thanks for staying up late. >> thanks for the diagnosis. i appreciate it. >> "american freak show." pick it up this weekend. it's a good read. i'm dylan ratigan and chris matthews is up next right now. when harry met sharron, let's play "hardball." good evening, i'm chris matthews down in washington. leading off tonight, angle of attack. sharron angle is one nasty challenger. she took the crowbar to harry reid and didn't let facts get in her way. that said, with the reputation of a tea partier who drank too much of the stuff, it's hard to undercut expectations. just by showing up, she probably met the woody allen standard. her alienation toward facts and showdown in vegas is our top story tonight. plus, angle told reid to "man up" last night.

christine o'donnell told her opponent to put on his man pants. carl paladino talks about andrew cuomo's legendary prowess. what's with palin taking a shot at michelle obama? does she think about what she says? or does she look for attention wherever she can get it? and turns out john boehner did give money to the republican who likes dressing up as a nazi and didn't ask for money back. we'll talk to sharon brown about that one. let's talk about a grim reminder of the iraq war and who did the pushing. let's get to the latest polls. for that, we check the "hardball" score board. late today shows democrat jerry brown with a four-point lead over meg whitman in the governor's race. i've been watching that one. in the senate race, barbara boxer up one. that is a fascinating race. 46% to 45%, and it could go either way. in the west virginia senate

race, a new poll shows joe manchin the governor up by ten. he has really cleaned up. i guess it was that casting call that got the other guy in trouble. manchin's in the lead. in the new hampshire senate poll, ayotte is pulling away from hodes. she's at 50% in the new university of new hampshire poll. she's polled out. finally to alaska where the three-way senate race is basically tied. 33% for miller. 31% for lisa murkowski doing the write-in campaign. and 27% within striking distance for scott mcadams. a rare case where someone could win in the three-way even if they're on the opposite side of most people. we'll continue to check the "hardball" score board every night leading up to the november 2nd election. last night, the host of

face-to-face, and chuck todd is the nbc news white house correspondent. first, let's take a look at some of the action. here's sharron angle, the challenger, the tea partier, i think delivering a cheap shot at harry reid. let's listen. >> you came from search light to the senate with very little, and now you're one of the richest men in the u.s. senate. on behalf of nevada taxpayers, i'd like to know -- we'd like to know, how did you become so wealthy on a government payroll? >> senator reid? >> that's really kind of a low blow. i think most everyone knows i was a very successful lawyer, i did a very good job in investing. her suggestion that i made money being a senator is simply false and i'm disappointed she would suggest that. >> john, is this the new politics? is this the sleaze way we go? this is the dirtiest oldest trick, the stuff you do in politics. you play a little number. if you made money off money you

had before, you're stealing. >> well, she's playing into what a lot of supporters think. >> she's saying he's a crook. >> yeah, but she's playing into what a lot of her supporters think, which is harry reid is corrupt and made all this money. and chris, it's patently false. harry reid was a millionaire when he was elected to the house in 1982. he had made a lot of money off of real estate in las vegas as a lot of people did at that time. what i'm more amazed by is how harry reid looked like michael dukakis there. he was so subdued, and when a person calls him corrupt, come back and say give me some evidence. how can you say something like this? instead he did his usual low-key harry reid reaction. >> do you think he's afraid? or has been badly coached into saying, well, don't look too mean on her, you'll be the troll here. you've got to be nice. did somebody tell him that? >> i think there is some of that. and that's true any time, especially in politics as you know, chris. when a man debates a woman. but i have to tell you something about harry reid, he's uncoachable. he's proven that time and time

again. i don't care how well they prepared him. they did not prepare him to answer that question, i bet. >> we know television is visual as well as mental. sometimes the mental is not as important as the visual. did she win the visual by being able to belly up, stand up against this senior senator and seem like an equal? >> it's hard to say she won anything. her performance was not that good, it's just his performance was so bad. >> how would you describe the performance? >> i guess you could say it was -- >> lifeless? >> it was inarticulate in the first 15 minutes. he did get there, but none of -- there didn't seem to be a strategy. look at the way he answered the supreme court question. he started talking about how great scalia was. he didn't mention sonia sotomayor once. he at least understand her message. i'm going to tell you what i'm going to do. this is your only debate? your political life is on the line. >> they were smart john and chuck. you know the business. they wait and take two or three

