i'm talking hundreds here... and furthermore.. newcaster: breaking news. the gecko is demanding free dding. and political parties that are actual parties! with cake! and presents! ah, that was good. too bad nobody could hear me. geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance. right now on "andrea mitchell reports" -- ready for the rematch. we are at hofstra university with a loud student crowd as president obama gets his cans for a do-over. >> how are you feeling about tonight? >> i feel fabulous. look at this beautiful day. >> what are you going to say? >> hope you enjoy the weather. >> are you aware michele voted for you yesterday? >> thank goodness. >> mitt romney arrives in long island for tonight's debate as his running mate stumps in virginia today.

>> how are you doing? man. what a beautiful day. >> the president needs to reverse his slide after denver, mitt romney hopes to maintain the enthusiasm he's built and prove his first debate victory wasn't a fluke. taking responsibility, hillary clinton accepting full responsibility for the security failures in benghazi, but she says it shouldn't be a political issue. >> i don't think we want to get into any blame game. what we want to do is get to the bottom of what happened. >> and with the polls showing that romney is now narrowing the gap among women, the wives are front and center. >> mitt's prepared, mitt's confident, mitt's got a good presence about him. >> look at you for

encouragement? >> you know, i can never tell, but i'm always primed just in case he is, so i'm perched looking at had him, smiling giving a thumb's up if he can see it. >> and good day. i'm andrea mitchell live at hofstra university in new york. we have a big crowd here. a thumb's up to them and let's play 20 questions. president obama and mitt romney come face to face with real people tonight, 80 undecided but likely voters chosen by gallup from this community be around hofstra. moderator candy crowley of cnn will choose which 20 will get to a ask those questions if they get to all 20. joining me for our daily fix chris cizilla, msnbc contributor and managing editor of post politics.com. hey, chris. >> hey there, andrea. love that lively crowd. >> they came all for me.

you have supporters of both sides, some louder than others. we'll -- power through this, chris. just talk about what's at stake tonight because we've got a number of polls which show a narrowing of the lead in some two battleground states. polls in pennsylvania, two polls now showing that the gap is now about four-point advantage for president obama in a state, pennsylvania, that he's absolutely counting on. there's another poll showing them dead even in new hampshire. a gallup poll that the obama camp is discounting but that also shows a big narrowing among women. >> yeah. >> that's been the firewall all along for president obama. what's going on here? >> well, look andrea, i think we are still in many ways feeling the impact of the debate 13 days ago. while people like you and i are kind of instantly analyzing what happens it takes time for people to kind of seep into the culture, for people to process it and come out of watching it or reading the coverage of it

with an opinion. so i think the tightening in pennsylvania, there's tightening in ohio, florida, there's polls that show mitt romney ahead. you mentioned new hampshire. polling in colorado, virginia. what we're seeing broadly is what we've seen in states at the national level. barack obama mid to high single digit lead at the national level is a tie. i think in most battle ground states he's lost a few points. it's why this debate is critically important for had him. he knows and his team knows he can not put in a performance like he did 13 days ago if he does that, the momentum that is on mitt romney's side will continue to build and my expectation you would see more erosion in the obama numbers both nationally and in swing states. >> and chris, as you can see right now we're rolling some video which is the president arriving right now, live pictures of the president arriving here on long island where he'll be heading over

here. both candidates having walk throughs on the stage but we won't see that. that's been closed per the rules of the debate commission. but you can see there is a little crowd at the airport. probably supporters. chris in terms of the momentum, the president's being urged by all of his supporters to be tougher, more aggressive, same time you've got real people there, they want their questions answered. and that's really the biggest test for him. to respond and to really show both candidates really have to show that they're relating to these people right there around him. >> what's hard in a town hall, you'll nailed it. you can't ignore the question asked and get to your preset talking points to attack the other guy. if you can do it within the context of the question, great. you can't be seen as putting the person who asked the question aside and move it on. no one likes the press. but it's harder to do that when you're dealing with average folks undecided voters, likely voters asking questions. i actually think that the footage you showed of president

obama getting off the plane and the footage you played in the opening with him saying, you know, it's a fabulous day i feel great, i actually think some of what president obama needs to do, he's already doing, which is tonal. he looked like he did not want to be on that debate stage 13 days ago in denver. he looked glum. he looked kind of -- to the extent he showed emotion, kind of sarcasm directed towards mitt romney. i think he needs to give off the i am an inspirational leader, these last four years have been tough but i am unvowed, i believe i have the best case forward and i'm going to make that case in policy and kind of how i look and present myself. >> and as you said today, feeling fabulous. thanks so much, chris cizilla. we'll talk to you later. >> have fun. >> hours before tonight's big showdown, secretary of state had hillary clinton was trying to give the president a little political cover over benghazi following tough attacks on benghazi by mitt romney and senate republicans. nbc's katherine chomack is

traveling with the secretary and reports from lima, per law. >> secretary clinton told nbc news her primary responsibility is taking care of american diplomats abroad. and she said after the mission in benghazi was attacked she worked night and day to do so. three republican senators called it laudable that the secretary was taking responsibility, but still in the final weeks of this political campaign what happened in benghazi is becoming increasingly political with republicans now accusing the administration of misleading the american people. here's what secretary clinton had to say about that. >> i don't think we want to get into any blame game. i think what we want to do is get to the bottom of what happened, figure out what we're going to do to pretext people and prevent it from happening again and track down whoever did it and bring them to justice. >> i also asked secretary clinton who herself has been in her fair share of high profile debates what advice she has for president obama tonight. she says he just has to get out there and tell the american people what he's done for the

