the gop, it's the perfect storm. >> the mayor of tampa says he's prepared to call off the republican national convention. >> steroids for these storms. >> that's just the weather. >> this selfish swine, todd akin, is going to hurt the republican party. >> what is forcible rape? >> does anybody have -- >> missouri is a must win state. >> let the guy stay in. >> a new poll shows that the republican plan to remake medicare is widely unpopular. >> congressman ryan will answer some questions in a little bit. is that a no? i'm sorry. i thought that was part of it. >> i'm barack obama and i approve this message.

we begin with mitt romney four days to tampa and despite two weeks of furious campaigning with his new running mate, well, mr. romney is still fighting to gain ground where it really counts, with voters. a new poll showing the race unchanged since june. the president maintaining his lead with 237 electoral votes to the republican's 191 with 110 toss-up votes. a new quinnipiac "new york times" poll, not much rosier for mr. romney. president obama retains a six-point advantage in ohio. the president leading by three points in florida, two points in wisconsin, mr. ryan's home state. note that the polling was largely taken before todd akin put republicans extreme anti-choice agenda back in the spotlight which both parties agree could change the dynamic of the race particularly among women. a new poll by planned parenthood

showing half of american women have doubts about a romney presidency. 44% say he's out of step with women's issues. that echoing our own nbc wall street poll showing romney at a 28-point deficit to the president on women's issues. now, romney knows he's got issues with those issues. so one tactic he's used in an attempt to move the needle is to contrast president obama with bill clinton. allegeding that mr. obama has abandoned the former president's focus on moderate politics and middle class voters. mr. clinton thought he might have a word about that in a new ad for the obama campaign. >> this is a clear choice. the republican plan is to cut more taxes on upper income people and go back to deregulation. president obama has a plan to rebuild america from the ground up. investing in innovation, education and job training. it only works if there is a

strong middle class. that's what happened when i was president. we need to keep going with his plan. >> well, there goes that. four days to the gop convention and mitt can win with women, can't get anywhere near bill clinton's charisma. voters don't like mitt or bain. they do like medicare, but not his plan for it. i know. what about energy? let's try that. >> north american energy independence by 2020. north american energy independence by 2020. that means we produce all the energy we use in north america. >> yes, we know what that means. we just don't see how it's possible. you'll note he made it a goal, not a pledge. given the romney tapped a good $10 million in oil money in the past two days, at least we know where he's getting his ideas from. let's get right to our panel now. msnbc political analyst, karen

finney, is in washington and here in new york, msnbc analyst, professor michael eric dyson. karen, why didn't mr. romney include the elimination of poverty, the curing of cancer and end of warfare alongside his claim that he'll deliver energy independence within seven years? >> you mean because it's equally as unrealistic? of course. here's the thing. clearly, the romney campaign thinks that the way they're going to win is to just kind of keep saying whatever it is they feel like saying without having any accountability for the numbers because if you once again, his numbers don't add up. according to cbo reports actually, apparently, like 70% of our oil opportunity we're already drilling, so when he says we're going to open more drilling, you're talking about 30%. that's not going to yield the kind of jobs and income that he is suggesting it will. then on the other hand, he's saying let's cut back on i don't wand to do these wind energy tax credits, which is going to hurt him in iowa and colorado.

so, he just really doesn't seem to have a message that anybody likes. >> professor dyson, is he justly rally thinking of a subject. education, vouchers. doesn't work. energy. energy independence. throw that one out. >> it does appear to be a quixotian moment here, there's no wind behind those windmills because his plan is ludicrous. he's casting his fate with a clear issue that he can get an advantage over mr. obama, but president obama has already outstrategized him by anticipating conservative and moderate responses to particular issues and then being able to engage those communities to the dismay -- >> isn't it the case that the president tends to understand the issue prior to making a comment on it? >> yes, it is predicated upon rational engagement and logical deduction. and being able to think

critically about the issues. it is amazing that mr. romney has the inability, the manifest inablty to think about a critical issue and talk about his relationship to it by dealing with strengths and virtues and can't even arct articulate his message. >> karen, ryan really has perfected what we call the romneyesqe art, discussing the romney ryan budget in the rather friendly quarters of the kudlow report on cnbc. >> spending cuts to get the deficit down in the near term and reforms that get the debt paid off over the long-term. that's how we dodge a debt crisis! with respect, are we talk b about 700 billion in spending cuts in the first term? what kind of number? >> you know, we can have a long debate about this. that's what we're going to have to negotiate with congress in january. mark my words, we have to cut spending. >> sorry, so just trust me,

