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tv   Politics Nation  MSNBC  August 8, 2012 6:00pm-7:00pm EDT

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health care reform is obviously good for women. but don't take my word for it. the romney campaign, yes you heard me right. the romney campaign is helping make the case for the president today a campaign aide bragged about the governor's plan in massachusetts. the same one that served as a model for the president's law. >> to that point, you know, if -- you know, if people had been in massachusetts under governor romney's health care plan, they would have had health care. >> yes. they would have had health care. conservatives were horrified. the editor of red state.com tweeted, omg. this might be the moment mitt romney lost the election. wow. rush limbaugh called the comment a quote, potential gold mine for obama supporters. and then rush doubled down on the gop's anti-woman agenda with
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some ugly words about planned parenthood. >> what do you call planned parenthood if that's not a death squad? who could disagree? >> planned parenthood is a death squad. really? no wonder the new numbers of women voters are down right scary for the republican campaign. president obama holds a 22% lead over romney among women voters. 22 points. women are the reason the president's currently holding a slim lead. and it's clear the fight for women votes will be a focus until election day. join me now is nia-malika henderson for the washington
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post. a and erin mcpike. thank you both for being here. take us inside the call for colorado and talk about health care in his speech. >> right now both republicans and democrats will tell you that sub bourban women throughout colorado are key to winning colorado. it's a very tight race out there. there's a new poll out this morning by quinnipiac and cbs showing him leading romney by five points. en the romney campaign will say suburban womens are critical to their efforts about winning colorado. the obama campaign knows about that as well. that's why they're specifically targeting them on this issue. >> nia-malika, he goes to colorado where this poll this morning says the president is behind. women are key. and he talks about his mother and his daughters. listen.
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>> my own mom turned 70 years old this year. and my sister and i lost her to cancer when she was just 52 years old. i often think about what would have happened if a doctor had caught her cancer sooner. or if she had been less worried about how to pay her bills and more time spent on getting well. she is still with us. she's in a better place. i think about malia and sasha and think we're not going to have an america where they have fewer opportunities than somebody's sons. i don't want them having fewer choices than anybody's boys do. >> so nia-malika, connecting his mother and health care, his wishes for the future of his daughters as compared to boys and men, in a state he needs women's voters, is it policy in
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politics? what are we looking at here? >> it's a way of talking about policy through personal anecdotes. these are very personal anecdotes you heard in 2008 that obama would hit on similar things about his mother and daughters when he was at columbia. he also hit on those similar themes of equality. and so i think this is a very effective strategy. the type of women they particularly need to reach, they're suburban women but suburban white women. they're also single white women under the age of 50. those are the voters they're going against. if you look at a state like colorado, a state like virginia, you can't turn on the television here without seeing ads that are specific wli targeted to women that talk about mitt romney's desire to end planned parenthood, end the funding for planned parenthood. in some of his more conservative views about abortion. this is very much a throwback to
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2008 when john mccain himself realized the path to the white house was in terms of reaching out to women, that's why he picked sarah palin. you've seen democrats able to blow out their margin of the need among women over these last couple years. it was 13% in 2008. now in these polls it's 22%. >> erin, when you hear the president talking like we just heard, talking about his mother, talking about his daughters, talk about health care, talking about what it means in terms of the gender gap, you contrast that by hearing how governor romney's talked about women's issues. watch this. >> do i believe the supreme court should overturn roe v. wade? i do. i'm in favor of the amendment. of course you get rid of obama care. that's the easy one. but there are others. planned parenthood. going to get rid of that. >> so the politics of this aside from the policy is that romney
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has said so many things that may impact negatively those women in colorado you're talking about that are critical where the president is coming with things that at least according to polls of their opinions is in line with their thinking. >> sure. a lot of those comments that mitt romney made were designed to appeal to conservatives during the primary. of course he needed to win the base in order to be a candidate like rick santorum when trying to win that. those comments may come back to bite him in the general election. in particular we were talking about colorado. but also virginia. very important there because of some of the state laws that they were trying to legitimate earlier this year. with the ultrasounds. that didn't reflect well on the republican party and it has hurt mitt romney with women in virginia. and we're seeing that now the romney campaign just earlier today announced a series of events that they'll be doing this week with some of mitt
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romney's female surrogates. they are sending out surrogates so he can appeal to women that way. >> well, nia-malika and erin, thanks for your time tonight. >> thank you. coming up, just a few months ago, newt gingrich called mitt romney a liar. well, today he's helping to dust off the old republican dirty politics playbook. plus we'll tell you about the far right's latest and lamest conspiracy theory about the president. and hillary clinton is foot loose and fancy free. it's part of today's summer break. you're watching "politicsnation" on msnbc.
