this? >> came at the expense. a romney ryan administration will protect and strengthen medicare for my mom's generation, my generation and for my kids and yours. >> and this. >> the stimulus was a case of political patronage, corporate welfare and cronyism at their worst. you, the american people of this country, were cut out of the deal. >> yes, the student schools the teacher in fending the truth. >> candidate obama said i believe that if our government is there to support you, this plan will be there for another 100 years. that's what he said in 2008. as it turned out, that plan didn't last another year. >> okay, mr. romney, tell us some truths. >> i stand by whatever it was i said, whatever it was. and as you can see, mitt romney has just arrived at the

tampa convention hall with his running mate, paul ryan, both beaming there with a crowd of supporters. mr. romney preparing of course for his big night this evening. i believe that they are posing for some photographs among some friends. staff is actually and here we are, the crowd is breaking up. mr. romney is congratulating himself, which is excellent and he hasn't even delivered his speech yet. he's going to see some friends there. there is great. there's eric fernstrom, one of his team. it is going to be a big night for mr. romney and we have breaking news with nbc confirming that the man who may give the most compelling, inspirational speech of tonight's convention is clinton eastwood. yes, dirty harry, the outlaw josie wales, the high plains drifter. he will be in the house as the mystery guest, no longer a mystery, but for mitt romney, the question remains. do you feel lucky because this

is the night of mitt's life as he prepares to assume the mantle of republican nominee, the crowning achievement in his year's long ambitious to be president of the united states. as i've said, they've been busy building out the stage. mr. romney as you're watching now, has gone through a walk through and has just left the main stage. and while he may have been preparing for this moment since he went to his first rnc convention at age just 17, romney's own young gun veepster may prove a difficult act to follow. we learned last night that paul ryan can deliver the red meat that republicans demand. we also learned that his nimble physique translated to his very flexible backbone with no compunction about bending, twisting, even crushing the truth. indeed, mr. ryan spewed so many lies last night, it was like he was throwing down a challenge for broadcasters to try to fact

check them all, so, let's begin with mr. ryan's favorite line on medicare. >> the biggest, coldest power play of all in obama care came at the expense of the elderly. $716 billion funneled out of medicare by president obama. >> yes, those very same anticipated savings from providers that mr. ryan had in his own budget. then, there was his swipe at the president over the simpson bowles commission. >> he created a new bipartisan debt commission. they came back with an urgent report. he thanked them, sent them on their way and then did exactly nothing. >> oh, dear, but mr. ryan neglected to say that he sat on the committee and voted no on the urgent report to which he alludes. how about his slam of the

stimulus? >> the stimulus was a case of political patronage, corporate welfare and cronyism at their worst. you, the american people of this country, were cut out of the deal. >> actually, more than a quarter of all stimulus dollars went in the form of tax relief for workers who and then there was the claim that the president failed to keep open a gm plant in ryan's hometown of janesville, wisconsin. >> candidate obama said, i believe that if our government is there to support you, this plant will be here for another 100 years. that's what he said in 2008. well, as it turned out, that plant didn't last another year. do dry your tears, scott walker. that plant effectively closed in december 2008, a month before the president took office. all right. you know what? you win, mr. ryan. you win. your strategy has worked. i cannot get all of your d

distortions into the two-minute opening of our show. i will allow jay carney to offer his response from the white house this afternoon. >> i'll say this. there was i think an important moment earlier this week that many of you or your colleagues wrote about and that was when a senior romney campaign adviser said to a group of reporters in tampa that they were not going to let their campaign be dictated to by fact checkers. in other words, by the facts. and perhaps when the facts aren't on your side, you ignore the facts. >> yes. i think that perhaps that's what's happening. let's bring in our panel now in tampa, msnbc political analyst, david corn and msnbc contributor, joy reed and here with me in new york is msnbc political analyst, richard wolffe. it seems there are lies and the ryan romney ticket, but is this

where we've come to? we get no specifics on policy when we ask. we don't know what the loopholes are going to be they promised they'd close and then they tell us outright lies. >> not sure that fits chris christie's idea of real strong leadership. people have gone through as you have, the inconsistency and d distortions and lies. >> these are are lies. >> he is a member of congress and he carries a voting record with him and that's the problem for mitt romney. he could have chosen a government who wasn't dirtied by this stuff, but he got someone who was going to say i'm part of the problem, but i'm going to change washington. he is the man, self-appointed flame carrier for the whole conservative movement and the image he portrayed was of victim hood. you can't hire people. you're a 20 something living at home with your parents. it's obama's fault.

