i'll be live at moorehouse college. we invite you to come see ena's share your hopes for change around issues that impact your community. we hope to see you there. thanks for watching. i'm al sharpton have a great weekend. "hardball" starts right now. >> conservatives wish they knew how to quit clive bundy. let's play "hardball." >> leading off tonight, the conservative movement bundy problem. bundy doesn't seem very eager to go away, though.

after doubling down yesterday on the comments that maybe african-americans were better off as slaves, he moved even further down the rabbit hole. he said that martin luther king jr. has been on his mind a lot lately. >> maybe i sinned. maybe i need to ask for forgiveness, and maybe i don't know what i actually said, but, you know, when you talk about prejudi prejudice, we're talking about not being exercise what we think. i say negro or black boy or slave. if those people can't take those kinds of works and not be offensive, then martin luther king haven't done his job yet. i should be able toll say those things and they shouldn't offend anybody. >> are black people better off as slaves, why should they

offend anyone? the drama raises tough questions. why are people like bundy attracted to the conservative movement? and why do conservatives seem so willing to make them into folk hero, whether it's bundy or ted nugent or even the rodeo clown with the obama mask before them? these people seem to find a comfortable home on the political right, there's until they go one step too far. the former chair of the republican national committee. jonathan capehart, both are msnbc contributors. i'll start with you. i guess the question of this whole saga raises for me is the republican party, the conservative movement. is what does it say to you that they looked at this guy. they looked at a guy being backed by a militia that had people talking about using women as human shields. a guy who wouldn't recognize the

existence of the federal government. it doesn't even register to them that hey, there might be some kooky ideas that's going to come out with this guy. let's unlink arms with him right away. >> you have two republican parties. there may be something kooky about this guy, i think the linking arms is the first part of it. it's the general argument a, the general principled idea that's talked or espoused in this case, the government right to do what it was doing with respect to the land that was in dispute the last 20 years. i didn't even get that part of it. we still don't know what the real dispute was. there is no standing with this guy.

>> i can't speak to that beyond the popular sentiment that the constitution is under assault and things like that. these become rallying cries until they're not. that's the situation here. there is conservatiativism that that's individual opportunities and freedoms. and then there's what this guy -- i don't even call this conservati conservatism. this is not what the movement or the party is about from my standpoint. but somehow we seem to wrap our arms around it and it always invariably comes back to bite in a very important way. and i think leaders like rand paul and others need to be much more careful and smarter about how you articulate these principles. and how you allow people to atta attack them and adopt them in a way that distorts the underlying essence of it.

>> rand paul talked about having problems with the civil rights act in 1964. the southern ajenger who was on his staff that he wouldn't distance himself from. round maul is one of the top contenders in 2016. do you worry about the prominence he has given his history? >> i don't think there was any knowledge or fore thought what mr. bundy thought about these issues and certainly bringing martin luther king into it is the height of ignorance. that martin luther king would be standing side by side with him on this point. i can't speak to it and i don't think that rand paul or sean or anyone else had any idea this is what his views were or how he ultimately felt about black people, seeing black people sitting in their neighborhood on a stoop and thinking they would be better off as slaves. that's the height of stupidity.

for a lot of these folks, the initial cause celeb about the constitution and his rights to be the rampbler and to defend his popularity. >> he had a beef with the federal government's continued overreach. and suddenly this became a question when he made some inappropriate comments. that's absolutely ridiculous. >> here's a guy standing up and making a huge issue of it. >> the republican party wouldn't have the pob it has with the cliven bundys in its midst if a

grown-up had come up at the beginning when the tea party was getting up and running and saying what's happened on the fringes of our party is not right and we have to speak out about this. i went back and remembered a new york times story from february of 2010. it was so frightening to me because it talked about how there's a loose alliance of protesters from the far right fringe who were gloming on to the tea party. the legitimate folks who had concerns about the deficit and economic direction of the country. they were gloming on to the party. and what was interesting and what's quite ironic right now, in the lead paragraph of that piece, i urged the republican national party chairman and other republicans to start speaking out against these people before they lose control of their party. here we are four years later and we're talking about a guy who's