again. that's their motto, isn't it? just trust me. no details. no figure. >> that's it. i could, i don't want to get all wonky on you, if you're going to talk the economy, i'd say kudlow's one of the best to have that conversation with. again and again and again, we've seen just trust me regardless of the fact that the numbers don't add up, the facts don't add up. regardless o the fact that we can happenedndle the truth and going to say as little as possible so we anger as few people as possible to try to get elected. obviously, mr. akin is not on that page with the two of them. the first week they announced mr. ryan, they had a rocky time. they were not on the same page and you would expect a little bit, well, we haven't run the numbers. now is the time you better have specifics. >> professor dyson, this point

karen makes about just trust me, we've all got used to the fact that mitt romney never tells us specific details about anything. his taxes. his policies. but now, i thought paul ryan was supposed to be the guy who was meticulous, who got to the facts, who drilled it down and here he is saying well, i can't give you details about things. the workout fiend who was able to work out the details obviously not with the math. what's ridiculous here, it's not simply an insult saying just trust me, it's the parental don't ask me. this is not your spirit of engagement. you are to be seen and not heard and i think the american voter is being put in position where they're not expecting people to ask them questions because after all, we know best. >> a cbs reporter who was about to conduct an interview with mitt romney today was actually told apparently, that there were

to be no questions about abortion an absolutely no questions about todd akin. brilliant response to a current news story. do not ask me anything. >> right, because that might get me off my message i want to be talking about. it's kind of an unusual type of ground rule. you know, you're negotiating these interview, you go back and forth with the reporter generally, that's how it works. but at this point in a campaign where you are so far back and in the wrong place on so many issues, you shouldn't have to put that kind of precondition on whether or not you'll sit down with a reporter and don't blame the reporter for feeling like she had to say they told me i couldn't ask this question because it's the obvious question. it's very relevant. >> he keeps avoiding what he meant. did you say it? yes. what did you mean? rape is ra prk pe.

if we want to have the obama line, we'll stick with the man who gave it first. president obama. >> on this issue of specifics, talked to some republican strategists who said frankly that having ryan on the ticket actually makes them nervous because he's so specific. because they were concerned that he's going to box romney in because you know, you've got a plan where there are specifics. >> what you mean, karen, is that congressman ryan has a record in congress that we can look at. he says rape is rape, we know he cosponsored not one, but two bills with todd akin. it's harder for him to walk away. >> and makes him you know, look responsible to actual issues and policies that he's enacted and as a result of that, he can't do the kind of romney, let it all disappear behind rhetoric. no, you've got stuff you've done. i think he's been a great liability. >> karen, not to labor this

point, mitt romney slammed the president's leadership, saying he needs to paef a runway for a resolution to the fiscal cliff, but take a listen to his answer when pressed on fox business this afternoon. >> specifically, what would you put in that runway? what would you want to see in that runway? >> well, i've indicated that i would keep the status quo in in place with regards to tax policy, military spending and the like. >> sorry, republicans have always wanted the status quo. the deta lay was as if herp on delay from a satellite. >> again, it's a pretty obvious question. the fact they are ill prepared for obvious questions. if i were a republican donor, i would be very nervous. again, the strategy here is they lie about president obama's record. for example, today when he was talking about energy, he was misleading his audience about

the things that president obama has already done to reduce our dependence on foreign sources of oil and increase domestic production and he throws out this great rhetoric, but won't tell you how he's going to get there. i'm not evening going to talk about rape or todd akin, because i might not remember the details. >> like when it comes to issues with women, they haven't done their homework and as a result, they are not prepared and aren't they supposed to be a party of the wonkish, intelligence and yet, they are incompetent, incape l of offering an answer and look like tweedle dee and tweedle dum! thank you, both. next, things get even worse for team romney. swing state seniors really don't trust them with their medicare. >> they're admitting that yes,

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tropical storm isaac could be upgraded to a hurricane in the next 24 hours. the one guest who may crash the gop convention in tampa monday, but mother nature is only one of the unstoppable forces besetting the gop. the other, well, that's the american voter's genuine affection for the medicare program. about two third of voters in florida and two other swing states tell a new poll they

trust the president more than mitt romney on medicare and when asked about the paul ryan plan to transform mediciare, it's no surprise because that's about the same number who told quinnipiac in may of last year the exact same thing. joining us now from washington is dana milbank and jared bernstein, an msnbc contributor and former economic adviser to the vice president. good afternoon. dana, immediately after the ryan pick was announced, now wrote paul ryan's affect on mitt romney would be quote the effect of a ball and chain. how is that holding up. you wrote it. >> i appreciate it, martin. we've seep this happen before and we know how this plays out. now, paul ryan's saying this is a debate we want to have. now the results are in.

