>> you know what? you're a freak show. this is a creep show. between you and bill karins, the obsession on mika -- >> he's still facebooking. >> pictures of speedos by the pool? asking to be friended? now -- what did you learn today? >> everybody's tall on "morning joe." it's fantastic. >> 6'4", 6'4", whatever. yeah. >> that's needy. >> that's not needy. that's a basketball team. >> two words -- freak show. >> but a really handsome devil. >> what did you learn? >> it's too much. if it's way too early. it's "morning joe." now stick around, because "the fix" coming up. mitt romney illustrates his

medicare plan but still can't avoid questions about his tax returns today. in other news, in the ad wars, we've got -- sorry. in the ad wars we've got a big fight going on between the spending on the republican side and the spending on the democratic side as republicans look to, frankly, outspend their republican counterparts. we've got a punk band spending years in jail for criticizing their president. a russian court decides today on that. ted nugent, call your office. good morning from washington. sorry for that slide flub. it is august the 17th, 2012. this is "the daily rundown." let's get to the first reads of the morning. it did not take long. president obama campaign's first medicare ad. it's here. ad is called facts. defends the president's record

and accuses mitt romney and paul ryan of undermining the health care program. >> the ryan plan, aarp says it would undermine medicare and could lead to higher costs for seniors. experts say ryan's voucher plan could raise future retirees' costs more than $6,000. >> that ad has been running in eight states. it's nearly a week since romney announced ryan as his running mate. we've been spending all of our time talking about that medicare plan. ryan has been in virginia, north carolina, wisconsin, iowa, colorado, nevada, and ohio, basically hitting every swing state that there is in the country. he's back in virginia today before heading to florida with his mom, of all people, tomorrow going to the villages, the huge retirement home and very popular republican campaign stop. in the last week, the ryan pick has, in a lot of ways, fundamentally changed the political ad conversation. it's away from jobs and the economy to medicare an entitlement funding. now you can argue whether that's

a good thing or a bad thing for the romney campaign. i think they need to feel as though they're fighting this medicare fight to neutral so they can move on to talk about your economy. so they can't ignore it, let's see if they stay on it next week. in south carolina, mitt romney is playing professor, channeled a u.p.s. ad. got the white board out there, trying to defend his medicare proposal. >> my plan presents no change, the plan stays the same. the president's plan cuts medicare -- well, let's see. there we go -- by $716 billion. cut. >> in addition to using his hand as an eraser, mitt romney also tried to put the tax returns issue to rest. >> the fascination with taxes i

pay i find to be very small minded compared to the broad issues we face. but i did go back and look at my taxes and over the past ten years, i never paid less than 13%. i've paid taxes every single year. harry reid's charge is totally false. i'm sure waiting for harry to put up who it was that told him what he says they told him. i don't believe it for a minute, by the way. >> that's all well and good, but to be honest that's probably not the end of the tax return fight. we'll hear more just ask david axelrod who was asked about romney's 13% insistence last night. >> maybe we shouldn't have any disclosure laws at all or any disclosure traditions at all. everyone can just certify for the public that everything's fine. he has a pension for secrecy and he thinks he can play by dampb set of rules. and, no, i don't accept his word on what his taxes say. let he public see it. >> this morning, team obama

further putting pressure on the romney team about taxes, has got a "proposal" that's already, i think, been rejected. let's go to nbc's senior political editor, mark murray, for more. mark, so we arrive this morning, i woke up, i looked at my phone and i had a pitch from jim mussina, the always helpful public campaign appeal. tell us what he asked of matt rhodes who is the romney campaign manager and what the response was. >> obama campaign manager jim mussina made this offer to the romney campaign -- if mitt romney releases five years of his tax returns, including 2010 and 2011 which he's promised he will produce, the obama camp will drop talking about the need for any more tax returns. they won't mention that. it's worth noting that the offer didn't necessarily include that, hey, we were not going to krit seek what might be in those tax returns but they said we're not going to bring that up as an issue. but this morning -- actually just about ten minutes ago, the romney campaign responded and said, essentially, no deal. if the obama campaign wants to talk about mitt romney's tax

