get campaign money to smother his opponents next week. the debt mitt romney is really worried about is the one his campaign might leave him stuck with. and that's "hardball" for now. thanks for being with us. "politics nation" with al sharpton starts right now. welcome to "politics nation." i'm al sharpton. tonight's lead, he might have won michigan and arizona last night, but willard mitt romney is a very sore winner. here he was the big winner last night. >> we didn't win by a lot, but we won by enough and that's all that counts. >> well, there's a resounding winner's speech. take a look at the breakdown. he won michigan's wealthiest counties, highlighted there in the green. but rick santorum took the rest of the state winning big with blue collar workers. you can see it all in the purple. and that's the group willard

just can't connect with. fresh off his win, he was in ohio today speaking with workers at a fence making factory. but check out the crowd waiting to cheer him on. a half empty room of supporters. not what you'd expect from a man who won two states last night. here's what it comes down to. this dragged out primary race is hurting his favorability. let's look at president obama in 2008. at this point in the race, in 2008, president obama's favorability numbers were above 50% and climbing steadily every month. but check out willard. his favorability can't break 37%. you can see the green line sinking. and his unfavorability rating is skyrocketing above 50%. but this dragged out primary race is hurting him in another

area. >> i need your support. i'm asking for you to get out and vote. and i'm asking for you to go on mitt romney.com and pledge your support in every way possible. >> willard's asking for a bailout. and it's no wonder. this year alone, he and his pac have spent $38.5 million on primaries and caucuses. over six times more than rick santorum. he's running low on cash. he can't win the hearts of the republican voters. the big winner in all of this seems to be president obama, to me. joining me now is david corn, msnbc political analyst and mother jones washington bureau chief. and ted devine, democratic strategist and senior adviser for the kerry and gore campaigns. great to have you with us. david, let me start with you. you saw that speech last night. did that sound like a confident leader to you?

>> oh, it sound like someone trying to talk to the board room. you know, i don't know if you're going to do this tonight, but if you compare that speech, play it against the president's speech to the uaw workers, it literally is night and day. you know, romney, he just -- you showed earlier, he can't get above 37%. if you are grading him as a political candidate, just on his pure performance skills, he really can't get above a b. maybe 85%. and he's been doing this now for five years on the presidential campaign level. he was governor of massachusetts. he ran for senate against teddy kennedy. i've been covering politics for 30 years now from the city council level to the presidential level. every candidate i've ever covered keeps getting better, whether they win or lose the race at the end. almost is immaterial. they get better because they do it. he can't find his groove. he can't connect. he can't stop putting his foot in his mouth. he won this race. but he is still going to be mitt

romney the day after. and in the months ahead. and that's just one thing he can't run away from. >> that's what i was going to say to david. maybe this is his groove. maybe he has found it and we don't find it too groovy. i mean, when you look at the -- let's look at where we had it super tuesday. romney's leading in vermont and idaho. santorum is leading in tennessee and oklahoma. and gingrich is leading in georgia. that's not exactly a definitive edge so far. >> no, it's not. i think romney is in trouble. he may have won a narrow victory in his home state last night, but this whole process has been very bad for him by every objective measure. by the objective measure of turnout. in every state except south carolina, less republicans have voted this year than four years ago. i think that's an indication of a lack of enthusiasm. yesterday in michigan, the only economic group he won were people who make $100,000 a year

or more. now yeoh may be able to win a republican primary in michigan with that but no way to win a general election in america with that kind of support. >> and you're right but just so people understand that we're not embellishing this, david. one of his chief surrogates, john mccain himself, said romney may already be damaged goods. look at what he told the "boston globe." this is a quote from john mccain. this is like watching a greek tragedy. i know he's going to be the nominee but i also worry about how much damage has been done. not too encouraging from one of your chief if not the chief, surrogate. the guy who just had the nomination before you. >> i know republicans with and without the -- who are with or not with the romney campaign like to say there's often a fierce primary battle but then at the end a nominee and he runs against the other party.

