playing politics when we all ought to put aside our differences to preserve the lives of our babies. children need to be able to grow up and not fear watching basketball games in playgrounds. thanks for watching. i'm al sharpton. "hardball" starts right now. fury on the right. let's play "hardball." good evening. i'm chris matthews in washington. let me start with this. huey long once said -- will call anti-fascism. what do we call this hard right in the country? not conservatives. they're the ones getting hit by

the hard rightward swing in politics. last night in texas a cheered on hero of the right beat governor perry's candidate and can't be stopped. suddenly conservatism isn't right. you've got to be on the fringe that believe same-sex marriage is the work of the devil. and another neocon race towards armageddon. what happened to the party of lincoln? of ike? of reagan who put his whole heart into eliminating nuclear weapons. who thought the key of politics was tough negotiation across the aisle. not this crazed gang of the right who want nothing more than for government to fail so they can climb up to the capital dome, pound their chests and lead the charge for the victory over the remaining democratic opposition. to help me, john hileman and washington post's rising star

malika henderson. went from 2% in early polling to trouncing texas lieutenant governor david dewhurst last night by 13 points in the race to take on a democrat for the u.s. senate seat. and it was a victory for the right wing against whatever's left of the republican establishment. sarah palin took to the race to cheer on her winning candidate. let's watch. >> it's a victory for tea party patriots who want to get our country back on the right track and defend our republic. the tea party patriots who came from all over the country recognizing that ted cruz is the man to not just embrace status quo in washington but will engage in the sudden and relentless reform of our centralized government trying to shrink that government and allow more states rights and more individual rights and opportunities. they recognized ted cruz was the man. >> republicans across the country have been called not

right wing enough have fallen victims to the tea party. here are just a few examples. bob inglis of south carolina. senator mike castle fell in delaware. senator bob bennett was taken down in utah. senator dick lugar in indiana just a few months ago. and of course yesterday's loss jed by david dewhurst in texas. and then there were two who went running for the tea party before they suffered losses from challengers. longtime pennsylvania senator arlen specter who went to the democratic party. and charlie crist who turned independent. there you have it. i want to start with john hileman. you talk about a game change. i'm watching people with the language of save our republic. the language almost sounds like seven days in may. like a military coo. this is different than just conservative. >> yes. i like that sound effect, the dropping in the water thing. you think about the irony. if you had said four or five

years ago, even two years ago that the endorsed blessed candidate of rick perry the governor of texas who is as right as you can imagine in american politics would be dismissed -- >> out flanked on the right. >> too liberal by a primary -- gop electorate primary, people would have thought you were crazy. if you have a candidate who's not actually certifiable and as long as they have a little bit, enough money, the candidate who's the furthest to the right wins. always. it's now a golden rule. >> you cover these. people like john mccain go down, basically, what's his name hayworth, they will pretend they're one of them or chuck grassley in iowa are going so far right to hope they're not picked off next time. >> you had hayworth. i think there's advertised for something new and fresh in the

way that obama represented something new and something fresh in 2008. and i also think there is a sense among americans that they want a counterweight to obama. they see an obama a big spending liberal. they want somebody who's equally on the far right. that's why -- >> we watched the selection and you guys cover this every day like we are here. you watched romney who is the spear carrier, the champion of this right leaning republican party. and we're hearing from people from freedom works, they're all -- i saw a few minutes ago before on air they're making sure romney does what he's told. basically you have a well trained, you know, canine kind of performance here by romney. he has to do what this right wing shift is demanding of him. >> well, yes. in order for romney to win in november, he's got to -- he must drive conservative turnaround. he's got to have drive on the republican base. >> is this invasion of the body

snatchers? >> i think one of the great questions about romney and i think he's run much further -- he governed further to the left in massachusetts than he is. that's part of the problem. there's no -- >> how do you know he ain't going to stay stuck on the right? >> i think the bigger issue, the question that rises is whether because he seems kind of uncertain and coreless, we don't know he has firm beliefs about a lot of things is his policy agenda, if you want to be fearful of him his policies will be driven in how you're suggesting. by a right wing republican party in congress. >> you're learning this. politicians make these campaign promises. i'm going to be 100% against taxes. i'm going to be with the religious right. i'm with you. they're afraid to switch once they get in. they saw what happened to george bush the first. he switched and it kill himd. >> that's right. flip-flopping on taxes. but i think romney is in some

