history books who would be in the museum. >> wonderful. thank you. i am dylan ratigan. "hardball" is up right now. rush week. let's play "hardball." good evening. i'm chris matthews in chicago. leading off tonight, rush hour. rush limbaugh's on the defense. he said today he's sorry for calling sandra fluke those two words. or what words he meant to say instead of slut or prostitute. the number of companies suspending ads on rush's show is up to nine, including aol. rush and the failure of republicans to challenge him is our top story. and where's mitt romney in all this? silent as a lamb. mitt takes a e beating in the

latest poll and that's no surprise. he's run a campaign of carpet bombing his opponents that's destroyed them state by state and left him down in the process. that th may get him the nomination, but it's poison in november. the whole republican field is being damaged in this process. our new poll found 40% say the race has given them a less favorable position of the gop. one of the polls called the process corrosive. it's also filled with good news for president obama who was at or above 50% against every republican candidate. and a report argues today that african-american voters are being disenfranchised by republicans. we'll talk to the head of the urban league. and finally, let me finish with mitt romney's deep fear of rush limbaugh. we begin with rush limbaugh's partial apology today and the failure of republicans to challenge him. senator claire mahmoud --

mccaskill. let's listen to what rush limbaugh said. >> i descended to their level when i used those two words to describe sandra fluke. that was my error. i became like them. and i feel very badly about that. so those two words were inappropriate. they were uncalled for. they distracted from the point that i was actually trying to make. and i again sincerely apologize to miss fluke for using those two words to describe her. >> right before rush's show this afternoon began, sandra fluke was on "the view" where they read her a part of the apology. this was her reaction. >> i don't think that a statement like this issued saying that his choice of words was not the best changes

anything. and especially when that statement is issued when he's under significant pressure from his sponsors who have begun to pull their support from the show. >> senator mccaskill, it looks like the boss of the republican party is rush limbaugh. they are afraid to say anything about the guy. he can parcel out his apology while making his point that this woman who dared to speak up for women's health is something like a slut or prostitute, although he said he could have used different words. he didn't apologize and the republican party seems like they are lemmings here supporting him. >> i wish people would speak out more against what he said and how he said it. especial lip the leaders in the republican party and frankly my opponents for the senate. the unfortunate thing is sometimes we are all are not anxious to step up and say that's wrong to talk that way. i did it when david letterman

said bad things about sarah palin's daughters. i said, he should apologize to sarah palin. that was way out of bounds. i said that publically several years ago. and the limbaugh family in missouri, you have to understand there are some great members of this family. i supported naming the federal courthouse after his grandfather. i supported his first cousin to be a federal judge. but i will tell you this. i draw the line, chris. rush limbaugh should not be in the hall of fame of famous missouriens and i hope people will go on my website and sign the petition. he shouldn't be in this hall of fame next to harry trouman, mar twain, and omar bradley. >> speaking of harry truman, there's no harry trumans in the republican party right now. republicans are afraid of rush limbaugh. afraid of him. let's listen. >> mr. boehner comes out and says rush's language was

inappropriate. using the salad fork for your entree is inappropriate. just as the liberals fail to police the accesses on their own side and it was depressing because what it indicates is the republican leaders are afraid of rush limbaugh. they want to bomb iran, but they are afraid of rush limbaugh. >> they want to bomb iran, but they are afraid of the guy on the radio. providing george will's point, he was asked about his comments late friday night. let's listen to his response. >> it's not the language i would have used. i'm focusing on the issues that are significant for the country today. that's why i'm here talking about jobs in ohio. >> senator, you mentioned earlier that you have three potential opponents come november. >> they said nothing. in fact, the man who selected