straightens out the other party. unites around him. the thing is romney has really moved far to the right to do battle with all these nonromneys. whether it was michele bachmann, or now rick santorum. he's created a gap between himself and independent voters, middle of the road voters. hispanic voters, women voters. and it's a pretty big gap. the question is, how deep is that gap? is he making impressions now that are indelible with his gaffes and with his extreme positions that are going to be hard to pivot away from and the usual classic two-step that most candidates go through. and the longer this goes on, and the more he caters and panders to the right and keeps putting his foot in his mouth, the deeper that impression is going to be and the hard ter is going to be to reverse that. now again, $6 gallon gasoline in the fall will help him a lot. this is far from over. but he's really creating a bigger hole by the week.

>> now, tad, the problem is not only, in my judgment, has he and his opponents moved to the far right. they've moved the right further right and then went there. i mean, it's the first time i've seen them actually move the right boundary even further right and they are at the edge of that. and he's going to run into problems with his record. let me show you this. he was talking today while he was out talking about how he was going to improve the economy and talking to these guys that are workers. david axelrod who is running president obama's re-election, tweeted the following about romney's record. mitt's vow. "more jobs, less debt, smaller gov. his massachusetts record? 47th in job creation, debt up 16.5%, gov jobs grew at 6 times rate of private. how are you going to run as a

job creator, small government debt reducing guy and the time you held office as a head of state in the state of massachusetts, your record in all three areas is the exact opposite. >> well, he's going to have a real hard time doing that. the truth is, reverend, that romney's record in office is just a serious liability. this is a guy who ran -- when i worked against him for senator kennedy in 1994, he was running basically as a liberal. completely repudiated all those positions. got elected as governor and began to run to the right and run for president. now he's changed fundamentally his positions. his record in massachusetts is one of the worst any of governor in america. so for him to lay claim to being a job creator when his record in business is shutting businesses down and his record in government is expanding the scope of government and not doing the job when it comes to job creation is going to be really hard for him to prove to the american people that he has the skills that he says he has to create jobs. >> david if that's not bad enough, when they have done an

analysis of his proposals and everyone that's in the race, the only one whose tax proposals have brought down the deficit in what they propose is president obama and ron paul. romney's proposals actually increases the deficit. santorum's even more so and gingrich almost off the scales. not only his past but what he's presently proposing doesn't reduce the debt. >> i think this is the big problem for romney. we can talk about policy proposals, as we should. but i think what drives an election is as much our impressions. and so we have this whole supply side theory, crusade on the right for a couple of decades now. you cut taxes for the rich and everyone gains. that's a theory. didn't work in the bush years. didn't work in the reagan years. we've had people promoting that. like jack kemp, the great

republican congressman from upstate new york who seemed to be able to do that by making a case that would help working americans, get reagan democrats. and it worked politically. but they were able to make that case convince league. now we have a guy who is a 1 percenter. talks like a 1 percenter. has policies that favor the 1 percenters and he wants to sell that as being good for you auto workers when i wasn't for the bailout? there's a gap between policy and who is selling it. that's where he's going to keep tripping over himself time and time again. i don't see how he escapes that in this year where 1% is really not the place to be if you are trying to get the 99% of america to vote for you and to accept your policies as good for them. not just good for you. >> david corn and tad devine, thank you both for your time tonight. >> thanks, al. ahead -- rolling back the clock. the birth control debate goes front and center again.

and it's dividing the republican party. plus -- more signs the economy is getting stronger, but the other side just can't handle it. they're in denial. and franklin graham is apologizing for questioning president obama's faith. so where are the rest of them? you're watching "politics nation" on msnbc. ♪ let me get that door for you... [ man ] i loved my first car... sometimes the door gets stuck... oh sure. ooh! [ man ] ...and then, i didn't. um... [ sighs ] [ man ] so, i got a car i can love a really, really long time.

