thank you for your work and joining to tonight. >> chris hayes is up next. flirting with disaster. let's play "hardball." ♪ good evening. i'm chris matthews up in new york. let me start tonight with this. the march to armageddon advanced a mile today as john boehner buckled to the party right and signed on to kill president obama's affordable care act in its crib. it must die, he agrees, if the government is to live. but this surrender by boehner came today as a bugle charge as they lead the republicans into the valley of death. a u.s. government wronged in the first instance in the ability to function, in the second to become international dead beat.

scarier still is the word from the republican voters themselves. 2/3 of whom "a," want the debt bill defeated, and "b" know it will cause great harm to the economy. they know what the right is pushing will hurt the country and are still dead set on doing it. have we reached a point where one of the country's two major political parties are so mad that they want to bring down the house just to see president obama in the debris. democrats on the hill are out in full force, of course, warning the public about the calamities of a government shutdown or a government default. yesterday senate majority leader harry reid called them a bunch of anarchistings. and today nancy pelosi had this to say about the perils of a default. >> shutting down the government is one bad thing. you shut it down, you open it up again.

not lifting the debt limit is unleashing a torrent, a river of no return. it is beyond cataclysmic. >> here's the scary thing. republicans out there in the country who are polled don't care. according to a new washington post/abc poll, only 25% of republicans want to raise the debt limit. the rest say it's good to default. the republicans out there fully understand the consequences of a default. 66% of republicans acknowledge that a default would cause serious harm to the economy. they just don't seem to care or whatever. let me go to john feehery on this. this is the reality speaker boehner confronts. not only to deal with the hard core republicans on the right, he's got a republican party base out there saying go ahead, default. we know it's going to hurt the economy, but damn it. it's fascinating. how does boehner deal with this?

>> very carefully. you'll see them send over with the defund on the cr. ted cruz has to decide whether he's going to filibuster. harry reid's got to come back with the votes to ping it back to the house. then you'll have to reach an agreement on spending levels on the cr. you know, i worked in the house in the 1990s, republicans back then were not very excited about increasing the debt ceiling back then. this is always a difficult vote. they got to find a way to get the votes here. >> but what does boehner do, the speaker of the house, if he has to decide between rejecting the call to kill the affordable health care act or not funding the federal government. how does he deal with that one or the other situation? it isn't about cutting spending, it's about getting rid of one big milestone accomplishment of the president. >> you walk through the process. you give members of the house a vote which they're going to get tomorrow. they're going to vote to defund obama care.

send it to the senate. they'll probably reject is that. then they send it back to the house. then you have to reach a combination on the spending levels which is the issue here. it's not whether they're going to defund obama care, which is not going to happen by the way, but how you reach the levels of spending for the short-term cr. you have to work through this process and that's what boehner is doing. >> does that conform to your reporting, howard, that there will be a majority of the republicans that say okay we tried it once. we're going to move on and not try to kill obama care? >> that will be the moment of truth, chris. and actually we're reporting today in the "huffington post" there's a lot of resentment amongst house republicans, the hard core tea party republicans against ted cruz right now. because ted cruz seemed to say not long ago that he didn't expect the senate to be able to do anything about killing obama care. sort of gave up before the fight, at least that's how it was interpreted. that may provide an opening to

come back and say they're not really serious on the other side. you guys had your vote. let's pass something. at least that's, i think, the game plan that boehner has right now. it's clear to me that boehner's real sympathies lie with the leadership. meaning the president and harry reid and so forth. i think ultimately boehner wants to move ahead. i think boehner probably even despite what he said today about killing obama care, et cetera, et cetera, knows it's a lost battle. really it's a lost battle and he's got to move ahead. >> let me go to john on this. is it possible in doing what he has to do? i think the way we're talking about this the way it's developing without any help from the senate or president, he's in the corner there. does that protect him from a move to dump him? >> i don't think there's going to be a move to dump him. he's got plenty of votes to survive against a coup.

