he talks about these things. but having a positive feeling is not the same as doing something positiv positive. as americans we react to someone crying about children's welfare because we think that it implies strength of his commitment to improve children's welfare. it doesn't always. when the new congress convenience and john boehner is speaker of the house, remember this, just because he's crying about something doesn't mean he's going to fix that thing. crying in public is neat. i'm all in favor. crying in public, however, is not the same thing as fixing the thing that makes you cry. that does it for us tonight. now time for "the last word" with lawrence o'donnell. >> i could not agree with you more on this whole john boehner crying thing. thank you very much for putting it all together. >> i am pro-crying in public, i just think we have to listen to him, too. thanks, lawrence. >> thanks, rachel. whenever you are confronted with an opponent, conquer him with love. those words from mahatma ghandi

come to mind when considering the praise that steny hoyer heaped on incoming republican speaker boehner for the cooperation of his staff as democrats hand over control of the house to republicans. but playing nice with the other side is exactly what has some democrats most worried about the next two years of republican rule in the house. but then again, ghandi also said, there is nothing that wastes the body like worry. >> big news out of washington. final senate passage is expected today on the tax cut proposal. >> we should not be raising taxes on anybody. >> this deal is with the devil. it's wrong. >> the tax deal president obama made with republicans that is now hated by liberals and conservatives is closer than ever to passing. >> we must complete the tax bill. we hope to do that as early as some time this evening. >> in the house, democrats still smarting over obama's deal to

extend tax cuts for the rich. >> what can they extract to make that liberal base feel like they're getting something. >> with passage of the deal imminent, liberal lament over the compromises now overshadowed by fear. time is running out for an issue that's dear to the democratic base. >> just handed this, coming from the house majority leader steny hoyer and representative patrick murphy. a new stand-alone piece of legislation, they want to repeal don't ask, don't tell. >> what'sing abo ing abouabout washington is liberals are about to show what they believe. >> republicans are stalling, waiting, blocking, trying to run out the clock. >> if i'm really going to resist the temptation, i better resist the temptation. >> anything not finished will have to go through the new house leaders. >> ladies and gentlemen, the next speaker of the house, john boehner. >> in the new year, liberals fear democratic congressional leaders will cave.

>> folks, i think this is a disaster, the wrong thing for the country. if this $0 billion bet fails, it could be a generational game changer and that will plague the democratic party for years to come. >> and the white house will abandon the liberal agenda. >> no matter what you call it, we are going to have to work together next year. >> i think you'll see next year you will see the president prove to you that he's not a doctrineair liberal. >> good evening from new york. i'm lawrence o'donnell. as the white house's endgame on the tax cut compromise comes into focus, the president's critics on the left are running out of time and options to change the final bill. at the same time, tea party members are starting to put pressure on the republican leadership to back away from the compromise deal. is the deal done or can it still come apart? the senate or the house? and what's left of the liberal agenda in the lame duck session?

joining me now are jane hampshire founder of firedoglake.com. adam green, co-founder of the progressive change committee. ezra klein, columnist for "the washington post" and karen finish ne, former commune kalgss director for the democratic national committee. let's all listen to what robert gibbs will to say today. >> the framework that the president introduced a little more than a week ago has, as you heard others say, has been changed to add the energy tax credits that were important to the president and a number of democrats. so i think the senate's going to pass that and that's going to be the basis of which the house takes up that legislation. obviously, we think it's also the basis for what will become the agreement that the president will sign. >> ezra, is this going to be

easy, as robert gibbs is trying to make it sound? >> nothing's ever easy. what the house wants to do, actually, is vote on the tax. they want to take that out and bring it back to '09 levels instead of where it is now in the compromise, which is 5 million exemption, 35%. if they do that, senate republicans will not pass the bill. they'll go back to the senate. they won't pass it. right now, the important factor here is that republicans are running away from this. limbaugh, palin, romney, tea party patriots. they've all come out against this compromise. if republicans get some time and excuse to vote against it, they probably will. they will say it is better for us when john boehner runs the house in january. given that there are only a couple weeks left in this congress, they may have a chance. >> karen finney, the vote is scheduled for tomorrow in the senate. 83 votes in favor procedurally already. there will be an amendment by jim demint that will basically extend all the bush tax rates