ways running as a vague candidate. because he knows that if he is tied too close -- >> if you're taking notes, the right wing is. >> he knows that swing voters see some daylight between him and the republican party. >> that's the illusion. i'm not sure. but let's look at this. here's ted cruz. he found support. he just won the texas primary for the united states senate. he got some support from sarah palin, the awful glenn beck, the separate rick santorum. but also with power and well financed groups like the club for growth. here's an ad they put out this year attacking the opponent david dewhurst, the candidate of rick perry. here's the charge against him. wait for this. it's a dirty word. they said he's a moderate. >> the dallas morning news says dewhurst has served as a moderate republican. >> dewhurst is considered a moderate. >> a moderate at heart says the

texas observer. >> and the wall street journal says dewhurst supported an income tax for texas. >> moderate tax raising david dewhurst, wrong for texas. >> moderate is a curse word. it's unbelievable. >> that's worse than the four-letter word. it's an eight-letter word. four-letter word times two. and again on the policies, they're not far apart. cruz is only mostly stylistic to the right. the interesting thing about cruz is that he does combine this very, very far right, very purist ideological -- he's a law school graduate. and he's hispanic which is hugely important. >> you answer that question. i don't know if either of you know the question. do mexican-americans who are big in this country, they're all over the place. they're a huge part of the immigrant population in this country now and most of them

vote. you have the cubans down in florida. you have puerto ricans mainly in new york and florida. mexican-americans are somewhat split but two to run roughly democrat. they're in play. will the mexican-americans who are in play, will they vote for a guy because he's from a spanish background? >> i think in texas, for instance, it's 75% of those latinos, 30% 40% are democrats. i don't think there's necessarily going to be a transfer of hispanic love. >> they may because he has a shpz name like cruz. >> i don't think so. >> they're still playing with rubio in their heads. >> part of the reason rubio said he would not appeal to hispanic voters. you know, you look at the other big news in that front this week is the choice of julian cruz the mayor of san antonio b who's going to -- castro, i meant

castro. >> i wouldn't know unless somebody just told me. >> i met the guy. he's incredibly -- >> let's take a look at this. >> could be the hispanic obama. >> here's what i want to look at. is this hard right shift, is it going to hurt the party. this is polling right now. look at the republican party now. 34% positive rating. that's 1/3 of the country saying they're good. on the democratic side it's a pick 40/40 positive/negative. that's not great. nobody's in love with anybody here. what do you think of republican -- is this right wing lurch with palin calling for everything. is this welcoacky stuff hurting brand? >> the institution of congress is in a bad state because of the

public opinion -- the congressional party sucks. >> you see obama trying to tie romney to boehner to ryan. >> what do they get paid for on the hill? who don't really want to legislate and just sit there. do you really make 170 a year to say no all day? >> it's a good gig if you can get it. >> thank you. i think of this of this on broadway. a good gig if you can get it. coming up, polls in three swing states seeming to swinging right now to president obama's election. could it be bain and romney's silence on the tax returns is finally hurting him where it matters most? in the states that have cob carried. and playing chicken ahead of the chick-fil-a claim. the left is boycotting the right in celebrating this whole question. is this good for anybody this fight? we'll debate that issue.

dick cheney by the way says sarah palin was a mistake. palin says cheney has been influenced by -- she's an original -- the lame stream media. by the way the lame stream media was influenced by cheney in the last war we got into. a food fight now between two republicans whose best days are behind them. finally up in the air. which mayor of one of the world's greatest cities got himself stuck in a zip line. hint, there will be no "lockuol medals for this event. this is "hardball," the place for politics. then there was a moment. when i decided to find a way to keep going. go for olympic gold and go to college too. [ male announcer ] every day we help students earn their bachelor's or master's degree for tomorrow's careers. this is your moment. let nothing stand in your way. devry university, proud to support the education of our u.s. olympic team.