days off and they get their i.q up. you've got to think of it then. you've got to prep. dukakis when they went out, he didn't say if his wife was raped and killed. nixon said he was tired, overscheduled, anybody with a brain would know what to say, but that was nice to mike dukakis. here's the schoolyard talk from sharron angle. here she is, let's listen. >> man up, harry reid. you need to understand that we have a problem with social security. >> well, she also accused him of saying he wanted social security for illegal aliens in the country, totally illegal. but what -- well, what do you make of this, john? is she going to get away with these facts with being fast and loose with the facts because she was able to stand up credibly there? >> well, listen, i do think she held her own. and i do agree with chuck's description of it. she wasn't impressive, but harry reid was so all over the map in

his performance. but look at the -- she made many claims in that debate, chris, that are easily debunked and harry reid made little effort to call her on it. chris, she not only said it, she apologized for it, yet harry reid let that go too. i don't know why he would not have called her on that. the social security for illegals is in several of her ads in which she calls harry reid the best friend an illegal alien ever had. catchy line, right? but there's nothing beneath it. all those ads have been debunked by me and others -- >> here's a case, chuck, where harry reid does challenge it. here's sharron angle defending claims that harry reid voted to give illegal aliens social security benefits. and here's what she said and how he responded. let's listen. >> well, i'm glad to give voters the opportunity to see that harry reid has voted to give social security to illegal aliens.

not only did he vote to give it to them after they have become citizens, but even before they were citizens, he voted to give them the benefits of our social security. >> everything she's said in that ad is false. it's not true. i've never voted for tax breaks for people who are here that are illegal. i've never voted for security -- social security benefits for people here. that is not the law in this country. she knows it, and she should stop saying it. >> she should. and i checked the objective facts out here. he didn't come out for that and yet she keeps saying it. >> it is amazing how it doesn't matter and there is no penalty this year for some reason for when it doesn't matter how many media say this is wrong, this is factually incorrect. it's not as if it's illegal to put up a tv ad. i guess you can file a grievance and say you have to pull this tv ad because it is false in this way. >> isn't it a job of moderators to know something? i guess it's a tough job. i guess in realtime it's hard to

pull out an immediate. it's academic or something where they know the answer because they don't know what the question's going to be. do you think the moderators, or the people holding these debates have some responsibility to check the facts, john? >> of course, they do, chris. but the format was so restrictive, it was difficult. the moderator followed up a couple of times but they were told to stick to the strict format, which was by the way, both candidates wanted because they both knew they were not very good in this venue. the question about whether or not there's a penalty for this behavior, we don't know. we don't know whether or not there's a penalty for it. what more can anybody do? but the problem is, how many people watch a fact check on tv versus how many people saw the ad that said the best friend an illegal alien ever had? >> well, give us a tout on this. it seems to be looking at this from the outside. you've got an incumbent who was unpopular, a challenger who is a bit far out if not whacky.

do the viewers, do the voters say i don't care how strange she is, i'm taking a chance on somebody new rather than what i've got. is that going to be the end of this election in how it comes out? >> i think if people were watching that debate. and listen, i think there's very few undecideds left in that race. 1%, 2%, 3% maybe. if they're watching that, they're watching to see if sharron angle is as crazy as she was portrayed. and i think if there are undecideds watching, i think they might gravitate towards angle. >> is that your sense? >> there's a two-prong strategy here for reid. number one is he can try to see if he can gen up his numbers on the ground with a little bit get out the vote effort. and the hope is he can get out the vote. and that's who sharron angle was up against. it's winning over the anti-reid voter that's not yet sold on her. what are they going to do?