permanently without paying for it and so there will be the extreme republican version of this on the floor as an amendment option. the bernie sanders version of this will be on the floor as an amendment option before the final read/mcconnell compromise. do you see anything getting in the way of the reid/mcconnell compromise carrying the day tomorrow in the senate? >> ultimately not. because at the end of the day, right, politics will play out. and that is to say that nobody wants to get to january 1st like the white house keeps saying and have all of this expire and have all this uncertainty. and let's be honest, the republicans at the end of the day want to protect those tax bonuses for their wealthy contributor. that's what this is about. democrats, though, one thing that ezra said that i disagree with a little bit, i actually think that republicans would have a hard time getting this deal done with john boehner controlling the house because he's got, you know, this tea party caucus to contend with. i'm not so sure they would go

along with it. i think that democrats should recognize that there's a lot in this deal that's pretty good. we ought to take this deal. i don't like the way it was done. but let's hope that nothing gets in the way of having it done. >> jane hampshire, do you see it clearing the senate tomorrow at noon time and then in the house is there a chance that this thing could come apart in the house given that the tea party pressure is starting to erupt on the right wing as ezra points out and there's always been the pressure on the left side of the house? >> oh, absolutely. i think it will pass the senate. i don't think anybody has any question of that. it could unravel in the house. i have a feeling that boehner will be able to keep support behind it. but remember that this bill is only popular because of the unemployment extension that president obama said that he fought for. and i think that that's important to remember going forward. if it goes into the new year, the president has the moral authority here and the public support to say, look, we need to have this. and we need to have a better bill than this.

i absolutely reject the notion and i think adam will back me up here that this is the best we can do and we have to take it because there's this absolute deadline of december 31st. >> jane, you have written in the past that you felt that they should be taking a deal, making the best deal possible in order to avoid the rate increase and other problems on january 1st. >> in order to be able to protect specifically the 99ers, the 2 million people who are unemployed who are not having their unemployment insurance benefits extended and these people are left out of this deal. if they don't try to do something for these people in this deal, they'll never be taken care of, if they don't deal with the debt ceiling, it is handing hostages over to the republicans to force extreme cuts in the budget when we have to deal with that problem. i don't think the whole thing resolved. i think passing this leaves people in a precarious situation. >> adam green, it seems like it is going to make it through the senate tomorrow. you fought the good fight. you've tried to get the house members and senators but now

moving with the action probably moving to the house tomorrow. you've tried to get house members to try to continue to fight on this thing. do you think there is a chance for opening up the bill in a way that you could get it changed such that you could support a package that would be passed before january -- before december 31st? >> no. zero percent chance and here's why. if you take the issue of tax cuts for the rich, if you take the issue of stimulus, if you take the issue of unemployment benefits, all three of these are issues that democrats can win if president obama and the democratic leaders are actually willing to fight and exert pressure on republicans. why would you call something a compromise that hurts you on any of these issues as opposed to having the fight. we need a democratic party that embraces the fight particularly one where majority of americans are on their side. >> where do you go from here, adam? you were trying to get this steered in your direction. you now see senators like al franken agreeing with your

exasperation about the way the deal was done. while al franken is announcing that he's going to vote for it. so is there -- what is your next move? your organization has run television ads in states indicating that president obama has broken his promise on this. what is the next move for you? >> yeah. our success, the success of millions of progressives and former obama supporters will not be judged in the vote tally. it will be judged by whether this is a learning moment, a learning moment for democrats and a learning moment for republicans. what's the learning that democrats need to have? they need to have a learning that says when you go into negotiation, you don't go into it putting all your cards on the table. you don't say if the republicans are willing to take a hostage and hurt a hostage, we will cave. you don't go into it saying we'll be bound by an artificial deadline or we must work together with republicans. you go into it saying if the republicans are on the wrong side of the public in this

issue, there will be political pain back home. for republicans, they need to learn that there will be political pain back home. tomorrow, the progressive change campaign committee will be sending an e-mail to our 27,000 members in massachusetts and maine asking them in their own voice to tell us why olympia snowe and scott brown, two senators from overwhelmingly democratic states are wrong to support this deal. particularly people who have formerly voted for olympia snowe and scott brown. we'll send tv crews to their house, cut ads and ask people across the nation to pummel them back home so they finally feel the pain that the democratic national committee and president obama have not been willing to show them. hopefully that will transcend into future fights and be for republicans when they go into negotiations with democrats. >> karen finney, what do you make of that strategy? >> you and i have both been in the room when these deals get cut. i don't like the way it went down. but he did not have the votes.

