right away, among this new class of republican, it kind of seemed like they were all pursuing the same agenda. there were slight variations but they seemed to be pursuing the same things at the same time. they wanted to make voting harder with 180 bills trying to make voting harder just since the start of last year. last year they introduced 600 new bills to roll back abortion rights. they enacted 92 of them. that was a record. they moved to give tax dollars to businesses even in states that had big budget deficits and couldn't afford to give money to anybody. they didn't have money to give to businesses. after the red tied elections of 2010, new republicans who seemed to be acting in concert doing all the same things, they went after union rights in a really big way. in michigan and tennessee and in maine, republican governors with republican legislatures just could not wait to go after union rights in their states. in the great state of ohio, the

fox news personality and "wall street guide" john kasich put his own stamp on the anti-union agenda. in some other states they would exclude cops and firefighters when they went after union rights. that's because cops and firefighters are sympathetic figures and who wants to alienate them by going after their own rights, but republican governor john kasich did not feel that way about cops at least. not at all. >> have you ever been stopped by a policeman who was an idiot? i had this idiot pull me over on 315. listen to this story. he says to me, he says, he says you passed this emergency vehicle on the side of the road, and you didn't yield. he's an idiot. >> unlike some of his fellow republicans in the class of 2010, ohio governor john kasich had no qualms after going after

cops and firefighters. when ohio republicans wrote their law to strip union rights in the state, they included uniformed officers too. they were going to get hit like everybody else. the protests over this in ohio weren't memorable. they were big protests, but it was interesting to cover this at the time it was happening. given what john kasich was going to do in ohio, and given how big the protests were elsewhere in the country when all the other republican governors were doing it, the protests in ohio were big but not i credibly big. in michigan, they said the protests there were the largest they had seen. the protests in wisconsin were so big they shook the whole country for months. while the protests in ohio were significant, they were not ultra big. the country did not stop to watch what was happening in ohio. while the protests were going on at the time, we kept hearing from labor activists and democrats on the ground in ohio, that the reasons that the

protests were not as big as you think they would be, the reason they weren't putting all their resources into organized large protests is because they had something else to do. they had another plan for reacting to the stripping of their rights. people who supported union rights in that state had another option besides protests. ohio's constitution let them put the law that stripped sit zeps right up for a citizens recall before that law went into effect. ohio republicans did pass this law but union rights were not stripped. the state union still existed. and in prepping for the recall of that law, the union could play a role in organizing and funding and making their case against the new law. they gathered thousands more signatures, they put the law up for a vote. they did get out the vote efforts like nobody's business and in november ohio went to the polls and struck down that law by more than 20 points. what happened in ohio, is that

ohio republicans tried to kill the unions and they failed. in this year's presidential election, ohio will be a swing state again like it always is, but the democratic ground game is going to be in place with strong unions ready to help fund ads and knock on doors and get out the vote like they always have. democrats greatest allies live in ohio. in wisconsin, it's been a very different story. in wisconsin, the new republican governor there scott walker and the new republican legislature there specifically didn't include the law enforcement and firefighters unions that had supported scott walker in the 2010 elections. they carved those union rights of those workers out. that was nice for them. but it also had the effect of splitting the opposition in terms of people who liked union rights in the state of wisconsin. in wisconsin the push back to try to save union rights included huge protests, huge protests mostly at the capital in madison but also all over the state and they went on for a

very, very long time. also in wisconsin, the minority democrats in the senate fought back as hard as they could. they fled the state to deny the republicans a quorum. they kept republicans from passing the union strip bill for three weeks while that he remained in an undisclosed location that was not so secret and was just illinois. in the end republicans found a way to jam this union stripping bill through on just a few hours notice. they just declared it done. the reaction in wisconsin to what the republicans did was electric. protesters stormed the capital, filled the rotunda in the dark of night. unlike in ohio, supporters of union rights in wisconsin didn't have the ohio option. they did not have the option of stopping that law with a recall. the way the wisconsin state constitution is set up, they couldn't gather signatures and put the law on hold and put it up for a statewide recall before the state decided whether or not it would go into effect. in wisconsin, they used the one option they had. they decided to put the governor up for recall.

