>> the shot, park chuyoung scores! >> and sweden will play for the gold medal against france. welcome to "politicsnation." i'm al sharpton. tonight's lead, the gop's plan to take down the president. one of the great mysteries of president obama's time in office has been the outright refusal of the gop to work with him on anything. he was elected on the promise that he would bring washington together. he'd built his political career by working with both sides. but republicans have fought him tooth and nail. why?

because they had other priorities. >> our top political priority over the next two years should be to deny president obama a second term. >> that has been the gop's top political priority. from day one. and now a new book sheds light on how far republicans would go just to see this president fail. in it vice president biden is on the record saying that the gop agreed not to work with president obama. he says quote, i spoke to seven different republican senators who said, joe, i'm not going to be able to help you on anything. biden goes on to say the way it was characterized to me was for the next two years, we can't let you succeed in anything. that's our ticket to the coming back. end of quote. you heard it, folks. obstruction was their ticket.

former senators bob bennett and arlen specter confirm having this conversation with the vice president. and another republican even talks about the marching orders he was given by senator mcconnell saying quote, if president obama was for it, we had to be against it. and he -- all he cared about was making sure obama could never have a clean victory. could never have a clean victory. while the country was hurting and americans needed jobs. that's appalling. that's disgusting. and that's what this president has been up against. >> they've said no to just about every idea i've proposed, every policy i proposed. even ideas they traditionally agreed with. i'm not exaggerating. i mean, we had situations where they would sponsor bills, i'd say okay, then they'd say, oh,

if you're okay with it, we must be against it. happened a bunch of times. >> it is true. this plan to work against the president has been in motion from day one. on the very day he was sworn in, the gop plot was hatched. while the president was at the inaugural ball, major republican party members met at a swanky d.c. restaurant less than a mile away. and they agreed to quote, show you nieted and unyielding opposition to the president's economic policies. former speaker newt gingrich even admitted that. he attended that meeting. when i interviewed him back in june. >> the night of the inauguration, there was a meeting at a hotel near the inaugural ball. about a mile away in which that night there was a group of republicans, you among them,

that was committed to the defeat of president obama. you told the group, you newt gingrich, you will remember this day. you will remember this day the seeds of 2012 were sown. >> it was an important meeting. i was honored to be part of it. >> honored to be part of it. there's no honor in putting this country's recovery at stake. there's no honor in that at all. joining me now is e.j. deon, columnist for the washington post and an msnbc contributor. and karen finney, msnbc political analyst and former communications director for the democratic national committee. thanks to both of you for coming on the show tonight. >> good to be with you and karen. >> e.j., let me start with you in kind. the republicans have blamed president obama for not changing the culture in washington. but they had secretly agreed to

a plan to block him even by washington standards. it's pretty cynical, wouldn't you say? >> well, you know, at one point in the last few years, i thought maybe if president obama proposes a big tax cut for the rich, the republicans would turn around and raise taxes. maybe that would be the way we could solve the deficit problem. i mean, it was very clear right from the beginning that they were doing this. and i think they had a lot of success with this strategy. because by being so resolutely obstructionist, they define everything president obama did as being far to the left. and obama, i think, is a very moderate sort of liberal. he's actually been criticized by some for being too moderate. but but taking this clear obstructionist line, they altered the political conversation quite a lot. until the debt ceiling fight. i think that's when they started running in trouble. it weakened obama, but it really

exposed them. that's when i think a lot of people starting realizing what was going on here. >> now, karen, i think aside from it being so outrageous that they would do this at the expense of americans that needed the government to move forward, it's the hypocrisy. because while they were all doing this and executing this plan, look at what they were saying. watch this. >> i work with the president like i work with anybody else in this town. >> we do want to work with this president in terms of finding common ground and seeing how we can create jobs. >> republicans are ready to work with the president on turning this economy around. >> i assure you that we want to work with the president. >> i mean, when you hear their very sincere rhetoric of working with the president when in fact you now have republicans confirming on the record what the vice president said on the record in this new book, it's