we are where we are. that's the practical reality. at the end of the day, you got to get something done. i actually agree with the president that sitting back and playing political games for two more weeks as much as we might have liked that, i have family members of my own who cannot wait two more weeks. it is not just about the unemployment snsinsurance. it is easy to sit here and say that. the guy didn't have the votes. where i'd like to see him fight harder and play the game getting to that point, absolutely, but we are where we are. i hope what we take from this is one favor that obama has done for us is that the republicans cannot say that they care at all about deficit reduction or responsible budget because what they've shown is at the end of the day they will throw all of that out the window when it means protecting their wealthy contributors. that's something we need to be reminding over and over and over again in the next session of congress. >> ezra, it seems to me that the president felt a responsibility

beyond politics. he actually felt a responsibility to the people out there who were wondering are the tax rates going to go up on january 1st. is that a possibility? and president obama declared early on in this process, as adam correctly points out, both a tactical announcement but also an announcement to the american people that he would not let their tax rates go up on january 1st. he seemed to want them to be settled in that comfortably for the month of december while this negotiation started with the republicans. in order to create a sense of calm among american taxpayers about what was going to happen to them, excluding the top bracket, of course, in order to establish that sense of calm, he had to turn over that negotiating card, that tactical card had to be turned over. once he'd done that, what adam is absolutely right about, is that the republicans were empowered to play chicken on this. >> sure. >> what karen is absolutely

right about is this was taken to a vote in the united states senate. they only got 53 when they needed 60. russ feingold voted with the republicans, joe lieberman voted with the republicans. they didn't come close to a number they needed in the senate. is there anything else in the white house strategy that they could have done differently, the white house strategy, closing in in the final negotiation here? >> it would have been two months ago. two or three months ago. what would have happened is barack obama would have said, if you send me a tax bill that has upper income tax cuts included i will veto it. there's an argument the white house will make, they needed the democrats there on their side. they didn't need them there for a veto. what is missed is they actually had the wrong strategy there, too. when barack obama went into the bush tax cuts and said victory is getting most of them extended, they missed what is most important, which is stimulus. the deal he has today -- and this is the difficulty of making this case -- is a better deal than he wanted. it is a better deal than he

described as a win. but because they described the exact deal they have today as a loss, it looks bad to people. they should have been arguing for stimulus then not now because stimulus is the key to the economy. and that frankly is more important than the bush tax cuts even over the next two years. the bush tax cuts for the rich over the next two years. >> hold it. that will have to be the last word for this segment. but stand by. all of you are coming back. stay with us. also coming up, if michael steele was trying to create a new story by a last-minute mislead about his decision to run for another term as head of the republican national committee, it appears he succeeded. but can he win? and new tapes reveal things said by former president nixon r that earn him tonight's rewrite1 . flabbergasted when we creamed a $500 cream! for under $30 regenerist micro-sculpting cream hydrates better than 23 of america's most expensive luxury creams. fantastic. phenomenal. regenerist.

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our panel is back after the break. does don't ask, don't tell finally really have a chance to pass in the lame duck session? plus senator ron wyden was not president for yesterday's procedural vote in the senate.

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joining me again are jane hansher, firedoglake.com, ezra klein, columnist for "the washington post" and karen finney, former communications director for the dnc. today speaker nancy pelosi tweeted, the house will vote on representative patrick murphy's stand-alone don't ask don't tell repeal bill tomorrow. senate action on don't ask,

don't tell is long overdue. jane hamsher, does this look like what could be the breakthrough on don't ask, don't tell? surely the house can get a stand-alone bill through. and there seem to be more than 60 senators who are available theoretically to vote for a stand-alone don't ask, don't tell in the senate. might this be the breakthrough. >> as nancy pelosi goes, i think i prefer pirates of penzance. this has zero chance of getting through the senate. they're due to break on the 17th. they make take up the s.a.l.t. treaty, but this will wind up being in procedural commotion much like it did last time. there isn't the will to pass it. the question then becomes does president obama really want to end it? because it's questionable whether he has the ability of the justice department to not challenge the court decisions that have rendered it unconstitutional or to end it with a presidential order ending don't ask, don't tell.