in fact, republicans used to be the can do individual responsibility party and that's what's lacking on all of this. yes, he goes landing a punch, but where is the hope? the idea that america can be reborn other than to say trust us? we will tell you, it's easier to trust us, we've got the leadership skills to do it. >> david, do you agree this was somewhat incontradiction to traditional conservativei srsm which doesn't blame circumstances or the institutions, but takes personal responsibility and paul ryan was basically saying if there's something wrong in your life or you can't tie your tshoe laces, blame the president. >> i think it was a speech chock full of various contradictions and politically and in term of the factual statements you went over earlier. what i heard last night was when paul ryan got out and said the real problem in this country for those of you suffering through a not great economy is central

planners in washington. and he gave this vision of sort of that we're all living in an american goolag, part of this dark journey from one entitlement to another. and i was sitting there thinking how does an underemployed woman, mother, single mother, married mer, in ohio listens to this and gets any sort of hope or inspiration or of the belief that paul ryan and mitt romney can do anything in the near future to help her. they seem more bent on what newt gingrich would call a radical right wing exercise in social engineering. that seemed to be at the heart of paul ryan's speech and that doesn't give a lot of people immediate hope. >> so, richard wolffe saying it's victimhood, david corn describing an ayn rand philosophy. joy, i wonder what you made of

the performance of paul ryan? >> well, it's interesting. >> sorry, while you're speaking, just wanted to tell our viewers that we are watching live images from the main stage which is being specially changed and reconstructed for mitt romney. >> if george orwell were alive and could design a presidential campaign, i think this would be what he would create. you have a campaign where everything they're saying is is the opposite of what they say they want to do. you have paul ryan saying we want to defend medicare, but there should be a caption that says i want to turn medicare into a voucher. they say you are the people of responsibility. those others are the entitlement folks, but you should feel a constant sense of victimhood. i think you're seeing, too, what has been a triumph of a 30-year

campaign by conservatives who built up a real grievance industry. it started with talk radio. sort of incorporates ayn rand. you're a victim, society has turned on you, taken your stuff, giving it to other people. you're a victim. we are going to be the ones to help you. we are on your side. it's almost talk radio come to life in a presidential campaign and i think paul ryan is sort of the dating website face that you really aren't sure that's who's going to show up at the door. they want an attractive face on it. >> richard, did not not also notice yesterday that paul ryan's emphasis on crushing government was very much in line with the tea party, but then condoleezza rice talking about invading other countries. we don't have any government for the people of america, but just so that it can serve military ventures overseas? >> if you serve the military,

they are public servants in the truest form. yes, they are defending defense spending with no matter what the cost in terms of any other program in terms of their budget moving forward, so yes, that's the position of mitt romney, too. just to come back to your point, there's a problem with the whole republican vision here because it doesn't track with this thing we call reality. we're not living in the communist state. the central planners do not dominate this country or frankly any other country other than maybe north korea or a couple of others. how is this, how does this appeal to people when it doesn't track with their own lives and with the polls because when you ask people who's the blame for the recession, they may be unhappy with where obama has taken things, but still say the last bush administration and wall street. >> this is a pretty daring move. usually, the conventional wisdom

holds that after you move right, you move towards the center, pivot toward the middle to get those undecided, independent voters. this is the opposite thing. in fact, i saw ex governor of new hampshire and asked him if ryan's speech signalled they weren't going to bother to move to the middle, that this was the full tea party of the mitt romney campaign and he looked at me with that scornful eye that he uses so often and he says that just shows how little you know about this country, which i took to mean yes. >> we're just watching the great mitt romney standing at the lectern. he's testing the height of the lectern. >> telepromter. come on. no, not mitt romney. >> joy, did you -- do you agree with what david corn is saying, about them rejected a

