>> and did i tell you about the green jacket i won in the 1983 masters. >> i thought you won it in congress. were you in congress? >> so if it's way too early, what time is it? >> "morning joe." but right now get ready for fan tab allows -- >> marvelous. the president heads to swing state florida to talk up the buffett rule and what he calls tax fairness. republicans say it's class warfare. his tax talk is now getting personal. specific charges that mitt romney has benefited personally from a broken system. and the campaign even plays the swiss bank account card. but does tax fairness move swing voters? some surprising numbers. and speaking of polling, a new survey. if the president is running against mitt romney, the person, he wins. if the president is running against the economy, he may not. and the international community is on edge following word that a north korean rocket

is go for launch. they say it's all in the name of science. but can their 20-something dictator be believed? richard engel checks in from pyongyang this morning. good morning from washington, it's tuesday, april 10th, 2010. this is "the daily rundown," i'm chuck todd. let's get to my first reads of the morning. president obama will pick a popular fight today in a florida swing, aimed squarely at mitt romney. urging congress to raise taxes on millionaires. the president will speak at florida atlantic university at boca raton. this is a political trip. the official event is book ended by fund raisers in palm beach to the north and hollywood and golden beach to the south. obama's focus on the buffett rule begins a week-long firing on all cylinders push on an economic fairness message who the president started pressing for in kansas four months ago. >> do we want to keep giving tax breaks to the wealthiest

americans, folks like myself or warren buffett or bill gates? people who never need them or ask for them or keep investing in the things that grow our economy and keep us secure. we can't afford to do both. >> a senate vote next week would require anyone whose adjustable growth exceeds $1 million to have a 30% tax rate. the campaign is using the entire apparatus of the democratic party. shortly after launching his campaign twitter account, vipt biden said i'm for the buffett rule, it makes sense. it's not warfare, it's math. he will push in new hampshire thursday. a campaign event. borrowing from the liberal think tank, they're using a 1985 clip of "the gipper" to make their case. >> do you think the millionaire ought to pay more in taxes than the bus driver or less? >> more! >> the message may be going on five months old, but there is a

difference now. obama's campaign is personalizing it. trying to tie what they believe is voter anger about economic inequality to romney the person who has paid less than 15% of his income in taxes. here's obama campaign manager jim messina on a conference call yesterday with reporters. >> well, middle class families who are working to make ends meet, romney is millions of dollars of his personal wealth and investment fund, set up tax havens, like the cayman islands. he also had $3 million marked in a swiss bank account. a swiss bank account. romney is a beneficiary of a broken tax system and he wants to keep it that way. >> the romney campaign fired back in a release, quote, president obama is the first president in history to openly campaign for re-election on a platform of higher taxes. that's not quite true. truman in '48. but obama's campaign also called on romney to release the last 23 years of his tax returns. the number of years he provided to the mccain campaign in 2008 when he was being vetted as a

running mate. the president has only released returns back to 2000, and romney's spokesman told buzz feed, quote, maybe they should adopt as their new slogan barack obama, making the world safe for hypocrisy. but his response begs the question, will romney now release tax returns going back to 2000 to match the president? one intriguing question, is this economic fairness message actually good politics? a poll conducted of swing state independent voters for the centrist group, third way, suggests it's an open question at best. 80% of the swing independents say they would prefer a candidate to focus on increasing opportunity rather than reducing income inequality. 57% said that reducing the budget deficit is a bigger priority than narrowing the income gap. in the survey, a super majority of these swing independents said the system is already basically fair, and by a 3-1 margin, called themselves haves, not have nots. republicans have pointed out that implementing the buffett