i think that will be the real question. >> ezra klein, harry reid was talking about the possibility of coming back after christmas day, that the new congress doesn't get sworn in until january 4th. might there be enough days even if cloture were necessary in the senate to get this thing done? >> if you can get cloture, you know he can keep them there on christmas day. you remember when they passed the health care bill. at the end of the day, the issue here is not the days but the willingness of senators and to be sure democratic senators. if they can get them on board, they can do it. the senators believe it the important would be happy to sacrifice a morning to such a large social advance. but if they prefer to argue about procedure and use it to diffuse blame, saying it is not my fault, then at the end of the day, they didn't really want to vote for this. what they wanted to do was be in this place where they weren't saying they were opposed but

weren't having to break with their caucus and go through with it. if that's the case, then to carry it in session another day won't matter at all. >> adam green, what would a win on something this important to progressives do for the spirit of progressives at the end of this congress? >> i think a win would be nice, lawrence. winning something would be really nice. but look, there's a few potential -- don't ask, don't tell, the dream act and, of course, the big kahuna is the tax cut debate. there would be a lot of happy people if there were a step taken for equal rights, but it's important to emphasize that, one, you know, i guess you could say a piece of red meat for progressives is not the same as upholding a fundamental core promise of one's campaign, that being ending these tax cuts for millionaires. there will still be a lot of

dispirited people if president obama continues unfortunately what's a pattern on issue after issue including most of don't ask, don't tell of just not fighting for things he campaigned on. if we really see a turnaround for president obama in the next couple of months and he actually goes to bat, holds the republicans accountable, flies to their state, uses his bully pulpit effectively, that's what he can do to inspire voters. >> karen finney, one of the cases for moving the tax bill as fast as possible is to get it out of the way so there would be some time left in the lame duck session to do important things like don't ask, don't tell and the dream act. do you think there's going to be a possibility here for either one of those to advance in to final passage. "the wall street journal" supports the dream act. it does have some bipartisan support. it probably could get through the house reasonably easily. in a final form. what do you think the prospects are for either one? >> i have to say, it's a little bit absurd. if you weren't sitting in

washington and new york, the fact that they'd run out of time sounds absurd. why not stay and get it done? i understand procedurally that's not the way it works. both will advance to the floor, there will be a vote. don't ask, don't tell is really critical because it's a fundamental issue of civil rights. the cost to this president of not fighting for this, not that the tax cut issue isn't important, but the cost on this one is very high because i think this is one of the most important civil rights issues of our time. so i think it's very important that we get a vote on this and that we get on the record on this. you know, both the dream act and don't ask, don't tell happen to be supported by republicans always say they want to listen to the generals, well, even the military has said that the dream act there's issues with kree re krutment. let's see if the republicans will make good on their promise to listen to the military. >> jane, harry reid promised a vote on the dream act in the closing days of his campaign in

nevada where the latino vote was absolutely critical. he won his seat thanks to the latino vote. he owes them in plain political terms a delivery on that promise of getting this to the floor of the senate. what do you think that does to the possibility of seeing some action on the floor of the senate? is reid's obligation enough to make this happen? >> harry reid can get just about anything he wants on to the floor of the senate. he is the majority leader and he knows how to make those things happen. and if this doesn't get to the floor of the senate, it will be because harry reid did not want to get it there. er to thing i'll mention about don't ask, don't tell, is that if the president really does want it to pass the senate, then he probably should start calling members of the senate, the democratic caucus. and he did not call joe manchin. if it does get to the floor of the senate, i'll be surprised, i hope it does, but if it does, i hope that president obama will start calling senators and

really making an effort to put it through. that's how we'll know it's not just game playing. >> ezra klein, what are you hearing from the white house about what they think they need to get out of the lame duck session in addition to the tax bill? >> primarily the tax bill. i don't think the white house expects a dream act or don't ask, don't tell to be brought back in the senate nor to pass if they are. the white house feeling is they've got this tax deal, they need that not to blow up. if they can keep that not blowing up, they can say they extended the rates, then when they come back, straight messaging. a republican congress. they can go to war. they don't have to extend the tax rates to keep the economy afloat. they have a lot more freedom in that scenario than to come back and immediately get into gauc negotiations with boehner by the time we're signing those tax forms. >> does the white house not understand how dispirited some of their supporters are over this tax bill and that another way to bring them some form of christmas cheer is to do

