>> i hear you, sam kass. you get tonight's last word. thanks for joining us. >> thank you so much for having me. >> and i'm ari melber in for lawrence o'donnell. thanks so much for watching. karl the snarl. let's play "hardball." good evening. i'm chris mathews in washington. let me start tonight with this direct new attack on hillary clinton. this guy just went on tv yesterday and called her old and stale, that she looks like yesterday. who would do such a thing? let me give you a clue. he said it on fox. his name is karl rove. and he does this for a living. first he attacked the former first lady, senator from new york and recent secretary of state for having health issues, suffering from even now enduring, quote, brain injuries. as of yesterday he's keel hawing her for being too old, too stale, too yesterday.

it's the old part that will cause trouble, maybe for secretary clinton but also for karl rove. not nice to treat someone like this, not a woman, someone who's served the country so long and so well. blasting someone for the date of their birth isn't exactly playing fair even in these nasty days. or is it? is he trying to win back his bona fides? could he be right in believing that the empress has no clothes will become a force in gop 2016 politics and beyond? we'll find out. howard fineman is editorial director of "the huffington post" and msnbc political analyst. and michelle bernard is younger and growing stronger every day and president of the bernard center for women, politics, and public policy. dare i mention age. here's what karl rove said on fox news yesterday. let's watch him earn his living.

>> the second problem with inevitability is that it's easy to fall into nostalgia and hillary clinton may be in danger of doing this. talking about how good things were when bill was in office, when bill was in office, the economy was better, which to some degree helps her also hurts her because it makes her look like yesterday. it's all about what happened in the '90s. we are 20 years past the point at which bill clinton was elected president. in american politics there's a sense that you want to be new, that you don't want to be too familiar, you want to be something fresh, you don't want to be something that's old and stale. >> old and stale. this has been a sustained long-term attack by rove. earlier this month "the new york post" reported that at a conference rove talked about hillary clinton has possibly suffering a, quote, traumatic brain injury. those remarks caused a huge stir, but rove never backed away. let's watch. >> i'm not questioning her health.

what i'm questioning is, is whether or not it's a done deal that she's running. and she would not be human if she did not take that into conversation. she'll be 69 at the time of the 2016 elections. if she gets elected and serves two terms she'll be 77. she is going to cough up these medical records. the centers for disease control says a concussion is a type of traumatic brain injury. i'm serious. describing, like cough up these medical records. as early as last june the same karl rove was laying the seeds for a strategy of attacking hillary as yesterday's news telling the "new york times," "perhaps in the democratic primary and certainly in the general election there's going to be an argument that the time far change of leadership has come. idea that we're at the end of her generation and it's time for another to step forward is certainly going to be compelling." well, howard, you know what, this guy, no way to treat a lady is out of date, right, you can't say that because irv gets treated the same, right.

equal pay, equal attacks. but this guy is persistent. is he on to something? the first question, is he doing this to resuscitate the fact he was once the architect, once the chief political adviser to the president of the united states, in fact, the last republican to win two terms or any presidency, this guy was behind this thinking? so he is a big deal. why is he doing this? >> he thinks he's trying to play by the new rules and i think he's trying to be the prominent player that he was in the bush era. but the difference is, as you were saying in the open, then he was the architect. look, i've dealt with karl rove for 20 years. and he was in the old days the sort of affable guy behind the scenes as the architect sending others out to do the dirty work, quite frankly, while he emphasized his closeness to that nice guy -- >> did ann richards know he was the guy leading the attacks, that sicked the dogs on her? >> oh, yes. >> and does john mccain know today that karl rove did it to him? >> everybody knew what karl rove

was behind the scenes. but the way politics operates now and the way he wants to operate to raise his own profile -- don't forget, chris, he's running american crossroads. he's running a big independent spending operation. he needs to be out there visibly waving the flag and doing these attack dog role for the sake of his own organization. >> michelle, s.o.b., that would be me. is that an advertisement? i want you to know i'm an s.o.b. i want you to know, everybody watch, i am the guy -- this is karl rove speaking -- i'm the guy that's willing to call her old, sick, yesterday, stale. i'll call anything to bring attention to something i think might work. >> absolutely. the swift boating of hillary clinton has begun, and if you go back and look -- today i went back and looked at the speech she gave before the democratic convention in 2008. if i were a republican i would be running scared and terrified of hillary clinton and the traveling pant suits as she talked about.

