funded by the insurance industry. so why is the president still trying to work with republicans like mike enzi who comes from the most conservative state in the union and represents fewer people than the population of staten island? consider this. if the democrats had 60 votes for health care reform locked in, they wouldn't still be trying to get republicans. they're really using the republicans for cover. right now the president is trying and failing to win republicans looks much better than the president trying and failing to win all of his democrats. joining me now, new jersey senator robert menendez, member of the senate financial committee. senator menendez, let's go back to basics here. we're getting a feeling already for some leaks about what's coming out of the committee, and consistent with all the other committees, what seems to be coming out of the senate finance

committee is not universal coverage. what happened to universal coverage. each one of these bills out of the committees does no better than get to 95% coverage some years down the road, leaving tens of millions of people without health insurance. >> well, our goal is universal coverage. however, you have to pay for that as well, and part of the challenge is finding the pay for trying to assure all of that. clearly we'll be at a point at the end of the road. you know, everybody is looking at these individual bills and making that you are judgments on it. what we need is the final product that we're going to be offering, and that final product i hope we'll get beyond that. >> you have jurisdiction over taxation, is there any chance that the three new top tax brackets that the house, ways and means committee passed could possibly pass the finance committee? >> well, i think certainly not if we want to see the bipartisan effort that is under way.

after that, if that falls apart by september 15th, and it is possible that some of those might be considered, but i honestly believe we're trying to keep this within the context of health reform overall. that's why we're looking at how do we bring to the table the revenue stream that comes westbound contributions by both sectors as well as how do we keep refb raisers within that context as well. >> so when you go up to new jersey and people are asking you, they're worried about the three top tax brackets which, by the way, would hit new jersey, new york, connecticut, california, states like that much harder than the states of the senators who are, for example, represented in that six-senator meetings that are going on right now. are you going to basically tell them, look, forget about that part of the bill, these are the things to concentrate on, are the things we're likely to pass? >> what i'm going to tell them is, first of all, we don't have a final bill. all of the spec is exactly that,

speculation. we're going to have to look at how do we ensure affordable? i just came from a finance committee of democrats. we have to make sure that anything we do at the end of the day is affordable to middle-class working families. we have to make sure that we stop the growth in the cost of insurance for everybody who has it. and at the same time we have to find a way to cover the maximum amount of people who have no health insurance people today. that's our ultimate goals. now, there's a difference between, as i always say, the destination, the end point, and the journey. the journey has a lot of twists and turns, but time and time again, democrats find a way, whether it's on a stimulus package, children's health care and a host of other things to do it the right way. >> senator, before you go, i can't let you leave about asking you what it felt like to vote for and witness the confirmation of the first hispanic justice in the united states supreme court? and secondly how you think the

politics play out for republicans in the next election, the way they lined up against her in such big numbers? >> for me, it was a personal privilege. sonia sotomayor and i were born in the same year, we grew up on different sides of the hudson river, her in a public housing project, i in a tenonment. if you told me i would be a senator voting on the confirmation of her for a supreme court justice, we probably would have told you neither one of those thirngs were likely, but it's the promise of america fulfilled and the prok we fight every day for future generations. to my republican colleagues, it's hard to tell the hispanic community when you have a woman on the yale law review, became a top prosecutor in new york city, went on to get appointed by a republican president to the district court of the federal district court, and then by a

democratic president passed by congress's both democrats and -- at the time, and you have a great history of precedent, commitment to press didn't, the constitution and the rule of law, and you still say to a latina like that i can't vote for you, it sends a message to the community, no matter how hard we try, no matter how hard we work, no matter how many barriers we break, somehow you still find us lacking. >> i'm glad you were lucky enough to be there today to cast that vote. thanks for joining us today, senator menendez. for more, let's bring in jamal simmons, sam stein and john feehery. let's consider the politics of this. pretty big republican vote against her. it seemed to me to be motivated in many cases by republicans who fear being challenged on their right in primaries coming up in the next cycle, but what does it do to national republican