nah. [ dennis' voice ] i bet he's got an allstate agent. they can save you up to 30% more by bundling your policies. well his dog's stupid. [ dennis' voice ] poodles are one of the world's smartest breeds. are you in good hands? that's good morning, veggie style. hmmm. for half the calories plus veggie nutrition. could've had a v8. so where's president obama the strongest right now? according to gal lup 13 states give him a high rate. followed by his home state of hawaii 63%. with rhode island vermont and new york rounding it in the top five. as for the states where he's least popular. utah takes the top spot at 26%.

and that's where president obama has his lowest approval in the country. and wyoming next then alaska. most of those states are barely populated. we'll be right back. split to . it splits in to two smaller, sleeker packs that fit almost anywhere so you can take them everywhere. dentyne split to fit. practice safe breath. the u.s. hadn't won gold in over 100 years. but thanks to them... and her... and especially this guy, all those years were just a prologue to this. ♪ it's amazing how far you can go with a little help along the way. td ameritrade. proud sponsor of the 2012 u.s. olympic team.

back to "hardball." for mitt romney the last week has been full of troubles at home and abroad of course. he returned to the united states just yesterday after a trip overshadowed by his series of embarrassing campaign gaffes. here's the news he woke up to this morning. signs of trouble for him in this race. a new poll from "the new york times" and quinnipiac. some say that state could no longer be called a tossup.ot ju the o there debbie wazerman shultz and

eugene robinson. congresswoman, i want to talk you about this race. it's tricky and bumpy. i read numbers here every night and i wonder if there's a continuing theory to them. your job is to win for the party. now here's the question. are these numbers indicative of where this election's headed or are they short-term? >> look, it's still -- you know, just the beginning of august. so we have 97 days until the election. so i know the obama campaign certainly isn't counting their chickens or ready to throw the victory party. but i think those numbers in the battle ground states are reflective of two things. one is that we are running a very effective significant grass roots campaign. and i think the numbers are also reflective of the fact president obama has laid out one vision

and one path. and mitt romney and this is what i think is starting to sink in and why the battle ground states numbers are showing the way they are. look at the report that came out today the nonpartisan tax center came out with the report showing that romney's tax plan would cost the middle class family another $2,000 in additional taxes. and that's because they're not going to be able to take a mortgage interest deduction. they would not be able to get the credit on their health care premiums any longer or charitable donations. the average millionaire in his plan would actually get an $87,000 tax break. i think that's starting to sink in. >> instead of complaining about the rich being rich, you're complaining about how it makes the poorer poor. let me go to gene robinson on this. the topic that would lose for obama and win for romney is the economy. the numbers we got show he

hasn't closed a deal with the voters. in ohio obama's up by a point. and in pennsylvania the president actually leads. so given the kind of frustrating economy that isn't booming, the stock market is, but unemployment is still in the low eights. looks like he could win this thing on the economy if it happens. >> yeah. you extrapolate, you could say, if it drops below eight, maybe the election wouldn't be that close. but what i think these numbers are telling us are not just that romney's economic message hasn't penetrated, but that the obama campaign's message which has been to define mitt romney as this unattractive, selfish, rich guy. >> what hurts that he's a selfish rich guy or he's secretive about the tax returns? >> it's all part of a piece.

>> i always argue if it's better than it looks they'll tell you. any politician left right or center, if their pr is bad but they got a better truth out there, they'll tell you the truth. romney's hanging fire on this damn thing. everybody knows he's hiding something. if he's hiding one year of not paying taxes, that's one thing. how bad does it have to sting him for him not to show? >> it's got to be pretty bad. to not release your tax returns when you're being pounded by the working family that believes rightfully so if you're running for president of the united states, you should release your tax returns. one year of tax returns for a presidential candidate isn't enough because, you know, it might just be for show. he released 12 years. it's got to be pretty bad. and we've gotten a glimpse. we know he has a swiss bank

account. why does he have one? most american businessmen don't unless they're trying to avoid taxes in the united states. >> i love the way you get that in, madam chairman. >> well. >> i love the way you put it in there. >> we don't know. >> anyway, romney campaign is out with a new web ad. here's one you'll love knocking president obama on a topic that you might find surprising. the president's auto bailout. which is killing romney in industrial states. but for some reason he's returning to the scene of the crime, romney is. take a look. >> grew up here started 1972 selling cars. >> in 2009 under the president's bailout of motors, ohio dealerships were forced to close. >> i received a letter. they were suspended my credit line. we had 3700 employees out of work. my wife and i were the last ones