we'll would raise $47 billion over a decade, according to the squloint committee on taxation, compared with the $7 trillion in federal budget deficits projected during that period. and republicans are trying to seize on the deficit issue this morning. the rnc staying in a kwoemt, this is all the president has left, to divide a america with a tax that will raise 1/10 of a percent of its spending spree. congressman paul ryan was using it to bring up the specter of entitlement spending. >> i think people think the buffett rule is sort of this budget pixie dust, that if we just do this, we'll fix our fiscal problems. why don't we stop subsidizing the rich? why are we subsidizing warren buffett's health care benefits as much as we do his secretary's? >> one thing on the politics of this buffett rule. keep an eye on the slice of voters of the obama campaign thinks they're targeting with this. it's not just independents overall. they're looking at working-class independent voters in places like ohio, michigan, wisconsin,

the industrial midwest, where some of these income inequality gaps are bigger, rather than the swing voters in, say, florida, north carolina or virginia. rick santorum returns to the t daughter bella had been released from the hospital, sending out this picture. santorum will be back on the stump in pennsylvania, the campaign cancelled the day's first two events to allow the santorum's to settle at home in northern virginia with bella. but santorum will stump in gettysburg this afternoon and then resume his normal schedule. meanwhile, mitt romney is playing hard ball in the key stone state. his campaign made a $1.9 billion ad buy before the primary and they have a very personal attack ad at the ready that has aired, and then has been pulled. here it is. >> rick santorum, 17-point loss. historically embarrassing. rick santorum lost his home county by 30 points. >> he lost across the board with voters, among democrats and independents, women and men, blacks and whites, young and

old, rich and poor. >> we fired him as senator. why promote him to president? >> now the campaign ad was pulled down while santorum was taking care of his daughter, bella. so how quickly will it go back into circulation? asked yesterday on former rival mike huck abay's debut as a talk show host, whether the run race was over, romney was pretty confident. >> it's kind of hard for anybody to get the delegates, to pass me at the stage. so it looks pretty good. but i know there are guys still in there, so we're going to keep on campaigning. >> we'll see if the ad goes back up. we'll be watching. romney may be everything but the republican nominee at this point. we can call him presumptive, whatever you want to call him at this stage. but a new "washington post" abc news poll confirms the conventional wisdom that has been said already about the 2012 race if you believe in that stuff and it's not good news overall for romney. president's job approval has climbed back up to 50% in this

poll. obama leads romney 51-44 among registered voters after a virtual dead heat last month. looking inside the numbers, the president leads on a host of issues, including women's issues, international affairs, health care. worst news for romney, personal qualities. the president has more than a two to one advantage. when the voters were asked who is the friendly and likeable guy, obama leads 64-26. and who is more inspiring. but also can remembering conventional wisdom, the president's greatest vulnerability, the economy. obama only leads romney by three points. and he actually trails romney on handling of the economy by four points, 47-43. and though the president narrowly leads in the tax issue, 45-42, romney's only double digit advantage comes in handling the federal deficit. this poll confirms sort of the two mind-sets the campaigns are on right now. team obama wants to make it about a choice with romney. they think they can win that

campaign. the romney campaign wants to make it a referendum on the economy. and this poll shows why both strategies are potentially effective. all right. so how are the markets looking this morning for the opening bell? cnbc's jackie deangelis is here. what kind of recovery is it going to be? >> good morning, chuck. looking at the futures right now, pointing to a lower open on wall street. after that sell-off yesterday. of course, the big question today is going to be whether earnings season kicks off to a good start. alcoa reporting after the bell. watch for that. some of the other headlines we're following this morning, the u.s. government proposing new rules today for mortgage lenders and servicers, giving homeowners a better accounting of their monthly payments. the regulations would require lenders to give people a standardized statement and warn them of any changes in interest rates or insurance fees. banks would also have to make a good-faith effort to contract -- excuse me, contact borrowers who are at resk of foreclosure and give them options.