what ted cruz did today basically giving up saying you're the kamikazes, house. many say this is crazy i'm not going to follow ted cruz into a political grave. i think you'll see a process where boehner will let them vote. it's going to come back from the senate and they'll reach an agreement on the spending levels. >> earlier today boehner criticized president obama for insisting he won't negotiate over the debt ceiling. but listen carefully to what boehner wants from the president. it's not the death of obama care. listen to the wording here. >> you know, most presidents refer to their bipartisan efforts to reduce the deficit as achievements. the president sees this quote, unquote as extortion. so while the president is happy to negotiate with vladimir putin, he won't engage with the congress on a plan that deals with the deficit that threatens our economy. let me be clear.

a debt limit increase without any reforms to lower our deficit just isn't going to cut it. >> john feehery, you heard it there. without any reforms. it's not you got to kill obama care to get the debt ceiling through or the continuing resolution, the cr as you're calling it. but something. >> well, john boehner's absolutely right. >> that's a significant statement there. he's saying this isn't all about killing obama care. >> i don't disagree with that. i think it's significant. but i think it's consistent. boehner -- we got a deal last year that decreased spending. you have to kind of within the context of raising that, that's why you have a debt limit. so you confront the real deficit problems you have. that's why you have this fight to begin with. if you don't do anything on it, what's the point of having this discussion at all? we've got to confront our debt. there's a long history confronting our debt. when we reach a debt limit. i think that's all -- for the president to say if he's going

to negotiate with putin and not with house republicans, that's not a smart strategy. >> there was an old tip tip o'neill used to do. he would shout out to make the other guy feel good. here you have boehner trashing the president when he's planning to align with him by the end. but he has to cover it. my bigger question to you is the republican party at the grassroots level, we talked about that poll. i'm not sure the conservative republicans are off base with the party. they really don't like obama care, doesn't like obama period. and to trash the economy a bit in order to scorch this guy at least in a polling sense appeals to the republican people, voters out there. look at the results of that poll. >> i don't think there's any doubt about that, chris. i've attended a couple of interesting meetings over the last couple weeks of the grassroots, the conservative heart of the party. and one was in new york where they were sort of listening to up and coming young republican politicians.

and another one was a rally of rand paul's group called young americans for leadership. kids basically. and yes, there is -- the default setting is a distrust of government, a desire to take it down. and they're in a different generation and different context than from when ronald reagan began this conversation. among the young people and among middle class voters who are squeezed. if you look at the recent statistics on basically the stagnation of household income. there's a higher tax burden upon middle class people. and they're not making more money. and there's an argument as to which way you go there. do you go for more big government? expand health care? or do you -- you know, that's one way to go. or do you try to cut taxes on the middle class? that's the argument here. there are legitimate reasons for the anger at the grassroots. >> i think people want to cash out.

>> but the republicans are not being honest because over the years they voted for as much spending if not more than the democrats have over the last decade and a half. that's the part they don't want to tell. >> i want to respond to you and karl rove. today he said like many he's trying to persuade the far right to abandon their kamikaze mission. in an op-ed in today's wall street journal, he said a shutdown now would have much worse fallout than the one in 1995. back then seven of the government's 13 appropriations bills had been signed into law already. so most of the government was untouched by the shutdown. but this time no appropriation bills have been signed into law. so no discretionary spending is in place for any part of the federal government. washington won't be able to pay military families or any other federal employee. tuesday offered this rebuke of the ideology.

they're heading into a box canyon now. it's something else entirely to sabotage a plan with a chance of succeeding and pretend to have leverage that exists only in a world of town hall applause lines and fund raising letters. that's out there by the wall street journal. backed up today by karl rove. this is dangerous territory. don't be bringing down the government. don't be causing the government to become a dead beat. >> let me say, i think that we can survive a government shutdown for a couple days. that's not that big of a deal. it's stupid politically. defaulting on our debt is catastrophic. and so i think that there's two things there. i think that the republicans -- the conservatives have taken their eye off the ball. obama care is bad, but they lost the focus on the spending that we've got to do. obama care is part of that, but we've got a bigger entitlement problem to deal with.

>> we all agree. >> they've taken their focus off the ball by focusing on something that's unachievable. the president is not going to repeal his own act. >> well said, john. i agree with you everything tonight, pretty much. howard, here's the nut to crack. does any conservative congress person have anything to fear by a government default? it will be bad for the country, but does anybody lose their seat over that? >> yes, possibly. on the margins of not deep red but maybe lighter shades of red, absolutely. >> suburban people. >> it can happen. it can definitely happen. if the default happens, if the debt ceiling is not raised, all bets are off. yes the fed can continue printing money, but the full faith and credit of the united states will be under question. the big wall street banks will keep buying but the rest of the world won't necessarily keep buying what the paper that the fed is putting out.

