>> yes. >> let's's pla"h"hdball." >> odod ening. leleining f, it's way too early to say president obamama iinin trouble, bututhihis ch is true. the onony remains stagnant. his health care plan i iststrule inongress. therers s ta of a second stulul. and thenen taka a ok at this. a w poll gifs obama only a a 49% apappralal ring in ohio. peperhs the most important s sng stste in the country. that's down frfrom 6 a arecently asas m..

threpublicans finally haveve a poll t ty y lo, but they're at an all-time low ininhehe pls thememlvlves we'll try toto maksesee of where thprpresent stands in just a moment. alalsowhat's next for sarara palin? she dedescbebed r decision to reresi being the best thing fof her family, her papartanand r alaska.. but might it simimply t t best ing for sarah? weave two guests with different t ewews what makes sarapapan tick? is there somethingng wro w wh popoticians or are they jujust reflecectinghahais really happening in modern n amican marriages?s? alal, , decrats risk getting ugug in the crossfire overer that congressional r resututio nonori michael jackson. and fifinay,y, wall remember sah h lin's little dust-up

with david lettermrmanasasmonth. well, last nighthtetettean did e top ten messages on n pan'n's answering mamainine. we have the highlights i in e e "hardball sisi s sho" but t b beg with the challenge s cicingresident obama. harold forld, what do you u ma of the poll l congngut showing a drdropn n suort for president obama? >> i think three thihing onis it's a reason for r rl l concern for the whwhithohoe. ohio, as stated inin t o openg is not only a bellwethth s sta, but representatiti s so ny ways politicalllly d d om an economic stance of what this s cotrtr does.. two, i thinknk irarais concerns

abouout alal care. i think k thwhwhe house has to think long andnd cefefly about how hardrd a y y willing to push foththis how much capapit r raioad -- are u willing to spend? and d the,e, think it leads perhaps to a sececonrorod of new spending.. somemeining r the states. it hard to make the case thahat states, be it republicanan o democrat facing hahardipipecause state constitituononrequire that theyey banan their budgets. unemploymeme b benits will have to be extended, , ani i thk you may needed p payll tax holiday. you have to give b bininesand consumerers meme cfidence in the sht t rm that we're doing ththe right thing, that money cacan jeject. u have to do what the e imimul didi't't dfrom the outset, which is to o pumomoy into the system. isis smulus will work.

it will just take a lilitt m me time. you need somethihingo o t money into the system immediatelely. >> pat buchananan,etet mguess, ththpopolln ohio is a disaster for obama? rit?t? >> no, not at t l.l. if i were him, i w woun'n'worry muchch autut t poll in ohio. th's generally a swing statete and he's gettingng st t oflose to t t s swi position, but what should tell obama to o dos s to come home e d d sidown with his ecomom advisers and say lookok, we have a stimulususacacka 6% of gdp, rununni a aeficit of 13% of gd twice as large as reaean'n's biggest, and thihis ininisn't moving.. now w y y ist it moving? and why did theyeyakake mistake? and whatat wt t ong? and d rrrrecit. the electionons e e , 17 months ofoff. i i dogrgr with harold to this extent - -- eyey cld have done atat t b begning, you want a stimulus, you need a jolt.t. cucut e e yroll taxes on businesseses a i indiduals, social security and d threrest ththatuts money right into ople's pockets, they h hd d do to the malls or r he o o to the movies or r d dowto mcdonald's. so thehey elel bter and the money is therere. somebodydyhohoulbe made to anansw, , wrence, for this. mean, this is 6% of grgrs s national product a andt't'not dodoinanything? atat wt wrong? >> youou kw,w,at, there was the atement by vice presididt t biden saying, maybybe m mread the e ecomomy. chuck todd p p a a qstion to

bararackbaba in moscow ststery. let's lilienen twhat the presesidt t d to say about how they gauge the economymyhehen ey were come inintoffffe on ininaurarati day. let't'lilist. >> i wouldld auauall-- rather anan s misread, we had inincolele information. weame in january 20th. it w wasnlnlafter the fit-t-arter numbers came in n that suddenly everybyby y loed and sasaidhehe enomy sh rank 6%. so it's happenining chchore raradldly an accelerated pace ananhe projections out thehere at the time. > p, , gohead. that's preposterous.. he's g gotumumrs, geithner, ththeye been on top of this s thing since september.r. i would call t the g guyin and say, look, you guys s ha g gotn meme, r party and our admininirarati in real trouble beususe u didn't see it