returns, the romney camp is going to talk about more substantial issues. >> this may be all spin, but is this a legitimate proposal? i always say any time they send something publicly, we always know the other side will reject it within five minutes. is it okay to say five years and we won't talk about it anymore? >> this was just a way to be able to advance this tax story and extra day. it was smart gamesmanship. but something we were actually talking about, there is a bigger public policy issue here, is that could -- does the tax code currently benefit very wealthy people like mitt romney, that they actually can bring their tax rate to 13%, or even lower? that's actually a debate that has gotten lost over this back and forth but it is a legitimate debate and it is actually one that the obama campaign does want to bring up, but of course, we're actually talking about this all gamesmanship. >> obviously mitt romney was propelled to say what his actual

tax rate that he pays by harry reid. the senate majority leader says he has a source, who he's refused to name, who says that mitt romney, for a decade, paid no taxes at all. i've written the ball's kind of now in harry reid's court. harry reid through a spokesman put out a statement that says, essentially, we'll believe it when we see it. is this the end of the debate over whether -- not to your point, a legitimate debate about mitt romney's tax returns and does it make him part of the -- make him able to speak to the average person? but this, did he pay none, did he pay 13%, where do we go from here? >> that's a great question. i don't think it is actually going away. we've seen how easy it is for someone to go and mention this. as we've actually discussed in the past, mitt romney himself at least has made the calculation that this little drip-drip of people being able to bring this up seems to actually not be as worse as what might be in those tax returns. but i do think that there is probably a bigger question as we were talking about on the tax

code and its fairness. as well as just general transparency. how transparent would a romney presidency end up being? i think those are some legitimate questions. >> let me quickly -- i think this had is important and we have to note it. your guys were putting all these numbers together. i always imagined you with like a green visor. typing it out which i appreciate. we have now crested the half a billion dollars in ad spending mark. we are still in what used to be the dog days of august. maybe no longer. what does that tell us about where we're at, particularly given the fact that in most polling we've got 5%, 6%, 7% of people, at most, undecided in this election. >> what's fascinating, the big events we've seen, whether president obama coming out in favor of gay marriage, all the stuff overseas, what's happened in europe with their economic instability, really hasn't changed the contours of the race. neither really has the ad spending. what's been remarkable, in the past month, team romney -- that is the romney campaign, the rnc, all the republican outside

groups, have actually been outspending the obama camp almost by a 2-1 margin. the polls are -- according to most polls, not all, president obama has a little bit of an advantage and it raises a question, once we hit labor day, once we'll see much more than $500 million being spent, are there diminishing returns? can you really move the needle anymore? >> how much more does $750 million get you more than $710 million. mark murray, always my first read in the morning. take care. this morning, paul ryan returns to virginia where he was unveiled as mitt romney's running mate just six days ago. by the way, ryan is notably the second vice presidential candidate to stump in the old dominion or commonwealth this week, a sign of how critical the state's 13 electoral votes are for november. nbc's ron mott is in virginia just outside of richmond where he's traveling with the romney

campaign. ron, you've been toughing it out on the ryan trail. we know he's headed to florida tomorrow. what's your impression of paul ryan, the week that was? we're now six days into paul ryan as vp. what's your readout? >> well, i think he's still feeling his way around this roll. it is a new role for him to be on the national stage suddenly. first, good morning. you see this crowd in this high school gym filing in behind me. paul ryan is expected to once again talk about mitt romney's five-point plan for billing a stronger middle class. specifically the campaign tells us he's going to hit the president yet again on this business about if you own a business, you didn't build that. they sprinkled that line. it is met with great applause. look at the states as you mentioned earlier in the show. we've been to seven states this week. paul ryan has been. virginia, north carolina, wisconsin, iowa, colorado, nevada, ohio and now we're back here in virginia. as you mentioned, tomorrow he's expected to go down into florida. now obviously his plans for revamping medicare is probably going to have a lot of people listening down in florida. his mother, by the way, is going