that attempt, theo recall scott walker will happen on tuesday. here is the most important thing we have learned since this whole fight started. since this fight started with all of these republican governors winning in 2010, with all of these legislatures going red, with them all pursuing the same agenda, with the beltway ignoring it because it was in the states and people only like to cover stuff that happens in washington, d.c. here is the most important thing we have learned. wisconsin's law went into effect. it has served the purpose the republicans intended for it. they have succeeded in effectively killing the unions in wisconsin. this shows union membership nationwide from the 1950s down to the present. the decline has been driven by one factor, corporations getting their way, getting nonunion work forces in the work sector. even with this decline over the decade, still nearly one in eight american workers belongs to the union.

that's because public sector unions have held on. they have remained stable. that public sector unions have remained relatively strong, it has really big implications for americans who work for a living. specifically for those that work as teachers and bus drivers. that makes a big difference, but that also supports all working class wages. the strength of public sector unions have been important economically for people that have to work for a living. the fact that unions exist supports everybody's wages and everybody's workplace environment. the fact that the public sector union still exists has blunt political implications. we've shown this chart a bunch of times on this show. every time we hear from people, why don't you show that chart more often? so here it is. these were the heavy weights when it came to outside spending in the 2010 election cycle. these were the ten groups that spent the most money on the election that year. six of the ten spent big time on

the right. they spent on the republican side. they were led by the corporate-funded u.s. chamber of commerce, the far biggest spender in 2010. almost all of the groups spending on behalf of the republicans were corporate-funded groups like that. the only major spenders on behalf of democrats in 2010 were unions. that was it. they made up only three of the top ten spenders. the only thing that democrats had were unions. if you kill public sector unions in wisconsin, you can kill unions at together altogether in wisconsin and you can kill this key source of strength. it's true around the country. they're doing it in wisconsin. republicans set out to kill the unions and that's what is they have done. look at this headline in "the wall street journal." wisconsin unions see ranks drop ahead of recall vote. this is the membership for wisconsin's second largest union of public sector workers.

afscme. this is before the union tripping law. here is that same union's membership today. we don't have the stats on all public unions in wisconsin, but what we have all looks the same. this is the american federation of teachers before the stripping law went into effect and this is the membership now in the teachers union, a year after scott walker's law went into effect. that's what they have been able to do in a year. now because they could not stop the implementing of this law, the democratic side in the wisconsin recall effort doesn't have the means to compete politically that they usually have. unions play a political role. to the extent that unions are going away, they can play less of a political role. it's a big reason why the republican side has had a spending advantage that's reached at times 25 to 1. $25 on the republican side for every single dollar on the democratic side. this recall election on tuesday even so is really close. democrats might yet pull it off. they say that the ground game is key. who used to be best at the

ground game? unions. killing off the unions is what republicans want to do in every state of the country. that's why scott walker is the poster boy for the republican party this year. republicans understand that this is the way they can win, not just now, but forever. republicans get this, and they want it to happen in every state in the country. republicans get this. do democrats get it? do they understand what's at stake? joining us now is ed schultz. thank you so much for spending part of your friday night with me. i really appreciate it, man. >> thank you, rachel. i appreciate it very much. >> how much does it matter for democrats in wisconsin that what we know about union membership since this law went into effect shows that unions have had their teeth knocked out? they have already been decimated. how do you think that effects

their chances in the recall next week? >> it's certainly hindering their ground game a bit, but there's a mental aspect that goes with this. the people of wisconsin have seen terrible cuts in education that they are philosophically against. i hear it time and time again, i hear it on the radio. they don't believe this is the right way to balance the budget. on the other hand, is what you pointed out, how they are are chipping away at the infrastructure of the voting block. they are chipping away at the infrastructure of the social networking, the door-to-door, the boots on the ground. this is really the only thing the democrats really have when it comes to getting the vote out and fighting against this money that's being thrown into wisconsin. rachel, i think it's fair to say that scott walker is a very challenged candidate. he's a very challenged when it comes to his credibility and some of the things that have unfolded under his leadership. i think the republicans are

