performing in denver. all of your best to you. i asked do you think the tea party has any idea ideas for america? 23% of you said yes. 77% of you said no. that's "the ed show." i'm ed schultz. off to shoot peasants. "hardball" with chris matthews starts right now with the place with politics. lean forward with msnbc. 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. last night she took the crowbar to senate majority leader 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. angle's alienated attitude towards facts and showdown in vegas is our top story tonight. plus, angle told reid to "man up" last night. sarah palin has called reporters imtent, limbing, gutless. christine o'donnell told her opponent to put on his man pants. carl paladino talks about andrew cuomo's legendary prowess. what's with this stuff? is this the new normal, political assault? also, what is sarah palin doing taking a shot at michel obama? who has an approval rating twice as high as hearse. does sarah palin think about what 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 ohio senator sherrod brown about that one. let's talk about a grim reminder of the iraq war and who did the pushing. all of that's ahead but first, let's get to the latest polls. for that we check the "hardball"

scoreboard. start with california, new reuters poll shows out. 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 reuters has 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 hicky casting call that got him in trouble. manchin's in the lead. and the new hampshire senate poll, the other way around, ayotte's pull 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% from republican joe miller he's got the nomination. 31% for lisa murkowski doing the write-in campaign. and 27% within striking distance for democrat scott mcadams.

a weird case where someone could win in the three-way even if they're on the opposite side of most people. but we'll continue to check the "hardball" score board every night leading up to the november 2nd election. a couplist, a host of face to face and chuck todd is nbc news political director and chief white house correspondent as well. i want to start with john ralston but first take a look at some of the action. here's sharron angle, the challenger, the tea partier, delivering -- i think a cheap shot at the senate democratic leader, 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. 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. >> okay we know chuck's television is visual and sometimes 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 sit there and 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? >> he 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.

this is ri a man who needless the biggest turnout. he didn't mention sonia sotomayor once. he at least understand her message. and went right after. i'm going to tell you what i'm going to do. maybe he was tired. this is your only debate? your political life is on the line. it was an odd performance. >> 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. as high as they can. it's all about synapsis. you've got to think of it then. you've got to prep. dukakis when he went out, he didn't say if his wife was raped and killed. nixon said he was tired, overscheduled, anybody with a brain would have known what to say. but that was nice to mike dukakis. here's the schoolyard talk from sharron angle. again real shooting at this guy. 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 just 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 very little effort to call her on it. and harry reid had mischaracterized 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 -- politifacts. >> 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 has 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 have 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 mean 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 that's a tough job for moderators, jon. i guess in realtime it's hard to pull out an immediate. in one of these quiz shows. 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, jon? >> of course, they do, chris. but problem in this debate the format was so restrictive, it was difficult. the moderator did followup a couple of times but they are told to stick with this strict format, which was by the way, both candidates wanted because they both knew they were not very good in this venue. now 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.

listen, 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, you have 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? >> well, 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. maybe. if they're watching that, they're watching to see if sharron angle is as crazy as she has portrayed her, right? >> yeah. >> and she really didn't come across that way, right? 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. right? number one is he can try to see

if he can gin up his numbers on the ground with a little bit get out the vote effort. and the hope that he moves some of the antireid vote out. 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 still believe if harry reid wins it's an upset because of the laws of politics. >> only 50% at that point. >> you have to be sitting at 50 -- >> 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 after last night maybe she should have 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. he kept saying, agree with the senate. i agree with the senate. i agree with the senate. 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. >> it's great to have an expert out here. up next, all week "hardball" hits the campaign trail for the "hardball" senate tour. monday it's off to the university of louisville. i'm going to interview jack conway. and then wednesday, in chicago, where i'll interview senate candidate alexi 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 heard sharron angle. and it seems to be a growing trend this election year. you're watching "hardball" only on msnbc. plus five dollars in coupons to get you started. campbell's condensed soup. pass it on. campbell's.® it's amazing what soup can do.™ one month, five years after you do retire? ♪ client comes in and they have a box.

