gun rights and wrongs, let's play some "hardball." good evening, i'm michael smerconish in new york in for chris matthews who is in columbia where he'll moderate a panel with president obama tomorrow. and tomorrow, lawyers and guns and money, and the nra is winning the battle over guns in country. when is the last time you heard a debate over gun control? the arguments today are over how far and how fast to expand gun owner rights, and mitt romney towed the line today at the nra calling gun control an assault on freedom.

of course, expanded gun rights may have emboldened george zimmerman to leave his car and pursue trayvon martin. ask yourself this, is it possible for george zimmerman to even get a fair trial? plus, the hilary rosen gaffe reminded us that democrats have a habit of unintentionally insulting stay-at-home moms in election years. but it also distracted us for a day from mitt romney's very real gender problem. let me finish tonight with a battle from the 2008 campaign that's still not finished, barack obama versus bill clinton. we begin with guns. former pennsylvania governor ed rendell is a political analyst

and alec gottlieb is with the second amendment foundation and is joining us from the nra convention in st. louis. gentlemen, speaking at that nra convention, late this afternoon, mitt romney decried what he called the president's assault on basic freedoms but largely avoided diving into the issues of gun control in the second amendment. wasn't until 15 minutes into the speech before he mentioned the right to bear arms. here it is. >> this administration's attack on freedom extends even to rights explicitly guaranteed by the constitution. the right to bear arms is so plainly stated, so unambiguous that liberals have a hard time challenging it directly. instead they've been employing every imaginable ruse and ploy to restrict it. >> mitt romney has supported some gun control measures in the past. as governor he signed a law that made permanent a ban on assault-type rifles, although coupled with measures that some

gun rights groups supported. and he also supported the ban on assault rifle ban and supported the brady gun law. here is what he said. >> my position on guns is the position i have had for a long, long time, and that is position is that i don't line up 100% with the nra. i don't see eye to eye with the nra in every issue. >> and then of course, there was this description by governor romney of his hunting issue. let's watch. >> i'm not a big game hunter, i've made it very clear, i've always been a rodent and rabbit hunter, and small varmints if you will. i began when i was 15 or so, and have hunted those kinds of varmints. since then, more than two times. i also hunted quail in georgia.

so i have -- i is not really big game hunting, however, it is not deer and large animals, but i have hunted a number of times various types of small rodents. >> mr. gottlieb, with that primer, please answer the question of whether governor romney can overcome some of the issues in his past with your group. >> well, i think that from listening to the comments of the nra members who attended the convention he can overcome it two ways. one, he is not hostile to the gun rights and the average gun owner is upset with barack obama and particularly the appointments to the federal courteds, supreme court on down, and as you are aware there is a number of second amendment court cases that have been filed going through the court system, and the gun owners are concerned about who is going to be making those rulings on the federal benches. >> mr. gottlieb, isn't the issue with president obama with the minds of the second amendment advocates what he is going to do and what he is going to do other than what he has done. has he done something thus far

that you believe threatens the second amendment rights? >> well, the main thing of course is the anti-gun judges that he has appointed to the federal courts. but if you look at the record when he was a senator from illinois he was hostile to the gun rights and not exactly supportive of the gun rights and supporting antique firearms in the united states, and the calls of the administration putting out test balloons to reinstitute the so-called clinton administrations ban on semiautomatic firearms. as a result, we know where his head is, we know where his heart is. he has not met with any pro gun owners at all, and we know when the time is right, he will push for his agenda, but right now, with the house of representatives, it is going to make it difficult for him to get any legislation passed. >> and i think that you remember that talk show hosts propelled the ammunition, and he is going to come for the bullets and your guns, and the fact is that the obama administration has not moved on the gun issue.

do you disagree? >> no, i don't. but let me say one thing, quickly, michael. those of us who believe in the second amendment and believe in gun control know that the second amendment like all amendments has the limits. the first amendment clearly spells out the right to free speech, you can't go into the crowded movie theater and cry fire. you are not allowed to do that, because there are limits. there are limits on what is reasonable gun ownership, and that's all we're trying to do. >> why has gun debate dropped off the radar? i'll give you some examples of people who addressed this. in the daily beast, new york mayor michael bloomberg says that to hear the pundits americans are hopelessly divided by guns, but we are not. polls show that nra members support common sense steps to ensure that guns are kept out of the hands 6 of criminals and

also, it is as if to avoid gun control at all costs has become a plank in the democratic party platform. react. >> well, first of all michael bloomberg is -- >> that's a political loser. >> you'll respond in one moment. go ahead, mayor. >> they're not a loser. guys like mr. gottlieb and the nra are effective in spinning and lobbying. take a law i tried to get instituted in pennsylvania. one handgun a month, barring people from buying more than one handgun a month. that would stop the straw purchasers. it would have allowed you to buy 12 handguns a year, 24 if you're married. that's no limitation at all in a practical sense. i couldn't even get it out of committee. everyone is afraid, because the nra has done such a good job of spooking our cowardly legislators. >> mr. gottlieb, the success i think that you've had is with this mindset of you can't -- the slippery slope. you can't give an inch because