also, wireless carriers announcing plans today to create a national databases to help they vent the theft and reactivation of smartphones which often contain sensitive information. so if you lose your device or it's stolen, you can notify your wireless provider and they'll block it from being used again. verizon, at&t, sprint and t-mobile are backing the program, which should be up and running in had six months. and you've probably seen the headlines about facebook buying instagram for $1 billion. the key here, it's a part cash, part stock deal, so instagram employees will get stock ahead of the ipo and could make them richer. finally, chuck, watch shares of apple today. if it the stock reaches roughly 643 bucks, apple's market value will top $600 billion, becoming only the second company to do so. microsoft hit that mark in 1999. it's only taken apple six weeks to go from 500 to $600 billion. back over to you. >> i assume that makes their gdp higher than what most -- the equivalent of gdps of most

countries around the world. jackie, thanks very much. mitt romney trying to change lanes, shifting from the primary lane to the general election road. the road ahead isn't smooth. up next, we'll do a little back seat driving with mike murphy. one-time adviser to the former massachusetts governor. plus, massachusetts democrat elizabeth warren is raising money at record levels. we'll tell you why it's not just a republican opponent who is being left in the dust. and you're looking live at live pictures here. this is air force one, scheduled to take off on this very beautiful day here, any minute now. the president is leaving andrews air force base en route to florida. a couple of campaign events, an official event on the buffett rule. hence the rest of the schedule for the day. you're watching "the daily rundown" only on msnbc. we'll be right back. [ male announcer ] if your kid can recognize your sneeze from a crowd...

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republican candidates all are on the road again today, hitting the trail in pennsylvania and north carolina. but there is an end in sight to let mitt romney change lanes permanently for the general? joining me now is mike murphy, one-time adviser to mitt romney, the massachusetts gubernatorial candidate. let me ask you how -- so romney is up $2 million in pennsylvania. there's going to be some negative against santorum, they already previewed a little bit, pulled it back. it probably comes back, because they would like to end this on april 24th. but what if they don't end it? >> well, one, i think you're seeing a little bit of diplomacy by television spot now. because i think they would rather not prosecute all the way and spend that money -- >> they don't like the idea. >> no.

and they don't -- i'm sure there is internal debate, give rick room, we don't want to end it here, we want to go to texas. it's become the kabuki primary, all this crazy noise in pennsylvania when the reality is, romney is going to be the nominee. so i'm not so sure we will have -- i don't know santorum will stay in all the way. >> that's the sense. everybody seems to think he is a -- i call him a rational actor. newt might not be fully rational and might stay around because he has nothing else to do. but santorum may think he has something to lose? >> i think if rick honestly looks at the thing, the guy who comes in second at the primary tends to have a good shot the next time. so rick's long game is now better than his short game. he's got enough standing to be a player in 2016. the short game, how much noise is he going to make, which essentially helps obama. i think people around him are going to say look, take the win, you came from nowhere to almost. you're a young guy. play the long game. >> so in 2004, you know, some of

us as political reporters or whatever all thought, okay, as soon as kerry got the nomination, we were going to get a six-week break, and then the general election would start. we didn't get that. that is something that there was no luxury -- >> it's over now. >> and the same thing happened in '08 and now we're seeing it again. you're mitt romney, you've got a cash issue, you need to hurry up and raise some money. but you've got an obama campaign that decided no, every day we're going negative. >> the latest new thing in the last couple cycles, what i call the ugly may, actually june. the challenger, romney, has the front-running position, but they're tired, depleted of cash, doing hand to hand combat in the primary. the obama guys with their money on the sideline say, hey, we're going to ruin may and june so he's wounded coming into the convention. they can't really run on that. president obama is very vulnerable. so chicago rules. they're going to go try to take out romney now. the one thing that's good for romney is the super pack world means there is a muscular entity

that could meet the romney onslaught. >> let's talk about this romney issue. you're a -- a republican who is a hollywood guy so i feel like you have an appreciation for this. when you see the snl parody and this gelling and it may be only -- a gelling narrative about mitt romney, the person. >> right. >> how do you -- he's got to fix this to a point. how much? how does he do it? >> it's a problem, because you don't want that to get critical mass. a lot of the key to the campaign for republicans is not to have romney in a develop velcro suit. >> doesn't this poll show it? >> no. that number of who do you like. >> that's right there. if it's about romney -- >> the good news -- >> obama wins. >> right. those polls are feathers in the wind. there's time. but romney has to get laser-beam focus, to get the agenda back on the economic issues and widen those numbers in your poll. they're too close for romney. he needs a bigger lead.

