100% strikeout in terms of finding a delaware voter who says they're going to vote for christine o'donnell. i don't -- like -- we failed. totally failed. that does it for us tonight. we were very thankful for the folks here at the deer park tavern for taking such good care of us. everybody please tip your bartenders. now michael steele. "the last word" with lawrence o'donnell. lawrence, delaware says hi. >> rachel, you have never failed us. thanks, rachel. >> huh? >> as the first congressional election during his party chairmanship approaches, michael steele is dancing as fast as he can trying to charm independent voters and tea partiers while never losing sight of his real master and paycheck provider, the republican national committee. but how can he attract independents with a senator who says unmarried women should not be allowed to teach in public

schools and candidates who want to abolish the minimum wage and masturbation? >> i would consider reducing the minimum wage. that's a lie. you know that's a lie. i never said it. >> except when she said it. join anti-minimum wage special interest group that had just endorsed her. now the tea party forcing republicans to choose sides. they can join the anti-establishment chaos. >> we're working together. we have a common interest, a common goal. >> i don't like being called the establishment. i'm helping raise $50 million which we've already spent on behalf of sharron angle in nevada. >> campaign for tea party approval. >> that's why i fought and voted against the bush wall street bailout. the failed trillion dollar stimulus and obama's government takeover of health care. >> or be wiped out. >> you lost, lisa. and it's time you respect that this senate seat doesn't belong

to you. >> i announce the race. >> now trying to sound reasonable but -- >> i'll take you out, buddy. >> barack obama is the worst president in history. >> go to hell. >> republicans are caught in the middle trying to defend candidates they previously opposed. >> so there should not be a federal minimum wage? >> there should not be. >> i don't like the idea of telling private business owners. aabhor racism. but it's a bad decision to every bar anybody from the restaurant. but i do support private ownership. >> we spoiled our citizenry and said that you don't want the jobs that are available. >> he already knows what pleases him and he can please himself, why am i in the picture? evolution is a myth and even darwin himself -- >> evolution is a myth? have you ever looked at a monkey? >> i was dabbling into every other kind of religion before i became a christian.

>> you are a witch. >> or try to remake them with just 27 days until the election. >> i'm not a witch. i'm christine o'donnell. i'm you. >> the tea party or the halloween party? >> good evening from new york. i'm lawrence o'donnell. as the republican party continues to try to gloss over its tensions with the constantly embarrassing tea party candidates it has been forced to embrace, republican party chairman michael steele now says the two parties are actually locked hand in hand. tired of what he calls nit-picking and back fighting he has one target in mind. nancy pelosi. he has taken his message on the road in a "fire pelosi" bus tour, but who's really driving that bus? and does it make a difference? i spoke with michael steele earlier today while his bus was stopped in los angeles. michael steele, thanks for joining us. >> great to be with you, lawrence. how's it going, man?

>> all right. now you've said that the republican partied on the tea party are locked hand in hand. that's your phrase. and you have a republican nominee for senate in alaska who says the minimum wage is unconstitutional. so is that now your position, republican party position, that the minimum wage is unconstitutional? >> what i meant by that phrase is i think around the issues that we're fighting over this november and the debate that the nation has had about jobs and the economy, we're working together. we have a common interest, a common goal to put a fiscal discipline in place. every candidate comes to the table with their own particular set of issues that they want to speak to the people of their state or their district about. that's what they're allowed to do. it doesn't necessarily translate that that's the position of every republican in the united states. i know a lot of folks on the left in particular want to make that leap of faith for them, but

it doesn't translate that way. the reality of it is the tea party is an organic movement of citizens that are concerned about the direction the nation is going. republican of all stripes are also concerned. so i wanted to make it very clear that with respect to those common interests on those issues, let's work together and let's move forward together to defeat what we think is an aggressive agenda by government to take control of businesses and the affairs of individuals. >> so michael, do you want to make a republican party commitment to minimum wage workers that you absolutely will not consider repealing or reducing the minimum wage? >> nice try, lawrence. i don't do policy. i do political. you need to talk to our legislative leadership and ask them what their position is going to be on the minimum wage. >> do you think it's a good idea? do you think it's good politics to reduce the minimum wage? >> doesn't matter to me what i think. what matters is the effort we put on the ground to help candidates win this november.