>> if there's a default, we lose the house of representatives. i don't think there's any doubt about it. >> that's what i was looking for. you just gave it to me. thank you john and howard. this is something i think is a bipartisan recognition by a lot of people who have to be the grownups now that something has to be done at the end of this argument. next couple weeks, fine argue about this. then something's got to be done. coming up, senator ted cruz is happy to let the people be his human shield. and a lot of republicans have decided they've had enough of their bomb throwing colleague from texas. also house republicans have voted to cut $39 billion out of food stamps. that would knock millions off the rolls and reduce their benefits. and remember the charming ad we showed you for the seat up in massachusetts? >> i'm carl sciortino. and i'll never forget that conversation with my dad. >> that's me. >> where i had to come out and tell him -- >> wait for this. >> -- that i was a massachusetts

liberal. >> and he's proud of it. >> tea party father and massachusetts liberal son join us later in the show. and let me finish tonight with a way to end up settling this war of nerves over whether to shut down the u.s. government. this is "hardball," the place for politics.

the conviction of former house majority leader tom delay was sentenced to three years in prison. but an appeals court ruled today that the lower court's decision was legally insufficient. the conviction stemmed from charges he tried to influence elections in texas by steering corporate money in violation of the law. today he won acquittal. we'll be right back. oo small. too soft. too tasty. [ both laugh ] [ male announcer ] introducing progresso's new creamy alfredo soup.

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welcome back to "hardball." there seems to be a revolt of sorts against ted cruz of texas.

cruz has been fanning the flames for a government shutdown over the affordable care act and actively taunting republicans not to back down. yesterday he became a target himself of fellow republicans when he conceded the absurdity of trying to shut down the government over something that will never happen. in a statement he said quote, harry reid will no doubt try to strip the defund language from the continuing resolution. and right now he likely has the votes to do so. at that point house republicans must stand firm, hold their ground, and continue to listen to the american people. the reaction came quickly to the statement. sean duffy tweeted quote, house agrees to send cr to senate that defunds obama care. senator ted cruz and mike lee refuse to fight. they wave the white flag and surrender. so far senators are good at getting facebook likes and not much else. do something. and bob corker, quote, i didn't go to harvard or princeton but i can count.

it is a tactic that will fail and weaken our position. those are just the comments of people on the hill they did on the record. imagine the off the record stuff. today ted cruz seemed to back track a little saying he would do whatever he could to stop the health care reform law from being funded. let's hear the latest from ted cruz. >> i will do everything necessary and anything possible to defund obama care. >> filibuster? >> yes. and anything else, any procedural means necessary. >> what a self-satisfied person. however, the same statement he again put the burden on house republicans. let's watch. >> as soon as the house passes this into law, it's going to be in harry reid's court. and he may well be able to hold his 54 democrats to not listen to the american people. but if that happens, then it's going back to the house of representatives. and i'll tell you this.

if and when we win this fight, it is going to be because house republicans have stood up and showed the courage that they are showing right now that they continue to stand up. the house is the one branch of government that republicans have a majority. >> nia-malika henderson and a.b. stoddard. i think -- i guess i don't like cruz in a way. i don't know the guy. he's a new guy on the hill, fair enough. but his manner is inindictive. everybody else on the other side is evil. he's willing to bring down the government. he has no problem with bringing all the columns down if it kills the enemies he doesn't like. he's humorless. i don't know what his interest in politics is except to destroy. he has joe mccarthy aspects in the way he impugns the records and reputations of those he doesn't like. something about the guy looks like, i don't know.

what is it? what is the force that he unleashes? because it's not the usual left versus right or right versus -- it's not about philosophy, it's not about believing in things. a lot of people believe in what he believes in. it's the total destructive tactic of the guy. your thoughts? what's it about? >> even before he began the movement, the defunder movement and started calling back in august people like john boehner and in the establishment who were counseling against anything that would shut the government down, he was calling them the surrender caucus. even before this came un, ted cruz was building up bad feelings in the senate where he's only just arrived in january. he got into -- he came as a new outsider and he doesn't want to become one of the old crusty institutional sellout establishment republicans in the senate. you know, he's already in a public fight with john mccain who called him a wacko bird.