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folks, have you checked us out on facebook? the "politicsnation" conversation is going all day long. folks today had a lot to say about romney's support for paul ryan's medicare plan. betty says america's seniors educate themselves about the issues that affect them and they vote. they know the ryan plan would destroy the medicare they know and love. larry says romney might as well pick paul ryan as his v.p. because the ryan budget is hanging as an anchor around his neck anyway. and richard says quote, they want to pick on the frail and the elderly, but how wrong they are. we want to hear what you think too. head over to facebook and search "politicsnation" and like us to join the conversation that keeps
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mitt romney is so desperate to change the topic from his tax returns that he's ripped a page out of the old republican playbook. today he repeated his bogus claim that president obama's trying to weaken the work requirements of the welfare reform law by granting waivers. >> he removed the requirement of work from welfare. it is wrong to make any change that would make america more of a nation of government
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dependency. we must restore it and i will restore work into welfare. >> yeah, yeah. you know this president, he's against work. but former president bill clinton who signed the welfare reform law in '96 says romney's claims are quote, not true. and the attacks are disappointing and misleading. but the romney campaign is not about to let little things like the truth get in the way. today they even drudged up newt gingrich, the man who called romney a liar just months ago. they brought newt out to talk about welfare. because you know he's the expert. >> this is a fundamental question about what's good for poor americans. we believe work and education are. they believe dependency and food stamps are. i think on the hard left, there is an unending desire to create a dependent america. >> republicans are happy to support corporate welfare through tax breaks and
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subsidies. but when it comes to real people who need help, then it's called dependency. joining me now is ana marie cox, washington correspondent for the guardian. and jonathan capehart, an opinion writer for the washington post and an msnbc contributor. thanks to both of you for joining me. >> thank you. >> good to be here. >> jonathan, let me start with you. welfare reform. it just popped up as a big issue for the romney campaign. why? and why now? >> why? why now? it's a great question. well, the way they're doing it is rather effective in that it gets people's juices flowing. particularly people within the base of the republican party who have this view that all democrats and progressives want to do is give away government money to people who don't deserve it. people who don't -- who shouldn't get it it in the first place. that's why i think it's popping up now.
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and it also is a convenient distraction from the ongoing conversation about mitt romney and his refusal to release more than a year -- more than a year's tax returns and let's keep in mind he's only released one full year and the estimate of another year. so that's why i think this is happening now. >> so ana marie, rather than talk about how you made money, what you did with it, what percentage of taxes you were paying, let's talk about money that the needy are getting and that the president for some reason no one can figure out but them is all of a sudden not requiring they go to work. >> yeah. it is interesting. i agree with jonathan that romney wants to move the conversation from how much money he has to how little money other people have. i think it says a lot about his campaign and about who he is and who the republican party thinks they are. that they're relying on people's
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animosity towards the poor and unsympathetic view of people who aren't employed or maybe aren't living the lifestyle they'd like to live and demonizing them. a lot of this election is going to rely on how sympathetic or empathetic people in the middle are towards people who are having trouble getting a job. those in that group that would like to have a better job or a job. they might be more understanding than the romney campaign wants to believe about the people who may be on welfare who are looking like they might be on welfare some day in the future. >> jonathan, it's not only questionable or bad policy in my opinion. it's hypocrisy. when you look at the fact in 2005, romney was one of 29 gop governors who signed a letter asking for the same waiver program that he's now criticizing the president for.
