he can afford to buy them all new uniforms, made in massachusetts or any home state he wants. >> how about that? l.l. bean could probably do them, right? >> karen finney, thank you very much for joining me tonight. >> thanks, lawrence. back in the saddle. let's play "hardball." i'm chris matthews in san francisco. let me start with why the republicans might just blow this election. this guy romney's and he's got in real answers to the charge he's killed american jobs, got no answer to the demand to release tax returns. if he's not yelling it ain't my job or wasn't my job, he's out there exposed to his enemies. tonight, back from vacation, i want to know why. what is this guy hiding?

he wanted to be president, why do you think he did something that can't pass the smell test? are his tax returns that yucky he refuses the call even from republicans to let them go? is this the campaign he wants to run? he hides who he is while the nasty right makes six accusations accusations. rush limbaugh saying today that barack obama was indoctrinated is this what it's going to be like until november? romney hiding where his money came from, where he keeps it, while the loony attack within. joining me is howard feinman and david corn. let's talk about this showdown right now. howard, my friend, it's good to be back with you. deeply to hide. at the same time this wolf pack

on the right declares the president of the united states some how not one of us. not an american. system indoctrinated. and michele bachmann going after hillary clinton saying huma her closest aide is how secretly working as a mole for the muslim brotherhood. this is really loony country. your thaugts? >> i agree with you, chris. i think it's got nastier and more personal sooner than i've seen it in other presidential elections. ads, yes, we've had that before. everything from the willie horton ad to the swift boating of 2004. but here i get the sense it's personal involving the personalities and the personal life and times of the two candidates. the obama campaign is focusing relentlessly and without apology

on mitt romney's business career, his wealth, and the story of how he got there. and even though mitt romney demanded an apology the other day from the president for some of the things that the obama campaign has suggested about romney's lack of truthfulness and filling out various forms about his career, the president rejected the call for an apology and said basically to mitt romney put on your big boy pants. but this is the way it is. you have to be an open book. and the way the right is responding is with personal attacks on the life and times of the president of the united states. so that's where we are. it's only july and it's going to get worse from here. >> one side, the business practices of the other side. and the other side is attacking whether the president of the united states is in cahoots with the terrorists. anyway, over the weekend the obama campaign released this

devastating ad about mitt romney using the president's own words with a melody attached. let's watch. oh beautiful spacious skies for amber shades of gray for purple mountains majesty above the fruited plains america america god sent his grace on thee and crown thy good with -- >> and here's the vulnerability, i think, coming back from vacation. mitt romney's problem is he doesn't want to talk about where his money came from but he won't talk about his tax returns. he won't discuss in any way things most put forth including his father. it's not just the democrats with the attacks. a lot of republicans said romney's refusal to do so is an indication there's something there he wants to hide. let's listen to it first, and then you david. >> should release the tax returns tomorrow. it's crazy.

you've got to release six, ten, eight years of back tax returns. >> if something's going to come out, get it out in a hurry. i don't know why romney the day that cain lost in 2008 he was going to run for president again that he didn't get all of this out and tidy up his offshore accounts. >> there's obviously something there. if there wasn't, he would say have at it. there's something that compromises something he said in the past about something. many politicians think i can get away with this. i'm going to say something and i don't have to do it. >> the best thing is to get things out in the open and say i have nothing to hide. i'm going to release my tax returns. >> those are all republicans talking there. today romney showed no signs the attacks were working to change his mind. he's still refusing to show how he made his money, what taxes he paid. let's look.

>> john mccain ran for president and released two years of tax returns. john kerry ran for president and you know his wife who has hundreds of millions of dollars, she never released her tax returns. somehow this wasn't an issue. the obama people keep on wanting more and more and more. more things to pick through, more things for their opposition research to try to make a mountain out of and to distort and be dishonest about. >> there's a cheap shot. he goes after teresa heinz. excuse me, there used to be chivalry. what was this about? why won't he respond and give us some of the tax returns? what's the worst case that he knows but we don't? >> you know, chris, you've missed a wild two weeks. you've been missed by myself and other reporters at "huffington post" and others. there were also reports about his secret funds in bermuda, cayman islands. and so what i think is, people kept saying the conventional wisdom is you get the stuff out, you take a hit, it's better than a slow bleeding wound which is what you've got now.