they're taking their messages directly to the people. the people are responding and they'll get the final say at the ballot box. >> by the way, what is the minimum wage, michael? >> you really like the minimum wage, don't you? talk about a lot more things than one issue. >> i do like the minimum wage. >> the country is hemorrhaging -- >> it's okay to say you don't know fp if you don't care about minimum wage. >> look, look, lawrence, stop the trap playing here. >> okay. >> the reality of it is that is not the paramount, most paramount issue that voters out there are facing. when you've lost your job, whether you know what the minimum wage is or not, is nol relevant. you're trying to get the job back. that's the mission the nation has been engaged in for the past year. that's the reality that people are facing every single day. the administration has failed to create jobs. more than 3 million jobs have

been lost. this countunard that we are savr created x number of jobs is a joke. unemployment is 9.7%. the reality of it is that a significant number of people here in california and across -- are looking for jobs. the debate that candidates need to have with the people of this country and amongst themselves is what are we going to do to stimulate job growth? what are we going to do to empower small business owners. that's the nature of the debate. whether it's 7 dfrl, $10 or whatever it happens to be in whatever part of the country you live in, if you don't have a job, that number's irrelevant. >> it is not $7 or $10. but let's move on to jobs. you have said -- >> that will be your headline. that will be your headline, lawrence. doesn't know the minimum waej. >> i'm going to quote you on this. you said about jobs, quoting you, you and i know that in the history of mankind and

womankind, government, federal, state or local, has never created one job. so, michael -- >> yeah. >> are you saying that when my father was working as a boston cop, are you telling me that he was lying to me, that he didn't have a job? he was actually unemployed? >> no, not exact -- that's not exactly what i meant when i said that. and i think it's been very clear what i mean by that. the federal government -- having a government job is great. that's a great opportunity. i've had government jobs in the past. >> so you actually had a job -- you've had a job created by government? so you no longer hold to that that government has not created one job. >> lawrence, the fact that the government creates a program and that people administer the program and there are people that get a job from that, that's a whole separate piece from what

this economy is about. our job creation in this country is not based around federal government employment. our job creation in this country is based around small business owners. it is the mind-set that you're now putting on the table that is what the problem is in this country right now. i don't think that the american people want to hinge their future to a government program or a job created through a government program that could go away overnight. we're looking at long-term sustainable growth in the employment sector that is only best provided by small business owners. i've been a small business owner. i've also had a government job. i prefer being a small business owner because i have greater control, i have greater opportunity and i can expand that opportunity for others who want to build for their future and well beyond the limitations that come with a particular government contract or particular government program that that job is housed under. my mother had a private sector job for 45 years. and in the private sector. that's the kind of long-term

sustainable job growth that we're trying to create for this country. >> david petraeus has had a government job for going on to what, 30 years now, since west point. and you know -- >> all right. yeah. that's it, lawrence. >> do you maintain that the government does in no way stimulate creation of private sector jobs? >> the government stimulates a lot of things, lawrence, but it's how they stimulate it. the government could create the pathway for access to the marketplace through regulation, through tax policy or it could not. and what we've seen through the tax policy and regulatory policies that have clamped down on the willingness and the risk taking that small businesses are willing to make. there's a reason why a small business owner is not going into the market and hiring. there's a reason why his customers are not buying. so that's where the government can step in and say, let's create an environment, let's stimulate through lowering tax

rates, let's stimulate by lessening the regulatory burden, by creating a pathway so those small business owners feel that they can take that risk without the heavy burden of government on their backs. >> how do you explain this recession, given that it started while all the bush tax rates were in place. by the way, all the bush tax rates are still in place. so how could we possibly have this recession if we're living under a republican tax regime right now? >> i know you love hanging everything on the bush tax rates as some boogeyman for the economy. but when you have all that spending, when you have increased spending, you negate the effect of those tax rates. you dampen that stimulation. that's why republicans, we've learned from those mistakes in the past. that's why you see republicans out around the country now arguing for if you want these rates to have the intended effect where it stimulates your investment in the economy, then we've got to look at how we spend money and how we put that money into the marketplace and