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in the letter that he signed, there's his signature, they wanted quote, increased waiver authority and the ability to coordinate state programs are all important aspects of moving recipients from welfare to work. >> see, these are the same folks who decry washington being involved in everyone's lyes. and the state should be the laboratories of experimentation. so here you have the obama administration saying okay. we've heard you governors. we are going to -- if you come to us with a credible program that does indeed officially move people from welfare to work, we will grant you a waiver to our federal rules to make that happen. and what mitt romney has done is turn that into he's just going to eliminate -- he being the president -- is going to
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eliminate completely the work requirement. which just is not true. >> now, ana marie, they roll out today no less expert in compassion newt gingrich. let me show you newt's feelings about welfare and comments he's made about welfare during the campaign. >> we've got people taking their food stamp money and using it to go to hawaii. they give food stamps to millionaires. obama is the best food stamp president in american history. more people are on food stamps today because of obama's policies. it is the left which has abandoned and betrayed the poor because its safety net is a spider web and it traps people in dependency. >> last night on this show spike lee said it was a willie horton tactic bringing welfare up like this. >> well, there's no doubt that there's some racial codes that are being sort of thrown around
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when you talk about the poor the way newt gingrich does. but you know what they say about newt, he has hair where his heart should be. he doesn't sound compassionate. and he doesn't behave compassionately in the people in his life if you look at his personal life. i don't think he's someone i would go to if i wanted to find a model about how to move people forward in their lives really. >> thank you both for your time. >> thanks, rev. >> thank you. ahead, there's some v.p. buzz building for paul in medicare as we know it ryan. but what would it mean for the country? what would it mean for seniors? and she's our secretary of state. and showing -- she's showing all the right moves. summer break is coming up. [ male announcer ] let's say you need to take care of legal matters.
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folks, rick perry's run for president was pretty confusing. but he was clear on two points. he doesn't like the new health care law or planned parenthood.
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but those positions aren't that clear after all. perry swears he won't let the health care law take effect. >> we're not going to participate in exchanges. we're not going to expand medicaid. medicaid is a failed program. to expand this program is not unlike adding a thousand people to the "titanic." >> how is getting people insured like throwing them on a sinking ship? but perry may actually want the expansion. texas is set to lose federal support for its women's health program. because the state blocked money from going to planned parenthood. perry promised to find funds for a new program. and guess where the money's coming from? the medicaid expansion in the health care law. perry's administration says a new women's health program won't
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cost much because quote, all clients will be eligible for medicaid following the expansion of the medicaid program. so governor perry says texas won't add anyone to medicaid, but he's counting on the expansion to pay for another policy. i wonder how he explains that. >> oops. >> everything's bigger in texas. including the hypocrisy. did governor perry think we wouldn't notice this one? nice try, but we got you. as much advanced technology as the world around it. with the available lexus enform app suite, you can use opentable to make restaurant reservations... search with bing... and listen to pandora. presenting the 2013 lexus gs, rx and the all-new es, the leading edge of the leading edge. during the golden opportunity sales event, get great values on some of our newest models.
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so i'd like to welcome someone to help us navigate the choices that we're facing. joining me now is david wessel who's a pulitzer prize winning wall street journal columnist. he is the author of "red ink: inside the high takes politics of the federal budget." thank you for being on. >> my pleasure. >> your book has to do with the economic problems facing the country. let's start with basics. this graphic is in your book. it does a good job breaking down where we spend our money. in 2011, for example, we spent over $3 trillion -- nearly 20% was spent on defense. then we had social security, medicare, medicaid, and other
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benefits made up more than half. and everything else made up 18%. now, what does this breakdown say about the decisions we're going to have to make regarding the budget? >> well, it basically tells us that in that 18% are almost all the things you might consider investments in the future. medical research, education, highways, infrastructure, things that will pay dividends for our kids. and a big part of the budget is defense and benefits that are being consumed now. if we're going to restrain the deficit and we will have to do that some day, we can't do it without taking a look at a better way to deliver those benefits so we can save some money. >> now, obviously, entitlements are a major problem. the ryan budget, paul ryan, lays out one way to deal with them. what are other solutions on the table? >> they would do two things. turn something into a voucher
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program. where instead of getting guaranteed insurance, you would get a coupon to cover insurance. if it didn't cover the cost, it'd come out of your pocket. in medicaid you give the money to the states and let memoir about it. that is one approach. the alternative is to radically change the program so we can get a better deal. so we can get more but waste less money. it's not going ton easy, but that's the alternative. >> now, deference spending is another major factor. you point this out in your book that defense spending has actually gone up a good deal since president reagan. does it make sense to grapple this in terms of bringing down the debt? look at how we've gone up in defense spending since president obama's been in. >> and president obama is proposing some cuts in the defense budget. as you would expect as we end
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the war in iraq and get out of afghanistan. but his proposal is adjusted for inflation to have a higher peacetime defense budget than we've had before in our history. and mitt romney wants one even bigger. we obviously need a defense budget. we obviously want to protect ourselves from terrorists, from cyber terror from china. protect our supply of oil. we have become the world's only policeman, it seems. but there is a point in which we can't do everything. and we can't afford too buy all the weapons that the military would like to have. one helicopter for the army, navy, marines and so forth. >> this quote in your book struck me. it says quote, the share of income most american families pay in their federal taxes has been falling for more than 30 years. today americans pay less on their income taxes in taxes than citizens in nearly every other
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develops country. so we're actually paying less than most other wealthy kocoun y countries? >> they tend to have bigger governments with more government services. but i think the point that people in the middle of the middle class rarely appreciate is that the share of their income that's gone to federal taxes, income and payroll taxes and all the other federal taxes has come down since 1980. we've been able to tax less and borrow more. it would be nice if that could go on forever. it can't. >> republicans are always talking about taxes, but tax loopholes also need to be part of the discussion. >> right. and i think republicans are beginning to recognize that. the tax system brought in $1.3 trillion last year. and there were loopholes, deductions, and credits that cost the treasury $1.1 trillion
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last year. that's one reason tax rates are where they are. if we want to raise more money -- >> wait just a minute. i want to stop you there. let's look at what you just said. individual and corporate income tax, $1.3 trillion. loopholes, $1.1 trillion. that's amazing. >> right. so think of all the money we could raise if we had fewer deductions, loopholes, and exclusions. why do we have so many? some are for special interests and some are particulopular are like the home mortgage deduction. can we raise more money by those loopholes or by raising tax rates? a lot of people want to do the former. get rid of the holes in the swiss cheese of the tax code. >> thank you so much for your time tonight. the book once again is "red ink." it's a great read.