and inside that box is their financial life. people wake up and realize i better start doing something. we open up that box. we organize it. and we make decisions. we really are here to help you. they look back and think, "wow. i never thought i could do this." but we've actually done it. [ male announcer ] visit ameriprise.com and put a confident retirement more within reach. [ female announcer ] start your morning... hey. what are you doing up? i thought i'd take a drive before work. want to come? [ female announcer ] or make his day. yeah. [ female announcer ] maxwell house gives you a rich, full-flavored cup of coffee, so you can be good to the last drop. we've heard plenty about president obama's lagging approval numbers, but how is he doing relative to congress' approval rating? great question and how does he stack up to other presidents in that regard? well, president obama on average has a 26-point lead versus congress' approval. in the gallup poll. he's 26 points ahead of them

when both were measured 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. can . and when it does, men with erectile dysfunction can be more confident in their ability to be ready with cialis for daily use. cialis for daily use is a clinically proven low-dose tablet you take every day, so you can be ready anytime the moment's right. ♪ tell your doctor about your medical condition and all medications, and ask if you're healthy enough for sexual activity. don't take cialis if you take nitrates for chest pain, as this may cause an unsafe drop in blood pressure. [ man ] don't drink alcohol in excess with cialis. side effects may include headache, upset stomach, delayed backache, or muscle ache. to avoid long-term injury, seek immediate medical help for an erection lasting more than 4 hours.

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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, nearly 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 sweetheart 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 that our president does not have. >> we're not making up this stuff. >> talking points memo. i've never heard so much of this. your thoughts. and oftentimes it's a female candidate up against a male candidate, and they use the term manly, man up, man-pants, limp,

cahones, 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 going to go out there and fight. 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 have to do anything, she's as tough as they come. she doesn't need to 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 that 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 i'm telling them you've got to be ready here in question and say something, like, hey, that was clever but what are you doing to create jobs? find something that you can say back. because obviously, if a woman is suggesting that a man is impon theent or less -- less than manly or doesn't have cahones or whatever the choice words are or man up, there's not much that you 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. well, here he is. 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 anytime 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 blowing their car horn. 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.

the road kind of thing. and i do notice that happens. but i don't want to generalize the anthropology here. but i do think we saw in that debate. and here's the question. we watched that in the last election. jump in here, jonathan, as well. 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 makel legal aliens, social security, 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 as jonathan said, 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 you remember that. >> and the elitism versus the inside thing. >> 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. >> crook, or man up, or come on -- >> it's pretty strong language. >> the cajones comment. >> 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 happening right notice. and i'm surprised to hear robin carnahan saying 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 like this as if they're like this people. isn't this a masquerade when people talk tough? somebody point in timed out the toughest sports like football, 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? >> gets under the skin of their opponent and makes them lose their temper and certainly that's the part of the strategy for anybody in that case, sharron angle or robin carnahan earlier in that 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. you have to remember this cuts both ways. 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? >> absolutely. >> that sounds like lucille ball kind of stuff. >> don't forget there's dog whistling here with christine o'donnell. christine o'donnell, she suggested, mike castle you know she said all of that these things, put your man pants oacting unmanly,. well, one of her top aides made comments about his sexuality. she distanced herself from that. >> probably before you were both in the business, george bush sr. after debating geraldine ferrarsaid i kicked ass very well. 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.

hear the pun. no offense to anyone. thank you. good luck with your new job, which is -- >> roll call starting monday. up next is rand paul modifying his position? he seems to have done a 180 from one of his more far out positions. here he is coming up on here on "sideshow," rand paul. you're watching "hardball." [ male announcer ] wouldn't it be cool

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back to "hardball." it's time for the "sideshow." 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 big impromptu visit with a big supporter with deep pockets. >> stephen. >> what? >> hi, 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. with off. buzz, it looks like nobody really knows what this rally on the 30th of this month is all about. well, i'm going. next, eating their own, conservatives among conservatives, went after new york tea partier carl paladino. in the "washington post" today, quote -- what does kamikaze carl proceed to do? get in an angry shouting match with a reporter. level some odd insinuation about his opponent's prowess.