coming. and d deden ys you didn't see it coming. now why? mean, really he oughtoto b angry. he's the guy in charar a andill y y thprice. >utut p, these things happen. i think k e e ofhe great flaws and shortcomings of f e e bu administrarati w washe unwillingness to a adm w wn a mistake was made and a a cngngin cocour was needed. this prerededentas shown the matuity and dedextitity 've been ssing in the white houou t the last eight years. don't fault them. i i ta t theat their word. i i thk this economic hardshsh is tougherer tn n ny thought. as such, it calls s foa a different apprproa.. we now have e toitit bk, take stock k anininntory and unrsrsta what direction we have to move and h howucuc political l catatal at will ta. i happenen tagagrewith pat that weeed the unemployment

benefits extended and d yohahave to do somemeining help states stggggng, not to help themem spend money and cucutataxeand do things t thaararnot wise in the sht term, but states makakg g tough choices shououlde e warded inomome ys. >> you k kno h hard -- >> let's look at the n numrsrs o where we s sndnd n. the stimulusus ct t 87 billion. ththe ficit for 2009 is now w $1$1 trillion. the prprecectecost of health rerelan will be somewhere e ououndhe trillion. ththerararother estimates. ishere any room for the e amama administration t to enenegin thinking about coming g w wit money for anototheststulus? >> i i tnknk s >> look, here'e's e e ing. let me say this. of course, i'm on n thototr si. i would oppose it and opoppo heheal c car but i think what harold is recommending foror oma is timiditit didndn o oba say health care, wewee going to do it. reananould say -- and he believes something, dada t the torprped, , fu speed ahead. however, i do agagregogointo the wewe, especially if you'rere gng to havave r rse taxes on small businesses or r thheheal plans, thth people get from busininess, you're going to have a a fesesrm in this s cotrtry,ut here's the thg, lawrence. what you want to do o w w is what's goingng tlolo best down

the road, what is bebestororhe cotry, because that willlle e bebestororou, and you shouldn't try to play y potiti now or worry, quite franknklyababousome popolln ohio. >> now, your notion n a a proll tax holiday coululbebe atimulus that republicans would getet o bobod d wi. >> would think, you have to o look at how you u ilild coalition. you cut it on the busisine s se, the employee sidide. i would papay r r is with some ofof t money coming out of t t bas.s. therere e e t.r.p. repayments ing made. i wowoultata those resources applied to a new stimululus, understanding fully itit wldldt pay for itit y'l'll,ut would certainly, once the babankpapa back all t thimomone in fact we could pay for somemeououndf tax cuts with the e t.r.r. repaymymen.. to pat's points,s, is s little

schizo. but the realititisis aresident s to step back and takak inveventy y ofhere we are. this presidedentndndstands the energy and education a a k keyto the future, the e llllar but without job creation, , ou country faces s pel l d i think polilitil l thpresident will fafacet.t. >> hold on a second,d, p.. wewe'rgogog to come back in a cond. i want to go to chuck k to's's interview with t t p predent to get the prpresenent'version of whwherhe thinks the economy is right now. >> some areas you're seeeeinthth economic engnge e tu, but what a aays knew the recessionon would be deep, b, it w w g goi l lt for a while, and, c,c, evevenhehethe economy pulls out recession, that you're gogoin to see jobs ememgigingnly at the

enof that process rathererhahan the e bennnnin >> pat bucuchan,n, gahead. > he'e's ere i -- look, the tonene ooboba here, it seems to meme, very defensive. this is s keke aituation, lalaenencewhere, you know, general macarthuhur s s inded and it's t turd d outo be wrong and a didisaerer u relieve the commander ththe y y oba relieved the guy, maybe righghy y orrongly in afghanistan. hehe oht to call these guys together. agaiain u'u'realking $1.8 trillionon dicicit13% gdp and it n n working. d somebody ought to bebe me e to explain why and toto tl l hiwhat course he e out t toake. >> harold d fo, , you sense any nervousness now on theheilill en thth start to look at the e pos from ohio? they have some very y bivovos ming up. in thehe cgrgrs, the mark-ups on ththcommittees in health c car the senate is obviously unundea