candidates? what does it do to the next republican nominee for president? and the next one away that? >> you know, lawrence, this is a problem with the republican party when they get into some of the politics, particularly around hispanic and ethnic politics. when it comes down to social values, republicans ought to be able to make the case for many voters. many are catholic, pro-life, have traditional families, but then it comes down to a question like whether it was english-only in california, or judge sotomay sotomayor. the republicans can't seem to cross the final barrier to say we're all in this together, we're all americans and all earthquake, if they could reach that point i think they would be in a better position, but instead they go so far to the right and again someone who's as qualified as justice sotomayor, and it really wears thin i think in the community. >> john feehery, this vote for

someone like mccain, first time he ever votes again a supreme court nominee, and he's being challenged on his right by one of the founders of the minute men, a so there's john mccain making a political calculation based on his short-term reelection prospects to the united states senate, and at the same time creating a serious problem for the next republican nominee for president, the next person who has to run countrywide, picking up votes from every ethnicity, unable to peel off sections of the electora electorate. it looks like short-sighted politics and a traps. they felt into the wise latina woman trap. they found themselves voting against her today, and really, really hobbling the party in the future. >> first of all, i think jamal is right, this is a part of voters that we need to do a better job of communicating to,

because i think a lot of the values issues, a lot of hispanics and latina voters should vote republican. that being said, i don't think this vote in the long term will hurt republicans. i do think part of your analysis is correct, that some of these people voted against her, because they were worried about the primary, and i think that's probably true. i think a lot of other republicans voted, because they didn't like where she toad on some of the issues. that being said, in the next president atelection action it won't by sotomayor, how do you communicate to us? what are your economic policies? where are you on certain issues? those are the things that republicans have had to reach out to the hispanic community xh a much more concerted effort. i don't think that will change the need to outreach. >> john, that's where you're wrong. when it comes down to the next election, justice sotomayor's vote will be a key issue that leaders will be reminding the

community about -- >> i disagree with that 100%. i think the next vote is not about what you did two, three years ago, it's what you're doing for me lately? >> sam stein, referee this one from your fair perspective at the huffington post. which party wins and loses over this vote today? >> well, obviously the democratic party wins. obama got a supreme court nominee confirmed, but let me segue into health care, which sort of complements all these points. the latino community is disproportionately insured in america, and from what i understand, even republican strategists, solving health care reform would actually benefit the political party who does it, because latinos would be more inclined to vote for someone who helped provide them with health insurance coverage, so yes, we have to deal with substantive issues, and sotomayor confirmation hearing is one of them, but health care reform i

contend will be a much bigger issue coming 2010. >> beautifully done on that transition, sam. >> i appreciate that. coming up, why are some democrats getting cold feet? they are worried about wild accusations in the next campaign that they're all socialists. we'll hear from a conservative who may challenge senator chris dodd next on "the ed show."

welcome back. what are the democrats afraid of when it couple times to the health care debate? it's not people shouting them down at town hall meetings. they're afraid because it's hard to explain and very easy to distort it. my next guest has formed an exploratory committee, a republican who would challenge chris dodd, acting chairman of the senate committee, and the driving force for a public option. peter schiff is the president and chief global strategist of your opa civic capital, a westport, connecticut-based brokerage firm, and author of "crashproof." it predicted everything we're going through now, with the recession and collapse.

