coverage, not only of the tornadoes, but of the primaries continues on msnbc right now with michael smirkonish. obama gets some hope. let's play some "hardball." >> good evening. i'm michael smirkonish in for chris matthews. in maryland, washington, d.c., and most importantly in wisconsin are the primaries, but president obama is clearly looking to november. he hit it where it hurt today for paul ryan's budget plan. the president called the plan a trojan horse that would deepen the equality in the united states. >> instead of moderating their views even slightly, the republicans running congress right now have doubled down and proposed a budget so far to the

right it makes the contract with america look like the new deal. >> this was just the latest in a series of addresses that mr. obama has made, portraying the republicans as social darwinists who favors the rich and are unconcerned with who gets left behind. when listening to president obama, we wondered, how would the republicans respond? there's no guess. we have a republican on tonight to settle the debate. also we get a look at the exit polls in what may be a make or break primary for rick santorum. and nbc news have recovered the audio tapes of george zimmerman's prior phone calls to police. do they show he is racially motivated or profiling? we'll get a report. and we're not the only ones that noticed mitt romney's endorsements seemed to lack something. the daily show noticed, too, and we have their take in the side show. we begin with president obama's

opposition and those who support it. in the petition sing gling out of mitt romney, am i to conclude that the white house has concluded he is the nominee? >> i can tell you that we watch what you guys report and read what your colleagues report, and it certainly seems like he could well be, but the point the president was making was that all of the republican presidential contenders, those who would hold this office come 2013, have endorsed and support the ryan republican budget. so regardless of who emerges as the republican nominee, this is not -- the ryan republican budget and the sort of radical division is represents, as the president said, is not something that only a faction of the republican party reports, it's not something that, you know, the mainstream of the republican party rejects, it is the budget

proposal. the case the president was making was there are two competing visions of america's future that are very stark and easily contrasted. one embodies the ryan budget, and like doubling down to the same policies that got us into the worst economic crisis we've had in 70 years. >> you say radical. the president earlier today said trojan horse and also said it was a thinly veiled social darwinism. let me show you how paul ryan responded. like his reckless pujts, today's speech by president obama is as revealing as it is disappointing. while others lead by real solutions, he has chosen to distort the truth and divide americans in order to distract from his failed record. his empty promises are quickly becoming broken promises -- and the american people will hold i

am accountable for this violation of their trust. >> i would like to take you to the fact-filled presentation the president made today. what is lacking from congressman ryan and what is lacking from his budget are any of the statistics and facts and numbers and math to back up his promises. what we know is that in order to pay for substantial new tax cuts for the wealthy, the money has to come from somewhere, and it's going to come from non-discretionary funding only and from entitlement programs like medicare and medicaid. what it means is more tax cuts for the wealthy, and in order to pay for them, the middle class and seniors get stuck with the bill. what i would like to hear from congressman ryan, what the president would like to see from congressman ryan, is a fact-filled critique and not a lot of boilerplate. >> the final acts speak to the fact that the president put forth a balanced approach, as you know, and the ryan approach is doubling down on a theory that we test ted a decade ago.

it's the slowest growth we have had a long time and it led to the middle class being put under great stress while middle americans saw their debts rise. >> if i said congressman ryan is reining in federal spending, the response is what? >> when i was a reporter, political courage was when someone from one party was willing to take on the invested bad image from their party. show me something in congressman ryan's budget that shows me anything about the wealthiest corporations that support the republican party. he's asking the middle class to pay for it. that's not new. we've seen it brchefore. i think the american people recognize that. >> thank you very much for joining us. let's turn to alan fine and

strategist steve schmidt. both are financial analysts. let's talk about this budget so the audience knows what we're describing. last week it was criticized in the house. it proposes deep cuts for the wealthy and making changes to programs that mainly serve middle class americans. ryan's budget cuts include $2.4 trillion from medicaid and other health programs, $463 billion from mandatory programs, including pell grants and other social services, $291 billion in cuts from discretionary programs and $134 billion in cuts from the food stamp program. here's what the president said about this today. let's watch. >> this republican budget is something different altogether. it is a trojan horse disguised as debt reduction plans and it