loloof pressure on the heaealt care. thth i is e kind of thing that shakes confidencnce,snsn'tt? >> you a arerecie, lawrence, probabab b betr than both pat anand the e nanatethe debate moves there. theyey wl l pavery close attention. thohio numbers are a snanahohot. thquestion is where we are four to six, eightht wksks fm now. ifhese jobs data -- if t ts s job b da d doenot improve, that mbmberill be more telling thth any defificinunuer, the cost of alth care. >> pat, the presididenclclrly knowows atatobs is his number one issue,e, hknknowwhat's what they want to hear r inhihi i wantnto o cuback to chuck to's'snterview with the president and d ststeno the way talks about jobs now.w. >> okay. > ts is my number one ncern, is how are we, , a,oioing toakaksure the people are getting back to work, , t t b,ow

w we t the economy on a strong e enoh h oting so that cece wemerge out of the reression and the economy y is acactulyly othe uptick, that it's creatatg g thkinds of jobs and d osospety that we need. > iseems like ohio is say, president t amama,his is your economy now. you owown isisconomy. and what i'm heariringroro president obama sayingngs s th is my economy.y. you don't hear any referenence about what he e inririteas we we hearing when he came in earlier in the yeaear. >> it's clear thatathehe arican people are beginningng thoholdim cocounble for the economy. t let me disagree withth holold on this. you get this money intnto esese states, and these statatesilil use it to o reinin tir programs anand l this and that. d dsn't create the kind o of bs where somebody who's ouout work, he's got a j jobn n e private e seoror, ing out and bubuyi things, and i think they've e t t toocus more on that productive seseoror tn on governmement i think lettttg g nay pelosi run th the ball was a terrrrlele mistake. >> that's why i agage e wi you with thehe proro tax. i just donon'telelve forcing governors and lolocagogovements to raise taxeses.

that hurtstscoconoc development, job creation and e entprpreurial growth. i heararouou. i'm trying to fifind b bance th will not only build democrat support in ththe ususe and senate, but t llll bng some republicanans ononas well. frfrany,y,f we don't do it, my fear is thatat my y these states w wilmama drastic cuts in the human n rvrvic programs that affefe t theeediest and the poor. i know you care dedeep a aut emem awell, i know i do, andnd think governors and d marsrs across thehe cntntryre worried ababouthat affected population.. that's going t to t theinal word.. we have to continue onon athth day. rold ford and pat buchchanan, thank you very m muc what's nexext r r sah palin? nenelyly tee quarters of pupuicans say they would v vot for her for presesenent. we'll talk to twtwo lilical observers on either sidede othth aisle ababouwhwhetr her decision totep down as governor makeses hea a tter or worse candidatate. you're watching "hardball"l" oy on msnbc. having the right tools is crucial

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>> sarar palins giving various reons for quitting the governorship, all fofor the go of oers. >> you haven't finished the e j, some would y. >> you're not listenining to mas to w why i woun't be able to fini that final year in ofoffice wiout costing the state millioions of llars and countless hours s of wasd time. unfortunately, we're s seeing to mumu waste a lame duck seseion prides more opppportunityor waste and i wasn going to put alaskans through that. >>ut a conservative syndicicated cocomnist a different opinio n we stop pretending wasas quitng selfish or selfless?? jojoining mi is ron christie and

joan walalsh. did sarah palin dodo this fothe sake of family, for ththsame o paparty anfor the sake of alka? or did s s do itor the sake of sarah?h? >> she clearlyly did ifor the sake of f rah, lrence. i mean, i haveve never sn anything more ridiculolous tha thatress conference, excepep what followed that p press conference.. how you give a speech colaining about how pooror the national media has t treatedou, and thenen when yogo off on your fishing vacation with h your fami, who do you invite? do you invnve youramily? your f friends no, yoinvite kate snow, matt lauer anand the tire national medi if the media a are the pblem, she should be run are e nning away from them and e establishg hebona fides for her futurure political career.. she's so confufused. is therere a worfor a hypocrite