he's seen the debate and you'll notice they're moving on to other subjects. this is not a debate they're going to win. now, interestingly enough, within those poll number, some of the older voters object less to ryan and romney on this. it's the overall voters saying we don't even want you to change this program down the road. >> indeed, why is their argument not working? you're an economist. paul ryan tells us he understands numbers. why is this argument not working? >> this has to be fixed down the road and the sooner we start it, the better. the problem is, how do you fix it? there's a right way and a wrong way. i've seen this consistently. i've been watching these guys for years. when it comes to social security, medicare, medicaid, they basically fix it by breaking it. that is, they take the savings

out from the beneficiary side and make sure that the snurns companies, corporations, whomever on the other side of the fence are held harmless. if you look at the affordable care act, president obama's health care reform, there you see a very different type of a fix. they are in fact, the beneficiary's package in medicare improved the cost savings, comfort and efficiencies on the provider's side. it's really a matter of who you're targeting, shifting. >> are you suggesting that the paul ryan plan as opposed to the president's is actually intended to benefit not the beneficiary, i.e., the person who pays into it, but the insurance companies? >> that's precisely what i'm suggesting in the following sense. dana's point is that the long-term trend in health care spending, private for that matter, is unsustainable, so

costs have to be brought down. do you do that by shifting the burden of cost control on to the beneficiary through whacking away in this case, a guaranteed benefit under medicare by changing it into a voucher program that seniors will have to pay the difference or try to get at the inefficiencies in the system. start at the providers side. that's the economics of why this is polling so badly. >> now, dana, paul ryan told everyone last week regarding medicare, we want this debate. we need this debate. we will win this debate. why is he not winning this debate? >> well, because he's saying we want this debate, but retreating along the way. so originally, his medicare plan was saying quite openly, was saying let's get rid of medicare and just replace it with this other program now, realizing that was a debacle. he said okay, we'll keep the traditional medicare option with just the implication that it would be phased out.

well, look, give the republicans some credit for raising an issue they were bound to lose here, but what do you come out with that policy provision, that's what's going to happen. nobody should be surprised we're not buying what you're selling. >> jared, you've been pointing out that contrary to mitt romney and paul ryan's claims, the ryan plan will affect current retirees because they've always described it in future terms. . >> it's posht not to get this wrong. i make this mistake almost every day in the newspapers, not from dana i'm sure. really affordable care act, which is part of the romney ryan pra plan, you open up this thing called the donut hole. thousands of dollars shifted back on to seniors. it's precisely the same thing i suggested.

you also get rid of the wellness and prevention. most importantly from my sper perspective, you now lose eight years in the trust fund. the affordable care act. adds years of life to the medicare insurance trust fund under governor romney's plan, he takes those plus savings out and the hospital trust fund lasts for eight years less. >> extraordinary. and they want to sell that. thank you, gentlemen. we'll be right back with much more, but first, some inspiring words from prince harry. stay with us. >> i believe that taking part in sport can be incredible beneficial to young people. it teaches us some of life's most important values such as team work, discipline, hard work and respect.

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it's just a few short days to go now until the republican national convention and we're getting a first look at the program for that forthcoming feast of gop jubilation. mark your calendars for next tuesday because we're told the special theme that day is we built it. or wait. is that right? or is it we did build it. or we did build this. sometimes, it's i built this. i've even seen we did build it. tricky emphasis on that last one. and i'm not sure what the message is supposed to be, but the actual building where the event the happening, they definitely did not build that. in fact, if it were not for the government, that building would not be there at all. when thousands of red dot republicans take shelter frommize i cfrom

i isaac next week, they'll be doing it in a building that wouldn't exist without the government's support, so remember that next week. remember that they wouldn't even have a forum to deliver their attacks on government if government hadn't bill it in the first place. stay with us. the day's top lines are coming up. [ male announcer ] count the number of buttons in your car. now count the number of buttons on your tablet.