really an attempt to impose a radical vision on our country. it is thinly veiled social darwinism. it is ampathetical as a land of opportunity and upward mobility for everybody who is willing to work for it. >> i know you were in the room, and this was an effort by the white house to clearly tie mitt romney and paul ryan together. >> that's exactly what it was, and on a day when, in wisconsin, republicans are going to the polls, and if they vote for mitt romney, they'll remember he was by his side campaigning in washington. it was a very deliberate move by the white house. this was almost a deliberate intention the president had to attack and tie every republican party they had to paul ryan and the republican house budget, even to the point of president obama praising what he describes as another tradition of

republicanism, going from abe lincoln and dwight eisenhower who you always hear republicans talking about, to praising richard nixon and even george w. bush. so you know something is going on tactically when a democratic government is praising george bush, but that's what he was doing today to really try personally to get america out of this low society. >> the president called out romney specifically by name today, and that's what i was making reference to with jay carney. let's watch. >> one of my potential opponents, governor romney, has said he hoped a similar version of this plan from last year would be introduced as a bill on day one of his presidency. he said that he's very supportive of this new budget. and he even called it marvelous,

which is a word you don't often hear when it comes to describing a budget. it's a word you don't often hear generally. >> read those tea leaves. what's going on with the president calling out the word use marvelous? is that supposed to further portray governor romney as an outlyer? >> i think what's going on here is the obama campaign is turning on. they know mitt romney is going to be an opponent in the fall. they see the same poll numbers that everyone else has, that this primary has made mitt romney a 39% favorable rating. it's made him popular and he's lost ground in the middle of the electorate, to control the

50-yard line in wins or losses. i think the reality both sides look at is that this is a race that holds both sides of 40%. so the russian is trying to paint, and he's off to an offensive start today. >> alan, and he was like, portray this as an attempt by paul ryan and republicans to rein in public spending. and he'll say, as usual, you republicans are out to hurt the poor. where is the independence in all of this? >> that's a good question. and i'm not entirely sure that the tone and the tactics of the president by launching this campaign. the general election campaign starts today, in my view. to play that first card in an

attack way, and lets look at the a -- politics and shows that -- at the very least, the white house strategists are being caution, and they don't necessarily think they're arguing of a strength from their own record, but they sure think they have a place to attack with what they're going after today on the ryan budget. >> steve, yesterday the obama campaign put out an ad tying mitt romney to big oil. let's watch and you can critique. >> under president obama, domestic oil production is at an eight-year high. so why is big oil captivating him? in all these fights, mitt romney. >> i think an attempt to portray

him. good strategy? >> putting today for a whim, look, this is an area where, the lack of an energy plan, the keystone piping, it's really a sign of overall political strength. it just shows that the president, after the end of this long republican primary process, is in as strong a political position as he's been in some time. and they're beginning to campaign by focusing on their opponents' vulnerabilities and also try to mitigate some of their liabilities, both on the economy, both on the issue of energy, and that's what that ad is about and that's what the speech is about today. >> a final question for both of you, one-word answer if you're able.

did paul ryan's vice presidential stock go up or down today? howard fine, you're first. >> up. >> steve schmidt. >> steady. >> steady. steady as she goes. coming up, we'll get reaction of what we heard from president obama from two members of congress, one -- this is "hardball." the title, most advanced technology in its class. it needs to be earned. earned with smartbeam head lamps. earned with vented temperature control seats. earned with an 8.4-inch touch screen. and if you're driving one, you know what it means to earn something. ♪ holding down the fort while you're out catching a movie.