did she do enough to keep them away from none of the above? i have to say, the laws of politics are running against harry reid. i believe if harry reid wins it's an upset because of the laws of politics. you've got to be sitting at 50 -- the wind -- everything. >> the smart move by her strategist and perhaps with our participating, jon, give this guy one debate so you can show you can stand up there and meet him back and forth. but don't give him too many debates because at some point his expertise will overwhelm her. >> i don't know, maybe she should've debated him ten times. i'm not so sure about that, chris. but chuck's absolutely right. harry reid's strategy from a year ago was he knew he was never going to get close to 50%. he knew his disapproval rating was 50%. he had to do scorched earth from the primary on to push those people, as chuck mentioned, from sharron angle to none of the above, and there are nine choices on the ballot. he's hoping people will be confused, vote for somebody else. it's the only chance he has. >> by the soft approach by him,

it reminds me of lodge calling up nixon saying erase the assassin image and went soft on kennedy. saying i agree with the senator, i agree with the senator. it was embarrassing. if he'd gone after him like the old nixon, they would have taken on stephenson, all of his earlier opponents like, you know, helen douglas. he would've killed the guy, but he didn't. and he lost. you've got to play your toughest game in the toughest battle. that's what i think. thank you, chuck. do you agree? >> there it is. it's your show. i'm in your house. what am i -- right? >> we're all politicians. >> thank you, sir. >> go blue. >> thanks, chris. up next, all week "hardball" hits the campaign trail for the "hardball" senate tour. it's off to louisville, i'm going to interview jack conway. and then wednesday, in chicago,

where i'll interview giannoulias. and thursday we'll be in philadelphia with joe sestak. up next, what's with women candidates calling their male opponents -- telling their male opponents "man up?" you're watching "hardball" only on msnbc. yea? we mail documents all over the country, so, what if there were priority mail flat rate... envelopes? yes! you could ship to any state... for a low flat rate? yes! a really low flat rate. like $4.90? yes! and it could look like a flat rate box... only flatter? like this? you...me...genius. genius. priority mail flat rate envelopes. just $4.90. only from the postal service. a simpler way to ship.

we've heard plenty about president obama's lagging approval numbers, but how is he doing relative to congress' approval rating? well, president obama on average has a 26-point lead versus congress' approval. he's 26 points ahead of them when both were mentioned at the same time. that 26-point edge in approval is greater than four of the five previous presidents. the exception being the senior george bush. so predecessors, obama in pretty decent shape. maybe we're getting too clinical, but compared to congress, the guy's golden. "hardball" back after this. that i want to do completely on my own --

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back to "hardball." last night in two separate debates, two women candidates, one republican and one democrat both told their male opponents to man up. for the past couple of months, we've heard quite a lot of female candidates and also male candidates, all republicans shouting male candidates to do things like man up or some variation on that phrase. we'll let them speak for themselves. let's listen. >> man up, harry reid. you need to understand that we have a problem with social security. >> so i think if you want to repeal health care reform and let insurance companies go back to their worst abuses, congressman, then you ought to repeal your own first and man up and do what you're asking other people to do. >> my opponent is addicted to a culture of spending, waste, fraud, and abuse. whether it's spending tax dollars on men's fashion shows or to pay off his cronies with sweet heart pension deals. >> these are the cheap, underhanded un-manly tactics we've come to expect from

obama's favorite republican mike castle. you know, i released a statement today saying, mike, this is not a bake-off, get your man-pants on. >> impotent, limp, and gutless reporters take anonymous sources and cite them as being a factual references. >> jan brewer has the cajones our president does not have. >> talking points memo. your thoughts. and often times it's a female candidate up against a male candidate, and they use the term manly, man up, man-pants, limp, whatever -- a lot of references to the sexuality. i'm going to get into some of the men doing the same thing in a minute. >> well, you could just imagine if a male candidate said acted like a lady, or why don't you be a woman and do something like this. this is something you would never stand for. so now you turn the tables and you have these women saying this. and they're getting away with it. and it's just a very bizarre

