lunatic fringe. let's playhardball." "hardball." leading off tonight, well, good evening. i'm chris matthews in washington. leading tonight, lunar watch. the republican in congress put out ward that i am responsible for the weird word that president obama is from another country. actually, do we need to use that word more often these days, actually, a new poll show that is a majority of republicans, nearly six in town now, believe the president was born elsewhere than the united states or are, quote, not sure about it. yes, this is a problem for the republicans. it is also a problem that while only one in ten americans give any real credence to this strange claim, the main source of this barack is a foreign notion can be tralsed to one

part of the country, the south. the rest of the country, north, west, midwest thinks it is beneath any real consideration. why does that say the south is polled saying, quote, they are not sure that barack obama was definitely born outside the united states. troubling, isn't it? also, home sweet home tonight. members of congress are heading home for the august recess and town halls, but what can they expect when they get there with health care reform up in the air, democrats are nervous, republicans are on the offense and both sides are finding themselves the target of tough new tv ads. a lot of members are weary even a holding town hall meetings because they are turning into mob scenes. plus, new information in the karl rove's firing of the u.s. eight attorneys. we'll look into what he did. interesting numbers out of alaska. ex-governor sarah palin's negative numbers, her unfavorable number is now higher

than her favorable number. are people mad at her for quitting or what? maybe they are just mad at her. that's in the politics fix. rudy giuliani takes the policeman's side in the case of the cambridge professor. that's in the "hardball" slide shochlt. first tonight, the birthers for democratic national committee. todd harris is a former adviser to john mccain. you are smiling, todd, but i'm going to talk to you about something not worry of smiling about. a poll shows that 77% of the country believes the president is one of us, an american, born here, raised here, elected here. 11% believe this thing out there about the birthers move, that he was somehow born somewhere else. 12%, one in ten, believe they are not sure. they don't know what they are talking about. democrats and independents overwhelmingly say, yes, he was born here and elected properly. but a majority of

self-identified republicans, six out of ten, say they don't believe he was born here or they are, quote, not sure. nine out of ten people, by the way, look at the geography of this. nine out of ten people in the northeast, nine out of ten in the northeast, nine out of ten people in the west say, of course, he was born here. you go down to the south and more than half have a problem thinking he was born somewhere else or they are, quote, not sure. what do you make of this? aaron cantor is a republican leader of the congress and said, quote, mr. cantor, i love the way he speaks for him like he's the poke, mr. cantor finds it ironic that those most eager to talk about president's citizenship are in fact some of his biggest cheer leaders, whether it is chris matthews or others on msnbc, the huffington post or camera toting liberal bloggers chasing people through the streets of washington. we'll watch the video.

this is mike straight trying to get an answer from congress on the birther question. >> no, no, no, no. >> quick question. do you think barack obama was born in the united states? >> you know, i have to go right now. i wish i could talk to you right now, but i have to -- >> what i don't know is why the president can't produce a birth certificate. i don't know anybody else that can't produce one. i think that's a legitimate question. no health records, no birth certificate. >> he has a certificate of live birth, right? >> i don't believe so. >> chris matthews was on "hardball" the other night. >> i like him, but i think he is playing games because he knows you can't get a pass port unless you show your birth certificate. you can't do a lot of things without doing it. this guy produced his birth certificate, the health records thing, i have no idea what he's talking about. it seems that your party is

playing to the whack jobs, todd. they are having fun with the issues, they know how to say no to them, they have the press to go out and say he zunt believe the stuff, but when personally asked about it refuse to knock it down. ten congressmen are demanding that all future presidential candidates produce a birth certificate as if they haven't done so far. we are looking at pictures of them. this is not my imagination. the republican party has gone natovist. it is the party of no. what is going on? todd harris. >> that was a long intro. >> i'm going to you down in texas, by the way. most of the members are from texas. the governor is the one who doesn't think he is from the union. this is irony. a guy tame named ted poe. a member named john carter. well, it doesn't surprise me dan

burden is on the list, the guy who likes to shoot off cantaloupes. randy newburger, why are there so many texans who think the president is not from our country? >> i don't know. i guarantee mideast of us are here in austin. >> it is a good town, the i know. >> i think that the polish shoe is ridiculous. frankly, the people pushing the issue are not a bit nuts but a lot nuts. i have to tell you, you talk about the republicans playing games with this issue as if there's some strategy behind it. every single republican consultant that i know rolls their eyes at this issue and wants it actually to go away because i think we are making real traction taking on the president on, you know, his massive government health care bill, the wasteful spending and stimulus bill, all these issues, real substantive issues that matter on election day. we are getting in some good

