decides on after the election. it will certainly mean a lot of what he promised, and being severely conservative. if that's not enough to scare you, you must not be part of the 47%. and that's "hardball" for now. thanks for being with us. "politicsnation" with al sharpton starts right now. >> thanks, chris. thanks to you for tuning in. tonight's lead, the romney campaign can't handle the truth. we talked a lot about mitt romney lurking to the senate to attract moderate voters but on one big issue, being there for the middle class, the romney evasions have just gone too far and now he and his campaign have been caught. he's trying to hide the simple fact that if he sticks to his plan, he will have to raise taxes on the middle class and he's been shredding the truth to say that's not true. it's something every voter should want to know the facts about.

for weeks, romney's been saying that there are six studies that defend his tax plan, 67 million americans saw him, romney himself, make that claim in the first debate against the president. >> i will lower tacks on middle income families. now, you cite a study. there are six other studies that say it's completely wrong. >> so six studies say it's completely wrong? congressman ryan made that same point in his debate with vice president biden with more than 51 million people watching. >> you guarantee this math will add up? >> six studies have guaranteed, have verified that this math adds up. >> there's that number again. six. six again. six studies say the romney/ryan math adds up. the talking point's been so great that a top romney adviser

took it for a spin over to the home field this weekend. and he wasn't expecting this. >> six different studies have said this is entirely doable. >> that wasn't the question. some of them are blog and independent groups. >> these are very credible sources and -- >> one of them is a from a guy who -- a blog from a top adviser to george w. bush. these are hardly nonpartisan studies. >> chris, i think if you look at harvard and aei, they are very credible sources. >> you wouldn't say that aei is a conservative think tank? >> it's a light leaning think tank but that doesn't make it uncredible. >> it doesn't make it partisan. >> two blogs from the conservative think tank, american enterprise institute. another nonpartisan study is

from the conservative think tank, the heritage foundation. their own website said that it's a paper written by, ready for this one, a former bush adviser. study number five, five says -- is written by "the wall street journal," an op ed written by an adviser to the romney campaign. and lucky number six is another blog post written again by the same adviser to the romney campaign. this is the kind of campaign he's running. i mean, have we ever seen anything like this in politics? mr. romney wants the american people to trust him. but how can you trust a man who has no problem bending the truth to 67 million americans? joining me now is joan walsh, editor at large for salon.com

and an msnbc political analyst. and democratic strategist bob shrum. let me thank you both for being here this evening. >> good to be here. >> bob, let me go to you first. six studies. wow, what do you have to say? six studies? >> after i watched ryan say that during the vice presidential debate and gulping water every two minutes, i thought maybe he had to wash his mouth out. several are blog posts. when ed gillespie says that harvard is pretty good at this, what he meant was harvard is associated with that. he says you would have to raise taxes on everybody over $100,000. romney says he won't touch anybody under $200,000. there's a new study out now by the joint committee on taxation that says if you close every one

of these loopholes, if you get rid of every one of these tax benefits, you can only pay for 4% across the board tax cut. this is supply side dribble. we had it under bush. we had a huge deficit. no net job creation virtually and you can contrast that with clinton who has to pay a little more, $22 million balance budget. >> let me go to you, joan. even former mccain adviser, mark zanzy, has argued that independent analysis is correct, the romney tax plan simply doesn't added a up. listen to nazdy. >> the tax policy says, knowing what we know about their plan, it's not possible. >> i think the tax policy center is the definitive study. they are very good. they say, given the numbers that they've been provided by the romney campaign, no, it will not add up. the arithmetic does not work as it is right now. >> it doesn't added a up.

again, i'm not dealing with as much on the numbers and the policy as i can the dishonesty. how does a man run for the president of the united states, stand up in the first presidential debate, everyone says he won and he stands up and blatantly distort facts, six independent studies where all of these are republican operatives, a couple of them written by an adviser to the campaign. they are bloggers. i mean, this is the most arrogant display of honesty that i've ever seen in politics. >> it is. people have pointed out that there are not six independent studies, reverend al. there's these blog posts. i think there might be seven tweets, facebook posts and a man in times square with a sign that support romney. but that's how thin it is. he hasn't really been challenged by mainstream media. and this is fox. how embarrassing is it that fox isn't even listening to him any