to go along with him to his appearance tomorrow at the villages, the largest retirement village, retirement community in the world. sarah palin played to tens of thousands of people the last cycle. mitt romney was caught singing the "america the beautiful" song that the obama campaign has now turned into an attack ad at him against the villages. he's going down there tomorrow to campaign hard and try and win that state for mitt romney come november. >> ron, i know they've been billing it as them playing offense. this is the biggest chance for paul ryan to defend that plan. thanks for the perspective, ron. look forward to it tomorrow. u.s. forces are likely watching their back today after another shooting by afghan officers that are supposed to be on our side. two special forces soldiers were killed in what are called green-on-blue attacks. 1 of 2 such attacks that happened this morning. what can you tell us? obviously a tense few days. >> reporter: hi. yes, it has been a tense few days and tense year really for the american and nato coalition here when it comes to their so-called afghan partners.

this morning in western afghanistan, two americans were killed according to afghan officials. they were part of the u.s. special forces and they were there to help train new recruits of the afghan local police. these are village police officers that they recruit within the community. according to an afghan official, he says that one of the recruits, once he was given his weapon by the americans, he then turned his weapon on them killing two of them. also today in southern afghanistan, in kandahar province, another incident occurred, luckily no one was killed but two isaf service members were injured. this brings the incidents in afghanistan to 31 of these so-called insider attacks and about 39 fatalities. it has been the deadliest year when it comes to these insider attacks, also known as green-on-blue attacks. in fact, just several years ago, 2007 and 2008, we only saw four such incidents with four such

fatalities. so obviously this is becoming a big concern, especially since the taliban say that they're trying to infiltrate the afghan security forces more and more. >> obviously really tense situation. we appreciate your time. now who is getting the upper hand on all the tv ad spending? with half a billion dollars already disbursed, what if the answer is no one? surprising numbers on how few votes are really up for grabs this november. but first a look ahead at the president's schedule and mitt romney's schedule today. there's the president meeting with senior advisors. he's kept relatively low profile last few days after a week straight of campaigning. you're watching "the daily rundown." only on msnbc. these fellas used capital one venture miles for a golf getaway. double miles you can actually use... but mr. single miles can't join his friends

because he's getting hit with blackouts. shame on you. now he's stuck in a miniature nightmare. oh, thank you. but, with the capital one venture card... you can fly any airline, any flight, any time. double miles you can actually use. what's in your wallet? alec jr? it was a gift. there are projects. and there are game-changers. those ideas that start with us rolling up our sleeves... ...and end with a new favorite room in the house. and when we can save even more on those kinds of projects... ...with advice to make them even better... ...that's a game-changer in itself. more saving. more doing. that's the power of the home depot. get this exclusive vanity with porcelain top for the new low price of just $99. i've been fortunate to win on golf's biggest stages. but when joint pain and stiffness from psoriatic arthritis hit, even the smallest things became difficult.

i finally understood what serious joint pain is like. i talked to my rheumatologist and he prescribed enbrel. enbrel can help relieve pain, stiffness, and stop joint damage. because enbrel, etanercept, suppresses your immune system, it may lower your ability to fight infections. serious, sometimes fatal events including infections, tuberculosis, lymphoma, other cancers, and nervous system and blood disorders have occurred. before starting enbrel, your doctor should test you for tuberculosis and discuss whether you've been to a region where certain fungal infections are common. don't start enbrel if you have an infection like the flu. tell your doctor if you're prone to infections, have cuts or sores, have had hepatitis b, have been treated for heart failure, or if, while on enbrel, you experience persistent fever, bruising, bleeding, or paleness. [ phil ] get back to the things that matter most. ask your rheumatologist if enbrel is right for you. [ doctor ] enbrel, the number one biolog medicine prescribed by rheumatologists.