traditional approach, which is extremism for the primaries, moderation for the election? >> absolutely. david is absolutely right. this is the perpetual primary and mitt romney is sort of locked in a primary because he has to give each of the three wings of the republican party what they want. right? tax cuts forever for the -- and please the evangelical wing of the party. all three of these wings expect to have their beliefs implemented under law. that is what 2010 told them to expect. mitt romney is just driving the car. he's got to get all three of these groups and he's just the vessel. i don't think there's anything about this, this convention that i've seen so far that's about mitt romney. that's what's sort of remarkable about it. it's about these three wing of the party finally having their views shown to the world because they believe they're a majority. >> and they certainly are. interestingly, republican senator lindsey graham offered

this truth. the democrats race we're losing badly. we're not generating enough angry white guys to stay in business for the long-term. >> that's the bottom line. >> and generating older white voters. there aren't enough. they have to get such a super majority of that demographic now that it's really frankly impossible. moving forward. so, you know, smarter strategists and the path, even people like karl rove, said they need to tap into the latino vote. otherwise, texas is going to be out of republican reach in a cade or less. that leaves no track for a republican presidential candidate in future elections. t they have to come back. >> i was just going to say, could this be the last hue ra for this type of conservative politics? they're giving it their all. mitt romney has said sure, guys, i'll give you the keys to the car, be in the passenger seat waving to the voters and this is their last shot at pulling off

this sort of conservative rebellion, which they succeeded in '94, had victories nth pain past. >> but david, if you're right, that suggests that this is a suicide mission. richard wolffe just made the point they don't have the demographics to continue this kind of thing. >> i still think they can win in november and once you have the reigns of power and you control both sides of congress, you can really start playing with those rules to make sure that your power stays there for a lot longer than it naturally would. so i don't know if it's a suicide mission. >> without senator marco rubio, yes, indeed, and he is given a glimpse of his hope for america's future. he was speaking to my colleague, andrea mitchell on tuesday. >> the opportunity and the possibility of serving in a republican majority senate with a republican president and republican house and then voters given a second chance to do what we say we're going to do as republicans. they gave us that chance before.

give us a second chance to run government and get a chance to do it right. >> as i understand it, we had one chance and it was a ca catastrop catastrophe, so give us another. >> they obviously didn't like it with democrats. they changed that. are they ready to hand it back to republicans? and you need to have this process when you're in opposition on trying make that bid for that second chance of saying here's what we got wrong. and there have been tiny hints of it from some speakers. it would be fascinating if mitt romney had the guts to say today you know what, we got things wrong in the bush years. i got things wrong as a massachusetts governor. here's how we're going to get it right. that's why we want the second chance. at the moment, we haven't had many apologies. >> his biography is entitled, no apologie apologies. >> we're now joined by lawrence o'donnell, who is inside the forum. the excitement must be as fever

pitch with mitt romney doing a walk through behind you. >> when mitt romney steps on the stage, something magic happens. i don't know. you know, look, we'll wait. i was in here last night when paul ryan took his first step on to that stage and there really was a surge of energy and it's the kind of energy that conventions are looking for and i spent that speech sitting here last night in this spot wondering if mitt romney could rise to the paul ryan level. i've never seen him perform at the level ryan performed at last night. i'd be very surprised if he can do it tonight. >> we've had some faint praise from mike huckabee who used a metaphor about mr. romney. he says who cares if romney's a jerk. after all, your brain surgeon can be a jerk, but it doesn't matter as long as he get it is the job done, right? >> yeah, well, that sentiment has been expressed throughout the campaign by people as they

fell into line behind romney. no one's ever said it quite as inelegantly as that, as disrespectfully as that, within the party, but we saw them all do it. saw them all get in line. we saw santorum get in line after saying this was the worst possible guy you could nominate for the republicans. and so, i'm glad, actually, that huckabee is allowing himself that much honesty at this stage of this game. he didn't you know, say anything like that obviously on the stage last night, but i'm glad he still lets lines like that seep out because that is the truth. that is the way people feel about romney here and they're not good at faking some other way of feeling about him. >> lawrence, what is he going to say about his religion? because as you know, he doesn't mention it that much on the campaign trail. and in fact, his book mentions it just a handful of times and one of them is all about a trip he made to normandy in france