something real and difficult on don't ask, don't tell or on the dream act to really make an effort at that? >> one of the things that the white house is fatal about is the senate. if the votes aren't there, you say the votes aren't there. a fair critique here is they don't travel to people's districts. they don't want to alienate those votes. they don't do the sort of thing that would reassure their voters that they're trying. when i spoke to welch on a tax deal in the house, he said the reason all the liberals go with pelosi at the end of the day, she does everything she can for what she promised us. when she doesn't get it, we know she did everything she could. we are there with her. the white house doesn't do that for us. they don't show that they were fighting for us. at the end of the day, we don't know if we really could have gotten this if they had pulled off the gloves and got out the spare knuckle. >> the white house will be making a huge mistake if they

get this tax compromise bill done and they do not make a very serious strong effort full out all the way on don't ask, don't tell or the dream act, at least one of them. jane hamsher, adam green, ezra klein, thank you for joining me tonight. he couldn't make monday's vote but senator ron wyden wants to be heard loud and clear on the final vote on the tax deal with republicans. he joins us live next. plus, shock and awe. republicans respond to the news of michael steele running for a second term as chairman of the republican national committee. [ s. greenlee ] i would love to have been a musician

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cut deal, only two senators could not make it back in time to vote. they were both traveling from their home state of oregon. after the break, i'll ask one of them, democratic senator ron wyden, how he plans to vote when the final bill comes to the floor tomorrow. and when you hear the newly released tapes of former president richard nixon you will understand why he's in the rewrite. the droid 2 global. run a universe of free apps on the world's fastest mobile phone processor. the droid pro. a fortress for data, a global office as mobile as you. now get a droid 2 global by motorola for $199.99 and get any phone free. [ male announcer ] you know her. we know diamonds. together we'll make her holiday. that's why only zales is the diamond store.

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in the spotlight tonight, yesterday 83 senators voted to proceed to a vote on the obama tax compromise. after 30 hours of scheduled debate, the senate will vote on passage of the bill tomorrow around noontime. democratic senator ron wyden of oregon was unable to make yesterday's procedural vote due to travel issues. the next vote on the bill will be his first vote. joining me now, senator ron wyden. senator, how are you going to vote tomorrow?

>> larry, first of all, yesterday was the premier business event in our home state, the oregon business summit. i was one of the founders. so that was why i wasn't able to get back. i was still in the air. i will tell you with respect to tomorrow, while it's not an easy decision, i intend to vote no. this legislation tomorrow clearly has short-term stimulative benefits. i support protecting the middle class and small business, i support the unemployment extension, i support the earned income tax break, but as you know from working in the senate, so often the senate takes steps in the short term that become the enemy of the long term. and my concern is with this legislation, we will be having exactly the same debate in the lame duck session of 2012. i'm looking at my watch, larry. it's 10:30. it's the night of december 14th. at some point in the united states senate, you have got to break the culture of

procrastination. i think that time is now. >> all right. i'm booking you right now for the lame duck session two years from now when you are voting on this very same issue again because i think you're absolutely right. how else can it turn out? if it expires in two years we'll be right back here in two years. but do you believe that the president had the responsibility to assure taxpayers below the top tax bracket that their rates would not go up next year even temporarily if he was still locked in some kind of fight with republicans over this? >> there are obviously tough calls for the president. let me tell you, first of all, i have suggested to the white house on a number of occasions in the last month that they extend the bush tax cuts, which i have opposed from the very beginning, for a year, in order to force the united states congress to step up and between now and december 31st, 2011, get serious about tax reform and spending reform.