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from the path of isaac and todd akin's weird science to paul ryan's game of duck duck goose, here are today's top lines. don't dig on swine. >> i'm not president yet. >> take dead aim on the rich ones. >> making sure i can do speeches, want to make sure it's well done. >> they can buy anything, but they can't buy that. >> isaac's a unique storm and it has the potential to threaten a

major convention. >> i have no comments about isaac. we'll talk to the weather people about what happens there. >> the republicans have proven themselves they're pretty good at handling hurricanes. >> plans for tampa depend upon the airport being open and people like myself who need to get there. >> florida rarely suffers damage from a legitimate hurricane. >> had some interesting views on health. >> i value women in the workforce! tell people that your president believes that women should be able to make our own choices. >> this selfish swine is going to hurt the republican party. >> we can whine and complain all we want. >> don't answer the question, republicans. it's a set up, a trap. >> this is the dirtiest, sleaziest, slimiest campaign we've ever run. >> why does it have to be the some hom group?

>> i guess we know how you feel about that. >> we are going to confront the tough issues. i can't comment about that. we are not going to duck the tough issues. i'm not familiar with that. >> congressman will answer some media questions in a little bit -- is that a no? i'm sorry, i thought that was part of it. >> let's get right to our panel now. we're joined by ken vogel, brendan daily and trey. there was a big defense related role out today for paul ryan in north carolina but when you we look t the president's numbers on foreign policy, it's clear that the republican attacks on him just are not working, are they? >> i don't think the it's a matter of attacks working or not. it's still too early to tell on what voters really think about on the foreign policy or national security. >> that was a fairly good snapshot, sir.

>> well, listen, as it relates t.o. election. this election will be about the economy and foreign policy will be very low, but i'm not going to sit here and say mitt romney has any more experience on foreign policy or military than barack obama. because he doesn't. but it's simply a matter of who you want to put your trust in and the simple fact remains, i know a number of members of the military, they just do not respect this president. he's not someone that is strengthening the country when he's abroad. frankly, the leaders -- >> i'm sorry, what are you talking about? doesn't strengthen the country when he's abroad? >> he's weakening the country? >> how. >> martin, i'll tell you right here. the leaders in other countries want obama do win because they know a weaker united states or more uncertain united states makes them stronger or doesn't

make, doesn't put them in a position where aren't able to negotiate. they are going to fwoeshuate and get more out of it. >> trey, i'm sorry, trey. i was in london recently and the prime minister of the united kingdom, david cameron, had nothing but complimentary words for the president of the united states, specifically in relation to his foreign policy leadership. indeed, he said that he was following the president of the united states in relation to afghanistan and iraq. >> martin, martin, why don't you tell me one thing right now that the president has done foreign policy wise other than kill osama bin laden -- >> i'll tell you plenty. he assisted in the topple ling of gadhafi, he is actually changed the appearance of this country and internationally into a far more positive thing, but -- i'm sorry, i'm talking -- i'll ask the questions if you wouldn't mind. brendan, you're laughing, sir, but can't produce any facts. we've been trying to find out what paul ryan's -- let's take a

listen to this. >> i've had to vote to send many women to war. on more than one occasion. i've been to those funerals. i obviously have a lot more experience that barack obama did when he became president. i voted to send people to war. >> he's referring to his vote for the invasion of iraq, which was based on bogus intelligence in relation to nonexistent weapons of mass destruction. does that give him any credibility on foreign affairs? >> of course not, martin. on any number of issues, he doesn't have credibility. this guy's supposedly a deficit hawk. doesn't even balance out for another 20 years. he voted for sequestration, which these defense cuts would come in in january. this guy will say basically anything now. he doesn't want to talk about medicare because he knows a losing issue. >> ken, your excellent reporting today in politico suggests that

outside groups are routinely coordinating with groups in violation with federal campaign finance, so what about these new groups? should we simply assume that they, too, are coordinating with the romney campaign or the rnc or you tell me. who are they coordinating with? >> they're coordinating with one other and that is legal. as far as the rules probting outside groups with the campaigns and parties, those are so narrow as to almost be irrelevant and there are many ways around them. we saw en route to the 2010 elections, the nrc actually published its strategy list, the list of rays it was going to be airs and that allowed the outside groups, then became public and based their strategies accordingly. i think we're seeing this on both sides and it's going to be a real challenge because these rules were not written with the citizens, post citizens united

environment in mind where these groups are just dominating the air war. the democrats would like to see them come to their aid more, but they've struggled to raise the kind of money we've seen on the right. >> it's the coch brothers and the others on the right, sheldon adels adelson, the list depose on and on. that's really corrupting our democracy. >> their billionaires come forward as well if for whenever reason, whether it's unhappiness with president obama, whether it's just une easyness with this type of environment, they have been unwilling to come off the sidelines in the same way they did many 2004 when they were the ones who really driving the big money train with these groups that win over president bush unsuccessfully. >> trey, if i can come back to your comments about military leaders, you were referring