and get mitt the candidate campaign right. i did his campaign for governor. i'm of the school of thought, let mitt be mitt. loosen him up, get out of the dockers into a suit. >> what do you mean, let mitt be mitt? >> quit some of the forced stuff. less teleprompter. >> no jeans? >> just put him in the suit and say i'm the grown-up, i'm the coach, i've run the fast one. you want a therapist, you got one in the white house, he can't deliver anything. let him be the fixed kind of guy he is and don't worry about the gaffes and clunkiness. get out the day-to-day process. and mitt romney when he was governor of massachusetts did extremely well, he was elected by independents. >> your party, though, seems to have fallen into the what i call the new cycle trap. and obama's campaign, they arguably lost more new cycles than they won against mccain. in the last three months. >> i've never been a fan of counting news cycles. >> the romney campaign does seem to want to chase the news cycles. the republican party in general. >> yeah, but part of it is the

press complex we have now is all processed, day to day, we have entire newspapers about it. you've got to shut that off and run a strategic campaign, pick things, do the few important things well. not a tactical campaign, which is your gimmick to run an instant noise news cycle story. they've got to step back. what is the strategy, what is the winning contrast on both the candidate level and on the issue, ideal level with barack obama that will let mitt romney be favorable. and, you know, obama is very vulnerable. you know, these same polls that have them you up now, down a little, it's very soft but romney has to figure out how to prosecute -- >> two moments here, a big moment on your own, three moments, the debates, but then you have your convention speech, but before that, the veep stakes. should you use the veep stakes to reinforcement narratives? >> it's crazy to overplay the veep thing.

nobody votes for vice president. >> it does define you. what. >> it says about you, the choice you make. so you pick somebody who is a grown-up. like mitt romney is. you pick somebody who will do you no harm and is prevetted by the press. no more sneaking up behind the dinosaur and yanking on the tail. >> so more experience. >> so i think marco would be impressive because of florida and our huge republican problem in the latino world. but i look at rob portman and i say ohio, grown-up, budget guy like mitt can do the job. >> bush baggage? >> i don't think so. i don't believe in the super -- you can overthink this stuff. do no harm. get somebody who can be president of the united states -- >> so it's going to be a portman or ryan, in your mind. >> well, there's vetting, there's a lot you have to go through. but if you look at kind of the picture, there is a latino argument. you've got to be careful, because our main problem there is policy. you can't just try to do cosmetics. you buy a bigger problem. but there's that argument, there is florida.

but knowing mitt and what he wants to do as president and it will be a grown-up choice, portman is impressive. >> mike murphy, got to leave it there. they keep telling me we've got to go. you brought some l.a. weather. kind of nice. a show of strength in a secretive place. nbc's richard engel gets rare access inside north korea as the reclusive country prepares to launch a rocket into orbit. they say isn't about their nuke ambitions. we're in pyongyang next. but first, today's trivia question. how many u.s. presidents previously served on the house ways and means committee. i know, only six people will care. tweet me the answer. the first correct answer will get something from us. people with a machine.

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a few other stories, north korean officials say preparations are complete for this week's rocket launch. well, nbc's chief foreign correspondent, richard engel has more from the north korean capital, pyongyang. what's going on there? >> what we're seeing here is a game of brinksmanship. north korea clearly wants something. there are domestic politics involved here as the new leadership of kim jong un is trying to establish itself, assert its authority, but north korea is looking for food aid. north korea had been asking the international community, the united states included, to donate food, and they didn't get much of a response. so now north korea is responding with a show of strength. and this is how it typically plays out. north korea will create some sort of provocation, an event like this rocket launch that is supposed to take place any day now. then the rocket launch or the other provocation is condemned by world leaders, condemned by the united states. then north korea generally will escalate it even further,