sitting there thinking, if we can keep this guy in office, just think what we can do with good guys. think what we can do when we have really good candidates that aren't in trouble, that aren't under investigation. i think the republicans and the corporate infrastructure is making a lot of mistakes and also making a lot of gains in wisconsin. this is a template. they're learning how to do this. as they learn how to do it, they are chipping away at the democratic infrastructure. that's why from a mental standpoint for boots on the ground, this is so important. there may come a point that democrats say no matter what we do, we can't fight this. that's why this entire election cycle, not only on tuesday, but through november is going to be vitally important for this country. >> and part of the reason i wanted to talk to you about this specifically is because you are obviously a national figure, you have a national radio show, you have a national television show, you are talking to people all over the country and are responsible for covering things all over the country, but you have been on wisconsin, forgive the phrase, but you have been on wisconsin every single day

relentlessly since the fight started, covering it every single way that you can. i wonder, from that sort of dual perch you have, somebody focusing on wisconsin but talking to people nationwide, you have a lot of great contacts with democrats nationwide, do you feel like democrats realize why wisconsin is important? if republicans get their way and are able to break the unions in more states, does the democratic party understand how that's going to affect the whole party and every swing state in the country for years to come? >> oh, i think they do. i think they understand the ramifications of not a good outcome on tuesday. i think they realize the importance of this. i think democrats and liberals understand the workings of what their up against. and they're frightened. in many respects, they are afraid of what the result is going to be. and we'll find out if fear is a motivator, but i think the democrats in wisconsin, in their heart, feel like they have done

everything they can at this point to cover all the bases. it is an onslaught of commercials against information in a 16-month period. and they feel confident that if they can get their people out, that they're going to be able to set an example for the rest of the country to prove that it can be done. and so i think that this is a pivotal moment. i have been on this story because fundamentally i knew what the republicans were trying to do. fundamentally i knew this was the last great voting bloc that the conservatives in this country wanted to take down. if they can get in there and really put a big hole in the flood gate and open up the flood gates, it's going to be hard to turn around. it really is. 80% of union membership in this country is concentrated in 16 states. the republicans feel there's no better place to go than the birthplace of unions to set the table and set the record straight for the way they want to run the country and make it a

right to work state. that really is their mission. to make every state in the union a right to work state. and i do think, in answering your question, that democrats in this country, they get it. they're watching wisconsin. this is a big development. >> there's a reason that every republican boldface name has been in wisconsin taking scott walker's side. they want to use the scott walker template around the country to destroy the last vestiges of unionization in this country and run the table in every election that they can. you put the spotlight on that for democrats more than anybody in the country. i know you'll be there in the next few days doing intensive coverage. thanks for staying up late friday night to help me cover it. i really appreciate it. >> thank you, rachel. you've been on it as well. i think this is vitally important for the country. no question about it. a real turning point. thank you. >> thank you. appreciate it. you can catch a full hour of ed right before this show. 8:00 eastern on msnbc. as we head toward the recall election on tuesday night, ed

will be doing live shows in wisconsin, including big shows that are open to the public. you want to check out the ed website which we have linked to at maddow blog tonight. there's not going to be anymore intensive and interesting coverage on that story anywhere else in the country than right here with "the ed show." even if republicans do run the tables in wisconsin, let's say they defeat democrats in we have recall election on tuesday, i have to say there's something else going on in the battle against corporate control of politics. one state is trying to do something about it in a way that's gotten no national teamgs attention but totally deserves it. that's coming up. great tasting tap water can come from any faucet anywhere. the brita bottle with the filter inside. thought they were dead. [ laughter ] [ grunting ] huh? [ male announcer ] should've used roundup.

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i mentioned that every time we show this thing, and we show it a lot, we get feedback from people saying why don't you show that more? i have to tell you, we show it all the time and nobody else shows it ever. but apparently it blows everybody's minds when we show it. we'll keep showing it because it is true and shocking. maybe if we show it the rest of the year, it will sink it. it shows outside spending in the last election. the biggest outside spenders in the elections. for the purposes of talking about partisan politics and what's happening in wisconsin and what will happen in 2012, the important thing is that the biggest spending on the republican side is funded by corporations and all the biggest spenders on the democratic side are unions. republican getting rid of unions means they get to run the table. if they kill unions, there will be no big out spenders on

elections except the spenders who fund them. they win every election, every state, every year forever. it's like if you were in a pine wood derby race and one year what you decided to do in the off season was remove the other guy's supply of wheels for the rest of his life. so yeah, you'll still have a race every year, you and that other guy you always raced against, but every year from here on out, your car will have wheels and his will not. so you will win every year. the well blockade in that analogy is a very good informsment for you. investment for you. that's why that shows who is giving money. who doesn't factor into this at all or makes no splash whatsoever in money or politics? you. and by you, i mean you, my fellow individual human. in an average midterm election, so like at the time corporations and unions and organizations are fighting it out to fund their

