romney wobbles. let's play "hardball." ♪ good evening. i'm chris matthews in washington. let me start tonight with this. mitt romney, wobbler. day after day, wobbly massachusetts senator, scott brown and linda mcmann and george allen. and now nevada senator dean hower have gone wobbly, refuse to stand with mitt romney.

the one who tells rich people the rest of the country is a bunch of loafers, free-load others, bums. last night any auto wobbler showed up, mitt romney himself. he suddenly declared he's changed his mind on the whole 47% business. that he's now proud of being the grandfather of obamacare, proud to say he's for same-sex couples having partner rights and no way he runs to run those 12 million immigrants out of the country. how scared is this candidate he's now turning tail on so much of what he has been standing for. is the man we caught behind the curtain suddenly afraid of the script he's been reading? is this the etch-a-sketch moment we were warned was coming, the moment of moral meltdown? i'm this afternoon, guys, this afternoon at the univision forum, president obama responded to romney's comments where he wrote off 47% of the country. let's listen to the president. >> when you express an attitude that half the country considers itself victims, that somehow

they want to be dependent on government, my thinking is, maybe you haven't gotten around a lot. because i travel around the country all of the time, and the american people are the hardest-working people there are. are there people who abuse the system? yes. both at the bottom and at the top. because there are a whole bunch of millionaires who aren't paying taxes at all, either. >> wonder who he is talking about there. also today, there were two more republican senate candidates who joined the bandwagon of wobblers today, rejecting romney's language of the 47%. as i said, governor running for senate linda lingel and george allen jorned scott brown and dean hower and linda mcmann leaving the ship. perhaps the big news, last night on the univision candidates forum mitt romney himself distanced himself from the previous comments. take a look.

>> well, first of all, this is a campaign about the 100%. and over the last several years, you've seen greater and greater decisiveness in this country. so my campaign is about the 100% of america. and i'm concerned about them. i know that i'm not going to get 100% of the vote, and my campaign will focus on those people we think we can bring in to support me. but this is a campaign about helping people who need help. i have a record. i've demonstrated my capacity to help the 100%. >> who is this guy? we saw the man behind the curtain down at boca raton and now at univision, a more diverse crowd, turning tail. why is he changing from what he has said? >> there is question whether he is turning tail or not. there was a conference call in which they said no, in fact he still wants this -- wants to repeal it, still totally against it and he was just being -- trying to be funny last night.

that he was making a joke. that was his sense of humor on display. we've heard that from the campaign -- >> bs. >> other occasions in the past like when he made a birther joke about president obama's birth certificate not so long ago, that was said to be an example of his sense of humorment i think he probably would do well if those are examples of him being funny, you should probably keep comedy out of his routine. kind of confusing. i think at lot of people assumed governor romney would pivot to the middle. he was proud of the massachusetts health care law he passed and a lot of people thought this is the mitt romney who we would see this fall but it's not clear to me today, 5:00 eastern, what his stance is going to be on this question for real. as i said, the campaign is more or less disowning his comments from yesterday which were comments in which he was disowning his own comments from the past. so i don't know what mitt romney we're going to see two hours from now or 24 hours from now. it's just really hard to judge. but they're going to have to figure out a consistent message if they're going to have a chance of winning this election. and right now they don't have one.

>> alex, before he got caught chucking out the red meat he has been throwing out for months and years now about we're going to throw the 12 million people out, no same-sex anything. i had nothing to do with obamacare. now he's taking parenthood -- grandparent hood of obamacare, saying, yeah, we can let people be together. maybe we can't formalize it but we like the idea of gay people getting together, no problem with that. and of course i wouldn't throw the 12 million people out. if he's talking like that when he's throwing the red meat out to the yahoos in the campaign, he wouldn't have gotten the nomination. he knows that. >> chris, you and i talked. this is the guy that stood on stage and diplomat apologize for the fact he was referring to undocumented workers here as illegals and turning off magnets. it was some oh of the most did i advice yif language we've heard in the campaign, especially with the republican party that once used to be the party of jeb bush that understands the darker history is a browner america. what you are seeing now is a magnetic moral compass that has