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primaries today in maryland, washington, d.c. and wisconsin. wisconsin is critical of rick santorum. let's look at the evangelical vote. today white evangelicals made up 40% of republican primary voters. this number is very significant, because so far demographics have been destiny. in earlier contests, if the evangelical vote was more than 50%, santorum won, less than 50%, romney won. polls close in maryland and washington, d.c. at 8:00 eastern time, and an hour later in wisconsin. paul ryan took on the budget plan, putting it squarely in the presidential fight. let's listen. >> maybe, just maybe, at a time of growing debt and widening inequality, we should hold off

on giving the wealthiest americans more tax cuts. that's what they have done. instead of moderating their views even slightly, the republicans running congress right now have doubled down and proposed a budget so far to the right, it makes the contract with america look like the new deal. >> democratic congresswoman m s marci captore of ohio opposes the budget plan, and he supports t. both are on the house budget committee. the budget priorities shows the tax cut in the ryan plan will disproportionately favor the wealthy. making more than $1 million a year, they'll see a 5% increase in after-tax income. that's an average of $250,000.

tell us this is all designed to help the rich and take advantage of the poor. >> what you have to do is read the fine print because what we have talked about is we want to broaden the base and lower the rate. what that chart showed was they were going to lower the rate. we want to broaden the base which means getting rid of the loopholes and other things which i think is common ground. if you talk to republicans and democrats, we want to get rid of these loopholes. and that's what we're saying, disproportionately, the wealthy americans get these loopholes, so we want to close those. >> what loopholes are you specifically referring to? >> there is a list that goes on and on and on. back in december of 2010 is, i actually voted against the extension of bush tax cuts because it was filled with loopholes and budget cuts and whatnot. the president is the one that actually voted for it and supported it and signed it into law. there is a host of things we want to do, and what our budget says is that in a relevantly neutral way, we want to broaden the base and raise the rate.

>> i'm all for closing loopholes, it just seems the loopholes benefit the wealthiest of americans, and if the wealthiest are having their loopholes closed, you wouldn't suggest, as that chart presented, that you wouldn't see disproportionate advantage on the ryan plan. >> that chart is incomplete because it doesn't show the impact of broadening the base and lowering the rate. that's what our budget calls for in a neutral way. that's where you need to engage the ways and means committee, the preparations committee. lots of other committees need to be involved and other members, but we're trying to set the framework to put together a responsible budget that over the course of time will balance the budget and pay off the debt. the president's budget never balances. the democrats always call for a balanced approach. the problem i have with it is they've never put forward a plan that actually balances the budget, which i think is a moral imperative. >> congresswoman captor, wh kap

will i see? >> the romney budget actually gives tax breaks to the wealthiest. wall street bankers that are just laughing over the bonuses they're depositing, that actually gives them on average an additional $150,000 in tax cuts and more, tax cuts we can't afford as a country. and then what it does is, it begins to voucher out medicare, it sticks a dagger in the heart of the middle class in this country. it says education and training? sorry, we're going to cut that. same thing with medicare. you know, it hurts the programs that benefit the vast majority of the american people. so it takes it out of the heart of the middle class. you know the old trickle down theo theory? we want a little more trickle. our view as democrats is we want the middle class to prosper. we know with job training and

investment research and development, that's where new jobs come from. we don't need to give those who already have a great deal at this time more breaks and add to our deficit. >> congressman chavitz, one of the things i thought was redeeming about bowles was everyone had the skin of the game. social security is not on the table and defense cuts that have been proposed would be offset. shouldn't everything be in play if we really want to address the debt of the country? >> i think that in the house republican budget that we passed, went through committee and passed through the house of representatives, we're actually doing our job. we're actually addressing and talking about a budget. so yes, of course. there are things that need to be cut in defense. i, for one, think it's time to bring our troops home from afghanistan. one of the things that bowles did not deal with was obamacare. you can't take $500 billion out of medicare and expect there to be no effect.