>> unless it's really bad. unless it's really bad. >> opening up your chest cavity is worse than a slow bleeding wound. and i think just judging from what i've looked at and other people have looked at in the past few weeks, if you put out these tax returns, there's stuff there that's going to be -- i'm not saying illegal, but really hard to explain if not shady. how he got his ira account to go from $450,000 to up to $102 million. there's a lot of stuff that is -- there are contradictions. is the disclosure forms and bain documents. this ask a road map. howard and i could keep a hundred reporters busy from now until election day with these tax returns. he cannot justify -- he cannot reveal romney world and survive politically. >> it seems we all know his tax policy which is give a break to the wealthy of the investment class while he puts the load of lower benefits, less government, higher taxes in effect on people who make less money.

how can he say i'm going to write a new tax policy but i ain't telling you what i've been paying. the thing he wants to focus on. he won't tell you what taxes he's paid. >> i think this is a classic case of your biggest strength being your biggest weakness. and the obama campaign is exploiting it. >> you mean embarrassment of riches. >> literally. >> mitt romney came to the country and said i am a successful businessman. look at how well i've done. this shows i know how the modern economy works. this shows i'm the takeover guy, the sort of turnaround artist who can turn around a bankrupt country of the united states. and that is his strongest calling card, but if he's going to play it, he's got to be responsible for it. and the president of the united states in very personal terms, this is unusual for an incumbent president this early in a campaign to get this far down into it. but i think the president and

his advisers realize that this was the ball game here. and they're going to keep focusing on it without apology until either mitt romney lays the whole thing out for the american public or goes down trying or if you believe the romney people, they still think and i talked to them all the time. they think they can soldier through this from now until october. i think they're crazy. that's four months. i don't think so. >> and, chris, this is the first wave. i mean, there are other things. i did a story about a company that he invested in in china a the took jobs from the u.s. outsourcing that happened in '98 when he was in charge of bain. a lot of the bain deals and side deals that have not come out yet nap the campaign i think knows something about the journalists looking at. this is just the first wave. even if he survives this, think of normandy.

there are more waves of opposition attacks and resources -- >> when i think of normandy, i think of you as a paratrooper in the night before. you can count on rush limbaugh to give the right wing view. today talking about bain, catch this clip of obama saying he boosted the private sector db here's rush maybe at his worst. let's listen. >> i think it can now be said without equivocation -- without equivocation, this man hates this country. he was indoctrinated as a child. his father was a communist. mother was a leftist. sent to prep, ivy league schools where his contempt for the country was reinforced. he moved to chicago. it was the home of the radical left movement. this is what we have. as a president, a radical who despises the country and the way it was founded and the way in which it became great. >> isn't it funny that our

supreme court is dominated by republicans who went to ivy league schools. it isn't like they all came back indoctrinated. your thoughts on what this rush quote means. >> my take on this, chris, is that mitt romney was at one point and to some extent still is an establishment republican. >> yeah. >> and yet he has run a campaign from the very beginning that's been for the most part all attack. it was that way in the primaries. it's that way now. so if you have an establishment republican behaving like an attack dog, you're going to have the rush limbaughs of the world behaving like werwolves. has only begun. it's only begun. they're going to become increasingly hysterical.