when living there during the vietnam war. he says when i served my church in france, i made a trip to norm norm normandy to see the beaches and felt enormous gratitude for the courage and sacrifice of these men. as i understand it, he was in france because he got some draft deferments. >> yeah, at that time, the mormon church had special deferments for their young men who served the church in any capacity. now, it used to be that at that time, if you were enrolled in the theological seminary or if you were a catholic priest, you got the same exception, but that was otherwise reserved for the clergy. it was granted routinely to young mormon men. in fact, no one in the romney family, his father included, ever submitted to the service that those graves at normandy

represented. there's not a single military veteran in the romney lineage going back from him and his sons obviously had no intention of participating in the wars their father so strongly supported during their possible military service. but look, mitt romney's religion has been referred to twice and i think successfully. they dare not speak its name for some reason in this hall, but paul ryan said we may not go to the same church, huckabee had a way of saying the same thing. without ever saying mormonism. there's a sensitivity here clearly about it. and a nervousness about mentioning it by name. i doubt mitt romney will mention it by name. i personally don't think there's a reason he should. i would love to see a politician get through one of these speech ss without mentioning their

relation, which i think is relevant. i think romney's religion has nothing to do with anything or should have nothing to do with anything he should do as president, but these republican party conventions are so built on religion in so many ways. they have so come plepletely eliminates any sensation there should be a church and state. here, there is no separation of church and politics. >> i think mr. romney has just completed his walk through. we saw him at the back of the stage where you can see people gathered, waving and i think he has done his walk through and he's off. i want to put to your final question, lawrence, can he follow and exploit the excitement or be it based on lies and erroneous statements, the momentum, the enthusiasm

create created by paul ryan or is he going to seem by comparison, very flat tonight? >> i will be very surprised if he as i said, rises to the ryan level. i'm not saying the ryan level was great. it didn't come close to the obama, every obama speech we've seen in a convention hall is light years better than anything paul ryan did. but paul ryan was the first real surge of life that came into this hall in the time that i've been here. >> lawrence, i'm so -- i must apologize, but i'm afraid we have to go, but thank you so much for joining us. >> thanks. >> and keep it right here for more from lawrence and our team from the convention with special coverage just ahead at 5:00 p.m. next, the kings of comedy. tampa style. stay with us. >> but you know, president obama isn't as bad as people say. he's actually worse. >> see you tomorrow, kids. i was teaching a martial arts class and having a heart attack.

my brother doesn't look like a heart attack patient. i'm on a bayer aspirin regimen.

[ male announcer ] be sure to talk to your doctor before you begin an aspirin regimen. i'm a fighter and now i don't have that fear. who knew that so many republicans secretly wanted stood stand up because that's what we've had. two nights running at the laugh factory in tampa where open mike night has turned every speaker into a would be nightclub act. just take a listen. >> president obama isn't as bad as people say. he's actually worse. and i'll give barack obama credit for creating jobs these last four years. for golf caddies. >> he hasn't been working to earn re-election. he's been working to earn a spot on the pga tour. >> ha, ha, ha. indeed, the only thing really

missing is a ventriloquist. stay with us. the day's top lines are coming up. this happy couple used capital one venture miles for their "destination wedding." double miles you can "actually" use. but with those single mile travel cards... [ bridesmaid ] blacked out... but i'm a bridesmaid. oh! "x" marks the spot she'll never sit. but i bought a dress! a toast... ...to the capital one venture card. fly any airline, any flight, anytime. double miles you can actually use. what a coincidence? what's in your wallet? [ all screaming ] watch the elbows ladies. the calcium they take because they don't take it with food. switch to citracal maximum plus d.

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get a boost of natural energy with a new starbucks refreshers™, in three ways. natural energy from green coffee extract, only from starbucks. from throwing daggers at the president to throwing rotten tomatoes at tim pawlenty, here are today's top lines. >> join mitt romney and me. >> pay no attention to what they're doing in tampa this week. don't move. vote. >> college graduates should not have to live out their 20s in their child hood bedrooms staring up at fading obama posters. >> last night's theme was we built it. it being i assume, mitt romney. >> i hope it's not a deal break, but my play list starts with

acand ends with zeppelin. >> if it was angry drunk guy -- >> romney and ryan. they're two walks. >> we haven't run the numbers. >> he wonked them. >> african-american support for mitt romney is zero percent. >> i appreciate this invitation to join you on dry land. >> you, my friend, are the margin of error. >> mitt romney's success in the private sector. he made money the old fashioned way. >> must have been so awkward when the maid interrupted their dinner. >> at 18, i carried a smith & wesson. that gun weighed more than i did. >> welcome to barack obama's retirement party. >> you know, i'm interested in politics. supporter of mitt romney, he can do well without me. >> and i'll give barack obama create for creating jobs for golf caddies. >> well, the world needs ditch