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welcome back. you can file this one under, i can't believe we're talking about this. but we are. roy blunt, a republican senator from missouri, is attacking women's health under the shroud of religious liberty. the senate is set to vote tomorrow on the blunt amendment. it allows any employer to deny any health care services, birth control and beyond, based on religious or moral conviction. democrats are vowing to stop it. >> once again, we are finding ourselves having to stand up and defend women and families from another republican attack. >> it is dangerous, and it is wrong. >> they can deny for any reason. all they have to say is they have a moral objection. any one of these preventive

health benefits, including contraception, cancer screening, std screening and the rest. this is a dangerous amendment. >> i remember once we had a united states senator who said that hiv was really god's punishment. what if an employer said that and refused coverage for hiv treatment? >> make no mistake. this is politics masquerading as morality. >> republicans are pressing ahead despite widespread opposition. but today, rush limbaugh went too far. turning the conversation ugly. he was talking about the georgetown law student who was denied by republicans from speaking at darrell issa's contraception hearing. here's his take. >> what does it say about the college coed susan fluke who go before a congressional committee and essentially says that she must be paid to have sex.

what does that make her? it makes her a slut, right? makes her a prostitute. she wants to be paid to have sex. >> this is appalling. it's insulting. and it's why we need to keep fighting this radical way of thinking. joining me now is senator barbara boxer, an outspoken supporter of women health rights and morn health rights in general. senator boxer, thanks for joining us. >> always great to be on your show. >> is this blunt amendment going to pass? >> no it will not pass. it will not pass because every day we keep getting more and more opposition. strong opposition. we just received a letter signed by many organizations. the cancer advocates are saying this is terrible. it could deny mammograms. it could deny colorectal

screenings. this blunt amendment not only would deny women access to contraception, okay, it goes beyond that. and it would say that any essential service, any preventive service could be denied by any employer or insurance company. all they have to say is, i object. >> so if i'm an employer, so people understand this, this is not just about women's health care even though clearly you and i support that vehemently. but if i'm an employer and i say, well, i don't want to deal with this patient, this employer of mine that has diabetes and his coverage or her coverage because they did it to themselves. or i don't want to have anything to do with someone that has an std, sexually transmitted disease because it's sinful. i can deny them coverage? >> absolutely. and if you think that prayer is the answer to a childhood cancer

you can deny the child coverage. it's just a loophole that's been driven through health reform. and it started with contraception because they want to go after women first and foremost. but it doesn't stop at contraception. it goes to breast screening to as you said, diabetes prevention and treatment. anything. i mean, supposing, you know, you are an employer and you personally believe that no one should have ever started smoking. and, therefore, you are not going to support smoking cessation programs to be available. and maybe not even treat lung cancer. you could do it and say, i had a moral objection. people should have known that. >> senator boxer, what do you make of these -- this poison atmosphere. like what do you make of these statements today by rush limbaugh? >> rush limbaugh has insulted and hurt every woman in america. 99% of women have used some form

of birth control in her lifetime. so he has now said we're all just terrible human beings. and if i was a woman who listened to rush limbaugh, i would turn off that dial -- i would turn him out of my life because i think people will be disgusted by what he said. truly. >> now let me get back to the blunt amendment because it's also shocking to me. there was a report that mitt romney had spoke to ohio news network. he tweeted after interviewing romney that mitt romney tells him he would not vote for the senate bill which is the blunt amendment which would allow employers to deny coverage for birth control. but then moments later, romney's spokesperson responded by walking that back saying, regarding the blunt amendment, the way the question was asked was confusing. governor romney supports the

blunt bill because he believes in a conscience exemption in health care for religious institutions and people of faith. i mean, this is outrageous to say that you would support a bill that employers can deny based on whatever they want to. health care to their employees and their children has nothing to do with religious exemption. >> can i saw you're so right. mitt romney doesn't really know who he is anymore. the man is lost. he does -- and he wants to lead a nation. he's a lost man. he reacted at first what he really felt was don't interfere with birth control and then he got all nervous. he didn't really know what the blunt amendment did which is the first rule of politics. if you ask me a question and i don't know the answer, after my years of experience i say let me check it out and get back to you. he doesn't even understand it. this has nothing to do with a conscience objection for providers. it has to do with driving a mack