all the stories that she gave back in 2008. and karl rove is basically saying i'm going to throw the spaghetti, see where it sticks. there's a big umbrella here. i'm going to protect everyone in the party. >> michelle, you watched this, and howard too. did you get the sense people weren't going to do this? i thought hillary after being first lady, putting up with all she put up with, heroically running for senate in new york, winning, having the guts to do that, being a very good secretary of state, that she would be above the spitballing. >> you would think she would be, but we have seen an evolution not enough, but if you look at what she went through in 2008, it was talks about her cleavage, her hair, that she looked 92 years old. there were comments by male commentators saying every time i hear her voice i hear my wife telling me to take out the garbage. we've evolve in that sense since 2008 but nobody's above the spitballing. we have evolved but not enough. that's what i'm saying. >> a lot of us learned the hard way. you have to be so care informal any kind of gender to gender

commentary. >> ask rick lazio. >> when he tried to serve those papers on howard. >> i was going to say anybody who thought the republicans in general and karl in particular would not go straight at the age issue, if there was one, was dreaming. of course they're going to do it. and in their minds they think they're attacking her greatest strength. they're following the doctrine of attack somebody at their strength because hillary is going to run on experience. >> it came up in that debate. >> people will take liberties with women they would never, ever dare -- >> faltered so badly in the first debate, a front page story about reagan not being up to it. >> and that was in 1984, a long time ago, and our politics has become much more rough and tumble and rotten, if you want to put it that way, especially on tv. don't forget, karl was feeding the beast over there at fox.

>> fox. >> is this attack on hillary's age part of a two-pronged strategy. here's where he gets sophisticated about the old and new karl rove. he does the dirty work so the eventual republican candidate won't have to. been done before. in 1988, michael dukakis was attacked for being soft on crime. the bush campaign slammed him in an add but let third-party groups carry out the below-the-belt attack. here was the campaign attack on dukakis' policy, the official one, bush campaign. george sr. let's watch it. >> as governor michael dukakis vetoed mandatory death sentences for drug violators, while out on parole, many committed other crimes like kidnapping and rape, and many are still at large. now michael dukakis says he wants to do for america what he's done for massachusetts. america can't afford that risk.

>> so this was the highroad attack. they showed a mixed ethnic group of people, not discernibly african-american or hispanic or white, a mixed group. not a big deal. they had this third-party group, whoever was calling the shots here is interesting, called the political action committee, released this ad, the infamous willie horton add that looks like the shroud of turin here. they played on racial fears and resentment. >> bush and dukakis on crime. bush supports the death penalty for first-degree murderers. dukakis not only opposes the death penalty, he allowed first-degree murderers to have weekend passes from prison. one was willie horton, who murdered a boy in a robbery, stabbing him 19 times. despite a life sentence, horton received ten weekend passes from prison. horton fled, kidnapped a young couple, stabbing the man and repeatedly raping his girlfriend. weekend prison passes -- dukakis on crime. >> michelle, you can have the first crack. much different than the highroad

one. this was the low road one. >> they're all worried about the big black man who might come and rape their white wife. that was a low road. in 2008 we saw the stop hillary pac. >> is karl rove playing the low road? >> i think there will be an even lower road than what we've seen come out of karl rove's mouth. what he's doing is difficult, unseemly -- >> but he's saying -- >> i'm saying he's not stupid, though. he's not going to get any worse. we won't see a willie horton ad coming out of karl rove. maybe from a stop hillary pac but -- >> the bad news of course is willie horton stuff all worked. >> yep. >> let's remember that dukakis was 17 points ahead in july and lost by eight. >> i'm sorry. >> one point. karl rove, we should mention, perhaps, wasn't involved in the '88 campaign. >> didn't say he was. >> same idea. that's number one. number two, the bush campaign

back then, which said it had nothing to do with the willie horton ad, waited till the ad ran for 30 days to demand that it be taken off the air monopoly they said they were outraged by it but -- >> they didn't want to have any coordination -- >> the letter from jim baker demanding that it be taken down didn't arrive until 30 day -- >> that's the argument i got at the time. we can't tell them not to do it because that would be coordinating. >> but politics has become more accusatory, more personal. people make their reputations on the basis of the accusations they make in public, not the knife stabbing they do behind the scenes. >> is this going to stop hillary clinton from running? >> absolutely not. and she'll take the highroad. >> what karl rove is doing not just jazzing up republicans, he's trying to tell democrats to get somebody else in the race. >> martin o'malley running against hillary clinton.