just blatant hypocrisy and outright lying to the american people. >> it certainly is. let me give a contrast. when i went to the dnc in 2005, that was after a defeat for democrats. the conversations that we had and the strategic meetings we had at pretty high levels with communications people from both the house and senate. the conversation was about what can we get done. obviously there were conversations about things we were concerned that president bush was going to do. as you recall, we did make an issue of the way he was prosecuting the war in iraq, but that was based on policy and what was in the best interest of the country. it had nothing to do with saying hey, we're going to make george bush look back and jam him up. i think the other example is remember when democrats when bush was first elected said they would work with bush. we got no child left behind done. there's been problems but when democrats said they were willing

to work with bush, you saw a more sincere effort to do so than what we saw on the part of republicans. at this point we don't know what president obama would have been able to accomplish because they did such a good job of obstructing him at every turn. >> and that's the point. it turns out that the rhetoric may have been part of the plan. a mcconnell aide is quoted in this new book, and i'm quoting the book. there were two totally opposite thoughts on how to approach the situation, a mcconnell aide recalls. quote, one was we don't like the president and ought to pop him early. the other was, he's really popular. we should work with him. the boss' take was neither. mcconnell realized it would be much easier to fight obama if republicans first made a public show of wanting to work with him. so this was planned. >> well, i think they very much

wanted to get obama on his promise to get washington to work together. and the problem with a promise like that is you're giving the other side a kind of veto. they didn't want to say outright we'll work with him because they wanted him blamed. there are times when parties are going to oppose another party on principle. democrats did it when president bush wants to privatize social security and they didn't work with him on that. they fought him on that. but when you look at the stimulus right out of the box, everybody in the country knew we needed a stimulus. president obama made 1/3 of that tax cuts. now, republicans wanted other kinds of tax cuts. at that point they could have negotiated and i think there was plenty of room at that moment to say, all right, let's have a plan that can get the economy moving. but they never accepted the idea that there were even tax cuts in that plan and they never talked about how much tax cutting was done in this stimulus package.

and i think that's a good example of what the book is about on this. >> now, karen, but it did cost them as well. because when you look at the fact that the republican brand has been hurt by this, just 34% of those polled have a favorable view of republicans. and republicans have polled worse than democrats in 14 different polls. every polls since they took the house has had them in a negative -- in terms of favorability. so it's not come without a penalty to them. >> well, that's right. although i have to tell you, rev. that is an astonishly high number. they should be thanking their lucky stars it's that high. because i think one of the things we saw at the beginning, democrats really didn't want to play the blame game and whine about the fact that republicans weren't working with them. so i think there was a feeling of, all right we're going to try

and get something done here. a lot of us on the outside kind of criticizing the white house and the president for being so naive as to be trying to work with republicans. so i think if they would have really started to feel the heat for how obstructionist they have been from the beginning, i think those numbers would be lower. if people knew the truth. >> yeah. i agree with you. e.j. and karen, thanks for your time tonight. >> thanks. >> good to be with you. coming up, mitt romney goes all the way to iowa to show a working class farmer that he feels their pain. but he ends up with a one percenter who lives in a house that looks like a spaceship. some farmer. no wonder romney's not connecting with voters and falling behind in the polls. plus, fallout from our jaw-dropping interview with the republican who's peeling back the curtain on the fight to suppress the vote. >> it's very sad that the republican party doesn't want to

win votes by talking about what it stands for. it wants to ensure that some people can't get to the polls, can't register to vote. >> the truth is out there. now what should democrats do about it? all that plus cats doing some crazy things. coming up on your summer break. you're watching "politicsnation" on msnbc. [ donovan ] i hit a wall.

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devry university, proud to support the education mitt romney's lost summer. that's next. gotta start the day off right. wardrobe. cute. then new activia breakfast blend. a great way to help start the day. mmm... creamy lowfat yogurt with grains

in yummy breakfast flavors, like apple cinnamon. its hearty, with twice the protein of regular lowfat yogurt and helps regulate your digestive system. our morning routines are important, aren't they? new activia breakfast blend. this is new york state. we built the first railway, the first trade route to the west, the greatest empires. then, some said, we lost our edge. well today, there's a new new york state. one that's working to attract businesses and create jobs. a place where innovation meets determination... and businesses lead the world. the new new york works for business. find out how it can work for yours at thenewny.com.