phenomenon -- >> because? the men have no idea what to say. >> with the exception of robin carnahan, it's this mamma grizzly phenomenon. we're tough, we're fighting the elite men making the decisions in the back room. i'd be curious to see what nancy pelosi thinks about this. i can't imagine her saying something like that to john boehner, for example. >> she doesn't need tooli lingo. i don't even know what's p.c. right now. it is a common practice now that to make these references in debate, sometimes face-to-face. >> there's really no defense for a man. it's an effort to bait and away if a man stands down from a challenge. if he comes back too strongly, he may be looking overbearing. it's really a lose/lose situation for candidates here. if i'm a political strategist, debate prepping people right now and telling them, you've got to be ready for this question and say something like, hey, that

was clever, but what are you doing to create jobs? because obviously if a woman is suggesting that a man is impotent or less than manly or doesn't have cajones or whatever, there's not much he can do, it's a tough situation. >> some of this gets a little more pointed like fashion shows, spending money on fashion shows. i think that has a certain connotation. maybe it should. let's mix this up a little. let's listen to carl paladino who is not exactly a sweetheart by any means. here's what he says about andrew cuomo. i think both guys are fairly macho, i suppose. let's hear how one goes after the other. let's hear it. >> andrew, stop the political posturing and albany games. come out and debate all the candidates. why do you want to exclude the only african-american candidate and the only woman candidate and the green party candidate? i just don't understand. come out and debate like a man. >> well, that sounds a little different than when a woman says

it, but it's so much like get in the ring with me, stop hiding. but it doesn't seem to have the same -- by the way, apparently it worked, cuomo's going to debate the guy. this was irresistible, jonathan. >> the real answer to that if you're not in the political forum where it's totally inappropriate was to take a swing at the guy. so, you know, come challenge my manhood any time you want if you're a guy. if you're a woman, i don't know what to do about it. >> i just wonder about this. this stuff happens in traffic in washington. i swear, women can get away with it. if a guy blows his horn, he better be ready to take that guy on at the next stop. he was going to have a little -- let's talk about this on the side. and i do notice that happens. i don't want to generalize the anthropology here. but i do think we saw in that debate. we watched that in the last election. we watched sharron angle who is the same age as harry, both mature people, but one taking it very personal saying you're

basically a crook, you're going to make -- really tough charges. and harry comes back kind of like afraid to show any attitude. >> and that was -- i'm certain, you know, everybody knows it is very difficult to debate a woman, particularly in this sarah palin age where people are ready to cry sexism. the lipstick on a pig thing. >> and the elitism -- >> this is an insult. you wouldn't say something like that to your co-worker. if they said that on the senate floor, you'd be hearing about it for weeks. >> what? you're a crook. >> or man up, or come on -- >> it's pretty strong language. >> it's definitely -- >> finish the thought here. >> it's definitely taking this aggression, and that's part of the whole tea party republican movement. that's why, again, i'm very surprised to hear robin carnahan to say that. >> is this all just metaphor that these politicians don't punch each other? they don't risk physical assault. they're not street corner kids in tough neighborhoods. they talk in this way.

isn't this a masquerade when people talk tough? somebody point in timed out the toughest sports, in sports they're not as aggressive as tennis. that's when they use the nasty language. your thoughts on that, jonathan. politics is using its gentlemenly aspect, are we saying? >> it makes them lose their temper. and certainly that's part of the strategy for anybody in that case, sharron angle or robin carnahan earlier in the day. you challenge a man's masculinity and hope it riles them up, gets them angry a little bit, makes them look unsettled to the voters. harry reid's been calling sharron angle crazy all campaign season. and that's something men use against women in usually subtler ways than reid's campaign has been doing. >> really? that sounds like lucille ball kind of stuff. >> don't forget there's dog whistling here with christine o'donnell. she's suggested mike castle, she said all of these things like put your man pants on, well, one

of her top aides made subsequco about his sexuality. she distanced herself from that. >> probably before you were both in the business, george bush sr. after debating geraldine -- but then he did something brilliant against pete dupont. he took a shot against him. and he said, let me help you with that one, pierre. that was a great putdown. >> then there's that. >> anyway, they used to say that first name of a headwaiter and a last name of a polluter. no offense to anyone. thank you. good luck with your new job, which is -- >> roll call starting monday. he seems to have done a 180 from one of his more far out positions. here is coming up on the "side show" rand paul. [ advisor 1 ] what do you see yourself doing one week,

