live coverage. the "rachel maddow show" starts right now. >> good evening, chris. thanks to you at home for joining us. there are not a lot of two-term presidents in recent american history. before president obama there was george w. bush. he, of course, had two terms. bill clinton. ronald reagan. but before ronald reagan, you have to go back to eisenhower to get to a president who served two whole terms. so if you look at these four, the only presidents in the last 30 -- actually eisenhower should be obama there. you look at these presidents over the last 30 years to have served two terms, obviously, they are pretty wildly different as presidents. they served in different times and have been viewed differently in terms of how they'll go down in history. in this rather elite club, these few people who have had two terms, all of them so far have had the same thing happen to them at the end of their

presidency. they all in their last two years in office had to deal with the house and the senate being in control of the opposite party. ronald reagan's second midterms were in 1986. he was a republican. in his second midterm, the democrats held on to the house and his republican party lost the senate. george w. bush. his second midterm in 2006. his republican party lost the house and lost the senate. bill clinton was a democrat and his second midterm election, his democratic party did not lose the senate majority because it was not theirs to lose but they stayed in the minority in both the senate and the house. every two-term president of the modern era has had to serve the last two years of his presidency with both houses of congress being controlled by the other par party. george w. bush, bill clinton and ronald reagan. this is what happens to second

term presidencies. every time. at least over the course of my lifetime this is how it goes. and before. even if you do want to go back further than that. it was true of eisenhower as well. this is now proven to be almost an historic inevitability about what happens to presidents when they get to their second term and second midterm election. the other guys are in charge of congress. must be a huge drag if you are president to know that's coming. right? but although that is the history, nobody knows for sure if that's going to happen to president obama in tomorrow's elections as well. republicans certainly will hold the house. nobody yet knows if they will take the senate. republicans seem very confident that they will take the senate. if the republican party this year keeps up with history, then the republicans will be right in their confidence. they will take the senate. since world war ii, in midterm elections, the president's party loses an average of four senate seats in each midterm election. if, however, you focus in on

just the second midterms, just midterms when a president is in his sixth year of office, the number of senate seats the president's party loses an average is 5.8. let's round to six. if the republican party performs at historical average levels in tomorrow's election, the republican party tomorrow will take six senate seats from the democrats and coincidentally, six senate seats happens to be the exact number they need to take from the democrats in order to take over control of the united states senate. all they have to do is hit the historical average and they will get what they want. if they don't -- they'll have some explaining to do, sub par. so that context is not about any one race. that doesn't tell you what's going to happen to any individual candidate tomorrow or in any individual state tomorrow. that's just the historical precedent for what happens in elections like the one we are about to have.

and if past is prologue and tomorrow does follow that very clear historic pattern, well, then, the next thing to consider is what happens once republicans do have control of the united states senate as well as the united states house of representatives. if they have complete control of congress, what are they going to want to do with it. no idea. texas senator ted cruz did a "washington post" interview where he said he's already not sure about whether he'll vote for mitch mcconnell as majority leader for the republicans in senate. they are already fighting over the booty when they haven't raided the castle yet. one thing does seem clear. if the republicans do meet history's expectations and take complete control of congress tomorrow, well, okay. this is the legislative record. the quantitative legislative record. the record of achievement for what is known as the do-nothing congress. after world war ii, harry truman

branded the congress that year the do nothing congress. that famous picture of harry truman gleefully holding up the newspaper, dewey defeats truman. the "chicago daily tribune" got the election results wrong. other than the newspaper screwing up the headline, do you remember anything else about thomas dewey. are you even sure his first name was thomas? nobody remembers anything about thomas dewey because harry truman didn't even bother republicaning against him. he ran against the do nothing congress. he basically ignored the republican candidate. truman ran against the do nothing congress and he won. and that congress will forever be known as the do nothing congress. it's the historic benchmark in our nation for the failure of a political institution, right? for the failure to act. that congress did nothing. for comparison sake, so that's

the legislative record of the do nothing congress. the 112th congress there, that's the legislative record of the last congress we just had. they say there's nothing new under the sun. we are in our lifetime setting new records for congress doing less than it has ever done before. usa, usa. that's the do nothing congress. right next to it is the last congress which is officially on record as the least productive congress in the history of congress. and now this is the record of the current congress that we're in right now. the current congress, their record so far. we might even beat the record which we set last year. congress has never done less in the history of the united states of america than it's done since the republicans took control of the house in 2010. if the republican party also takes the senate, though, i think it is reasonable to expect that that record of doing absolutely nothing will change.