what the government does with that money. and i think that's something you've done with the promise to america that -- the pledge to america that kevin mccarthy and the other republican leadership put out there and talking about under the republican leadership, this is how we want to make sure that we have long-term sustainable growth. you can't go down the road where you have lower tax rates and increased spending. we have a spending problem in this country. that creates the debt and the deficit. and you know, the fact that the obama administration and the failure of this congress to go and deal with the bush tax cuts again is a testimony to the reality that even democrats realize that those tax rates benefit the people of this country and to let them fail or let them, you know, go away is a tax increase at a time when we don't need it. >> michael, i want to get you to the pledge to america. that's one of the things you're selling on your bus tour. the republican pledge to america written by house republicans. on the health care sector, their

first item is repeal obama-care, repeal the health care bill. their second item is reinstate most of the democratic health care bill. they say, we will expand state high risk pools, reinsurance programs and reduce the cost of coverage. we will make it illegal for an insurance company to deny coverage to someone with prior coverage on the basis of a pre-existing condition. eliminate annual lifetime spending caps and prevent insurers from dropping your coverage just because you get sick. talk about demonizing health insurance companies. so michael, your republican idea on health care after repealing the obama plan is to impose a massive regulatory socialistic regulatory regime on the health care sector in order to prevent insurance companies from doing business the way they want to in a free enterprise system. when did that become a republican idea? >> you're a funny man, lawrence. you really are. >> it's a funny document. the document is very funny.

it's so self-contradictory. >> well, you need -- again, i don't get to do the policy. i don't get to make those decisions. i think the republican leadership has made very clear what their intentions are and where they intend to do through the promise -- the pledge to america, the commitment that they make. we've been very clear for over two years now that the health care regime that the administration has put in place that's been backed by nancy pelosi -- whom by the way, we want to fire if you haven't gotten the message yet, harry reid who we want to retire -- that leadership has failed to listen to the american people. how do you have a health care debate and not even put tort reform in the mix? how do you have a health care debate when you want to demonize one sector while you ignore other sectors of the health care industry? the republican leadership wants to come back to this issue. we want to deconstruct the mammoth bureaucrat government heavy regulatory process. have you seen the map of what

this will create, the various agencies and components of it? we want to streamline this thing to make that relationship between the doctor and the patient the most sacrosanct it can be and allow them to make those zigs and not barack obama, harry reid or nancy pelosi. so any issues you have, lawrence, with the pledge and what that document says on health care, take it up with the leadership. >> michael, final question. can't let you leave without talking about everyone's favorite senate candidate christine o'donnell. >> okay. >> she has said -- and you are, as you said, you know, locked in with the tea party. christine o'donnell has said that china has, quote, a carefully thought out and strategic plan to take over erica. she claims to have classified information about china and she says, quote, i wish i wasn't privy to some of the classified information that i am privy to.

do you agree with christine o'donnell? do you wish she wasn't privy to classified information? i mean, america would be safer if she was not privy to classified information, wouldn't it? >> christine o'donnell is a fantastic candidate for us, for the united states senate. i can't wait to call her a senator. >> michael, you know she's lying about the classified information, right? reassure the country. >> do you know that, lawrence? >> she doesn't have any classified information. don't worry. >> do you know that, lawrence? do you know that? >> is it legal for her to have classified information? >> no, let me ask the question. do you know that for sure? >> i know to absolute certainly. i know to a certainty she -- >> have me back on the program to talk about it. >> michael steele, chairman of the rnc, defender of the tea party, thank you very much for taking the time today. >> all right, man, take care of yourself. >> all right.

former governor howard dean has been watching the michael steele interview with me here in the studio. he will weigh in after a break. and later, senator jim demint is finding yet another way the make alvin green continue to look like the better choice in the south carolina senate race. the senator says gays and single women shouldn't be allowed to teach in public schools. that has one group that stands by demint saying no mas.

is the fourth forced marriage of the republican party and the tea party as happy as michael steele would have us believe? governor howard dean joins me. and jim de mipt wants to keep single women and gays out of our classrooms.

the 2005 howard dean staged an outside the belt way grassroots campaign to become the head of the democratic national committee, an organization that liberal group activists felt was plagued by inertia and self-serving d.c. insiders. now republican insiders like michael steele are trying to co-opt and outside the beltway movement, the tea party, that threatens their control of conservative voters. joining me now to discuss how michael steele is managing the merger of the republican party and the tea party is former governor of vermont, howard dean. governor dean, i don't know where to begin with the michael steele interview. you have good days and bad days as the chairman of the party, don't you?

