money gushing through politics. this is one of those where you have to look at his actions and not just his words. thanks for joining us. i've been in for lawrence when in doubt, throw 'em out. are let's play "hardball." good evening. i'm chris matthews in washington. let me start with this. out, out damn spot. how do we rid this country of president obama, erase his name from the history books from the history of our presidents. how did we put a giant asterisk next to him so future generations will never believe the name barack obama believed in the list of american presidents. first they tried to say he wasn't born here. then they set about ruining a chance he had to build a presidential record.

they wanted barack obama to do one thing -- leave. then of course they tried defiting him for re-election. they got down on their knees, nominated a kennedy to oppose him who they didn't like. didn't trust. his one selling point was he was the best bet to do what they set their hearts on. get barack obama out of the white house. now with the years of the second term passing away comes the last gasp of obama haters. they want to impeach him. certainly smear him with a mark of oh personal condemnation. they are changing the reasons. there is no surprise. the reason for wanting obama destroyed wasn't a question of it but who. it's not that he brought us back from the economic abyss, getting osama bin laden but that he dared enter the office and sit in the chair. for his nasty enemies and those that cheer him that moment can never be forgiven or forgotten. the the quest to bring down barack obama will never come to

an end, it seems. michael steele is an msnbc political analyst. michael tomanski is a correspondent for the daily beast. this impeachment thing. let's look at the numbers there. this is not a small rogue group of republicans. right now according to to the cnn poll, should president obama be impeached? look at this number. 57% when i'm kicked to the curb. the rest of the country, as a whole, 65% don't agree with that thinking at all. how do you put it together? >> i think -- >> the difference between the republican party and the american people. >> we are clearly out of step. my attitude is there are enough other things to talk about with foreign policy, the economy, jobs, all of that that don't rise to this level of impeachment. if you want to give the house

back to the democrats, don't want the senate back and want to take yourself out of any contention for presidential politics in 2016, file the articles of impeachment tomorrow. go ahead and do it. you want to see that. >> if you're sitting on the congressman -- we'll get to example a. if you are sitting in office do you want to say as you go into a general election and a district that's fairly even, not a slam dunk republican district, do you want to announce for impeachment now? >> no. this is the last thing you want to talk about. unless your district is bleeding red, this is the last thing any republican in elected office wants to talk about going into the fall campaign. why? because the american people don't give a damn about this issue. they are concerned that they don't know what obamacare will look like. >> it's worse. they don't want you to say it because you don't want to say it. before primaries, fine.

once the primaries are behind them, they are facing a general election. according to our numbers, 65% of the people which may include a majority in tough red states, they think this is jackass behavior, some guy on a bar stool. give me another beer and impeach that bastard. somebody in your carpool. that's not what you are supposed to behave like as a congress person. >> 57% of the base voters. john boehner doesn't want to say it and other republicans running for senate in nonconservative states don't want to say it. steve scalise was on television. >> we have the tape. >> oh, you do. let's watch the tape. >> we love it. writes in the post, however republican candidates come down on impeachment they are doomed to alienate either the gop base or moderate voters ahead in the november midterms. well said.

take a look at the newly elected whip steve scalise on yesterday's "fox news sunday" doing what he can avoid to avoid taking a clear position. chris wallace did a good job. let's watch. >> will you consider impeaching the president? >> you know, this might be the first white house in history that's trying to start the narrative of impeaching their own oh president. ultimately we want the president to follow the laws. the president took an oath to faithfully execute the laws of the land and he's not. >> impeachment is off the table. >> the white house wants to talk about it. they are trying to fund-raise off that, too. >> i'm asking you, sir. >> the white house will try to change the topic from the president's failed agenda. >> i like the way chris did it po litly. i'm asking you, sir. i would have said, answer the question. >> that makes my point. >> he was standing on a beach ball. >> it's a hard thing to do. he and others recognize the idea

of impeachment, one, furthers the narrative for the base and, two, is a fund-raising tool. beyond that it doesn't have serious traction. as i go back to my point if you want to do it then file the articles of impeachment and sew see how the american people respond. >> the mere talk about it which they are all doing and people believe is to smear the guy. >> sure. >> it's smearing the president. 67% of voters who don't want it to happen. >> it's their nature. why does a scorpion sting? this is why. they are going to do it. they are going to do it at some point. i used to think maybe if they got the -- didn't get the senate back they probably wouldn't bother because they couldn't get a senate conviction. i have changed that. >> they don't have to impeach. >> there would be an a asterisk by his name.