republicans in control of the two houses of congress will probably find a way to agree with each other enough to pass things because they will be able to do it with all republican votes. once they can act in washington, without having to deal with the democrats at all, my guess is they probably will start passing stuff. democrats will not be able to stop them in the house or in the senate barring the filibuster. if the republicans take control of both of those bodies, democrats will not be able to stop it. they'll leave it up to president obama himself. president obama alone will be the counterweight to the all-republican congress if the republicans take the senate tomorrow. and that will be a lot of fun to cover. when the same thing that may happen to president obama tomorrow happened to george w. bush in 2006. when the democrats took control of both houses of congress in the sixth year of his presidency, george w. bush, by that point in his presidency, had only vetoed one bill over

the entire time he'd been president. after 2006, after the opposite party took control of the house and senate, he issued 11 vetoes in his last two years in office. heading into tomorrow's elections, president obama so far in this presidency has only vetoed two pieces of legislation. neither of which are things that anybody remembers. one of them was a typo by congress. congress passed a stop-gap thing because they thought they were not going to be able to pass a spending bill. then they passed a spending bill, too. it was a nonevent. president obama vetoed one of them. the headline the day he issued his very first veto as president was this. veto from obama does not stop presses. it was not the most important thing. the only other thing he's vetoed since being president is had to do with -- i'm not kidding you. it had to do with who is allowed to notarize your mortgage

documents. now no offense to notaries or to mortgage documents, but that veto was not exactly an earth-shattering political move either. for all of the politics and the political tactings and the controversies and the different types of political excitement we've had deariuring the obama s we've had precisely zero excitement over presidential vetoes. it's happened only twice in this presidency and only one time did it make the front page of the paper when it happened. if history is right about what's going to happen in tomorrow a election, that whole veto thing is about to get more exciting. a big new thing to be controversial and exciting in our politics. so looking ahead to how tomorrow's election may or may not changior life, if you are interested in politics, you are about to have a lot more barack obama in the politics in the republicans take the senate and can get it together to pass

legislation through the house and senate. president obama's desk will be a much more interesting place than it has been since congress stopped doing anything four years ago. so that san exciting prospect. the, thing we know is going to happen after tomorrow's election is that president obama is planning on doing stuff without congress. now president obama has said that after the election he'll take executive action on the issue of immigration. if you want to know what else is going to happen, if history is right and the republicans have a great day. if you want to know what else that is going to mean in your life and political life as a nation, our friends at fox news are already so excited about the prospect of president obama acting on the issue of immigration that they have started planning out loud for what they are going to do in response. what they are going to do in congress if republicans get control of both houses of congress starting tomorrow and then president obama acts without them. they are already talking about

what they are going to do in response. i don't want to give it away but its initials are impeachment. they are already talking about impeachment. >> the white house has basically said he's going to, right after the election, midterms, he's going to issue an executive action and there was this big story in "the wall street journal" that he may take action that would delay deportation. give a permanent path not to citizenship but legalization to up to 4 million people. i promise you if he does that, by executive action goes against congress and legalizes 4 million people who are in this country illegally there is going to be a firestorm on capitol hill. you'll see calls for impeachment. >> impeachment. they are already calling for it. they are already planning on it. >> if the republicans do capture the senate, there's no more excuses about impeachment. see, what we've heard so far is

why we can't do that because we would never get it through the senate. it would just be a waste of time. well if they have control of the senate, it won't be. so we'll see how they deal with this post election if they happen to win the control of the senate. >> that's tony perkins from the family research council. social conservative group at world net daily. your source for where's the birth certificate t-shirts and bumper stickers. tom tancredo banging the drum for impeachment. given the likely new political circumstances come november 4th, impeachment is no longer impractical. an fox news, on the conservative blog world, they've already got it in motion as best as they can. tomorrow they take the senate. the day after that they start working toward impeachment. >> remember this summer, republicans in the house came up with a plan that was to drain some of the energy away from the

calls on the try to start impeaching president obama for something. house speaker boehner said he'd file a lawsuit against president obama instead of filing impeachment proceedings. this was to drain the excitement, right? this is supposed to divert energies away from impeachment into this lawsuit against president obama instead. since then, that supposed lawsuit has never been filed. two different law firms have now quit after being hired by the house speaker to brng that case. they just didn't ever do anything with it. and the fire on the right and in the conservative media and on fox news to impeach president obama for something some time soon, that fire on the right is burning hotter than the beltway realizes right now. nobody knows for sure if the republicans are going to take the senate tomorrow. history if nothing else suggests that they will. but then what? as you can see tonight, i'm at a different desk. we're at the big new desk.