and why all those things would maybe the problem worse. >> so let's say you get the money. what's your position? >> first, i want to make sure chris dodd doesn't have a chance to do for health care what he did for the banks industry. the problem with health care is it's too expensive, and it's because of government involvement, and because of an overutilization of insurance because of tax subsidies that force people to buy insurance to cover ordinary medical expenses. >> in the campaign you have 30 seconds to say what you're in favor of. >> free markets. i think the free market can deliver quality health care. >> legislative, to shorthand that, you're in favor of doing nothing? >> no, i'm in favor of doing something, getting the government out of the market. you have to remember what insurance is for. insurance is to pay for catastrophic events that are unlikely to happen. people have fire insurance, because their house probably

won't burn down. >> so you want to remove aust government regulations in place right now to prevent health insurance companies from abusive practices? you want to let them continue to deny anyone who has a preexisting conditions, to put limits on the policy, you want -- >> let me tell you what -- >> you want medical bankruptcy to continue to be the failure of the system. >> you have to understand why health care is so expensive. >> we all understand why it's expensive. >> obviously you don't. >> the question is, what do we do about it now? is there a single thing -- is there one thing that you have read in any one of the bills, in any one of the proposals that you're in favor of? is there one sentence that you're in favor of? >> i'm not in favor of the government getting more involved. >> is there one sentence? >> no. i want to bring market forces back to play to control costs and have -- >> everything you're aware of in the bills there's not a single

thing? >> no, the bills are bad. >> no to every sentence. >> because all they're going to do is drive costs up further and drive down quality. we need market dynamics, just like every other industry. >> if they do pass, chris dodd will come back as one of the hero of the health reform crew dade. >> i'm sure he'll feel that way. >> and your campaign there stand there and say every single sentence of the legislation he passed was bad? >> i will tell the truth. i will tell the public there is no santa clauses, whenever the government promises you something for free, you better watch on you, because it will cost more than you think. >> you would have the medicare system abolished? >> obviously -- >> a complete single-pair government-run system as socialistic as the canadian system, you would say end that tomorrow? >> i can't say that obviously, because you built up this culture of dependency over the

years? >> the lead connecticut citizens over 60 who refuse to pay for their own health care. >> don't put words in my house. if the government hadn't taxed the hell out of these people while they were working, they would have their own money, we need market dynamics and enforcement. just like government-subsidized student loans have driven education through the roofs. just like subsidized mortgages drove the market through the roof. there are no solution that involve more government. the only solution involve the free market, they involve capitalism. health care is important, just like food. we don't want the government growing our food. >> you think the massive subsidies to college students to go to college for free, you think that explains tu igz. >> yes, of course. >> you're in new york city right now. you know what a private school tuition is for a high school? new york city? it's over $30,000.

there's not one penny of government support. how did it get to $30,000? how do you explain that? >> you're talking about elite private schools in new york city. >> you explain every rising price in this economy as being the product of government intervention. what about markets where there's zero government intervention? hold on -- >> if students couldn't get government-guaranteed student locals, do you think universities could charge the outrageous price students couldn't borrow the money to pay them? >> it is such a small sliver of what goes into -- >> no it's not. >> -- goes into the tuition mix. the reasons tuitions go up is teachers' salaries go up over time. >> why isn't there competitive forgss keeps them down? it's the administrative bureaucracy. the beneficiaries of the student loan programs are the universities, and our kids are graduating from college now hundreds of thousands in debt. why is that a good thing? >> chris dodd leads the

education committee, too, so you'll have a good debate. just to get you clear on the record now, if you were in the united states senate now and if you were voting on health care reform this year, you would vote no to every single proposal made by a democrat or republican in the senate this year, right? >> it depends on the proposal. the ones on the table now, yes. >> every proposal by chuck grassley or any of the republicans in the senate you would vote for, is there a single sentence you would vote for by chuck grassley? >> one thing i would support would be reducing income taxes and then making -- >> that's not on the table -- >> let me finish my point. >> there's not a single thing that any republicans has suggested you would vote for. >> and then tax as ordinary income. only if you lower income tax. you have to lower income taxes to keep it revenue-neutral. >> peter schif is in favor of raising taxes on connecticut

citizens that have private health insurance? >> no, remember, i want to lower taxes. >> you want to lower the income tax, but raise taxes on health care benefits? >> no, so there's no net increase. >> how much do you want to raise them to? >> i want to raise them enough to offset the reduction in income taxes. i want people who now get health care insurance from their employers to get money, wages that are not taxed, and they can make a decision if they want to buy health care or something else, or if they want to buy a major medical. >> you and chuck grassley called, he's the leading republican on the committee, he too is currently in favor of raising taxes on people ace private health insurances -- you have found one sentence of agreement with the republicans -- >> are you listening to what i'm saying? >> i heard you saying it -- we're out of time. i gave you as much time as you wanted to tell me one thing. >> but you kept interrupting me. >> peter schif, thank you for coming in. >> you only heard one problem.