>> they have used benghazi, the death ceiling, gitmo, the border crisis, syria, you name it, to threaten president obama. people in the white house never appeared to take them seriously. it's changing. this is dan pfeiffer friday speaking about the republican party's impeachment fever. >> a lot of people in town laugh that off. i would not discount the possibility. speaker boehner, by going down the path of the lawsuit has opened the door to considering impeachment at some point in the future. i think the president acting on immigration reform will up the likelihood that they would contemplate impeachment at some point. >> wow. white house press secretary josh ernest isn't laughing it off.

he's sparring with reporters on friday who openly wondered if the democrats used impeachment to raise money by themselves. >> do you believe the president could be impeached? >> i think there are senior members of the republican political party, certainly prominent voices for exactly that. >> it sounds like a fund raising, political ploy, not a real thing. you don't think the president will be impeached, do you? >> there are some republicans including some running for office hoping to get into office to impeach the president. that is a view they have because it's one they have repeatedly expressed publically. >> well, one of my favorite columnists from the new york times attacked the crusade against president obama. he described this. there is an insatiable vengeance lust for the haugty president who refuses to bend under

pressure or fold under duress. he must be brought to heel. he must be chastened. he must be broken. so house republicans are throwing the red meat into the cage. >> they are. this is not what the country wants. the country doesn't want you throwing red meat. they want you solving problems. >> you keep telling me this. why is your former confreres on that side doing it? >> you talk about two different strata of activism here. you have the congressional leadership who as you saw with scalise, they are not feeling it. >> why not answer the question? >> he's on the beach ball. if he goes, no, i'm not for impeachment, three minutes after that -- >> the tea party has a new candidate. >> if he says, we are for impeachment, guess what happens -- testimony fredo. let's talk about fredo. >> sitting there. >> john boehner said when luke

russert asked him rather than suing the president he said, i disagree. at least fredo stood up. >> he has to. what else will he do? >> i'm talking about the brother in "the godfather." fredo was the weak brother. he's my brother, but he's weak. >> he was the only one who has to say no. i guess mcconnell has to say no. they can dance on the vehicle as much as they like. steve king comes back to say if he tries to deal with it unilaterally i will support articles of impeachment. this is the game that will be played. >> we have to finish this up. let's be prophets. will the boehner going with the alternative to sue the president satisfy the right wing? >> it should. it likely won't because they will stoke the flames on impeachment. >> still? >> still.

>> right wing will stay quiet through november but absolutely not ultimately. >> it will come up at town meetings before the election and they will stand on the beach ball. we have created a metaphor. thank you. coming up, senator rand paul's pitch for african-american votes. we haven't seen a republican do this since the days of jack kemp. he was a great man. can the libertarians turn blacks against big government? interesting stuff. also, 99 days to go for the midterm elections. can the democrats hold the senate? and have women in both parties broken the glass ceiling? i believe it's true in many states. plus, barack obama thrilled democrats where the keynote speech. i covered that in boston. this was my immediate reaction. >> i have seen the first black president there. the reason i say that is i think the immigrant experience

combined with african background and incredible education, his beautiful speech -- not every politician gets help with a speech but that was a piece of work. >> tonight, how reality collided with hope. finally what happens when a congressman lectures two people he thinks represent the government of india only to find out they are americans. oops. this is "hardball," the place for politics.

well, look who's back at the top of the republican field for 2016. new jersey governor chris christie leads the pack in the latest research poll. despite his troubles at home including perhaps some legal problems. he's polling at 13%. not high but just ahead of rand paul and mike huckabee who are tied at 12. rick perry and paul ryan round out the top five with 11. for the democrats elizabeth warren is ahead of biden but trails hillary clinton.

welcome back to "hardball." republican rand paul is doing something few in his party seem willing to do -- trying to reach out to african-american voters. last year paul spoke to students at howard university. this friday he addressed the national urban league conference and told the crowd he was teaming with cory booker to expunge nonviolent felonies from a person's record because it makes it harder to find a job and because it disenfranchises voters. >> nationwide 5 million people are prevented from voting because of their criminal record. it's the biggest impediment to voting in our country. i want more people to vote, not less. >> senator paul's message, government is not your friend is the message. the jury out whether it will sell with voters, especially african-american voters.