that was one of the criticisms. simpson bowles did a wonderful job on a lot of areas, and you'll see, actually, quite a bit of their suggestions in this plan. you have to contrast that with the president, and certainly the united states senate, that won't even bring up and debate a budget, and the president's plan that was defeated last year, 97-0. this year we brought it up on the floor. there wasn't one democrat that brought it up on the president's budget. they voted 415 no's and zero yeses. >> congresswoman kaptur, please respond to that and then i want to ask you each a political question about what's going on today. >> well, first of all, in terms of a budget, we have to pass a proposal that causes this economy to keep growing. and without job creation at a robust level, we begin to see it coming back in the automotive industry, for example, people go back to work, they pay their taxes, we don't have these huge social costs that are born because of unemployment.

and the economy can roll. we see that in automotive country, rail country that i represent, steel coils moving across the midwest again. we thank president obama for helping to move this sector. oil at capital gains. who would have said that was possible three years ago? i think moving energy through the country, this president has done an enormous amount at beginning to turn an economy around that was literally dead in the water during the last administration. so my answer is job creation is the answer, and we can experience it today right here in the midwest. we see the difference. >> big election tonight in wisconsin. is it time for rick santorum to get out of this race? >> i think it's time for the republican's best interests to coalesce. i think the person who can beat president obama and do something about this economy is mitt

romney. i think as soon as that happens, it's better off for republicans up and down the ticket coast to coast. it's not about santorum, it's about what's best for the party, what's best for the country. i hope that after a showing today in three different parts of the country, more and more people come to the realization that mark rubio and others know that mitt romney is the best to lead the nation. >> i think of those white, democratic, blue collar workers that hold the key to this election. i'm sure you're -- what are they telling you? >> they tell me they want to go back to work. people who want to take us backwards, this is an "i can" nation. the numbers in ohio are moving toward president barack obama, he's doing very well here, and with this recent war on women and what's going on with women's

health across this country, and those numbers are certainly reflected here in ohio, the american people want someone who is reasonable sitting in the presidency. they don't want anyone radical, they want someone focused on job creation and someone who knows that as the middle class pros r prospe prospers, we balance our budget. we put people on a can-do track again. >> thank you. up next, we show the least than enthusiastic endorsements for mitt romney, people who act like they would rather do anything else than support this governor. stick around for the side show. you're watching "hard bs baball" ♪ ♪ strea-ea-ea-ea-eam ♪ ...stream, stream, stream... ♪ whenever i want you, all i have to do is... ♪ [ female announcer ] introducing xfinity streampix.

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here's something we picked up on yesterday, the pitifully unenthusiastic endorsements that mitt romney has been receiving. and we're not alone. the daily show picked up on the trend as well. let's take a look. >> republican after republican have begun to line up behind mitt romney with one single message. >> i think we've reached a phase where it could be counterproductive if it continues much longer. >> i am going to endorse mitt romney. he offers such a stark contrast to the president's record. >> i'm going to endorse mitt romney because he's going to be the republican nominee. these are mostly tea party types that are giving these. let's hear from romney's base. >> mitt is not a perfect candidate. it's hard to identify with him, it's hard for economic conservatives to identify with him. >> these are his supporters. just imagine the past campaigns that failed this test of sincerity. i like ike would have been -- ike is fine.

reagan's optimistic morning in america would be -- yeah, it's time to get up. >> i think luke warren might be overstating it for a couple of those. up next, the latest in the trayvon martin case. experts are looking at whether george zimmerman profiled in his earlier calls to police. you're watching "hardball." i'm al ways looking out for i'm al small ways to be more healthy. like splenda® essentials™ no calorie sweeteners. this bowl of strawberries is loaded with vitamin c. and now, b vitamins to boot.