>> howard and david, we have to go. but i'm at home with my brothers. thank you, sirs, for joining us tonight. also tonight, why bain matters. why sending american jobs overseas is a killer politically. and why romney needs to show his hands are clean of it if he can. plus republicansant photo i.d. cards for voters but not for their donors. why do they want to keep their sugar daddies in the shadows? and yelling fire in the theater. michele bachmann and her people say the muslim brotherhood has infiltrated our government. she says hillary clinton's aide is one of the agents. i'm going to finish with the nasty campaign to sell a candidate. and here's the secret. they don't love, they don't like, they just want to beat the president they hate. and this is "hardball," the place for politics. [ male announcer ] if you had a dollar for every dollar car insurance companies say they'll save you by switching,

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romney in any lead. everyone of the states i mentioned was in the margin of error. we'll be right back.

welcome back to "hardball." the bain story isn't going to go away and the drum beat for mitt romney to release more of his tax returns. while the romney campaign has these as distractions, it's sticking.

it tells how romney operates. the true charge that he's pushing policies that would benefit the rich at the expense of ordinary americans meshes with the record of earning big profits even when workers suffered. a record he's trying to distance himself from. part of it insisting he had nothing to do with bain's operations after 1999 even though the company continued to list him as ceo michael steele is former chairman of the national republican committee and an msnbc political analyst. and joe kline writes about romney in the article "bane "baineded." full journalistic integrity here. do we know what role he played in outsourcing? >> we don't. and it doesn't matter in the end. what the obama campaign is doing is building this giant box that they're locking mitt romney in. and the lock on top of that box

is his tax returns. in boxing they call this kind of thing a paint job. it's when a fast, really dexterous fighter is fighting against the slow plotting guy and he keeps on jabbing and jabbing him in the face and starts opening up cuts all over the guy's face and he starts bleeding, painting him. that's what's been happening. >> are they painting him into a corner? the metaphor. does he have to release something that he knows will hurt him. his tax returns. >> i suspect he is. chairman steele has been among the republican who is have said he should. this ain't going to go away until he does. >> let me go to that question. let you speak here clearly, michael. what do you make of this? i hear your colleagues on the conservative side of things bill kristol and people like what's his name matt dout, they're all pushing on it was what he clearly doesn't want to do.

tell his story. >> yeah. it's a little bit unnerving to see this kind of back and forth angst over this issue. this is a straightforward proposition. put out five years worth of tax returns or whatever. have a base story and move on. there's so many ways in which you can capture this moment to pivot to talk about this issue in a way that says, look, yeah. i played by the rules and the rules aren't level. they aren't balanced for the average worker. and as president i want to change that. i want to fix this. this is why we need tax reform. that's why we need to bring down our deficit spending and all of these things tying it together. the more you need to sit back and give this highbrow response, the less credible you are.

>> can he credibly make that case? can he say i want a cleaner fairer tax system if i've been exploiting every damn loophole i can find? >> sure. of course he can. he can turn this around in a heart beat. a prominent republican today said he should go elliot ness on wall street. >> let me give you the worst case. i always assume. mooi dal you've been in politics. you know if it is better than it looks they'll tell you. if it is better than it looks. it looks bad, he's hiding something. suppose he's hiding the fact for several years he didn't pay any taxes. suppose he's saying a lot has squirrelled away in swirtser land or in islands somewhere. do you think that's going to be something he's going to be able to defend? >> absolutely. because unless he did it illegally, he played by the rules that everyone else in the country has played by. >> i disagree. >> it's going to be embarrassing at hell. but if he didn't cheat, he isn't a cheater. what is cheating -- what a class warfare is the tax code. >> okay. let me tell you, guys. i just got to beg to disagree. the voter out there that both candidates are looking for is the working class guy that

doesn't have a tax shelter because they live on what they have. the guys saying the plant's going overseas, this is the kind of guy who sits in the front office with a nice suit on and he did it to me. michael, this is the guy they hate. >> all of which is true. >> i don't think people take it -- they personalize it so much they look at romney and say you did this to me. the reality of it is, as we just discovered last week, the uniforms or wonderful olympians are wearing were outsourcing to china. this is part of the global economy everybody wants to talks about. but now we're skittish to where the part is made. you k pick apart your cars and find the parts where they come from that make up your car. put it in the contents of globalization and how markets work. but also like i said before how i've been impacted by playing by the rules. i feel that we need to change