there. it was like the dream we worked for was gone. >> according to the treasury department the bailout created 115,000 jobs. according to treasury. regardless, the ad is only the latest in a very convoluted message of ads from romney over the years on the auto bailout. in 2008 he wrote an editorial under the headline let detroit go bankrupt. he wrote then if general motors, ford, and chrysler get the bailout they asked for yesterday, you can kiss the american automotive industry good-bye. it won't go overnight, but its demise will be virtually guaranteed. that's future telling there. that was wrong of course. and earlier this year he had a different response. he took credit for the auto bailout. let's watch him this time. >> my own view was that the auto companies needed to go through bankruptcy before government help. and frankly that's finally what the president did. i pushed the idea of a managed

bankruptcy and finally when that was done and help was given, the companies got back on their feet. so i'll take a lot of credit for the fact that this industry's come back. >> can you translate that into english? >> no. it's not true. it's not true that the president did what he said he'd do. he wrote, he didn't just say. he wrote let detroit go bankrupt. the president did not. the president invested our money in general motors and it paid off. it saved the auto industry. we're going to make money on the deal. it's -- look, if i were mitt romney's campaign, i would never utter the words auto bailout again. >> you're so right. this is worth arguing about. it's not just parties scoring by one or the other. the democratic party believes the industrial policy. when you can do something to help the market do the right thing, you try to do something actively. you don't sit back and believe in laissez-faire. let the chips fall. romney is a let the chips fall guy. doing that would have meant the

loss of the auto industry. >> letting the chips fall also known as just leaving people in the cold. that web ad, let's take a closer look at it. it doesn't pass the straight face test on any level. it focuses on a dealership in ohio. there are 2200 more jobs in auto dealerships in ohio than there were when president obama took office. so to suggest the auto bailout caused the demise of auto dealerships is wrong. we're talking about a state where one in eight jobs is associated with the auto industry. in 80 of 88 counties, there is an automobile facility. an automobile-related facility. inkocounties in ohio. it's because barack obama had the courage to rescue the automobile industry and that's why they've had a resurgence in

the economy. they've got a long way to go like the rest of the country. but if left to mitt romney, we would have lost 1.4 million jobs. many of which would have been in ohio. ohio's economy would have been decimated. those are the facts. >> it's great to have you. see you in charlotte pretty soon. it's coming on. thank you. chairwoman of the democratic party and eugene robinson. she's got a convention coming up. up next, the birthers won't quit. wait until you heard steve king dismissed the evidence that president obama was born here. these people are nuts. nuts. this is "hardball," the place for politics. while some fiber ads use super models,

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right now. when i'm watching, you know, when people run track, you know, i understand that i know how to run. they're just much faster. these gymnastics folks, i don't understand. how do you not bust your head every time you're on that little balance beam? i couldn't walk across that balance beam. >> that's president obama giving a shoutout to the u.s. olympic team at an event in ohio today. the president also made some calls to u.s. athletes like michael phelps the great swimmer and the women's gymnastics team to congratulate them on their wins. as for stephen colbert he can't get enough of dressage. mitt romney's family horse rafalca is competing in dressage in london. here's colbert relishing all things rafalca. >> mitt isn't the only romney wowing them on the international

stage this week. so is rafalca, the romney family horse. who is at the london olympics competing in dressage. the sport of the summer for those who use summer as a verb. rafalca is poised not only to take the gold, she could have a major impact on the u.s. presidential election. there will be no v.p. announcement until after rafalca is done competing. dressage is full of normal folk like prince abdullah al saud of saudi arabia and sara phillips granddaughter of queen elizabeelizabeth ii. >> no v.p. announcement will be made until ann romney returns from london after rafalca's dressage events are completed. also last week london's mayor boris johnson who looks