that will happen. i don't think biden is. i think schweitzer is. it will be fascinating. thank you, howard fineman, michelle bernard. that was called "the scoop." coming up, that weekend terror in california, why does it happen so often here? they always seem iconic in the united states. a few other countries have had these experiences. they seem to be at home here. why? and time for a new republican contract with america, other than something than the party of no-no? mitch mcconnell says we're doing just fine. the tea party expected to have a good night in texas tonight in its primary. could they go too far to give the democrats a shot down the road to turn that state blue? let me finish tonight with this video left behind by the young man accused in the california killings. this is "hardball," the place for politcs.

president obama today announced the american combat mission in afghanistan will be over by year's end. that's the end of this year. the president's plan will keep nearly 10,000 troops in afghanistan after that mission ends this year. by the end of next year, that number will be cut in half and by 2016 the only u.s. presence, military presence, will be to provide security for our embassy in kabul. we currently have about 32,000 troops still serving in afghanistan. we'll be right back. with the plan but with less energy, moodiness, and a low sex drive, i had to do something. i saw my doctor. a blood test showed it was low testosterone, not age. we talked about axiron the only underarm low t treatment that can restore t levels to normal in about two weeks in most men. axiron is not for use in women or anyone younger than 18 or men with prostate or breast cancer. women, especially those who are or who may become pregnant, and children should avoid contact where axiron is applied as unexpected signs of puberty in children or changes in body hair or increased acne in women may occur. report these symptoms to your doctor. tell your doctor about all

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welcome back to "hardball" where the chorus is growing harder again to renew the debate in this country over gun safety and mental health. alleged killer elliot rodger went on a deadly spree friday night near the campus of uc, santa barbara. rodger killed six, stabbing three, shooting three others and injuring 13 before taking his own life. one of the victim's fathers lashed out at the culture in this country of gun violence, which he believes led to his son's death. >> why did chris die?

chris died because of craven, irresponsible politicians and the nra. they talk about gun rights. what about chris' right to live? when will this insanity stop? when will enough people say stop this madness? we don't have to live like this! too many have died! we should say to ourselves, not one more. thank you. that's it. >> that's the father. anyway, rodger, the 22-year-old son of a hollywood screenwriter and director, left a chilling youtube manifesto that he recorded the night before the massacre, foretelling his day of revenge and blaming all the women who rejected him for his actions. here's a portion of that seven-minute video. >> i've been forced to endure an existence of loneliness, rejection, and unfulfilled desires all because girls have never been attracted to me.

>> why does it feel like these deadly rampages are unique to the united states? one reason could be guns. fbi data found that since 2006 there have been more than 200 mass killings in the u.s., a mass killing being defined by the fbi as having four or more victims. and of those homicides for which the fbi received weapons data in 2011, 68% involved the use of firearms. to be sure there are mass murders in other countries as well but not at the alarming frequency as here in the u.s. clint van zandt is a former fbi profiler and msnbc analyst. and brian levin is the director of the center for the study of hate and extremism at california state university. gentlemen, i don't want to lead the witnesses, they being you, so just start off with this. clint, i bow to your expertise and you, too, brian, your instinct about what we should learn from this particular horror. what's at work here? what led to it? is there any way to stop it?

>> well, you know, i'm one of the first ones i'd like to see us deal with the gun issue in the united states, but as you know, his first three victims, his roommates he stabbed to death, he had three handguns that he was able to legally buy because there was nothing, there was no mental health history, no criminal history, he had a driver's license, he had money in his pocket. therefore he was the right age, he could buy a gun. 315 million americans, 300 million guns. so it's more than just guns. but that's one of the aspects of this equation that this country has got to come to deal with. >> what's the other part in this case? >> we have the mental health issue here. we have significant long-term mental health. and, chris, you and i are parents. we deal with our kids, in my case grandkids, we do everything we can to help our children through challenging times. i'm sure his parents did the same thing too. but in his case, the mental illness that is suggested that

he had and the treatment that he was receiving just wasn't working for him. this guy dug himself deeper and deeper. and, chris, just like the shooter at virginia tech in 2007, this guy looks out, he holds the world responsible, he blames everybody else as opposed to looking in a mirror and saying there's my problem, that's what needs to be fixed. >> i'll get back to you in a minute. brian, your instinct on this as an expert on this. he hates humanity. he said so. he doesn't hate a particular group. he hates everybody, not just women, although they were his particular target. he doesn't like the guys. he resents them, hates them to the point of wanting to eliminate them. >> yes. first, let me send my condolences out from cal state to all those who have been afflicted by this horrible tragedy. the ubiquity of handguns, not just firearms but handguns i think is something clear and centered here.