>> he won't be on msnbc voluntarily for quite some time after that interview. he's got an impossible job. it's really tough to try to do what he's doing and he has to defend some things that are indefensible. the minimum wage polls up in the 80% in terms of people who are in favor. it's fairness issue. 80% of republicans think that there should be a minimum wage. now some are taking a position by some of their candidates and steele won't defend it, that there should be no minimum wage. >> as soon as you've got a republican senate candidate in alaska who is saying minimum wage is unconstitutional, we should abolish the minimum wage, the chairman of that party, if you don't know the minimum wage, someone working for you has to tell you that minute, minimum wage is 7.25. we ready because it will come up somewhere some time. how can they be running a party where they're sending this guy out there completely ill equipped? >> michael is not running that

party. that party is being run by karl rove and others who are raising millions outside the party, not channeling et to the party precisely because of this problem. >> party cricks are actually down compared to democratic party contributions, but they've got this outside operation -- >> the chamber of commerce which has become a finance arm of the republican party. and they've got these john roberts special pacs that he's now allowed by deciding that corporations are the same as people. and that gives republicans a big financial advantage but the democratic party is far ahead of the republican in fund-raising. >> we've had discussions on this program about divisions within the democratic party. the dissatisfied obama supporter that has -- that the president's been addressing in effect on his college campus tour saying, you know, buck up, stick with me. how does that dissent dissatisfaction within the democratic party compare to what you see happening with the tea party faction and the establishment republican party? >> what i say to the democrats,

look, we're entitled to our differences on policy issues with the president and everybody else. but this is the fourth quarter. now time to put all that stuff aside and otherwise you see what we're going to get. look at the tea party. how would you like to have the tea party running the united states of america. there are some people who would like that. i think we'd be in an awful lot of trouble. i believe -- and i know i'm the minority opinion -- that democrats will hold on to the house and the senate. the reason i think so is because at the end of the day, it will be incredibly hard for them to vote for people like carl paladino and christine o'donnell. >> haven't the republicans done everything wrong that they could do wrong in the run-up to this election in terms of running up with nominees that are actually scaring people? >> it's an interesting thing. the republicans are incredibly good on opposition because they're so ideological and they have a good, simple disciplined message. those exact traits make them terrible at governing as we saw with president bush in office.

what they've done is essentially created a monster. they're rhetoric has been so uncompromising, so inaccurate, so ludicrous, that they have created -- they've given permission for this wing of the republican party, which is now -- this is a tea party group, to say outrageous things and for the mainstream voter, it is frightening to see that. how can you seriously vote for candidate for the united states senate who thinks that she has a message from the chinese that they're going to attack america at any moment now. or was a witch or whatever? how can you run an ad starting off with the words "i'm not a witch"? really and truly, this is not compatible -- maybe people don't care who they elect for the senate. some folks are so angry at the government, they don't think it makes any difference. but i think it does make a difference. >> this will be a test of do i really care about my vote. rahm emanuel leaving the white house. he was the target of a lot of progressives' angst and dissatisfaction with the

dealmaking in the white house, especially on the health care bill, deals with pharmaceutical companies, health insurance companies. they felt he gave up too much too soon in the compromising processes of legislation. with rahm emanuel out of there, do you think it's an opportunity for the white house to reset in a way that will be more appealing to the progressive side of the party? >> there will be two things that change. one is that pete rouse is still an insider, but he's a very good guy. he gets what has to be done. he is not about being in the headlines and i don't think he would say some of the things that rahm said that just make people mad. it doesn't do good to make people mad, to say things about them that are demeaning. rouse is too much of an inside pro to let that happen. i think that's going to have a big effect. the other thing is that the working conditions in the white house will improve. the morale inside the white house will improve, especially for the young people. >> in the closing month of this campaign, what do you think is going to stimulate the

democratic base more, the fear of the paladinos, the christine o'donnells, the crazy candidates that have erupted on the democratic side or an enthusiasm that barack obama can stimulate by getting out there and doing that campaign style event that he did? >> he's doing the campaign style event. that's what he has to do. we can't win without the president. the president whether he likes it or not, is the spokesman for the democratic party. if he keeps doing what he's doing, that helps a lot. but it's true the republicans have succeeded in mobilizing the democratic base. that's something you never want to do if you can help it is to mobilize the other guys. republicans have succeeded in doing that because of the tea party. >> governor howard dean. thanks for joining us tonight. >> thanks for having me on. >> senator jim demint tries to elect candidates while opposing a policy that would limit government tracking of the sex lives of unmarried women. and in tonight's rewrite,