as you know, from being involved in tax reform, larry, it works. what you need to do is go in there. clean out those special interest tax breaks and hold down rates for everybody and keep progressivety. you can remember this from '86 and '87, it will create millions more jobs than we saw during the bush years. >> turns out one of the things that people don't understand is that virtually no one is paying the actual nominal rate in the law, the people in the current 35% bracket. almost none of them pay close to 35% because they have a mortgage deduction, they have a bunch of other deductions that pull their real rate down close to the 30 or some cases 29, 28. and if you pull out some of these deductions and clean out the underbrush in the tax code, you can have an easier system in which the rates could be lower but the revenue could still end being higher. that's the essence of tax reform. i'm not sure the audience is up

to speed on that. but do you think that extending this for two years pretty much eliminating the pressure for tax reform? and president obama having announced his interest in tax reform just recently has actually kind of missed out on that opportunity by allowing this extension to go the full two years? >> 20 senators today have indicated that they'll push hard for tax reform in 2011. there's no question in my mind that the decision made on the senate floor tomorrow will make it harder. once you have propped up this system that is in effect built on scores and scores of special interest tax break, how do you then go to those special interests and say, gosh, we're going to take away the particular tax break that you might enjoy in order to have more economic growth for everybody including you? i do think tomorrow's decision will make tax reform harder, but the president has told me that he's going to keep pushing for it.

there are 20 senators of both political parties that want to work with him. >> is there anything that the house of representatives could do to this bill that would make you reconsider it as it came back through for a final passage vote if the house changes it. >> i think this cake is baked, larry. i have been interested in the question of exploring with senators of both political parties whether it might be possible to attach some consequences for inaction in 2011 on a sensible tax reform and spending reform. but i think at this point, the cake is baked. this measure is going to pass. in my view, it is a victory for the politics of procrastination. i certainly think it's a glimmer of hope that senator werner, senator chambliss and significant senators of both political parties will keep pushing in 2011, but we'll have our work cut out for us. >> you won't have to answer to this vote fot a the ballot box for another six years. you may be hoping that it's a forgotten vote by then.

because when you go back to oregon after this vote, you are going to have to answer people who will be saying to you why did you vote against an extension of unemployment benefits? why did you vote for a tax increase for every tax bracket? >> larry, first of all, i campaigned on exactly the program i'm outlining tonight, and that i pushed forward with the president of the united states. i told everybody in this past fall election campaign when i was re-elected, i said what i wanted to see was a short term extension of the bush tax cuts, then finally end this culture of delay and procrastination in 2011. this town will never do anything because there's always an election coming up, special interest groups that have to be satisfied and polls, unless you have deadlines and consequences for inaction, i campaigned exactly on what i talked about here tonight. i had a democratic co-chair and a republican co-chair in every one of oregon's 36 counties. i'm being true to the principles

i ran on. >> senator, looks like the house tomorrow is poised to pass a stand-alone don't ask, don't tell repeal. can the senate take up that bill and handle it? >> i sure hope so. ending don't ask, don't tell from a history standpoint is one of the most important things that this congress can do. not only is don't ask, don't tell contrary to our ideal of american freedom, but i sit on the senate committee on intelligence, i can tell you from national security don't ask, don't tell is a mistake. we're losing out on linguists, we're losing out on people. we need to win the war on terror. because of this misguided policy, it will be historymaking. >> senator ron wyden going his own way on the senate floor tomorrow. michael steele played coy. avoided the question. but now he's announced his intentions to run for another term.

in spite of his controversial term, there is speculation he might actually keep the job. and next, new nixon tapes earn the former president the rewrite. you can spot an amateur from a mile away... while going shoeless and metal-free in seconds. and you...rent from national. because only national lets you choose any car in the aisle...and go. you can even take a full-size or above, and still pay the mid-size price. now this...will work. [ male announcer ] just like you, business pro. just like you. go national. go like a pro. and the life you want to live. with rheumatoid arthritis, there's the life you live... fortunately there's enbrel, the #1 most doctor-prescribed biologic medicine for ra. enbrel can help relieve pain, stiffness, fatigue, and stop joint damage. because enbrel suppresses your immune system, it may lower your ability to fight infections.

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despite of major debt and dwindling donations michael steele is running for a second term of the chairman of the republican national committee. but next, former president nixon get ds rewrite. like this one. and this one.d. and oops, my bad. so, they give expedia ginormous discounts with these: unpublished rates. which means i get an even more rockin' hotel, for less. my brain didn't even break a sweat. where you book matters. expedia.

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time for tonight's rewrite. for those who remain unsure of who is the worst president in american history, recently released audio tapes should permanently settle the question. this is a conversation between former white house senior adviser charles colson and the 37th president of the united states, richard m. nixon. >> i've always had a little prejudice.