to be sure, most gun owners in the united states are law abiding and nonviolent, but the fact of the matter is, unlike other countries throughout the world, even with a precipitous decline from about 9.5 murders per 100,000 to about 4.7 now, that's still four or five times more than most of the countries of western europe. so we do have a problem with violence, particularly those by handguns. and now these new semi-automatic handguns of the kind used in this attack. to be sure, individual responsibility is important. but we also have a subculture of violence and hatred and in this case misogyny. that prevades our culture and can cling on to unstable people. in addition, i do think there's an inadequacy with respect to regulations both with respect to firearms and the access of unstable people to them. and i think there's been a gridlock by lobbying groups that prevents any kind of reasonable regulation with regard to firearms -- >> that's what that father was

saying. >> -- including in the wake of the case where the supreme court said there is some kind of individual right to handguns in the home. so certainly around the edges, we can put some reasonable regulations. i think that the father was right in that some of these advocacy, lobbying groups have just hamstrung any attempt to make any kind of reasonable in road with regard to access to the unstable or violent. >> let's take a look at these facts. this the list of some of the deadliest mass shootings in this country in recent years. in 1999, 12 students were killed at columbine high school in littleton, colorado. thirty-two were killed in virginia tech in 2007. thirteen were left dead in fort hood, texas in 2009. six were killed and congresswoman gabby giffords was left with a gunshot wound to the head in tuscon, arizona in 2011. twelve were shot in aurora, colorado -- that movie theater in 2012. six more killed a month later at

the sikh temple in oak creek, wisconsin. and just four months after that, 26 dead including 20 children, a mass murder at sandy hook elementary school up in newtown, connecticut. it does seem iconically, that we're the country where people have these rampage shootings. can you explain the rampage? the availability of guns is part of it. but this crime -- if you read this guy's manifesto, you can't like the guy in any way. his sense of entitlement, that somehow he's entitled to all these beautiful women, that somehow he has a right to personally own the rights of all these women is delusional. where did he get that delusion? where'd he get it? >> yeah, it is delusional. and part of this, chris, there is a segment. realize only four percent of the people who commit violence in the united states have a diaognosable mental health condition.

not with standing that, there was a lot of people out there that are caught up between fantasy and reality. many times the possession of weapons, violent movie, violent videos, songs that advocate violence against police officers and women, a number of these things could form the psychological bridge between somebody's fantasy and reality. that line gets blurred. they see other people act out instead of using some type of verbal conflict resolution skill, they turn to a gun because they see it in a movie or time and again at a school shooting, we see these shooters reference what took place at columbine. they're modeling their behavior after something they've seen already, and therefore not necessarily original thinkers committing the same terrible acts over and over again because they saw someone did it before them and either solved, quote,

unquote, their problem or got this terrible amount of attention that they probably craved, that this guy is getting right now. chris, it's almost like he's reaching from the grave, grabbing us by the throat, and making us read and listen to that manifesto. >> let me get to you, brian. you're an expert on this perhaps. i'm not. besides to me hatred of the other sex, hatred of women, he also seems obsessed with the cool sorority, all the beautiful women he's obsessed with thought individually they decided department like him. had this notion all the men involved who did have the advantage of these girls liking them, they ear all part of this holden caufield kind of thing. all men are bad who get the good-looking girls but i'm the one who deserves them. but this guy is 22. he hasn't grown up. what is this?