an outlaw, who's breaking federal law who's a hero to a lot of people to within now the base of the republican party who's in a bear -- wrapped h imin a bear hug until, surprise, surprise, he says something untoward and bigoted and racist about african-americans. >> snb who has a role now or the role like you had, where is that leadership, where is that republican party to put the bre brakes on it. >> i can go back. i know exactly what jonathan is talking about. i remember that piece. i remember at that time having conversations with republicans as well as true tea party activists, who jonathan rightly noted were more concerned about the constitutions and budgets and federal spending than they were anything. i mean, this was just as much an

outlier for them as it is now. this is ultimately what this party is about and what it stands for. we're at the doorstep at this moment. this is the opportunity for leadership for the likes of rand paul, where are you on this? how do you want to lead this party as a reflection of how you're going to lead the country. how do you speak to the country about mares of race when you embrace this kind of hate-filled raci racism. >> speaking of sean hannity, he joined the stampede of conservatives running away from the bundy ranch. >> i believe those comments are down right racist, they are repugna repugnant, they are bigoted and it's beyond disturbing. i find the comments to be deplorable and it's extremely unfortunate that cliven bundy holds those views.

>> and y et, this is what bundy said about being abandoned by his sup poerts? >> i don't think they abandoned me. i think they misunderstood me a little bit. but i think fox and i, i think hannity and i are just right on. i have no doubt that he would support me if he understood my really what's in my heart. and i think he does understand me. >> i think he still understands me. there's something deeper about the messaging sent out about cliven bundy to people like cliven bundy. hey, we have a kinship here. what is wrong with somebody like a cliven bundy to the conservative movement? >> the problem in that answer that you just showed, in his interview, on cnn, in his radio interview where he tried to say "the new york times" got his

quote wrong and want s a retraction to the story, he's in a delusional world where he thinks what he said is perfectly fine. just because he said i wonder if black people would have been better off under slavery, he clearly does not understand that, you know, equating black people and slavery and today and that life would be better under slavery is someone who is not in touch with reality. not in touch with where things are in this country now. and i wish that republican politicians who are, you know, guilty of using slave imagery to talk about oppositions to the president's policies or opposition to democrats. they talk about slavery being better, talk about slavery, comparing slavery to today, because what you're talking about is an institution that robs people of their liberty, robs people of their dignity,

robs people of their humanity. and so if republicans want to be associated with people who think that that life was better, then they can just be happy to watch the republican house burn down. >> if they associate themselves with that kind of rhetoric, they deserfsrve they get as a result it. >> rand paul has been down this road a number of times. let's see if it happens in the future. coming up, cliven bundy's cows still grazing on federal landed and there are militia men, self-described patriots all over bundy's hometown. so what happens next? plus, here's when you'll know the democrats really do feel bad about obama care. when they start running on it, not away from it. and guess what? a few of them are starting to. an john boehner sticks it to his right wing colleagues about not

moving on immigration. >> here's the attitude. don't make me do this. this is too hard. you should hear them. >> it's that refusal to do anything on immigration that's helping to make the gop a place from the cliven bundys of the world feel comfortable. and the heku who helped make george w. bush president. the conversation about her mortgage didn't start here. it began on her vacation in europe. someone stole her identity and opened some credit cards in her name.