carl paladino explains why he loves forwarding racist e-mails. it's simple, he says, i'm human. ♪ [ heather ] businesses need a reliable financial partner. one who can stay in sync with their moves. my job at ge capital is to get bobcat all the financial and business support they need. we provide financing for every bobcat dealer in north america. together, we've rolled out over 100,000 machines to small businesses all over the country so they too can grow.

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breaking news. there was an interruption in the middle of the presidential speech tonight. no, not a heckler. a problem with the prop department. >> especially it feels like science and technology, engineering and math.

we cannot sustain -- oops. was that my -- oh, goodness. that's all right. all of you know who i am. but i'm sure there's somebody back there that's really nervous right now. they're sweating bullets back there right now. >> the seal of the office of the president was picked up after the president was off stage. senator jim demint, apparently jealous of all the attention that christine o'donnell gets for saying nutty things says gays and single women should not be teachers. we'll talk to one republican who says the idea isn't just crazy, it's calculated. sharron angle was caught on tape saying that republicans do not mean what they say, which might

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during their very long workdays and nights, the staff of the united states senate spends some of their occasional down time swapping crazy senator stories. those stories are usually about men and women working under intense public pressure often in advanced stages of sleep deprivation who say or do something they shouldn't have. the stories are always about backstage moments in the cloakroom, private moments on senator-only elevators. never anything the public knows about. in public, the senators are alert, careful and reliably boring. then there's jim demint. he does his crazy publicly. and you don't have to be a senate insider to hear about it. according to south carolina's

"spartanburg herald journal." at a church rally on friday demint said if someone is openly homosexual, they shouldn't be teaching in the classroom and he holds the same position on an unmarried women who's sleeping with her boyfriend. she shouldn't be in the classroom. senator demint is apparently still considering whether unmarried men who are sleeping with their girlfriends should be allowed in the classroom. needless to say, demint has made it hard out there for a gay republican. in our spotlight tonight, christopher barron, the chairman of g.o. proud, chris, you have supported jim demint up till now. this is the final straw for you. why have you supported him up to now and why does this end it for you? >> well, what we've done is we've supported senator demint's

work on issues that are critical to us, issues like social security reform, free market health care reform, tax reform, you know, and the size and scope of government issues. the reason why this is it for us and, quite honestly, should be for anyone in the conservative movement is because these comments are not only outrageous and bizarre, they're morally reprehensible. and i think that senator demint has, you know, given up the ability to lead on any of the issues that conservatives care about. >> and, you know, silly question. how would he propose policing what single women are doing in their sex lives? and presumably -- i'm sure if he thought about it one more day, he would include single men who are sleeping with their girlfriends as people who should not be allowed in the classroom. >> actually, the interesting thing is i'm not sure he would. because he originally made

comments like this in 2004, then apologized for them. said he was sorry he made them. then came out on friday and apparently, in typical washington politician fashion, said i apologize but didn't really mean it and what i really mean is what i said originally which is gays shouldn't be allowed to teach and sexually active unmarried women shouldn't be allowed to teach. >> isn't it is a more difficult fit for gay fiscal conservatives who want to vote republican to stay in that fold when the tea party is moving in and polling indicates that the tea party is overlapping heavily with the christian right? doesn't this become all the more uncomfortable as evidenced by your break with jim demint now? >> no, actually, i would disagree and i would disagree strongly. and here's why. one, the tea party movement has been laser focused on economic issues and on the size and scope of government. they've not been focused on

social issues. in fact, prominent social conservatives like tony per kins and mike hub abby have complained over the lack of the tea party's focus on social issues. what jim demint did by coming out and talking about this, what others have started to do is if you can't beat 'em, join them. they've been unable to get the tea party to stop the tea party's momentum. and so now they want to co-opt the tea party's message. because the bottom line is is that the movement itself, the energy in the conservative movement is around the tea party, which is about limiting the size and scope of government. i mean, jim demint calls himself a limited government conservative, yet his idea of a limited government is one large enough to be policing the sex lives of our public school teachers. i mean, the idea is completely and totally insane, and it completely flies in the face of what the tea party movement stands for. >> do you think you're going to get a chance to vote for on the