rush limbaugh and defending that decision today for the missouri hall of fame is in fact one of my opponents campaign chairman. i would think the three candidates running for the republican nomination ought to step up, like i did when sarah palin's daughter was criticized and say this is wrong. it's wrong for anyone to be using this kind of language. sarah palin was in the public eye. this was just a poor law student using her first amendment rights. along the way, i'd like for us to get back to talking about jobs. let's get this highway bill done. let's get off the subject of trying to take contraception away from women in the workplace and get back to making sure we have jobs in the workplace. and i think the republican party has lost its way right now. i think the folks running against me in missouri are also an indication of that it. >> everybody asks why we're talking about contraception. rick santorum said he wanted to talk about it at length in this

campaign. the republican leadership blunt and rubio put out the word this weekend, the story on the hill. they had a fight for it. and rush limbaugh picked up the baton. they have been the ones that want to talk about it. >> that's what i'm saying. i think that the republican party all responsible leaders ought to come together and work on the economy and work on jobs. we have a highway bill right now that we need to be passing. we need to get it passed here in the senate, which i'm hopeful we will this week. it's completely off track over in the house. they can't even get the republican caucus to agree on a highway bill. and these are jobs. this is infrastructure that e we need for our economy. that's what we should be talking about. i have a bill to take some of the money out of afghanistan where we're building highways over there, chris, and paying off the bad guys for the security to build the highways.

let's take that money and build that highway here in the united states. here in missouri instead of building the highways and the power grid over in afghanistan right now. >> i guess you're the kind of missouri senator that cares about highways and the other senators are the ones that care about contraception. thank you. it's good to have women in the senate. claire mccaskill of missouri. thank you. suburban women want democrats in charge of congress. 48%. that number has completely flipped by the way since the middle of last year. last year they wanted republicans to control congress by a 7-point margin. what does it mean for the republican party? let's bring in michelle bernard, president of the bernard center of women. michelle, thanks for coming back on the show again. tell me what you think all this talk about contraception, all this rush limbaugh obnoxiousness

is doing to the party label of the republican party? >> this is a complete disaster for the republican party label. it's a throwback to literally hundreds of years ago. there's absolutely no reason to have having this discussion within the republican party. i would imagine if i were president obama and getting ready for my reelection campaign, i'm thinking what an incredible gift. are you really giving me this gift and giving it to me in march which is international women's history month? if you think about all of the strides that women have made throughout the world and particularly here in the united states over the years to be talking about contraception, to be calling women sluts, to be asking for videotapes, and to not have a single person running for the republican ticket to come out strongly and say this is immoral. this is wrong. women matter. women are important. it's a huge disaster for the republican party particularly when you think about the fact that in our country we always

have a gender gap. women vote. they are one of the most important voting blocks. and all women, republican or democrat, are going to be looking at this and thinking what are you doing? what's next? >> stupidity can only go so far as a motive. why are they avoiding a fight with rush but are taking on women? >> i will tell you from my own experiences. just repeating statements that rush limbaugh has made, what you'll see is his 20 million listeners start e-mailing you and calling you. rush limbaugh, a lot of people feel when he speaks, he speaks for the republican party. he's a very important man. but given in the republican party in that sense, but given what he stands for, again, i have to come back to the statement i made earlier. be strong. rush limbaugh is not the republican party. he should not be the republican party. if you were mitt romney or mr. santorum or newt gingrich or ron

paul, you need to come out and say that i am not the republican that rush limbaugh is. >> let me for sake of argument, because you and i like to argue and i enjoy it immensely. this is what the republicans say. they love rush limbaugh and treat him as the grand puba who tells them the secret truths of live. he speaks to and from traveling salesman. politicians love this guy. the minute he says something obnoxious, they say he's just an entertainer. what do you think of that dodge? >> you know, they say he's an entertainer, but it's just a little voice that says it. we haven't seen anyone who says it saying he doesn't speak for me or the republican party. you know, mitt romney the other day said those aren't the words i would have used.