we talked about that earlier. and then expounds on homosexuality and spends three days on having to explain and reaffirm before the inevitable apology. throwing the bad apples from the barrel. and now another tea partier, will the real rand paul please stand up? 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 by his campaign, rand paul once wrote, quote it's "i would vote for the fair tax to get rid of the 16th amendment, and the i.r.s. and a lot of the the control federal government excerpts 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 today blaming a former staffer for wrongly distributing that initial 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 "the 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. tonight's tea'ed off big number. 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? [ male announcer ] 100 potato chips or 100 pringles. both cost the same, but only the pringles superstack can makes everything pop! ♪ ♪ whoa-oh-oh-oh ♪ yeah, yeah ♪ hey, hey

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i'm milissa rehberger. here's what's happening. pentagon is preparing for a new release of leaked war documents, wikileaks is expected to post more secret documents online this weekend despite

applies from the government to keep them under wrap. gay troops to stay silence for now. and angelo mazzillo will avoid joil by repaying shareholders $45 million in profits. back to "hardball." you know, when i hear people say during the campaign they've never been out of america until -- until that time, i think, haven't they met anybody in uniform yet? >> wow. welcome back to "hardball." that was of course sarah palin last night in san jose, california, with a jab at first lady michel obama. what's palin's game? he's back from the coast. 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? i must say, john heilemann, 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's 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 read anything. i didn't answer that question at the time, she said, and it's haunted me ever since. so the 2008 campaign 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? how do you get your ideas? i'm asked that all of the time. 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 for 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. but she can do it because the obamas are fair game. whatever you want to do. there's no decorum in this country when it comes to the obamas. >> i think there's a tribal aspect to this thing. to be blunt. throw it out there. it's tribal. it's, 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 that 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 doesn't make any sense. she supported mccain who was on the ticket with palin. they weren't 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 and not -- well, wait a minute that doesn't mean anything. >> well, chris, i think you've heard a lot of politicians in your time this show and elsewhere 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 very noticeable in her appearance, she did not mention

meg whitman nor did she mention carly fiorina who she endorsed in the senate primary 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 independent voters. >> let's take a look at the commercial. i'm sorry, joan. 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 flipin fun. how come we can't ever be satisfied with -- i'd rather be doing this than in some stuffy 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 disingenuous because she's obviously really, really happy, being out on the campaign trail, 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 heilemann, 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 could well 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 if she gets defeated. 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. thank you, john heilemann. have a nice weekend joan and

john. up next, battleground ohio, senator sherrod brown joins us. what an interesting senator he is to talk about the toughpits in ohio which is always the bellwether in this country. and the republican candidate in ohio who likes to dress up like a nazi. that's interesting stuff. this is "hardball" only on msnbc. to challenge ourselves on the most demanding track in the world. with us, in spirit, was every great car that we'd ever competed with. the bmw m5. and the mercedes-benz e63. for it was their amazing abilities that pushed us to refine, improve and, ultimately, develop the world's fastest production sedan. [ engine revving ] the cts-v, from cadillac. the new standard of the world. one month, five years after you do retire? ♪ client comes in and they have a box. and inside that box is their financial life. people wake up and realize i better start doing something. we open up that box. we organize it.

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that 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 debate moderator then field or asked mr. iott a series of questions to submit on index cards by audience members as a re-enactor, have you ever worn a swastika on an armband? 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. we're joined right now by democratic sherrod brown in ohio. it's fascinating. my son thomas is an actor and he went down and played a southerner -- a reenactment and we had a lot of fun going out there. i love those had a lot of fun g

there. i love the civil war reenactments. i got to meet the guys. i loved hanging out with them. why would anybody put on a nazi uniform, ever, under any circumstances wear one? i don't get it? >> i don't know this guy. i know he's got a lot of money, like a lot of republicans around the country that are spending, shall i say liberally to try to be good strong democratic incumbents. he wasn't going to beat her anyway. i was 11 years old. my dad took me to gettysburg to watch the reenactment. it was the 100th anniversary. it's sort of interesting. nazi uniforms, that was pretty incredible, the whole thing. >> even as kids, we had war games. somebody had to play the germans, but nobody put on the uniforms. let me ask you about john boehner. does he have a problem for giving this guy money?