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injured. they are on a tornado watch until 8:00 p.m. now back to "hardball." >> welcome back to "hardball." the fbi remains in the retreat at twin lakes, that community in sanford, florida as agents interview residents about neighborhood crime and fellow resident george zimmerman who shot and killed trayvon martin in late february. we have the latest developments tonight from michael isikoff, investigative correspondent, and joann reed who is the managing editor for greed.com. what's the latest, michael? >> the investigators were back in the neighborhood today, interviewing residents. the one crucial piece of evidence are the audiotapes of

the prior phone calls that george zimmerman made to the police. we had an exchange yesterday about this. you were right, i was wrong. these had been previously released. but what we now know and didn't realize, and i don't think people had realized, is they are critical to the fbi investigation, which is civil rights. is there a pattern of racial pro filing, was there, by zimmerman? is this evidence of whether or not he had racial motivations in the night that he pursued trayvon martin? and one of the things that's worth pointing out because we raised this yesterday is, we listened to all the calls today. we listened not just to the trayvon martin call but all the ones that are still in existence going back to last august. and in every instance where it's reported in police reports that he was calling about suspicious activity by a black male, that's only information that he's asked about. he doesn't volunteer the race of the suspects he's calling about.

he's asked to describe them, he's asked their race, and that happens every time. he describes them as african-american males. there is no hint, at least in these phone calls, of any racial motivation by george zimmerman, and that's going to be helpful to zimmerman's lawyers if the justice department tries to bring a civil rights violation. >> but let me ask this question, because i understand the distinction you're making. you're saying he doesn't call and offer that information, it's elicited from him. >> right. correct. >> does he call about suspicious white guys in the neighborhood? in listening to those -- >> there are seven calls in its entirety. the calls about particular suspects are the five that we've referred to, and that includes the trayvon martin call, and those are all african-americans. the other two don't involve suspicious activity by individuals. there's a dogfight, there's a garage door open, so you can't

sort of make that comparison. look, it is true that in every instance where he's calling about individuals, they happen to be african-americans, but at least in the audio calls, he's not emphasizing that point, he's not make ing a point of it, the information always comes after it's elicited by police. >> i understand that, but every time he picks up the phone it's because there is a black guy. >> right. look, i don't suggest this is dispositive evidence. if it was, the fbi wouldn't have a reason to keep conducting its investigation. i'm just saying that, you know, we're still piecing together a lot of spotty information on this day. every data point is a piece of information that the public can weigh in trying to assess what really happened. >> and not to be repetitive, but joy anne, there is something strange about the call regarding trayvon martin when zimmerman,

who the atlanta sentinel has reported in 15 months called 46 times, i find it unusual that he doesn't say, hey, it's george zimmerman from neighborhood watch. at no point in that phone call does he identify himself as being from neighborhood watch. in other calls i've listened to, he does. i don't know quite what to make of it, but you would think there would be some sympatico between neighborhood watch and police, but there's not because he doesn't say, i'm from neighborhood watch. what do you make of that, if anything? >> that's a great point, because including the call where he says he's lurking around the home of mark tafy, he points out in that call that he's from neighborhood watch. it's run by the sheriff's department, not the sanford police. it doesn't necessarily mean, when you're calling these non-emergency lines, he wasn't necessarily calling 911

emergency lines, he was calling non-emergency lines. i guess being neighborhood watch, he would have that number. so i think the other thing that was interesting about george zimmerman, as you were pointing out, is that he was repeatedly calling about seeing black males. and whether or not he was talking about that in the call, it does turn out -- this community is about 20% black, the retreat at twin lakes. but it seems to be that his concerns were consistently about black males. and one other thing i'll point out really quickly, george zimmerman doesn't live anywhere near where this actual shooting took place, he lives clear on the other side of the retreat at twin lakes, so he was quite far from his home when he was picking up the trail of trayvon martin, so it does seem that he was doing something that neighborhood watch said you shouldn't do, which is patrolling around like a police officer. >> we show some tape right now of zimmerman at the police station that night. there is a raging controversy on line as to whether, when you enhance that, if you see a wound on the back of his head.