favorite side of the election in 2010, in the average midterm election, that's midterms, 2010, the proportion of human beings, individual americans choosing to give money to a political campaign is roughly 1%. that's it. if money decides what happens in politics, individual americans, 99% of individual americans are having no influence on politics whatsoever. and why would you bother? in this election cycle, two guys, two brothers who inherited an oil and chemical conglomerate, they said the two of them alone are going to spend $400 million trying to defeat president obama. well, we're not dumb. if someone else would spend $400 million, why would you bother spending what you can afford. five bucks or 50 bucks or 500

bucks. that's not like messing with your neighbor's pine wood derby car. that's like running your pine wood derby car against a lamborghini. why would you bother? you don't go out to water the plants in a rainstorm. you don't do things that won't make a difference. they are eliminating the democrats ability to keep up with them in big money politics. the big support will just run the table. one way the democrats and people who have to work for a living can fighback against that is by fighting for union rights, so trying to recall scott walker and recalling john kasich's union-stripping law in ohio, stuff like that. trying to play defense and hold onto their ability to compete when it comes to big money. that's the way to play defense on this. the other way is to play offense. to change the game so it's no longer just big money. it's not just those big organizations competing with each other but rather the 99% of americans that are on the

sidelines now are off the sidelines and into the game. imagine if the system was set up that way. imagine that. that's not impossible. no i'm not drunk. we have not had an early cocktail moment today. maybe it's possible. at least it's more possible than you might have heard. because have you heard about how montana factors into all of this? montana might be one way out of this national disaster that we are in right now with our politics. that's next. or creates another laptop bag or hires another employee, it's not just good for business, it's good for the entire community. at bank of america, we know the impact that local businesses have on communities. that's why we extended $6.4 billion in new credit to small businesses across the country last year. because the more we help them, the more we help make opportunity possible.

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so the guy who is here for the interview tonight is somebody that's just been flaked by one of the rarest things in america today. he's been hit upside the briefcase by something we were not sure existed in this country anymore. our guest today is named steve bullock who ran head-long into an example of bipartisanship, who knew that still existed. two u.s. senators, sheldon whitehouse, and john mccain, republican, forced forces joined across the aisle to both take steve bullock's side in a case at the united states supreme court. steve bullock is the attorney general for the great state of montana, and montana may have just offered the country something to get the mess out of this country. almost half of the states in the country had laws restricting corporate spending on state elections.

when citizens united removed the corporate ban on federal election spending, the states followed. every state reverted back to the wild, wild west of rich guys and corporations buying the government they preferred. every single state in the union abandoned its own corporate spending regulations after citizens united except for one. except for montana. for 100 years, since 1912, they have had a law that limited how much corporations could spend the it's called the corrupt practices act. back in the early 1900s, montana was a mining baron's playground. mine owners would spent a thousand dollars per voter in order to win the election, the elected officials that they wanted. they sponsored parades, speeches and fireworks. they distributed free cigars and free drinks. they gave out five dollar bills to win people's loyalty. and votes. montana thought this was a lousy system, so they changed it. they passed the corrupt practices act in 1912.

for 100 years it's been the years. when citizens united happened, montana said it is still our law. so that was about federal elections, this is about us, our state in montana, we know our history and we're sticking with the law we know we need. say hello to american tradition partnership. i know their logo has a water fall and trees in it, but this is not an environmental group. it's an anti-environment conservative interest group that's not based in montana. they sued the state of montana saying the citizens united ruling made montana's corrupt practices act invalid. it should be struck down. they shouldn't be allowed to stick to the old state law. citizens united meant they can't. montana's attorney general steve bullock disagrees. he has personally fought as attorney general to keep montana's elections laws the way they are, thank you very much. he's fought it in district court and the state supreme court, and he has won. the montana supreme court sided with the state's attorney general saying montana has its