who doesn't evev know e's a hypocrcrite? itas self-pity, it was victimization, and i it was al about rah. >> ron chrhrtie, y want to rise to o the defee of sarah palin on this one? >> hap to, lawrence. i think governor palalin made e decision that t was bestor her, be for her family and bebest for the state of a aska. >> ron, juststo stopou there, yoyou did art with best for her as t number one reason, whwhich she never mentioio. >> of urse, lawrence, but before you c cut me f, best for her mes it's best for her family and the state of f alaska e's been subjected to soso many frivols lawsuits and ethics complaints, , i shoulday, it was draining the coffers o of alaska to the tunun of miions of johnhns. >> that's not t ue, ro >> i didn'n't cut u off. >> okay. you're r right. >> if you lolook at r personal finances she spent abobo 00,000f her own money. that was not wise for r ose wh came aer her for political attacks.

and she sasa i'm gng to step away. what i find d what's fcinating is t political left is fascinated with gogornor pin. th're obviously scared of f her. she has a bright futurure in t republicican par and the people continue to atatck her jen says shehe is's cused, she's a hypocrcre. i think she took a aery banced decisionon, she de a very reasoned approach to s s it's not about me, it's's what's the best interests o of the ate and my family. that's why i believevehe steed down. she has a remarkrkly brit future ahehead of r. >> ron, we've seen a aot of politians, bill clinton, rudud giulianini, gettg in trouble, persal issues swirling aroround them, anand they syed in office. are yosuggesting, for example,e, that president clintonon should have resignene or aa republican, are you suggestiting that dy giuliani shshould havresigned when his marrge ran into problems, , r example,nd he moved out of mayor's mansion in new y york city? anand movein with gay friends of

his d lived with them, andnd his marrrriage wasabloid stuff every day in new york? and he w was accus of having an afaffair withis press secretary while in office? ould giuliani have saiaid this is too much for nenew york, o muchor my family, i'm goininto have to quit? is tt what giuliani should have donon underhis rationale? >> under the ratioionale bween mayoyor giulia and president inton, those are two d different issues. >> let's stick witith giulia. >> that wowod haveeen his persrsonal decion for the citizens of neneyork but as a lawawyer, i c tell you one ofof the artles of impeachment was ththat the presidt lied under oath to a a federal investigatatn. in fact he was disbarrrr for thatat. >> let's n not talk out clinton. >> r ron, you ink clinton should ve quit. > i do. >> jn, go ahead. >> let me introducuce a biof fact-b-based repting into this ole idlogical discussion. clearly y rah pan is hugely popolar wi the republican

base, even i w wld notispute thatat. what shehe's donlately, though, has hurt her w with indendents. ron, if f you wanto be back in powewer, youl need the independents. indulglge me a mute to talk about the etetcs comaint. mber one, the anchoragagdaily newssaid it cost $286,000, n not millions. number twowothere re 15 of them actn and only one was filed by a d.c. watchdogog group that w the one about her $150,000 shopping spree.e. they thought mayaybe it s illegal,l, they fod for sarah palin. she was exonererated. ur of the ethics complplns were brought by y public former allllies ofarah palin in alaska. the rest of f em, alka constituents. one them, she had to pay baback the state for thth$8,000he billed thehetate ttravel her kids around the coununtry. so tse are, a, not frivololous. they are, b, notothe rest of

democratic b b guys ooping in in hererarbagen wasilla, and c, they're all a alaska. they're foformer aies. i meanan, thiss not about the bad big bad east coast national media coming g after he ththis is out somebody who sells heown political bed in a alaska d has en her popularity decle, and it's not millioio dollars. that is ridiculolo. >> let me e say th, what i find mostst ridicous is we have a country in vererserioueconomic trououble. you saw in the previous s segmen chchk toddas interviewing the prident. he's very clearly dispspleased out thway the economy is goinand so much of the conversation is about gogovernor palin. i think the media wowould wod be bett talking about whetherer the course he set for r e couny is workg. >> we're goioing to that right now. is sarah palin theheost tanted politician in n alaska? >> s say thaagain. >>s sarah palin the momo lented and able polititician in alaska? >> i think shehe's cerinly one of them,bviously.

