thanks, chris. and thanks to you for tuning in. tonight's lead, you bet we're better off. we're just one day from the democratic national convention, a critical moment in the obama campaign to make his case that things are better in this country. it's a big week. tomorrow night first ladies michelle obama speaks and a rising star san antonio mayor julian castro gives the keynote speech. on wednesday, two warriors for the middle class. elizabeth warren and former president bill clinton. and thursday the main event, speeches from vice president biden and president obama. today at labor day rallies, they pounded a message defending the middle class. how did governor romney spend

his labor day? 64 days until election day? he celebrated on his boat. just taking it out to run a few errands. normal stuff. she's a yar vessel. he's in vermont home of pretty barns like this one. and bed and breakfast places like this one. maybe he's a little sore from getting no bounce in the polls from his convention. ouch. but down in charlotte, this week will be all about answering a key question. are people better off than they were four years ago? vice president biden has no doubt. >> folks, let me make something clear and say to the press america is better off today than they left us when they left.

want to know why we're better off? i've got a bumper sticker for you. osama bin laden is dead and general motors is alive. osama bin laden is dead and general motors is alive. >> things are better off, folks. it's not even close. four years ago we were headed off a financial cliff. losing private sector jobs at a shocking rate. and now 29 straight months of job growth. that's better off. and years ago the economy was shrinking. now it's growing. american manufacturing is better off. the stock market is a lot better off. and it's more than just that. the affordable care act has made millions better off. the lilly ledbetter act.

and what about the auto industry? for all those whose jobs were on the brink, they're better off. this is not some romney/ryan spread sheet. these are real people with real families and their real jobs were saved by president obama's policies. >> just a few years ago when the auto industry was flatlining, what was in his and governor romney's play book? let detroit go bankrupt. we weren't going to let detroit go bankrupt or lordstown go bankrupt or toledo go bankrupt. i stood with american workers. i stood with american manufacturing. i believed in you. i bet on you. i'll make that bet any day of the week. and because of that bet three years later that bet is paying off for america. >> the president bet on america time and time again. and because of that, we're better off. case closed.

joining me now is chairwoman of the democratic national committee, congresswoman debbie wasserman shultz. thanks for joining me tonight. >> thank you. great to be with you again. >> what does the president need to do this week? >> what we're doing this week unlike the invitation only corporate infused back room deal smoke filled room affair that we had in my home state last week put on by the republicans, here this week in charlotte we opened the week with a community festival. celebrating the carolinas and invited the public to participate in what would be the most inclusive community oriented nominating convention for a presidential candidate in history. and we'll close this week, reverend al, with president obama accepting our nomination for a second term in the bank of america stadium in front of tens of thousands of americans. and we have an opportunity as we did in 2008 to use this convention as an organizing tool. in 2008 at invesco field on a

single day we signed up 125,000 volunteers. we'll have a chance to get more people engaged in this campaign than ever before. >> now, even governor romney is slamming the failed gop policies that got us into this mess when asked this question. listen to what he said. >> we're going to finally have to do something that republicans have spoken about for a long time. and for awhile, we didn't do it. when we had the lead we let people down. we need to make sure we don't lead them down this time. i will cut the deficit and get us on track to a balanced budget. >> while he's doubling down rhetorically, his two top economic advisers served under bush and let's keep in mind the rnc officials said this spring that his economic policies were the bush plan just updated. so he's attacking, but he's

surrounded by bush people and his own spokes people are saying he's just an updated version of the bush policies. >> well, i have to try not to laugh at mitt romney saying that he's going to actually reduce the deficit. he chose a candidate, congressman ryan for vice president to run with him, who actually voted to make sure that we fought two wars unpaid for which exploded the deficit. that we created a prescription drug program for seniors and medicare. but didn't pay for it. he voted for not one, but two -- the 2001 and 2003 bush tax cuts. unpaid for. so we took the clinton surplus that president clinton gave to president bush and we exploded the deficit. and president bush handed president obama the worst set of economic problems that we've seen since the great depression. and that's thanks to republican policies. so please spare me. if i chuckle when mitt romney and paul ryan say they're the