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back to "hardball." it's time for the "side show." first comedians for a cause. last night john stewart and stephen colbert announced they'd be combining their events in the rally to restore sanity and/or fear on october 30th this year. they also got a visit from a big supporter with deep pockets. >> stephen, hi, techb. stephen. so here's what i did. i had my staff sneak into your studio early this morning with a little gift. okay? >> can i tell you what's weird about that? we have no security here. >> "daily show" audience, look

under your seats. >> look under your seats. >> look under your seats. what's under there? >> you're going to the rally! you're going to the rally! >> wow. for all the advice, looks like no one really knows what the rally on the 30th of this month is going to be all about. well, i'm going. next, eating their own, conservatives among conservatives, went after new york tea partier carl paladino. after winning the nomination, what does kamikaze carl proceed to do? get in an angry shouting match with a reporter. we talked about that earlier, figuring he hasn't veered off message enough. he then expands on homosexuality and spending three days having to explain and reaffirm. throwing the bad apples from the barrel. and now another tea partier, the kentucky senate candidate again appears to be moderating

his stance on the issues. in a statement to an indy tax group that was initially verified business hi campaigns, rand paul once wrote "i would vote for the fair tax to get rid of the 16th amendment, the irs and a lot of the control the federal government exerts over us." well pretty far out there zapping the control of the constitution. when paul was asked this week about his support for the fairtax, the national sales tax, he changed his tune. "i haven't really been able saying anything like that. i think it's better to go with what i'm saying now on the campaign trail." the paul campaign backtracked again blaming a former staffer for wrongly distributing that original fairtax we're going to have a national sales tax statement. believe me, supporting a 23% national sales tax is not a winning issue. that's the fairtax. 23% national sales tax to replace the income tax. now to tonight's big number. congress could look a lot different come january. how many tea party candidates are on the november ballot? according to "new york times,"

you won't believe this, 138 on the general election ballot. and you betcha, they're all republicans. 138 house and senate candidates are flying the tea party banner. up next, sarah palin takes a swat at michelle obama. palin's reality tv show starting soon, but where's her reality? is she running for president? and why is she going after michelle? ♪ [ growls ] ♪ ♪ [ polar bear grunting ] [ growls ] [ male announcer ] introducing the 100% electric nissan leaf. innovation for the planet. innovation for all.

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your cnbc market rap. stocks ending mixed today. google's strong earnings boosted the nasdaq. the dow slipping 31 points, the s&p adding 2, and the nasdaq jumping to 33 points. after the bell last night, sending shares soaring more than 11% today. but banks were rocked by worries about the impact of the foreclosure crisis. ahead of earnings next week, citigroup, goldman sachs, and

morgan stanley. now back to "hardball." you know, when i hear people say during the campaign they've never been out of america unt until -- until that time, i think, haven't they met anybody in uniform yet? >> welcome back to "hardball." that was sarah palin last night in san jose, california, with a jab at first lady michelle obama. what's palin's game? he was at the event last night in san jose, also joined tonight by joan walsh who is out there in san francisco. let's do a little bit on this. why would she take this shot at the first lady? the beloved first lady? and what did it feel like? >> it was very early in the speech when she made that comment. the first thing she does when she walks into the room, she asks everyone to stand up for a big round of applause.

and that was the next thing she said after that. there was a certain kind of improvisational quality to what she does, chris. but i would say there's a consistent theme throughout the speech. in addition to trashing the obama administration throughout, she was constantly bringing up the 2008 campaign again. she was constantly relitigating the arguments then. she was saying things like, you know, i told people, you know, barack obama said to joe the plumber that he was going to spread the wealth around. he told us what he was going to do. i knew this is what he was going to do. later in the day, she actually went back and relitigated the katie couric interview. she had a question from the audience from some kids in the audience about what she reads. and she went back, she said, you know, there was this interviewer back during the campaign. she wouldn't name katie couric, but said there was this interviewer that asked me that question. i felt she was treating me like a neanderthal who doesn't know anything. i didn't answer that question at the time, she said, and it's haunted me ever since. so relitigating that is a big part of things that are on her mind today. and that's where part of the