would that mean? you would have called her a prostitute? or would you call this wrong. >> i have to say this just to remind people. first of all, when he said those words, he also said i'd like to see her do a videotape to put it out there online for everybody to see of her sexual behavior, which is beyond words. it's a statement. my advice to rush limbaugh, as i said over the weekend, take back every single word you spoke on this subject. la guardia, the great mayor of new york once said when he made a mistake, when i make a mistake, it's a butte. take it. take it on the chin. he's doing rolling disclosure. he's breaking all the rules any smart person. he just got some advice. thank you for coming on the program. coming up, the longer the republican presidential race goes on, the worse it is for the republican party. we have the numbers to proof it. plenty of good news for the president. president obama is riding pretty

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ohio is the big prize tomorrow on super tuesday. new polls coming up right now. right now, we have more numbers from other super tuesday states. let's go to the "hardball" score board. in tennessee, a new poll shows rick santorum holding a five-point lead over mitt romney with newt gingrich a close third. in georgia, the home state of newt gingrich, it's newt with a 23-point lead over romney. santorum is in third. in virginia, a new pbs marist poll has romney over paul. early stages of cancer and it's something that we're extremely proud of. you see someone who is saved because of this technology, you know that the things that you do in your life, matter. if i did have an opportunity to meet a cancer survivor, i'm sure i could take something positive away from that.

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it's super tuesday tomorrow finally and it promises to be a big day in the republican nomination contest. 11 state its and over 400 delegates are at stake. but the nasty fight has proven

damaging to republicans and their party. according to the nbc "wall street journal" poll, while president obama's job approval is ticking upward, the economy is improving, two good things for the president. here to break down the numbers is chuck todd, nbc's chief white house correspondent, and jonathan martin. chuck, let's start with the damage the republican party has suffered itself as a result of its fight. 40% of adults in the new nbc poll say their opinion of the gop has soured as a result of this process. 12% say it's improved. which party does better job appealing to nonsupporters? 55% say democrats. your sense of this brand name defeat of the republican party. >> it's amazing. think about it. we're actually in no different of a place than we've been for

18 years ago. a potential nominee to be could come out of super tuesday. no different than any of the republican races in the past. it was interesting you just said something. this long, drawn out fight. that's the way republicans in our poll viewed the race. we asked them to give a word or phrase to describe the republican process. we didn't say negative or positive, just give us a phrase. the majority of the words they gave us were negative words. this is republican primary voters. whether the race is actually been longer than before, which it hasn't, it feels this way to the party. you can see this damage inside the party in those numbers. which party reaches out? you know what's amazing? 35% of self-identified republicans picked the democratic party. you think about when we conducted this poll. right in the middle of this rush

limbaugh controversy in addition to all the conversations about contraception. a low period for republicans as far as independent voters are concerned. >> john, you get in here. i have a negative towards advertising. it isn't the kind that reagan put on where you felt better. the ads attack each other and go on and on. you can't get away from it. and they just make you feel terrible about this country. is that why the republican party, which has been stinking itself up for all these months, is in trouble? >> that's a huge part of it, but it's more complicated than that. not only do you have negative ads that you have in every campaign between candidates, you've got the candidate's negative ads and the negative ads of their super pacs. so you have more negativity saturating the air waves.

over the weekend, you cannot get away from negative ads. it's mostly from the super pacs that are not accountable to the campaign. so you have double or even more actually now of the negative activity going on. bashing republicans. it's no question hurt the party in the short-term. >> you know, to use a bad term x don't get in a peeing match with a skunk. the president's approval rating is up to 50%. that's the highest since the killing of bin laden. the voters believe the economy is on an improved path. 57% believe the worst is behind us. just 36% think it's still ahead. with republicans, the president leads romney by six points. he leads santorum even wider

here's the one that grabs me. 50 to 42% against ron paul. all romney can do after the millions and millions and millions he's spent, ron paul who is a nobody in terms of being the next president and having a chance is at 42%. he has hardly any advantage over the guy who nobody thinks will be the next president. >> paul steals part of the democratic base. but if you take him out of the equation, look at the obama/romney issue for a minute. the thing about this poll that's unbelievable, chris is romney's personal negative rating. it's upside down. among independents, it's worse. 22% of independents give romney a positive rating right now. and that's where the president has shown some improvement, but the republicans have gone in the wrong direction. here you have the president showing some improvement. 50%. that's good.