more than half a billion -- yes, billion, with a "b" -- dollars has been spent to try and win your vote and it is not even labor day yet. so what are the campaigns getting for all that money? kim was a republican media strategist and president of the alfano communications. doug cornell is former national press secretary for the dccc. the spend something somewhat remarkable. let's start. i want to show this image to show where that half a billion is coming from. obama campaign -- $207 million. american crossroads, crossroads gps, two conservative entities, $105 million. mitt romney, $67 million in the great scope of things isn't all that much. doug, president obama has

outspent mitt romney 3 1/2-1. has it been worth it? >> i think you could make an argument that mitt romney might not be the nominee if not to restore our future -- when romney ghas trouble against rick santorum and newt gingrich, they were there to help him out. one of the more disturbing things about these numbers if you are a voter, it is not so much the super pacs i have concern with, it is the c4s that don't have to disclose their donors. they're the ones who are spending a lot of the money. we tried to bill a bill in 2010 that would compel c4s to not only disclois their donors but stand by their ads. that's something that these groups don't have to do. >> kim, let me ask you the same question. you've seen $200 million-plus spending bit obama campaign. you add up the conservative and romney spending, we're about even.

as a republican strategist not affiliated in any formal way with the campaign, other than are you a republican and mitt romney's a republican, do you feel good with where you are right now? >> i would say, yeah. if you look at the polls, even being even in most of the swing states and now moving in the last few days to positive position in a good part of those swing states, romney has to look at it and say, yeah, that's not a bad thing. >> hasn't mitt romney been defined in some way in a negative light by this $200 million, the vast majority of which on tv ads -- >> no -- you've still got a good portion of this campaign to go. now in just the past few days when you just started defining the substance of the campaign, when you see the obama campaign somewhat imploding in terms of the panic that they see now when things have started -- >> imploding in what way? >> when you look at the campaign now, i think you see the panic and anger that's come being from the campaign. i think you see them now realizing as they start talking about the sort of substance part of the campaign that it's not -- they're not getting traction.

the economy is still looking bad after so many months of terrible news for them. now that we're going to start talking about the substance of the campaign, you see the bump that they're getting a little bit of bump from the vice presidential pick, which if you look at the news it doesn't look that way. if you look at polls and swing states with, it does look that way. then what happens when we come out of the conventions? >> i want to play an ad. you can argue that mitt romney in picking paul ryan handed democrats a nice, new attack on medicare and the ryan budget. democratic congressional committee, the house committee that's charged with electing incumbents that doug works for, is running -- you may have heard of it -- is running ads against dan benishek. >> congressman's benishek's gone fishing and he's got a whopper. >> privatizing social security is the only way. >> phasing out medicare and social security plan. >> banishek voted to essentially

end medicare. >> that's not going to be the last we hear of an ad like that. >> absolutely not. >> the question i have -- more damaging on the congressional level, house senate putting ryan on their -- because it is an easier attack to make on a less defined presidential candidate than on the presidential level where you've got -- we've already got $500 billion in spending. >> just to one point that kim mentioned -- mitt romney's incredibly unpopular. his favorables are really low. i think those attacks by the obama folks and others have worked. on this issue, particular issue, this is interesting district. this is the old bart stupak district. upper peninsula, older folks. it actually has the oldest percentage of seniors of any district other than florida. that's why this message is going to work and if will work across the country. we're seeing it in polling everywhere that the ryan budget is totally toxic. what i think the ryan placement on the ticket does is really just elevate the issue front and center when -- look. the dccc would have made these

attacks anyway but now it is elevated because of ryan's presence on the ticket. >> kim, the obama campaign is now, in effect, on the air with a medicare ad in which they show a picture of paul ryan and mitt romney and talking about the ryan budget. let's leave the congress debate for another time. will that work at the presidential level? >> no, i don't think it will. he then has to defend obama care and defend the now versus medicare solvency over time. he's saying, $714 billion? you laugh at the white board but ultimately he's going to have to defend what he -- >> i don't laugh at the white board. >> i was actually -- >> i have the white board app. >> kim, doug, got to go. >> i have the white board here. >> nice feature for the ipad. wall street posted big gains yesterday. how will the market close out the week. plus, jesse jackson jr. opens up about his future in

congress. does the punishment fit the crime? the verdict is in for the russian band for protesting putin. but first, today's trivia question. hawaii's senator daniel akaka will be 88 next month. how many sitting senators will older than he is? tweet us@@dailyrundown. that answer and plenty more coming up on "the daily rundown."