the big new set. lots of head room. all set up for election night tomorrow night. it's going to be a big night. the best we can tell is the next two years are going to be not just a big deal. they're probably going to be a big mess which makes the news business a very fun place to work. joining us now is andrea mitchell. it's great to see you. >> great to be here. nice digs, rachel. >> thank you. i don't think i get to keep them. we'll see. this election might go until january. >> exactly. >> it is a little bit, i feel there 24 intereare two interests i can't get my head through. you look at economic data, fundamentals, how many races are considered to be a tie or within the margin of error. history tells us it won't be close. it's going to be a blowout and republicans win. how do you approach something like this? >> very cautiously because it is

close. polling can be wrong. but in every place we look, all the data show it's very close. we don't see signs of this republican wave especially in the nbc news/"wall street journal" poll which now shows it neck and neck in terms of people who want a democratic congress and people who say we want a republican congress. our best thinking in looking at this is that people are so upset. so turned off by the deadlock, gridlock, the argument, the commercials, the money that's been spent that they are angry at the incumbents, and many of them are democrats and the white house is an incumbent democrat and they are angry at the house. and they really aren't decided or haven't decided up until now which way to express that anger. do they stay home, in which case is baseically advantages the people who are committed midterms. that's often older voters, more

republican voters, or does it inspire the base? are there democrats getting people angry enough and fearful enough about what they say will happen if the republicans take over that the young people will come out. we've got early voting and key state, colorado, which is mail-in voting. >> for the first time. >> we don't know if a really important, close election in north carolina what kind of voter intimidation is going to take place. that's been ground zero. you've done all the homework there. what's going to happen when people try to vote. >> i feel like looking ahead -- i feel like especially looking at previous two-term presidents, they all had to deal with having congress controlled by the opposite party. that's part of what makes it feel like an historic inevitability. is there any way to look ahead toward what changes in washington if the republicans do take control? policy making, no policy is being made in congress anyway. >> right. >> presumably no policy making

will be made in congress controlled by the republicans on both sides because president obama will veto anything they want to pass that he disagrees with. is there any way to predict based on history or the dynamics what those last two years would be like? >> if you look at ronald reagan and bill clinton, both of whom were struggling in their second terms with scandal. one impeachment, sex scandal, the other iran/contra. reagan's presidency was almost going down, sauved by howard baker who came in. if you look at them, they didn't have to deal with an opposition party which was as controlled by the wings as this republican party. it was pre-tea party. pre-ted cruz and an accommodation by the opposition party and the second term president. ronald reagan got stuff done. bill clinton got important stuff

done. and they were able to work across -- >> even post scandal, even as wounded presidents and with opposite party controlling the congress. >> which republican party if they were to win, is going to be in charge? you already saw ted cruz saying today in alaska, i'm not sure i would vote for mitch mcconnell. does mitch mcconnell have to deal with presidential candidates among his colleagues who are taking shots from all sides? is it going to be rand paul who said on "meet the press" he thinks things can be done even as he's clearly ramping up for a presidential run. is it going to be the accommodation like bob corker and others, lamar alexander who may try to reach a middle and do something on tax reform and trade policy that ooh ronically president obama has tried to do but democrats have stopped him. or is it going to be a divided republican party in three parts? candidates.