mitt romney keeps trying to prove he's a regular guy who cares about the middle class. but something just keeps going wrong. this week mr. romney went to iowa to show he understands the pain of farmers dealing with the drought. there he is shaking hands with a real life farmer. but that's no ordinary farmer. in fact, that man owns 54 separate farms. he reportedly made millions of dollars. he's living so large that he owns this house. it literally looks like a spaceship. the spaceship farmer. it's reportedly got on underground garage and a car wash. and that's the farmer the romney

campaign chose for its photoop? romney knows this is a problem for him. which is why tomorrow he'll try to make another pitch to the middle class. launching a bus tour through other key battle states. the problem for romney, he's already in a hole and it's getting deeper. the latest poll from reuters gave the president a seven-point lead over romney. 49% to 42%. a cnn poll also has him up by seven points. 52% to 45%. and now a fox poll has made the president ahead by nine points. the summer has not been kind to mitt romney, and it's only getting hotter. joining me now is bob shrum, democratic strategist who ran senator kennedy's campaign against romney back in 1994. he's writing in the daily beast

about mitt romney's lost summer. and cynthia tucker, pulitzer prize winning columnist and visiting professor of journalism at the university of georgia. bob, let me start with you. is mitt romney losing the presidential race at this point? >> oh, right now he is for sure. look. that visit to the farmer is typical. that's mitt's kind of farmer. the next thing you know, he'll go to a four star restaurant that has prefixed meals and call it a food bank. he's very good at making his own mistakes and has a campaign flailing. what's happened this summer is the obama campaign has succeeded in defining romney and succeeded in defining the terms of choice. who stands up for the middle class. and when you go inside those polls you were mentioning, for example the cnn poll. 52% of people think he cares about the -- >> actually, 64% say that romney

favors the rich. only 29% say he favors the middle class and poor. and the opposite of the president. 18% say he favors the rich. 76% says he favors the middle class and poor. cynthia, it's almost like either they're in denial at the romney campaign or they're inept and incompetent or they don't care. what are we looking at here? >> well, heaven knows bob is right. some two or three advanced staff members need to be fired over that farm fiasco. but the campaign reflects the man at the top. and mitt romney is just an inept candidate. let's face it. he's not a very good candidate. particularly at this level. this is when you need to bring your a-game. and romney doesn't have one. obama is a much better candidate. obama comes across as warmer, more likable, policy walks don't

like this much. but the voter makes a choice based as much on personality than policy. and romney hasn't found a way to come across as warm and likable. and you see that reflected partly in the favorability ratings. but it's also true that obama knows how to throw a sharp elbow. and this is something quite frampgly that a lot of democratic candidates haven't known how to do. obama has popped him on bain and outsourcing. he's popped him on his taxes. and he's kept him off message. so romney is often having to respond to defend himself against the things that obama has said rather than hit obama as he'd like to do on the economy. i have one last thing to say about obama as an inept candidate. some of the things he's been hit over in this campaign, bob shrum

was hammering him on in 1994. so you would have thought by now he would have come up with better answers. >> and i think it's an excellent point, bob. because if you have a competent staff at all and if you yourself -- if you're a competent candidate as cynthia said, you at least remember what you got hammered on before. you don't have to even figure this out. this is some of the vulnerabilities you brought into the race. and it's hurting him. look at the fact that he is now even having a problem with independents and men. which he was showing some strength when we look at the cnn poll, among independents the president is now ahead of romney by 11 points. 53 to 42. among men he's ahead by six points. 51 to 45. where romney was showing strength in these two areas not long ago. >> yeah, look. the obama campaign -- and

cynthia's right about the president knowing how to throw a sharp elbow. the obama campaign took heat at the beginning when they set out to define romney. they didn't pay attention to the heat or critics in the party. they went ahead and did their business. look. this is a guy who had as cynthia said 18 years to get ready for these bain attacks. his answers are lame and cliche like the free enterprise system. if he knew he was going to run for president, and i think he knew it all his adult life, but certainly knew it from 2002 on. why don't you sit down with your accountant and make sure you pay a reasonable amount in taxes? why don't you say let's close those swiss bank accounts? let's close the offshore tax havens before you put out returns. this is a guy who obviously didn't get ready and either the people in his campaign don't know what they're doing or he won't listen to them. i'm sure they sat around that table and said we need to get ready for this. and he just didn't. i mean, he is in the position