>> he seems to love them or hate them. what's this all about? i don't know. >> first of all, i agree with the sense of entitlement and narcissism throughout our culture, particularly with young males that we see. when they act out, they act out broadly. so in other words they believe that they have some kind of entitlement and what happens is they not only act out in these stereotypical ways against this symbolic target but against anyone who's close. >> it takes all kinds. i'm glad this is a rare kind. what a combination of firepower and anger and delusion. thank you, clint van zandt and brian. ♪

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time for "the sideshow." who can forget vice president

biden's remarks to obama? in 2012 the obama campaign released a t-shirt to commemorate it. here's what he told veterans yesterday before the start of the ride to recovery memorial challenge bicycle ride. >> one piece of advice about that bfd stuff. assume every microphone is on. i just want you to know i didn't intentionally say that. i actually turned over here like this. i said mr. president, i whispered in his ear. unfortunately i was looking in the direction of one guy who could actually read lips. not a joke. no one picked it up at the time. and one of the reporters read lips. thank god my mother was gone.

i would have been one dead vice president. >> next up, as i mentioned earlier in the show, hillary clinton's new memoir is set to come out on june 10th. appropriately titled "hard choices," it chronicles her four years as secretary of state. according to the author's note, she also considered at least an alternative title for the book, get this, quote, "the scrunchie chronicles." 112 countries and it's still all about my hair. that was the title she considered at least. we'll take a look at what that might have looked like by a reader of the "washington post." clearly didn't make the cut. fun to imagine what could have been. maryland governor and potential candidate for president, darrell issa, martin o'malley was spotted playing a banjo on the street of annapolis last night. he tweeted a photo of himself in cargo pants and flip-flops saying, "i love that as governor of maryland i can still play street music in annapolis."

there's more to this story. believe it or not, governor o'malley moonlights as the leader of the celtic rock band he formed in the '80s. it still tours despite his job as governor. it played at the white house in 2012. who knew? i knew. up next, republicans are divided over new contract with america. but others say we're doing just fine as the party of no. if i told you that a free ten-second test

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built for business. students are gathering for a memorial at uc, santa barbara, to remember those killed in friday's rampage in the near town of isla vista.

now back to "hardball." welcome back to "hardball." republicans are hoping to ride a wave of obama bashing into the midterms in november. the latest veterans affairs scandal has reignited a chorus of republican attacks on the white house very much combined with familiar bugle cries like benghazi, irs, and fast and furious. there is a growing faction of republicans that have soured on the party going completely negative. last week, for example, a group of conservatives unveiled a 121-page policy manifesto urging the party to look beyond its short-sighted hatred of this president. today politico reports some

party leaders are warning of internal revolt. the party lays out in some detail their promises of the future, something positive for the voters, like they did in 1994 with their contract with america with newt gingrich. republican senator lindsey graham is leading that charge. he told politico, "if they don't move forward soon, there will be a rebellion among the rank and file." others aren't buying it, saying we go negative or we go home. more from politico. "the idea has met a cool reception from other senators, including some like mitch mcconnell. keep the focus squarely on the shortcomings of president obama." republican of the national committee, micah, who are you with, if it's broke, don't fix it? a play on words because if you

have the other party by the neck, by the throat, why take your hands off the throat and start coming up with interesting new nostrums that might cause you trouble? are you with the profession who say do something or with the ones who say keep sticking it to them? >> i'm with lindsey graham, and i think he's absolutely right in saying that there is going to be hell to pay should we win the senate in the fall and not have an agenda that actually moves the country forward. then you have to full throat of governance at your hands here because you've got the white house, the house, and the senate, and now you're at the same table as the president so, if you don't have an agenda that complements his or is different than his, you have to be able to lay out a vision of where you want to take the country if you expect the country to give you the mantel of leadership and certainly the responsibility for governing. >> joan, i don't know what you're going to say here. you're on the other side's turf here, on the visiting team's turf. what do you say they should be

playing as their strategy here? go negative, continue to pound obama on the irs, benghazi, veteran, affairs, everything, figure voters will say no to the democrats or won't show up and vote? that would be my thinking. what's yours? >> i hate giving them our good advice, chris, but i think that is their best strategy because they don't have unifying ideas for the country or even for their own party. nationalizing this election beyond obama hate, that's something they can all agree on, nationalizing this election hurts somebody like terry lynn land in michigan, for example. she doesn't want to run on same platform as jack kingston in georgia. there's little policy-wise that pull this party together. we talked about it last week. they disagree on immigration, have given up their own ideas on immigration, their own ideas on individual mandates for health care. they don't have ideas to pull them together. all they have is a president that they hate. for 2014 they can run on that.