no true north. he is like a conch shell, you pick it up and just hear the sea. there is nothing there. i have no idea -- >> we did that as kids in ocean city, new jersey. it wasn't just backing away from the 47% comments. last night romney also seemed to go wobbly on issues ranging from health care to gay marriage and immigration. here's what romney said about health care. take a listen. >> i have experience in health care reform. now and then, the president says i'm the grandfather of obamacare. i don't think he meant that as a compliment, but i'll take it. this was during my primary. we thought it might not be helpful. >> let's get back to the whole question of the way he did that 47%. because it reminded me today and i saw a piece of this before. back in the '64 campaign, john and alex, there was an ad by the democrats point south what senator barry goldwater was saying at the time. i would like to cut off the eastern end of the united states. not 47% but a big chunk of it. here's what barry goldwater said which is similar to what romney got caught saying in boca raton.

let's get rid of the part of the country we don't like. >> in a saturday evening post article, barry goldwater said, "sometimes i think this country would be better off if we could just saw off the eastern seaboard and let it float out to sea." can a man who makes statements like this be expected to serve all of the people, justly and fairly? >> well, it looks like governor romney would like to saw off 47% of the country there. john heilemann, don't you like the voice of that old tv commercial? that is what i call authoritative, that voice. >> totally awesome. look, i think that, you know, we -- it's -- it's -- it's hard for us to criticize governor romney. last week we were saying, you know, it's terrible this thing he said, earlier this week -- terrible, you need to want to be the president of all americans. for him to try to right that ship and in effect apologize,

although he didn't come out and own it in a way i think would be the most forthright way to do it, to kind of say -- tacitly admitting this isn't the right thing to be saying and you have to want to be president of all americans, you've got to let him have that. on the other hand, you look back at that -- the fund-raiser, one of two things was true. either expressing a renewingnant view or had the view he claims to have now, which is that he wants to help the 100% and all he was doing -- >> how do you know, you're writing a book? john, buddy, you're writing a book and you've got to figure out which is which by the time you file the book. >> i promise you by fall of 2013, chris, we'll have that nailed down. >> oh, man. juicing book sales. >> between now and november, who is the real mitt romney? is he the gas bag down there with a bunch of right wingers selling what they want to hear or this more pentive guy before the latino audience saying you know, of course i'm not against gay people. >> you cannot talk about how the president has carved up the country and the pie is sliced

every which way when you're the one holding the knife. this is a guy that has been taken a message and tail orring it to every part of the republican base where he can score points. and guess what? there are less than 50 days left. this is fundamentally mitt romney's problem. early voting has started. everyone talks about november 3rd. the clock has already started running. he has very little time. >> let me announce -- the time clock here. john, have you noticed all these senators? we start the show with this. all these senate candidates, mcmann who has a good chance up in connecticut. dean hower -- these can be really close elections. these people are jumping ship saying i'm one of the wobblers, count me autos one of those who don't agree with the man behind the curtain. what does that do to romney, does he realize they're jumping on him and he better change with them and be one of the wobblers? it seems that's what happened today? >> starting last week, one of the great fears and one of the concerns of the romney campaign has is the notion that a sense that romney is headed towards

defeat, will sink in broadly within the republican political class and will become an every man for himself moment. and is a lot of republicans will start to do exactly what some of these candidates you're pointing to are doing. that is a -- that is shades of bob dole 1996. we're not there yet. but you're starting to see some signs of it in the -- scott brown and mcmann and some other examples. it's a very -- can be a very ugly scene for a republican or a democratic presidential candidate when his party abandons him. about something this fundamental. this is just points to how toxic this political language is, independent of substantive toxicity, it's horrible and there will be fewer republicans anywhere who want to stand up and say, yeah, i'm with mitt romney. >> the next question -- will they stand up on the platform when he shows up in the state? that's the next question, i guess. >> that is the question. i think a lot of republicans are watching those polls very closely today and will be and through the first debate. >> we've gotten a slew of new polls in recent days showing

romney down in key battleground states. take a look at some brand-new polls from nbc, "the wall street journal" and marris today. the president up by five points in colorado and also up five in wisconsin. in ohio, ahead of romney by eight point. last night three new polls reiterated the dom knee deficit. in florida town five points. in ohio, a seven-point advantage. and virginia obama is ahead by seven. alex, i'm stunned. i don't think these things will hold. i think this election is going to wobble -- between now and november. but you've got to wonder what romney is thinking. there's a lot of pressure from the right on him to fire stu stevens, i read in the "wall street journal" today. and the question is, will he buckle and basically eat it? fire his best guy under the pressure from the right. will he do something like that? >> well, anecdotally, we know mitt is a sticker, according to politico, not someone that let's his guys go oh, stays with them. i don't think that you'll see stu stevens out before november. but as john says, it's like an iceberg melting, cannibalizes on