michelle obama thing comes from. >> that's a terrible answer on her part. i know it'll work for some people. but i'm asked, what do you read, how do you prepare? it's a totally legitimate question. where's the input valve? people want to know how you stay well-informed when you have to debate issues and discuss them. >> there was nothing that was a gotcha question about that. we were all shocked she couldn't say something. but i want to go back to the michelle obama comment if a minute. i think it's so outrageous and so not classy. i want you to think back in 2007, you know, barack obama was not necessarily running for president yet. he was a contender. he was kind of like sarah palin in that sense. no one knew if he was going to run. can you imagine barack obama ever taking a shot at laura bush? i mean it's just not done. it's beyond political decorum. there's no decorum when it comes to the obamas. >> i think there's a tribal

aspect to this thing. our group out here won't like them at all as people so anything goes. let's take a look at palin again in california. here's tom brokaw. she's out there -- so here's tom brokaw asking meg whitman about palin in the tuesday debate we covered. he asked about this event. >> ms. whitman, a real force in your party is sarah palin. she'll be in california on saturday. she's been a governor of a big western state. are you going to seek her advice on what you may do for california after her experience in alaska? >> so sarah palin's coming to california and she's doing fund raising and a number of other things. and you know what? she has a real following in the republican party, but you know that i have actually supported other presidential nominees in our party whether it was john mccain or my long-term friend mitt romney. so that day i'm going to be out with voters talking about the things that matter to californians. and that is jobs. >> that didn't make any sense. she supported mccain who was on

the ticket with palin. they were running against each other. what does that mean, john, to say things that don't make any sense? that wasn't an answer. she's obviously a smart person, meg whitman, i assume. how can you give an answer that makes no sense and have people hear it. >> well, chris, i think you've heard a lot of politicians in your time on this show give answers that make no sense when they're trying to dodge a bullet. she wants to -- she's in a tight race with jerry brown. and the people up for grabs are not the kind of people in california and in that blue state whether it's a deep blue state or a light blue state, we're going to find out on november 2nd. but in the blue state, the voters are still up for grabs. those are not people attracted to sarah palin. it was noticeable in her appearance, she did not mention meg whitman nor did she mention carly fiorina who she endorsed earlier in the year. obviously she was acting, i think, on orders from those campaigns -- they are trying to keep their distance from her because as i say -- at this point in their campaigns being

associated with sarah palin is not going to help them with undecided centrist voters. >> let's take a look at the commercial. i want you to respond to this. this is a new commercial from palin's somewhat unrelated reality show on the learning channel. let's listen. >> sarah, you ready? >> oh, gosh. we are somewhere that people dream about. >> family comes first. it's got to be that way. no boys go upstairs. this is fun. how come we can't ever be satisfied with -- i'd rather be doing this than in some dumpy old political office. i'd rather be out here being free. >> an all new television event, "sarah palin's alaska" premieres on tlc. >> joan, there's a lot to buy here. it's very attractive out there. she's an outdoors person. we americans love that stuff. i love it. i pay great tribute. if she can do the dog sled, the

hiking up the mountainside, that's great. i'm all for it. what's it got to do with anything? it has to do with the fact that she is leading among republicans in terms of job approval as the most popular republican in the country right now. it's serious business. for president, let's face it. >> i mean also it's on the learning channel. i don't get that. let's start there. i mean -- it's preposterous. it sounds fun, it sounds like it'd be fun to spend a day with her. but if she's so happy being free out there, why is she giving it up and traveling all around the country? it's completely d ll lly dising because she's happy raising money for herself and filling her pockets with these speeches. she's being paid for a lot of these speeches. so it's really -- she's saying one thing on that show and doing something very different. and if you go back to the california issue, 2/3 of california voters in last week's field poll said that palin support or being associated with palin makes them less likely to want to support california politicians. so it's clear what whitman and fiorina were doing. she's toxic here. >> you know, i go back to my