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>> you're welcome. >> joining me now is congresswoman dana bass. thank you for coming on the show tonight. >> thanks for having me on again. >> congressman paul ryan and his budget are at the forefront of this national debate. what does the gop's embrace cough this budget mean? >> well, i think it means that our country as we know it would be completely and fundamentally changed. for example, the person that was on before talked about medicare. essentially what mr. ryan is proposing doing that the republicans have embraced and mitt romney has also embraced would completely revise medicare into a voucher. but what happens when you run out of money? what happens if you have a major disease? if you eliminate health care reform and give somebody a check, what's going to happen if they have a pre-existing condition? how are they going to be able to
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find medical coverage? if you just give a state a block grant, a definite amount, what happens when we have a fiscal crisis and unemployment increases and the state runs out of money? essentially, you would have a divide in our country that we have never seen before. and i think one of the fundamental values of our nation is fairness. and if you look at the heart of the paul ryan budget, he is talking about restructuring our nation in a way that you would eliminate a safety net. it is a way of having social darwinism, the survival of the fittest as national policy. and i think frankly that that would be a tragedy. >> now, ultimately it boils down to the question of fairness. when you look at the ryan budget, it would put huge burdens on seniors. all while helping the wealthy. it would force seniors to pay $6400 more for medicare all
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while giving millionaires an average tax cut of around $265,000. this is really about fairness. >> well, it is about fairness. and as your previous guest talked about in terms of the loopholes, i don't think that most of my republican colleagues want to eliminate the loopholes. or let me say that differently. they want to eliminate certain loopholes. but the ones they're talking about eliminating are the ones the working class needs. not the tax breaks for the millionaires. in paul ryan's budget is millionaire or someone who is extremely wealthy could have a tax break of over $300,000. so i believe that by eliminating the safety net and providing loopholes for millionaires and billionaires, fundamentally the ryan budget that romney has embraced is absolutely unfair. >> but there's talk in some
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circles of even running mr. ryan for vice president. i mean, given the power of the senior vote, can he run as a vice presidential candidate with his position on changing medicare? >> i would probably be in favor of that. since mitt romney has embraced paul ryan's budget, why not put him on the ticket? why not have him go around the country and talk about giving seniors a check and taking away medicare? why not talk about cutting the pell grants for college students. why not talk about slashing transportation costs when the infrastructure of our country is in bad need of repair and people need jobs. let him put him on the ticket. i support the re-election of the president, let's see what happens. >> do i hear from california some run, paul, run slogans? thank you for your time this evening. >> you're welcome.
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thanks for having me on. ahead, we have some very big election news. that may just be very good news for democrats and the president. and we've been hearing all about romney-hood. but that's not the only fairy tale starring this republican this year. reverend al's fairy tales, a special reading. that's coming up. okay, here's the plan. you have a plan? first we're gonna check our bags for free, thanks to our explorer card. then, the united club. my mother was so wrong about you. next, we get priority boarding on our flight i booked with miles. all because of the card. and me. okay, what's the plan? plan? mm-hmm. we're on vacation. this is no plan. really? [ male announcer ] the united mileageplus explorer card. the mileage card with special perks on united. get it and you're in. [ "the odd couple" theme playing ]
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we're back with a pause from the political battles of the day. a time to rest, relax, and recharge. that's right. it's time for the "politicsnation" summer break. first let's meet the secretary of swing. hillary clinton was caught on camera busting some moves down in south africa. look at her go. she's inside the circle. she's getting down. get low, get funky. i've seen a lot of politicians try to cut a rug. but the results aren't always pretty. i'm looking at you, karl rove. but hillary did all right. next up, throat singing in russia. but wait, you ask don't we all sing with our throats? well, yes. but not like this.