truck through health reform and saying that any employer could deny anybody, any service by simply saying they have a moral conviction against it. >> and there are people in the republican party that agree. senator lisa mar cowsky who is a republican from alaska says, quote, i don't know where we're going with this issue. we've got way too much else to be doing and olympia snowe who is retiring, a republican. she said on msnbc. let me play what senator snowe said. >> it's interesting we're having the whole debate on contraception and, you know, what should constitute coverage. with respect to the blunt amendment, i think it's much broader than i could support. >> broader than she could support. so, i mean, there's got to be a point in this country where we start appealing to sanity rather than just partisan posturing. this, to me is insane. and to attach it to a

transportation bill that's trying to provide jobs to try to slip in this kind of far right theocracy. >> it was a wonderful thing. i mean, my leader harry reid said, barbara if you want to get a bill done, reach out to the other side. i did. senator inhofe and i, who represent very different points of view on most things, came together because we know it's essential we have a strong highway system and transit system and that our bridges aren't falling down. we work together. we get the bill to the floor. three weeks now, reverend. nothing has happened because the right wing of the republican party that has taken over that party. i always say this is not my grandpa's republican party. this is a party that's so far to the right, they are going to fall off the cliff there. they have wasted three weeks

while we have 2.8 million jobs hanging in the balance. and a terribly high unemployment rate for construction workers who want to get back to work. >> senator barbara boxer, keep on fighting. thank you for your time today. >> i will. thanks. >> still ahead, scott walker's paying the price for attacking workers rights. a new poll shows him sinking fast. in that state's critical recall. plus, president obama's moving the economy forward, but republicans are stuck in reverse. you won't believe how they are trying to spin the recovery now.

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we're back with a news flash from wisconsin. governor scott walker is in trouble against just about all his potential opponents in his recall election. a new poll shows democratic challenger kathleen falk leads the governor, 48% to 47%. milwaukee mayor tom barrett, who hasn't entered the race but ran against walker in 2010 would win 49% to 46%. i mean, how unpopular can he get? he's losing the people who aren't even in the race. in fact, democrats are already

comparing him to one of the least popular presidents in history. this week, wisconsin democrats released an ad about a corruption investigation involving some of walker's former aids c aides comparing i watergate. >> walker's aides were charged yesterday. >> police arrested five men in the watergate. >> misconduct in office. >> missing funds. >> felonies. >> high-level campaign, political sabotage. >> the investigation is getting closer to governor walker. >> walker is on thin ice and is starting to crack beneath him. once the recall comes, he may find himself swimming for his political life. with the ability to improve roi through seo all by cob. and you...rent from national. because only national lets you choose any car in the aisle... and go. you can even take a full-size or above, and still pay the mid-size price.

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the recovery is speeding up. now is the time to keep our foot on the gas. >> welcome back to "politics nation." that was president obama yesterday talking to auto workers about the economy. but today we heard a completely different story from willard mitt romney. >> let's talk about jobs for a moment. the president's failed. we're still three years later in an economy that's bumping along the bottom. hopefully you are seeing signs of improvement. not because of him. in spite of him. >> like most other republicans, willard just can't admit the economy is getting better. but the numbers speak for themselves. today we learned the economy is growing even faster than we thought. the gdp was revised upwards to a 3% growth for the end of last year. we've seen 23 straight months of private sector job growth with 3.7 million net jobs added.