very right wing tea party members who are not running for president and more moderate people who want to prove that republicans can get something done, can govern to position themselves for 2016. >> this is going to be fascinating. seeing them already fighting over the spoils before they've obtained them. >> take a look at some of the chairmanships and that's a key. john mccain will take over armed services. jim imhoff will take over the environment. he's a climate change denier. >> greatest hoax ever perpetrated on mankind. >> andrea mitchell, i can't wait to help cover this with you. >> i have a big guest on my show tomorrow. >> who do you have? >> rachel maddow. >> really? i better get up in time to see that. just a few hours away, civics geeks. for wall to wall coverage tomorrow night, msnbc has the services of steve kornacki and

his amazing wall. stay with us. i got this. [thinking] is it that time? the son picks up the check? [thinking] i'm still working. he's retired. i hope he's saving. i hope he saved enough. who matters most to you says the most about you. at massmutual we're owned by our policyowners, and they matter most to us. whether you're just starting your 401(k) or you are ready for retirement, we'll help you get there. ♪ there's confidence... then there's trusting your vehicle maintenance to ford service confidence. our expertise, technology, and high quality parts means your peace of mind. it's no wonder last year we sold over three million tires. and during the big tire event, get up to $140 in mail-in

rebates on four select tires. ♪ thank you! thank you! dedicated bankers born to go the extra mile. you've been such a big help. it's what i like to do. so you can choose a bank where helping people comes first. chase. so you can.

fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance. everybody knows that. well, did you know genies can be really literal? no. what is your wish? no...ok...a million bucks! oh no... geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance.

you know what americans love? americans love pot. colorado and washington passed ballot measures in the last election in twnt 12 that legalized marijuana. they legalized marijuana's use and made its sale a legal regulated taxed industry in those two states. and the exact details of the right way to regalternate and

tax and implement those laws is still being sorted out in colorado and washington. but in those two states they have got legal pot already. as of tomorrow, two more states, plus the district of columbia may choose to go the same way. alaska and oregon are both going to be voting on legalizing recreational pot tomorrow. washington, d.c., will also vote on it tomorrow. in d.c. there's the prospect that congress will overrule the local decision making because citizens of the district of columbia are second class citizens who are not allowed to make local decisions the way other people are in every other part of the contiguous united states. in florida, they will also be voting on marijuana. it's not for recreational use, just medicinal marijuana. and the ballot measure in florida, an amendment to the state constitution. as such under florida law it would take a vote of 60% in favor. 60% of the population instead of a simple majority would be

needed to pass the medical marijuana initiative. overall it's an interesting question. because americans love pot so much, right, it's an interesting question as to what that marijuana ballot initiative might do to the florida election overal. the florida after's race super tight. like so many races kroots the country right now are. florida governor is very much too close to call. do florida voters love pot so much that having the opportunity to vote for greater access to marijuana in that state will drive up turnout in that election? and same question for alaska. in alaska, both the senate race and governors race are super, super tight. in alaska tomorrow, they aren't just voting for access to medical marijuana but legalizing it for recreational use. everybody expects that to be of great interest in alaska voters. nationwide polling has nearly 4 in 10 americans saying they'd be much more likely to vote if marijuana legalization was on the ballot.

now that's nationwide. will that hold true in florida and alaska and the states voting on it tomorrow? will it drive turnout above where it might otherwise be if voters didn't have the chance to vote in those states on pot? which we love as a country. like mom and apple pie. if you are mom and apple pie also made you want to eat funnions and watch cartoons. whether pot being an the ballot in alaska and florida affects the other very close races in those states. nobody knows the answer. it's going to be fascinating to watch. the same question and same potential dynamic at work in these states. because in these four states tomorrow, they are voting on something even more documented in terms of people supporting it and that has an even clearer track record in terms of juicing turnout. that's the issue of money. it's the issue of raising the minimum wage. list well, arkansas, nebraska,

south dakota, they are all red states, places there's no way the republican legislatures were going to boost the minimum wage but it's not the legislature's decision to make. it's going to be on the ballot for a popular referendum. raising the minimum wage is really, really, popular. in arkansas, alaskaqiquv and so dakota there are top of the ticket races really close. the minimum wage vote in those states is not close. in arkansas the ballot measure there is leading by nearly 3 to 1. in south dakota, their ballot measure to raise the minimum wage leading by more than 2 to 1. in alaska a ballot measure to raise the minimum wage is up by 27 points. raising in minimum wage is a really popular idea. yes, we like pot as a country. we love pot as a country. but we also really like the idea