ones that are going to be fiscal stewards and will reduce our deficit. president obama has adopted policies that have already begun to reduce our deficit. and would do it even more if we could just get republicans to work with us and support president obama's budget that would reduce the deficit by $4 trillion. but reverend al, you know they only care about one job, barack obama's. we care about american jobs and continuing to fight for working families and get this economy turned around. >> we saw a lot of exaggerations. i said everywhere that i went lies in the republican convention. are we going to deal with a lot of truth and exposing their lies this week? >> well, president obama is going to have an honest conversation with the american people and talk about where we've been. when he first was elected and took office, the economy was hemorrhaging 750,000 jobs a month. now thanks to his policies we are better off after four years of his policies. we've had 29 straight months of job growth in the private sector

as you said. a resurgence in the manufacturing sector. creating jobs in manufacturing, a big deal in north carolina by the way. for the first time since the 1990s 4.5 million jobs in the private sector and counting. we passed the affordable care act which added eight years of solvency to medicare and began to reduce our deficit. we are better off. and we need to continue to move this economy forward. and we need a president in the white house like barack obama who's going to continue to fight for the middle class and working families. make sure if you work hard and play by the rules that everyone has a chance to be successful. not like mitt romney who thinks if we just shower a little more largesse on millionaires and billionaires, maybe the crumbs will trickle down and fall on top of the rest of us. that's not the policies to go back to. they nearly crashed our economy. >> let me ask you quickly, as i let you go and i appreciate you being with us, what do you fear the most as you go into this

convention as chair lady? the big money that citizens united decision has allowed the democratic party to have. first time we've seen in probably our lifetime where an incumbent president will be outraised. are you afraid of the money or turnout? "the new york times" had a big story this weekend that you had more field offices in colorado. so is your fear the turnout or the money? what are you afraid of? >> reverend al, i'm not afraid of anything. i'm hopeful. after seeing the thousands of delegates and activists that have already begun to arrive here in charlotte, at the end of this week we know we'll have a lot of momentum behind president obama. we're going to continue to run a people-powered, people-fueled campaign. a grassroots campaign the likes this country has never seen in a presidential campaign. we're going to do thousands of door knocks and phone calls. make sure we carry president obama back on the shoulders of the american people.

unlike the romney campaign which continues to be a super pac special interest funded campaign bank rolled by a handful of billionaires who want to buy the white house. that's part of the contrast and choice in fwront of voters. >> you know, congresswoman, as well as i know you and i raise the question of what you're afraid of. i knew that was a softball up the middle. you owe me one. >> i promise. >> congresswoman debbie wasserman shultz, thank you for your time tonight. >> thank you. >> joining me now is bob shrum who ran john kerry's campaign. thank you for being here tonight. no softballs for you. i know she's a kind of fearless person. but there are concerns. big money out there, the landscape's changed. the voter i.d. what do the democrats have to do this week? >> this week, first of all,

there are a couple of potential pitfalls at the convention. there's not going to be a clint eastwood moment. i can predict that. >> no empty chair. >> they better make sure there aren't empty chairs at the bank of america stadium. that would be the big statement. i'm sure they'll do that. second is they push back on this are you better off. they have to make sure that they tell people yeah they're better off, but they're not nearly as well off as they need to be. they've done a lot but there's more to do. then they have to draw the contrast that they want -- the democrats want tax cuts for the middle class. bush wants them for the wealthy paid for by the middle class. biden had a great line today. he said we're for medicare, they're for voucher care. those are the kind of messages that have to come out of this convention. along with the sense that the president has a plan for where he wants to take the country in the next four years. i'm planning this will be an