this and make it better. >> a lot of northern united states. that has lost initially new england industry is like shoes lost to the south because they had right to work and didn't have labor unions. now you see all the united states but especially industrial middle getting eaten out, hollowed out by this outsourcing. you ever drive through those towns and see what's up there? the blockbuster. >> you're right. but it's not all outsourcing. let's be clear. this is -- you know, it's not like every job in america was shipped overseas. >> where'd they go? >> well, businesses just close in some cases, chris. the owners can't afford to keep the doors open. because of the economy. because of the inability to get cash and credit to keep the payrolls going. >> chris, here's the big problem that romney has.

you know, he is right. there's creative destruction. but mitt romney is the exemplar of a form of capitalism and the central principle of which was that you borrow money in order to buy assets. and then you reap enormous profits. this is a metaphor for our time. this has been a form of capitalism that has been incredibly destructive to the united states. this private equity, you know, prooit equity capitalism. >> do you agree with that, michael? is. >> i agree there have been sort of capitalism run amok at times and we've seen that. certainly in 2008, 2009. i think where romney has an opportunity as someone who has been on that playing field to come in and talk expertly about it, yes. but to humanize it, to talk about how this whole thing can be turned around to benefit the american worker, to benefit, you know, those small towns. i think it's a real opportunity. and the longer this thing drags out over taxes and bain, the more that opportunity is.

>> here's what makes it worse for romney. that is he hasn't been substantive on anything. if he turned around now and was substantive on breaking up the big five wall street banks which is something we obviously need to do because they're too big to fail. you know, that would be a break in everything else in his campaign. the reason why this stuff sticks is because he hasn't been specific on anything else. >> this is the president -- >> thank you, michael steele and joe kline. up next, dana carr vey takes on the race in the sideshow. >> romney is a little jumpy. i like to set people on fire. what? i mean, i like to fire people. don't provide me services. okay. idide?

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michelle has told me i should not be singing in public all the time. well, happy birthday. what's your name? adam. let's sing happy birthday to adam then. happy birthday to you happy birthday to you happy birthday dear adam happy birthday to you >> i think i worry more about this election than that guy does.

back to "hardball." that was an impromptu serenade from president obama today in cincinnati. now on to the sideshow. dana carvey goes after the election on "the tonight show." >> obama is like a zen master of speaking. romney seems sincere but he's a little jumpy. i like to set people on fire. what? i mean i like to fire people. don't provide me services. that's not a winning thing against obama. because obama, obama has a lot of confidence. and obama knows how to pump. he knows how to let things settle down. and if someone tries to interrupt him, it's no no no. not -- not -- not. bop bop bop. >> same thing in 2008? >> barack obama is so smooth and so smart that he's just like.

mccain is all crunched up. i know how to do this. i can do this. i've been there. i know what it's like. you know? then senator barack obama what do you have to say? people are losing their jobs and people need help. that's all i've got to say. >> well, you should -- on to the cease side next why is this photo getting buzz the past days? he's staring at a tomato. a lot of people are curious why he looks so engaged there. the folks at new york magazine think the president is thinking something like this. guys, check this out. have you ever seen a tomato this beautiful? look at it. i don't think i can eat this honestly. it should be in a museum somewhere. let me know if you can find a museum for it. if not, i'll put it on display in the oval instead of the bust of mlk. seriously, great job on this

tomato. that's a lot of imagination. they've launched a whole slide show of these presidential moments back in 2010. another highlight from the reel, here he is with joe biden at the museum of nature and science. the caption, no joe i have no idea what we're supposed to be looking at. just keep looking. now for the really bizarre. iowa republican randi shannon was running for a senate seat until she sent out a four page letter to supporters saying she was dropping out. that's not the end of it. she now says she's been appointed senator for an alternative government, the so-called as she puts it, republic of the united states of america. that's right. shannon's joined a libertarian group that says they reinhabited the original government in 2010. the group says that's what we now think of as the government. really just quote, united states corporation as they call it. and we have it to blame for things like invasive tsa screenings and even the 14th amendment.