potentially with some sort of underground nuclear test that is the speculation coming from south korea. at that stage, there is nor condemnation. the crisis escalates and then north korea tends to back down, return to the negotiating table, and it hopes get what it want in a stronger position. that seems to be the dynamic playing out here, chuck, but it's a sensitive and dangerous game. >> it is. and richard engel will be there all week tracking the story. thanks for your reporting. conservative groups are launching attack ads aimed at long-time indiana senator dick luger. the national rifle association and the club for growth are backing this six-term republican's opponent. state treasurer, richard murdoch. take a listen to these ads criticizing luger's stance on gun rights, tax hikes and government bailouts. >> dick lugar, 35 years in washington of the voted for bailouts, tax hikes, and obama supreme court justices. >> he's become the only

republican candidate in indiana with an f rating from the nra. >> the lugar campaign has been fighting back as much as they can on some of these things, noting, for instance, the republican opponent, mr. murdoch, doesn't sit down with many indiana journalists to talk about the campaign. massachusetts democratic senate can't data, elizabeth warren raised $7 million from january to march. let's compare to the presidential candidates like newt gingrich who raised $2.7 in january and february. gingrich would have had to raise another $4.2 million last month in order to catch up with warren. do we think newt did that? we'll find out in a few days. and moments ago, former president george w. bush wrapped up remarks in new york. his institute is hosting an economic conference focusing on tax policy and economic growth. and here's what he said about the current debate over taxes. >> i wish they weren't called the bush tax cuts.

if they were called somebody other body's tax cuts, they would probably less likely to be raised. >> there you go. and speaking of taxes, we know the tax man cometh. next week. up next, in our deep dive, we've got a rhetorical reality check. who has been raising taxes, who has been cutting taxes? the truth behind the president's populus pitch. we've got it all covered here. you've watching "the daily rundown" only on msnbc. yeah, you -- you know, everything can cost upwards of...[ whistles ] i did not want to think about that. relax, relax, relax. look at me, look at me. three words, dad -- e-trade financial consultants. so i can just go talk to 'em? just walk right in and talk to 'em. dude, those guys are pros. they'll hook you up with a solid plan. they'll -- wa-- wa-- wait a minute. bobby? bobby! what are you doing, man? i'm speed dating! [ male announcer ] get investing advice for your family at e-trade. the sleep number bed. the magic of this bed is that you're sleeping on something that conforms to your individual shape.

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you're going to hear a lot of rhetoric about taxes this week, whenever it's the week before tax day. so in today's "deep dive," he wanted to take a look at who is telling the truth about what's on the way. president obama, few people if anyone have seen their taxes go up, basically if you enjoy tanning booths. most people have seen a tax cut, either through the stimulus, the payroll tax cut holiday or the extension of the bush tax cuts, although he doesn't want to call them that. '01 and '03. the president made the argument

in order to balance out those cuts, the wealthiest americans need to kick in more. enter, the buffett rule. >> simple concept. if you make more than $1 million a year, not that you have $1 million, if you make more than $1 million annually, then you should pay at least the same percentage of your income in taxes as middle class families do. >> truth is, if you're making $1 million from your wages, your tax rate is 35%. but that's for regular income. if, on the other hand, your money comes from investments, you're taxed at a different rate, at about 15%. the president wants to eliminate that distinction forrel millionaires and tax it all at a rate that could be even higher if the bush tax cuts basically don't get extended. the fate of those cuts will go a long way towards determining tax rates going forward. the president would prefer to preserve cuts for the middle class and let the cuts for the rich expire. to $50,000 or higher. that would require another last-minute deal in congress.