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>> clive gun dihas gone frhero zero on the right. the heart of the dispute are still unresolved. bundy's cavaliers still graze on federal land. grazing fees remain unpaid and members are steadfast, despite the ranger's explosive comments. yesterday, the kwun profiled a man who plans to return to the bunker in the coming weekses. that's not our focus at all. it's part of misinformation to maintain the divide. things like this will be put throughout to discredit bundy. it's a weapon to create division. the article goes on to say that many of bun did i have's staunchest supporters have ignored reports of bundy's racist remarks. now that but dihas thoroughly discredited hymn and the cause, how will this finally wind down?

thths your district. these are your constituents. not all militia men are your constituents, but the people in this community certainly are. we lose sight, just by focus on the militia presence. how has the whole community been dealing with this? >> well, many people in bunkerville and the vournding area feel terrorized by these outsite armed militia groups. they are not from our community. they're not from nevada. they're coming here and they actually have set up kind of a military police state where individuals who live in the community have to go through their checkpoint to get to their house. >> you have check points set up from this militia? >> the fish groups have set up their own check popoints. so the people who live there

actually have to go through the checkpoints to get to their homes. people have told me kids can't walk around the corner from their house to school because there's armed militia in the hills. they try to go to church on sunday and there were armed militia in and around the church because cliven bundy was there. they want them to leave. so that our community can go back to normal. >> what's happening with local law enforcement? there still are police out, right? if there's checkpoints set up, the cops can do something about that, can't they? >> this is part of why i met with the local elected officials yesterday, including representatives from the sheriff's department so that we could get a resolution. but what we need first is for these armed militia to leave our community. to leave the state of las vegas so that we can solve our own land use issues. >> i understand that, but with these check opponents and everything, what do the sheriffs department tell you? are they planning to do anything about it? >> well, because this is information that we have just

received, it was actually through an e-mail to my office from a constituent, we're now working with those agencies to try to see what can be done, but most importantly, we need cliven bundy to tell these armed militia to leave. bunkerville and the vournding communities. >> john, let me ask you, you would know this as well as anyone. we hear back in the east about how, you know, the issue of federal land is something that's supposedly generated a lot of sympathy from bundy at least before all this started. was that true? was there before the racist comments came to light a fair degree of sentiment supportive of or sympathetic to him in nevada. is it just the militia fen with him now? or is there still a chunk of the population supporting him. >> there's a divide in nevada as

there is in the country. they sympathize with bundy. now, he is a terrible, terrible person for them to put up as their avatar, because he's been breaking the law for 20 years. many other ranchers in the other parts of the state pay their grazing fees. we have had five conservative legislat legislators, republicans write a letter demanding a state investigation of the blm's actions here as a way to get into this issue of transferring the federal land to the state land. never asking some key questions, such as really? can the state really take care of that hand any better than the feds? does anyone think that cliven bundy who got away with not paying his bills for 20 years to the federal government would have paid the state government. so yeah, there's still that out there. sure, some of the prominent folks, dean heller finding it repugna repugnant. and sean hannity got out his

thesaurus, but they still sympathize with this guy, no question about it. >> the sheriffs out there actually gave a preview of what he thinks had to happen in order for this thing to be resolved. a sheriff says he hopes cooler heads will prevail. here's what he had to say yesterday. >> he knew very well from my position that i felt that the federal government were in their bounds doing what they were doing in regards to the grazing area. i would like to explain to mr. bundy over two years ago, there's a federal court order. and, you know, he lost in court. he needs to fight this fight in court. and that would be my council to him today. i guess my question is, every respectable politician is run age way from cliven bundy, but

the militia that's gathered there seems immune to all of that. they don't want to admit that's going on. he's perfectly content to camp out there indefinitely. you need cliven bundy's cooperation. you've got to get the militia to stand down first. cliven bundy is the only one they'll listen to, isn't that right? >> it does seem that way. based on some of the accounts that i saw prior to the escalation of this situation. it was actually the bundy family that called for these armed militia to come to the community in the first place. and that's why we need him to tell them to leave. that's whoo the residence of bunkerville want. that's what the surrounding community wants. this is a very small community, only about 1,200 people. they're law abiding. some of them are ranchers. they have paid their grazing fees. where they are permitted to graze, they have done so. they have cooperated with local,

state and federal agencies. and cliven bundy needs to do the same thing. he's a lawbreaker. he's not a hero. >> it's so hard to see because his heels are dug in so much here to see him say hey, get off my property, but i guess that's what it's going to take. anyway, thank you. up next, do you remember the republican presidential candidate who was a pizza king? contestants on "jeopardy" certainly didn't. revolutionizing an industry can be a tough act to follow,