you come back and tell me every time you find something you agree with. >> ept to reform with by bringing the free market into it. we've got to get out of here. coming up the organize the fight against reform. lobbyists have done some of the dirty work, for sure, but not all are bad. seriously. my take on that, next. hearts happy...

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welcome back. when i went to work in the senate, i thought most lobbyists were criminals like the most infamous of all, but i was wrong, in the pre-abramoff days, none of them were that bad. there was way too much money to be made perfectly legally to ever risk jail time. i was chief of staff of two senate dmitees back then, first environment and public works, then the all-powerful financial committee. basically protecting the environment, billing highways and order federal buildings. if you wanted to protect wetlands or species, your lobbyists desperately needed to see me. lobbyists tried to talk their way onto my schedule all the time. when i moved to the finance committee in 1993, every lobbyist in town needed to see

me because the committee's jurisdiction is so vast. the corridor outside my office in the dirksen senate office building was actually known as gucci gulch, because it's constantly patrolled by lobbyists. my own sleazeiest encounter occurred in my finance committee office. one lobbyist i didn't know got 15 minutes to describe the unbearable aig's sufferings they were they were. i fained interest, nodded a lot, maybe even led a hint of sympathy into my eyes and said nothing. if he told his masters that i was anything but noncommittal, he was lying. the next day, one of our staff rushed into the office. she had just opened an envelope addressed to me and was shaking as she handed it to me. it was from the aig lobbyist, a letter thanking me for the

meeting, and a check made out to my boss's reelection campaign. i would not even use a sheet of senate stationary to reply. instead, i hand-wrote a very harshly worded version of "how dare you" and that's cleaning it up on the lobbyist's letter and sent it back to him with that check. i didn't have to check with my boss, the late new york democrat patrimony han to know that is what he would want me to do. he was always impervious to campaign contributions and ran hi campaign on one tenth the amounts that his successor hillary clinton raised to win his seat. there are honorable lobbyists. i dealt with them every day. by "honorable" i do not mean only those who do pro bono lobbyists for charities or the underpaid lobbyists working for environmental groups. when a giant corporation like

kodak sends its high-priced lobbyist to see you, you listen, because kodak is it is last manufacturer of film left in the united states and the single biggest employer in rochester, new york. yes, kodak's lobbyists are trying to protect corporate profits, but they are also trying to protect american jobs and save rochester from becoming a ghost town. only the most zealous marxist could fail to see the honor in ha lobbying campaign. good lobbyists tell you something you don't know, like why teaches hospitals need more money for doctor training. they then tell you what they think you should do about it, how to pay for it, and most important, who opposes it and why. they know their opposition already lobbying you too, so they don't say anything that can be proved wrong in your next meeting, and they dom promise their clients that they will always get what they want. there are not enough

congressional staffers to keep track of the hundreds of thousands of complex issues under federal jurisdiction. good government needs good lobbyists. our defense against the toxic mix of bad lobbyists and campaign cash, it always comes down to the people we vote for. well, it depends on what comes out of committee. >> that's a very bad message to the big contributors if you vote against it. >> if you can't drink their booze, take their money and then vote against them, you don't belong in this business. >> yes, "the west wing" was a fictional universe, but i would not have written that scene if i never saw senators let lobbyists make their cases, contribute money to their campaigns and then vote against them. there is a massive amount of special-interest money from the health care industry sloshing

around in the campaign coffer of our senators and congressmen as they consider reformation. let's just hope enough of them still know how to take the lobbyists' money and vote against them. coming up, the screaming mobs had a knit low, a lynching threat and more. we'll talk about it, next. ( conversation ) garth, you're up. hold on, i'm at capitalone.com picking a photo...