that's not great. that's not insurmountable. it's enough. but what you have is a republican party that's been turning off independents. what's amazing in our poll, another amazing stat is the fact that more people said they were less enthusiastic about voting than they were last month. that's not supposed to happen in an election year. it's turning the entire public off right now. >> i think so too. tomorrow's bad l ground state of ohio, this is the big deal. santorum and romney are within the margin of error to lead the pack. nationally, romney has a six-point lead over santorum. gingrich and paul are tied at 13%. let many go to this important question with you jonathan. let me ask you about ohio. the stinking negative advertisement of romney through a group called -- what's it

called again? restore our future. over and over again. he's spending a total of $4 million just in ohio. a combination of his super pac and his own campaign spending. this negative attack, he did it to newt gingrich in iowa. then he did it to santorum in michigan. he's going to do it again. then he's going to get newt down south. this nasty negativity. is this going to help romney be red duh to run against obama if he's the nominee? >> i think the strategy of going after your opponent and defining your opponent is pretty effective. it has been certainly in this primary period. if romney gets the nomination, and it appears he's on track to do so, it's going to be in no small part because he has defined his rivals who have had these rag tag operations and have not been able to fight back. >> but who is he? who is romney in the eyes of the public right now? besides the guy that creates

crazy gaffes. >> i'm talking about what the campaign has done on their way to being on the cusp of winning their party's nomination. yes, it's not been against the toughest opponents in the world, but you have to give them credit for the fact that they have got on to where they are right now. he's seemingly on the verge of wrapping up the nomination. everybody that i talked to in ohio who is not affiliated with either candidate thinks romney probably pull it is out there. if romney wins in ohio tomorrow, i think romney will be in very good shape here in terms of getting nominated. >> i look at this this way. it was his turn the nomination. he's come off as nasty. >> i'm not sure if he'll want it clean. >> he could not have won this with a conservative. he had to disqualify his conservative challengers and he did it. he survived the process.

it wasn't pretty, but he's not a nomination and it's still worth having. >> he had no choice but to run to the right and try to take out his opponents. this is not the -- >> you're right. you guys are much tougher than i am. i don't think this is the right way to run american democracy. >> you may be right. he may pay for it in the general. >> the country is paying for it. >> i don't think he had a choice. >> thank you, chuck todd and jonathan martin. you're probably both right, but it stinks. up next, it was the perfect height of the trees in michigan. what's mitt romney got for the good folks in tennessee? davy crockett. that's ahead in the sideshow. you're watching "hardball," only on msnbc. if you are one of the millions of men

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now for the sideshow. mitt romney think he was on to something? to performances like this one? "for purple mountains majesty ♪ ♪ above the fruited plain >> romney dug up a classic to take its place. let's hear how romney kicked off an appearance in tennessee on saturday. this time he spares us the melody. >> this place has a special feeling in my heart. when i grew up, i was thinking ant davy crockett. remember the song? born in a mountain, raised in the woods so he knew every tree, and he killed himself a bear when he was only three. davy, davy crockett. remember that? >> actually, davy crockett killed himself a bar when he was

only three. next up, sarah palin says she doesn't plan on seeing the film "game change." the film dramatize its what went down when palin entered the scene in 2008. don't think they are ignoring the release. they are out with their revamped version of the trailer for it. let's take a look at it. >> this is sarah. >> well i'm not a member of the permanent political establishment. i'm not going to washington to seek their good opinion. i'm going to washington to serve the people of this great country. >> i may not answer the questions that the moderator wants to hear, but i'm going to talk to the people. >> she has that something. >> actually, got a screen of the real "game change."

the movie is fabulous. now for the big number. do any of these words come to mind? uninspiring, painful, discouraged, how about the lesser of two evils? if you answered yes to these opinions, join the club. according to a new poll just out today, most people see this race in a negative light. what portion of people offered up a negative phrase when describing the contest? almost 70%. we're not just talking democrats and independents. more than the half the republicans polled gave negative descriptions. 69% overall. that's tonight's big bad number for the republicans. mitt romney destroyed opponents. carpet bombed them with negative ads. our new poll shows he's doing as much damage to himself in the process. you're watching "hardball," only on msnbc. plus restoring rinse. it's the only listerine® that gets teeth two shades whiter and makes tooth enamel two times stronger.