>> so you think itit a gooidea for that most t lentednd able polititician ialaska to walk away fm governing alaska, whwhen it i iin thieconomic crisis along with the r rest ofhe 49 states? you thk that's a good idea?? >> whahai saidas, a, she was one of the most tatalentednot e most talented. who is more talented ththan sarah palin inin your vi in alaskaka whwould be a better goveveor? >> i i'm not gng to go down the st. >> when she e its thjob, soone else becomes govererr. dodoou thi the lieutenant governor is gogoing to ba better gogornor tn her? do yououhink tt will be an upgre? >> i think he's s going be far mo equipped to deal with t the economic issues for r the ste of alaska withoututhe disaction ofhe media come into thehetate trying to muck rake e ainst e governor.. so much of this fafascinatio so much of thisis frankly think obsesession wi sarah palin obscures the f ft thatlaska is best repepsentedy someone who cacaaddresthe needs of that paicular state, and govevernor

palin,n, wiselin my opinion, said i do not needed to behe sourcece of specation. distraction. i'm going to step awayayor t bestst intert of my state. >>on, i'm not trying to o ist your words, but whenen boil em down, think what i just hearar sarah palin is right toto coconcludehat the lieutenant governor wouould be better governor than she cacan be. >> i think usisi the gernor's own words,s, she sd it was in the e best ierests of her state totep aside at this partrtular juncture, that she's g going to work with the lieueutenant govern as he transitioned inin office. >> please you're just dodoing th sasame spin ain. >>'m using her words. >> joan, i try t to give t palin si of this argument as m mh of the benefit of theheoubt ian. when i hear rorotell mthat she's onone of t most talented politicians inin alaska d maybe the lilieutena governor can do a better job, , if that'the best pport e can get from reblican analysts and strarategistis there any real fure for her in republicican politics? >> n i really don't think

there e is. i i think shwill appeal to the basebut i think, you know,w, some of her toughestst criti during the campaign n seasonere republblicans anrepublican women like kathleeeen parkeryou know, she really shohowed thathe was in oveveher he. now, i think thehepecterf somebody w w quitshen their state isn trouble, and gives a a self-pitying speech anand lies frankly about the millllions o dolls the ethics commission n invevestigatio were costing, i don't see how w she has future. i thininmitt rney, newt gigingrich, e rest of that pack ll come at her, tim pawlwlenty is n n runni for reelection, that's wt we all expected her r to d bubuto up d quit with two weeks' noticice likeou're, you know, , a babasta at starbucks? that's ridiculous.s. please. >> rononron, pase give me a ten-cond bet on what her political fufuture is,s the last rd for this segment. >> f five yes ago there was a state sesenator byarack obama on rorose to prise innocence to become the preresident othe unitededtates.

i think sarah palin n over t next several y yrs h a very brigight fute. let's not hahandicap012. let's let this d democrati congress a a admintration get e country back on tracac govevernor pal will do just fine in her political fututure an fami fortunes. >> nice trtry, ron. >> nice try, it's the trtruth, lawrence. upupext, h big was yesterdas memorial to michael l ckson? w does it stack up to o the obaminauguration? stk around for our very y g number, next in thth"hardbl sisideshow you' watching "hardball" o oy on msnbc. but,t's not like we're kiing back, now, havin' a cuppa tea.a. geo vo: takes lots of sweat to become that big. gecko vo: 'couourse, geckos dont liteterally swswt... it'susust noour thing... gecko vo: .b i do work hard,ind u. gecko vo: rst rule of "hard work equals suess." gecko vo: that's why geico is consistently rated excellenoror betr in terms of fininancitrength. gecko vo: second rule: "d'tteal a coworker's egg lad, 'specially if it's marked "the gecko."

cocon people.

welcome back to "harall." time for thesideshow." sarah pan's comedic gold once again. heshoc announcement that she's stepping down fromffice has given plenty ofodder to late-night comedians.