and every amendment after that. by the way the 14th amendment was back in the 1860s. here's the case in the nutshell. quote, if people think it's crazy to want to have a constitutional government back in place, then so be it. so there are people out there who are thinking they've been appointed to some other government besides the one that actually exists. these people on the right are getting zany. so be it. and a programming note tonight. on thursday this week, jeff daniels star of "the newsroom." will be here. my son is also in the cast. there he is. i can't wait to get the fictional cable show host here on a real cable show. that's thursday on "hardball." coming up, mitt romney wants to keep his money secret. now republican fat cats want to keep their contributors secret. you're watching "hardball," the place for politics.

it ain't so dirty, it ain't so angry so they should tell us who they are. paid in taxes in years passed if he paid anything at all.

and where he hides his money in offshore accounts. now republicans are taking the strategy with romney a step further. they want to hide the names of contributors. sheldon white is the sponsor of the disclose act which would require campaign bow donors who give at least 10k to disclose. we talk a lot about this very, i think, controversial proposal that people want to vote and they should all want to vote need to have a photo i.d. card. at the same time we don't want identification of the wealthy people who are influencing this campaign by the tens of millions of dollars. you're smiling. do the republicans see the contrast in the way they look at regular working people and the way they look at rich people when it comes to identifying

them? >> i think they have a lot of trouble with this one. both for the reasons that you mention, chris, and because so many of them for so many years. ten sitting republican senators have been out in favor of transparency before. mitch mcconnell is being critiqued in his hometown newspaper quoting previous editorials he had written in favor of disclosure. they've really tied themselves in a knot. it's not a great spectacle from their point of view. >> i've got to ask this. you're the chief's sponsor. have you went to john mccain, lindsey graham. how did they side from this? it seems to be partisan for them not to support this measure. not all with all to do with their ideals. >> like you i admire senator mccain. he joined me on the brief in the supreme court criticizing citizens united. that was a brave step on his part. in this case, he tells me that there's something in my bill

that favors unions. i don't see it. it's $10,000 across the board. i keep saying tell me what it is and we'll talk about it. no one's been able to show me what it is. >> your bill covers money from unions as well as money from corporate background. >> absolutely. >> let's go to senator mccaskill. we're all big fans of yours in the show. we've seen you as a modern democrat in the midwest that has been fighting for a different kind of politics. right down close to the middle on the liberal side. let me ask you this. why would any republican oppose this bill? >> well, because of what's going on in missouri this year. you know, here's the deal. there has been almost $8 million of secret money against me in this campaign. they began back in october. they started with false claims and lies about me since then. it's simple. this is the part of big money. if they're proud of backing your opponent.

why don't they say so? >> i don't think they are proud. i don't think the republicans want everybody to know who's paying for these ads. i think it would be very unpopular. i think the people of missouri, if they knew who were paying for these ads against me, i think they'd be proud of the enemies i've made. >> do you know who they are? >> i don't know who they are. i've got some good guesses. but i don't know who they are. we're trying to get this thing passed and i think we have to keep the pressure up on this. they say why do you keep bringing this up? because people are upset about it. at claire mccaskill.com/disclose act, sign on to be a cosponsor of the bill. a citizen cosponsor. let's not let these guys buy these elections out from under us. >> the koch brothers, adelson, let's make the worst assumptions. go to the worst case. today the senate minority leader criticized the disclose act