licks against the white house and this issue is a massive destrax from all of that. i don't know a single republican strategist or consultant who enjoys any of this, but i will say, i do have agree with tanner's office. it seems to be people in the mainstream media and people more on the left who are giving the platform to this whole ridiculous movement to vechb a voice heard. >> todd, that's a little ridiculous. it is a legitimate thing to say to make the republican members of congress have to explain this kind of ridiculous idea that's floating out there. let's be honest, a number of them don't have the guts to say to the camera they think it is crazy and ridiculous. why? they don't want to to find whack jobs at home just like they don't want to go against rush limbaugh. on one hand they are saying the democrats are making an issue of it, on the other hand, you have a legitimate birther people who,

i think are crazy, but not one single republican member willing to say, you know what? this is ridiculous and we need to move on. you can't really have it both ways. >> john boehner said as much two days ago, but the near fact that karen thinks we should be talking about this -- >> i don't think we should be talking about it. you are more concerned about getting licks against the president rather than solving problems. chris wanted to talk about it. >> just a minute, todd. why do you think roy blunt is out there pushing this issue? we can show it again if you would like, but he wants to see the president's birth certificate. he was up there on the platform during inaugural day. why didn't he come down to ask the guy about to be sworn in to see his birth certificate. why is he doing this now?

>> i have no answer. the national review, which is hardly a left wing publication, just wrote an entire editorial saying the whole thing is ridiculous. of course he has a valid birth certificate. of course he is an american citizen. the more we talk about this the less we are able to talk about obama's massive takeover of the health care system and i think that's an issue more people should be talking about. >> you know, chris, there are a couple points here. one, there was an issue during the campaign, as todd should know quite well, john mccain's birthright with him being worn in the canal. hillary clinton and barack obama passed a measure to show how ridiculous it was and to move past that. the other point i would make -- >> this is a different story, karen. >> no, it is not a different story. really, if we are going to get into this whole -- >> karen, it is not technical. they are raising whether he is american or not. he is not whether he was

technically born out of the country. they don't believe the guy named barack hussein obama was born in the u.s. they believe he was born in kenya and he lied about it. >> if we want to play this game, which is ridiculous, which i don't want to, there are people who wanted to try to raise that issue on the fringe of the left during the campaign and we said, you know, that's not how we are going to win this election. we are going to win this election on the issues and we did win the election, but the other thing i want to important out that the poll shows, here you have the base of the republican party shrinking. we are really starting to see in a 2006 where you start to lose support among hispanic voters and that trend continued into 2008 after they lost support among young voters and women voters, the republican party is shrinking. the base of the republican party is a narrow percentage that believes in the birther issue and i think a lot of the republicans don't want to accept the fact that we won. and this president is actually trying to move forward and do

some things for the country. >> we'll talk about the republican party for a second, todd. it seems that you are losing a lot of spective here, but the opportunityism is that your party is in bad shape in the northeast. thank you, karen. thank you, todd. you hold the flag as the party goes downment. coming up, what will members of congress face when they go home. well, angry mobs are disrupting the up to hall meetings all over the place. tough new ads against everybody. i think you are going on vacation yourself. you are watching "hardball" only on mexico. mbs mns msnbc. on the internet. i'll be using the 3g at&t laptopconnect card. he won't. so i can browse the web faster, email business plans faster. all on the go. i'm bill kurtis and i'm faster than floyd mayweather.

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welcome back to "hardball."

august is nearly here and there's no health care bill. obama acts like there's an urgency to get this done, but where are the people marching in the streets? the people are empty in this town. ron brown is here and susan page. i do not want to knock health care. i believe the country needs a plan for everybody, especially the uninsured, but the streets are empty. the disabled people come here. day rights people come here. pro-life people come here. when somebody wants something, they fill the streets of washington. susan page, the streets are etchty. >> the august deadline was a political deadline. >> since the president was elected, there's no public demonstration for health care. >> i think the white house has been surprised at the support of generating help from the network so helpful during the campaign on the issue of health care, but i think it is maybe a question of timing. obama thought you needed to get