♪ [music plays] ♪ [music plays] ♪ [music plays] you walk into a conventional mattress store, it's really not about you. they say, "well, if you wanted a firm bed you can lie on one of those. if you want a soft bed you can lie on one of those." we provide the exact individualization that

your body needs. welcome to the sleep number store's biggest sale of the year. not just ordinary beds on sale, but the bed that can change your life on sale. the sleep number bed. never tried this before. this is your body there. you can see a little more pressure in the hips. take it up one notch. oh gosh, yes. when you're playing around with that remote, you get that moment where you go, "oh yeah" oh, yeah! ... and it's perfect. right now, every sleep number bed is on sale. queen mattresses now start at just $599. and save an incredible 40% on our silver limited edition bed - but only while supplies last. once you experience it, there's no going back. wow. don't miss the biggest sale of the year on the bed that can change your life. the sleep number bed. sale ends soon! only at one place: one of our 400 sleep number stores. the blissful pause just before that rich sweetness touches your lips. the delightful discovery, the mid-sweetening realization

that you have the house all to yourself. well, almost. the sweet reward, making a delicious choice that's also a smart choice. splenda no-calorie sweetener. with the original sugar-like taste you love and trust. splenda makes the moment yours. to provide a better benefits package... oahhh! [ male announcer ] it made a big splash with the employees. [ duck yelling ] [ male announcer ] find out more at... [ duck ] aflac! [ male announcer ] ...forbusiness.com. ♪ ha ha!

the ex-boyfriend of the girlfriend the board and maybe the market will be is exye today than normal. >> he never get away from high school, do we? up next, our series of interviews with retiring senators rolls on with a man who may be best known for being the first name on the senate roll call. mr. akaka. chuck's conversation with the hawaii democrat is next. you're watching "the daily rundown" only on msnbc. [ kimi ] atti and i had always called oregon home.

until i got a job in the big apple. becoming a fulltime indoor cat wasn't easy for atti. but he had purina cat chow indoor. he absolutely loved it. and i knew he was getting everything he needed to stay healthy indoors. and after a couple of weeks, i knew we were finally home! [ female announcer ] purina cat chow indoor. and for a delicious way to help maintain a healthy weight, try new purina cat chow healthy weight.

a first glimpse at congressman jesse jackson jr. since he began a lengthy medical leave for bipolar disorder in june. that's former congressman patrick kennedy of rhode island who visited his former colleague at the mayo clinic in minnesota yesterday saying that jackson was "really emotional." jackson also expressed worries about his political future and the pressure he's felt through

the resign or seek re-election. a russian judge has found three members of a punk band guilty of hooliganism. the three were arrested in march after staging a 30-second protest inside a moscow cathedral. they face a maximum seven years in prison and will be sentenced later today. all week we've brought you chuck's exit interviews with departing senators. today the spotlight is on the first name we hear on roll call every morning the senate is in session -- hawaii senator daniel akaka. calling it quits after more than three decades in washington, the junior senator from the aloha state started husband discussion with chuck on what it means to put washington finally in his rear-view mirror. >> i think of missing this schedule, miss my colleagues. miss the place. but i look forward to going back home. we have 15 grandchildren and