diggers, too. >> barack obama is the tattoo president. >> i desecrated my body. can't go home now. >> you wonder, what was i thinking? >> let's get this darn -- >> let's get right to our panel now. here with me in new york is krystal ball, host of "the cycle" and in tampa, michael crowley of "time" magazine whose latest issue is a preview of the democratic convention and jonathan alter. thank you all for joining us. krystal, it is the last night of the convention. the big draw tonight is apparently clint eastwood. >> and fs funny, too, they have short memories. he did the super bowl halftime in america ad and republicans were very upset. i remember karl rove, i looked up his quote. he said it was a sign of what happens when you have chicago style politics and the president of the united states' political min ons are using their tax

dollars to buy corporate advertising and now, they're excited to have someone exciting on the night of mitt romney. >> eric fernstrom has just said that one thing we know about romney is that he also rises to the occasion. >> really? >> do we really know that? >> we know clint eastwood will and he's going to go ahead and make our day at the convention since there's not a lot else that's super exciting. that's been going on. but you know, it will be a fun event. it will get a lot of attention. ultimately, it's still about mitt romney and his speech and whether he can land it or not. >> michael, what does it say that on the last night of the convention the party's candidate for president isn't a big enough draw and they have to have someone like clint eastwood? >> it goes to the heart of the problem the campaign has right now. in an odd way, he has been almost an uncandidate. they've really put the focus on

president obama and on obama's record. they've not really thrown the spotlight on romney. opened romney up. made romney into sort of a dynam dynamic, exciting character and i think now, they're trying to find a way to juice up the ratings. because i think they're not inherently interested in mitt romney and i think if he's going to win, people have to get more interested in who he is and have to like him better. they want to have an audience that's tuned in and going to be interested. >> and he's not been helped by people like chris christie, who used the pronoun i 47 times and referred to mitt romney just on eight occasions in one paragraph. >> and even when referring to mitt romney, he was talking about how he's the great truth teller. he wasn't talking really about mitt romney. he was talking about his own image and brand of himself. i think to michael's point, they have to find a way to create that electric atmosphere if the

room, which was totally missing the first night. maybe more present last night. i think paul ryan juiced up the crowd, but they have to have a way to have that energy around mitt romney and i don't think they're confident he can do it himself. >> jonathan, do you get the sense there's now a level of excitement that's going to come bust, that's going to lift the base and draw television viewers in and excite us all and make us fall in love with this great man? >> i don't think that -- >> is that a no? >> it's not a no, actually. i think in the hall, there will be plenty of excitement. paul ryan got them fired up last night. mitt romney is their nominee and they will rally to him, but one problem that he has is that usually, if there are low expectations for a speech and you clear the bar, you exceed the expectations, then you reap a lot of benefits for that. because a lot of it is an expeck tases game, but only if there's

a real reservoir of good will, like really being happy you cleared the bar because they really like you. and for the public at large, i'm not sure that she's going to get that. so he'll clear the expectations, but in the country, which is where it counts, i'm not sure it will matter too much if he gives a b or a b plus speech. >> michael, there is no mystery around this because mitt romney does find it difficult to connect to anyone who's not mentioned in the forbes 400 list. jeb bush has told him he needs to show his heart tonight, but he's a man who appears inherently disinterested in doing that. he doesn't seem to enjoy doing that. >> he doesn't and that's what they face tonight. i'm going to be so interested to see how they handle it because he does have this problem. he doesn't open up well about himself. people don't seem to feel they know or understand him. but if you try to force him to do something he's not good at

doing, he could exacerbate the problem and compound it. i think if he's awkward, if he is rev la torre in ways that make people uncomfortable because he seems uncomfortable, that's just going the make the problem worse. i guess i'm interested to see if they take it head on or dance around the margins and he goes back to the larger analytical case, which i think he prefers. >> there's two -- >> very quickly, in a certain way, the bar has been set low. the bar of expectationexpectati when you look at the likability gap he has with the president, in that way, the bar is very high. >> but i also think it's important to understand that it really depends on what the writing of this speech the like, now, when he wrote his book, a couple of years ago, he was working with a co-author and usually, the co-author does the writing and then the candidate