frankly, i don't know if it's outcome determinetave, we know there was a scuffle. what, if anything, can you say about that issue? >> i still think we need to see the medical reports from that evening, the ems reports of the medical personnel who were on the scene, which we haven't seen yet. we do have the police report that clearly states that zimmerman was bleeding from the nose and the back of his head. but i do want to pick up on one point joy raised about the neighborhood watch program. another data point piece of information we found today is we got specific information about the briefing that was given at the twin lakes clubhouse in september 2011 on the neighborhood watch program. this was a meeting that zimmerman himself set up. he invited the sanford police officer who oversees the neighborhood watch program to come brief people on it, and we

actually got the powerpoint that was given that night that clearly says no, neighborhood watch is not vigilante police, and in the briefing, the police officer specifically tells neighborhood watch volunteers, you are not to pursue suspects and you are not to carry weapons. so those were instructions that zimmerman clearly did not follow on the night of the confrontation with trayvon martin. >> i wish i had more time. to be continued for sure. thank you, michael isikoff, thank you, joy anne reed. president obama takes a page from the republican playbook warning of political activism. is that a smart strategy? you can follow me on twitter if you know how to spell smirko smerconish.

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we're back. president obama took on an unlikely foe yesterday in defense of his health care bill aimed at the supreme court. >> ultimately, i'm confident that the supreme kocourt will n take an unprecedented step of overturning a law that was passed by a strong majority of a democratically elected congress. >> he also said the court may not rule to his liking, positioning himself with the american public and inside a political branch. with me tonight, steve mcmann, republican. steve, does he think he lost? the court would have gathered in

secrecy and thain their stand on the bill. >> it seems like everybody is reading their tea leaves and so has everybody because they're predicting what the president will do in advance of hearing that vote. it's familiar with the kind of questions that are asked in a supreme court argument. they don't always telegraph what they're going to do, they just sometimes argue for the other side just to find out, you know, to draw out all the arguments that each side might want to make and all the problems that they would like to point out. so, you know, i'm not sure you can read too much into the tea leaves. >> john, hear president obama's comments and react. >> i just remind conservative commentators that for years what we've heard is the biggest problem on the bench is judicial activism or a lack of judicial restraint, that an unelected

group of people would somehow overturn a duly constituted and past law. this is a good example, and i'm pretty confident that this court will recognize that and not take that step. >> john theory, he's right in that respect. it seems like everybody has switched jerseys. >> i'm just stunned by the president lecturing one justice in particular. how does kennedy look at the constitution? i think he's trying to gain referees here, and i'm not sure this works for him. i think with independent voters, they like equal branches of government. they don't like the supreme court lecturing in how to rule. at the end of the day, we don't know how they're going to rule, but in many ways i'm straccratc my head and thinking, does ept start over again because it's so

unpopular with the american people? it was such a silly strategy for the president. >> you anticipated my next question. who is the intended audience? voters or the justices themselves? you seem to think it's not even the justices,it one justice. >> well, it seems to me that he's talking to one person who has all the cards on the table. and that is justice kennedy. >> i have to say this. it's funny, because the president is being criticized by some who say, oh, he's implying that this is all politics. and yet today, page 1, "new york times," what's the lead story? yet another 5-4 decision. this one on strip searches. and who held the cards? justice kennedy. so, you know, when the president makes the argument that there's a lot of -- and i'm paraphras g paraphrasing, but there's a lot of politics, steve mcmann, my gosh, take a look at page 1 of the paper today. isn't he right? >> there is a lot of politics,

but there's a difference between elections have consequences and presidents get to appoint justices which is the way this country has been for 200 years. and i think walking up to the line, where you're suggesting that the court is somehow illegitimate, creates a problem for democracy that a president, frankly, shouldn't do. i think he was careful here not to go over the line. but he did send a pretty clear signal about what he will be arguing in the fall if the supreme court overrules this. and remember, it was -- it's the court that's put itself in this position again and again and again by politic sizing or appearing to politicsize decisions in a way that requires this conversation. frankly, this is a conversation that shouldn't be had on the right or the left. the president of the united states should assume justices are going to do the right thing by the constitution. >> let me jump in. >> go ahead, john. >> let me say, for him to say these are a bunch of unelected -- almost like unelected bureaucrats was an extraordinary statement. like -- >> was it not extraordinary when the republicans say it? john, maybe you haven't been