like me made headlines after talking about romney saying london may not be ready for the games. there he is above the crowd. he was left hanging before reaching the other side. >> can you get me a rope? get me a rope. get me a ladder. >> his crowd wasn't fully prepared. johnson was eventually pulled to safer ground. later on he reflected on the experience. >> i highly recommend it. i wouldn't want to be up there all afternoon, but i think loads of people are going to enjoy it. it was wonderful. i thoroughly recommend it. >> great looking guy. brushing it off like a pro. next, could it be another birther theory. apparently so. steve king participated in a town hall meeting last week and

one starting with the birther nonsense. at first it sounded as if he was finally putting the issue to rest. >> we went down into the library of congress and we found the microfish there of two newspapers in hawaii. only two published the birth of barack obama. it would have been hard to fraudulently file the birth notice of barack obama being born in hawaii and get that into our libraries. >> so far so good. then he kept talking. that doesn't mean already other announcements how they announced that from kenya. the list goes on. >> insanity there. so her young mother telegrammed her birth announcement to hawaii just on the off chance he'll make a bid for the presidency some day. the name barack hussein obama being the perfect name for a presidential candidate.

he realized through his answer he better not disappoint those crazy birthers whose votes he's counting on. jeez. what a country this has become. up next a game of chicken. the ceo of chick-fil-a you're watching "hardball," the place for politics.

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hey there. i'm veronica de la cruz and here's what's happening. evacuated earlier due to a bomb threat. no devices were found. more than half of all u.s. counties are classified as disaster areas because of the drought. corn and soybean crops have been severely effected. and stocks left unchanged. the dow fell 32 closing below

13,000. and the nasdaq lower by 19. now back to "hardball." welcome back to "hardball." chicken sandwiches and waffle fries might seem like an unlikely set of controversy. but the ceo said he was guilty as charged when it came to supporting a traditional family. dan kathy told the baptist press quote, we are very much supportive of the family, the biblical definition of the family unit. we're a family-owned business, a family-led business and are married to our first wives. we give god thanks for that. we know that it might not be popular with everyone, but thank the lord we live in a country where we can share our values

and operate on biblical principles. supporters of gay rights have called for bans, boycotts, and protests where conservatives like mike huckabee rally behind the chain and called today chick-fil-a appreciation daed. with me now joe moreno and art cooper who leads up gay republican who is are very important committed business people as well. thank you for joining as always. you can smile. thank you for being with me. >> thank you. >> i don't know about you, alderman. i don't know about you. are you used privilege to decide who does business in your district? i mean, that's a legal action by you. do you think that's appropriate when you don't agree with somebody's politics or sexual politics? >> absolutely not and that's not what i'm doing. it's not what a ceo says it's whether it translates into their policies. i've been working with them for

months trying to describe if they have policies. until their facebook page went up, i didn't have clarity. that posted helped in moving forward. dan kathy also was asked if he would hire a gay individual. he paused for a long while and says it depends on the circumstances. i want clarity. is that circumstance if the gay individual walks in and is proud of being gay? those are against the law in illinois. i need a clarification that the policies of the company -- >> what would be the standard? >> it's my responsibility to have responsible businesses and part of the businesses responsibility is not have discriminatory policies. >> so what's your definition of discriminatory policies. help us out here. >> prior to the facebook posting i did not have a commitment from the company they were open to not only hiring but serving

those of different sexual orientations. >> did you have complaints that they were not? >> they've been sued 19 times. >> 19 times for sexual discrimination or what? >> for discrimination against a minority group. that was from 2009. so i'm sure it's happened more. currently there's a case on the books where a woman has sued the company because the manager told her she was fired because she should stay home and cook and not cook at chick-fil-a. i'm disturbed by this. i'm not saying the ceo has to say what i believe in. that's not the debate. >> let's stop there. i agree with you on that one. i don't like when someone doesn't like political views even if i don't agree with them. and the council in new york is doing this. up in boston, i really like is doing this. rahm emanuel's been in this a lot. they're putting their feet out there then pulling back and saying i didn't mean i was going to stop them. this is a very tricky issue.