does the editing. in this case, romney insisted on hunting and pecking and typing out his whole book by himself. if he does that for his speech, he's in real trouble because he's not a professional writer. even if he can get closer to authenticity that way, it will be tough for him to execute that. what he needs is a peggy noonan to write a line for him the way she wrote for george h.w. bush in 1988, i hear the quiet people that others don't. something that somehow opens up a new dimension of his personality. he had some of those lines, he could be ahead of the game. >> jonathan, you've got three hours to help him. thank you so much. >> thank you. coming up on "hardball," dnc chair joins chris matthews live from tampa. next, the drums of war beating in tampa. the movie we've sadly seen before. stay with us. >> in 1968, france was a dangerous place to be for a

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i'm on an aspirin regimen... and i take bayer chewables. [ male announcer ] be sure to talk to your doctor before you begin an aspirin regimen. he's my success story. [ laughs ] just over five hours from now, mitt romney will make his case to the nation for why he should become the 45th president of the united states. luke russert joins us live from the floor of the convention in tampa and you were in the hole as mitt romney and paul ryan took a photo with their staff and did a walk through. did you sense an electricity amongst them as they walked through? >> it was funny. the entire romney campaign literally was there on the steps in tampa right here at the rnc floor and there is some sort of buzz going on now amongst those staffers, but what was interesting, we talk about mitt romney, the fact he's a little rigid, not comfortable. he seemed pretty at ease out

there and surround ed by the folks closest to him, folks like matt rose, the should we say areas of the romney campaign. he was in good spirits. a lot of pressure on him. this is probably the biggest day in his political life. >> did he look confident? >> put it this way, there's confidence, but a little bit of nervous energy. that's to be expected in a night like this. his wife was a little nervous when she started her speech. paul ryan was a little nervous. but mitt romney's been running for president since 2007, and it all comes down to this night. there's a huge likability gap between him and president obama. he needs to close that. how he does that, it starts here in tampa. he needs to be able to say to people in ohio, virginia, who might be on the fence saying he might have better ideas about the economy, but we look president obama more, we trust president obama more. that's what his speech is going to be about. they're going the the talk a little bit about religion.

his time at the olympics, government and what his vision is going to be for the next four years. we asked earlier would there be real specifics, we probably won't see concrete policy ideas. >> we've been waiting for some for the last year and can't find these loopholes that are supposed to be closed and other things that are going to happen when they implement their budget and you're hearing no specifics tonight again. >> not in a sense of the state of the union ideas saying we will do this by this time. mitt romney has said on the stump he's going to balance the budget by 2020. as well as increase defense spending and issue a tax cut, so those numbers will not be explained on the floor in tampa. >> and a final question to you. we've learned that the surprise guest is no longer a surprise. it's clint eastwood. what should we expect from the great man? >> how about that, martin. you'd be happy to know that the

way we figured that out was the house band here was practicing -- the good, the bad and the ugly theme song. >> of course referring to the three prized speakers to mitt romney. >> interesting enough, he's a guy who actually, i would say relates to all generations. people that didn't know him until that get off my lawn comment is something that a lot of young folks sort of stereotype as something old people always say. but he's going to be the mystery guest, sort of brought here as a big name celebrity. perhaps folks in swing states, makes mitt romney more likable, iconic star of american cinema like clint eastwood is by his side. >> luke russert, thank you. we'll be right back. [ female announcer ] how do you define your moment?

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three days into the republican convention and the only thing mentioned less often that george w. bush are the wars he started in iraq and afghanistan. in fact, those wars have taken a backseat to the ones mitt romney seems itch tog start in syria and iran. on wednesday night, john mccain suggested that might be a good place to start. >> we must return to our best traditions of american leadership and support those who face down the brutal tyranny of their oppressors and our enemies. america must be on the right side of history. >> julian epstein is a democratic strategist and jimmy williams, former staffer with senator joe biden. in addition to promising big increases in spending, romney continues to say the u.s. should do more to intervene with iran