calling it -- what an od thing for a republican to say. swift boating. they're the ones that swift boated. he's calling it nixonian. let's listen. >> this is bizarre. the purpose of this legislation is totally clear. after citizens united, democrats realized they couldn't shut up their critics. so they decided to go after the microphone instead. by trying to scare off the funders. it's currently in full swing. and frankly the american people should not stand for it. >> on meet the press in 2000 he switched on this as well. mcconnell had a different opinion back then. let's listen. >> republicans are in favor of

disclosure. we need to broaden the disclosure to include at least labor unions and tax exempt business associations and trial lawyers so that you include the major political players in america. why would a little disclosure be better than a lot of disclosure? >> our good friend tim looked great there. what do you think of that switcheroo switcheroo? praising full disclosure and here he is opposing that disclosure. >> i know. that's the pickle they're in. as claire has pointed out, it's because the big money is with them. but also as claire pointed out, the public is against them. she's got probably a ton of people on her website i showed on the senate floor. 213,000 petitions. if you go to disclose act.com where nearly 300,000 different signatures of people coming into

register. this is an issue that americans care about. they know very well that their democracy is slipping away from them into the hands of the special interests. >> you know, chris -- and let me throw in there, chris. you remember a time, chris, when people used to carry around a briefcase of cash. >> i'm not that old, but i know about it. i think it was before '74 when they actually put money in the pockets, the raincoats of senators when they'd walk into their offices. but those were the bad old days. yeah. >> that's what we're getting back to here. i mean, it's like we're going back to a time where they don't want everyone to vote without showing five forms of i.d. but they want secret money to buy elections. and there will be a scandal. i don't know if this ugly petri dish we're seeing across this country will pr produce it this year, but if we don't get antiseptic sunshine on the vine of american elections, there is going to be a big scandal and people will go to jail eventually. that's why we have got to get

this disclosure thing done. i hope the republicans come to their senses and they will if the american people put enough pressure on them. >> well said. thank you, both. up next some right wingers used to hunt communists. now they're seeing muslim extremists all over. michele bachmann back in the news. this is "hardball," the place for politics. those little things still get you. for you, life's about her. but your erectile dysfunction - that could be a question of blood flow. cialis tadalafil for daily use helps you be ready anytime the moment's right. you can be more confident in your ability to be ready. and the same cialis is the only daily ed tablet approved to treat ed and symptoms of bph, like needing to go frequently or urgently. tell your doctor about all your medical conditions and medications, and ask if your heart is healthy enough for sexual activity. do not take cialis if you take nitrates for chest pain, as this may cause an unsafe drop in blood pressure. do not drink alcohol in excess with cialis. side effects may include headache, upset stomach, delayed backache or muscle ache. to avoid long-term injury, seek immediate medical help

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the numbers guru at the new york times website has looked at a number of academic studies on the new law. his conclusion, pennsylvania right now is the only swing state that will be affected. and likely to reduce turnout by only 2.4%. still estimates obama's chances of winning the states above 80%. we'll see. i am very concerned about the people who live in row houses not having cars, therefore no driver's licenses and no ability to vote. we'll be back.

we're back. michele bachmann has drummed up a new conspiracy theory. she and other members say the muslim brotherhood has infiltrated the federal government. she has attacked huma abedin, wife of the former new york congressman anthony weiner. still the wife of. she says abedin is tied to the muslim organization through three family members. as for bachmann's source, one of the leading anti-muslim conspiracyists. with me now is brian levin and ron reagan. author of "my father at 100." thank you for joining us. brian, you're an expert at this. to get this straight, her basis for saying huma abedin who works close to hillary clinton, secretary of state, is in the muslim brotherhood is based in something put out by frank gaffney who also says the logo for one of our government agencies is an islamic symbol. what do we make of this kind of

nonsense? >> i could go on and talk about individual facts, but let's look at the forest instead of the trees. this reminds me of joseph welch who in 1948 said this to joseph mccarthy. let's not assassinate this further. senator, you have done enough. have you no sense of decency? i think that is what we have here with mrs. stellar background, she's married to a former new york congressman who is jewish. she's been in vogue, i don't know many people who have her record of achievement and her public persona who are members of the muz slim brotherhood, to be sure, there are radicals in the united states. i just won an investigative award for looking at them, but some of the folks they're pointed to are really being publicly assassinated.