five girls. and now we're into great grandchildren and we have 15 great grandchildren right now and we expect more. and when i went home there, i didn't know them. i had to ask their names, who's their parents. and i thought -- >> did you like being a junior senator? i always joked you and senator harkin are the longest serving "junior" senators. >> i love being in the u.s. senate. >> it is an interesting class that's leaving the senate. first of all, you're all known as sort of legislators that would be willing to sign on to bipartisan things. is this just sort of an accident in irony or is it harder to be in the u.s. senate today? >> it's different. i like to compare it to the time i came here, i really enjoyed the relationships that we had. both sides of the aisle at that

time. partisanships were strong, but friendship was also strong. >> defend earmarks. i've never met a lawmaker from hawaii nor a lawmaker from alaska who will sit here and say earmarks are a bad thing. >> i think earmarks are necessary. because who knows better about the state that they represent than those who come from the state? and we know what that state means. >> was the system being abused? i mean did you ever go to senator mccain and say, hey, there's a way to make you happy and keep the earmarks? >> well, we represent different interests and that's all right, but there comes a point where we'll have to -- we should be compromising on these differences. and so that has not come about as often as it did before.

>> when you hear the criticism, the senate is broken, what do you say? >> i would say the senate is different. it's still there. it's still working. and we're spending more time trying to get bills on the floor. >> you and olympia snowe served with every president going back to carter in congress. i know that there was a time there was a lot of world war ii veterans. you guys were a tight-knit group. was that a bond with the first president bush that you felt? >> yes. because he was flying at that time and, as you know, i was out in the pacific. i miss having world war ii veterans in the congress. >> there's three of you. >> there are three of us. so many things i think happened during that time that really

changed our country for the better. >> quickly, president clinton. >> we had a good relationship. i laugh as i say we played golf. >> what did that mean. >> we enjoyed playing golf and we played as often as we could. he would call me at 11:00 and say, danny, can we play? i'd say, no, mr. president, i got to work. i just kept -- >> what kind of golfer is he? >> i smilingly say -- playing with him was slow, because he was so friendly, and whenever he played, all the workers on the course were out there someplace, he'd stop and shake their hands. >> always working it. >> there were two times when we played into the night.

when it got dark he'd say, where's our next hole? tees up his ball, so we all do the same. and we'd play until we finish. 8:00 at night we finish. but he was that type of person. but very enjoyable. he plays for enjoyment. >> now you have a native hawaiian as president. >> a native hawaiian is someone that comes from polynesia and who's usually very close in nature. the families related well together so that when we had other aliens at that time that came to hawaii, they were embraced. >> hawaii's a melting pot. is that fair to say a melting pot? >> well, my grandfather -- my father's father, came from china

in about 1860s. and whether they came, they married hawaiian girls. >> does president obama belong to illinois or belong to hawaii? >> well, he was born in hawaii and he went to school in hawaii, graduated from hawaii. >> you feel like hawaii has more of a claim on president obama? >> oh, yes. >> where you want his presidential lie lear? you want it in hawaii, not illinois? >> well, i know he is here representing illinois because that's where he was elected. and we support him. but he was born in hawaii. that's where all of his feelings for people -- >> do you see the hawaiian upbringing in him in some of the way he makes decisions? >> oh, i see it as a person from hawaii. he likes to bring people together. in hawaii we call it working together. he's very diversified.

so is hawaii. so in his administration, even in his cabinet, for the first time in history, there are three asians, secretaries. >> final question -- piece of advice for your successor. >> one of the things i've tried to do and i've done it as much as i can was to bring about a feeling here of a spirit that comes from hawaii that we call aloha spirit. because it opens things up. it cuts down fences. it helps people to feel that they need to work with each other. that's the spirit of aloha. and i hope my -- those that will succeed us here will continue that. >> all right. 36 years in washington. senator, thank you. >> thank you, chuck. >> great stuff there from chuck.