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i'm amanda drury with your cnbc market wrap. the nasdaq declined 26 points. all the negative pressure on tick also weighed on apple shares. the company said its app store downloads reached 25 billion. but the stocks still sank. yelp fell on its second day of trade. and yahoo may be restructuring. that's it from cnbc. first in business worldwide. now it's back over to "hardball." welcome back to "hardball." there's more bad news for mitt romney from the latest nbc "wall

street journal" poll out today. after months of negative campaigning in the primaries, romney's favorability is at the collateral damage of all the ads he's run. take a look at how he stacks up to previous nominees. romney is at 28% favorable. that's a lower score than almost all the recent party nominees at the same time. that includes john mccain, john kerry, and bob dole. what's behind the low favorable? rob porter is a backer of romney. that's a pretty low favorability rating for a candidate who has spent millions or tens of millions of dollars either directly or through his super pac. >> it's about the primary. once we're through the primary, things will be different. he will be talking about barack obama. this is typical of a primary. republicans have formed the

circular firing squad and firing at each other right now. pretty soon when super tuesday is over, i think we'll see more and more people jumping on board the romney campaign, as we saw yesterday with eric cantor. you'll see more focus on not just the obama record, but also our positive agenda going forward. >> let me show you some numbers here that must be disspiriting to a guy like yourself. look at how your candidate is doing. the latest nbc "wall street journal" poll shows president obama leads among women by 18 points. that's a heck of a gender gap for a guy in a country where most of the voters are women. >> again, it's very early. a lot of what voters are hearing is negative. it's negative about mitt romney and all the other candidates. but this will change. this too shall pass. i know it worries you, but when you get to a situation where you focus on the general election, which should happen soon, i

think you'll see the numbers shift. >> but look at the topic selection. you may not want to talk about it because nobody in the republican party does, but this rush limbaugh brew ha ha, that began a couple weeks ago when rick santorum said i'm going to make this a big issue in the campaign. contraception. he said it. then the republican party in the senate led by blunt is pushing this vote. you lost the skroet but kept it up front. rush limbaugh jumped on it. it's a combination of passing a baton, keeping the story of contraception alive as opposed to the economy. w why? >> well, i think you're right. and i think the message has to get back to the economy, and it will. rush limbaugh apologized. i think he pretty much said it was a dumb thing to say. mitt romney said he said the wrong thing. this too shall pass. that was not the issue that was addressed in the blunt amendment. it was about religious freedom. it's a legitimate issue.

i'm in cleveland tonight and a lot of folks are concerned about it. about 25% of the people here get health care through religious organizations. that's important to them. >> but this is a student at georgetown, a protestant student. this is what you're talking about. a protestant student at georgetown, which has a lot of non-catholic students. she wants to have birth control covered as part of her health care. she was called a slut and a prostitute by rush limbaugh. he took back the words, but his intent was to trash her and to say she ought to have videos online of her having sex if she wants the health care to cover her. i mean that isn't just the words he chose. he me lishsly went after her in such a way, made fun of her as a person. it isn't just a couple words. >> you and i can agree on that. and it was a dumb thing to say. and again, rush has said pretty

much that. and so it sounds like maybe you're keeping it alive more than him in the eyes of the voter. >> no. i want romney to say something. he didn't get to this until friday night. he let four days pass. he seems more scared of rush limbaugh, according to george will yesterday, than he is of our enemies in this world. why is your party so afraid of rush limbaugh? >> well, i think what the party is is focused on jobs and the economy. if you listen to what he's been saying the last few days, i went to a couple rallies, it's all about the economy. you hard his message. we're talking about jobs and the economy and not talking about other issues. he has very specific proposals on tax reform and energy policy and health care costs. that's what people want to hear about. i was talking to a lot of