more and has felt like -- chris wallace feels like he has to come in and say, these things don't add up. >> when you say that the one independent study that joan is talking about, the tax policy center said it doesn't added a up. the one independent study does not agree that it adds up. >> right. >> and yet romney calls the tax center analysis garbage. >> yeah. >> he doesn't always feel he calls a group objective third-party analysis. even last week they cited the tax policy center in hitting the president. so they say his plan doesn't added a up. garbage. if they say something against the president, they are credible. >> yeah. look, you can call the whole romney campaign a strategy of deceit or a strategy of lies. it's about his tax plan which, frankly, he came up with because on the back of an envelope because the right wing was so

unhappy. i think this came out in february or march. there was no analysis done. they just offered this out there as red meat. they said we're going to close loopholes. they can't afford to say to people, we're going to take away your home interest mortgage deduction. we're going to take away your deduction for state and local taxes. look what they have done on medicare. they said current senior wouldn't be hurt. they would pay $600 more a year for prescription drugs. and people nearing retirement would pay up to $6,000 more a year for medicare. they just bold-face lie about it and hope that they can get away with it. chris did what he was supposed to do. he pushed in, asked a tough question, and got ed gillespie to admit there wasn't much there. >> joan, tomorrow night is the big second debate. because of the first debate there's a lot more riding on this than usually in a second

debate for president. new details on how team obama's approaching the debate. one says a new obama memo debunking the claims in advance. and nbc reports the president will bring up the 47% comments at tomorrow's debate. what do you think? >> well, i'm happy to hear that. i think we all know that the president was not as sharp as he needed to be, including this tax plan, includes these tax details. he's got to hammer him on the deceptions and i think we also have to remember that a fighting barack obama is a winning barack obama. when he closed the deal in 2008, he was coming out strong with a populous message. he's been going strong for the last year with a concrete mess avera message and i think that we have

to see that barack obama because when people feel that he's in the ring, he's fighting for them and he's really countering mitt romney, not just standinging there, they know that he's on their side. >> well, a lot of people want to see them fight because according to the national polls, the race is tight. it's also tight in key battleground state. a new ppp poll out today shows obama with a five-point lead in ohio but narrowly losing in florida and north carolina. swing state polls last week showed obama ahead by three points in wisconsin, by seven in michigan, but also losing to come ree in colorado and virginia. i mean, what do you make of the state of the race right now, bob? >> well, i think the whole variety of polls all over the place, i think the race has tightened since the first debate. i think you're right. the fighting barack obama has to show up tomorrow. by the way, it doesn't have to

be obnoxious. when he gets asked a question by someone in the audience, stand up and say, look, there's a real difference between what i would do and what governor romney would do and outline that difference and show how he's going to stand up and fight for the middle class. i think the structure of this race still favors the president because romney virtually has to run the table, especially if obama holds that lead in ohio. >> now, joan, should the president point out the blatant dishonesty and distortions of mr. romney and his campaign to mr. romney tomorrow night in front of, i'm sure, what is going to be a record breaking crowd of viewers for the second debate? >> yes. i think he has to. and they are trying to put all kinds of restrictions on candy crowley. they don't want her to ask follow ups and be the fact checker. i think in a charming, polite way, when things come up, if we hear with the six studies again, if he's brazen enough to tell

uses thus that six studies back up the tax plan, even chris wallace doesn't believe you and there's no truth to what you're saying, i think he's got to be a fact checker and say what he needs to say to win. >> joan walsh and bob shrum, thank you for your time this evening to both of you. >> thank you, rev. coming up, a man who knows all about getting to the truth. he blew the lid off of watergate. how can republicans get the facts on jobs? carl bernstein joins us live. you'll want to hear what he has to say. plus, how did this t-shirt saying, quote, "put the white back in the white house" make it into a romney rally? and the first lady will not be voting on election day. we'll tell you why. you're watching "politicsnation" on nnz. msnbc.

