look at the breakdown of food stamp recipients by race, 36% white. 22% african-american. 10% hispanic. african-americans and hispanics are also disproportionately unemployed and disproportion atly beyond the poverty line which means they'd need services more. but mr. gingrich and santorum didn't say i'm going to tell everybody that they should want a job and not be satisfied. they singled out blacks. but when you and i raise a response, we're playing the race card. we're reacting to it. >> the reason this hit it is

because the manufacturing base was destroyed in our communities. we know this for a fact. a favorable tax credit for companies that took these jobs and sent them offshore, overseas. we know that in south carolina. we know it for a fact. and the reality is that we need to keep saying this. >> joe, i have to leave it there. i'm rung out of time. joe madison, thanks for your joe madison, thanks for your time t [ male announcer ] the inspiring story of how a shipping giant can befriend a forest

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i've been memorizing old phrases like there you go again. >> there you go again. >> newt gingrich doesn't need to go all the way back to ronald reagan for help in tonight's debate. he could just watch "politics nation" for the latest edition of reverend al's debate tips. first tip, expect the obvious. in 1984, reagan was criticized for being, quote, too old to be

president. so when that came up in the debate, he was ready for it. and turned the tables on his opponent. >> i will not make age an issue of this campaign. i am not going to exploit for political purposes my opponent's youth and inexperience. >> next tip, attack with a smile. joe biden had such a smart, funny line about rudy giuliani that he uncorked it during a democratic debate in 2008. >> there's only three things he mentioned in a sentence. a nine, a verb and 9/11. there's nothing else. there's nothing else. >> if mitt or newt can't find a line like that tonight, the other guy is toast. and our last debate tip, never, ever admit there's a possibility that you could lose. that's what i did in 2004. >> all of you are pledged to support the winner of