when you talk to republican senators privately, there is no love lost for senator ted cruz. and that's great for senator cruz. he is building his brand. he's building his donor list. he's in it for himself. >> yeah. he voted against caroline kennedy. i have a sense he will go all the way. >> i don't know what he's going to do. but what he has done in the last 36 hours where he actually finally admitted it might take another election to overturn or defund obama care after he spent -- went on a heritage action foundation funded tour really stoking this and getting everybody excited about it, making the grassroots republicans believe it was possible. now coming back and say it's on the house of representatives has made people really angry. and he -- again, i don't think he cares. but he has really -- >> what's his game plan? what's his end game? can he be president by republican right wing likes if --

>> i don't know if he gets out of the primary process. >> let me go back to nia-malika. they held against obama that he was born in kenya. why wouldn't they say the same thing about this guy? it's the same thing they erroneously blamed president obama for. this case it's true. if the birth i types have been denying that kind of person the chance to be president. >> ted cruz in the way that ted cruz behaves and sort of signature ted cruz, he has since renounced his canadian citizenship. >> why is it an issue with the birthers then? >> i think we know why it's an issue with the birthers because it's obama and they want to use anything to delegitimatize president obama. but ted cruz is one of them. i mean, if you look at who has the ear of the grassroots, it is ted cruz. you saw him down in iowa.

he has a certain charisma. almost like a televangelist. i do agree he can come across as humorless. but i think to those fighting mad tea party folks, he resonates. he has a strategy. it has worked impeccably. he has made marco rubio -- >> explain it to me. where is this oliver cromwell thing of his come from? where's this sense of i'm here to burn away? usually there's a reason for people to be totally far out like this. their parents or something. >> possibly. but that is what the country -- parts of the country are calling for. >> a.b., do you -- can you figure out this guy philosophical roots where they come from? >> i don't think it was because he was in the debate club. >> at princeton, right. >> i think that nia is correct. there's a real thirst out there among the grassroots on the right for someone who will just start fighting because they think what the establishment

republicans have done for so long hasn't worked. >> that's right. >> i spoke to a republican in philadelphia this morning who said to my face we have to have this fight. the time has come. this is our last chance to stop obama care. i mean, people really love his message. the problem is he's teased them into thinking it was possible. and only yesterday he admitted that it wasn't. >> congratulations on finding the republican in philadelphia. thank you. there's only 15% that voted for romney. thank you a.b. stoddard and nia-malika henderson. we'll be right back. this is "hardball," the place for politics.

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do you have a plan "a"? >> welcome back to the sideshow. that was jimmy fallon on the looming government shutdown. top democrat on the rules committee knows a divided gop makes avoiding a shutdown that much harder. her office came out with this netflix spoof yesterday featuring john boehner. the tagline is partisanship and brink manship threaten to topple the house of cards. next up, tim cain won the centennial spelling bee in washington last night. the 90-minute long spelling contest pit a journalist against lawmakers in a tense and confusing showdown. for example, here's a word that stumped virginia congressman jerry connolly. >> hydrangea. >> hydranger. >> hydrangea. >> i'm sorry. i cannot hear you. >> hydrangea. >> hydranger.

>> i am from boston. >> so am i. >> hydrangea. it's a kind of flower, yes. >> oh, the hydranger. let's see. h-y-d-r-a-n-g-e-r. hydranger. nope. >> and finally wait until you see this weird new campaign ad against the affordable care act. it was released today by a group called generation opportunity. >> oh. i see you chose to sign up for obama care. >> yeah. it's actually my first time here. >> well, here we are then. change into a gown and the doctor will see you soon. >> all right can you swing and over, scoot down, and make yourself comfortable. okay. let's have a look.