favorite question because it is not a tough one. well, it's a "hardball" question. i'll admit it. john, do you believe -- i'm asking any republican candidate or politician, do you believe that sarah palin is qualified to be president? and even her own guy joe miller who she created out of nothing up in alaska who is the nominee of the republican party because of her endorsement will not say she's any more than 35 years old and was born in the country, will not say she's qualified in any real substantive sense to run this country in a complicated world. don't they all have to belly up to that question fairly soon? this campaign's going to start in about two months. how long can they avoid saying whether she's got it or not? >> well, i think it's a fascinating question for this reason, chris. i mean, i increasingly among republican professional operatives, people running presidential campaigns before. she's number one, likely to run, and number two, she very well could be the republican nominee. and part of the dynamic that's going to work in her favor is that all of the other candidates are going to get asked that

question. and all of them, like joe miller and like many other people are afraid to answer that question. they're afraid to say no, which is what many of them think because they're afraid of alienating her voters, who they'll need presumably at some point. they don't want to alienate those people. but they're also afraid to say yes because they think it'll make them look foolish because they believe she does not have the substantive grasp of a lot of policy that a president of the united states needs. >> it could be a statement about how dull politicians are that her sparkle, just her presentation is so electric that it trumps all the substance in american politics today. that's a hell of a statement, right, joan? thank you. beats all substance. have a nice weekend joan and john. up next, battleground ohio, senator sharon brown joins us. and the republican candidate in ohio who likes to dress up like a nazi. that's interesting stuff. this is "hardball" only on

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president obama's on the campaign trail today. he made a big stop in wilmington, delaware, to push democratic senate candidate chris coons. he's running far ahead over christine o'donnell. the president made reference to coons' lead and urged to keep the pressure on. >> i want everybody to be clear. there's no doubt this is a difficult election. it's difficult here and across the country. and although i think chris has

so far run an extraordinary race, i don't want anybody here taking this for granted. >> this weekend, the president campaigns in ohio and massachusetts, he's going to be joined by the first lady in ohio. the first time they've been on the trail together since the presidential campaign itself. "hardball" back after this. [ wind howling ] [ technician ] are you busy? management just sent over these new technical manuals. they need you to translate them into portuguese.

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we're back. president obama and first lady michelle obama head-to-head this sunday on the campaign together in the buckeye state, ohio, the most famous, or infamous

candidate rich iott. he had a debate thursday night. "there are people who deny the hall cast happened, we don't deny that it happened, mr. iott said. we talk about it openly and say this was absolutely one of the worst tragedies in history. but we can't forget about it and sweep it under the rug or it just may happen again." . the moderator asked a series of question, submitted index cards by audience members as the reenact ree reenactor, have you ever worn a swastika? absolutely not because that is a political statement. in retrospect would you portray a nazi officer again, he was asked. absolutely, he said, just as i played a gi, the role of a union officer. if elected, would you participate in such re-enactments in the future? he said, no, i don't have time.. he said no, i don't have time. joined now by democratic senator

sharrod brown of ohio. i oinl want to waste a minute or two on this because it's fascinating. my son is an actor. played a reenactment and we had a lot of fun going out there. i love those civil war reenactments and got to meet the guys and love hanging out with them. why would anybody, ever, put on a nazi unform ever, under any circumstances wear one, i don't get it. >> i don't then guy. i know that he's got a lot of money like a lot of republicans around the country that are spending, shall i say, liberal, to try to be good, strong democratic incumbents like marcie chapter. he wasn't going to beat her anyway. i remember when i was a bit beside the point. i was 11 years old, my dad took me to gettysburg and watched part of the reenactment of the battle of gettysburg. i was 10 years old. i haven't done it. but it's sort of interesting but

nazi uniforms i mean just -- that's just -- that was pretty incredible, the whole thing. >> even as kids we had war games, my brother burt and i had and somebody had to play the germans but nobody put the uniform on. >> yeah, that's right. >> we didn't have the uniforms. i mean this is crazy. crazy. let me ask you about john boehner. does he have a problem of giving this guy money? and apparently he's not asking for it back. >> i didn't know that. i'm not surprised. i mean, boehner's a pretty conservative guy and i saw eric cantor, the republican, one of the republican leaders on television with w. wasserman schultz. republican, give them credit, they stick together no matter how bad one of their own is. and you see now with christine o'donnell, you see it with palin, you see it with fiorina. some these candidates that -- >> i love the way you say, i give them credit. i love the way you stick the knife in. i give them credit for sticking with this guy in the nazi uniform. okay let me ask you about -- i know you -- let me talk to you about something that's really important.