right now where he can't release his tax returns. it's plainly obvious that there's stuff in there that is so bad that he'd rather just take the heat he's taking now. >> you've known him for years. you've run campaigns against him. why wasn't he prepared? why didn't he get ready? >> well, i think on the tax returns there's probably a combination of two things. a certain arrogance, a belief he was playing by rules that he thought advantaged him and he wasn't going to give them up. and that sort of bleeds over into a kind of heedless greed. but if you're serious about being president of the united states, you have to look forward. you have to say what am i going to be able to produce. what am i going to be able to reveal. you have to get ready for that. i find it unbelievable that he didn't. and i assume there are people in his campaign or around him that said you have to do this and they were just ignored. >> bob, let me ask you cynthia. the vice presidential choice, will that play into changing or

affecting this at all whoever romney picks for vice president? >> i don't have any doubt that his vice presidential pick and the convention will give him an opportunity to focus on the message he wants to for a few days. but after the conventions end and through the republican convention of course obama is going to continue to hammer him with the same things. so no matter who he chooses as vice president, the essential problem is still mitt romney himself. you'd have to change the top of the ticket to get rid of the biggest vulnerability. >> bob, i assume from that chuckle that you agree. >> oh, i absolutely agree. and i think his vice presidential pick could make things worse for him. he's let this get out of control by waiting too long. he now has a movement inside the party to make sure he picks paul

ryan. if that happens, front and center in this campaign as an issue will be the ryan plan to privatize and end medicare as we know it. and then the senior vote which was very pro-romney, very pro-republican which is now evenly split in these latest polls will begin to move toward obama. so he could make things worse with his vice presidential pick. >> cynthia tucker, bob shrum, thanks for coming on the show. have a great weekend to you both. >> you too. still ahead, republicans finally have an answer to mitt romney's tax problems. and it involves the birthers. not really. the birthers? uh, i'm in a timeout because apparently

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folks, have you joined us on facebook yet? the "politicsnation" conversation is going all day long. today the latest news of grand obstructionist party had everyone talking. pat called it a dereliction of duty. grace wonders if they're earning their pay saying quote, they have done nothing to help the citizens to get job a job. why do they get a paycheck? and folks love this photo of the

president playing catch me if you can in the oval office with an adviser's daughter. stella says it's off the cuteness scale. jarrod joked the president was using the oval office to pander to the toddler electorate. and sally teased he is so good with children. must have learned that from dealing with republicans. we want to hear what you think too. head over to facebook and search "politicsnation" and like us to join the conversation that keeps going long after the show ends. people have doubts about taking aspirin for pain.

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you have a plan? first we're gonna check our bags for free, thanks to our explorer card. then, the united club. my mother was so wrong about you. next, we get priority boarding on our flight i booked with miles. all because of the card. and me. okay, what's the plan? plan? mm-hmm. we're on vacation. this is no plan. really? [ male announcer ] the united mileageplus explorer card. the mileage card with special perks on united. get it and you're in. welcome back. the republican party has a problem. a mitt romney tax problem. a new poll shows 63% of all americans want mr. romney to release more of his tax returns than the one year he's released. but the chairman of the

republican national committee reince priebus doesn't think we should talk about it anymore. >> ridiculous. i mean, he's released two years of taxes. he's releasing 2011. i'm not spending any more time talking about this issue. >> republicans don't want to talk about it because they know it's a losing issue for them. so what are they willing to talk about? apparently they're willing to talk about donald trump. >> donald trump's a good friend of our party. i'm thankful to donald trump for all the work he's done for us and for governor romney. i don't know right now what he's going to do at the convention, but i do know that he's important to us. >> so donald trump is important, but romney's taxes are not. that's ridiculous. are you sure about that? >> is it a good message to send for a guy still a birther calling for the president to release college transcripts, is that the kind of guy you want on the podium during the republican

convention? >> i have -- i have been from the very moment i have been chairman of this party where i stand on that issue. and it's just as much of a distraction as it is for people to call for more and more tax returns and all these other issues. >> the head of the republican party says people asking about romney's tax returns is just like birthers asking for the president's birth certificate? that's a totally false equivalency. and it's just a sign of just how desperate republicans are to deflect attention away from romney's financial past. joining me now is jonathan capehart, an opinion writer for the washington post and msnbc contributor. and a fellow at the university of texas and an nbc latino contributor. thank you both sfr being here tonight. >> thanks.