itself. it down ballot house and senate candidates are abandoning romney, that leads to a further shift putting distance between him. we know he had had a fund-raiser today, trying to reassure donors, look, i can still get this. if he starts losing support from his own party and from the money -- money donating base, he has a serious, serious problem in the next two weeks. >> what about any shake up-john, you're the expert? i wonder what he's going to melt down physically by getting rid of his top guy. everybody seems to blame the staff and not the candidate. >> i think that's the biggest mistake in this pundit re. in the end, every campaign is crucial, you know this, it's not a partisan statement. campaigns reflect the candidate. ultimately, the candidate, win or lose, has to bear the responsibility for their campaign, and the quality of it. i don't think mitt romney is going to dump stu stevens at all. it rests on mitt romney's shoulders. >> you know what i noticed about politicians, their staff begin to dress like them, eat like

them -- >> like dogs. >> like dogs, exactly right. when i was a staffer, don't say that. thank you, john heilemann. >> a lot of peanuts from you in the late '70s, chris. >> i'll think about that one. you're too fast for me. thank you, alex wagner, thank you, john. have a nice weekend. when you get to it, friday night. coming up, are mitt romney's troubles contagious. remember how the gop once thought winning the senate was a begin? as we have been saying, a rash of new polls shows democrats could hold on. and is one of the best guys running for re-election will be here. and also, block the vote. in just one sentence, the republican sponsor of that restrictive pennsylvania i.d. law managed to defend the indefensible and offend half the voters. darryl metcalfe said 47% of people are living off their neighbor's hard work and many are too lazy to go out and get the new i.d. card and it's too bad if they don't vote. do you believe it? he's saying to romney you were right when you were in the back

room. that 47% is exactly true and they're too lazy to work and get their i.d. cards. this guy is mitt romney's worst friend. anyway, the dirty, angry money is out. it turns out that the romney campaign doesn't have as much as we thought. and it may well be because they've got too many big donors and relying too much on his outside groups to get this election and to get on the air, even. finally, let me finish with the link up to move to kill black votes and ignite white anger, it happened in pennsylvania. i just mentioned it. this is "hardball," your place for politics. [ male announcer ] it seems like every company

has a facebook page these days. but where's the relationship status? well, esurance is now in a relationship...with allstate. and it looks pretty serious. esurance. click or call. idide? it looks pretty serious. you're not my dad ahh!! hey honey, back feels better, little dancing tonight, you and me? dr. scholl's pro inserts relieve different types of lower body pain by treating at the source so you're a whole new you. go pro with dr. scholl's. acknowledging that the campaigns in a bit of a ditch, advisers tell politico they have a new strategy to dig out. what is it? can you believe it or not? more mitt they say, more of this guy according to politico. after taking a beating for comments he privately wishes he never made and from conservative critics he wishes he could muzzle, mitt romney's campaign is settling on a rescue plan to show more of him in ads and speeches, campaigning appearances and rallies.

a big focus will be on romney talking a lot more about how his ideas will help regular americans who remain deeply suspicious of him. that's a quote. there it is. more mitt. we'll be right back.

welcome back to "hardball." could mitt romney's recent struggling be affecting republicans chances of taking the senate. for two years now, the republicans looked to this november as the moment they could win back the senate. romney's slipping candidacy has been followed by a slew of recent polls giving the elements hope of holding onto a majority. let's check the "hardball" score board. in wisconsin democrat tammy baldwin is up over tommy thompson, a former governor. 50% to 41%. in virginia "washington post" poll today showed former governor tim kaine over george allen, 51%, 43%. he has led in five recent polls now. and up in massachusetts

elizabeth warren is coming on strong leading in four of five recent polls. she's up by five in the recent wbur mass inc. poll, 47%, 42%. sam stein covers politics for "the huffington post." here's here to talk about this. what do you make of these numbers we're getting that show definite strength in races we were seeing neck to neck. it looks like democrats are pulling ahead. >> the trend is pretty obvious. i think the democratic brand is consistently polled better than the republican brand. you're starting to see a reflection of that in the polls. one thing that's clear after the conventions is the country by and large is buying into the fact that the economy wasn't as bad as republicans said it was. you look at all of the national polls. obama is doing as good if not better than mitt romney on the issue of the economy. i think in that case, the rising tide has lifted all of the boats. i think the country is looking at the democratic party and saying their platform is where we want to move the economy forward. the republicans had two years control of the house. we don't like what they did. maybe we should try something new.