and just yesterday, the dow closed at 13,000 points for the first time since the recession began in 2008. now we've still got a long way to go. but these are positive signs. republicans are rung oning out negative talking points so they've turned to an old reliable. gas prices. wlngets it's high gas prices or government regulations or higher debt, the american people are tired of bearing the burden so this president can build an economy in which washington calls all the shots. >> the president says he's for an all of the above energy plan. has anyone seen it? listen. the price of gasoline is driven by two factors. it's driven by supply and by demand. >> supply and demand. really? the truth is oil speculators are responsible for up to 40% of the

spike in oil prices. but republicans are trying to gut regulations that would rein them in. joining me is jerod bernstein, an msnbc contributor. and karen finney, msnbc political analyst and columnist for the hill. thanks to both of you for joining me tonight on the show. >> sure. >> jerod, are republicans just ignoring the evidence about the growing economy? >> yeah. i think so. and they are also kind of scrambling around looking for something to get people upset about. and, of course, as you said, they landed on gas prices. on the supply and demand story if you actually wanted to grade this president on supply and demand for domestic energy you'd have to give him a very high grade. domestic energy production is way up under the president's term. and in fact, in 2011, last year, for the first time in many years in my lifetime, we actually were

net exporters of petroleum products. things like gasoline or heating oil. so as i think you did a segment on this recently where you showed they are more oil rigs up and running than there's ever been. and i think that part of this is so he can, you know, have the kind of street cred he needs to pursue his clean energy. but so they are very much wrong on the facts. and the notion that you heard governor romney saying, you know, okay. it's good but it could be better. i really don't think that's going to resonate with anyone. >> karen, the president addressed this last week about the gop solution to lower gas prices. listen to this. >> they are already dusting off their three-point plan for $2 gas. and i'll save you the suspense. step one is to drill and step two is to drill. and then step three is to keep

drilling. the american people aren't stupid. they know that's not a plan. especially since we're already drilling. that's a bumper sticker. it's not a strategy to solve our energy challenge. >> karen, they are using oil prices but their only recommendation is drill. as jerod just said, the president has raised the level of exporting gas higher than it's been. his energy policies here have improved this country's standing. how are they going to try to use this as an issue? >> you know, rev, when the president was talking about that last week you know what flashed in my head was another goper who said drill, baby, drill. that's all they got. obviously, they are not ones to let the facts get in the way of their rhetoric. so the president was right to, i think, call it out ahead of time because the truth is, again, we know that the speculators are

really playing a major role. i'll tell you what, though. if the republicans were truly sincere on wanting to help bring prices down and restore a little more confidence, they could step demagoguing on israel and iran. how about that? that's certainly not helpful. there's a couple of other things important to mention. let's remember how many times the republicans in congress, whether it's on the house side or senate side have actually stood in the way of the kinds of progress that the president wanted to make on his energy agenda, right? he's had to, again, under the we can't wait, tried to go around them because they have not actually been supportive. today, i thought it was interesting. they put out their jobs agenda. it's 2012 and they've been in control since 2010. finally some ideas for jobs. guess what? most of the ideas are ideas that were either in the president's jobs plan or have been part of democrats plan. so -- >> plans they voted against. >> which they voted against. by the way if they really cared

about jobs, i mean, saying that -- trying to blame in terms of gas and jobs, keystone, the president's opposition on that, if they really cared about that, how come they didn't support some of the infrastructure projects in the jobs bill. the key is we're just going to have to keep hammering back with the truth. >> at the end of the day, i don't know that people, you know you deal so much in punditry and politics. people are really hurting. this is for real. when you look at the fact that in a recent survey, 18.6% of americans are struggling to afford food. i mean food on the table. while the average wall street bonus is $121,150. this is outrageous. and then when you look at this contrast, mitt romney says in his tax cut plan -- this is his plan -- the bottom 20% would

save $78. the top 1% would save $60,030 and the top 0.1%, $264,000. i mean, it is insulting. it's offensive and people are hurting in the midst of all of this posturing back and forth. >> i'm glad you raised those points, reverend, because a lot of these comments that we're talking about an improving economy, the idea that there's really nothing anyone can do about short-term prices at the pump, you can't cut your way out of that in terms of taxes. you can't drill your way out of that. people forget the u.s. is about 10% of the global capacity in oil. no president is going to come along and wave a magic wand. what we are doing, as you heard the president say earlier, is we're on a steadier path of recovery. we're not there yet. the unemployment rate is still way too elevated and those gas prices really pinch people at