as the photo showed there were quite a few empty chairs in the room. the paper describes it this way. row after row of empty chairs. the space didn't look much fuller after one of the organizers urged people seated near the back to fill in the front row. he didn't get primetime billing. she spoke 589:30 on friday morning. not primetime. joining me is eugene robin sonde and michelle robinson. gene, as a veteran of the wars and talking about the african-american vote in particular he's trying to make the case where big government has been helpful in economic programs and support programs. there's times when it is your enemy. one is a felon for life. if you committed a crime, say a hold-up at 18 and clean up your life, you are never a full citizen again. he says we'll get rid of that. he and booker.

>> if they lost an appeal to african-american voters big government is bad. not the way to do it. to make specific points. >> why didn't a democrat think of that? we can get into the numbers but african-americans have been voting democrat. why didn't an official say this fe mon thing is too general, too permanent, kills hope. >> there are democrats working on it. >> cory booker. >> and people in virginia. states around the case. you lose your voting rights more or less permanently. >> democrats have taken the african-american vote for granted. we know likely african-american wills vote the democratic ticket. democrats have the big tent. this is smart for rand paul. very smart.

>> do you think it will work? next year at this time will he be saying it? that's the key. will he stick at it? >> i'm going to bet this time next year he will be saying the same thing because he's gone out. saying the same thing over and over again. he's a libertarian and believes it. >> there was a time when republicans got a fairly respectable slice of the black vote. in 1956, 39% of african-american voters went for the republican. it was dwight eisenhower . by 1964, following the signing of the civil rights act the black vote had fallen off the vote for republicans. republicans share of the black vote remained in the single digits for decades. in 2012 the republican share was at the dismal 6%.

it's interesting. you and i know this. the forfeiting of the black vote, a third of the vote, then 10% because of the way they handled the 60s. that was the party of lincoln. >> construction. >> right. but that republican party allowed the democratic party the to be the party of civil rights. democrats in my part of the country took a while. >> i wouldn't let the democrats off easy. the 1964 civil rights bill. the most important thing done by congress in our lifetime. overwhelmingly for it. the democrats had a lot of people against it. anyway. i don't have the numbers here. >> look, those democrats were dixiecrats who were against desegregation.

>> 27 of 33 republicans, all but 6 voted for the civil rights act. >> kennedy and johnson had to work hard to get the legislation passed. it was never a done deal. >> what happened to the republican party in the north that was all for civil rights? >> it was taken over by the loudest, most racist elements of the pear. when reagan talked the same language as george wallace about believing in states rights, i think just about at that time they forfeited the african-american vote. >> or the young buck using food stamps for vodka or gin. if that ever happened it was in reader's digest somewhere. >> the southern strategy made the republican party the refuge for die hard racists and segregationists. that's where they went. >> senator paul has been through a lot of debates.

here was paul. he has work to do to win the african-american votes. in 2010 when he was running for the senate in the first place, rand paul told the editorial board of the louisville journal he had concerns with the parts of the civil rights bill of 1964. here is part of that. >> under your philosophy, it would be okay for dr. king not to be served at the counter at woolworth's? >> i would not go there. i would stand up in the community and say it is abhorrent. but the hard part is if you believe in the first amendment, for example, you have to -- for example, most good defenders of the first amendment would believe a group saying awful things. we are here at the bastion of newspaperdom. i'm sure you believe in the first amendment. people can say bad things. in a free society we tolerate boorish people.