earlier to them being critical of the president. well, there are military leaders now speaking out against the new swift-boat groups. take a listen to this. >> american people don't want us to be another special interest group. they just don't want that. in fact, i think it confuses them. if someone uses the uniform, whatever uniform it is, for partisan politics, i'm disappointed by that. because i think it does a real -- on the trust we have with the american people. >> that's a man no less than general martin dempsey, chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, speaking on fox news. the top u.s. military commander, so if these groups don't pass muster with him, why should voters listen? >> first of all, he serves president obama right now, so it's not a surprising comment. but additionally -- >> i'm sorry, i cannot -- trey, i'm sorry, i cannot allow you to cast such a contemptuous

aspersion against a senior military officer by demeaning his service to this country. will you please take that comment back. >> i did not demean his service -- >> you did by suggesting that the -- only reason he said that was because he serves the president. would you please take that comment back -- will you please take that comment back -- >> hey, i know that you respect democracy and people's -- >> sir, he serves -- the united states of america. will you please -- okay. trey, you're not going to take the comment back. thank you very much. our thanks to ken, brendan and trey. my apologies for getting slight sli heated. next, mitt romney's energy goals. they sound vaguely familiar. stay with us. >> it can be summed up in one word that best characterizes this nation and it's essential nature. that word is independence. >> i will set a national goal of

america and north america, north american energy independence by 2020. north american energy independence by 2020. [ kate ] many women may not be properly absorbing the calcium they take because they don't take it with food. switch to citracal maximum plus d. it's the only calcium supplement that can be taken with or without food. that's why my doctor recommends citracal maximum. it's all about absorption.

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the power to release federal land. phil tonko is a democrat from new york who happens to be a mechanical industrial engineer. good afternoon, sir. >> thank you, martin. good afternoon to you and your viewers. >> i guess when your medicare ideas are a flop, your running malt can't defend his ideas and can't explain why you're hiding your tax returns, i guess you just pick a date out of thin air and claim you can make america energy independent, is that right? >> well, when a candidate -- and people check the bain capital agenda, they ran away from that. when he promoted his role as governor of massachusetts as reason for his experience to be the choice with voters out there, we found that he was 47th in job production, they ran away with that. when he promoted his system and found that seniors would have to

dig deeper into their pockets, they ran away from that and i think they'll run away from their plan shortly when people find it's another hand out. >> now, we just heard romney's plan calls for expanding offshore drilling on the east coast. and according to his advisers, the most aggressive leasing plan put forward. as governor, interestingly, romney sided with democrat senators john kerry and ted kennedy in fierce opposition to winds off the coast of nantucket for environmental reasons. take a listen to this, sir. >> this is not a decision about money. it's not even a decision about power. it is a decision about our environment, about the legacy we leave our children. it is a heritage given to us by god. we may not, we cannot trash this extraordinary resource that the cape enjoys. thank you. >> that is a remarkable piece of footage. does mr. romney have no problem

stroi destroying the natural beauty of say alaska because it's one of the few states say where he doesn't own a home? >> i wouldn't want to begin to guess the thinking behind their statements here, but it does appear to be blatantly yet another flip-flop. if this is the legacy we want to leave generations that will follow us, that we did not have a concern for the environment, that we did not have concern for solutions here that are driven by physics, not politics, we need to apply solutions, not slogans. i think what we have here is just a classic example of drill, baby, drill. is independence from reliance on fossil fuels, corruptness dependsy. here, you know, shed the environmental role that we should also lift. >> if i might just apply your knowledge in the field of engineering for a minute, the

center piece of romney's plan is to allow states to decide how to handle oil, natural gas on federal lands in their board es. even if they were to be passed through congress, how would that work and how long would it take because as i understand it, it could take up to 20 years to get a proposal. >> well, number one, i think it just getting past the given that we are interconnected. in august of 2003, a situation in ohio where there was failure in the grid system put out lights on broadway in new york. and it remind us that with canada and the northeast, new england and the eastern sea board going dark because of that action, that there is this interaction. there is an interconnectedness of the states, so to not allow states to do their own thing without a national plan, there