mitt romney, for his part, has proposed keeping the bush tax cuts in place, slashing tax rates for people at every income level, and eliminating the capital gains tax for people making under $250,000. now, in february, romney hinted he would probably try to squeeze more money out of the top 1% to pay for it all but didn't say how. >> i want to make sure you understand. for the middle income families, charitable contributions, those things will continue. but for high-income folks, we're going to cut back on that so we make sure the top 1% keeps paying the current share they're paying or more. >> the tax policy center says under romney's plan, only 3 in 4 americans would see taxes go down and revenue to the government would drop, as well. but all of this discussion may be ignoring the elephant in the room. it's a tax burden that is set to explode at the beginning of 2013. some are calling it a tax code

astrophy, a string of tax cuts that would kick in on january 1st, 2013. the tax holiday is scheduled to run out. the estate tax would rise. the child tax credit would shrink and a string of tax provisions related to the president's health care reform law would also kick in. one of them, the tax on indoor tanning has been in place for two years. looking at a worst-case scenario, taxpayers could be on the hook for a half trillion dollars for 2013 alone that would equal more than $3,000 for every american household but that wouldn't be spread evenly. it's a confusing argument. joining me now, jim tanker, economic correspondent for "the national journal." want to separate a little of this rhetoric from reality. a simple question. has anybody's individual taxes gone up under this first term of the obama presidency? >> if we're talking individual tax rates, no. it sure doesn't look like -- again, if you own a tanning

booth, or a tanning salon, yes, you're paying more. but if you're talking about your individual income tax rates, like you and i and most americans who are about to file on their tax forms, no. in fact, most people have seen, as you were noting earlier, taxes go down because of things like the payroll tax cut. >> so their tax bill to the federal government has gone down. for some people, their state property taxes have skyrocketed because you have local and state governments desperate for revenue. >> right. and remember also, the reason taxes haven't gone up, we have borrowed a lot of money. borrowing money now, as milton friedman famously said, is taxing later. so this is eventually someone is going to have to pay, either in reduced government spending or higher taxes for the tax -- the lower taxes we have enjoyed right now. >> one of the things i always like to say, if congress truly were do nothing, we would probably solve this deficit crisis a lot sooner. because when they fix things, they put off basically they're putting off a tax hike.

so in this case, what's happening at the end of this year, you have the expiration of the bush tax cuts. >> right. >> you have the expiration of the payroll tax holiday, the expiration of an increased income tax credit for folks with children living at home. if all of those get eliminated, we go a long way to dealing with this deficit, do we not? >> yeah, deals with the deficit a lot. but also, probably destroys the recovery. if you look at almost any independent projection from like wall street analysts or what not, of what the economy is going to do next year, if you assume that all of those things expire, nothing gets extended, basically congress grid locks in the lame duck session, you are looking at very slow to maybe no growth at all next year, because of the huge wallop that is pulling that consumption out of the economy because of higher taxes. >> all right. looking at the romney plan, one thing is we don't seem to know -- president obama has talked about tax reform, but he put out a budget that just simply such

simply assumed that the upper income tax rates would be put up. but he does talk about -- he doesn't talk specifics. romney puts out a tax plan that, again, doesn't deal with -- he talks about deductions he's going to eliminate, but doesn't deal with specifics. paul ryan did the same thing, and he said, oh, i'm not on the ways and means. i'm not in charge of ways and means, i'll let somebody else deal with that. what taxes are going to go up on people, even if mitt romney is president of the united states? >> of look, if -- look at it a different way. if you really want to raise enough revenue to have -- even a revenue-neutral tax reform, where you lower rates by a lot, there's only a few really big pots of money and tax expenditures. the biggest are the home mortgage interest deduction and health care deduction. >> and both of those are something mitt romney doesn't want to talk about. >> well, nobody does. those are very politically popular tax -- in fact, i was saying for a while, with paul ryan, it's interesting he has the courage to talk about medicare and entitlement programs, but not the courage to