[ scream ] >> well, that's the republican point of view, i guess. house republicans want to drastically cut food stamps on a time many americans rely on them to eat. you're watching "hardball," the place for politics.

welcome back to "hardball." house republicans and only republicans just voted to drastically cut federal spending on food stamps. not one democrat voted for the measure. the vote comes at precisely the time for americans nearly 14% of u.s. households rely on them. that's up 5 percentage points since 2008. the independent congressional budget office estimates this would result in nearly 4 million people losing their food stamps next year. funding for food stamps used to be considered part of the larger farm bill.

this time for the first time in 40 years, eric cantor split it out for separate consideration and scrutiny. here's who qualifies for food stamps. a family of four with up to $30,000 annual income but no more than $2,000 in a bank account. and the average assistance a person receives is $133 a month. debbie stabenow and ron shaich. in an effort to bring attention to the plate of the hungry, he's living on $4.50 a day himself what people get in food stamp food. senator, what's eric cantor up to and why did republicans want to be such a cartoon of themselves not only looking out for the top 1% but the bottom of the 47%, in the action.

>> first of all, thank you for focusing on this and for ron doing what he's doing. this is nothing but a partisan, mean spirited effort. frankly not only to attack poor children and families but to tank the whole farm bill. those of us who care about supporting farmers and conservation and jobs and nutrition understand what eric cantor is all about. just one more time trying to stop us from doing anything. and as you mentioned, i think it's important to emphasize 85% of the people who get federal assistance for food are either children, children with their parents, senior citizens, or people with disabilities like our veterans. and so we're talking about 85% being in that category and of the other 15%, those are folks trying to piece it together -- >> it's not exactly a bragging right either when you go in the store and use food stamps. people are hard up, in bad shape, they may have lost their job, lost their home.

they're relying on this. it seems like eric's real name should be ebenezer. what i mean by this, when people come to you from the conservative side and yell to you, do you get people complaining about food stamps? >> no. in michigan where we've had people that never thought in their wildest dreams they'd need food help. they paid taxes all their lives, they're mortified they need help. but they need a bit of help. the new folks coming onto food assistance are on for ten months or less. so it's temporary help. and here's the other good news. we actually are reducing the number of people on food assistance the right way. the congressional budget office says 14 million people -- fewer people will be on food assistance over the next ten years than there are now because of jobs. it's real simple. more jobs -- right. >> we've had a tough year. >> exactly.

>> let me go to our other guest mr. shaich. mr. shaich, thank you very much for joining us. he runs panera foods, a great chain of restaurants. you've done very well, i guess, financially and decided to see what it's like at the other end. what was it like? what is it like? >> this is something that we've been working on for a very long time. it isn't the snap challenge. we've had these cafes of shared responsibility. we give $150,000 in donations. and it became very clear to us that this is a real issue. 48 million americans are going to bed without enough food. and i decided at a personal level that i wanted to give awareness to that problem. i wanted to give voice to that problem. and i also wanted to feel it personally as a retail -- a guy who's run a public company. the way we built our company is by listening to the customer. >> what do you miss eating on $4.50 a day?

>> we all take food for granted. i need lunch, i get lunch. i need dinner, i get dinner. here food dominates my life. i'm all worried am i going to have enough food? what's going to happen? i got in a tiff with my wife. she put too much pasta in the pasta she was making for me. and i was really worried i wasn't going to have enough for the week. i've had chick pea stew for four days. the reality is food dominates your life. and you begin to be unable to operate. i've had -- and i think quite frankly the most interesting part to me is not what i learned about me, but it was the letters i got. the senator spoke to it. yesterday i was speaking to a veteran who had basically hit a wall, couldn't move on, wasn't able to eat, and was able to live through some of the ngo program. >> i hear from our producers

here that when people come to your stores, your restaurants around the country and they go in, if they make a case to somebody there, an authority behind the counter they can't afford to eat there. what's the reaction? what's your standard of behavior there? >> as a rule, we're not giving away food. we would not be able to stay a $4 billion public company very long doing that. we have created cafes. we have now five of them we're serving a million people a year in cafes of shared responsibility. there are no set prices in those cafes. we have one in st. louis, one in detroit, one in chicago, one in portland, oregon, and one in boston. they are in the cities. they're in places where people can access them. and the whole purpose is to give these caves to the community and let the community take care of each other. we built it, we paid for it, the community takes care of it. we say to people if you got a few extra bucks in your pocket, leave more to take care of people. if you have a little bit less, feel free to leave a little bit less. and if you have nothing, leave nothing. we'll ask you to volunteer to