our friday political panel will be here next to wrap up this big week. and look ahead to the last week before convention time. that's that's right. it's rapidly approaching. a programming note for you -- this sunday at nbc's "meet the press," exclusive interviews with the democratic governor of maryland, the guy on the left there, martin o'malley, and the republican governor of virginia, bob mcdonnell. but first, the white house soup of the day -- gazpacho. it's cold, it's tomato. it's soup. don't forget -- you can always follow the show on facebook. the capital one cash rewards card gives you a 50% annual bonus. and everyone likes 50% more [ russian accent ] rubles. eh, eheh, eh, eh. [ brooklyn accent ] 50% more simoleons. [ western accent ] 50% more sawbucks. ♪ [ maine accent ] 50% more clams. it's a lobster, either way. [ male announcer ] the capital one cash rewards card. with a 50% annual cash bonus,

it's the card for people who like more cash. [ italian accent ] 50% more dough! what's in your wallet? check out the latest collection of snacks from lean cuisine. creamy spinach artichoke dip, crispy garlic chicken spring rolls. they're this season's must-have accessory. lean cuisine. be culinary chic.

[ sneezes ] [ male announcer ] if you have yet to master the quiet sneeze... ♪ [ sneezes ] [ male announcer ] you may be an allergy muddler. try zyrtec®. it gives you powerful allergy relief. and zyrtec® is different than claritin® because zyrtec® starts working at hour 1 on the first day you take it. claritin® doesn't start working until hour 3. [ sneezes ] [ male announcer ] zyrtec®. love the air.

[ female announcer ] this week only, save up to $15 on zyrtec® products. see sunday's newspaper. there are projects. on zyrtec® products. and there are game-changers. those ideas that start with us rolling up our sleeves... ...and end with a new favorite room in the house. and when we can save even more on those kinds of projects... ...with advice to make them even better... ...that's a game-changer in itself. more saving. more doing. that's the power of the home depot. get this exclusive vanity with porcelain top for the new low price of just $99. they are the problem. right? >> remember him?

daily flash back. to this day in 1996, texas billionaire ross perot won the reform party's nomination for president. perot, who founded the reform party after his 92 independent run where he got 19% of the national vote was the party's first ever candidate. didn't do as well in '96. 2012 is starting to look a lot like 2004 with a republican candidate leaning heavily on the base for money and support. like eight years ago, the race is already deeply polarized and it looks like it will be a nail biter right until the end. joining me to talk about all of that, as well as paul ryan week one on the campaign trail, "the washington post," my colleague david nakamura, senior political writer lois wromano and z-man. okay, z-man, were you on the road with romney, ryan and obama, what is the mood?

one thing that i've been struck by, it seems like mitt romney is kind of, dare i say, comfortable in his own skin when paul ryan is around. what's your read-out on their chemistry and whether that's something we talk about and does it matter? >> i think it matters. at least so far it might be sort of giving governor romney something that he has really struggled -- to connect with voters. voters are still voting on the top of the ticket but if it makes the candidate at the top of the ticket more comfortable and better, that's a good thing. was a big rally sunday night in waukesha, wisconsin with the two of them, the romney campaign said this is the last time you'll see them together before the convention. as it turns out, they'll be campaigning next week a couple times, not by accident at all. we're going to see them together a lot more. paul ryan, a, he sort of articulates the argument a little bit stronger on medicare

and other things but i think it sort of gives governor romney some comfort up there and the better he is, the better his candidate -- >> agreed. i talk about the vp pick not really mattering, but if it brings out something in the presidential nominee that he or she couldn't bring out on their own, maybe it does round him out a little bit. lois, we talk about ryan and medicare and we talk about it earlier in the show about what this means for the middle of the electora electorate. what about this -- this theory at least -- that this pick was, in some ways, mitt romney saying this is going to be kind of like '04, this is a base battle election. we've got it find more republicans and turn them out than obama can find democrats. ryan clearly, a beloved figure among conservatives, not so much mitt romney. what's your take? >> i agree with that. i think that by picking ryan, what he did is sort of say i'm going totally to the base and i'm going to give up a bit on aarp, and the women, and the