if we give anything on any issues it will be the ammunition. then it will be -- >> it's purely bull. >> that's worked. >> unfortunately we've seen that happened not only in the united states but in other countries as well. what the former governor is talking about here, though, is prior restraint. limiting how many guns you can buy, limiting the ammunition you can use, limiting the size of your magazines. granted you can't yell fire in a crowded theater but you can't use the gun to murder someone illegally. the problem is keeping the criminals off the street. >> they keep those magazines out of the hands of the crazy guy like the guy who shot gabby giffords. >> you vetoed stand your ground, aple correct. >> correct. >> it was your successor, tom corbett who signed it into law.

do you think that the trayvon martin case is going to cause a re-examination, a serious re-examination of stand your ground if those states across the country that now have it on their books? >> i hope so. mayor bloomberg has called to are that. it's interesting on the stand your ground legislation. every police group in pennsylvania and the pennsylvania district attorney's association, made up of 50 republican d.a.s and 17 democratic d.a.s all urged me to veto it. why don't we listen to law enforcement, mr. gottlieb? they're telling us that we have to do something to stop gun violence. >> mr. gottlieb? >> it's great to listen to the police but we don't want a police state. we enjoy freedom in america. we're not like other countries run by death stops and dictators. >> i want to return to this issue about what the president is about to do. the president doesn't know if he's going to get a second term. if he were the manchurian

candidate prepared to do evil things wouldn't he do them now while he's in office and not await a potential second term? >> good question. the real battle right now is in the courts. if you take a look at the appointments barack obama has appointed to federal courts you can't find one person who supports gun rights. that's the problem. >> i appreciate ed rendell and mr. gottlieb being here. thank you, men. coming up, the romney campaign caught a break with hilary rosen's slight against stay-at-home moms. ty basic can handle them. in this lab demo, bounty basic is stronger than the leading bargain brand. everyday life. bring it with affordably priced bounty basic. [ male announcer ] we believe in thinking day and night... about your dog's nutrition. like the dual-defense antioxidants in our food that work around the clock...

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welcome back to "hardball" a cnn contributor with no roll smau became a major talking point for the romney team and

conservatives in general this week, hilary rosen kicked up a storm on wednesday night with her comments about ann romney and by the end of thursday, everybody from the president to the vice president to the first lady had responded. and they mostly distanced themselves from rosen's comments, of course, stephen colbert had some fun with the faux outrage from the right. >> full disclosure. i have a personal stake in this issue because i have a mom. my mom. which makes me half mom on my mom's side. and these remarks infuriate me, folks. i have to tell you, folks, this is good. this is good. this story is delicious. put rosen's quote up on the crawl right now. put it up there all the time. that's nice. that's not enough. play it on a loop. >> his wife has actually never worked a day in her life. his wife has actually never worked a day in her life. >> now drop a beat on it. >> his wife has actually never worked a day in her life.

[ cheers and applause ] ♪ >> lost in the firestorm where the deeper issues that many female voters care about. mitt romney still has a lot of grounded to go to make up after the bruising primary that only hurt his image among women. michelle bernard is the president of the bernard center for women, politics and public policy. michelle goldberg is a contributing write for "newsweek" and the daily beast. this issue is so hot that the romney team tried to keep the controversy surrounding hilary rosen's comments going for yet another day. both romneys talked about not surprisingly, the subject of motherhood. listen to what was said. >> i happen to believe that all moms are working moms, and if you have five sons, why your work is never over. >> let me give a shout out to all moms that are working and,

by the way, to all dads that are working. we love all of you. you know, i often think that you're only as a parent, happy as your saddest child. you never, ever stop being a parent. >> what's the issue in all of this. clearly, hilary rosen should have never said that ann romney never worked a day in her life. what's the legitimate issue. >> should mitt romney be elected president of the united states. what public policies is he going to put forth that are going to help america's women, whether they are women that stay at home and work at home raising children or whether they are women out in the work force. those are the most important issues. social security, health care, the supplemental nutrition assist answer program, otherwise known as food stamps, the women, infants and churn program. my personal mantra is all issues

are women's issues. another issue is health care. we seem to be going backward instead of forward. all issues i set forth will be important to women voters, period. >> michelle goldberg, on the heels of that, let me point out some of the economic positions mitt romney has embraced might hurt him with women. bloomberg news point out that the paul ryan budget, for example, has major red flags for a lot of women. here are some examples. two-thirds of adult recipients, female. the plan would cut funding for pell grants. two-thirds of college students who get those, female. it would get funds for medicaid and 70% of medicaid beneficiaries are women. michelle goldberg, that seems to get lost in all of this. people are getting hung up on, has she ever worked a day in her life? of course she has.