>> i wonder whether it was bill clinton's wonderful -- it wasn't just a rousing speech with a lot of applause lines, but it was the educational factor where he talked about what the president was stuck with back in '09. what he's been trying to do, and how it's working, if slowly, how it's working. he was the first one i thought to give people reason for even ebullience. people have been very happy i'm around ever since they heard bill clinton talk. >> i'm hesitant to use the great man theory in politics. but in this case, i think you're on to something. bill clinton more than any other democrat actually laid a succinct, understandable argument for why the stimulus was a success. you have seen it sort of after the convention in the ads obama has run. which you said, mitt romney keeps talking down the economy. let's look at the statistics about where we were four years ago and compared to where we are now. and they've laid a cohesive argument that the country is moving generally in the right direction, not fast enough, not there yet, but they've made concrete steps to move it in that direction. i think the country by and large is starting to buy it. >> let's take a look at the states that have become contests

that many people thought were basically going to be -- not going to be looking good for the democrats. they weren't expected to be in play. for instance, republican linda mcmahon is proving to be a formidable opponent to chris murphy, the democrat in connecticut. that's for joe lieberman's old seat. in indiana joe donnelly is keeping up with tea party favorite richard murdoch. up in maine an inter three-way. angus king, an independent, jumped in the race when olympia snowe announced she was going to retire. but king is now facing a challenge from republican secretary of state summers. cynthia dill trails well behind. i'm betting on king up there. let's talk about in fascinating race in indiana where the notre dame guy joe donnelly is running. normally indiana it's is a killer state for democrats. except for bye, birch bye and evan bayh. what do you think of that race? >> it gets to another point which we haven't discussed which is that in some of these key states republicans didn't get

the candidate they wanted. indiana is one of them. obviously todd akin in missouri is another. olympia snowe retiring is another. republicans wanted a candidate and didn't get him or her. in each of those cases, you're seeing republicans pay a price for it. the betting money is that mourdock will prevail but it's much closer. there's going to be resources invested in the state that will draw away from other races. in maine angus king is suffering because he promised not to caucus with either party. a lot of democrats are worried he won't be a democrat. i think if you were to say, listen, i'll caucus with the democrats, he would get a lot of votes and that wouldn't be a race. >> you won't get any assignments if you don't caucus. you sit there and do nothing. >> he's saying i'm going to go up there and do powerless, vote for me. i don't see how that's a winning argument. >> he's got to change that. >> and in connecticut one last thing, linda mcmahon ran two years ago, she has statewide i.d., obviously a lot of money. chris murphy remains relatively unknown in the state but you have to look at the demographics of connecticut and place money on chris murphy because there's so many more democrats in the state.

>> i hope you're wrong in a couple of these cases. anyway, thank you, sam. i think murphy might well win. i think mcmahon might well win. i'm hoping donnelly wins. let's bring in democrat from the tossup state of montana. senator jon tester is fighting for re-election against denny rehberg. the ap reported it may come down to who is more montana. senator tester, welcome. you always struck me as the most montana guy on the planet. i don't know why this is an issue, sir. >> i don't know either but i can tell you we've got a close race going. it's going to be close at the end. we knew that since the very beginning, but it's all about what kind of person i am versus my opponent, what kind of records we have, and what the our vision is for the future not only the great state of montana but the country. but it's going to be -- it's been an interesting race. it's going to continue to be an interesting race. i feel good about my chances. >> okay. we have a new poll from montana in the "hardball" scoreboard

right now. it's from ppp and you're leading denny rehberg 43 to 45. libertarian candidate dan cox coming in at 8 i guess that adds up. there's four left. not a lot of undecideds up there in montana. >> not really. this race has been -- it's been going on for 18 months. we have seen incredible amounts of secret out of state money coming in trying to buy montanans. as we've talked before, chris, the whole citizens united thing is really i think a threat to our democracy and we've got the secret money coming in trying to buy votes. they're spending about right now about $1 million a week in montana on tv ads. i can tell you that montana was here, it was here back in 1912. montanans can't be bought and they won't be bought in this election either, and so hopefully it comes down to who we are as people and what we've done and our records as we've served in congress. me for the last six years, the