if you thought dav letterman would go easy on palin after being forced to ologize after last month's bad joke about her well, you just don't kw ve. he is dave last night. here he is last night. >> the catory tonight, top ten messages on her answering machine -- we, there you go. she'll no doubt be giving these guys lots of material fomonths to come. next, the political cture >> the category tonight, top ten messages on heanswering machine well, there you go she'll no doubt beiving these guys ls of material for months to come. , the political picture

of the day. see that guy? that's fshman congressman bby bright in his home state of abama, and, yes, he's holding a shirt that reads "re congress." politico rorts that bright was asked by a friendly group to pose with the shirat an independence d event this week his office explaed the photo op by saying the congressm is alwa willing to mingle with constituents, and that he'll tuale keeping the shirt in hioffice as a symbol of who he works for. now, there's someone who can take a joke. > time for tonight's big number. chael jackson is shattering records in death, much as in life. before yesterday, rack obama's inauguration was yah.com's most watched streaming video ever. with 1.8 million views how many streams did t michael jackson memorial get yesterday? remember, 1.8 million r the ama inauguration, the inauguration of the first african-american president. yesterday, 5 million for michael

jackson, record shatterering 5 million reaming views. for the jackson memorial. tonight's "big number." up next, the clintons, the sanfords, the ensigns. are the strains of political maia more pronounced when one spouse is a high-profile politician? that's our disssion when we retu. you're watching "hardball"nly on msn. whistle blow [conveyor beltumming] hocolate squirting] [conveyor belt humming [squting] [convebelt humming] [squirting] (male announcer) something new to cve. [squirting] the cr-v from honda. it's much easier to find money at esuranc

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>>this after several mbers the house intelligence committee demanded to know what leon panetta meant when he

admitted tem behind closed doors that congrs was not equately briefed o several intelligence issues in the recent pas word tight the u.s. govnment is suspending delivery of $16.5 milln in mitary aid to honduras in the wakef last month's coup. nalle investigators s formerfl star ste mcnair was e viim of a murder/suicide. evidence confirms mc's girlfriend shotim four times in the head and est before turning the gun on herself. undreds of eloyees at the getty ar senter in los angeles re forced to leave this afteoon because of a nearby brush re. the fire has already torched nearly 80 acres in the hills e sunset boulevard. far, there are no reports of injuries. now back to "hardball."

lcome back to "hardball." are politicians like mark sanford d johnnsign betting thatmericans are becoming more understanding and forgivg of politicians o are unfaithful? chard engel is the managing editor of "time" magaze with the covertunfaithfully yours." and kathleen parker is a syndicat columnist. before we get to questions her there is some brking news in the political affair fro. this comes from vada, this comes om senator john ensign. politico has obtaid a leer that senator eign wrote to his mistss, cyhia hansen, accordg to "the las vegas sun." we'rgoing to read it here. he writes in part,uote, cindy, this ithe most important letter i have ever written. what i did with you wawrong. i was completely self-centered. only thinking of myself. i used you fory own pleasure,

not letting thoughts oyou, doug's childre come into my mind. i betray everything i believed , and i lied to myself ove and er. i justified my actions because i blamed my wife. rick stengel, this adds to t literature of political adultery you took thisubject and expanded iout into an examination ofhat is the state of marriage in america and looked at the question of, is there something wrong with tse ys is there something peculiar in the drinking water at the potical fund-raisers? or is e something going on american marriage that they are just reflecting? reflecng in a sense their cotituents? >> katly flanigan, who wrote the story, basically makeshe case at the same time thate are venerating marage, we undermine it at the same te,

at americans have more partners than other peop in other countries, we haveore t-of-wedlock births. >> including sequential partrs through marria and dorce? >> yes. and at the se time, we hold up marrge with great reverence. it's this greaaspirational thing for so many ople, but we have a very contdicting view of it. ansically, as you know, from your longtime serve for pat moynihan, thatarriage is the haven for the heartlessorld. it's the wayhat children are ised best, and anytime children are rsed outside of that conventional parental unit, they are more troubled, and at's what kaitlyn's thesis is. >> i'm always happy include senator ynihan in discussions in "hardball." this is the one segment ere i don't think has a place. most beautiful, lovinghi i havever seen. now, kathleen, in this week's "time" magazine report, itays marriage is an increasiny agile construct, depending less a less on notions of sacrifice and obligations an on t efemera of romance and

happiness, kateen, it seems that when policians find themselves in that place, wondering about the hand they dealt themselv, they are as capable of gting hit with the dopamine, the love drug, and losing control as anyone ee. isn'that what we're seeing here? anything really new abt adtery and about human frailty, the fl of man goes way ba. we do discard marriages th greateease these days. i think part of what's at wo here is that the temption that's always in place is exaggeted now. ere's more opportunities. the internet allows peopleo develop relations that they wouldn't havaccess to otherwis all of that makes it a little