extraordinary speech thursday night. >> i think what you're saying is important. because i think as i and others are saying, clearly we're better off. it does not mean we're well yet. the patient can be better, doesn't mean the patient is back to normal. and i think that you don't want people to think that we do not understand there's still a need for real growth in the economy. it's just not the disaster proportion it was four years ago. >> he needs to say we've made progress but i'm not satisfied. i'm not going to be satisfied until we put every american who wants to work back to work. then he's got to explain he's got a plan food that. and they've blocked planned to do that every step of the way. and the romney plan would take us back to the same failed bush policies that they went through and got us into the mess in the first place. for the commentators like you, i think it's going to be a lot tougher than the republican convention. i think there are going to be a lot fewer faux pas and incidents

to spend time on. >> well, we always manage to think of something to say. even the conservative wall street journal, bob, even the wall street journal attacked romney for not addressing how he'd fix the economy. so when you have this argument are you better off but you have no real prescription on what you would do, wall street journal says neither he for the entire gop convention made a case for his economic policy agenda. neil armstrong received almost as much speech time as what mr. romney would do specifically to spur faster growth and raise middle class income. >> they'd like him to say it. for him it's dogma. he's on the wrong side by 2-1 margins often on almost every specific he's offering. people don't want to privatize social security. people don't want to voucherize medicare.

they don't want to see your taxes go up to give big tax breaks to the wealthy. that's why you saw him in his only post convention big speech in cincinnati. just try -- and it was another lie -- to blame the president for all the job losses under bush. if you feel bad, vote for me. we want to come out of this convention and democrats will have concretely set it as a choice. we also haven't talked about foreign policy. that was the other line biden had today that was very good. general motors is alive and osama bin laden is dead. >> that's a bumper sticker going around the country. i think it's a hard one for the republicans to answer. bob shrum, thanks for being here tonight. >> glad to be here. coming up, what are republicans running from? today mitt romney's number two paul ryan is facing new questions on his claim about running a marathon. also, the long road to

charlotte. how barack obama's 2004 speech set the stage for his critical address later this week. >> there is not a black america and a white america and latino america and asian america. there's the united states of america. >> we'll talk about it live with "hardball" chris matthews. you're watching "politicsnation" on msnbc. [ male announcer ] this is rudy. his morning starts with arthritis pain. and two pills. afternoon's overhaul starts with more pain. more pills. triple checking hydraulics. the evening brings more pain. so, back to more pills. almost done, when... hang on. stan's doctor recommended aleve. it can keep pain away all day with fewer pills than tylenol. this is rudy. who switched to aleve.

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mitt romney's trying to show he can connect with those less fortunate than himself. but a reporter out of new orleans is raising new questions about that. next. her everything. yeah, you -- you know, everything can cost upwards of...[ whistles ]

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we're back with new questions about romney's aiblt to connect with people in need. on friday less than 12 hours after accepting his party's nomination, governor romney visited a town in louisiana devastated by hurricane isaac. he talked to several storm victims including a 42-year-old woman who told him quote, i lost everything. the woman told the ap, quote, he said he was going to do the best that he could for us. i thought he'd be more like a politician, but it was more understanding and caring, end of quote. the ap also quotes the woman as saying he just told me there's

assistance out there. he said go home and call 211. which is, of course, the local help line. go home and call 211? did governor romney miss the part when she told him she lost everything. there was no home for her to go back to. she couldn't even make the call. people will have to draw their on conclusions about the romney visit, but it seems clear that it only raises more questions about his ability to understand regular people. joining me now is melissa harris-perry host of "the melissa harris-perry show" here on msnbc. and the organizer of the nuns on the bus tour. to protest a romney/ryan budget and how it will hurt the poor. she'll speak this week at the democratic national convention in charlotte.