of giving a raise to people working for the lowest wages allowed by law. even in the red states where republican politicians would never touch that. the red state folks who live in those places support raising minimum wage. it's an historical proven winner among democrats and independents and even republicans. wherever the question of raising the minimum wage has appeared an the ballot, people have always said yes and by very large margins. raising the minimum wage has been undefeatable and historically it also drives up turnout. people come out to vote for raising the minimum wage even if they otherwise wouldn't turn out to vote. put that map back up again, if we can. minimum wage is on the ballot in alaska where there are super tight races. it's on the ballot in arkansas. it's on the ballot in south dakota which has thats about bi

three-way race. putting pot on the ballot and putting raising minimum wage on the ballot have the potential to change the electorate. alaska is doing both of them at the same time. nobody knows what that's going to mean. there's a lot of speculation. a lot of what is going to happen tomorrow is pretty certain already. a lot of it is completely really, really high up there in the air. hold that thought. in china, impact wool exports from new zealand, textile production in spain, and the use of medical technology in the u.s.? at t. rowe price, we understand the connections of a complex, global economy. it's just one reason over 70% of our mutual funds beat their 10-year lipper average. t. rowe price. invest with confidence. request a prospectus or summary prospectus with investment information, risks, fees and expenses to read and consider carefully before investing.

["mony mony" by billy idole she cokicks in on car stereo]y". ♪don't stop now come on mony♪ ♪come on yeah ♪i say yeah ♪yeah ♪yeah ♪yeah ♪yeah ♪yeah ♪yeah ♪'cause you make me feel like a pony♪ ♪so good ♪like your pony ♪so good ♪ride the pony the sentra, with bose audio and nissanconnect technology. spread your joy. nissan. innovation that excites. [singing] ♪mony mony twhat do i do?. you need to catch the 4:10 huh? the equipment tracking system will get you to the loading dock. ♪ there should be a truck leaving now. i got it. now jump off the bridge. what? in 3...2...1... are you kidding me? go. right on time. right now, over 20,000 trains are running reliably. we call that predictable. thrillingly predictable.

to help spread some holiday cheer. before earning 1% cash back everywhere, every time; and 2% back at the grocery store. thank you! even before they got 3% back on gas, all with no hoops to jump through, a couple was inspired to use their bankamericard cash rewards credit card to throw the ultimate ugly sweater party of the season. that's the spirit of rewarding connections. apply online or at a bank of america near you.

( siren wails ) ( pop music playing ) ♪ when you're ready ♪ ready, ready, ready ♪ come and get it ♪ get it, get it ♪ when you're ready, come and get it ♪ ♪ na na na na ♪ na na na na na na na ♪ ♪ when you're ready, come and get it ♪ ♪ na na na na... female announcer: it's a great big world and it can all be yours. here and only here. ♪ come and get it.

heading into this weekend, one of the most surprisingly competitive races for governor was happening in connecticut. dan malloy of connecticut has been trying to hold on to his seat there. this weekend he called in the big guns. president obama campaigned for dan malloy. one of the few campaign events the president has been asked to take part in late in this election cycle. malloy is facing not only republican challenger tomm@j but an independent named joseph visconti. dan malloy has benefits from the fact he's had two opponents. mr. visconti is essentially a republican running as an independent. that's been good news for democrat dan malloy. or at least it was good news for democrat dan malloy.

right up until this weekend when this happened. >> a political earthquake today. third party independent category for governor suspended his campaign. joe viscoti pledged his support to tom foley. >> it wasn't about me. it really was about how are we going to take this state back. i had to make the call. >> the deciding moment to leave the race for his independent gubernatorial did came saturday after seeing a public policy polling poll showing democratic governor dannel malloy ahead of tom foley by three percentage points. >> if i can help tom get across the finish line, i thought i'd do that. >> the two men in private saturday. visconti said he's not asking for anything in return for his endorsement. >> it was out of the blue. >> did you say mother's house? yes, mom's house. the independent in this race called the republican candidate over to his mother's house this

weekend and then unexpectedly threw his support behind that republican candidate. my mom says you're okay. the independent guy cannot technically drop out completely. his name will still be on the ballot. he's instructed his supporters to instead vote for the republican challenger. this has been one of those weird election cycles where we have lots and lots of tied races all over the country. tied governors races. tied senate races. a lot of the top tier races are too close to call. when you have as many tied races as we have, that becomes one of those times when otherwise unremarkable or strange or uninteresting or unviable third party candidates suddenly are imbued with the power to change these important elections. joining us is the one and only steve kornacki. steve, thank you very much for being here. can you take us through some of these races where the third