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have you joined the "politicsnation" conversation on facebook yet? early voting was a hot topic today. especially with this photo of the first lady showing off her absentee ballot. she inspired folks to share their stories. david says, he voted this morning. while phillip is sending his ballot in tomorrow. patty said, i voted early for

your husband, too, michelle. great minds think alike. early voting is playing a big role in this election. we'll have more on that coming up. have you voted yet? we want to know. head over to facebook and search "politicsnation" and "like" us to join the conversation that keeps going long after the show ends. taking more medication, so we see people suffering from dry mouth more so. we may see more cavities, bad breath, oral irritation. a dry mouth sufferer doesn't have to suffer. i would recommend biotene. the enzymes in biotene products help supplement enzymes that are naturally in saliva. biotene helps moisten those areas that have become dry. those that are suffering can certainly benefit from biotene.

welcome back. i've noticed something about the romney folks during this campaign. when the economy starts looking up, they start looking a little down in the mouth. they just can't admit the economy is getting better. >> when president obama came into office, he did inherit a

tough situation. problem is, he made things worse. >> president obama made the economy worse? what planet are these guys living on? this is the same old talking point that mitt romney had so much trouble with earlier in the campaign. remember how he couldn't decide whether the economy was getting better or not? >> when he took office, the economy was in recession and he made it worse. and he made it last longer. >> he didn't create the recession. >> he did not cause the recession but he made it worse. >> i didn't say that things are worse. >> is that a hard argument to make, okay, he inherited this recession and took a bunch of steps to try to turn the economy around and now we're seeing more jobs but vote against him anyway? >> have you got a better one, laura? because this happens to be the truth. >> you're right, governor. it just happens to be the truth. the economy is getting better.

just look at how many private sector jobs we lost at the end of the bush era. nearly two million jobs in the last quarter of 2008 alone. but under president obama, we've had 31 straight month of private sector job growth. the unemployment rate is now 7.8%. lower than when the president took office and the stock market has been rising steadily. the dow was up 61% since the week he took office. look, the entire rationale for romney's campaign is that he can fix the economy. but the economy's already being fixed and the only ideas that romney has to offer are the same ones that ruined the economy in the first place. joining me now is the one and only carl bernstein. he's a former washington post reporter who helped break the watergate scandal. he's now a contributor to the daily beast. mr. bernstein, thank you for being here tonight.

>> good to be here, al. >> what's the romney rationale for running? >> it is getting better. it's not getting better as most people would like. the real thing -- and the question that we need to ask is, what has kept the economy from really moving and is it republican obstructionism in washington? has the republican party in washington contributed to coming across and joining with democrats in ways to make the economy better? i think the answer is no. it's trying to inhibit the economy through it is ideology rather than trying to take the brakes off and give it a real chance to breathe. the real question is why. we've heard from republicans over the years, democrats soft on communism, whatever.

this is a real radical party. rom snee a cap romney is captive of it to a large he can tent and that's what we are seeing in this argument. the other issue is president obama. and you've got to put these two things side by side. the republican of the record and romney's truthfulness and whether he has been consistent in his record over the years. those, to me, are the irons. >> okay. you have a president's record, congress' record and romney's truthfulness. you are legendary dealing with making people accountable and being truthful. the romney blatant misrepresentation, six experts and all of this, have you, carl bernstein, ever seen anything in a campaign, this arrogant in terms of being false? >> i think there's all levels of mundacity. there's been an unusual amount

of mundacity. it puts a very high bar up for the president and his party not to go there and can the other side find where they have gone? all politicians lie, the president lies, his opponent lies. i think that hurts obama, that belief, and i think it's hard to get past it. i think what the president has to do is more effectively lay out what his opposition has been in washington and what he has tried to do and let the cards fall on that basis. because then he will lose. >> you are the personification of media that had a bite, that made something happen, changed history. why does the media appear so toothless now? where is the media in terms of their bite? >> i don't buy it. i think the media is there.

i think the term media is a very big term. i think the reason we now about this money das tea is because of the media. what we have is a 24-hour hot house, a web-based media environment in which we don't have reliable sources of truthful, context you'll information that the country can agree on as reliable sources of information. the media has become part of a cultural war that has been going on for 30 years and we're all poorer for it. but those sources and those reporters are there. i think there's a bigger problem that they are not being heard, that there are citizens in this country increasingly on both sides to look for information, to reinforce their prejudices, their ideologies and not be open to real debate and i think we're seeing it in this election. that if we could have a truth-based debate, then we