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who would have thought masterthree cheese lasagna would go with chocolate cake and ceviche? the same guy who thought that small caps and bond funds would go with a merging markets. it's a masterpiece. thanks. clearly you are type e. you made it phil. welcome home. now what's our strategy with the fondue? diversifying your portfolio? e*trade gives you the tools and resources to get it right. are you type e*? >> like every folk hero, he deserves a folk song. ♪ cliven couldn't understand ♪ why should he have to pay for land ♪ ♪ this land belongs to you and me ♪ ♪ that's what he told ♪ sean hannity

♪ this is the ballad ♪ of cliven bundy ♪ take it cliven! >> i want to tell you one more thing i know about the negro. >> okay, that's enough of the song. >> no one could have summed it up better than stephen colbert did. conservatives are fleeing him in droves. one of those that took on bundy's cause fell in love with this guy in the first place. this is how jon stewart talked about it on "the daily show." >> states rites sovereign citizen cliven bundy is apparently also a professor of negro studies. >> and i've oven wondered, are they better off as slaves? better picking cotton, having a family life, doing things or better off under government subsidy. >> well, it's an interesting question. i guess history will be the judge. oh, what's that? history already decided and the answer is no, they're not better off. i want to offer a piece of advice for the television outlet

promoting this gentleman. it would be nice to see this anymore. >> maybe i'm a little bit like the founding fathers. >> yes. a bit like the founding fathers. the bit about the founding fathers that we're ashamed of. >> i love game shows. well, this week jeffrey featured a political blast from the past in a 99.9% sure that "hardball" viewers will have better luck with this clue than the contest assistants did. >> this pizza magnate and 2012 presidential candidate was a math major at historically black moorehouse college. how quickly you have forgotten herman cain. >> oh, how how have the mighty have fallen. last year they named a whole category under binders full of women statement.

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>> president obama held a news conference call to talk about new sanctions on russia. andrea mitchell said they would be imposed monday. one of the reasons is the escalation of military exercises along the border of ukraine. russia fighter jets have droszed into ukrainian air space a couple of times. a ban of severe weather is across central and the southern u.s. including north carolina where a tornado is suspected. now back to "hardball."

>> welcome back to "hardball." some democrats are beginning to do what until now has been considered unthinkable. embrace the affordable care act. last month, former president clinton told the national memos joe connison, i thought the democrats had a tendency to shy away from things they had done that were unpopular and talk about positions they had that were popular and in my own experience that convinced me going back to '94 that was always a terrible mistake. that you had to turn in all controversies and embrace them, even if you said you were wrong or a mistake was made. you couldn't not deal with it. in pennsylvania, one of the democrats vying to take on the unpopular republican governor tom corbitt takes him to act for not expanding medicaid under the affordable care act. she's standing up for the health care law that she supported in congress and openly embracing president obama.

>> i worked with president obama own the affordable care act. companies can no longer deny coverage for kids with pre-existing conditions. i'm proud of it because it also closed gap in prescription drug coverage for seniors. governor corbitt decided not to take the money as governor. i will take the money, this is exactly the kind of leadership i will bring. >> the health care law still remains more unpopular and popular by 11 points, according to the real click politics average, but as some democrats distance themselves from the president, schwartz is running towards him. will others follow his lead? a democratic strategist and richard wolffe, vice president and editor of msnbc.com. your group i know has endorsed allyson schwartz in that race in pennsylvania. call me a little cynical here, but i'm not sure this is so much