party candidate could play a deciding role? >> there are some really interesting situations playing out. let's take you through a couple of them. you mentioned connecticut. let's look at a libertarian named adrian wiley. this is the third candidate in florida. this is charlie crist republiun against rick scott. this is the average of the polls in florida. crist slightly ahead of scott. wiley pulling 6.3%. normally you'd think libertarian, conservative, probably pulling more votes from scott, helping crist. wyllie is pulling more votes from scott. scott and crist both have extremely high negative ratings. what seems to be happening is voters who have turned on rick scott and don't want to re-elect

him but also find charlie crist objectionable are using this as their protest vehicle. it could be hurting charlie crist. we can show you a few other things. this guy's name is shawn haw. a former pizza delivery man in the raleigh area. kay hagan, tom tillus. this is the senate race and the pizza delivery guy. here's the polling average in north carolina. razor-thin races democrats badly need to win. this is a race where the libertarian could hurt the republican because tom tillis to win and run against hagan, he had competition. he had a libertarian-ish opponent in the primary endorsed by rand paul. here's sean haugh running as a libertarian. this is amanda swafford.

libertarian running for the senate in georgia. the key here is if perdue the republican, nunn the democrat fail to get 50% it triggers that runoff which wouldn't be held to january. the key to whether they get to 50% or not is amanda swafford. when you hear people saying the republicans if this does go to a runoff, they are figuring swafford taking more votes from perdue than nunn. the expectation is more of this 3.2% goes to perdue than nunn. if she's doing this on election night tomorrow it probably means we're not deciding this until january. >> the important thing with that race like that one that might go to a run off is you not only have the libertarian candidate being decisive in whether you get to a run-off but being a kingmaker between those two candidates if they decide to

manipulate their support in whatever way they can. >> somebody who could direct supporters to do anything. >> makes you see why people are staying in the race. steve kornacki, thanks. in terms offer coverage tomorrow night and lots more steve and the whole magic swoopy wall thing. our coverage starts at 6:00 eastern time. i'm going to be right here at this oversized desk alongside my colleague chris matthews and steve kornacki and his magic board. mr plus a cast of thousands starting tomorrow at 6:00 eastern. we have lots more ahead tonight, including more election news. and the news from north dakota and wyoming that makes your stomach flip over when you hear it. stay with us, that's ahead. turn the trips you have to take,

into one you'll never forget. earn points for every flight and every hotel. expedia plus rewards. ♪ i thought it'd be bigger. ♪

♪ (dad) there's nothing i can't reach in my subaru. (vo) introducing the all-new subaru outback. love. it's what makes a subaru,a subaru. you know.... there's a more enjoyable way to get your fiber. try phillips fiber good gummies. they're delicious and an excellent source of fiber to help support regularity. mmmm. these are good! the tasty side of fiber. from phillips woman: everyone in the nicu -- all the nurses wanted to watch him when he was there 118 days. everything that you thought was important to you changes in light of having a child that needs you every moment.

i wouldn't trade him for the world. who matters most to you says the most about you. at massmutual we're owned by our policyowners, and they matter most to us. if you're caring for a child with special needs, our innovative special care program offers strategies that can help. as the chairman of the republican governors association, new jersey governor chris christie has spent overone-third of his second term in office outside his home stat of new jersey. he's been out stumping for gubernatorial candidates in 36 states. today chris christie spent his election day eve making it count in four states with a quick

detour to the midwest. chris christie started in rhode island this morning. that race turns out to be pretty interesting one. the democrat there, gina raimondo is facing backlash over her controversial decision to restructure the state's pension decision. he's running neck and neck with her republican opponent. chris christie made his third visit there. his second stop was new hampshire where maggie hassan is in a tight race with her opponent. chris christie has gone to new hampshire five times since june to stump for walt havenstein, including this visit this afternoon. after new hampshire chris christie headed to connecticut where the latest poll has dan malloy and his republican opponent tom foley in a dead heat. and that was before the independent in that race announced he was dropping out and would throw his support behind tom foley.