workers after the visits. they are concerned about their jobs and about what's going on in the economy. they are concerned with energy in particularly here in ohio. we have two big shale fines here. this means jobs. that's his focus. that will be his focus going forward. once you get through the primary process, there will be a focus on the general election and that's going to be who has the better plan for the deficit and the debt and the economy. it's all going to be about jobs and the economy and the fiscal issues. that's, i think, where mitt romney is going to do well. and i think most independent voters here in ohio are going to agree with him. >> let's come back and talk about this once the cloud has passed. i think it will be decided depending on the state of the economy. thank you rob portman. now we're joined by david corn. he's the washington bureau chief. this is the a cloud over the

republicans head for the reason they don't want to attack rush limbaugh. if they said this guy is a horse's ass. he shouldn't be talking about anything. >> they sold their soul to rush limbaugh many years ago. and now they can't even buy it back. it's probably not worth that much these days. you know, remember back in '92 when bill clinton had his sister soldier moment? it was designed to e show he could stand up to one element of his own base and when she said something that people took issue with. the words that mitt romney used were weez l words because he knew if he said anything stronger, he would have a fight on his right, which is something he can't afford to do now as he's trying to keep the santorum threat at bay. >> ""saturday night live"" had some fun. the constant verbal gaffes about

being rich. >> i'm focusing on the victories. a as we say in the romney house, i'm happier than a poor man eating a can of beans from a dumpster. >> you keep putting your foot in your mouth. >> they are made of a fine italian leather. they are $1,200 a piece. they cost more than most americans make in a month. uh-oh. i'm doing it again. >> the whole thing i'm thinking about is romney is only memorable when he commits a gaffe or when he's silent and chickens out. not one of his prepared speeches is remembered. they can't think of anything he said except the stupid stuff and when he's been chicken. >> this goes to the point the senator was just trying to make. the reason his unfavorable

ratings are so low is there's been a lot of shooting in this primary. it's what always happens. i don't think that's the full story. i don't think the senator is being honest in one of the reasons his ratings are low is he's made these mistakes. people have been watching him for years running for president. and he's developing this impression of being a true 1% who doesn't have the touch, who can't really talk about issues outside of platitudes and who keeps putting his foot in his mouth. it's a joke that doesn't even need a punch line on "saturday night live." that's the thing that won't go away. you and i don't know what's going to happen with super tuesday. but that's going to stick around. >> david, the tragic comic reality is the man we just had on, portman of ohio, seemed like more of a grown up and serious guy than the guy he's backing for president. >> that's true with all of them. >> up next, new details about the republican effort to hold

down the vote. a new report says or argues you might say that african-american voters are being systemically disenfranchised, making it hard er for them to vote. that's ahead. this is "hardball," only on msnbc.

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tim cain and george allen. the democrat has a nine-point lead. 48% to 39%. that's an unusually large margin compared to other polls that we have seen. in massachusetts republican senator scott brown opened up an eight-point lead over elizabeth warren. in a new poll from western new england university. we'll be right back. [ male announcer ] how can power consumption in china,

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i.d. laws and have shortened or eliminated voting and made absentee ballots more difficult. it is to restrict voting to blacks. mark morial is the president of the group that just released their state of black america group and eugene robinson is an msnbc political analyst. thank you for joining us. >> great, chris. >> mayor, i want you to come on here first and tell us, you are making a case here. do you believe the motivation is political in the part of these republican legislatures to deny democrats the right to vote or just to repress the power of black america? >> here's the evidence. all of a sudden in the last 18 months, there are 34 states that have either -- that have introduced far ranging legislation to restrict early voting to require a specific type of voter i.d., to make it more difficult to conduct registration drives. and when you look at the i.d. issue alone, 1 in 10 americans