>> thank you. >> jonathan, this is a new excuse for not releasing the romney tax returns. tried out the birther stuff. this is new. >> it's new and it's ridiculous. look. then candidate obama release his birth certificate, the birthers didn't believe it. so donald trump makes a big stink an the president did something that was rather extraordinary, unnecessary to my mind. but put to rest a lot of this argument and released the long form of his birth certificate. so what donald trump did before the long form birth certificate was released, he was the one who mentioned the college transcripts issue and the president's college grades. what they're doing is trying to throw up a lot of dust, a lot of flack to deflect the attention of me and other members of the media away from the real issues at hand. one year and an incomplete year of tax returns from mitt romney doesn't meet the standard that was set by his own father back in the 1960s when he ran for

president. >> that's the point, victoria. because i think that in this discussion that what i'm trying to deal with that i don't understand what priebus is trying to in many ways insult our intelligence. every presidential candidate that becomes the candidate of their party releases their tax returns. we don't have a president of any one asking for anyone's birth certificate. they're trying to act as there's an equivalency here. and i think that is what's most alarming to me. >> it's ridiculous. >> they're comparing apples to oranges. the birther movement was limited to one party, the republican party. and an extreme element. and it's republicans, independents, democrats. and the further difference is the root of the birther movement came out of historical, religious, and racial antipat antipathies where there's no

antipathy towards romney. in america we love success and wealth. we just want transparency. >> i think so the main point she's making there, jonathan, that many of us felt the birther question was rooted in the hostility and bias where there is nothing but it is traditional for people to be transparent if they are the nominee of their party to run for president to release their financial background and dealings. if they're in fact going to be in charge of the united states policies in that area. >> right. and victoria said, this is a matter of transparency. mitt romney is running for a job. he is asking the american people to hire him. and yet he is unwilling to meet the same standard as other people who have sought the same job before him including the current president of the united states. if he's not willing to be open and honest with the american people, then why should they

entrust the presidency? their livelihoods, the safety and security of themselves and their family. why should they entrust the oval office to mitt romney? he's not giving them a good enough reason to give a pass on this. >> victoria, when you look at the fact that today you had wayne allen root -- the chair of the libertarian party wrote on glenn beck's website that romney should agree to release more of his tax returns only if president obama unseals his college records. but that again is an extreme position that flies even in the face of an interview with greg sergeant at the washington post. jon huntsman sr. even called for romney to release more returns. i'm quoting huntsman sr. saying i feel very badly that mitt won't release his taxes and won't be fair to the american people.

mr. romney ought to square with the american people and release his taxes like any other candidate. i've supported mitt all along. i wish him well. but i do think he should release his income taxes. >> it's not just republicans calling for the release. it's his best friends. the republicans want him to put this issue behind him. the more we talk about taxes, the more the american public is reminded of how broken our tax system is. those who make their income off investment get a break. if they just release it so we can move on to other things. but it's not going to go away. he can stand strong all he wants, but it's going to remain. >> jonathan capehart and victoria defranchesco soto. thank you. >> have a got night. coming up, the truth about

republicans attempt to suppress the vote. what should democrats do about it? but first, cats go crazy on a special friday summer break. stay with us. [ charles ] when you can make a person smile when they taste the food that you cooked, it does something to your heart. i think what people like most about the grilled food is the taste. the flavor comes from that oak wood. the shrimp, the fresh fish, the steaks. it locks in the flavor, it seals in the juices so that when you put the fork in it, it just goes through it like butter. it's beautiful. [ laughs ] i'm proud to be a grill master. i love food. my name is charles himple. i'm a red lobster grill master and i sea food differently. ♪ lord, you got no reason ♪ you got no right ♪ ♪ i find myself at the wrong place ♪ [ male announcer ] the ram 1500 express.