casey hunt reminded senator paul of the position after declaring support for the civil rights act to the urban league. >> you noted in the speech you support the civil rights act but specifically do you think private businesses should be allowed to discriminate based on race? >> no. >> so you have changed from when you said before you were concerned about that -- >> i never said before. >> when i first heard the comment i thought, what a it in wit. >> could he be an honest man who said i had concerns until the use of the commerce claus to the use of civil rights? he shouldn't have said it politically. >> intellectually he could have believed it. i take him for his word. i don't think you will see a large drove of african-americans decide to register republican. he's gotten smart. in the era of trayvon martin, my son is with me. there is not a black mother

that's going to hear what rand paul is saying about crime and laws and negative impact they have on african-americans, particularly black boys and not think twice about whether or not she should listen to what he's saying and how it might impact the lives of her children. >> his position on civil rights act now has to be, that wasn't me. it was another guy. >> this is something i have extrapolated from what he's doing. he's nimble. he moved from intellectual opposition to political support. he's do the same things with the hawks of foreign policy. i believe it will be tougher in the middle east. he'll move to the hawkish side. not let the establishment republicans paint him. >> imagine in 2016 on civil rights if he's up in the numbers. if they oppose him, what's the

republican party do in 2016? vote hillary? >> your kids are movie stars. they are beautiful. thank you. up next a u.s. congressman commits a boo-boo, an oops. gets nationalal tis mixed up. this is "hardball," the place for politics.

welcome back to "hardball." time for the sideshow. a freshman u.s. congressman from florida made a major mistake last week during a house foreign affairs committee hearing. curt clawson said he wants cooperation and commitment from the country of india. good point. but he was addressing u.s. officials from the state department and the department of commerce. >> so just as your capital is welcome here to produce good-paying jobs in the u.s., i would like our capital to be welcomed there and there to be freedom of capital. so that both sides are on the same territory and i ask cooperation, commitment and priority from your government in so doing. can i have that? >> i think your question is to the indian government. we certainly share your sentiments and we certainly will advocate that on behalf of the u.s.

>> oops. congressman clawson was questioning two senior u.s. government officials. once john oliver caught that he was going to pounce. and he did. >> my favorite part of it other than absolutely everything is mr. kumar who is absolutely loving the whole thing. he's leaning back in his chair going, oh, this guy is awesome. please, nobody tell him. i've got ten buck which is says he's about to compliment me for my role in "slumdog millionaire." clawson later apologized in a statement he made in usa today saying, i made a mistake in speaking before being fully briefed. i apologize. i'm a quick stud, but in this case i shot an air ball. i believe that's a good save. last week we told you darth vader had a higher approval rating than all of the current potential 2016 presidential rates.

hillary clinton showed her savvy on why she lost to the villain. >> one final question. what do you make of the fact that darth vader is polling ahead of every potential presidential candidate? what's the deeper meaning? >> i think the deeper meaning is people love fantasies. sometimes when we are so frustrated with the gridlock in washington we would like some figure. dallas-ft. worth wouldn't be my choice. perhaps a slightly more positive attitude than his presentation co-tom in and just fix it. >> if you don't like that hillcally find yourself another candidate. that's what she's really like. somebody with a more positive attitude? losing to super man wouldn't have gotten headlines. up next, 99 days to the midterms. can president obama and the democrats hold control of the senate? this is "hardball," the place for politics. when you run a business, you can't settle for slow.

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welcome back. with 99 days lef until election day get ready for the sprint to the finish or the slog. it's clear republicans hold the edge on winning control of the u.s. senate.

they have three big thing going for them, all national. one, history. recently in the sixth year of party terms in the white house that party averages a loss of six seats in the senate. also is president obama's popularity which isn't great. just 41%. could go up or down. it's now at 41. not good. 63% of the country, according to the same poll says the country is headed in the same direction. are we happy or not? do we want to vote yes or no? it's a no. so the democrats are certainly in a fight for the senate. here is how it looks with 99 days to go. republicans need six seats to win. they are assured of winning in three democratic seats now. west virginia, south dakota, montana. four democrats are in competitive races in spate state where is president obama is unpopular. really red. north carolina, arkansas, louisiana and alaska. joing the at risk states are

four of the same likely democrats all along. now competitive. new hampshire is a long shot for the republicans. michigan certainly is at play now. iowa very much up 50/50. so the colorado. they could go either way. the democrats could offset republican chances by picking up seats in either -- two sets held by republicans now. georgia where my nel nunt is running and kentucky where you have a real shot with allison grimes going after mitch mcconnell. joining me are nya henderson with the washington post and amy walter who eat this is stuff for breakfast. senior editor. you know more than i do. >> thank are you. i appreciate that. that's huge. i should leave now. >> that's called patronizing. when you look at the states i see the usual problems. in the conservative states they want to vote against obama and this is their choice. where do you see the democrat bucking that?