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justice, equality, and opportunity are the very ideals that have made judge sotomayor's own uniquelile journey. they've upheld in breaking yet another barrier, moving us another step closer to a more perfect union. welcome back. late today the senate

confirmedle judge sotomayor, 68-31, with nine republicans voting for her. among them four of the party's six retiring senators. who said the supreme court vote was about principle, not politics? for more, let's bring in senator ben cardin, a member of the senate yew dishiaries committee. senator, were you surprised by the vote tally? >> well, ed, we were thankful there were nine reps that had the courage to vote for her confirmation. we're obviously disappointed that there wasn't more who joined. look, judge sotomayor has the qualifications, the background, the commitment and understands a role of a judge. she's mainstream. she believes in judicial precedent. she's just eminnocently qualified to serve on a supreme court. he record deserved her confirmation. >> senator, it simd from the

start that this particular justice voting for this confirmation was a good vote for both parties. in raw political terms both parties have an interest in appealing to the hispanic vote. how did the republicans get this vote so wrong? >> i don't think i can really answer that. today is a day to celebrate. it's interesting that judge sotomayor was appointed as a federal judge by a republican president, and also as a federal judge by a democratic president. they got it right when they confirmed her to the district court and to the court of appeals. i think those that voted against her just got it wrong today, and she's now a justice -- will be a justice on the supreme court of the united states. i think her record will show that those wo voted for her confirmation did the right thing and this is a moment in history. >> senator, you have a recess coming up for a month when you'll be hit with a lot of questions by your constituents. i obviously difficult for you members of the senate who don't

really know where the senate is going on various policy issues. how do you handle that? you have the house representatives voting for three new top brackets. what do you choose to defend and argue in favor of when you're talking about this with your constituents in august? >> well, my message is going to be simple. if we just do nothing and maintain the status quo for the average family in maryland, their familiar insurance premiums will go up from about $12,000 to over $20,000 in the next ten years. they're already paying $1,100 in a hidden tax for those who don't have insurance, those who have insurance are paying it. i'm going to explain what is common in all of the plans that are moving through congress, and that is to protect your right to keep your insurance, and to try to make it more affordable. if you look at the insurance reform that's included in this package that will prevent insurance company from denying

you coverage if you happen to get ill, or it will eliminate the limits -- caps that are in your policy, that will allow you to see a doctor for preventive health care and tests without paying the large deductibles and copayments, there's a lot of bills to help the people in maryland who have insurance keep their insurance. >> senator car din, i know it's been a busy day, thank you for finding the time to join us here. >> thank you very much. appreciate it. coming up, responding to the creaming mob. how liberals plan to step up their ground game, next in "the playbook." ♪ you

how much could president obama help or hurt democratic candidates in november? we have new poll numbers on the governor's race in virginia where the president is campaigning tonight. that's coming up for our page on "the ed show." at 155 miles per hour, andy roddick

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the battle over health care reform is getting louder, much louder, members of congress home for the recess are being shouted down by organized sign-wielding mobs trying to kill civilized discussion. now the congressmen, their staffs and support groups are all trying to figure out how to fight back. joining me now, democratic congresswoman jan shahkowski, what's your plan? >> first of all, "organized" is right. this is not about town meetings. this is about political organizations turning out people to stop debate, to stop conversations. that's what the republicans and the special interests are trying to do. town meetings, i don't know if you went to them when you worked for the senate, people do get hot. them come with their own particular interests and are