the country's divided on same-sex marriage. 32 states have voted on it and voted it down. yet when you ask people in the polls, it's even. i don't think so you should discriminate a guy because of what he thinks. >> that's right. it's not marriage, it's relationship recognition. this includes conservative voters. if you break it down to civil unions, legal status, more and more americans an overwhelm majority are in favor. but this issue in chick-fil-a, there are constitutional concerns when you have leaders in chicago, boston, new york, and philadelphia even suggesting some kind of process of denying business or business access to the community. i imagine that in places like chicago, you probably have local chamber of commerce members saying hey are we next? are our head next on the chopping block? most if they're not in the private sector they are small business owners. while our members may not be

buying those chick-fil-a products, they don't want their businesses to be hit with a potential ban. it is an impediment on first amendment rights when you pick and choose businesses that can be -- >> i'm one of those guys. i'm one of those who believes you should like jane fonda in the movies even if you don't like her politics. >> i agree. we have never said, chris, they're mischaracterizing the debate. i have never said anything about the beliefs. what i have said is the civil rights movement and you know this better than i do, you never led from the front you led from the back. we're saying clarify your position. from day one i said -- i've done this for eight or nine months without public fanfare. clarify your policies. work with a local lbgt group -- >> alderman, call me up when you have an example they rejected a

good job applicant looking for a job. and they say sorry we don't like that life. then i'm with you. >> i'm trying to prevent that from happening. i'm trying to be proaggressive instead of backing off. i'm not going to back down from this. >> just don't start preemptive wars. >> i'm not going to back off. >> i know what you're doing and i guess i agree, but it has to do with behavior, not thinking. >> and individual liberty here. vote with your wallets. you don't have to go to a particular business. you can go to a particular business. this is what we value as americans. this is part of our american exceptionali exceptionalism. >> i took -- value the laws in chicago and illinois. i'm going to protect those who are not in the minority classes, period. >> anybody who is prejudice against gay people is a fool. in business terms, moral terms, whatever. >> well said. >> god made those people. thank you. i'm beginning to like you more, clark cooper. you're a man of the business

center. up next, darth vader versus the grizzly mom. did you expect sarah palin to remain quiet when cheney called her a mistake? forget about it. she's back. this is a great fight. this is "hardball," the place for politics. measure commitment by what's getting done. the twenty billion dollars bp committed has helped fund economic and environmental recovery. long-term, bp's made a five hundred million dollar commitment to support scientists studying the environment. and the gulf is open for business - the beaches are beautiful, the seafood is delicious. last year, many areas even reported record tourism seasons. the progress continues... but that doesn't mean our job is done. we're still committed to seeing this through.

nbc news is now learned or confirmed a reuters report president obama has called a

so-called intelligence finding authorizing covert aid on syrian rebels. declining comment on the report, but the administration has been under constant criticism for months from senator john mccain and others saying the administration should be arming the rebels. we'll be right back. big story there. whoa, look at all those toys.

insuring that stuff must be a pain. nah, he's probably got... [ dennis' voice ] allstate. they can bundle all your policies together. lot of paperwork. [ doug's voice ] actually... [ dennis' voice ] an allstate agent can help do the switching and paperwork for you. well, it probably costs a lot. [ dennis' voice ] allstate can save you up to 30% more when you bundle. well, his dog's stupid. [ dennis' voice ] poodles are one of the world's smartest breeds. ♪ bundle and save with an allstate agent. are you in good hands? i like governor palin. i've met her. i know her. she's an attractive candidate. but based on her background, she's only been governor for what? two years. i don't think she passed that test. >> being ready. >> of being ready to take over. and i think that was a mistake.

>> wow. welcome back to "hardball." sarah palin did not take kindly to those words from dick cheney. she saw them as fighting words. last night palin proved she can give as good as she gets. let's watch. >> well, seeings how dick -- excuse me, vice president cheney never misfires, then evidently he's convinced what he had evidently read about me by the lame stream media having been written what i believe is a false narrative over the last four years, evidently dick cheney believed that stuff. >> joe conason of all the things to say of the lame stream lead ya as if they're leading cheney around. as i recall cheney through scooter libbey and miller were leading "the new york times" around. the idea he got tricked into backing -- knocking palin because of the times, by the way, before you start. i've got to show you this. this is the actual cheney in re