republican ticket for president next time a candidate who does not pander to this wing of the republican party? >> look, i think that we're going to have a lot of great candidates in 2012. and i think that what's important is that every one of these candidates -- look, everybody wants to be known as the darling of the tea party movement right now. every one of these candidates who wants to be known as the darling of the tea party movement should understand what this movement is about. this movement is about reducing the size and scope of the federal government. this movement is not about gay marriage. this movement isn't about, you know, gay teachers or sexually active unmarried women teachers. it's not about any of these social issues. and so they run down these rabbit holes at their own risk. >> christopher barron, chairman of goproud. thanks for joining us tonight. >> thank you.

>> carl paladino is taking a page from the political playbook of christine o'donnell and trying to say who hasn't e-mailed racist stuff around to their friends? he gets tonight's rewrite. and tea party candidate scott ashjian's refusal to step out of the way to sharron angle has caused someone else to lose his job. [ male announcer ] this is steven, a busy man. his day starts with his arthritis pain. that's breakfast with two pills. the morning is over, it's time for two more pills.

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the tea party candidate for governor of new york is doing his best to explain away a string of racist e-mails he forwarded to friends. his explanation earns tonight's rewrite. later in neve darks the tea party there is eating its own. does that officially make them a real party? m west point, then i did a tour of duty in iraq. when i was transitioning from active duty, i went to a military officer hiring conference. it was kind of like speed dating. there were 12 companies that i was pre-matched with, but walmart turned out to be the best for me. sam walton was in the military,

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♪ that's logistics ♪ ♪ there will be no more stress ♪ ♪ cause you've called ups, that's logistics ♪ ♪ got the timing down ♪ it's uncanny ♪ yeah you think it was me ♪ do you think i should >> time for tonight's rewrite. mental health professionals are having a very hard time figuring out who the nutiest tea party candidate is. mental health amateurs like karl rove have suggested that christine "no relation" o'donnell is the nutiest by virtue of her previous devotion to witchcraft and trying to fit into all religions. >> i was dabbling into every other kind of religion before i became a christian. >> you were a witch. >> i was. >> you were. >> i was dabbling in witchcraft.

>> right. >> i dabbled in buddhism. and i would have become a harry krishna, but i didn't want to become a vegetarian. >> just a lot of nutty things she's been saying. >> and that's before we get to her position on intrapersonal sex. but new york's republican candidate for glovener, carl paladino, rushed to the front of the nutty line last week with an outburst that made him if not the nutiest tea partier, definitely the most dangerous. i mean physically dangerous. >> fred, that's it. >> say [ bleep ] for me. >> you send another to my daughter's house and i'll take you out, buddy. >> you'll take me out? how are you going to do na? >> watch. >> though paladino considers none of what he said to fred dicker a joke, he does believe he's the funniest tea party candidate by virtue of his long history of playfully forwarding the hysterically funny e-mails he gets every day from his

hysterically funny friends. the network has asked me to warn you that if you have ever been offended by anything, you will be offended by what is to follow. i ask registered new york voters to not turn away no matter what you see. our participatory democracy confers on you the responsibility to evaluate this material and the man who loves it. mr. paladino's mass e-mails were obtained by wnymedia.net. this one was sent in october of 2009. the e-mail was titled, white house ball. one year earlier, he sent a video called obama inauguration rehearsal. it's no longer online, but you can see by this screen grab it was, in fact, video of a tribal dance in africa. another e-mail featured this

picture of a group of black men running from a plane. we've blurred the racial slur in the text, but you can and should assume the worst. paladino is also fond of sending mass e-mails of people having sex. which indicates he has a severely underdeveloped sense of discretion for a politician. at least one of his favorite sex videos, which is network believes will disturb your sleep tonight if we show even a second of it, co-stars a woman and a horse. paladino was asked about this earlier today by allen combs and here's what he had to say. >> i apologize to anyone that was offended by what i did. i'm human. i never made out to be anything other than that. i'm your regular guy from buffalo, new york. >> carl, i know regular guys from buffalo, new york. one of my best friends, james