could have some really intelligent decision making in this race. i think we're heading towards a kind of chaos. i think that what happened in that debate with the president the other night is he let the gene knee out of the bottle in terms of a perception of him as an arrogant, removed leader and there is something to that, i think. certainly there are people in his own party that believe that is perhaps a problem with him. but of these dimensions, it ignores the job he's done. it's very hard now to put that in context and we're stuck with his performance in that debate and now he's going to have -- >> what is going to happen tomorrow night? what would you say he and romney ought to do tomorrow night? >> i don't tell president and candidates what to do. i think -- >> what are you looking for tomorrow night? >> i would be looking for a very hard hitting, cool,

factual resuscitation of what the party has done or not done and to call romney, particularly on the 47%. romney meant that. this was no accident. joe biden was right the other night. it's part of the rhetoric, the basic part of the campaign in the republican party. has been all along. and that's why i say this is a radical party. now romney is trying to escape that radical -- >> isn't that part of the problem, carl? you have romney talking about 47%, corporations or people standing up telling blatant mistruths and yet they call the president arrogant? >> look, i think this is a demon that president obama has. that's a perception. i'm not saying that the perception is altogether and

they know this is his sweet spot and they know that. it's perception, it's atmosphere, it's television theater. the real question is, what has he done, what hasn't he done? what has the other party done? what haven't they done? who is responsible for moving the economy forward? who is responsible for obstructing it? those are the questions that ought to be answered in this debate so that reasonable people -- and there are not too many people that are reasonable out there and who are opened to that kind of discussion. that's what is going to decide the ee electric, are those people who are still open to the argument and one of these candidates is going to make the better, more truthful argument and if you can stick to it and get it across, i think that candidate will prevail. >> the one and only carl bernstein. it's a real pleasure to have you. thank you for coming on tonight.

coming up, there's news on the ugly billboards that have shown up in minority neighborhoods. who is behind the right wing plan to intim naidate voters? and what is the romney campaign saying about this t-shirt that made it into one of their rallies? you're watching "politicsnation" on msnbc. >> paul ryan's comments calling them a bunch of stuff. in fairness, a bunch of stuff is the entire text of the romney/ryan economic plan. ♪ [ male announcer ] how do you make 70,000 trades a second... ♪ reach one customer at a time? ♪ or help doctors turn billions of bytes of shared information... ♪

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welcome back. have you ever had a bad boss? you know, a bad boss? >> greed, for lablg ck of a bet word, is good. >> your interests do not interest me. >> i'm going to need you to ask go ahead and come in tomorrow. so if you could be here around 9:00, that would be great. okay? >> lloyd! >> pretty scary. but not as scary as somewhat real life bosses are doing right now. you all know the billionaire koch brothers. they are planning on spending $400 million on this year's election and now they are telling employees how to vote.

the magazine in these times, sent to some workers, it includes a list of preferred candidates and anti-obama editorials. it also says is many of our more than 50,000 u.s. employees and contractors may suffer the consequences if their candidates don't win. and the kochs aren't the only strong army employees. governor romney campaigned with a group of miners who were told attendance were mandatory and the head of the mining company once told workers if an ee electr election did not go his way, the coal industry will be eliminated and so will your jobs. and told to vote for smaller government and less government and a ceo of a florida time

share company said that if president obama is is re-elected, quote, i will have no choice but to reduce the size of this company. these sound like threats to me. the bosses are bushing a candidate for tax breaks for the rich and less regulation. great for ceos but not for average workers. did they think we wouldn't in the their gender? nice try but we got you. ♪ [ male announcer ] jill and her mouth have lived a great life. but she has some dental issues she's not happy about. so i introduced jill to crest pro-health for life. selected for people over 50. pro-health for life is a toothpaste that defends against tender, inflamed gums, sensitivity and weak enamel.

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in wherever whenever investing. no matter what kind of investor you are, you'll find the technology to help you become a better one at e-trade. we're back with a photo that has a lot of our facebook fans very upset. it was taken at a romney/ryan rally in ohio on friday and it says, quote, put the quite back in the white house. the photographer who took the picture confirms it was taken inside the rally, not outside. the romney campaign rightly calls the t-shirt reprehensible and says it has no place in this

election. but i have to wonder how he made it inside the rally in the first place. did anyone notice his shirt? it points to something ugly that is sim perrimering beneath the e of this campaign. a view that even suggests he's not american at all. in wisconsin yesterday, the son of republican candidate tomorrow knee thompson made this not so funny joke about the president. >> we have the opportunity top send president obama back to chicago or kenya. we have an opportunity to -- >> we're taking donations for the kenya trip. >> send him back to kenya?