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>> i guess it's an acquired taste. sort of like this guy. ♪ oh beautiful forspacious skies ♪ >> don't you just hate it when guests eat you out of house and home? don't you hate it when they eat your home? this raccoon has taken over the kitchen chowing down on everything he can get his paws on including the walls. all right. that's enough, raccoon. let's see more hillary. there she is! now, that's someone who's having fun. and that's today's summer break. you'll inevitably find yourself on a desolate highway in your jeep grand cherokee. and when you do,
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how about a trip down memory lane? way back to 2010. it was a big year for republicans. they took back the house with a wave of tea party freshman. but they weren't all winners. >> obama has a big skeleton in his closet. his college records. romney should agree to release more of his tax returns only if obama unseals his college records. >> if i were romney and i'm not, i would say simply i will release my returns which are 100% legit, everything fine, if you release the information that we want. whether it's his passport records, whether it's his -- >> angle, o'donnell, buck. they all pushed a far right agenda and lost their senate races. two years later, the gop is doing it again. nominating folks like ted cruz who wants to abolish the department of education.
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richard mourdock who defines compromise as democrats agreeing with him. and just last night the gop nominated todd akin for senate in missouri. he has some extreme positions. and he's not trying to hide it. just watch the video he proudly puts on his website. >> america has been subjected now to the stage three cancer of socialism. the takeover of 1/6 of our economy through obama care. >> he also thinks the federal minimum wage is destructive. says president obama is a quote, complete menace to our civilization. and says that hatred of god is the heart of liberalism. positions like these might have helped him win extreme republicans. but they also might help senator claire mccaskill whom he'll face
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in the fall. joining me now is joe madison host of "mornings with madison" and analyst karen finney, former communications director for the democratic committee. thanks for joining us. >> thank you. >> thanks. >> joe, can going too far right hurt republicans this fall? >> answer is absolutely it can. because, remember, 2010. voter turnout was extremely low. people tend to do that in midterm elections. but here, what we're going to be going after is 5%, 6% of undecided voters, independent owners. and they tend to be in the middle, not the extreme. >> now, karen, in the race i just talked about with mr. akin.
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his opponent mccaskill actually ran ads for him saying quote, todd akin, missouri's conservative candidate is too conservative. and at least one voter turned towards him saying that writing a letter to the springfield news leader. the letter to the editor said i think it's time for someone who may be too conservative. thank you, senator mccaskill tr running the ad. you have helped me determine that my vote needs to go to akin. i mean, that might be a good thing for mccaskill because clearly the vote in november will not be to the extreme right like it was in this primary last night in missouri. >> that's exactly right. a matter of just what joe was saying. in these gerrymandered districts, you can get tea partiers elected. but when we're talking about statewide races or national
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elections, the electorate itself particularly in a presidential year is bigger. which means you have many more independent voters. in a state like missouri, people don't like that extreme rhetoric. i don't think that most republicans in the state frankly believe that we hate god because we're liberals. i would say because of my democratic values, part of my faith is we help our fellow man and we're responsible. that's consistent with my faith. that's consistent with my party affiliation. that language turns off moderate and independent voters. people say well this has nothing to do with the issues that i really care about. it was a strategy on the part of claire mccaskill. i was thinking let's pick a few more candidates and get some msnbc ers and see if we had help out.
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>> three points behind akin right now. but she was pulling anywhere from five to 11 points behind who lost to him yesterday. so in fact, out of the lineup, he's really the best shot for her. >> and i think there's something else we need to speak to. i talked to danny glover today as a matter of fact. some others. there needs to be a massive concerted voter registration, get out the vote drive. and that quite honestly hasn't happened yet. if it can happen in a target state like missouri and some of these other places, then i think you're going to see again that number, that divide even shrink more. so keep in mind that this is in part due to the extreme. i mean, folks sitting over there saying we're not religious.