talk about mortgage interest. right? >> or even talk about raising -- raising taxes on anybody. >> right. that's the amazing part of this. yeah, those are -- those are tax -- credits or deductions that economists would say are distortionnary and hurt the economy. and we want to simplify the tax code. but when you have them be so politically popular, it is very, very hard to get rid. >> on november 7th, who is in charge of getting this -- we're going to have this tax code armagedd armageddon. the whole thing is going to get shrunk down into this five-week window right after the election. obviously, what happens in the election will influence the debate about where this is going. is congress capable of this? >> well, i mean, it depends -- this is congress, right? >> there are tax plans all over the place. >> yes. >> ready to go. >> if you assume that this election is going to solve everything, and send a clear message from the american public about what they want done with entitlements, tax rates and whatever, yeah, congress has an easy time. i don't think that's going to

happen. i think you get a mixed message and a big fight and then the question becomes, do they actually sort of come up with some grand compromise to keep this big macro shock from happening, or do they just punt and extend everything by like six more months and the next president and next congress deal with it. >> jim tankersley, i wanted clarity. the problem is there is no clarity. >> if there is no clarity, if there was some i would have brought it to you. gender gap. why the most dramatic change might surprise you. a political panel joins me next. but first, the white house soup of the day. loaded potato. is this kosher for passover in you can't put bacon in in this week. actually, any week. it's kosher for any week. you're watching "the daily rundown" only on msnbc. this is an rc robotic claw. my high school science teacher made me what i am today. our science teacher helped us build it. ♪

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in 1947, when the brooklyn dodgers announced they purchased jackie robinson's contract from the montreal royals, five days later, robinson and his debut broke major league baseball's color barrier. perhaps the most famous day in baseball history. democratic forces keep pushing a specific assault on the republican presidential candidates. namely that the republicans are engaged in a proverbial, quote, war on women. but is it sticking? in the latest washington post abc news poll, look at this match-up among woman voters supporting president obama 57% to mitt romney's 38%. a double-digit gap. my panel today, david hawkins, former obama white house deputy communications director and ramesh for bloomberg view. the gender gap. you believe alive and well. but is it actually that new? i want to read you something

here from stu rothenberg who said romney can't win the white house. it's equally true that romney can't defeat obama if the republican carries men by only three points as he does in gallup's most recent national poll or a single point as in the most recent swing state poll. he went through this and noted there has been a gender gap for over a decade now. >> in the last poll, in the "usa today" poll, barack obama was still winning by almost 30 points among women. that's significant. but beyond that, contraception is the tip of the iceberg. there are a lot of issues we'll be talking about during this campaign, including access to affordable health care, paying for early childhood education, providing assistance to, you know, children who are going to college. >> so your goal is to keep doing this. >> it's not about creating a wedge, chuck. every election is a choice. and this choice for women is president obama, who has done a lot to fight for not only their

rights, but to help fight for issues they care about, and mitt romney who just doesn't seem to get it. so -- >> david, let me ask you this. what on this -- this poll, to go back to what stu was writing about, it's this -- he is sitting there going, wait a minute, the news that is staring me in the face is romney has got a man problem. >> he's got a big man problem. >> a bigger male problem. >> yeah, it's interesting. i'm trying to square that with the likability numbers, this 20 -- >> 40 -- >> 2 to 1 on likability, it seems like hes is not the typical american male, doesn't understand who he is or what he is about either. >> that's where you think -- you think that's where this is -- >> it seems to me he's got to do a better job on that one than maybe with women. >> when it comes to -- you're mitt romney. what do you got to fix first? you've got -- you heard mike murphy talking. you have this hispanic problem, that's clearly a problem in the western swing states. you do have a gender gap problem. is there a liveable form of the gap? at what point is a survivable form of the gender gap? you have the likability problem.