he's apologized but it's not the first time during this election season. folks, politics can be an ugly affair but this kind of stuff has to and michelle cottle, washington correspondent for the daily beast. thanks you both for joining me. >> let's get back to this t-shirt. are you surprised to see this kind of thing at a presidential campaign in the year 2012? >> i'm surprised that they allowed the person to get into the interior of the event and surprised that they didn't notice that a photographer was taking a picture of it. but i'm not sure that that

sentiment is around race and other birtherism directed at the president really does reside in the republican party. >> now, michelle, when we see tommy thompson's son telling this kenya not so funny joke, we've seen it before. i might remind people that making a birther joke about president obama. let me play it for you, michelle. >> i heard someone suggest that the other day that as soon as president obama releases his grades and birth certificate and sort of a long lils of things, then make he'd do it. >> now, what's the play here? what are they doing? what game are we playing with all of this unamerican, not

america, kenya, senate candidate they are trying to get fringe within the party and they believes this. and there's a lot of people out there. >> now -- go ahead. >> they are playing to a minority within sort of a red meat radical base of the republican party and romney's birtherism and what the president is speaking to a base that they try to use within the republican party. >> it seems to be working if you

look at the fact that in august of 2008, 16% of gop voters thought the president was a muslim. in july of 2012, it's double. 30%. and even you're seeing this birther being played at the highest level of the campaign. mitt romney himself, not his son, mitt romney himself made a birther certificate comment in august of this year. but he says he wasn't talking about president obama. let's listen. >> i was born at harper hospital. nobody has asked to see my birth certificate. they know that this is the place that we were born and raised. >> now, of course, he wasn't talking about president obama, right? >> there's only one way to read it and that's in the context of all of the birtherism and, again, just making an awkward

joke, how can that exist within the context of birtherism? all of the instances where people say he's not american or muslim or kenyan, there's too many of these now to actually deny the proposition that this is quite deliberate. >> michelle, is everybody supposedly awkward? you have this pattern from the sons to the candidate to the candidates for senate. you have john sununu. how he went and made certain statements about the president not being really american or was unamerican. let me show you john sununu. >> i wish this president would learn how to be an american. he has no idea how the american system functions. he does not understand america. >> this is three times.

this is a romney surrogate. there's too many people too often saying the same thing for it not to be a strategy in here, michelle. >> look, politics is a game where you have to whip up the base. we play it kind of like a blood sport and you get out there and you get your base really revved up so that they will do almost anything to get to the polls for you. now, then the problem comes later when you have to govern or when you need to stake out a sensible position for how to run the country and a lot of the republicans in congress have been dealing with this and they've got everybody all revved up and found themselves unable to like give an inch when it came time to do legislation. so it's going to be a problem for them but don't expect to change it. >> james peterson, professor james peterson and michelle cottle, thank you both for your time. >> thanks, rev.

still ahead, more voter suppression efforts. we've got news on these intimidating billboards put up in inner city african-american neighborhoods. we'll be right back. ♪ [ male announcer ] it's time for medicare open enrollment. are you ready? time to compare plans and see what's new. you don't have to make changes, but it's good to look. maybe you can find better coverage, save money, or both. and check out the preventive benefits you get after the health care law. ♪

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former president bush and we're now learning surprising details about his life out of the public eye. new york magazine says president bush is, quote, living as invisibly as possible. one person close to the family says, he's becoming increasingly agoraphobic and a former aide says he's taken up painting, making paintings of dogs. painting dogses? that's what he's doing? they still can't come to grips with the party's recent record. two wars, a debt crisis, and a great recession, and that's the picture of the gop that voters have in mind as they go to the polls in this election. they've been committed to putting clients first.