listening to -- >> this is about the supreme court. >> john -- >> go ahead. >> michael -- this is about the supreme court. they have gone through the ringer. they have been through everything. they have been through more than any politician. and to make this kind of -- for the president, who is a constitutional lawyer, to make that case, is extraordinary. and i think a very undermining democracy. i think it's over the line. >> well, he got hammered by "wall street journal" today on the editorial page, essentially saying, hey, didn't the guy teach marbury versus madison when he was at the university of chicago law school. steve mcmann, go ahead, take the final word on this. >> listen, i will say this. i think that it's inappropriate for somebody on the left or on the right to be criticizing decisions that come out of the united states supreme court. i'm a lawyer, and i think that it would be better if people viewed the court the way they used to view it. >> i agree with you, steve. >> but the court has put itself in this position, and frankly, it's been the right that's been complaining about judges and justices, all this time. and the president just turned it on today. i wish he hadn't. but he felt like he needed to. and that's just the way politics

goes today. >> i will say, as a lawyer as well, it's very hard to defend decisions that are continuously 2 5-4. it doesn't instill a lot of confidence among the electorate when they look at the court and say -- they look to us like they're the congress and not nine jurists. i'm out of time, and i wish i weren't. thank you steve mcmann and thank you john feary. when we return, let me finish with how mitt romney has blown chance after chance to turn questions about his religion to his advantage. you're watching "hardball." [ male announcer ] this is genco services -- mcallen, texas. in here, heavy rental equipment in the middle of nowhere, is always headed somewhere. to give it a sense of direction, at&t created a mobile asset solution to protect and track everything. so every piece of equipment knows where it is, how it's doing or where it goes next. ♪ this is the bell on the cat. [ male announcer ] it's a network of possibilities -- helping you do what you do... even better. ♪

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let me finish tonight with this. yesterday, mitt romney was asked about his mormon faith. in wisconsin, a man read to him published by the church of jesus christ of latter day saints and he asked romney whether he agreed with his church's one-time belief that interracial marriage was a sin. >> do you believe it's a sin for a white man to marry or pro create with a black? >> no, next question. >> i sat here last night, i think romney has missed several opportunities to turn this campaign's religious fixation to his advantage. and this was yet another. given that polls show he faces prejudice among a share of primary voters because of his mormon faith, you would think romney would be eager to try to redefine the role of faith in the election. one opportunity came when the obama administration attempted to force religious institutions

to offer birth control coverage to their employees in contravention of church teachin teachings. the administration exempted churches, but should have done the same for religious institutions from the get-go. forget for a moment the short-sightedness of an institution that opposes abortion, but fails to recognize the contraception can prevent it. whatever the basis of the church's position, the government should not force it to act against its teachings. it was into this cross fire that rick santorum moved when he said the president was motivated by, quote, some phony theology, not a theology based on the bible. and that's when romney should have stepped in, and asked, what separates us from iran oral confidy if we're going to pick our presidents according to religious litmus steps. he should have reminded people to exercise his faith or no faith, but romney remained silent. and stayed silent in the santorum speech at aftera maria

university in which he invoced satan while discussing abortion. and when billy graham's son said on msnbc while he believes santorum is a christian, he couldn't be sure whether obama or romney was. maybe graham was channelling the southern baptist bass pastor who said the church was a cult. all these developments presented romney with chances to remind the nation this is not the election that ends with a cloud of white smoke over the sistine chapel. what has he done instead? he has doubled down on his efforts to reach the party's religious base, telling a michigan crowd a fewings with ago, quote, unfortunately, possibly because of the people the president hangs around with and their agenda, their secular agenda, they have fought against religion. that kind of talk, it might help romn romney with the gop faithful. but not likely to be forgotten by independents this