you see are even though people in louisiana or alaska or north carolina or arkansas don't like the president they will say, yeah, but i like this guy or this woman. >> mark begich is trying to localize the race successfully. part of the reason is there is not a nominee yet. >> isn't there -- >> they have to have a primary. there's been a lot of focus on mark begich not yet on the republican. >> there is a down side. we know one other thing. once a party picks a nominee. >> they poll less. >> they unite. >> theoretically. >> landrieu is doing the same thing. she's running -- >> didn't she get a big endorsement? >> she got big oil there. she -- >> she's pro keystone. >> right. she has a big chairmanship as well. you do see folks incumbents

running loek lieds races but also using the power of incumbency to say, listen, i'm the folks who have the chairmanships, who can get stuff done in washington. >> you have sentiments i share occasionally. i think there is optimism on the way. i don't know about the glass ceiling for president. if hillary wins it, it could be smashed. there are states it doesn't hurt you to be the woman. gillibrand and so on. regardless of part i'm looking at joanie ernst running the castrating hogs ad. that's a funny way to get the name out there. terri lynn land, ernst, landrieu, kay hagan, nunn and grimes. could it be women's issues can help a candidate? >> this is the best time of all to be an outsider.

ernst and land can pr portray themselves as, i'm not part of that mess in washington and they are running against male members of congress who are part of the mess. >> is that why they say hog castrator. is it funny or does it say i'm tough, funny, i have a sense of humor? what does it say? >> it says i'm from iowa. where else do we talk about it. >> after that came out, reading the local papers almost every candidate had to come in and they were asked what they did on a farm. one said, i pulled chicken feathers. well, i -- >> started with lincoln being the rail splitter. >> it's the idea of populism. >> is it a plus or minus or neutral? >> you will see democrats ramp up the war on women. especially in -- >> colorado.

>> north carolina where you have a woman against a man. >> virginia. >> could you believe the debate between ed gillespie and mark warner, two guys and the headline in your paper was all about a women's issue. the last question raised as an after thought to the moderator, not him. >> they are looking at the last virginia gubernatorial race where women's issues have been pivotal. you have planned parenthood talking about abortion, birth control. mainly birth control. >> you have fresh issues here. democrats hope the supreme court's hobby lobby decision was game changing. once again raising the profile of women's rights as a campaign issue they hope will draw single women to the polls in november. they made the difference in the republicans' first electoral off year test. that was the race where terry mcauliffe beat ken cuccinelli by 30 point ace among unmarried women.

look at colorado which has become ground zero for the fight over women's issues. and mark udall is painting gardner as an extremist. this is one of the ads. >> because this matters it is important you hear from from me. my opponent led a crusade to make birth control illegal and sponsored a bill to make abortion a felony, even in cases of rape and incest. his record is beyond troubling. it is wrong. we are talking about your rights as women, families, coloradans. you have the right to live life on your own terms. >> i have learned women don't like men talking about their reproductive rights. they like women making the the decisions. i'm talking politics, not constitution here. >> this is the same message that worked in virginia with two men. it worked in colorado the last cycle.

this was michael bennet's attack against ken buck in colorado. >> is this the ace in the hole for democrats? >> listen. it matters when the candidate they are running against is proven to be too far, too extreme. the problem for democrats though is what is the other issue that single women are worried about? it's the economy, the direction of the country. that's the one depressant on this. is it enough to say, oh, here they go again on birth control or abortion when they are saying i have been hearing this for six years. nothing is changing for me. >> democrats in the southern states, these are more conservative evangelical states. may not work in louisiana or north carolina. >> keep coming back. keep reporting. thank you. up next, we are hoping reality collides.

ten years since an unknown barack obama thrilled democrats at the democratic national convention and all that's happened since. this is "hardball," the place for politics. she's still the one for you. and cialis for daily use helps you be ready anytime the moment is right. cialis is also the only daily ed tablet approved to treat symptoms of bph, like needing to go frequently. tell your doctor about all your medical conditions and medicines, and ask if your heart is healthy enough for sex. do not take cialis if you take nitrates for chest pain, as it may cause an unsafe drop in blood pressure. do not drink alcohol in excess. side effects may include headache, upset stomach, delayed backache or muscle ache. to avoid long term injury, get medical help right away for an erection lasting more than four hours. if you have any sudden decrease or loss in hearing or vision, or any allergic reactions like rash, hives, swelling of the lips, tongue or throat, or difficulty breathing or swallowing, stop taking cialis and get medical help right away. ask your doctor about cialis for daily use and a free 30-tablet trial.