do not have the i.d. contemplated by these laws. and 1 out of 4 african-americans do not. so this clearly a political motivation, i believe, and i think this is about the defense of democracy in saying a nation that's fighting to defend democracy abroad cannot erect barriers to democracy here in the united states in 2012. and we have to speak out against it. >> let's stick with the i.d. issue right now. is getting an i.d. something that's hard to do? can you mail in? do you have to show up and get your picture taken at some government office? how much of a burden for an older person in their 80s? >> the typical vote ear the typical identification card is a driver's license. and many states offer a non-driver's license i.d. you have to show up. you have to bring certain papers. in some cases even though it may be free. but the idea is why? why do we need a voter i.d. law at this time in american history? what's the motivation behind these 34 states?

who is orchestrating this? i don't think it's coincidental. i don't think it's serendipitous. i think it's highly intentional and has the effect of, perhaps we think, disenfranchise something 5 million voters across the nation. >> gene, the normal way you and i vote, in fact, everybody votes you go to a neighborhood facility, often a school or local community center. you walk in. you say who you are. i don't think you have to show an i.d., but do you? is this all brand new? this is just republican trouble making for the minority voter perhaps? >> well, you know, i seem to recall actually last time i went to the polls, i may have had to produce an i.d. these are onerous new requirements. i agree with marc, chris. the intent, i think, is political, clearly, to depress the democratic vote. and -- but the impact is -- will turn out to be racial. and that should be terribly worrisome, i think, to -- well,

to all who believe in the constitution. and i hope it's worrisome to the courts as well. >> you know, i have to tell my grandmother never had a driver's license. she lived in a city in a row house. row house people live in big cities don't always have cars, by the way. here's in reverend al sharpton saying he believes there are ulterior motives. here he is on msnbc earlier today. >> what will happen when election time comes and people that don't have state i.d.s that have voted historically, voted throughout their lives, are blocked from voting? what will happen in terms of the congressional races and the senate races and the presidential race? so we're coming before there is a problem to say, wait a minute. people are being disenfranchised. there's no widespread fraud. there's no reason to do this other than to suppressi the vot. we're watching historic spots of violence there in the '60s. let me ask you mayor morial. absentee balloting used to be to

preserve the rich. people who had money to take vacations, move around the country. now how is it important to minority voting and poor people voting? >> i think early voting has caught on in african-american and urban communities. people that work. people that have family obligations are more prone to take advantage of the chance to vote early. and it's pretty coincidental because when you early vote or when you vote by mail, which is the way most absentee voting is conducted you don't have to show a voter i.d. so there's also a lack of consistency in many of these laws. but early voting -- anything, chris, that expands democracy and expands the ballot is what we ought to be doing in the united states. we ought to be encouraging people to vote, and we ought to remind people that this argument about fraud is a smoke screen. most voter irregularities take place because of elections officials. so people shouldn't be tricked by the smoke screen of fraud. >> thank you very much.

great having you on. i love the urban league. and thank you gene robinson. make sure your kids vote this year. when we return, let me finish with mitt romney running scared of rush limbaugh. now? i don't want a plunger anywhere near my coffee. not in my house. with maxwell house french roast, you let gravity do the work. [ male announcer ] maxwell house french roast. always good to the last drop.

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let me finish tonight with this -- politics is about impulse. what do you do when there's not a lot of time, when there's nothing to go on but your own personal human gut reaction.

last week president obama was on the phone to sandra fluke expressing his support in the face of rush limbaugh's assault. it took mitt romney until friday night to answer a question of a reporter and say rush's words were not the one he's would have used. what words would he have used to express rush's venomous insults if not slut or prostitute. what words did mitt romney, would he have chosen? is there a finer vocabulary to casting such an insult? back to the impulse at work here and what it says. obama's was to champion she cause of the woman being assaulted. mitt's was to champion the assault of rush if with softer words. people and not just women remember such moments. so does history. jack kennedy once called coretta king to express his sympathy. it changed history. mitt romney's performance reminds me of the old jack benny routine. your money or your life the robber demanded. your money or your life? just a minute, benny last responded. i'm thinking. well, mitt