congressman for his record for the last 12. >> why is karl rove gunning for you? >> you know, i don't know. i really don't have any idea. i have never visited with the man, but obviously their pumping more money into this state than has ever been pumped before into montana, and they're trying to make me into something i'm not, chris, quite frankly. they know they cannot beat the jon tester who is the farmer from big sandy, montana, but if they make me into something i'm not, which is what they've tried to do with their negative ads for the last 19 months, then they've got a chance. >> but you're back on your tractor every week, you're doing the job you had before you got this one. how does a guy from out of state without a hunting license -- why don't you check on karl and see if he had a hunting license. i had one last year with my daughter fishing in the madison river out there. but do people buy that? do any know he's out there gunning for you? do they know karl rove -- he's not exactly a popular guy. do they know a villainous guy

like that is involved in your state politics? do they know that? >> i don't know that they do. but it absolutely is true. karl rove is pumping the money into the state. i don't think he cares about montana. i think he's got a whole different agenda. doesn't care about the middle class, doesn't care about working families, small businesses, kids getting a good education. he's got his own agenda, and i think it's unfortunate. that's why citizens united is such a threat. it's not good for democrats, not good for republicans, it's not good for our democracy. >> i don't think the architect as he called himself is good for anything. thank you senator jon tester of montana, good luck. up next, republicans talk about freedom, we all enjoy it, but why were coal minors in ohio forced to answer a mitt romney rally and not even paid for showing up? this is "hardball," the place for politics.

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back to "hardball." now to the side show. the romney campaign released a new ad trying to ramp up support among ohio voters. specifically, coal miners. the ad is grabbing attention but not the good kind. here is a look. >> obama is ruining the coal industry. >> policies of the current administration has got is attacking my livelihood. >> we have 250 years of coal. why wouldn't we use it? utility bills are up. people wonder how they're going to have a brighter future if they can't see how they're going to make it to the end of the next month. >> as it turns out, that crowd of coal miners standing behind the candidate in that ad did not attend that ohio rally by choice. some of those employees contacted a west virginia radio station to say that not only were they required to attend last month's rally, but they were also not paid during the time they were there. a top official with the company offered this explanation for what had happened.

quote, attendance was mandatory but no one was forced to attend the event. mandatory but no one was forced. well, the owner of the mine where the rally took place happens to be, big surprise, a romney supporter and has donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to republican candidates. next, documentary filmmaker ken burns takes on teddy roosevelt, kind of. you may have heard of the presidential race that takes place at the nationals home baseball games. all the presidents from mt. rushmore hold a race during every game. the hero of san juan hill, the winner of the nobel peace prize, teddy roosevelt has yet to finish first in any of the races. well, here is ken burns and teddy's high profile supporter in the senate. >> appropriately george washington won the first presidents race on july 21st, 2006. by the end of that series, tom and abe had also tasted victory. teddy, meanwhile, had already suffered a pulled hamstring and been disqualified for illegal

use of a golf cart. there were hopes the streak might die on teddy roosevelt bobblehead night. it did not. >> i'm often consoled in times after i see my beloved t.r. finish last, i'm reminded of his immortal words, credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood. his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat. go teddy. >> good for john mccain. he's a real teddy guy. i can tell. also secretary of state hillary clinton spoke at a ceremony in washington yesterday honoring burmese opposition leader aung san suu kyi. clinton recalled a conversation with the burmese official where newly elected officials turned to learn about democratic government. how they learned how it worked. >> speaker of the lower house

where suu kyi now serves said to me help us learn how to be a democratic congress, a parliament. he went on to tell me that they were trying to teach themselves by watching old segments of "the west wing." i said, i think we can do better than that, mr. speaker. >> well, that will be the day when the real thing is better than "west wing." that's the way it is tonight. up next, the sponsor of pennsylvania's voter i.d. law just outed mitt romney. daryl metcalfe says 47% of pennsylvanians are just living off the other half's hard work and they're too lazy not only to work but to get that new i.d. card they need to vote. my guess is he's talking about republicans. just kidding. you're watching "hardball," the place for politics.