should be some sort of standards, a plan that we follow that allows us to engage with some order of flexible the ilit this issue, give them to the states and tell them to set up their own agenda, is a failure. i think it's a failure that needs to be called for what it is. as they propose this plan. it is not created a diverse set of fuels that we can reach to and if you're going to draw down from thatdependency from fossil based fuel, then you need to make certain there is something to prime the pump and they don't mention production past credits. they don't produce any sort of diversity in the mix and i find that very disturbing. i don't think it's a sound energy plan. >> thank you, sir. >> thank you, martin. a pleasure to join you and your

viewers. sue herrera has the cnbc market wrap. >> good afternoon. it was a tough day on wall street today. the dow jones industrial avrnl finish the session down triple digits on the close. we lost 115 points on the dow jones industrial average. standard & poor's down 11.41 and just held above a key 1,400 level and nasdaq lost better than 20 points. that's it from cnbc. we are first in business worldwide. ♪ ♪ [ sneezes ] [ male announcer ] if you have yet to master the quiet sneeze... ♪ [ sneezes ] [ male announcer ] you may be an allergy muddler. try zyrtec®. it gives you powerful allergy relief. and zyrtec® is different than claritin® because zyrtec® starts working at hour 1 on the first day you take it. claritin® doesn't start working until hour 3. [ sneezes ] [ male announcer ] zyrtec®. love the air.

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if you think the president is going to take some time off next week to get back and watch the republican convention on the white house flat screen, think again. mike viqueira joins us now. we understand the president has

plans to be on the road campaigning next week while the republicans are huddled down in storm driven tampa. is the white house hoping to get under perhaps mr. romney's skin with that move? >> those gentle days of yore, martin, when the opposing candidates are at each other's conventions, they'd go down, green screen, go under ground. you wouldn't see them. they'd sort of leave the stage to each other. >> was that in the 19th century? >> i was doing this job when that happened. probably about 10 or 12 years ago. no more. those days are long gone and this president has not been shy. he's been very aggressive, actually, about counterprogramming. think back to when the president announced his candidacy, the president did an event. back to super tuesday. the president had a press briefing right in the briefing room here of the white house. the president it was announced is going to have a two-day trip on tuesday.

going to iowa, colorado and on wednesday, he's going to be in colorado and virginia. part of that trip, you can expect the president to talk about what you have talking about, the energy policy, especially in iowa. the president not shy about bringing that up. so counterprogramming. thursday night when mitt romney gives his acceptance speech, nothing we know of for the president, however. >> now, if isaac becomes a hurricane and does bear down on tampa, does the whout see that as a chance to take advantage of mr. obama appearing presidential and perhaps above the fray? >> if they do, that's dicesy political. you don't want to be seen as taking advantages, but one senior administration official put it this way. he said hurricane todd, todd akin, has already bourn down on tampa and the damage has already been done, so while the president will be acting in a capacity to work with fema and other agencies if the worst does

happen there, martin. >> mike viqueira, smooth as silk as always. thanks, mike. we'll be right back. [ thunder crashes ] [ male announcer ] if you think all batteries are the same... consider this: when the unexpected happens, there's one brand of battery more emergency workers trust in their maglites: duracell. one reason: duralock power preserve. it locks in power for up to 10 years in storage. guaranteed. so, whether it's 10 years' of life's sunny days... or... the occasional stormy one... trust goes a long way. duracell with duralock. trusted everywhere. atd g,c ] elib fed trust goes a long way. buoe urrtalen tu.

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constipated? yeah. mm. some laxatives like dulcolax can cause cramps. but phillips' caplets don't. they have magnesium. for effective relief of occasional constipation. thanks. [ phillips' lady ] live the regular life. phillips'. it's time now to clear the air and as republicans get increasingly excited about the convention next week, i've been wondering about how effective mitt romney really is when it comes to delivering a spell bounding seech, and so i was reminded of his attempt to suede african-americans to vote for him. he marched confidently on stage at the annual naacp convention and delivered a blunt speech that contained a quite remarkable claim. >> if you want a president who will make things better in the african-american community, you are looking at him. you take a look.

>> not quite the response he was hoping for. but then it emerged that the jeering was precisely what he was hoping for because later that day at a fund-raiser in montana, mr. romney who insulted the audience, then promised to repeal it, said this. when i mentioned obama care, they weren't happy. that's okay. i want people to know what i stand for. but i hope people understand this. your friends who like obama care, you remind them of this. if they want more free stuff from government, tell them go vote for the other guy. now, many commentators felt that this was mr. romney barely concealing his inner racist, bragging to his supporters that african-americans are only interested in government handouts, and so now, six weeks later, we have a new nbc news poll which reveals the effect of mr. romney's stirring speech and here's the