any person with decency has to go on national television and say enough is enough. >> let's get a reminder, in her letter to the state department's deputy inspector general, this is what she singled out, as you point out, long time hillary aide as having ties to the muslim brotherhood. here is what she writes. quote, for example, according to the muslim brotherhood in america, the enemy within, a product of the center for security policy, the department's deputy chief of staff has three family members,d her brother connected to muslim brotherhood operatives and/or organizations. her pz affords her routine access to the secretary and to policy making. ron reagan, this assumption here that anybody would buy this, that somehow she is able to manipulate something as sophist katd sophisticated politically

as hillary clinton, is tooled around by the wylie nature of houma amadean who is working as a lifetime mole is crazy talk, isn't it? >> if crazy were people, michele bachmann would be china, chris. you know, when this topic first came up, i thought, why are we acting as a megaphone for this sort of lunacy. it's dog whistle politics. who knows if michelle botchmic believe bachman believes it. >> this loony right wins if the center left loses. we all want to remember that. >> that's really the point i'm headed towards here. at first, i thought, why are we offering a megaphone. i think we're doing the lord's work in a way f you will, by bringing attention to people like michele bachmann because she is an integral part of the republican brand. while mitt romney, let's say, may not believe there's muslim conspiracy in the state department or u.s. government, some people do. if you vote for mitt romney,

that comes with him. this is part of the republican party today. >> let me go back to brian. you're an expert. i looked at our nbc/wall street journal poll. what stunned me is it's bad enough that 8% of the country says barack obama is a muslim, which he has never been. 40% say they're not willing to say what he is. their sneaky little attack line is i don't believe a word heicize. 40% are chomping on this, enjoying the fact they're creating some mystery about his background, meaning, hint, hint, he really is a foreigner. he really is dangerous, he really is a muslim. it's working. the nuts are winning the argument, brian. >> it is working, and unfortunately, what this kind of stuff does is a marginalizes people of good will who happen to be muslim or on one other the other side of the spectrum. people like allen west and michele bachmann who appoint people as pro american or

anti-american, only if they believe in their particular positions are doing a great disservice to the electric. >> here is allen west, we only have a little time. he's singling out the communists in the government. joe mccarthy reliving. >> i believe there's about 70, 80, to 81 members of the democrat party that are members of the communist party. >> there you have it, brian. how many communists do you figure in the congress? i say zero. this guy has it up to -- he's very precise, this is so joe mccarty, precision, a great tool of the nuts. >> it is, whaand what he's doing is getting the number directly from a progressive democratic a ally iance alliance. i don't agree with most of those folks, but to call people we don't egree with communists or to label people who are muslim as enemies, this does a disservice. i have students who want to go into government service and have them experience this is really a disgrace.

>> it's part of our past that keeps flashing back. thank you so much, brian, and thank you as always, ron. >> let me finish with the republicans trying to sell a candidate they don't love. let's face it, in order to beat a president they hate. you're watching "hardball," the place for politics.

let me finish tonight with this, you know, when you step away from this campaign for a

while and look back at it, you see it clearer. it's pretty stark now. people on the right don't love mitt romney, don't especially like him, are just barely able to defend him like this refusal of his to come clean on his taxes. besides, if the big money boys backing him are so proud, why are they against naming them, giving their names s s out? they wasn't people living in row houses to come up with a photo id, but they with all of their lawyers and accountants, refuse to identify themselves. then there's the zoo they have growling and yelping out there, rush limbaugh yelling that the president was indoctrinated that the president was in his youth, and michele bachmann saying hillary clinton's aide is a member of the muslim brotherhood. the 48% who deny the president's protestantism, who say he's part of some exotic you know what religion. the 58% who confess they're