it dope before august because he is fighting a lot of battalions and needs to get it done while he's still pretty popular, but when they come back, the sense of urgency will be there. >> this august the president will be up there with his attractive family hanging out with the celebs in martha's vineyard, nothing wrong with that except it is a time that he says is urgent to get something done. is that too complacent? >> their plan is not to have a major focus from him in terms of a bigger drive in august, but your larger part is correct. across the board, whether it is stimulus, climate change or health care, the organization of the left what not been what the white house hoped. they have not been able to generate the kind of grassroots pressure, particularfully the marginal democrats with the democrats and the republicans from blue states. they have not really been able to -- what's trick can i about

this, chris, they don't have time generating from this even after obama has been successful at annuity a ligz the biggest guns in the industry. you don't have the drug industry out there. you don't have the insurance policy industry out there, the hospitals, the doctors -- they are more supportive that not. the general public opinion has been moving away from them and that says they are losing the message war. >> as the complicated issue. you are for or against abortion. you are for or against gays in the military. health care is a complicated issue, what issue affects the other. it has been harder than they expected to get things going in the house and the senate, but it is just a different sort of issue. there's a lot of you are generalcy for those who lack coverage, like up to 50 million americans, and a different kind of issue for those out there.

>> why do you think -- he says, we don't have people coming to your house telling you how to die, igniting that fire. instead of saying, what kind of a country do you want to live? a country where 50,000 people don't have health insurance policy. when you change jobs, you lose your health insurance policy. do you want to live in something where pre-existing conditions nail you. >> the september us is bureau, 75% of americans have insurance. there are analysts like drug from the kaiser system that argues whether people who are insured blooift would help or hurt them. the numbers started positive for the administration and have moved in the wrong direction. >> michael moore aims that movie, maybe because ticket

prices are $12 to see a movie, but people had health insurance policy. they have experts and doctors knock off every benefit you are trying to get to. the president hasn't been doing that. >> that's true, although they have now discovered that insurance policy companies are popular. you do hear increasingly rhetoric from the white house. >> she is going to -- >> there have been contradictions in that that the administration and the hill have been working closer with the transit industry than clinton was able to and they agree on the key elements of the proposal, trading and individual mandate on people to buy insurance, fundamental insurance reform. so the administration is turning around to make them the demon blocking reform. >> george aiken is the guy who said let's declare war in vietnam and come home.

should the president say, all i wanted was the country to be together. if i can get an individual mandate from the time you turn 18 or 21, you have to join the national health insurance program. i have one. >> go back to susan's point. the problem is once you require individuals to buy insurance, the key to fundamental reform, but once you do that, you have to make it affordable for them. the only way to make it affordable is government subsidies to have moderate income to pay for the insurance. up next, the president can have the metaphor if he wants it. remember when air ray palin was the most popular governor in america? her numbers are now taking a dive. she is in a snow bank up there. you are watching "hardball." and the slide show is coming up. moisturizing body washes, you might as well be. you see, their moisturizer sits on top of skin, almost as if you're wearing it.

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back to "hardball." first up, rudy jewel an knee takes sides. infamous for former with police. former mayor rudy giuliani positioned himself opposite of president obama on the professor gates episode and what we can learn from it. >> he is right. you have to shut up with a cop is asking you questions. how about you don't insult him? you don't yell. my father taught me when i was young. i grew up in brooklyn. it was a good answer. >> what are police officers supposed to do and say to you? they are supposed to treat all the people the same.

that's the way the president tried to answer the question. next up, my old boss said all politics is local, so what does a number like this mean for the all-time popular governor of alaska. 48% have negative feelings for sarah palin. a year ago, she was at 86%. she is at a 40% drop. she may run for the presidential campaign in 2012. now for tonight's big number. what else press secretaries are masters at the dodge of answering questions. each over the years picks out his current met of choice. robert gibbs says he says he is not going to get into it. >> i'm not going to get into commenting or what is or is not accurate in the media. >> i'm not going to get into the

politics and the demographics of it. i'm not going to get into skorg that each and every day. i don't want to get into back and forth. i'm not going to get into scheduling announcements. i'm not going to get into pre-gyming this. >> how is he getting out of all it. how many times is robert gib gibbs -- 120 times or more. the press secretary has dodged more than 120 questions. join us again weeknights from 5:00207:00, 5:00 to 7:00 eastern. up next, "your business." going to college and need a laptop. what do you got? you, in the top corner. our next class laptops could be perfect for you. we got student feedback and designed them specifically for college. are they legit brands, though? boom! we partnered with hp, toshiba, sony and dell.

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