bit easier, i think, tslip on the ice. politicianhave a certain degree of narcissism and hubris th is unue to them. that's how they got whe they are, and ihink some of them forget they haveo play by the same rules as everyby elser suffering the consequees. >> it seems thunique thing about govern sanford's affair is he's still in the emotional throes of it when he speaks publicly. this is something we've never hearbere. invery other case, it's as if the other woman doest exist, or can't remembetheir names. we'lgo to some clips. here'sow the governor deribed his affair in an inteiew with the associated press. >> it's more than a simp affair. it's a love story. forbidn one, a tragic one. but a love sto athe end of the day.

>> kathleeeen, it'a love story. the n seems to be laboringng undethe notion that there e such a a thing aa simple affair. isn'that one of his big g mistakes? he tught he might be into a a simpleffair? >>o, i think he lost his m mind. there's other explanation foror it. bebeing inomantic love is noing but temporary insasaty. we all k kw that. and this fellolo as a uth carolilinian, n i say, please governor, shush h up. it's'sathetiand embarrassing. he's not the f fst guyo fall in lov but the first to emrrass an entire state e over his weakness of hearart. >> ric did he lose his mind?d? >> i i have e word of advice for him,ompartmentalize. we usesed to cricize polilicians.

keep i isepara. whenen senatornsign gave his stement, the thing that t bothed me almost the most t about t is th sentimental viewe has the marriage andnd even his own officic when says this s is theorst thing i've de. how can n publicigure who has actis that affect millionsns and hundreds of thouounds ofeople say ththat somhing he did in the ivate life is the worsrsthing he's ever donene. to voters,s,e carebout what we do in ur public life, not yoyour private life. kathleen, we have a bitit more torturhere. we're going to listen n governrnor sanrd talking to the sociated press, makingngnother point. >>kathleen, i think you u have

kathleen, i i think u have the single-most honenest polician ever caught in anan affair. he has allowed more toto come fr his heart in h h publicomments than anyonone elseho's ever been in thihis situion. rick advocateses compartntalize, rick is vocating, defy everythingng that morn psychology tells yououhe hum nd is capable of doioi and just compartrtmentale this that

reduces the wowoman to nhing and go f forwardith your career. dot you south carolinianans -- >> that's s not wh i'm saying. >> don't you f feel thathey, at least ththe guy isn touch with hihis feelin, and speaking at least in a aemihont way? >> thas exactly why we pay thererapists tlisten to us. until vernor sanford pays meme listen, i don't want t hear about it. ank you very much. someme thingshould be worked out in private. ththe's sothing going on here with h h spirial advisers, o's clrly encouraged him to nfess, get it all out t ere, apologizto everyone. i cacat image this is helpful tois marriage, and i feeeel so badly for his foururons whwill ha to live with the yoututube replays of this for ththeir enre

lives. i think the man n ally nds to seek s seriousnalysis. >> all rit. we're gogog to he to leave it thertoday. rickck stengelnd kathleen parker, , ck wilbe unveiling the newest magagine cor with me t tomorroon "morning joe." ght here on msnbc. > up next a political figh brewing. ov none other than micha jackson. congresswoman sheila jackskson e wants the house to p pa resolution h honorg jackson. rerepubl congressman peter king has called jacksoson pervert, a childolesr, and a pedophil the house democrs arcaught ininhe mide. the "politics fi is next, only mbc. and lasts for hours. all day or ght. nenew tuual action. bring it on. er wonder how eeit bakes... sosomuch rl cheese in such sll bites? ♪ baking complete! well now you know. cheeit. the big cheese. i know whent's the perfect timeo ange my tires. when itomomes tshaving i know w wheno change my blade. (announcer)) gillette fusion's s indicato strip fadedes to whi when it may be time to change. fresh blade. better shave. fresh blade.

right now, all over the countntry discover card d cuomomer are gegeining 5%5% chback bonus t t pump. now w morehahaever, itayays discover. > coming up, given thahat w w ohio poll, shohongng t approval rating of president oboba a diining low 50% what is white e house doining w w tohore up congreressiol l nfidence?