so what do you fix first? >> i think what you don't do is obsess about the size of the gender gap. the problem is the overall level that romney is at in the polls. and i take that to be the implicit message of stu rothenberg in that column. john kerry wonwomen in 2004. you're always going to do better among women than men as a democrat. the problem isn't the size of the gap. the problem is how he is doing overall. i think a large part of this is simply that he's just been through a bruising, ugly primary, where there have been charges and counter charges where they haven't been targeting obama so much as as each other and there has been a lot of negative campaigning. you take all of that out of the equation and start focusing more on the general election going forward. i think some of those numbers are going to change. and if the obama folks are taking comfort from these polls, so much the better. >> i want to ask you about that, jen. there was a yesterday buzz feed story, and it talked about a cocky obama campaign. how concerned are you, axelrod

wouldn't call it cocky. he said there is a complacency among donors. how concerned are you? >> i think anybody who is close to the president is concerned. because this is a long time we have to go before november. and it's going to be a very tough fight. it's going to be a hard-fought fight. and you saw jim messina saying this is going to be tight, we need every dollar, every volunteer. i think that's the message you're going to be hearing from the campaign. because they're well aware this is going to be a close election november. >> david, watching this, the romney campaign try to get into general election mode and basically play catch-up. and there is much to obama's campaign that feels like bush in '04. and it made murphy and i wonder, when was the last time where the better campaign apparatus lost the election? >> oh, wow. >> and he went back to ford. he basically said that's the last time where the better apparatus, campaign apparatus, lost the election. >> i'll agree with that.

you wouldn't say gore. >> -- this is all on tactical. >> just on the tactics. yes, you would say jerry ford and jimmy carter. >> that's the big challenge for mitt romney. >> although, when you look like you are smarter -- >> you think some of that gets rewritten? >> everything looks better. all your little mistakes become huge gaffes when you're having a barred time in politics. >> do you buy that? >> look, i think that the thing that's going for obama, beyond the messaging, which, of course, i am strongly supportive of, is the fact that they have the best organization on the ground. and, you know, nobody has really looked closely at what romney has gone state to state, where he is targeting. i'm sure we will the next couple months. but the ground operation, the investment, which happened in 2008 will be the same case in 2012. and that's the heart and soul of the organization. >> all right, stick around. trivia time. we asked how many u.s. presidents previously served on the house ways and means committee. it was a total capitol hill geek question. the answer was eight. and the most recent was george h.w. bush.

former house member. that's not all. a vice president's 21 speakers of the house and 4 justices of the supreme court have served on america's tax-writing committee. we'll be right back. you're watching "the daily rundown" only on msnbc. geeking out. pull on those gardening gloves. grab the nearest spade. and let's see how colorful an afternoon can be. with certified advise to help us expand our palette... ...and prices that give us more spring per dollar... ...we can mix the right soil with the right ideas. and bring even more color to any garden. more saving. more doing. that's the power of the home depot lay down a new look, with earthgro mulch, now three bags for just $10.

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>> exactly. >> shameless plug time. jen, i'll start with you. >> well, thursday and friday the export bank has their annual conference. president clinton, rahm emanuel is coming back. there will be a big conversation about increasing exports. should a good one. >> there you go. david. >> i'm going to talk about what my friends at roll cal have done talking about eric cantor. >> i think "the new york times"

mentioned the name "roll call" in their story, did they not? how about that when they have to do that. it's a great story. i want to do it more this week. >> bloomberg view, i've got a column on the hole in the president's budget strategy and what he could be up to. >> thank you all. that's it for this edition. we'll see you right back here tomorrow. coming up next, my friend chris jansing. ♪ i can go anywhere ♪ i can go anywhere today ♪ la la la la la la la [ male announcer ] dow solutions help millions of people by helping to make gluten free bread that doesn't taste gluten free. together, the elements of science and the human element can solve anything. solutionism. the new optimism.

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bobby? bobby! what are you doing man? i'm speed dating! [ male announcer ] get investing advice for your family at e-trade. good morning, i'm chris jansing. and this morning there is good news and bad news for president obama. a new poll shows he has a double-digit lead over mitt romney when it comes to likability, women's issues and protecting the middle class. but where he is lagging, the economy. he is in a virtual tie with romney over who's better at creating jobs and losing to mitt romney had it comes to his handling of the economy. now, the president is kicking off a campaign to shore up that part of his argument today. right now he's heading to florida. and he'll talk