>> sure. >> first of all, let's talk about your state of ohio. i grew up as a political junky as everybody knows. and ohio, california, new york, always had the most fascinating politics. ohio is such a bellwether. what's going out there? they have to hold the governor's chair out there with strickland. they've got to at least make a fight for the senate seat the other senate seat. it's really gang busters for the white house, isn't it? , ohio? >> so much money in ohio this year. the chamber of commerce just in the last three weeks has spent well over half a million dollars for ads for house republican house members. i believe close to a million for their senate candidate who already a ton of money because he used to work for president bush and has the bush rolodex campaign file for contributors. you look at the money that kasich spent against strickland who's been a good governor and now slightly -- even in the polls but has momentum and so the president knows that 2010 matters, just substantively, and really but also matters for 2012

for the president if the president wins ohio in 2012 he's re-elected. it's almost that simple as you know. >> i know. >> because you figure he'll do well in pennsylvania, michigan if he wins ohio because those states are a little easier. the president's been in ohio more than i believe since new york since he's been president so he'll know to do that. >> i agree withio you. >> and he's bringing michelle this time to cleveland when we see them and we're all thrilled about that. it's good for the state and good for democrats. >> what are -- i agree you, completely ohio's right there at the point of control with this history. ask you something that i said the other night, i know that you agree with it. i don't understand the white house and i agree the politics on so many things why they can't connect the dots. they talk about foreign money. the chamber of commerce pouring all of this money on the republicans' side. don't they know why they're doing it? why has the american business given so much more money to the republicans the simple reason they want to go multinational, go global, turn the whole world into a labor, one big hiring hole in the whole world.

you can reduce your costs. you can automate. you can use productivity and outsourcing and use foreign vendors and you can screw the average working person out of his income, it's the ultimate political question today and that's why they brought that up issue and now they're sneaking away -- tairreally not sticking to it it seems to me. >> that's exactly right. you separate -- the chambers of commerce in zanesville, ohio, mansfield or toledo good government groups by in large who want to help the local community breaux and help local small businesses especially. the national chamber's an organization with a hard ideological edge that's much more interested in its large companies that outsource jobs and you know what happened in late september, early october, we tried to pass the disclose act to require these corp rations -- >> i know -- >> in like the chambers of commerce and these organizations to disclose where their money was coming. the same week we tried to pass legislation that would take away some of the tax breaks to outsourced jobs, they opposed both. >> i know. >> as you point out they're very related and that's a good point. >> please come back. please come back.

sherrod brown of ohioness the truth. when we return let me finish with a grim reminder of that push for the iraq war back in 2001 to 2003 and who did the pushing in

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let me finish tonight with the report from the u.s. department of defense. the item didn't get much play in the papers because it was so quietly displayed on the website of the u.s. central command. it's an estimate of the number of people killed in the iraq war, 77,000 is the number. interesting number, 7,000 more than the u.s. government said were killed the day we dropped the atom bomb on hiroshima.

people like to move away from the cat's paws to the decision to attack, invade and occupy a country in 2003, that did not attacked us, they were of courts multiple perjury convictions of the vice president's chief of staff. but even that was covered over by the president's decision, george w. bush's decision, to keep cheney's partner from prison but i don't like it. i didn't like the way this war was sold propagandized is the better word to the american people. off. employment of phrases like, weapons of mass destruction, all part of a well or totalitarian vocabulary that rechristened america, our country, the homeland. something foreign to this country took over in those years 2001 to 2003, we were susceptible, of course. teed up after 9/11, and there were people in the government and pushing for it outside, i'd logs who all wanted this war and didn't care what damage it do including to our