cane, is a regular guy from buffalo, new york. and let me tell you, you are no jim cane. here's what you should have said. i apologize to anyone who was offended by what i did. i'm sub human, i never made out to be anything other than that. i'm just a deeply disturbed guy from buffalo, new york, who has had to recently admit to having a secret 10-year-old daughter outside of my troubled marriage and see my funny e-mails shown to people who just don't get the joke. all because i am humbly offering to serve as governor. 32% of new york voters are currently failing the intelligence test that the gubernatorial campaign has given them. yes, they are still planning to vote for carl paladino. now, let's stipulate that none of us, none of us could survive public scrutiny of every e-mail

we've ever sent or received. but when you have staked your campaign on, quote, cleaning up albany? shouldn't you take care of your inbox first? sharron angle's push to get her tea party opponent out of the race has led to one departure but not who she was hoping. up next, the tea party fight in nevada with candidate scott ashjian. i couldn't believe it.

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♪ saturday night's all right for fighting ♪ ♪ let a little action in we are used to fights within the democratic party, fights within the republican party, and now we have, much sooner than expected in its maturation cu e curve, fights within the tea party.

on sunday, leaked audio tapes revealed nevada republican senate candidate sharron angle met with tea party candidate scott ashjian to get him to drop out of the race. >> now, anything i can deliver personally, i'm glad to. what would you -- >> i'm not looking for anything other than a public apology. >> angle offered no apology for the attacks leveled at mr. ashjian. instead she offered to hook him up with jim demint. >> that's really all i can offer to you is whatever juice i have, you have as well. you want to see demint? i have juice with him. i go to washington, d.c. and i say i want to see jim demint, he's right there for me. i say, i want to see tom coburn, he's right there for me. i want to see mitch mcconnell, he's there. >> but mr. ashjian is about as eager to hang with senator

republicans as michael moore is. he told angle exactly what he thinks of them. and he actually sounded a bit like michael moore. >> i think that in nevada, there is an opportunity to not go against your core principles, not join the system, and, as you said, take a stand. but how effective can you be with thieves? there's no honor among thieves. >> nevada tea party candidate for senate scott ashjian joins us now. scott, why did you make this tape? >> you know, originally i made the tape to -- i've been in several meetings. the reporters, the press, they lie and distort after the meeting. and they spin it according to how they wanted. the tape was never meant to be released. it was for my personal use. the night before i received a phone call from a washington, d.c. attorney cleta mitchell

asking me in an abrupt way to get off of the ticket because sharron couldn't win if i was on the ticket. i obviously wasn't interested in that. it was a heated discussion between her and i. and i hung up on her. and she went on tilt apparently leaving voice mails on the wrong number, not very bright. which made their way to local "tv guide" rolston. as expected the meeting got spun in the wrong way. i was on vacation with my family in denver. i got called by rolston asking if i had heard the voice mails that were put out. i said i didn't know anything about them. and he proceeded to tell me what was on them, told me what was in the paper. so i asked my campaign manager to go over my house and deliver a small tape recorder to john rolston and said have at it. knock yourself out.

>> so you released them in self-defense. let's listen to angle's true feelings about the republicans she has now embraced. >> the republicans have lost their standard, they've lost their principles. they have never really gone along with lower taxes and less government. >> scott, what is happening to the tea party if there is an idealistic base of the tea party, can it merge with the republican party? >> the nevada tea party, we are the only official tea party on the ballot. and i know that -- >> can you explain to me the difference between the tea party and the tea party express. >> the tea party express has been funded -- sharron angle from the beginning. the co-founder was kicked out for racial slurs. they're out of california. that's been my biggest complaint from the beginning.

we have washington, d.c. and we have californians affecting -- literally the california tea party put sharron angle in the senate race. the republicans here ran 12 or 13 people on the ticket splitting the vote, hence they got the weakest candidate because the tea party express came in and funded her with several hundred thousand dollars. took out ads against me. i've been sued three times to try to get off the ballot. i've won all three of those lawsuits. we are on the ballot. we are the only official tea party. when you say like paladino in new york. he's a republican. if they have an r or a d behind their name, they're not a tea partier, they're a politician, they're a republican or they're a democrat. the system is corrupt and they're corrupt. >> scott ashjian, thanks for your perspective from inside the nevada tea party. >> thank you. i wish you luck on your show. >> okay. that's "the last word" for tonight you can have the last word by following us on our blog or on