her trying to win a general election. this is her trying to win a primary. because this is somebody nobody saw coming. she was the favorite. she she has this free-spending millionaire, polls put him well ahead of her. this is a strategy to rally the base. i was with you on obama care, if you like obama care, vote for me. >> this race just got started two weeks ago. this race is going to start changing. it is starting to change already. and we've got a few more weeks. what ally zorn schwartz did fwh this advertisement is talk about her leadership on health care, which is really what the people of pennsylvania are looking for. a strong leader who will take the issues that matter to the women and men of the state and get something done. >> this is really a test. we'll get to some other sfwresing cases around the

country, but the schwartz thing to me is the test of the appetite of the democratic base to run on this. this is sort of a test, she's putting it out there, i'm voting for this law and she's sort of challenging the democratic base to say okay, this is who we want to put front and center. that's the test here in pennsylvania, isn't it? >> i think we're seeing in numbers across the country. voters don't want to repeal this law that republicans want to re veal every single day if they could. but actually want to work to make it work and em prove it. i think this is a great sign. i really think, again, it's a sign of leadership that allyson schwartz is showing here. and she has a great opportunity not to win this primary, but become the first woman governor of pennsylvania. >> 76% of all republicans sponsored general elections in house and senate races this year have attacked the affordable care act, making the law the most mentioned issues in such ads, according to cantor media

which tracks political advertising. the democrats behind a fixed repeal strategy are now gingerly experimenting mostly in prime areas and outside groups with ads that endorse the law and what could be lost if republicans repeal it. take a ook at this. >> i was born and raised in alaska. i'm a mother, a runner, and a breast cancer survivor. i was lucky. i beat cancer. but the insurance companies still denied my health insurance just because of a pre-existing condition. i now have health insurance again because of mark begic. he fought the insurance companies so we no longer have to. >> so mark begich in alaska.

we put the stat up earlier, when you ask people about obama care, the name obama care, the concept is stilless popular than it is popular. but when you don't mention obama, you don't mention the word obama care and you just talk about the benefits that would be lost if it's repealed, there's a political advantage for democrats, maybe? >> yes. first of all, the numbers you put up haven't really changed a whole lot. that's the average of polls. if you take the more recent polls, they're much closer. you have to remember the opposition to the law, the general broad stroke, the national poll, average of national polls, you've got among the opposed to the law people who didn't think it went far enough. so people who supported the public option, there's still a good chunk of progressives in there who thought the law wasn't good enough. the numbers have been pretty evenly split and if you drilled down into the actual issues, pre-existing conditions, exte extending health care coverage, republican health care covera

coverages, republican governors denying access. you uh ear talking a 20, 30 percentage advantage for the democrats. the ads we saw in the last presidential campaign b, you didn't have the president saying i got you all those jobs, the recovery is on its way, stay with me. he got auto workers to tell the story. it's always more effective when you have real people telling how some politician has helped them because people don't trust the politicians to tell their own story. >> we have a couple more examples. just talk about them for a second. for instance, this is a democratic ad in west virginia. for an open house seat in west virginia a state that clearly did not vote for president obama in 2012. >> went on a first date when we

were 15. i've been with him ever since. he works in the mines and i worry about him every day. now i worry we both could get hurt if evan jenkins goes to dong. he vowed to repeal black lung benefits and let insurance companies allow to charge women more if health care. we can't go back to those days. >> the benefits are mentioned, specific benefits are mentioned. you don't hear obama care. does that solve this disconnect. how many polls where you ask about these individual come poebts of the law and the support is through the roof. then when you apply obama care, it gets polarized and goes right down partisan lines. this is how you thread the needle, it looks like. >> well, and this is -- these benefits, that's actually what matters in this law. the republicans rf running from the wrong playbook.

they want to repeal pre-existing condition language that would say to that mother who has a child with a pre-existing condition, no health insurance for you. or for women saying oh, no, you're a woman, you got to pay more. these are really, really powerful. and they are -- it's really about women and families in this country. they're looking for a fair shot. a little opportunity here to make their families better. >> they're pinning everything on it. up next, look who's had it with the right wing of his own party, john boehner. this is "hardball" a place for politics. cars are driven by people. they're why we innovate. they're who we protect. they're why we make life less complicated. it's about people.