help clean the tables. and here's the amazing thing. people thought we were nuts when we were doing it. the reality is that these are working. people have stepped up. we will serve a million people in these cafes. americans are fundamentally good people. they will understand, they will take care of each other. >> congratulations on what you're doing. i think it's great. let me go back to stabenow. this whole issue of food stamps. what did you make of it when newt gingrich called the president the food stamp president? >> we all know what the codes are for that. and you talk about that all the time. i think what ron is speaking to is the best about us. it's our higher angels. it's the values we've had as americans of reaching out to help somebody whether it's a

poor child. half of the people we're talking about on assistance are children. and the rest of the folks as i mentioned need some temporary help that the folks that are seniors that we ought to be respecting in their older years living only on social security and need a bit of help, put food on the table, or people with disabilities. what they're doing in the house are going to our worst nature. trying to pit people against each other. we've seen this story before. pitting everybody against each other instead of looking at the reality which is food costs are coming down, 14 million people coming off of food assistance. because the economy's improving. if they want to help us get more people off of food assistance, get off the sequester. help create jobs. instead of demonizing hungry children and families. >> people like to say they use the food stamps to buy booze or liquor. >> if i could throw something in here. the real question is what kind of society we want. that's the challenge each of us business people, each of us as individuals have to really take into.

>> you're a great role model ron schaich. and senator stabenow, thanks for coming on. we showed you the campaign ad in massachusetts featuring the liberal coming out to his tea party father. it's funny. it's a play on words coming out. but it's great stuff. they're both joining us here now coming up in a minute. the father tea party fella and liberal son not quite an apple from the tree there, i guess. this is "hardball," the place for politics. you make a great team. it's been that way since the day you met. but your erectile dysfunction - it could be a question of blood flow. cialis tadalafil for daily use helps you be ready anytime the moment's right. you can be more confident in your ability to be ready. and the same cialis is the only daily ed tablet

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caroline kennedy was on capitol hill today for a confirmation hearing to be the next ambassador to japan. kennedy testified before the senate foreign relations committee that if confirmed she would follow the example set by her father. >> this appointment has a special significance. as we commemorate the 50th anniversary of my father's presidency. i'm conscious of my responsibility to uphold the ideals that he represented. a deep commitment to public service, a more just america, and a more peaceful world. >> kennedy faced gentle questions today signaling an easy path to confirmation.

we'll be right back.

we're back. everyone's gushing over that clever campaign ad by massachusetts state rep carl sciortino who's running in a crowded campaign for the vacant house seat. he tells about coming out to his tea party father politically. he came out as a massachusetts liberal. let's look. >> i'm carl sciortino and i'll never forget that conversation with my dad. >> that's me. >> where i had to come out and tell him -- >> wait for this. >> -- that i was a massachusetts liberal. >> and he's proud of it. >> dad's in the tea party. >> damn right.

it was bad enough taking on the big banks in the legislature. >> they weren't paying the fair share in taxes. to protect women from harassment. >> it's gone all the way to the supreme court. i was kind of proud of that. >> but here's the one that drives him crazy. >> he wants to go to congress and take on the nra and the tea party. >> i won't give up on an assault weapons ban. >> or banning high capacity magazines. >> there are certain things you don't stop fighting for. also the right to choose, equal rights for well everybody. >> he's been like this for 35 years. >> it's why i approve this message. and i still love you, dad. >> me too, son. >> the progressive change campaign committee quickly endorsed sciortino. carl and his father join me right now. mr. sciortino sr. and jr. did you watch a lot of all in the family growing up? it looks like you're archie and

the other guy is meathead. is this fight has resonance, sir, the older sciortino, please. >> yes, i used to watch it. we've had our disagreements, but we get along quite well. >> when did he -- let's forget the agenda, or what do you call it, the orientation thing. that's boring for my purposes. tell me about the political part. when did you first notice when you were reading the paper at night, that this kid who you helped to create was totally not an apple from the tree. when did you realize that? >> i started it noticing it actually when he went to tufts university, he came home on a weekend and he started picking out some posters in his bedroom. and i said, oh, he's being indoctrinated up in the liberal heaven up there in massachusetts. >> so you were paying to the tuition so he could go against you, right? >> well, he painted a lot of it on his own. my son is very creative when it came to getting grants and money funding. he's very good at that. >> let me talk to the young man. here you're in your early 30s, in a crowded field.