welcome back to "hardball." you are not going to believe this. the pennsylvania state senator who was the author of the

state's restrictive voter photo i.d. act has managed to extend mitt romney's disparaging comments that 47% of americans are freeloaders into a whole new realm, the voter i.d. fight. according to daryl metcalfe, he's the lawmaker, the people who don't have photo i.d.s and therefore can't vote are just like those 47% of moochers, they're, quote, in his words, too lazy to follow the newly imposed i.d. requirements. listen to him in action. >> i don't believe any legitimate voter that actually wants to exercise that right and takes on the according responsibility that goes with that right to secure their photo i.d. will be disenfranchised. as mitt romney said, what, we have 40-some percent of the people that are living off the public dole, living off of their neighbor's hard work, and we have a lot of people out there that are too lazy to get off -- get up and get out there and get the i.d. they need. so i mean if individuals are too lazy, the state can't fix that, but the process is put in place to get an i.d. card. there's a free i.d. available if somebody needs one.

there's a process they have to go through. they have to present certain documents. that's the way it should be. >> is somebody passing around the truth serum? this is the way romney is talking. they're talking like they think. anyway, we invited that man, representative daryl metcalfe, to appear on "hardball," but he declined. big surprise. joining me is jim burn, the chair of the pennsylvania democratic party, and ron reagan, author of "my father at 100." mr. chairman, thanks for joining us. jim, great to have you on again. >> welcome. are you used to guys talking this openly about people being lazy? what a generalization. the people who are retired, the people who are on disability, the people who are whatever, still paying payroll tax, guys serving and women serving in the military. how does he come up with 47% and read it like it's scripture and they're a bunch of bums and can't get their i.d. cards? >> it shows how far, chris, the republican party has fallen, not just in pennsylvania, but

nationally. first governor romney and now mr. metcalfe who authored the legislation which says the government has an obligation through liberal construction of this statute to get i.d. to pennsylvanians who don't have them. now here is the author saying these folks are lazy and the government has to do nothing. now we have matching book ends. mike at the beginning saying this is about tilting the playing field for mitt romney and now the author of the legislation calling 47% of pennsylvanians lazy. they've helped us as much in this state to raise awareness as we have done ourselves. >> let's take a look at terry's side and how he admitted the whole idea is to win the state for romney, this whole i.d. card deal of theirs. >> we are focused on making sure that we meet our obligations that we've talked about for years, pro second amendment, the castle doctrine is done. first pro life legislation, abortion facility regulations in 22 years, done. voter i.d. which is going to allow governor romney to win the state of pennsylvania, done.

>> ron reagan, sir, i grew up in pennsylvania with people like, you know, tom ridge and bill scranton and hugh scott. they wouldn't be talking like this. the republican party has been replaced by the tea party and they talk tea party like this. these bums, you know. we pay taxes. they're all bums and too stupid to get an i.d. card, too lazy. this is the way guys talk at bars around 11:30 after five or six, and they're not the guys who should be running the country. your thoughts. >> but in their view these people are too lazy to vote, too lazy to govern. they have no place in our democratic system and i want to remind you this is not an entirely new republican idea. they've ratcheted up their vote suppression efforts for this election cycle. way back in the 1980s, i believe it was, paul weyrich, one of the architects of modern conservatism speaking before an audience much like mitt romney's audience back in may, rich, white republicans, said very succinctly that an expanded voter base is not in republicans' best interests. they need fewer people going to

the polls, and that's what they've been trying to do here. this is the one wildcard left really in the election, the known wildcard at least left in the election. how effective are the vote suppression efforts going to be in places like ohio, for instance? >> well, we'll see. the ordeal for a voter actually going without an i.d. card to get one to be able to get have been called lazy. the washington post reporter did a great job, and she described what it took for a 54-year-old woman who has been voting since she was 19 to go get a newly required i.d. card. let's watch. >> first she had to fill out a form that is a request for a non-driver's license. then you take it to a clerk who then looks at it and says do you have a social security card, two forms of address. you say no. you have to fill out this other form. then they call the board of elections.