then it was off to maine for chris christie where governor paul lepage is facing a tough three-way race. cutler is running distant third and half quit and half didn't quit last week. had elliott cutler quit that race that would have helped paul lepage's democratic opponent. with him sort of still in the race and sort of out of the race, nobody is quite sure what's going to happen in the maine governors race. chris christie was there to try to n to make it happen for paul lepage. chris christie had a jam packed schedule in new england. plus the jaunt to michigan. busy day. michigan and most of new england. but interestingly, not all of new england. chris christie did not make an appearance in vermont today. democratic governor peter shumlin has been polling healthy

double digits. no use wasting your time in vermont. wait a minute. what about massachusetts? republican charlie baker has been running a tight race against martha coakley in the great blue state of massachusetts. but amid all of these other new england states today, no chris christie trip to try to help charlie baker. in a state like massachusetts, running away from the national republican party is probably the only path to victory for a republican politician. but why is that governorship even potentially in reach for republicans in a state as blue as massachusetts is. martha coakley has lost what was once a big lead over charlie baker. she narrowly trails in some of the latest polling. yes, in massachusetts. it means that tomorrow against all odds, a republican could very well take over the governorship in arguably one of the country's bluest states.

and new england maybe tomorrow could go from having just one republican governor to having five? new england, really? joining us for the interview is massachusetts governor deval patrick. thank you for being here this evening. >> rachel, i was looking forward to being on before your such gloomy introduction. >> talk me out of it. i look at the governors races in new england and i see five out of six in reach for the republicans. why is this happening in such a democratic part of the country? >> i think it may be with due respect to your fabulous team and to you, you are paying more attention to polls than to what's happening on the ground. the races certainly here in massachusetts will be won by the democrat because we've got a really strong grassroots organization. and we've been working them all around the commonwealth for weeks and months. and, indeed, real hard in the last few days to make sure they

are focused, the plan is in place. we're not taking anything for granted, but people beat money and advertising and polls every time. >> in terms of the massachusetts race specifically, obviously charlie baker has had statewide losses before martha coakley has had state losses before. these are both candidates who have run for high-profile races in the state. neither of them has won in the past. voters are very familiar with them. what accounts for the democrats starting off this race before the republican primary, right? starting off with such a big advantage and then seeing it get so close. how do you explain the massachusetts appetite for potentially a republican at the top of the ticket? they are just polls, but the polls look like that. >> you know, we have more unenrolled independents than republicans combined. it's not what people expect of us but we're quite discerning about who our leadership is in

all of our statewide races. we had 16 years of republican governors before i became governor eight years ago. and i think the contrast between what we've been able to produce in the last eight years and what republican leadership produced in the 16 years before where we had a series of governors more interest inside having the job than actually doing it is a pretty strong case in this cycle. we've been out there making it. you mentioned that governor christie hasn't been here in massachusetts recently, but his money has been through the rga. the republican governors association spent more money in the last week here than martha coakley has spent in the last year of her campaign. it's all been about tearing her don. that's where the grassroots is going to come in more than handy and where it's going to raise its righteous head and vote for government that's about them, about people and not about money. >> governor patrick, if you were running for re-election this year in massachusetts.

i say this as a massachusetts voter and somebody there every week. spends a lot of time in the state. if you were running for re-election it seems fairly clear you'd be running away with it. the kind of candidate who may be running unopposed at this point. what do you want to do next? what do you see as your political future after this run you've had as governor in massachusetts. it's been a pretty high-profile run. >> it's been a great fulfilling, challenging eight years. i'm proud of the fact we lead the nation in student achievement and health care coverage n veterans services and energy efficiency. a 25-year high in employment. our budgets are balanced. we've got the largest -- one of the largest rainy day funds in the country. the highest bond rating in our industry and you can marry whomever you love. we were the first state in the nation to affirm that basic human principle. this is the first and only

elective office i've had. i promise my wife diane that after ten years we'd get acquainted again while she was still interested in being acquainted with me. i'm looking forward to doing something in the private sector. >> you are going to get drafted for something. governor deval patrick of massachusetts. thank you for your time. lots ahead tonight, including news from wyoming and north dakota that will make your stomach go flipity flopity flip. i got this. ♪ a 2.7 gigahertz turbo processor. kevlar fiber durability. turbo charge for up to 8 hours of battery in just 15 minutes. introducing droid turbo by motorola.