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>> we are back. it's no wonder a guy like clive bundy, ted nugent or phil rob robinson feel at home in the republican party. roughly nine out of every 10 republicans are white, and that figure has barely budged in the last 20 years. rapid growth of minority republicans all over the country. the party has done little to address the problem, which only exposes tensions within its race. for example, yesterday house speaker john boehner openly mocked his colleagues for shutting down efforts to reform the country's broken immigration system. >> i don't know whether we're going to get to it this year or not. i think we should, but the appetite, the appetite amongst my colleagues for doing this is not real good. there's a guy back here with a camera, but here's the attitude. oh, don't make me do this.

oh, this is too hard. you should hear it. >> and he went on to say quote, we get elected to make choices, with eget elected to solve problems and it's remarkable to me how many of my colleagues just don't want to. they take the path of least resistance. i've had every brick and bat and arrow shot at this issue because i wanted to deal with it. heritage action ceo predictably ripped boehner's comments. david corn is with mother jones and david millbank is a columnist with "the washington post." david, i'll start with you. you heard in that clip there, he acknowledges, there's a camera in the back of the room. my rooms are being recorded, somebody is going to hear this. so look, is this some kind of ploy on boehner's part. there's a comprehensive bill last summer.

it's been languishing in the house since then. is this a grand play to kick start that or did he just somehow screw up here? >> if you think so, you know a different john boehner than i do. i think this was more out of frustration than a plan. they want to take the path of least resistance. all he would have to do is bring that bipartisan bill that passed in the senate and put it up for a vote in the house and it would probably pass. done deal. but if you asked him about that he would probably say it's so hard to do! >> the minute he does that -- >> it may threaten his speakership if he did that. indeed, that's right. so he skplan complaining about the tea partieses ndur toot i had, he's putting his own political hide over something heed a mates would be good for the country. >> that actually gets into the

dilemma that john boehner faces, is sort of the dilemma that every republican member of the house faces, dana, and that is john boehner pushed this to a vote, pe risks being the mutiny. any republican member of the house votes for this, they risk getting challenged in a primary and being called a betrayer to the cause. they're all in the same bind here. >> this is true. but it's been speculated for a while, steve, that john boehner is waiting until the primary period is over. and when his members are no longer vulnerable, then he could slip something like that in. that is a possibility. i think it's unlikely, but it is a possibility. i doubt that this was any sort of foreshadowing. you know, i wouldn't be surprised if we found out that merlot was being served before the speaker decided to make these remarks. we should note that he was speaking to a country club. these are the last of the country club republicans who really want to have comprehensive immigration reform.

>> boehner also had strong words for the tea party specifically, he called members "disaffected and anarchists." quote, "i've gone to hundreds of events, the make-up is pretty much the same. you have disaffected republicans, disaffected democrats. you always have a handful of anarchists." he back pedalled, saying, "i don't have issues with the tea party. i have issues with organizations who raise money purporting to represent the tea party." let's just gain this out a bit. dana raises the possibility that boehner somehow wants to get through the primary season and put this on the floor and get this to a vote. that would be the latest strike against him in -- in the eyes of conservatives in four years of being speaker. we have basically been waiting four years for that moment when it's finally too much for conservatives. are we fast approaching a point at the end of this election when, you know, it comes time to pick a new speaker, that john boehner kind of looks around and says, look, i don't want this job anymore, or i'm not going to have the votes on the floor for this job anymore?