there to ask a question, even to pressure the member of congress, but not to absolutely shut off debate. we're not goods to whine about it. we can do turnout. if they turn out 100, we'll turn out 200, but what about the ordinary constituent who's coming to actually learn something? what does this health care program mean to me? i'm a senior, or i'm a -- i can't get health care, because i have a preexisting condition. what happens to me? or even i don't want to pay more taxes and so what is that going to do to me? all of that kind of debate is completely shut down, but i'll tell you, i think the tide is turning in that respect, my office, anyway, is getting real positive calls today about how -- from people who really liked the health care plan, but it's turned into a theater that is depriving ordinary constituents in districts around the country from actually

meeting with their congressmen, and finding out what they need to know. >> we've actually seen something like this before in my memory in chicago, actually, when danny rosinkowski was hounded. let's look at the videotape of that from 1989. they were protesting a medicare provision, which actually russ was key in passing that, and they were surrounding his car. he was having trouble getting out of there. >> actually i was -- >> you actually organized this very organized protest, didn't you? >> no, no. actually not. i was there that day, as head of the state council on senior citizens. very different. the congressman would not come in and talk to that group of seniors who were upset about the catastrophic health care bill

that didn't provide long-term health care. and what's going on with this program that didn't turn out so great in their estimation. so the motivation was different, they actually wanted to have dialogue with their congressman. >> well, they actually ended up forcing a repeal of what he managed to get passed. his reaction is interesting, because it's similar to what we're hearing today. let's listen to what he had to say at the time. >> they don't understand what the government is trying to do, but it's always their problem. >> reporter: do you sympathize with their anger? >> no, i don't think they understand what's going on.

>> you hear that today, congresswoman, the protesters standing up at the meeting simply don't understand, they don't care, they're just there to disrupt. >> no, actually i use this example as a cautionary note for my colleagues. you know all the smarty-pants in washington had figured out -- and i think motivated well, that this was going to be good for the seniors. national council of seniors was on board, but they forget to check back, with the grassroots people, because when it comes to health care, lawrence, this is different from other issues, even energy. what people do is they take pen to paper, and figure out what it will mean to them.

the grass-roots people didn't like this. so i've been saying we better definitely check back with ordinary folks, but i think we have a very strong bill right now that we can actually do that, if we do get a chance to not be disrupted by these people, but if they want to organize, we'll out-organize them. >> thank you, congresswoman, jan schakowsky. >> thank you. for a strategy, let's bring in roger hickey, codirector of the campaign for america's future. roger, you sent out an e-mail today advising people how to go about counters the protests. what are you advising? >> we have a network of activists around the country dedicated to health care reform and they've been working at it for the last two years. we have been knocking on doors, we've been moving people to

meetings with their members of congress for two years. the thing about the high will have publicized people who are disrupting meetings is they are representing special interests who don't want anything done and the vast majority of americans want to see health care reform and they want to see it done by this congress. so the difference is one set of people are trying to disrupt and stop health care reform, the others really want some change and we're doubling up our efforts in every community in the country while the congresspeople are back home. >> what do you do when the chaos breaks out? when you have 250 people there to listen and 15 who are there to yell and scream. those 15 can cut off any dialogue, can't they?

>> in some highly publicized cases, that has happened. congressman doggett got mobbed next day, but next day he got back on the horse, went out and had another couple of town meetings and had a very, very good dialogues with his constituents. so members of congress want to talk to their constituents, and frankly their constituents resent it, if they are prevented from having that dialogue with their members of congress while they're home. >> roger, you think there's a backfire here, the immaterial e immaterialagery actually backfiring and making it looks like that's their position. >> it's a terrible image for the republican parties and special interests like the drug companies, trying to sabotage health care reform. the majority of american people just want more details, and the people who want to stop it,

they're going to is suffer the consequences. >> thank for joining us, roger hickey. coming up, the democratic candidate for virginia governor is losing independents. can president obama help him rebound is it the president's campaigning for him right now. i'll put it to our panel, next. he ran off with his secretary! she's 23 years old! - oh, come on. - enough! you get half. and you get half. ( chirp ) team three, boathouse? ( chirp ) oh yeah. his and hers. - ( crowd gasps ) - ( chirp ) van gogh? ( chirp ) even steven. - ( chirp ) mansion? - ( chirp ) good to go. ( grunts ) timber! ( chirp ) boss? what do we do with the shih-tzu? - ( chirp ) joint custody. - dog: phew... announcer: get work done now. communicate in less than a second with nextel direct connect. only on the now network. deaf, hard of hearing and people with speech disabilities access www.sprintrelay.com.