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we start with one smart kitten. she knows just how to get away from a dog in hot pursuit. hang ten. or in her case, hang 20. but fido, don't give up. you can still get the cat. just go around the pool. it's easy. just go around. people, that's why cats are smarter than dogs. and here's a cat who wants a frozen treat. but the freezer's not going to open itself. no problem. with one giant leap, he's up. and it's open. hang on. what about that treat? never mind. meantime, they're on a roll at nasa. time the get that next mission off the ground. >> yikes. quite the crash and burn.

and in new mexico we find a hotel guest who's having a bear of a time getting a room. hey, can i see the manager? what? no vacancies? gez he showed up without a reservation. and that's today's summer break. you know, i was once used for small jobs. yeah, and i took on all the bigger, tougher ones. but now that mr. clean's got this new select-a-size magic eraser, i mean, he can take on any size job. look how easily he gets things cleaned. it's enough to make you cry. you, specifically. not me. i'm just happy we don't go near rex's mobile home as often. because it's hard to clean or because you're scared of an itty-bitty doggy? [ dog barks ] aah! oh! [ clears throat ] yeah, that was a sneeze. i think i sprayed myself. [ male announcer ] new mr. clean select-a-size magic eraser. lets you pick the right size for every job. select-a-size magic eraser. hgotta start the day off right. wardrobe. cute. then new activia breakfast blend.

a great way to help start the day. mmm... creamy lowfat yogurt with grains in yummy breakfast flavors, like apple cinnamon. its hearty, with twice the protein of regular lowfat yogurt and helps regulate your digestive system. our morning routines are important, aren't they? new activia breakfast blend. this is new york state. we built the first railway, the first trade route to the west, the greatest empires. then, some said, we lost our edge. well today, there's a new new york state. one that's working to attract businesses and create jobs. a place where innovation meets determination... and businesses lead the world. the new new york works for business. find out how it can work for yours at thenewny.com. his morning starts with arthritis pain. and two pills. afternoon's overhaul starts with more pain. more pills. triple checking hydraulics. the evening brings more pain.

so, back to more pills. almost done, when... hang on. stan's doctor recommended aleve. it can keep pain away all day with fewer pills than tylenol. this is rudy. who switched to aleve. and two pills for a day free of pain. ♪ and get the all day pain relief of aleve in liquid gels. as if false attacks and secret corporate cash weren't bad enough, now republicans have now added voter suppression to their playbook for winning elections. these tactics are going on in some critical swing states. states where both presidential campaigns are spending the bulk of their ad money. in ohio, new limits on early voting means that most voters can't vote in the three days before the election. in iowa, the secretary of state

has started purging voters from the rolls using secret databa s databases. and in colorado the voter purge is being spearheaded by the state's attorney general who's part of the romney committee in the state. republicans have always claimed these new measures are to prevent fraud. but last night we heard a different explanation. the former head of florida's republican party jim greer told me that voter fraud is just a cover story. >> never one time did we have any discussions where voter fraud was a real issue. it's simply been created as a marketing tool here in florida for the right wing that is running state government now to convince voters that what they're doing is right. >> for republicans, voter fraud is just a marketing tool. the fact is their efforts are

all about voter suppression. joining me now is melissa harris-perry. host of the "melissa harris-perry" show here on msnbc. thanks for being here. jim greer admits to what we suspected all along. what should the democratic party do? >> not only the democratic party. this is someone who was the former head of the republican party. this matters to every voter. democrat, republican, independent, unaffiliated, haven't voted in the past ten years. what we must do is first of all call the lie what it is. this is not about voter fraud, this is about voter suppression. secondly we have to pay attention to the fact that the folks making these decisions are often officials in our states we may not know. your secretary of state, toesh general. these are important officials

who make these critical decisions. we've got to pay attention to these elections. and finally we have got to absolutely get in there and change these policies. this has got to be the election issue in local elections. are you going to suppress my vote or not? >> now, i think also, and the reason i raised about what the democrats should do because certain civil rights groups like the one i head out there getting people the i.d. and challenging. but i think the party needs cocome out strongly and deal with this. and you have seniors who can't afford to get their i.d. should they be denied the right to vote? that's where the poll tax analogy comes in. >> even in state where is they say okay the i.d. is free. the fact is it's not in terms of transportation to get there and in terms of do you have a birth