the pump. we're not saying they don't. but the president's message is the correct one. instead of really basically harking back to what you just described, which is the supply side trickle down economics that got us into this mess, we need to continue on the path that we've been that's helping the economy move toward a self-sustaining recovery. not there yet but on that track. to switch gears now and go back to the trickle down, big tax cuts at the top, cross your fingers and hope that helps everybody else could be a terrible policy blunder. >> that's my point, karen. i think that it's not about posturing our argument against trickle down. they are arguing against deficit. people are hurting. who feels for the people is who ought to be the one, i think, leads this country. >> that's exactly right. here's the other thing that i think as democrats and progressives we can do. we can push back a little harder on this gop argument. they've created this mythology that somehow if only we did what they wanted us to do, things

would be different. number one, as jerod just said, we did do it their way and that's how we got into this mess. number two, there is no mythological parallel universe where we can say, gee, let's compare. the numbers are moving in the right direction. not as fast as we would like. not to the degree we would like but it's a movement in the right direction. so the question really to people is, we know people are hurting. but we're moving in the right direction. do you want to keep going in this direction with the ideas the president has put out. hey, how about the made in america agenda that democrats put out some time ago. or do you want to go back to these ideas that are basically going to saiy, let's make sure mitt romney can open another offshore account. >> chad bernstein, karen finney, thanks for your time tonight. >> thank you. ahead -- extreme takeover. while the republican leadership is driving moderates away and boosting the chances for democrats.

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yesterday, moderate republican olympia snowe announced she was leaving the senate, crippling gop's hopes of winning a majority in november. snowe says she's retiring because of the hyperpolarized atmosphere of, quote, my way or the highway. this afternoon, she told andrea mitchell the country is at risk. >> it's very, very difficult to resolve major issues. it's dysfunctional and the political paralysis has overtaken the environment to the detriment of the good of this country. the united states senate is predicated and based on the essence of consensus building. that was certainly the vision of our founding fathers. and if we abandon that approach, then we do it at the expense of the country. >> but snowe's shocking announcement seemed to have no impact on john boehner or even mitch mcconnell who walked right

out of the white house meeting on compromise today and immediately slammed democrats. >> i hope that the majority leader is responsible, obviously, for deciding which bills we turn to. we'll turn to bills that can pass and be signed into law. >> joining me now, congressman jim mcdermott, a democrat from washington and a member of the house ways and means committee. and "washington post" political columnist dana milbank who is working on an upcoming column about broken politics in washington. thank you both for being here tonight. >> hi, reverend. >> good to be here. >> congressman, let me start with you. is there any chance republicans will hear the message that senator snowe is trying to deliver? >> i don't think so. we are in a period where it is -- she is absolutely correct. the country is in danger because the political process cannot resolve big issues. we are no longer operating on a

majority basis. the senate is run on the basis of 40 votes. and if you've got 40 votes you can stop anything. any single senator can stop anything, can stop any appointment. it is absolutely impossible to resolve the problems because nobody has got in mind what is in the common good. what is the best for all the people? and as long as people are operating simply on what is powerful for our party, then you are not going to be able to resolve issues. and she's just walking away. and the same sort of thing is happening in the house. all the moderates have gone. when i came here, there were 25 or 30 republicans who were right in the middle. they could go either way. they're all gone. there are none left. >> dana, most americans agree that it is important that politicians compromise. if you look at the polling, americans want compromise.

51% say politicians should compromise. 28% say sticking to beliefs is more important. the american people want reasonable principle compromise. yet it seems like the republicans just don't care. >> well, reverend, you wonder why approval of congress is 10% now. and that's because voters have been very clear about what they'd like people to be done and that's behaving like grown-ups in washington. and it's just not happening. it's not uniquely a republican problem. the moderates have really been purged by both parties by -- it's the fault of a system that makes people play to the most extreme elements in the primaries in their own parties the way the campaigns are financed relies on the most liberal or most conservative groups to get behind them and finance them. it's unclear how you get things fixed. and that's what's so depressing about olympia snowe's announcement. she doesn't see any way to get