they call the board of elections. they can't check it in the database online even though you can check your registration online. they call on the telephone, they wait. then she gets to affirm she has no other way of getting the i.d., that she doesn't have these other documents and they finally let her sign, check or pay stub to see she has an address, has her picture taken, she decree merges finally, four hours later. >> she's a custodian at philadelphia hospital. she had to use a vacation day to get the i.d. card. jim, it's great to be from pennsylvania which we never had jim crow, actually. we never had this stuff, but we grew up reading about how if you were black you go to a voting station and you'd be told this is a book you had to read in greek or latin, all the tricks in the world to keep you from voting, and here we have our state on the northern side of the civil war engaging in this jim crow crap. what do you feel about it? >> absolutely. this is stuff you and i read growing up in pennsylvania with the horrific results and the

consequences. there have never once expecting that at this time in our nation's history we would be seeing that in any state, yet alone in a northern state. but, my gosh, here we are with this unreal piece of legislation. chris, the supreme court this week sent that law, which was challenged, back down to the commonwealth court with specific instructions. the government could not articulate in front of the supreme court how they with any specificity would be able to comply with the requirement that those without i.d. could get it. the story you just shared with your viewers is the type of story we're looking for to take to the commonwealth court next week. the government could not articulate to the supreme court this week how they were able to do it. i don't see how next week with that type of evidence coming in that they're going to be able to be effective in front of the commonwealth. we still have it work hard which we're doing to make sure every voter who needs identification will have it by november 6th. >> i'd just like to try to get my birth certificate from south carolina if i came up to get

away from jim crow in the '50s. i'm living in philadelphia and they say go back to south carolina and get your birth certificate. last word, ron. >> i think there's an opportunity for democrats. they can say to the republicans, look, i will see your bogus voter fraud issue and your voter i.d. but i will raise you this, by the next presidential election, every eligible voter in america is registered to vote and has a voter i.d. we will make it impossible not to register to vote. everywhere you go, schools, hospitals, dmvs, you will be given an opportunity to register to vote and you will get a voter i.d. right there and then. what do you think the republicans would think about that? >> i don't think they're going to like that idea of universal suffrage. they don't like that. they like a little elitism there occasionally. thank you. good luck with your cause. it's a good one for this country's democracy. and ron reagan as always, have a nice weekend. up next, dirty angry money. it turns out the romney campaign doesn't have as much of it as they led us to believe. apparently living you a just the fat cats isn't a lucrative way to get ready for the fall believe it or not. you have to have small donors. we'll talk about that when we

come back. this is "hardball," the place for politics. [ female announcer ] roam like the gnome this fall. and get outstanding deals with the travelocity fall hotel sale. you can save up to 40% on select hotels. so book your hotel now and save up to 40%. hurry, offer ends soon. book now at travelocity. so book your hotel now and save up to 40%. those surprising little still make you take notice. there are a million reasons why. but your erectile dysfunction that could be a question of blood flow. cialis for daily use helps you be ready anytime the moment's right. you can be more confident in your ability to be ready. and the same cialis is the only daily ed tablet approved to treat ed and symptoms of bph, like needing to go frequently or urgently. tell your doctor about all your medical conditions and medications, and ask if your heart is healthy enough for sexual activity. do not take cialis if you take nitrates for chest pain, as this may cause an unsafe drop in blood pressure. do not drink alcohol in excess with cialis. side effects may include headache, upset stomach, delayed backache or muscle ache. to avoid long-term injury, seek immediate medical help

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they're back and we're back with a dirty angry money report. the man who wouldn't throw a punch at mitt romney will no longer be throwing punches for him. former minnesota governor tim pawlenty has resigned as co-chair of the romney campaign. instead he's headed to washington to be a top lobbyist for wall street for the financial services roundtable. he wouldn't go on debate last summer against mitt romney and his struggling debate never really took off. they're back and we're back