thank you both for being here. >> absolutely. happy to be here. >> delighted. >> sister simone, let me start with you. does mitt romney have a problem connecting with those in need? >> i'm not sure that he has a problem connecting, but he doesn't have much experience being with people in need. that's why we invited him to come and meet some of the people we met on our bus trip so he could see and listen. that's what he needs to do is listen and hear the reality of hard working folks in our nation. i think he's been missing that. >> now, you invited him, your tour was you and some of the sisters that had done this to dramatize poverty. how did he respond to your invitation? >> well, we haven't heard from the campaign. we could understand they were distracted by getting ready for the convention. i'm still hopeful he might accept. it's urgent all of our politicians understand the reality of all of the people in the nation. we have to work for the 100%, not the 1% or 10%. we have to work for the 100

prpr100%. >> you're speaking this weekend. i think you'll talk about these situations. >> i'm going to raise up four of the people we met on the trip. their story is powerful for the rest of the nation. i hope that message may be heard by both parties. it's a need that we need to address as a whole nation. >> now, melissa, when you talk about the disconnect, when we talk about can mr. romney connect, "vanity fair" has an article explaining the conditions under which he accepted his bain capital job. he explained to bain that he didn't want to risk his positions, earnings, and reputation on an experiment. so bain sweetened the pot. he guaranteed that if the experiment failed, romney would get his old job and salary back.

plus any raises he would have earned during his absence. so here's a man that even when he went out into the venture capital business talking to mr. bain, he had all kinds of guarantees and cushions. does someone from that kind of world that has almost a guaranteed cushion even understand what the average middle class or poor person has to go through when there's nobody guaranteeing them anything. >> a person from that circumstance could have an understanding of other people, but they would have to make a long-term committed choice to understand more. so let's take the president who oversaw perhaps the greatest expansion of an american social safety net, who understood what poor people and veterans and old people needed. that was fdr. and fdr -- it's hard to imagine a president who came from more privilege. but what fdr was concerned with was making sure he understood that problem solving went beyond

his own personal narrative. that's the danger we should see from the rnc convention last week. they were trying to sell the american people on the story of the romney family. which is a nice story. he loves his wife. he took her to a dance when they were young. they have lovely kids. that's nice. but the point is most of america does not live in the circumstances that the romneys live in. so the question wasn't their family but other people's families. >> i think your point on fdr is correct. and i think jfk also came from privilege and money and showed sensitivity. but i think what we saw last week and the campaign, we've not seen romney demonstrate that he understands that. >> that's right. >> and one of the things i kept stressing last week is they even define success as having money or being entrepreneurial. not on having things like a wholesome family or purpose in life or doing things that are

needed. success is a top tier and not defined in a broad social context of doing what is right and fair. their vals don't seem to go there. >> and a willful ignorance of just how much harder it is for other folks to get a modicum of the kind of success they measure. not only do they measure success in narrow terms, also without any sort of clear, willing, understanding if you don't come from a situation where your family can lend you money to take that first risk, if you still have student loans to pay back. the reason we know this isn't because of personal lack of understanding like go back and call. the idea of someone telling a hurricane victim to call, it angers me. >> from the house that's gone? >> right. and the phone lines are down. my mother got power yesterday. right? the idea one could just go make

a call. even beyond the question of a lack of empathy, that's a lack of understanding of what the problem actually is. the issue is their policies demonstrate they have very little understanding that in fact their own success was in part built on the success or the willingness of taxpayers to underwrite their own risks and a lack of understanding that in order for us to succeed and move out of this economic circumstance, we are going to have to have collective investment in ordinary people, not just tax cuts for the wealthiest. >> sister simone campbell, i heard you saying amen. >> yes. >> i'm going to be saying amen when you speak out there this week in charlotte. melissa harris-perry, thank you both for your time tonight. >> thank you. >> watch melissa harris-perry saturdays and sundays at 10:00 a.m. here on msnbc. back in 2004 barack obama exploded on to the political

stage with a rousing speech at the democratic convention. coming up, i'll talk to chris matthews about the president's long road to charlotte. and disturbing news about a voter purge in a critical battleground state. are republican officials trying to swing the election to romney? stay with us. hmm, it says here that cheerios helps lower cholesterol

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folks, have you checked us out on facebook? the "politicsnation" conversation is going all day long. today our fans were revved up in anticipation of the first lady's big convention speech. nicole can't wait to see her. steve's excited because she quote, speaks the truth. but, folks, we're also fed up with republicans' distortion. diana says somebody explain how the gop gets away with it. one thing's for sure, we'll be keeping them honest. but first we want to hear what you think. head over to facebook and search "politicsnation" and like us to join the conversation that keeps going long after the show ends. s has oats that can help lower cholesterol? and it tastes good? sure does! wow. it's the honey, it makes it taste so...