celebrate what's new, with the bigger, better menu at red lobster! try our newest wood-grilled combination! maine lobster, extra jumbo shrimp, and salmon! all topped with decadent brown butter. or savory new lobster scampi linguini, with lobster in every bite. and, the ultimate feast. it's the ultimate ultimate! with more shrimp than ever. more of what you love, our new menu. it's a bigger, better reason to celebrate. so hurry in! and sea food differently.

i make a lot of purchases foand i get ass. lot in return with ink plus from chase. like 50,000 bonus points when i spent $5,000 in the first 3 months after i opened my account. and i earn 5 times the rewards on internet, phone services and at office supply stores. with ink plus i can choose how to redeem my points. travel, gift cards, even cash back. and my rewards points won't expire. so you can make owning a business even more rewarding. ink from chase. so you can. it's not about how many miles you can get out of the c-max hybrid. it's about how much life you can fit into it. ♪ the ford c-max hybrid. with an epa-estimated range of 540 miles on a tank of gas. and all the room you need to enjoy the trip. go stretch out.

if you are in the news business and subscribe to wire services you don't get a fresh headline for every piece of news that comes in. they lump the latest news under a standard generic headline. like oregon election or iowa state weather forecast. and then all the new news on that topic gets filed under that squibb headline. here's something you don't want to have to be a whole category of news. nuclear missteps. that's not like just for one thing that happened today. that's a whole category that the ap has had to create in order to keep track of all the news about nuclear missteps now in our country. tonight they put that squibb an late breaking news that another two air force commanders in charge of nuclear commands have

been fired. there are three areas. one is in montana, north dakota and wyoming. late tonight the air force announced it's firing the commander of a missile squadron at minot and the second in command at f.e. warren in cheyenne. that's late breaking news about the air force. if it sounds familiar it's because nuclear mishaps are a thing now. they keep happening. nine air force commanders fired this spring for their role in a cheating scandal. hundreds of air force personnel in the program cheating an proficiency exams. it was unleashed into an investigation of drug use. the number two officer in charge of all nuclear weapons getting demoted for using counterfeit gambling chips at anndan casino. and the top officer in charge getting fired for drunken antics

an a trip to russia last year. and it wasn't that long ago the air force accidentally flew six nuclear-armed missiles from minot to barksdale without anybody noticing that all those nuclear weapons were missing until the next day. but now apparently tonight we have yet another edition to the category nuclear missteps. two very senior commanders in charge of nuclear missiles at air bases in wyoming and north dakota relieved of duty. it's being reported by the associated press. only three bases that handle nuclear icbms. it's unusual to have disciplinary action taken simultaneously against senior commanders at two of those three bases but that does appear to be what has happened. as we learn more, we will let you know more. until then just file it under, oops. we'll be right back.

[singing to himself] "here she comes now sayin' mony mony". ["mony mony" by billy idol kicks in on car stereo] ♪don't stop now come on mony♪ ♪come on yeah ♪i say yeah ♪yeah ♪yeah ♪yeah ♪yeah ♪yeah ♪yeah ♪'cause you make me feel like a pony♪ ♪so good ♪like your pony ♪so good ♪ride the pony the sentra, with bose audio and nissanconnect technology. spread your joy. nissan. innovation that excites. [singing] ♪mony mony you know.... there's a more enjoyable way to get your fiber. try phillips fiber good gummies. they're delicious and an excellent source of fiber to help support regularity. mmmm. these are good! the tasty side of fiber. from phillips

your customers, our financing. your aspirations, our analytics. your goals, our technology. introducing synchrony financial, bringing new meaning to the word partnership. banking. loyalty. analytics. synchrony financial. enagage with us. for over 19 million people. [ mom ] with life insurance, we're not just insuring our lives... we're helping protect his. [ female announcer ] everyone has a moment when tomorrow becomes real. transamerica. transform tomorrow.

tomorrow night, your election night begins with us right here at 6:00 p.m. eastern. a lot of important results are due in in the first hour of coverage tomorrow night. plan to be on the couch with your popcorn popped already starting at 6:00. we'll be here with special coverage tomorrow night for as long as it takes and it will probably take a really long time. but we'll see you there starting at 6:00 sharp eastern time tomorrow night. now time for "the last word" with lawrence o'donnell. thanks, rachel. we have new polls tonight, and they don't make it any easier to predict which party will control the fight to control the senate. >> midterm madness goes up against the clock. >> with less than 24 hours to go to the midterms it's off to the races.