looks like we're about to board. mm-hmm. i'm just comparing car insurance rates at progressive.com. is that where they show the other guys' rates, too? mm-hmm. cool. yeah. hi. final boarding call for flight 294. [ bells ring on sign ] [ vehicle beeping ] who's ready for the garlic festival? this guy! bringing our competitors' rates to you -- now, that's progressive. well, look at this. a new opinion research poll shows mitt romney would beat president obama by nine points in a hip thet call rematch. it's romney 5 3rks obama 44. that's good news for romney and the republicans.

thousand the bad news for both. in a prospective match-up mitt romney would lose by 13 points to hillary clinton. wow. 55 to 42. we'll be right back.

i say to them tonight, there is not a liberal america and a conservative america. there is the united states of america. there is not a black america and a white america, a latino america, an asian america. there's the united states of america.

>> we're back. it's been ten years since barack obama's famous keynote address to the 2004 democratic national convention up in boston. it was hard to miss the promise the young state senator showed that night not because of the talent he possessed but because of what he meant to so many. he was running for a seat in the senate out in illinois. his speech that night took the country by surprise sending an already rising star on a trajectory that would lead four years later in the white house. his message was aspirational, cut through the parties and lines that had become all too familiar in the 2004 election cycle. here was my reaction that night. i see the first black president there. the reason i say that is because i think the immigrant experience combined with the african background, combined with the incredible education, combined with his beautiful speech. not everybody politician gets help from a speech. that speech was a piece of work.

>> well, with all that's changed over the past ten years, some for the better, some for the worst, it's hard to recognize the america barack obama envisioned in that speech. that vision of america is an aspiration. joe conason, editor of the nationalmemo.com. and willie brown was major of san francisco at the time. mayor brown, thank you for that brilliant thinking back then and i want your thinking now. i'm going to advertise something now people keep forgetting. in 2004 when he gave that speech, the economy, we hated the war, we're fighting the war, a big controversy. but the economy wasn't screwed up like this -- the great recession that came in 2008 and 2009 and stayed through 2010 and 2011. that drop, historic drop in our economic situation i think is a huge part of this and he had nothing to do with it but it hurt i think the way he came on stage when he was president. your thoughts? >> i share your view. i do believe that that speech was just extraordinary.

as a matter of fact, it came long before i thought we would have been addressing the people of america in that way. i'm glad he did, and i'm glad america responded appropriately. however, he has run into a buzz stone that is you just -- there's no way to explain how all those things contained in that speech, the dreams, the goals contained in that speech, we've not been able to achieve. >> yeah. let me go to joe on this. joe, i don't know whether people -- it was the economy, i think rocked this country to its heels. the rich, the poor, the middle just can't believe what happened to us in '08, '09 and '10. got worse, almost double digits. also i think the fact they liked him as the first african-american president, as the nonpartisan guy he was in that speech. he was a keynesian, believed in a big stimulus program. he really wanted a health care program and he did it. i think that probably shocked the center. my god, this guy's a liberal, they weren't ready for it. that's my thinking.

>> well, i guess that's partly true, though. chris, you have to consider they gave him a republican health care program. he gave them the heritage foundation, you know, health insurance program. the one that -- >> you and i know that. it was sold by the enemy as the worst socialism in the world. you know that. >> i understand that. you know, what he tried to do i think was consistent with the speech. the stimulus program was more than the republicans liked. it was less than we actually needed. i think the president tried very hard to find republicans who would support him on a lot of these issues, and he couldn't because the republican party has changed quite a bit since he gave that speech, chris. you know, when he was in the senate, couple of years -- a year or so after that speech was delivered, he was mentored by dick lugar. republican from indiana who had since been driven out by the tea party republicans. you know, the republicans that he was thinking about when he gave the speech saying there's no red america, there's no blue america, there's the red, white, and blue america, is not a republican party anymore.