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we're back with our special coverage of the democratic national convention.

eight years ago then-senate candidate barack obama was virtually unknown on the national stage. but all that changed when he gave the keynote speech at the 2004 convention. "hardball"'s chris matthews looked at the trip to the white house and his achievements in office. on a new documentary tonight "barack obama: making history." watch this. >> when obama ran in 2004 for the united states senate, david axelrod signed on as his media adviser. the little-known candidate with the unusual name defeated a half dozen rivals to win the democratic nomination. >> thank you! >> obama's come from behind victory won wide attention. he got call to deliver the keynote at the convention. >> as soon as he hung up he said

i knew what i wanted to say. for the next three weeks he was writing on scraps of paper everywhere we went. he pulled it all together. >> the pundits like to slice and dice our country in the red states and blue states. red states for republicans and blue states for democrats. i've got news for them too. we worship an awesome god in the blue states. we don't like in the library in the red states. >> all around us there were people crying. halfway through i thought this guy's life changed and it'll never be the same. >> we could see the first black president there. i think the experience with the african background combined with the incredible education and his beautiful speech, that speech was a piece of work. >> joining me now from charlotte is the host of tonight's special film and the host of "hardball"

chris matthews. thanks for being here tonight. >> thank you for participating in this. i'm proud of this documentary. you had a big part in it with your own testimony. i looked like irish political tap there. saying this is the genuine article here. you probably spotted him before i did, this guy was going to go all the way. >> let me ask you before i get into the film and i really want tome poo watch it. it's great. i've been able to peek at it. the president's facing another speech this thursday. you're a former speech writer and known the political scene well. what does he need to do this time around on thursday? >> i think he's got to project forward. i don't know why they've had a hard time today and yesterday explaining how things were better than they were back when the president was in his first year. the first year the unemployment rate was skyrocketing up past 10%. we didn't know whether it would stop. the stock market and this

effects people's 401(k)s and retirement money, was dropping into a ditch. there was no floor to it. it was down to 6,500. he reversed all that. he took it up to 13,000. the stock market. got the unemployment down to around 8%. pulled us back from the abyss. we forgot how close we were to complete catastrophe. now people come out saying are you better off? of course we are. so i think it's obvious to me. the stupid thing to do and i know the opposition wants them to do this, compare november 2008 with today. well, unfortunately for the country, the hell broke loose after november. it was during that transitional period into the spring of '09 when the worst came about all because of previous policies. you can't blame the president because of the early conditions before his presidency. it's illogical. >> you've been critical and i agree with you that the democrats have not seemingly got

their message out about this. >> that's right. i don't know what they're thinking about. they can make the case. just say this. how would you like to be where we were in spring of '09? nobody wants to. with homes losing value and money leaving. most people have their nest egg in their home. that's where it is. when they retire they move to a condo and that's where they have cash. so when you lose the value in your home, you're getting destitute. that's what we were facing back in '09. they act like they forgot that. have we got memory loss as a country? remember three and a half years ago, four years ago. that's not to say he could sell himself. i was born in a ditch. give me a break. he'll have to say what he's been doing the last four years lead to a better future. he's got to show we're on a

smart path. he better do that thursday night. that's my tough love. don't talk about the past. talk about how you're taking us somewhere we want to be. >> your special tonight is very unique. i'm going to say this and you and i have not talked about it. you talk about what no special on the president has. one, you talked about the development of the man, the great american story. a lot of people have talked about that. but you talked about race. and you go into the evolving movement of how this country had to deal with race from the king era of fighting for voting and civil rights which was reflected on the other side of that and ed brooke would go to the senate. then the post-king era with jesse jackson and them. then where people and i emerge and we're still fighting trayvons and all but you get this black president. i've never seen someone handle race as well as you have not being involved in the movement. this film does that. >> i want to remind people. african-americans don't need to