own reasons to hold on to its own laws. the history justifies the state having tight restrictions on what corporations can spend in the state's elections. you're talking about a state where the average state senate candidate today spends $17,000 getting elected. that's it. that's what montana has been protecting with its restrictions on corporate spending. if the corporate spending limit is gone in montana, and some big corporation decides it wants to determine who sits in the senate in that state, 17 grand will get you nowhere, that's going to change in a hurry. so does montana get to keep its law? does montana get to be the one ray of hope that holds out as this conservative majority on the supreme court tries to hand every election in the country over to big money? what's going to happen with this? are they going to hold out? we don't know. the fake environmental, water fall group asked the court to keep montana from enforcing its

law and to hear the case. the supreme court agreed to the stay, so that means they temporarily suspended montana's law. that means the 2012 election cycle will be the first election in 100 years in montana where the state can't limit corporate expenditures. the corporate also said this, montana's experience, an experience elsewhere since this court's citizens united decision makes it difficult to main that mainta maintain. i know that independent expenditures do not give rise to the corruption or the appearance of corruption. you see the quotes there do not give rise to corruption or the appearance of corruption. the justices who wrote the order there are quoting their own citizens united ruling. they are says montana's experience proves we got that citizens united case wrong. that's why people who pay attention to this stuff say that montana's attorney general has a pretty good shot at chipping

away at one of the most reviled supreme court rulings in history. if the supreme court takes up this case, montana and now the 22 states who say they are on montana's side in this, they could offer us our first glimmer of hoping, getting out of this mess they're in if the court picks it up. joining us for the interview is the attorney general for the great state of montana. he's a democratic candidate running for governor. running to succeed the current governor, brian switzer, thank you for joining us tonight. it's a real pleasure to have you here. >> it's great to be with you. >> you are the expert on these things. you're inside this fight. i'm just the observer. let me know if i got that right in terms of explaining montana's law and what you think is at stake here. >> yeah, you did get that right. it's interesting. in 1906, a newspaper said the greatest living issue that confronts us today, so whether the corporations shall control the people or the people shall control the corporations, after

that we did make some changes. we've had the history in montana the last 100 years where elections are noticeably different. and now that's jeopardized with this, with the corrupt practices act being put on hold for now. and it's also an opportunity to revisit sort of the fundamental underpinnings of what that citizens united decision is. >> in terms of that 100-year-old law being on ice, being stayed by the supreme court while they decide what to do about your law, that means this election year where you're running for office, you're running for governor, is being run under different rules than montana's been used to for a century. have you noticed a difference? can you see a difference between past elections when corporate spending had a limit and when you can't limit it anymore? >> that's right. and our primary is actually just next tuesday. we've seen spending in judicial races and expenditures and

legislative races and the statewides. we don't know who the wizard behind that curtain is that is making the expenditures. but there's a bottom line coming through and more coming in and we can only expect more. >> do you think that montana is different from other states in terms of how money can corrupt the democratic process? do you think that citizens united will have a similar affect all over the country or is there something unique about how it will affect montana? >> i do think it can have an impact all across the country. citizens united dealt with federal elections and the presidential election. it doesn't take a copper king to by a $17,000 state legislative race. there's a whole lot of different offices. county assessor, local judge. our judges at the state level are elected. so it really can, just the amount of money and also the different office that is are up, you know, that can be elected unlike the federal system, it can really impact all of it. i think that's one of reasons why 22 states joined us. those are some very blue states

but also some real red states saying let states be the masters of their own elections and decide how we want to make sure that everybody can participant. >> so many people who have an interest in politics for whatever reason coming from whatever place, despair because of citizens united. despair that regular humans can have any affect on what's going on in our elections because of this unlimited and unaccountable money that's now flowing through the states. i think that's why people, as they are learning about the montana case, they're learning about this case that you're arguing, they're sort of grasp onto this as a ray of hope, as maybe a way out of this. when you do talk to other attorneys general in other states, is it a partisan thing? do people express the things you're expressing here? regardless of ideology, is this something that's splitting republicans and democrats in a way we should understand better just as regular humans watching this happen? >> that's be it talking to my fellow attorneys general or

talking to folks across this whole state when i'm out either working or campaigning. i don't think it's a partisan issue. it's really an issue about the integrity of our elections and whether people are going to be able to participate, feel like their participation matters. mthd has been a state with real high levels of individual participation, voting, things like that. everybody in montana or elsewhere feels that could be jeopardized given this united decision. if it's not revisited and put some side boards on it. >> steve bullock, thank you for joining us tonight for the interview. it's good to have you here. >> thanks for having me, rachel. >> if the supreme court does decide to hear that case, it's the one way citizens united could be undermined. if the supreme court does decide to hear the case, the oral arguments would likely be in november. what else is going on in november 2012? right now in washington,