then talking about his support and praising palin in 2008. let's watch. >> i'm delighted to support john mccain and pleased that he's chosen a running mate with executive talent, our next vice president, sarah palin. >> so welcome to our say hello to our republican party 2012, cheney and palin duking it out. what do you think of that? you're editor and chief of nationalmemo.com. susan joining us. joe, this is so ludicrous. he's dumping on her, and heshe' dumping on the guy she claims to be manip llted by the lamestream media. >> she doesn't see the humor in that, for whatever reason. the difficulties in the republican party now, because this is sort of the hard right versus the kooky right. in the present moment, it shows the difficulty that mitt romney

faces in choosing a vice presidential candidate simply because he has to both fire up the base, the tea party, which wants somebody like sarah palin, that extreme. and yet, you know, the rest of the country wants somebody who is qualified to be president. at least notionally, and that's, i think, what chaeney was talkig about. he's right now, he was wrong back then. he's right now. you also have to put that in context because of the cheney's solution to the problem in 2000 was to pick himself. and we know how that worked out. >> that got us into war. let me ask you, susan, this craziness. a lot of people, women especially, root for her, palin, despite her right wing ideology. they think she's getting beat up. but she's fighting for a slot at the convention in tampa. what is romney going to do? >> it puts him in an awkward position. not only does she are a hold

over a part of the partioon a national level, but you have these senate candidates that could make a difference of whether the republicans take control of the senate, murdoch and now cruz and deb fisher. >> what happens if she gets a primetime slot in tampa? she's handling this like a great fisherman, by the way. let's take a look at what she said. >> we've left it in their hands about a week ago, we were approached, asking if we were interested, if i was interested in attending. of course, there's some interest there, but we kind of want to know more details, what they have in mind. we haven't heard back. >> do you like the way she gets almost cuddly. there's some interest, meaning i'm interested, but we want to know if we're going to speak at 4:00 in the afternoon, 9:00 at night, she's angling here. >> she is. she wants to be king maker and cheney wants to be queen killer or something. >> he's going fishing, bay. talking about the angler. he's hiding, he knows one thing,

people don't like him. >> he knows people don't like him and he knows the base of the party doesn't like him. they don't love him. he's concerned about what level of enthusiasm he's going to generate from the real hard core in the party by november. and she will fire them up if he can entice her into his camp without getting bitten by the mama grizzly, which is a big risk. >> don't you like it he's such a partisan, yet he acts like he's some sort of judge. you know, let me see, jeff. you have to look back. was she a good pick or not? he always steps back to that role of his, which he's above it all. he's the meanest insider there's ever been. look at him there. he still has to answer -- joe, he still has to answer for scooter libby who got him disbarred, convicted of five or four felonies. he never came forward and defended him. he never explained what he told him to do in the first place. now he comes back as the big

adviser to america. >> he let scooter libby swing for his misdeeds, indeed. it's ironic because cheney, you thing of all that now because romney and the republicans are talking about leaks from the white house. you know what they leaked from the bush white house is the identity of cia operatives working on weapon of mass destructi destruction. >> thank you joe and susan. we'll be right back.

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let me finish tonight with this. this weekend, i saw for the third time the best play about politics. today's politics. ever written. it's called the best man. it's about a candidate for president who has to choose between his ambition and his principles. his opponent is about to dump a bad story on him he had a nervous breakdown years ago. he knows the story will destroy him as a candidate, especially right there at the opening of his party's national convention. an aide comes to the rescue. he's dug up a witness who said his rival engaged in a gay relationship years ago. it's considerable enough to do damage on his rival. he knows it could stop him in his tracks. there's the dilemma. does he play dirt against dirt politics? does the end justify the means? does doing something nasty come with the business of running for high office? does it? i saw the version.

larocquet's performance reminded me why i was drawn to politics as a teenager. the person who does the right thing when nobody is watching. i just learned today that the pl pl playwrite has just died. i met gore vedal idal in my col days. if he's known for one thing, let it be "the best man." a play that reminds us of a person we would like in the public life, someone who would not eat the crap politics urges you to eat, all the while saying you aren't what you eat. i have noticed that you are. nothing benefits a great country like