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this guy was a pervert. heas a child molester. he was a pophile.

d to be giving this much coverage to him day in a day out, what does it y about our country? >> that wanew york congssman, republican congressman, per king last weekd. ti for the "politics fix" nowith susan page, washington bureau chief for "usa today, and jafferers. re's shelia jackson lee on tuesday athe jackson service. >> we have introced into the house of representativhis resolution 600 that will be debated on the floor of th house that clas michael jacksoasn american legend anmusical icon, a world humanitarian, meone who will beonored forever and forever and forer and forever and rever. >> san page, last time i checked, theay before the memorial, she had exactly e sponsor on that resoluti in

the hoe. is this thing actuly going to make it the floor of the house? if it does, is peter king going to be a lone voice of oppositionor the leader of a g publican movement? >> don'tnow if it's going to maket to the floor, but i think it might. the usclaims a lot of people at theoint otheir death, including some controvsial people and shelijackson lee did not promise thisould pass e house, she promised it would be debat on the floor of the house. i think that might well pp. it puts mocrats in a little bit of bind, maybe, becausof the some more questionable aspectf michael jackson's life, but pu rublicans in a bind too given their low standing with african-amerans, with young people in this untry. i'm not sure there's big winner here for a fight over th resolution. >> eamonn bbers, it's letely up to nancy pelosi whether this comes to the oor of the house or not. is this somethinshe wants to bring up othe eve of sonia

sotomayor's nominati is this someind of sideshow anyone otherhan shelia jackson lee will want to have? >> i just talked ta house leadershipide that talked to me a little while and said they don't think this is going the flr this week and they're not sure whether they have the ves pass it so they're not sure whethethey will bring it to the floor at all ithe house leadership shelia jackson lee may notet this debated after all. >> we'll bback with susan page and eamonn jarvis with more on the politics fix aer this. we'rback with susan page and eamo javers for moref f th politics f.. eamon, how are thehey feeling about ththe numberercoming out ohohith obama's approval rating dropping dramatatically you've gotot big vot coming up on health care.te committees to t out of bed. then...well...hahaveo keep windingysyself up to deal with t s sadness, the loss of intererest, the t tle ccentrating, the lacof energy. depression is taking much out of you, asask your ctor about pristiq® (a(aunce pristiq is a preription medicine prov t to eat depression

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we're back wh san page aneamo javers for more of the politics fix. about the numbers comi o of ohio with obama's approval rating dropping dramaticly, you've got big ves coming up in hou and senate committees health care. what's their confidence in t presidens ability to convince the public that this is the y to go? >> well, clearly we haa pivot week thiweek where something that happened that we'd all been expectin which is that barack obama atome point was going to own this u. economy. that seems to be what's happened

is week, is that people have concluded t there in the country that matters that in fact this is obama'sconomy now. he said we were gog pass this stimulus bill at the beginning of the year. turnaround the j situation, buthe situation is getting worse, not better. that just makes everything more diffult in washington for barack omajust puts sand in the political gears as people sort of recalibrate their political expectations of at this president canchieve this year and it's going to me alth care harder to do as well. >> susan page, what do y think the action was in the whit house today when david alrod got his hands on that ohio poll? >> we all know ohio is the center of e political universe, becae at's where we fight our predential elections. t i would just caution, we

have seen this kind of decline nationwide. the llup poll last month had an average approval ting of barack obama of 61%. that's still prey healthy. i do think the time comes when people's patience on theconomy wears out, thehold barack obama responsible,ot george w. bush. i don't think we're quite there yet. in fact, i think that's why th white house is so termined to push hlth care through in july and august, on the theory at the pridenapproval rating never going to be bettethan it is now. >> but susan, as you know, whe the white house is pushing for those ugh votes in swing districts, one of the implicit promises is, i'll there to help youith your re-election campaign if this is a tough te for you. as people are looking at the polls inlaceke ohio, theye t to be wondering how much political backing and benefit they can gety lining up with the president on his agenda. >> and the health care votes are going to be very tough. they're having trouble in th senate finding a fundi anism, some taxes broadly acceptable enough put forward that senate finance bill thawe think is going to be the main vehicle for health ce reform. haven't seen it yet. it's weeks after the maxaucus, the chairmanold us we were g to see it. clearly, this is a problem, and to some degree, it's on back obama's oulders to sell this idea to the americ public and provide e kind of protection u' talking about for