marky won in the high 20 percentage-wise, right? you could win this thing like a snap. you going to win? >> yes, we are, actually. i've been running this race since february and things have taken off this week. i think we're around 200,000 views right now on youtube. we have people flooding to carlforcongress.com to volunteer and donate through the ad. it's really taken off and i've been running in this race for a year, but i've been in the legislature for nine years, working ton tough educate legislative fights and really proud of the things i'm doing. we still love each other and get along because of it. or in spite of it. >> massachusetts is, by the way, carl jr., massachusetts is not as liberal as everybody says it is. i know that. i've watched the south, i've watched them behave -- i know how they behave. they're much more middle of the road than the usual sort of run of the mill americans and a bunch of lefties. are you to the left of the average person out there, but you're going to sell them on other issues? how you going to do this? i assume the people of your

district are somewhere between you and your father, i would guess. most people. >> that is probably true. but, you know, this is a very solidly democratic district, a very progressive district, frankly. and people are really clamoring for strong, progressive leadership. people that don't back down from the top fights, like increase in the minimum wage, and closing corporate tax loopholes, things identify done in the legislature and women's right to choose. these are core issues in my district and i think we're well positioned to win this, frankly, because my value is in the district and my campaign is in a strong position. and my dad is helping tell the story of me as a progressive fighter by our own fights. >> well, mr. carl sr., who's close to me in age, all you years you've been putting up a liberal teddy kennedy, before, jack kennedy, all these people to your left up there all these years, including kerry and marky and all the rest of them. how come you haven't headed off or slunk off to new hampshire by now? which seems to me what a lot of people do. >> i'll be very honest with you.

i've been a republican all my life. my father is also republican. but i have to tell you a little secret. as long as you won't tell so-and-so next to me. i did vote for president kennedy. >> oh, wow. >> the only time i did vote for a democrat. but my son, even though we have different viewpoints, but he's very honest and a very hard work and a very compassionate person. i love him very much and i do support him. i can't vote for him, but i do love him. >> you'll vote for him in the general, if he makes it that far, won't you? >> yes, i would. he is my son. >> hah! by the way, my mom never told my father she voted for kennedy. you're not the only guy who kept a secret. i guess i wish you luck, carl jr.. >> thank you so much. >> i like the ad. i think it's very american and connects with a lot of people, actually across party lines. i think you've found something here. people love good families. and you've obviously got a great one. thanks so much.

>> we need people to fight for progressive values. >> this is not a commercial. this is a commercial. okay. appreciate that. carl sciortino jr., carl sciortino sr. i think we could agree on some somethings. when we return, let me finish with how this game of chicken in washington might end. you're watching "hardball," the place for politics.

let me finish tonight with this. anyone with a brain must be wondering how this game of chicken down in washington is going to end. after the right wing in the house gets the republican

majority vote to insist on the death of obama care, after the senate rejects that, then what? and what happens when the deadline of october 1 comes and goes without the government being funded? what happens as the days pass and no deal is struck? when does the day and hour arrive when both sides have made their points, the republicans' anger over obama care, the democrats' resistance to killing it. what then? how do the two sides agree to put up the truce flag and let the republic, our republic, continue? i remember one method my old boss, tip o'neill used when he was speaker of the house. he sent word to president reagan, they would encourage those democrats to vote for it. reagan accepted the deal, the democrats got the requested letters, and the debt ceiling fight was resolved. the time will come when both sides in this fight will have made their points. i'm hoping when that day and hour arrives, they will look back at how true political grown-ups work things out.

by the way, my book on o'neil and reagan will be out by then. i sincerely hope it helps. that's "hardball" for now. thanks for being with us. "all in with chris hayes" starts right now. good evening, from new york. i'm chris hayes. tonight on "all in," an absolute new low in the house of representatives today as the gop squeaks through a vote to take food out of the mouths of the poor. we'll tell you what makes that even more outrageous than it first appears. also tonight, what happens when john mccain writes an op-ed that nobody reads? plus, another installment of best pope ever! all that's coming up! but tonight we begin, one day closer to a shutdown and one day closer to a total meltdown within the republican party. this morning, speaker john boehner once again taking shots at senate republicans, repeating that he expects them to put up a worthy fight to defund obama care.