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just moments from now, president obama will speak at a fund-raiser for a virginia

governor candidate. a new porl has bob mcdonald up by eight points in the newly blue state. the gop is pinning its hopes on mcdonnell. the race may be the party's last chance for a game changer this year. let's bring back our panel, jamal simmons, sam stein and john feehery. sam stein, daniel money han used to say i will come to your state and campaign, if that will help or i'll stay away if that will help more. which one helps more in virginia. should obama be down there? >> i think any democrat would be foolish not to accept an invitation. hopefully he brings a lot of money, the problem is you set the expectations too high. virginia has just elected two straight democratic governors, first time in how many years a democratic president. it's tough to get these people excited again when they have an

election every four years. >> and they win by a hair when the democrats win in virginia. john feehery, barack obama's approval rate in virginia is now at 51%. that's not bad for virginia. is it good enough to help a gubernatorial campaign. >> i don't think if he goes to bristol it hips. if he stays in northern virginia, teps creigh a lot. i do think that you're right, the tide is turning back towards republicans, and lawrence, let me say one out they are about jan schakowsky, congratulations for exposing her -- >> john, you got to learn to stick to the subject in this segment. we were not try to go expos her. >> i know you worked at that, bill. congratulations. >> jamal simmons, this polling

in virginia shows that 53% of virginiaens, 53% believe alabama was born in the united states. only 53%. this is a tough state for him to pull a democratic up eight points. >> it is a tough state. all these candidates who are running really have to run on virginia issues. is one thing i learn working in the south, people aren't like the rest of the country when it comes to politics. it will be very important for creigh to campaign as a virginian, and not a democrat. >> waz the impact of a win by a democrat in this race? >> i refuse to bind to the notion that it would make obama somehow a lame duck. but on what jamal said,

anecdotally, i talked to someone? senator warners's office about what kind of phone calls they're getting about the health care debate. they're getting overwhelmingly anti-obama phone calls. that's the problem that deeds is running into. >> actually, the more significant race i think is in new jersey. if republicans win in new jersey, it's tough for obama. >> but in new jersey the governor has its own set of problems. >> no doubt, but i think it shows that the democrat brand is not as great as it used to be. >> lawrence, you're a hollywood guy, and i'm upset we spent an entire hour that nobody mentioned that john hughes died and no reference to "16 candles" or "breakfast club." >> that's all the time we have

for today. a month of troubles. a month of troubles. let's play "hardball." good evening. i'm chris matthews in washington. leading off tonight, the dangers of august. if february is the cruelest month, this one is no day at the beach. for barack obama this august could be the month of storms. his approval numbers are dropping as the health care debate grows hot. the president's 50% approval rating is down seven points in a month now to his lowest mark yet. other polls have obama higher, but the pattern is definitely downwards everywhere. will this be the month the health care debate and worries about the economy sink the

president's approval number below 50% or can he rally against his opponents and make the sale? the debate got a lot uglier today, with rush limbaugh comparing nancy pelosi and the democrats to the nazis. that comes on top of those aechbt-obama town halls that featured at least one person carrying a sign that accused obama of having a nazi-style health plan. >> just say no! just say no! just say no! just say no! as we pointed out before, this is a well-organized set of protests. those mob scenes are supported in part by a group called freedom works, and today the afl-cio, the labor organization announced it's going to send people to town halls as well to confront the anti-obama teams. we have organizers on both sides tonight to show the fight right here on the set. plus, the battle for america. the story of the most exciting presidential election of our times. why did ted kennedy break with the clintons and support obama.