now it's a republican party that wants to talk about impeaching this president. >> let's talk about that from both sides and be down the middle here. there are two points of view you hear all the time. one is it's obama's fault because he's not a schmoozer. we'll get to the bad guy's side in a minute. you, now, speak on television, speak in a big room, but you're renowned for the backroom stuff. is that something we didn't see? >> i think he's without that kind of a skill. and america probably now knows that. he's not a good fighter. he really does start with what ought to be the end of process, where he's convinced everybody to buy in. he starts with the ideal, and the ideal never, never, never comes off if you begin with it. you have to work, you have to build toward it. he doesn't have the skills to do that. >> let's go to the other side, joe conason. the other side made a decision

early on, i'm going to get this at the end of the show, to screw this guy. they didn't want this guy to be successful. they want him to be an asterisk. they didn't like him from the beginning. mitch mcconnell plotted that from election night on. these guys wanted to make his presidency not exist somehow. is it their fault or the lack of schmooze? did he have to be more willie brown, more lyndon johnson? mix it up. try to give me a -- what do you think is the lacking here? >> more lyndon johnson would have been good. presidents don't have the power lyndon johnson had anymore. a tougher approach to the republicans might have worked better. i think he does, as mayor brown said, he starts from the ideal. what reason should get you, you know, how you can put forward an argument, how you can get to the point where you want to be, and without realizing what you just said which is that they were not interested in that. they wanted to destroy him from the beginning, and if you're

facing an adversary like that, you know, there are certain tactics and strategies that you have to adopt in order to fight them. >> chris, there's almost -- >> 25 seconds, mayor. is it worse now politics than even he imagined ten years ago? >> oh, i think much worse. >> mayor brown? >> chris, i think there's one factor, though, that most of us don't like to address. the question of race is still paramount in the minds of a number of people holding public office. and barack obama represents the rejection that they would like to impose upon people of color. and they have the opportunity to do that and they disguise it as lots of other things. >> mayor brown, my friend, my hero, wait until you hear how i say this at the end of show. i completely agree with you. i've been watching this baby. this is not all about politics. >> please allow me to say i also agree. >> got to go. thank you, joe. thank you, mayor brown. thanks for coming on. we'll be right back. a whole lot easier.

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that's enough time to record a memo. idea for sales giveaway. return a call. sign a contract. pick a tie. take a break with mr. duck. practice up for the business trip. fly to florida. win an award. close a deal. hire an intern. and still have time to spare. go to comcastbusiness.com/ checkyourspeed if we can't offer faster speeds - or save you money - we'll give you $150. comcast business. built for business. let me finish tonight with this. ten years ago, barack obama came upon the american public as a breath of fresh air. he spoke in ways that awakened our hopes, broke through the clouds of cheap politics and stormy rhetoric. we heard him, and elected him our president. not just the minorities and other progressives, not just the african-americans but many who beamed at the notion of electing one as our president, our president. how many of us wanted that to be truly the case, who wanted the

world to know that the belief that all men are created equal was as alive as the american pulse, that making it real would, indeed, quicken that pulse, make us a more alive democracy? how many of us, did, yes, believe that and still do. but how many other americans saw a different reckoning? when confronted with that name, barack obama, right there on the ballot in front of them. how many saw that name and that face and that man with dread? how could this be? how could this have happened? for this man is not our president. no, he is their president. we will do all in our power to make that deadly clear. we may not do it the day he's in office, but we will surely get to it as sure of the turning of the earth, we'll get to it. we'll get it written down somewhere that there was some mistake. someone left the gate open and this man got himself into the oval office. you don't believe this? check the numbers. 57% of the republican party wants this man run out of office and thrown to the curb. they can't come up with a reason he deserves impeachment, but that's not their fault. that really.

you see, they never went looking for a reason. they never needed one. it was not what he did. it was from the outset who he was. that's "hardball" for now. thanks for being with us. a racing boat flips upside down. >> has crashed. motorcycles fly off the track. >> flags going up everywhere. this is mayhem. dangerous drivers plow straight into disaster. >> they thought the whole store was going to explode. >> stay clear! >> oh, my god. there are so many ways to lose control. >> i just couldn't do what i wanted to do. my body just wouldn't do it. and when you least expect it. >> he's heading into the cemetery. a perfectly calm day could get a little out of hand. >> i've never seen the waves this high.