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these are really tough numbers. >> these numbers are devastating. >> these job numbers are pathetic. >> why don't they pick up the bills and pass them and help the american people instead of playing politics over there. >> americans woke up this morning to some gut-check news. the unemployment went up by .10%, it's now 8.2%. the economy did add new jobs, but it added less than half as many jobs as economists were expecting it to. in terms of why this is happening, well, part of it is that government jobs, public sector jobs continue to be the major drag on unemployment. every time somebody talks about shrinking government, they mean they will fire somebody that works for the government. that means people lose their jobs. we lost 13,000 government jobs in may. the only reason we still added

jobs overall is because of the private sector. private companies adding jobs but not enough. overall, take a look at the great steve bennings famous job growth chart. you can see that job growth is slowing down. yesterday morning politico.com reports that the republican house speaker, john boehner, held a closed-door meeting with republicans in the house. politico quotes him as telling his caucus, quote, let's call bull puckey, bullpuckey. he didn't use that word but it begins with bull and is a word that i cannot say on cable. jobs is our only focus. so says john boehner to house republicans yesterday. you want to know what house republicans did work on yesterday? say it with me now, abortion. just a few hours after the big

rousing jobs, jobs, jobs speech, republicans went to the house floor to get to work on what they actually work on, which is another republican anti-abortion bill. one they put on an expedited fast track to make sure they could bring it to the floor. because of that expedited process, the bill needed a two-thirds majority to pass, that did not happen so the bill failed, but don't let that make you think republicans are giving up. they laser-like focus on jobs, by which i mean abortion. ahead of yesterday's big anti-abortion vote, that bill sponsor told the hill newspaper that republicans might could maybe bring the bill up again later under regular rules this time so it would only need a simple majority to pass. in fact, he says yesterday's defeat of the big anti-abortion bill was all part of republicans master plan to keep the whole focus of the congress on jobs, by which i mean abortion.

as reported in "the washington post" before the vote yesterday, congressman franks conceded in an interview that his anti-abortion measure would probably fail, but he said, i think we're doing the right thing by forcing democrats to vote against it. we know it will fail but we like making democrats vote on abortion any way. it just feels good. it passes the time. jobs, jobs, jobs. when republicans took over the house, h.r. 3 was an anti-abortion bill. last year with republicans newly in charge, the house held more votes on abortion bills than it had in a decade. this year, this election year, this jobs, jobs, jobs election year, republicans have just introduced five new, five more anti-abortion bills on top of what they did last year. what is it that you were saying about bull puckey, mr. speaker? >> why don't they pick up the bills and pass them and help the american people instead of playing politics over there? >> why don't they?

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i'm going with halle. if you are old enough to remember your mom and dad hauling you out of bed to squint at halle's comet in your pajamas, our if you read about it in science class, then you have heard of edmond halle. a british astronomer who figured out that they had seen a comet, but they were not people seeing different comets. people were seeing the same comet as it came around again and again on a regular schedule. that he figured out. he figured out the comet's orbit, where it was in space and when it would come around again. that is the idea edmond halle became famous for. but way back in 1716, same dude, realized that human beings were about to get an amazing chance, an amazing chance to figure out where we are in space. we knew already that we were on a planet and that our little planet went around the sun, but

we couldn't be sure about where we were in the solar system or how far apart the planets were from each other or how far we all were from the sun. in 1716 in edmond halle's lifetime, that part of life on earth was still very much a mystery. here's what he figured out. venus, the planet venus, second from a sun, a twin planet to our own earth, every so often the orbit of veep must and the orbit of us line up in such a way that we can actually see venus between us and the sun. we are third from the sun, venus is second from the sun, and we can see it once in a rare while as it scoots between us and the sun that we both go around. our boy edmond halle predicted if we pressure that and counted how much time it took for the movement of veep must across the sun, that we can see, we can figure out how far we are from the sun and how far we are from other planets and how far the other planets are from the sun. we can figure out how big the whole kitten caboodle is.