this fixed. nobody is talking about anything happening this year. even after the election, whoever controls the senate, they'll not have the 60-plus votes as the congressman is talking about. there's not going to be any way to govern this place. >> congressman, i mean, even some republicans look at former reagan aide bruce bartlett tells jon stewart that republicans have gone, quote, insane. this is bartlett saying this. watch this. >> what is the likelihood that democrats will gain courage and republicans will gain compromise? >> frankly, one of our political parties is insane. we all know which one it is. >> this is, by the way, coming from someone who worked with ronald reagan. >> this is a reagan aide saying this about the republicans. >> well, i would say this,

reverend. most important vote that will occur in this year will be the year -- the day when the senate adopts their rules for the next session. if they don't modify that filibuster rule which mitch mcconnell has used fairly well and they don't take away these holds on it, everything should be brought to a vote. if the president appoints somebody to be a judge, they ought to have their day where they are either voted up or down. and until you change those rules that the senate is operating under, we are paralyzed. we in the senate, we in the house pass things all the time. we send it over to the house, it dies simply because someone either puts a hold on it or the minority leader says i'm going to use a filibuster. if i were harry reid, i would jam those guys against the wall and make them go out there and actually do a filibuster. but this is all done -- it's sort of -- it's make belief

filibusters. they're not real filibusters. i think you're going to have to have that kind of change in the rules or we're done. >> they call it bluffing, dana. even "new york times" columnist david brooks talking about the current state of the republican party says interestingly enough to me, he says, there are mainstream republicans lamenting how the party has grown more and more insular, more and more rigid. the wingers have trashed the party's reputation by swinging from one embarrassing and unelectable option to the next. i mean, conservative columnists are saying they are killing himself politically. >> sure. i mean, david brooks is a bit of an exception because he's always been that sort of reasonable republican. but, if you are looking at what's going on out here, i mean, look what americans are asking for in terms of the economy right now. so the senate is going to have a vote on birth control. you know, the rise of santorum

has been very damaging to the republican brand because a small number of very zealous people within the republican primary electorate are very excited about him but the rest of the country is saying this is just plain crazy. so i think the primary process for the republicans this time has had the effect of making them have a particularly difficult cycle. >> congressman mcdermott, dana milbank, thank you both for your time. >> thank you. it's good to be here. franklin graham is apologizing for questioning president obama's faith. but i'm still waiting on the others. that's next.

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preacher franklin graham has finally apologized for those remarks he made last week here on msnbc questioning president obama's faith. graham's comments were straight

out of the right wing playbook refusing to say that, yes, president obama is in fact, a christian. >> do you believe that president obama is a christian. >> well, i think you have to ask president obama. he has said he's a christian. so i just have to assume that he is. >> so, therefore, by your definition, he's not a christian. >> you have to ask him. i cannot answer that question for anybody. under islamic law, the muslim world sees barack obama as a muslim. as a son of islam. >> today, graham admit heed was wrong. he says, quote, i regret any comments i've ever made which may have cast any doubt on the personal faith of our president. i apologize to him and to any i have offended. his faith has nothing to do with my consideration of him as a candidate. now i appreciate that, graham is setting the record straight. but there are plenty of others on the right playing games on this issue. >> the president says he's a

christian. i take him at his word. >> he says he's a christian. are you argue with that? >> the president says he's a christian, he's a christian. >> i believe the president is a christian. i'll take him at his word. >> but that ignorance about whether he's a muslim doesn't concern you? >> the american people have the right to think what they want to think. i can't -- it's not my job to tell them. >> gentleman it is your job to speak the truth. it's called leadership. when we speak wrong, i have, you apologize. we also need to bring the country together on things that we believe in. that's why we should protect the vote so people can go in the booth, go to the poll and express their opinion without ugliness. that's why we're going to selma this weekend and march every day next week. blacks, whites, republicans, democrats. all of us together. because we need a democracy that we all can express ourselves. we don't need to keep beating each other down. let's stand together and lift each other up. thank you for watchi.