they'll be in trouble on 2016 either way. >> i think you've got the best argument here because i believe in america and people coming up with good ideas for making it better, not just trashing the other side. in fact, the best case, you have to go way back to when i was born, practically, 1946. republicans charles hadlock enough. it was a great slogan in '46. they bought in, 55 seats in the house, picked up 13 seats in the u.s. senate, just by saying have you had enough of the new deal, the fair deal, enough, enough, enough. so they weren't. but in '48, harry truman came back and beat the hell out of them. they were running on nothing. >> that's the point. joan is right. 2016 is a whole other landscape. look, we'll have more senate seats up in 2016 than we have in 2014. do you want this to be a short-livid victory, we got the senate but you lose it all in 2016 and the white house? you have to lay out some governing principles which is why i appreciate the folks at yg

network, you talked about the conservative manifesto leading into this. >> me two ideas. give me some positives here. what is the contract? >> there are positive conversations we can have in terms of the economy and job creation, fiscal policy. >> start it now. >> i could start it but i'm not the policymaker. this has to come out the leadership. there are a lot of ideas in terms of how we can begin to roll back some of the pressures on small business owners to free up this economy, whether you're talking about some cults in capital gains taxes, allowing a great period for offshore profits to come back to be invested in american businesses and jobs. there are lot of opportunities here. >> i know a person i can test that with. joan, what do you think you'd write in your column you heard the republicans were going to cut back on capital gains taxes, that they were going to reward people who were investing overseas over the years by giving them a gift bag if they

came home? what would you write in your column? >> hugely unpopular. not just what i write in my column. they're hugely unpopular, and that's why republicans don't run on them. the yg network, some of these ideas are decent. there's a package of middle-class tack cults that mike lee has come up with, burr he can't get it past his own party because it buts open the deficit and they've made cutting the deficit sacred. even decent ideas can't get through the party. most of the parties have run away from tax cults. that's been cut in many budgets. that's no longer a republican idea. there's nothing you can do around replacing obamacare because the fundamental premises of the bill are popular. you don't want to take stuff away from people, but there's no replace, only repeal. >> michael, let me join this

suggestion from the left and center left right now. if you come out for a cut in cap gains where people make money off money, compared to people making money sweating for the week at work. the tax gains are half of that. you're going to cut that again and make it even less than half? the working guy going wait a minute, i'm working 50 hours a week to make what you're making by checking the stock market on cnbc. >> you've got -- look, you've got to take -- it's a great liberal, you know, diatribe to go on about wealth creators. but those wealth creators are the ones who are making the ultimate investment and creating the jobs and if you don't give them the tools to do that, they will continue to take their money offshore and keep it offshore. >> the consumers are the job creators. consumers are the job creators. >> they would love to hear that argument. >> if this is such a

wrong-headed notion, then why have what we've been doing not work? >> let me tell you what doesn't work, when mitt romney -- said in private what you said in public, he got blown away. >> it's not the same thing, chris. you're conflating again as you typically do here, to make the wrong argument. you've got to take the risk to -- you have to take the risk to invest in the risk-takers. that has not happened, which is why this economy is still lagging behind. >> it happened under george bush. >> the guys who make the money, they tear one who is make the investment. >> it happened. george bush did that. and look at that economy that we got. the economy fell apart. that's not the answer. the answer, one of the answers is increasing the buying power of consumers. >> -- more taxes than -- good luck with that. >> trickle down is down the drain. you heard it here. in theory, lit not work. >> let me say this -- >> risk taker class. >> one last thing i want to say here.

it doesn't matter what republicans say. it doesn't matter what republicans do. because the likes of chris mathews and joan walsh will pick it apart. you can't eve haven't the discussion. you immediately just dismiss it out of hand, it didn't work then, it won't work now. conservatives, put your best shot in play, do what you need to do to convince the american people -- >> and forget about me and chris. okay. >> forget about me. okay. >> okay. >> i'm just saying. >> my feelings are hurt. >> you tell the american people we have to spend more money to pay more taxes so the rich can get a better deal on cap gains -- >> you know that's not what i'm saying, chris. >> we'll continue this discussion. joan walsh, good luck at the university of chicago. i think you're getting too academic out there. up next, texas is the one state where the tea party is having real success. democrats hope it backfires in their favor. too much is too far. this is "hardball," the place for politics.

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too much tea? that's what democrats are hoping happens in this texas. back after this.

there was an article today in washington someone told me, they said the tea party was dead in texas. as john wayne would say, that will be the day. the tea party is alive and well.