with a dirty angry money report. for months we've heard chest thumping reports from the romney campaign about how much money they've raised. take a look. for each of the last three months, the romney campaign reported over $100 million, and out-raised the obama campaign for much of the summer. these numbers don't include the powerhouse fund-raising from outside groups like those super pacs. but romney's alleged fund raising success have been followed by a mystery. if his campaign is flesh with cash why is he being outspend in ad buys in crucial swing states especially at a time when he could use good publicity? it turns out money has been ticketed for republican national committee and state and local elections. in other words, it's not his. it's theirs. and with me now is "new york times" reporter nick kamusori. who wrote about this today. and neara , former policy director for hillary clinton's campaign. let me go to nicholas. you're new to the show. tell us why mitt romney who i always identified as having unlimited lds money, unlimited equity money, friends over the business community, wealthy people across the country, why he's having cash problems and had to borrow some money, $20 million? >> because even the richest guy in america can only give $2,500 per election to a candidate. now mitt romney has many, many of those people. he has lots of rich supporters. people who could max out that amount. and it got most of them in the primary, but then he spent a lot of it to win the primary. once that was done, he had the last up until september after his convention to tap into the general election money he had raised on top of those checks. so really he was sort of cash rich but cash flow poor for a

lot of august and helps explain why there were so few romney ads on the airwaves. there was money, it just wasn't in his account where he could use it the way he wanted to. >> let's talk about small donors there. somebody put me on all of these lists. i don't give a nickel, i'm not allowed to because of my profession and working here at nbc. you want to have dinner with jim messina, do you want to have dinner with valley jarrett, want to meet this guy, that guy, want to meet the president, take a chance. endless fund-raising from small donors. is he better going through the social media than this guy is with the big shots? >> i think what's great about small donors, you can go back at them. as nick was saying, there's a limit with the large donors. and the small donors, the president has a -- >> a lot of people never get near max dollar. >> yeah, and they can keep giving. the difference is, we expect them to increase their giving as the election gets closer, as they see -- get more excited, et cetera. so the president is likely to have more money come in the last

couple of months, and that's a big problem for romney, which he seems to be having a squeeze, and now that he has a bump in the road or a few bumps in the road or many bumps in the road, that fund-raising could be a big problem. >> what about a danger if you're an obama guy or obama woman worrying an the calvary attacking the last weekend? for example, with all of that super pac money out there, the koch brothers and the rest of them, can they attack on the last friday weekend, get the bad economic number perhaps and spend three days over the last weekend pouring money into ads that they have already bought with new messages? what's to stop that onslaught from outside the romney campaign? >> well, it can certainly happen and it will happen. there is going to be a lot of advertising on the airwaves this year and this fall, probably more than ever before. but we're about to find out how much is enough, how much is too much and how much doesn't matter. we're going to see a glut of this stuff. and a real question is, and it will be an obstacle to whichever side is outgunned. the real question is going to be, how much can people really absorb when you have unlimited

money effectively, and how much ad time actually fits on to the airwaves? prices will keep going up as the super pacs and campaigns bid it up. but there is a limit here as we'll see in this election. >> president obama is buying air time in ohio, colorado and new hampshire. outspending romney in each of these states right now. that's where we started. let's finish with that. nira, obama, the poor guy in this race. we've all heard that. he's spending more money on ads in the states that matter, therefore getting his numbers up. >> well, i do think -- i mean, what nick's story points out is that they just don't -- romney has taken a gamble. he put out these large numbers, and he doesn't have the money right now to really match. and so the challenge for them, i think, is to match one-to-one. >> poor little rich kid. anyway, thank you, nicholas. good story. and nira, as always. when we returns let me finish with a linkup we saw between the move by republicans to keep minoriies from voting while at the same time igniing white anger against them. the sick combination of stopping blacks from voting and getting whites to vote out of racial

anger.

let me finish tonight with this. the republican campaign to win the presidency back has two vital elements, the first the effort to kill the voting strength of the obama people. this is a state by state campaign to shorten early voting hours and establish voter photo i.d. laws. the second effort is to anger whites into voting against the first african-american

president. look at the in your face romney ads saying obama is giving out welfare checks and killing work requirements doing it? romney says it serve obama's political base. now we have the linkup. the republican lawmaker in pennsylvania who sponsored the voter photo i.d. card, the one that top republican in the legislature said would allow romney to win the state in november, now says that the people who can't comply with the law's rigorous requirements are simply too lazy, lazy, to go through the rigmarole, too lazy to worry about. there we have it. the plan. keep blacks from voting, spread the word blacks are too lazy to works too lazy to get new i.d. laws. think black people don't get it? thank they don't recognize the jim crow tactics of shutting down voting? you name it, then stirring up racial resentment against them, insult added to injury, insult that leads to more injury. if the black turnout is lower they'll pile on and say you lost it for yourself. get ready for the worst. to get the voter i.d. law