certificate. particularly if you're elderly you may not have ever had a birth certificate if you were born at home. none of those items are free. those are not only out of pocket cost but opportunity cost. we're seeing more and more stories that say we are now in the part of the election where the candidates are not going to so much be trying to convince you to vote for them. they've got to mobilize the people who have decided that person is their choice. for the democratic party because when there are more voters, they win. the democratic party has got to make sure that voters can get to the polls. >> and it seems as though jim greer pointed out, there's reference to immobilize people that you feel won't vote for you and targets certain people. let me show you one of the things he said last night about voter suppression tactic in florida. >> i sat in on many meetings where it was discussed of how to make sure what happened in 2008

when president obama brought out the college age voters, the minority voters, never happened again. make sure that the republican party has an advantage in this upcoming election by reducing early voting, putting road blocks up for potential voters, latinos, african-americans, to register and then to exercise their right to vote. >> road blocks against latino voters, african-american voters, college age voters. end the early voting in some states. and this is calculated and it is based on people's race and nationality. >> the math and the history are very simple here. here's how it goes. in our country we have a clear, direct history where we have expanded the franchise. expanded it first to men who didn't hold property. expanded it to women. expanded it to people of color. expanded to younger people. that's how we moved in our history. >> we expapded at great cost.

>> and with great struggle but always an expansion, not a contraction. that's the history. then the math, the demographics are clear. our demographics are shifting in a way that tells us 100% that as long as we're still expanding the franchise and as long as demographics are still moving the way they're moving, the republican party will become obsolete. period. the republican party cannot win an election based on its ideas, its platforms, its policies or goals as long as this history and this math continue to be true. so the only way they can win is to reverse the history and to change the math. and that can only be done through voter suppression. and that's what this is about. >> and this suppression is on top of a system that is already troubled in terms of the election process. for example, look at the obstacles in ohio in 2004. voters waited as long as ten hours. thousands left polls without voting due to long lines and there were shortage of voting

machines. so when you compound existing problems with now voter suppression, you have the makeup of a real disaster which is why some of us no matter who you vote for have to deal with this issue. >> it's fine for republicans to win if they have better policies. if they convince people that their goals are better. if they turn out their voters. that's fine. that's democracy. but when you win and can only win and can mathematically only win by making sure that whole with groups of people based on their identity cannot vote, that is not democracy. >> and it's a violation of voter rights. melissa harris-perry thanks for joining me this evening. and don't miss melissa harris-perry's show hairing this weekend at 11:00 sunds morning. after the olympics it will return to the normal time period saturdays and sundays at 10:00 a.m. right here on msnbc. we'll be right back with all the famous faces you won't be seeing at the republican national

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we're learning who's in and who's out of the gop national convention. and i'm sorry to report some of the most entertaining republicans will not get a chance to speak to a live national audience. for example, the new york times says texas governor rick perry will not be invited to showcase his unique speaking talents. >> live free or die. victory or death. bring it. commerce, education, and the -- what's the third one there? let's see. that -- was it was before -- he was before.

today has been awesome, girl. sorry. oops. >> no love for herman cain either. he was on fire for awhile. what happened? >> first of all, 9-9-9 -- ♪ imagine there's no pizza we put in 9-9-9. when they ask me who's the president of ubeke-beke-stan stan, i'll say i don't know. 9-9-9. >> then there's congresswoman michele bachmann left off the speaking list. but why? why? >> i don't know how to be a politician. i never want to know how to be a politician. how many of you love the ir is? i went to the inside to learn how they work because i want to defeat them. oh, my goodness!

>> newt gingrich is leading a series of workshops called newt university. but he won't be speaking either. really? what did newt ever do? >> we will have the first permanent base on the moon and it will be american. i got bit. >> are you calling mitt romney a liar? >> yes. i think that mitt and i get along fine and get stuff done. i don't particularly dislike him as a person. >> he doesn't particularly dislike mr. romney as a person. thanks for playing, newt. that leaves us donald trump and sarah palin. the donald has allegedly declined a speaking slot. and no one is saying either way if palin's involved. but let's keep hoping. >> i don't want to bring up a very successful show called "the apprentice". >> she is not j