>> well, that was texas lieutenant governor candidate dan patrick on primary night in texas. that's tonight, march 4th, where he finished first but didn't pass the 50% threshold. today he is in a runoff. expected to beat him handly. he is a forceful member of the tea party. last week's primary contests were established. here is a sample of what dan patrick, you saw him there, stands for. teaching creationism in schools, not evolution. guns on college campuses. ending the popular election of u.s. senators. and outlawing all abortion, even in the case of rape. the dallas morning news has already determined today's outcome. quote, the victory in tuesday's runoff elections is already known, the tea party has won big. joining me, wayne slater, senior political writer at the dallas morning news and robert costa of "the washington post."

thank you both. this guy's politics, you look at guns on campuses, absolute banning of abortion rights across the board in every case, incest, rape, whatever, getting elected senators, it is done by southern conservative legislatures, they can control those spots. what can you make of this guy becoming a senator down there? wayne? >> absolutely, ted cruz is a senator, believes some of those things. what we have here is a tea party success for two reasons in texas. this is a conservative state, it was a conservative state when lyndon johnson and john connelly were important in texas. we had two parties, conservative democratic party and more liberal democratic party. more importantly in texas, guys like this lieutenant governor candidate who is likely to win today and others up and down the ballot who represent, have the support of tea party, reflect an attitude by republican voters in

a runoff who aren't worried about losing in the fall. texas is not indiana, it is not delaware, it's not nevada, it is a state where democrats are not going to win in the fall. last time a democratic won statewide in texas was 1994. so texas voters, the republican voters in the primary, who are inclined to be conservative, have somewhat an anti-government streak, are able to indulge their inner tea party fantasy by electing these candidates. >> seems to me the tea party movement, i am a firm believer there's substance with it, has to do with people's concerns of government spending too much. throwing away their money, hard work, over stimulus package this and that, but i don't think the average tea partier believes in the crazy stuff or do they?

believe in banning abortion, even in cases of rape, think kids on campus with guns is a good idea. getting ready to pick your own u.s. senator, this is so far right wing, does the average tea party know what they're voting for here? >> line by line there are disagreements, they're pushing for a more aggressive republican party. what we're witnessing is the business wing of texas gop, rick perry, george w. bush era, it is over. this is ted cruise time in texas and we're seeing that ascension. >> that anger is there. this guy doesn't seem as angry as ted cruz. >> he does follow in the cruz mold. we see every candidate from this lg candidate to another tea party candidate for ag in texas, they're adopting a more aggressive grass roots pursuit of political office and they're following in ted cruz's model

from the 2012 race. >> as far right as ted cruz in thinking or just to the right. >> pretty far right. >> tipping point? your thought. is there a tipping point in texas where you go so far right, you lose the middle or is there a middle in texas you can lose? >> we have a smaller and smaller middle, potentially is a tipping point. we'll have to see if this happens. the question is not whether the voters say i like the idea of ted cruz saying i am going to go to washington and punch them in the face. that's appealing to some conservatives. the problem for the tea party, it is not social issues like abortion, religious expression, and gay marriage are out of the mainstream among many texas voters. the problem will be if the tea party economic argument about small government, cut spending, starts effecting public schools and starts effecting highways and water projects that the government is going to be drowned in the bathtub.

in the event that happens, then the tea party is over and moderate independent and conservative republican business minded voters who voted with them in the past will abandon them in the future. >> great reporting by you both. we will be right back after this.

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foretold. where did this person, age 22, get the notion was he entight told romantic intimate sexual relations with every woman he saw? where deget the idea he was betrayed by an arrangement that awarded him rights over the free wilf fellow human beings, that the women that refused him were assigned their life task of being his mate. it comings with being a human being, denial of what we think and feel we may like and we manage to attain some how, this longing called unrequited love makes us all the happier when we success in finding love. it is an interesting tragic question now. where did this person get the notion he was entitled to some om negative poe tent ability to get anyone.

i never heard anyone thinking they had right to such ability. this is "hardball." thanks for watching. "all in with chris hayes" starts now. good evening from new york, i am chris hayes. at this moment, memorial service is going on at uc santa barbara. the speaker is the father of one of the people killed in the mass killing. as the student dominated community of isla vista reels from a mass murder that left seven dead, including the perpetrator. in the days since elliot rodger went on a rampage, a pick tush emerged of a struggles of a man struggling with mental illness who plotted violence. in his local apartment, he stabbed to death his roommates.