>> -- than by the very real threats to their livelihood that a romney presidency would present. that is so much more insulting to women voters that anything hilary rosen said. there's a reason that mitt romney has lost the women's vote in every general election that he's ever run. sometimes very substantially. he was creamed by ted kennedy in 1994. and it's because when women get a look at his economic policies, because social issues weren't really an issue in those earlier races because he was still pro choice, they recoil. >> in this case, michelle bernard, i think the social issues are a factor. and my view is, this is a part and parcel of the brand of the gop at present. >> absolutely. >> a couple things i wrote notes about, the whole vaginal probe in virginia issue, the comments on contraception. he said he wants to defund planned parenthood and overturn

roe versus wade. those are all matters of substance that are going to affect women. >> absolutely. the reason they are so important and he probably even more important today than they were during the 2008 election, is that they deal with issues of personal liberty that nine out of ten women absolutely had every reason to believe were behind us, that were decided many, many years ago and the republican brand, not just mitt romney but the republican brand in general seems to have this nostalgia for a bygone era that many women never ever want to go back to. >> i think a blown opportunity by governor romney, he's facing a 19-point deficit. that's a very real figure in terms of one-on-one matchup with president obama. this is the "washington post" and abc news, latest poll. i think back to what went on and the horrific things he said about a coed from georgetown. governor romney could have

taking on rush. of course, he cowhered in the face of the right wing of the party. >> right. >> so instead of engendering support with females by calling that for what it was, despicable, you know, he hid under the desk. >> yes, let's compare the way that obama handled this recent nonscandal with hilary rosen when he and basically his whole team rushed to disassociate themselves from her rather innocuous comments, although ill-chosen. then look at how he handles this from rush. >> may i interrupt you and play it just to remind everybody and you can analyze it. roll the tape. >> i'll just say it's not the language i would have used. i'm focusing on the issues that i think are significant in the country today. and that's why i'm here talking about jobs in ohio. >> there it is, michelle goldberg. >> yes. right. that's the kind of best he can do is say he wouldn't have

called her a slut. maybe he would have called her something more decarice but equally as insulting. let's remember, the thing that set off this whole uproar that hilary rosen was responding to was that romney said his wife, quote, unquote, reports to him on what women think. he can't even bother to pretend to listen to women who are more than half the electorate. >> thank you for your analysis, michelle bernard and michelle goldberg. have a nice weekend. >> you, too. up next, wouldn't you know it, rick santorum is already talking about 2016. stick around for the "side show." you're watching "hardball." this mio energy is completely crushing my game.

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welcome back to "hardball." now for the "side show." first up, and that was fast, after rick santorum's loss in the primary, some folks were wondering if he was setting his sights on the 2016 race. this was his reaction earlier this month. >> next time? >> yes. >> you haven't talked to my wife, obviously. >> for all intents and purposes next time around, though -- >> you didn't hear what i said. you haven't talked to my wife about next time. the last thing we're thinking about is next time. >> while santorum struck a different tune when asked about 2016 during an interview on fox last night. >> i feel like a young man. hopefully i'll feel like a young man years from now. there are issues i care deeply about that we introduced into the debate. for us to do as well as we did in spite of the overwhelming odds that we faced on a variety of different fronts, i think shows that there's still a lot of people in this country who still believe in the things that made this country great. >> as i said in my commentary

right here last night, if, that's an if, romney loses to president obama this november, it could very well be rick santorum stepping up in four years and saying, i told you so to the republicans who shut him out this time. and also, a nugget on the vp stakes. remember this cringe-worthy debate moment during the bush/gore face-off in 2000? >> it's not only what's your philosophy and position on issues but can you get things done? and i believe i can. >> not a winning move for gore. but get this, bush was ready for it. thanks in part to a guy who's probably on mitt romney's vp short list, ohio senator rob portman. according to a "time" piece, portman portrayed gore during some mock debates with bush, quote, ohio represent touch rob portman noticed in a previous debate gore left his stool and approached bill bradley during a question and answer, seeming to try a little physical intimidation to rattle him. what's that portman says.

portman did the same thing with bush during a prep session. so it was little surprise when gore pulled the same move on governor bush during their final debate. that's "hardball" for you. coming up next, "your business" with j.j. ramberg. economy than the chevy equinox? no, sorry, sir. we don't. oh, well, that's too bad. [ man ] kyle, is that you? [ laughs ] [ man ] still here, kyle. [ male announcer ] visit your local chevy dealer today. right now, very well qualified lessees can get a 2012 equinox ls for around $229 a month. [ male announcer ] want your weeds to hit the road? hit 'em, with roundup extended control. one application kills weeds, and stops new ones for up to four months. roundup extended control.

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