be reminded but the numbers are interesting. when people say why do we still have racial division in the country and some black resentment and white resentment. here's why. we had 250 years of unpaid slavery under chains. people were whipped. it wasn't like going with the wind or movies. it was horrible. families divided, kids shipped off, depending on their weight and muscle they had. you're watching this. you're watching your family being sold off. you're watching your wife sent down the river. some white guy owns her, can do whatever he wants to her. then jim crowe. just hell. you're a sharecropper you have nothing. no capital. there wasn't 40 acres after the vil war. nothing. thank you for nothing, go away. 250 years of slavery, not a nickel for it. hundred years of jim crowe. then the years of what we've had. 50 years it's gotten better. everyone knows that. then they expect people to be

dancing with happiness about how great everything is. it's not going to be great for awhile. i think the fact that the whites would have voted for barack obama in the same way men who voted for women's suffrage was a big step forward. they could have snuck in and voted for john mccain. you know why they didn't do that? they thought obama would be a better president. it wasn't generosity. it was you know what? like in a lot of things like sports and business and anything else, it comes down to talent and ability. sometimes to picking the best guy for the job. that's why america is going to make it. in the end we picked the most talented guy for the job. mccain was worn out, he was yesterday. not a bad guy. obama was the smart move. this racial thing, i can't talk to you reverend. you've been out there fighting it for all these years. but as a white guy, i know when i'm a target. when i see racial coding going on like with this welfare stuff. they're talking to me and my

family. they're trying to rip the scab off it and get us to rate race. that's not good for the country. you've got to vote merit. in the end i hope this election is about merit. i'm mad when people don't get it. everybody i know -- well, you know what people's reaction to what i said last week. >> well, chris, you stood up and talk about the best guy for the job with the president. the best guy of doing this documentary has been you. this is one you and your family need to watch tonight. chris' documentary. he says what no one else will say and will not let the country go backwards but forward by understanding this phenomenon called barack obama. "barack obama: making history" it airs tonight 10:00 p.m. eastern time. you and your family owe it to yourself to watch it here on msnbc. thanks, chris. coming up, why is the republican ticket running so fast away from the truth? news today about yet another

distortion from romney's number two paul ryan. ♪ constipated? yeah. mm. some laxatives like dulcolax can cause cramps. but phillips' caplets don't. they have magnesium. for effective relief of occasional constipation.

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the facts in tampa. but apparently he was also remaking his own past. congressman ryan was on a radio show last week playing up his athletic prowess. >> are you still running? >> yeah. i hurt a disk in my back, so i don't run marathons anymore. but i just run ten miles or less. >> you used to run marathons? >> yes. >> what's your personal best? >> under three, i think high twos. two hours and fifty something. >> holy smokes. >> holy smokes is right. that's incredible. here's what lance armstrong looked like after running under three hours in the new york marathon a few years ago. he looks like he's about to keel over and that's lance armstrong. the problem for ryan is his great time never happened. runners world magazine says in the one marathon he even ran when he was 20 years old, ryan

is listed as having finished in four hours, one minute, and 25 seconds. that's over an hour worse than what mr. ryan first claimed. caught in yet another untruth, he was forced to come clean. telling the new yorker quote, the race was more than 20 years ago but my brother tobin reminds me is the owner of the fastest run in the family. he gave me a good ribbing over this at dinner. how about a reality check? paul ryan likes to run. but he and romney can't keep running from the truth. joining me now is congressman emanuel cleaver, democrat from missouri and chair of the congressional black caucus. and erin mcpike national political reporter from real clear politics. thanks to both of you for being here tonight. >> good to be with you. >> thank you. >> mr. chairman, is this the week the truth finally catches up to republicans?