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we've been talking a lot on

this street about early voting. it could decide this election. as of today, more than 1.1 million votes have been cast. guess who is joining the trend today. first lady michelle obama. she posed with this absentee ballot before mailing it out. she wrote in another tweet, hey, barack obama, i just dropped my absentee ballot in the mail. i couldn't wait for election day. and then minutes later the president tweeted, i'm falling michelle obama's example and voting early. here's the first lady at a rally in ohio today. >> today i voted for my husband. yes! it felt so good. right now my absentee ballot is on its way to illinois, my home state, which means that we are

one vote chooser to re-electing my husband and moving this country forward for four more years. >> it's early but as of today early voting is looking good for the democrats. who are casting more ballot in some key states. that's why we're seeing the right wing suppression tactics. and we told you about these billboards popping up in some african-american and hispanic neighborhoods in ohio and w wisconsin. someone is trying to intimidate voters but we know what they are up to and we won't let them. it is your right to vote. don't be afraid to stand up and be counted. joining me now is owe nye ohio state senator nina turner. thank you for being here. >> thank you, rev. >> can you find out who is behind them? >> not really, rev. as far as who exactly paid for those billboards, we are not

certain. >> when you say that, what is the connection be that clear channel has? >> clear channel took the money. >> they own the billboards? >> absolutely. but the fact of the matter is that all money is not good money. they know the way the billboards were going up and the communities that they were going up in, that was not a good idea and they've been catching the heat and we want to thank you and other folks on msnbc to really bring this to light. >> how many billboards are we talking about, senator? >> there are about 30 so far across the state of ohio. many of them are concentrated in the cleveland area, primarily in african-american, hispanic, and poor communities, although there have been sightings in poor neighborhoods. a few are up in white neighborhoods. it doesn't matter what neighborhood it's in.

it's wrong all day long and they know it and they know exactly what they are trying to do. this is deliberate. this is not by accident. they are trying to invoke fear here. >> and as well as 85 and wisconsin, i know all over ohio, alicia reece who i work with tells me cincinnati and is trying to invoke fear so people will be afraid to vote, that they would be accused of doing something wrong. i mean, this is as undemocratic and anti-democratic as you can get. >> it is. when you couple that, you've got true the vote here and secretary of state who has decided that he's not going to listen to the sir kit court. he's not going to listen to the six sixth circuit court. he has appealed to the u.s. supreme court to try to block the last three days of early voting in the last state of ohio. when you combine all of that together, you have foolishness,

folly and confusion going on in the state of ohio. >> as well as the fact that let's point out that there's been no voter fraud found. all of this is to remedy what? it is a solution looking for a problem. there has been no fraud. all of these wantings and dog whistles are around what? there's no problem that has been proven or established. >> rev, i don't even think it's a dog whistle anymore. and more folks need to be outraged and not just look at this as an african-american or hispanic or poor problem. when you have election officials deliberately trying to take away the fundamental right to vote in this country in the 21st century and it is absolutely unamerican. and furthermore, what they are doing is treating the populations who are more likely to vote for the president it has

become a crime to be poor, to be african-american, to be hispanic, to be controlled under the general assembly in the state of ohio and it doesn't make sense and it's happening all over the country and this is not what the melting pot is about. they are going against what america is about and it is a shame. >> nina turner, thank you for your time tonight. >> thanks, rev. >> and let me say, you can wave flags and you can say patriotic things. the real patriotic americans are the people that protect the vote and hold it sacred. that is what this country is supposed to be built on. you cannot cover it with ceremonial patriotism and not have practiced patriotism which is holding the vote above any level. of people trying to play games with it.

and you hear or see any problems in your community, we want to know about it. tweet it at @protectthevote. or go to facebook at facebook.com/politicsnation. we need your eyes and ears to protect the vote. [ mother ] you can't leave the table till you finish your vegetables. [ clock ticking ] [ male announcer ] there's a better way... v8 v-fusion. vegetable nutrition they need, fruit taste they love. could've had a v8.

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finally tonight, the game of politics can be a tough one. we all know that. but what we've seen from governor romney's campaign is remarkable. we were surprised during the first debate when governor romney danced around the truth all night from taxes to health care to unemployment. it was one thing after another. since he left that podium, the obama team pundit, basically everyone who isn't a republican said mr. romney didn't tell the true. now the weighing of the gop propaganda of fox news is crying

foul and they are going to a republican behind one of the most notorious outbursts in political history. >> the reforms i'm proposing would not apply to nose who are here illegally. >> yes, they are going to joe you lie wilson. the congressman who became a household name for disrespecting president obama during his speech to a joint session of congress. america, this actually happened today. >> do you think that they are applying a different standard now to governor romney than that they demanded of you? >> absolutely, megan, indeed. my son allen identified what i did. it was a spontaneous town hall moment. it took them three days to try to respond to the failure of the president's list, exhibit of the issues for our coun