and help the syrian rebels. so, what do you think he would actually do if elected? >> well, i think you'd have to put your tooth on the ground. by doing so, you would a, put us in a third war. the war in afghanistan, the war on terror since we're now pulling out of iraq and now, syria. so that would be three different wars that we would be in. that's a problem because i think the american people at this point with without a doubt, whether they're democrats, republicans, independents or don't give a damn, they're tired of war. we have been at war longer in afghanistan than any war in the history of our nation. going into the middle east, another country is a big huge problem. i expected john mccain to talk about that last night. that's not news to us. he talks about it from the guys of the armed service committee in the building behind me. but for mitt romney to do something like that i think would be a huge problem and he

would lose support instantly. >> and yet, julian, despite that, you had mr. mccain and condoleezza rice also rehearsing these ideas, which again were hinting at america being formidable overseas again. >> yeah, well, someone tweeted today and we know why barack obama got the nobel peace prize, for keeping john mccain out of office. gop comes into this election at least in the battleground states. mitt romney has this perception of being an empty vessel. conventions are not just about projegting feelings, they're about framing choices. that's what the republican convention has done. they framed up an argument on debt and medicare which they cannot win. they have not yet made an affirmative argument about the economy. then you have elder statesmen coming and talking about being

on war footing in five different countries when as jimmy said, this country is more weary. this is a party that you could only come to the conclusion is to tone deaf on so many different levels and i think when it comes, the day after election, martin, we're going to look back and we're going to say when we try to analyze this election that one of the great opportunities missed by the republican party was really an effective framing of what the choices were at the republican convention largely because the republicans do not have an affirmative argument. >> jimmy, here's what romney told veterans of foreign wars this summer. take a listen to this. >> as commander in chief, i will have a solemn duty to our men and women in uniform. a route to more war and potentially to attacks here at home is a politically timed retreat. my duty is not to my political prospec

prospects, but to the skut of the nation and safety of our troops. >> now, he says a politically timed retreat. we found that fascinating when contrasted, we've told the boston herald in 1994, quote, it was not my desire to go off and serve in vietnam. nor did i take any actions to remove myself from the pull of young men who were eligible for the draft. >> wait, you mean mitt romney held a position before that he doesn't hold now? is that what -- you're not suggesting that mitt romney is flip-flopping -- >> stop humiliate iing he and - thought of something unique that you thought of perhaps ten years ago. >> listen, i don't believe anything mitt romney says. i think he's a very good person. i just don't believe him. i think he will say anything to be elected president of the united states and we have seen in the last two days, last three days, at the convention, a lot

of say anything to get him elected president of the united states by his surrogates and by the way, the democrats are doing the same thing next week. here's the problem with that. i can't think of have more issues that barack obama has quote flip-flopped on. i can think of myriad issues that mitt romney has flip-flopped on. not only from the time he was if france, but when he was governor and to now. today, right now, in august, the last day of august, 2012, there's not a single position that mitt romney holds that he didn't hold the exact opposite position when he was governor of massachusetts. this is a problem. he's not believable. and try to convince people to actually believe him. i find that hard to believe is going to happen. >> thank you both so much. we'll be right back. questions?

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american express. welcome in. it's time now to clear the air and while most commentators say that tonight's speech by the republican nominee is the most important of the convention, if you really want to understand the direction of the party then wednesday, there was without doubt the biggest night because everything you need to know about their domestic and foreign policy was there. first, vice president candidate paul ryan explained how they planned to adomestic policy. faking what he presented as the stance of the current administration. >> listen to the way we're spoken to already. as if everyone is stuck in some class or station in life. victims of circumstances beyond our control. with the government there to help us cope with our fate. >> the basic principle here is that the government is the enemy of freedom and the direct cause

of all our economic problems. it's pure ayn rand, one of paul ryan's favorite thinkers. man, every man, is an end in himself. not the means to the ends of others. he must exist for his own sake, the pursuit of his own rational self-interest and of his own happiness is the highest moral purpose of his life, so on domestic issues, the answer according to the republican party is to remove government almost entirely. but when it comes to foreign policy, it's almost the direct opposite. last night, speakers repeatedly described the world as a frightening place and said that only american intervention would ensure stability. here's john mccain. >> the success at home also depends on our leadership in the world. it is our willingness to shape world events for the better that has kept us safe, increased our prosperity, preserved our