>> and then there is this conversation between nixon and his secretary rosemary woods about secretary of state william rogers. >> the tapes were recorded in february and march of 1973, more than a year before nixon resigned due to the watergate scandal and just after he

surrendered in a war that he had needlessly prolonged that killed over 58,000 american soldiers and accomplished absolutely nothing. that's nearly ten times the number of american soldiers who have given their lives in iraq and afghanistan. and there's also this exchange between the president and national security adviser henry kissinger.

all of you who have some other name at the top of your list of worst presidents need to write the word "nixon" over whatever name you mistakenly have listed as the worst president in history. [ slap! ]

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after a month of silence, michael steele announced monday night that he would run for re-election as chairman of the republican national committee. in his statement steele said, yes, i have stumbled along the

way, but have always accounted to you for such shortcomings. no excuses, no lies, no hidden agenda. going forward, i ask for your support and your vote for a second term. our work is not done. and my commitment has not ended. i believe the worst thing we can do now is to look backwards. who you elect as our next chairman will speak volumes about our willingness to truly be the party of lincoln. at a time when the republican party took over 63 congressional seats to win the house and closed the gap in the senate, one would think the chairman of the republican national committee would be running unopposed for a second term, but this is michael steele we're talking about, a man who has made repeated politic al gaffes and whose organization's funds went from $20 million to negative $15 million in his two-year reign. steele has until january 14th to

make his case before the 168 committee members cast their vote. joining me now white house correspondent for politics daily, alex wagner. forget who the republicans are going for here, who do the democrats want as the next republican national committee chair? >> i think it's a safe bet to say that democrats would be happy to see michael steele back in the rnc chair. this is a guy that has come out vocally against the republican party on key issues including immigration, abortion, afghanistan. in january of this year he was saying that he didn't think the republicans would win back the house because they weren't ready. this is a democratic candidate if ever there was one. >> i'm going to turn my cards over. michael tooel is a friend of this show. he's the only one of the candidates for the rnc who has actually appeared on this show. i'm in favor of him. that should be another nail in his coffin. who has more votes pledged than he does? do we know what the lay of the

land looks like and the actual numbers here on the votes for the possible candidates? >> well, a lot of rnc watchers will tell you it is hard to handicap a race with 168 votes in it. the conventional wisdom is that steele has buttoned up about 30 of those votes, maybe 40 on a good day. the problem is the way they vote for the rnc chair, there are several rounds of voting. in each round the candidate with the lowest number of votes drops out. that could hurt him or help him. reeds preevous who is a former gop chair from wisconsin, maria chino who has gotten endorsements of mary matalin and dick cheney. and anne wagner. one of the former rnc political directors is running against him. a crowded field right now. >> let's listen to what michael steele said on fox news about why he's not exactly a shoo-in

right now. >> i think there's a lot of reasons for that. mi style is a little bit different than most conventional republican party chairmen. i love hanging out in board rooms but i'd prefer to be in the neighborhoods and community. my first trip was harlem. members asked why are you going to harlem? that's where the votes are. the party needs to get outside his comfort zone. >> is he just too much of a street guy? is that what this comes down to? >> this is someone who said they wanted to make the republican party more hip-hop. and referred to something the democrats are doing as too bling bling. he is not your convengeal rnc chair. that's appealing to some folks who would like to see the party as more of a big tent party. his comments earlier about jan brewer immigration law and saying that didn't represent the entire right wing of the political party, that was palatable to some. he has said that he has foot in mouth disease, which some people would like to see turn into

lockjaw when he says thing that we need to start appealing to everybody including one-armed midgets. this is a guy that doesn't have a big filter when talking about what he wants to do with the party. >> he does have the foot in mouth problem but has this administrative problem. bad manager of the budget apparently. which one of those is the bigger problem and which is the better way to campaign against him to beat him? >> i think the fund-raising issue is definitely the thorn in his side. it is definitely the thing that the other candidates have been talking about the most in their opening sort of volleys toward their candidacy. michael steele only raised 192 million in this last midterm compared to 242 in the 2006 midterm election cycle. that's a big problem. if we're looking at what the democrats are doing, obama is on track to spend $1 billion in the 2012 presidential campaign. that's terrifying to republican. outside groups like american crossroads and crossroads gps picked up the slack in puttin