hispanics and just totally try to get out the people who have been squishy on me, who even though -- >> solidify those people. >> -- even though they are republicans, you know, they kind of don't even know this they were going to vote. and the other thing that i think is very similar about the elections in 2004 is that the national security piece -- which nobody's really written about. these guys, romney and ryan, don't have that and this is a major thing that obama has and it's not come into play yet. >> more poly, even more broadly. >> if you remember in 2004, every time bush's numbers tanked, they would have a red alert. i'm not saying obama's going to do that, but he's got some opportunities here. >> i would say it is a remarkable thing. because remember in '08, the big knock on barack obama by john mccain was this guy isn't ready to lead in the world. now all of a sudden it is his strength and you've got -- i always say when mitt romney says i command the national guard in massachusetts, i'm not sure that's the same thing. david, talk about president obama. i don't want to lose him in all this. the obama campaign went on

television today with an ad about medicare. they have an image of paul ryan and mitt romney shaking hands. it says "the ryan budget" on it. they think this is political gold. correct? >> absolutely. especially in places like florida where there are so many seniors. president was down there two times last month. i was with him. even bch paul ryefore paul ryane ticket, the president was on attack on medicare. he went to a senior home down in palm beach. it was well received on this message. there were some sense in florida people were souring. and that he never really embrasd obama fully but i think this gives the president's campaign a boost and the chance to hammer home this message. >> we're showing the ad. i love the aarp mention in the ad, very prominent, aarp, the leading retirement ad "the ryan plan." all of this in an attempt -- not an attempt, i don't think, that the romney people are surprised by. but the obama folks say, look, this is what you're getting if you vote for this ticket. has not illustrated deep policy

proposals. well, he's now put a guy on the ticket who'sillustrated a very deep policy proposal. is this what you want? can you elevate paul ryan. typically vps get a little bump, then they go away -- unless th a little bump? can you elevate paul ryan to the point where he is a liability because of the specificity of the proposal that he let out? >> i think people are voting for the top of the ticket. defining the romney plan, on the record an adviser came on the plane and said it's the romney/ryan ticket. it's odd that you even have to say that. it's a big unanswered question here, is this electorate ready for a different medicare debate? we don't know yet. >> we'll be back.

one more second to talk about it. trivia time, we asked hawaii senator daniel akaka will be 88 next month. how many sitting senators are older than daniel akaka? dani daniel innoway is 4 days older. richard luger won't be in the senate much longer because he lost his bid in the primary earlier this year. e-mail us @dailyrundown. we'll be right back. take tylenol or take aleve, the #1 recommended pain reliever by orthopedic doctors. just two aleve can keep pain away all day. back to the news.

.

david nakamura, can the romney campaign keep talking about it or we've given ourselves a seven-day window and then they won't talk about it anymore? what's the strategy play like? >> i have no idea. they have given the obama folks a blueprint to run on and the idea that they are talking about these points, i don't think they can win on that. take his white board yesterday. no change. he puts no numbers down. they don't have anything to say. >> we're short on time but it's what jeff has said, too. this is a big gamble. are people ready for a serious conversation about medicare and medical reform or not? >> no. >> relaunch of our elects 2012 blog by your former colleague. >> that's exactly right. thank you so much. >> election 2012 will get you

there. thank you, lois. >> very fun story on politico.com. >> p90x. >> your colleague has traveled to charlotte and tampa to say where we should eat there. >> my dad is out and doing better. dad, john, love you. >> that's it for this edition of "the daily rundown." chuck todd will be back on monday. coming up, chris "jansing & co." have a wonderful weekend. ♪ [music plays] ♪ [music plays]

it's time to live... wider awake.

only the beautyrest recharge sleep system combines the comfort of aircool memory foam layered on top of beautyrest pocketed coils to promote proper sleeping posture all night long. the revolutionary recharge sleep system from beautyrest... it's you, fully charged. receive up to a $300 beautyrest visa prepaid card when you buy select beautyrest mattress sets. good morning. i'm richard lui chris jansing returns on monday. the obama campaign making an offer. release more tax returns and they promise not to push the