>> yeah. hope he sings "take this job and you know what." if the republicans win control of of the senate, boehner might want to stick around. he might pass legislation. right now, historically speaking, he will be known for one thing as speaker. the guy who engineered 50 votes that failed against obamacare. if obamacare ends up panning out to work well, is deemed a success, 5, 10, 15 years from now, boehner will be remembered for trying to stop that. so he has a big interest in trying to do something else. at the same time, remember, when he is complaining about these whining tea partiers -- one reason the complaint is there, these guys do represent the base of the party. not the country club republicans he was talking to. so these people really, you know, the nine out of ten white republicans that youmissi menti the demographically old, they

don't want immigration reform. the only way this will happen is if john boehner says, hey, i want to try to pull the party in a direction against its base. and that takes a lot of fortitude that he hasn't shown yet. >> all right. thank you, david and dana. up next, the what changed history. ding it to rig the system against you. pushing washington to cut american-made biofuels... bullying gas stations to use more of their oil... all so they get richer...and you pay more. truth is, biofuels are cleaner, better for your engine and less expensive. washington, don't let big oil rig the system any more. protect the renewable fuel standard. [ girl ] my mom, she makes underwater fans that are powered by the moon. ♪ she can print amazing things, right from her computer.

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let me finish tonight with the he-koon who changed history. maybe you saw the news that former president george h.w. bush apparently wants his son,

jeb, to run for president in 2016. it's news because his wife, former first lady barbara bush, seemed to throw cold water on the idea a while back when she said "we've had enough bushes." his son, neil bush, is say, "if you ask dad the same question -- should jeb run -- he'd say yes." if you listen to those who know the family, you know why george h.w. bush might feel this way. because of all his sons, it's supposed to be jeb and not george w. who he always saw as political heir, the one who would take his place on the political stage. it looked like that would happen. bush sr. lost in 1992 and stepped out of the spotlight and into a quiet retirement. then jeb stepped up in 1994 to run for governor of florida. florida was a redder state back then, and '94 was shaping up as a brutal year for democrats. the incumbent governor of florida, lawton chiles, wasn't very popular at the time. jeb was supposed to win. polls put him ahead. once he won that race, he'd be

on his way to the national stage, just like his father wanted. and that's where the he-coon comes in. what? i don't know if you remember this moment that changed history. >> my mama told me sticks and stones will break my bones, but names will never hurt me. [ applause ] >> but let me tell you one other thing about the old liberal -- the old he-coon walks just before the light of day. [ applause ] >> lawton chiles said that, jeb bush stood there looking confused. he had no idea what chiles was talking about. but a certain type of native floridian did. the he-coon is a character of oefld rural florida lore. supposed to be the wisest of the pack of raccoons. chiles is one of those old-time floridians. he liked to brag that he spoke cracker. for the rest of the campaign he traveled around florida calling himself the he-coon and forging a connection with voters a lot more familiar with the way lawton chiles carried himself than the way jeb bush did.

when election night came around, there was a surprise in florida. even as a republican landslide swept across the country, jeb bush lost in a squeaker to lawton chiles. the he-coon pulled off one of the biggest upsets of the year. there was another surprise that same night. a few hundred miles away in texas. democratic governor anne richards, whose personal favorable rating was still at 60%, was upset by george w. bush, jeb's older brother. the son that george h.w. bush hadn't figured as his political heir. it was then that george w. bush got to spend the rest of the '90s readying to run for president in 2000 while jeb stayed in florida to mend fences and take another shot at the governor's office. he did end up winning that office in 1998. by then, he'd been lapped by his brother. the rest, of course, is history. the disaster of w.'s presidency, the tarnish to the bush name, the sense that maybe the country's had enough bushes. apparently the old man is still holding out hope for jeb and wondering how differently it might have all played out if it

wasn't for that pesky he-coon. that's all for "hardball." thanks for being with us. chris will be back monday. i hope you join me tomorrow morning and sunday morning at 8:00 a.m. for "up with steve cornacki." "all in starwith cries hayes" ss now. good evening from new york, i'm chris hayes. for conservative is, the cliechb bundy hangover has officially begun. even as the man is going strong, sticking it to the man in the mainstream media for portraying the negro as a racist. >> can't stand a dead calf? >> i want to talk to you about being prejudiced a bit. you haven't asked me that -- >> you held up a dead calf, mr. bundy. you came on may show with a dead animal in your arms. your reaction was to say that you wonder if negros weren't better off as slaves. are you a