apparently he's not asking for it back? he's giving iott the money. >> boehner is a conservative guy. i saw eric kan tcantor on with schulz. she had to push him to get him to critical. they stick together no matter how bad one of their own. you see it with christine o'donnell. you see it with palin. you see it with fiore. >> i love the way you say you give them credit. i give them credit for sticking with this guy in the nazi uniform. all right. let me talk to you about something really important. let's talk about your state, ohio. i grew up a political junkie. it was like baseball cards to me. in ohio, california, and new york always had the most fascinating politics. ohio is such a bellwether. what's going on out there? it seems to me they know. they've got to hold the governor's chair with strickland. they have 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? >> there's 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 on ads for republican house members. they spent close to a million for the senate candidate who already had a ton of money. he used to work for president bush and has the rolodex campaign file for contributors. you look at the money the case spent against strickland, who has been a good governor but now has momentum. the president knows that it matters substantively and really also matters for 2012 for the president. the president wins ohio in 2012, he's reelected. it's almost that simple as you know. you figure he'll do well in pennsylvania and michigan if he wins ohio. the president has been in ohio more than any place but new york since he's been president. so he'll continue to do that. >> i agree with you. >> all that. he's bringing michelle to

cleveland. when we see them, and we're all thrilled about that. it's good for the state and good for democrats. >> i agree with you completely. let me ask you about something you said the other night. i know you agree with it. you called about it. i don't understand why the white house, and i agree with their politics on so many things, why they can't connect the dots. they talk about foreign money and the u.s. chamber of commerce pouring money on the republican side. don't they know why they're doing it? the president has to explain, why is the american business giving so much money to republicans? they want to go multinational. they want to go global. they want to turn the whole world into a big hiring hole. you can find the cheapest labor. you can reduce your costs. out mate and use productivity and outsourcing and foreign vendors. screw the average working person out of his income. it's the ultimate political question today. that's why they brought up the issue. now they're sneaking away. they're not really sticking to it, it seems to me. >> that's right. the chamber of commerce in

toledo are good governments, by and large, that want to help local small businesses grow. the national chamber is an organization with a hard ideological edge. it's much more interested in the large companies that outsource jobs. you know what happened in late september or early october. we tried to pass the disclose act to require the corporations like the chamber of commerces and these organizations to disclose where the money was coming. the same week we tried to pass legislation that would take away some of the tax breaks to outsource jobs. they opposed both. they're very related. that's the point. >> please come back. sherrod brown of ohio knows the truth. when we return, let me finish with a grim reminder of the push for the iraq war in 2001 and 2003 and who did the pushing. s. consider this: things just got beautifully simple. introducing the duracell mygrid™. simple and smart. it's mygrid™. from duracell. trusted everywhere.

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[ male announcer ] introducing the 100% electric nissan leaf. the item didn't get much play in the papers because it was so quietly displayed on the website. it's an estimate of the number of people killed in the iraq war. 77,000 is the number. 7,000 more than the u.s. government said were killed the day we dropped the atom bomb. people like to move away from the decision to attack, invade and occupy a country in 2003 that did not attack us. they were the multiple perjury contributions of the vice president's chief of staff. 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 don't like the way the war was sold to the american people. all the employment of phrases like weapons of mass destruction. all part of a 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, pushing for an outside, ideologues that wanted the war, and didn't care what damage it did to the country's reputation, a country that fights one one country invades another. this time we were the invader and nobody yelled, hey, this isn't our part. this isn't what we americans do. some of us yelled. maybe we should have done more. laid on the train tracks or whatever you do to sound the alarm of protests. we should have caused real trouble for the d