>> absolutely. one of the sad things about contemporary politics on the national level is that -- and you can see it in congress all the time is that we have fact free debates and i think that it has become a way of operation and so now we saw last week where people made fact free speeches. and this week i think people are going to find that our speakers are going to speak directly to our issues, and they'll do it in a forthright and clear way. it won't be a fact-free discussion on the stage here tuesday through thursday. >> you know, mr. chairman, even form ee eer -- matthew dowd cal out paul ryan. >> paul ryan what he did in this speech so stretched the truth. what he said about closing the gm plant which closed before

barack obama took president, about the simpson bowles bill which he opposed and then all of a sudden he faults barack obama for. at some point, the truth should matter. >> some point reverend mr. chairman, the truth should matter. even matt dowd couldn't take it. >> they are so anxious to win and get up in the polls that they have developed a strategy. and the strategy is we're going to say that the president waived working -- if you're receiving welfare and no matter what the fact checkers say, we'll stick with it. they've done it over and over again. while it will probably work with the base, i don't think it's going to work with all of america. people will grow to resent the fact there are no facts being presented. >> erin, eric cantor was asked by fortune magazine if ryan was

being hypocritical for attacking the president's savings on $716 in medicare when his own plan calls for the same cuts. cantor was at a loss for words saying quote, the sumps that the -- the -- the -- again, i probably can't speak to that exact way, so i better just not. very interesting. wouldn't you think so? >> you know, eric cantor's a very smart man and articulate. i actually have a good relationship with him. i'm stunned he could not respond. but he's got to try to support his team. even when the team jumps off base. >> erin mcpike, explain how cantor has got to bob and weave and even it's over the top for him. >> i don't know why eric cantor couldn't answer this, but i think the larger point about why the romney campaign and paul

ryan is -- they're lying in these instances is they think they can communicate what they want to to more voters. via big speeches and ads thinking that those get to more voters than the media does. some 20 million or more people saw paul ryan's speech. the media coverage thereafter goes to fewer people. and so that's what they're trying to do. at all costs say what they want to say about the $716 billion being cut out of medicare. they want people to be on their side. they think by communicating this way they can win. >> vice president biden attacked ryan for his claims that the president ignored the deficit commission whp when ryan himself was on the commission and walked out on it. >> that's true. there are always fine lines in all this. mitt romney often goes around saying no trade agreements were signed by president obama when in fact he signed three. now, the romney campaign says

but they were negotiated during the bush administration. which is true, but president obama of course did not have to sign them. so they always walk these fine lines to sort of fit their message together. >> now, mr. chairman, you're a leading democrat as well as a leading member of congress chairman of a major committee. washington post reports the democrat's plan on hitting republicans on their own, quote, you didn't build this attack. or you didn't build that attack. quote, the post says senior obama advisers suggested that they will try to turn the tables on their gop rivals by accusing them of being dishonest about what the president meant, what obama meant. quickly respond to that, the distortion on the president's words. >> they distorted words repeatedly. they're not going to stop no matter who calls them out on it. i think you'll see in this convention that whole issue being addressed. we can't ignore it.

if we do, too many americans will embrace it as the truth when in fact it is every step of a mile away from the truth. >> congressman cleaver, i'm going to have to hold it there. thank you so much for taking time tonight. erin mcpike, thank you for your time tonight. >> good to be with you. >> we'll be right back. [ female announcer ] want to spend less and retire with more?

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in the last week we've seen some big victories in the fight against voter suppression. judges have struck down harmful voting rules in ohio, florida, and texas. but the fight may just be getting started in colorado. the republican secretary of state there scott gessler has a history of making it harder to vote. last year gessler filed a lawsuit to prevent denver county

from mailing ballots to inactive voters. if somebody didn't vote in 2010 election, he didn't want them to get a ballot for the next year. and now he's moved on to a voter purge effort. earlier this summer, gessler swore the purge wouldn't be political. >> to the people who say he knows if he takes people off the voter rolls, they will be democrats. that's crazy talk. they have no basis for that. >> crazy talk? to think gessler would target democrats? that's crazy talk? the numbers don't lie. of the nearly 4,000 people targeted in the purge, only 12% were republicans. colorado started looking into the names on the list and 88% of the voters they checked are citizens. they haven't been able to confirm a single non-citizen. not one.