we can calculate in a cosmic sense where we all are all from the briefest transit across the giant sun of it ty bit ty little venus. from such a little thing comes such a big thing to know, how big the universe is or at least our solar system. the transit of venus happens rarely. edmond halle died without seeing one. it didn't happen until half a century until he published his theory, but this theory was right and it teaches us all that stuff. the last time it happened was in the 1800s, buts the about to happen again. since we are the kind of tv show that has a really friendly in-house astrophysicist to explain things like this. watch. >> venus transitting the sun is going to look like that. >> like a little raisin or tick. >> tiny, you won't be able to see it with your eyes, but you can see it with a telescope. you should not try to see it

with your naked eye ever. i willunt you down and hurt you, but venus will move across the disk of the sun. and this is so cool because it only happens every 120-ish years. it happened in 2004. so if you missed that, you really have to see it again this year. and it is not going to happen again until 2117. >> so tuesday is your big chance. >> tuesday is your big chance. >> tuesday is your big chance. that's laura conoway talking to summer ash, the in-house astrophysicist rep. we'll watch the transit of venus on tuesday without burning your eyes out of your sockets. of course, the fact that it's happening on tuesday means it is happening on the day of the wisconsin recall election when voters decide whether republican scott walker gets to finish out his term after stripping union rights in the state and thereby wiped out the strongest unions in wisconsin, which wiped out the only answer that democrats

have to fight republicans in elections. scott walker led the nation in losing jobs and scorched this out of wisconsin's discourse. on tuesday we'll learn whether he faces electoral consequences for all that now before his first term is up. since what he did in office is kind of a shock to those who voted in the last election, he didn't run on any of the stuff that he ended up doing. the scott walker recall is the second most important election in the country this year before the presidential election, and democrats have been so dramatically outspent it will be a hard election for them to pull it off on tuesday, we do not know what's going to happen. but the walker recall is not the only recall election happening on tuesday, activists in wisconsin also put four republican senators up for recall at the same time for going along with scott walker's agenda. each of the senate races matters as much as the one for walker himself. after a round of recalls last year and a resignation this year, wisconsin republicans have lost their majority in the state senate. they are down to an even split

with democrats with one seat empty. scott walker couldn't pass the union stripping thing in this chamber now if we had to do it again. if democrats win one of the four senate recalls on tuesday, they will take back the wisconsin senate and will stop scott walker from doing anything else, even if he does remain wisconsin's governor on tuesday. here's the thing about tiny little local races like wisconsin's senate recalls on tuesday. we have almost no information about how those races are going. if you look back at polling from mid-april, you'll see republican incumbents with strong leads in every race, except for this one in the district that includes the town of racine. in this one the race was almost tied. this is the same district where the democratic national chairwoman this week told volunteers they need to eat, sleep and breathe the recall to get the democratic candidate elected. this is the same district where a group thought up by karl rove is spending money to defend the republican senator. this is the same district where the coke brothers funded americans for prosperity group

is going to be ending their totally not about the recall, totally about the recall bus tour of wisconsin that they are doing this week. they are going to three of the four senate districts. three of the four districts that have the senate recalls or the grand finale in racing. the republicans one-party rule of the state hangs in the balance. the political world is focused on the question of scott walker, whether to see if he stays or goes as wisconsin governor, but the senate races, your guess is as good as anybody's. it is an exciting prospect for democrats who really can only gain here. if every one of the senate recalls goes against them, they are exactly where they are now, but if one of them goes their way, they win a lot. it's a scary prospect for republicans who really only have ground to lose here. if everything goes their way, they stay where they are at. they only lose one, they lose the senate. what's going to happen in those little races on tuesday is going to tell us all a lot about what's going to happen in the state of wisconsin in november. it's going to tell us a lot on what's going to happen to all

the newly red state that is went so radically red in 2010. from the tiny motion of these little state senate seats across the sun on tuesday, all of us political geeks are going to be able to calculate so, so much about where our political world is right now and where we are heading. it's exciting. "weekends with alex witt" starts now. it is the economy again. what does this all amount to politically? george zimmerman ordered back to jail. how key pieces of information led a judge to revoke the trayvon martin shooter's bond. massive security in london. the unprecedented effort to protect the historic weekend for the queen. we'll take you live to the unique event unfolding right now. in office politics, alex talks to "today" show's matt lauer. why this interview was one of his toughest ones ever.