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jesus was an extremist for love. these folks are an extremist for hate. >> again, when you talk about getting out the votes with some of the groups you're talking about, some may personally have preferences but i want people to get out and vote. i don't care who you vote for. just go vote. >> get involved in the political process. that's what we were talking about today. this isn't just about the presidency. this is about the political process. and that's the way you counterbalance the tea party. >> but i think -- i was going say one of the things i think these extreme candidates are also doing. they're showing americans this is the kind of extremism that president obama and democrats in congress and frankly john boehner have been trying to deal with. this is the reason we almost went off the cliff the last time. this kind of extremist says i'm going to go to washington and blow everything up. i'm not there to get something done. it also reveals to the broader
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american audience this is what's appealing to the voters. >> these are serious times and it's not time to end up with gridlock or blowing it up. i have some firm beliefs, but i believe that others have the same right and we all should be able to express that. and i don't think we've got to demonize people and act like they're godless because their approach may be different than ours. joe madison, karen finney, thanks for being on the show tonight. >> thanks. >> thank you. ahead, think the gop's in fantasy land? well, coming up, reverend al's fairy tales for the republicans. that's next. [ donovan ] i hit a wall.
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and i thought "i can't do this, it's just too hard." then there was a moment. when i decided to find a way to keep going. go for olympic gold and go to college too. [ male announcer ] every day we help students earn their bachelor's or master's degree for tomorrow's careers. this is your moment. let nothing stand in your way. devry university, proud to support the education of our u.s. olympic team. yeah, and i took on all the bigger, tougher ones.
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but now that mr. clean's got this new select-a-size magic eraser, i mean, he can take on any size job. look how easily he gets things cleaned. it's enough to make you cry. you, specifically. not me. i'm just happy we don't go near rex's mobile home as often. because it's hard to clean or because you're scared of an itty-bitty doggy? [ dog barks ] aah! oh! [ clears throat ] yeah, that was a sneeze. i think i sprayed myself. [ male announcer ] new mr. clean select-a-size magic eraser. lets you pick the right size for every job. anyone have occasional constipation, diarrhea, gas, bloating? yeah. one phillips' colon health probiotic cap each day helps defend against these digestive issues with three strains of good bacteria. approved! [ phillips' lady ] live the regular life. phillips'.
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you may have heard president obama's romney-hood comment. he steals from the poor to give the the rich. it inspired me to share other
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fairy tales with you. so before we turn in for the night, come and gather around the tv for reverend al's romney tales. let me start with the classic cinderella. governor romney searching for the princess who owns the zblass slipper. but when it fits the poor cinderella, uh-oh. this might not end well. >> i'm not concerned about the very poor. >> then there's the goose that laid the golden eggs. the goose doesn't die in this version. he's living it up. this one percenter is getting tax breaks on those eggs. maybe we'll see him at the hamptons fund raiser. let's move on to rip van wink l. he wakes from a slumber to find he qualifies for social security but not so fast, rip, someone in
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the kingdom has a problem with it. >> i'll gradually raise the retirement age for social security and reduce the age of benefit growth. >> and finally snow white. this tale is about another and other republicans you see. snow white's poison apple tragedy could have been avoided. if house republicans didn't propose cuts to fda funding. i think there's a lesson to be learned from these romney tales. don't read them before you go to bed. and if the wrong people get in to office, my fairy tales may end up your reality show. thanks for watching. i'm al sharpton. "hardball" starts right now. romney versus romney. let's play "hardball."
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goovk good evening. i'm chris matthews. let me start with this. revelati revelation. the romney crowd has let slip the biggest fact of the campaign. the former massachusetts governor is not just proud of the health care plan he ran through up there, he wishes people like that fella if had the new obama ad whose wife died of cancer and everyone outside of massachusetts could benefit from a program. he wants people know matter where they live in this country to have a state-driven health care plan. it's a rarity in modern politics. what we expected to be true and now for the first time to be true, a candidate openly confessed romney long saw his health care plan as a model for the country. now his campaign spokesperson is trumpeting that fact. wait a minute, isn't he the one saying he'll kill the health care plan if he gets elected?
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we see the guy who promises one thing, believes another, and is now embarrassed by the ridiculous bad news in the contradiction here. joining me now is bob slump and john heilemann. we see here been talking about it since yesterday. the ad's narrated by a man whose wife died of cancer. his wife died years later. let's listen to this ad. >> then one day she became ill and i took her up to the jackson county hospital. and admitted her for pneumonia. that's when they found the cancer. by then it was stage four. there was nothing they could do for her. and she passed away in 22 days. i do not think mitt romney has realized what he's done for anyone.

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