country and hopes do in the next four years. and she said she'll be watching. >> that was katherine in lima, peru, with secretary clinton. >> after taking responsibility for the security failures surrounding the attack on the u.s. consulate in libya, secretary clinton's comments on the eve of the presidential debate in long island caused an uproar among republicans who say the buck should stop with the president in the oval office. joining me senator kelly ayotte who lreleased a statement accusing the president of deflecting his responsibility. thanks for joining us from new hampshire. what is wrong with secretary clinton saying -- good to have you with us. what is wrong with secretary clinton saying i'm in charge of 60,000 people who work for the state department and even if mid-level bureaucrats made those decisions it's ultimately my responsibility as secretary of state? >> well certainly laudable that the secretary of state has come forward like this, but she's clearly trying to be loyal and

cover for the president and the vice president. ultimately the security of the american people is the president's responsibility. and andrea, let's look at all the changing stories here of what the american people have been told about this event. it was certainly the administration that sent susan rice on every sunday talk show, every major station, to say this was a spontaneous reaction to a video. seven days after this event the president himself went on david letterman and still stuck to that saying it was a reaction to the video. yet the next day, the director of national intelligence testified before congress it was a terrorist event. secretary clinton can come forward and take responsibility, but the president has to answers you questions about this because first of all, there were two prior attacks on our consulate, the second one in june, according to one witness blew a hole that 40 people could go through, a serious attack. what did the president know about this and why wasn't there action taken and if he didn't

know about it we've got a serious problem with our intelligence team. >> now in fairness, they did say and even susan rice said on that sunday, that they would wait the final review by the fbi, the investigations which have been -- >> andrea really, obviously you don't get on a sunday show and every major sunday show without the administration saying go on the show. she was very clear ambassador rice, she was asked whether it was a hostile event against our country and she said no. spontaneous reaction to a video. but then again, seven days later on david letterman the president reiterated that story. let's go back to the facts. two prior attacks on this consulate, think about requests for security that were denied, i think that this didn't fit the administration's narrative. we have one of two things happening, blatant incompetence or deliberate misleading of the american people and these are fair questions to ask.

>> do you expect mitt romney will be trying to bring this issue up if it doesn't get asked by one of the questioners at the town hall tonight. >> i think that someone at the town hall will likely ask this. i mean this is an important issue. i don't know whether governor romney will bring this up or of course i'm sure it will come up in the foreign policy debate on 292nd. i really hope that we get answers from this administration soon because this is deeply troubling with the number of changing stories and, of course, it's horrible what happened in libya. we do need to get to the bottom of it. the american people deserve to have straight, forward the truth and if there's something wrong with our intelligence we better know and certainly why didn't the president receive this information about the prior attacks and did he receive it. question number one did he receive it in his dalingly briefings. if he didn't there's a real problem with this intelligence team. >> thank you so much, senator kelly ayotte, joining us from new hampshire today. >> thanks, andrea. >> joining me here at hofstra university to talk about this

and the president's strategy going forward for this evening is robert gibbs, senior adviser to the obama campaign. and, of course, the president's former press secretary. we've got a windy, noisy day here. >> how are you? >> it's great. my first bit of advice always travel with your own crowd. it's great. >> i brought them along just for you. but seriously, if you can respond. you're not part of the intelligence circle at this stage but as an adviser you know how it works inside. you've been privy to the highest level of national security. what do you say to senator ayotte and lindsey graham and other senators who say that the president was either not informed or covering up? >> i will say this, that the shamelessness of that interview is really remarkable. the notion that anybody wants to find out what happened more in benghazi than barack obama, we have to figure out what happened and make sure it never happens

again. but the lengths to which so many people in the republican party are going to play politics with this issue, i think is startling. ambassador stevens' own father said this shouldn't be a political issue. we should figure out what's going on. this president and administration have passed on the information that they've had when they've had it to the american people. it's not been deceptive, it's not been misleading in any way, shape, or form. >> let's talk about tonight and the debate. this is a town hall format as you know very well. you helped prepare barack obama for that format four years ago. what is the bigger challenge now tonight given his weak acknowledged weak performance in denver, how does he get aggressive enough to tackle mitt romney and, you know, show his forcefulness, show his leadership qualities and show exactly how he would lead the country at the same time as dealing directly with the concerns of the people in front of him? >> i think some of what chris said is absolutely true.

you've got undecided voters asking you questions not as a journalistic moderator but somebody living that cause and concern. i think first and foremost you want to connect directly with that voter and talk to them and i know the president will about what we've done and where we've come from, but most importantly, where he sees taking this country over the course of the next four years. i have no doubt, though, in the midst of that, we'll get into an opportunity to discuss the choice that's at had hand and the very different visions about building this economy from the middle out like the president wants to or showering the very rich with tax breaks and cuts an hoping somehow that lifts the middle class. we know that doesn't work. i think the president will first and foremost look to speak directly to those undecided voters. make sure they understand what he wants to do to continue moving this economy snoords presumably he's been told not to look down at his notes so much, to worry about that split screen. >> well, no podiums tonight

society so thatso that's probably a good thing. >> the other concern you have to have as his supporters nart roing of the polls. we see a narrowing in pennsylvania, troubling in florida, narrowing in ohio of his lead, new hampshire tied. and women are not as strongly supportive of barack obama in some of these polls. >> look, let's be clear, the gallup poll yesterday is the first and only poll i know of that i've seen in any national or battleground place that shows women tied. i don't think that's the case. look, there's a natural tight tightening in this race and one we expected. we have 53% of the vote four years ago. they don't call it battleground states for nothing. but look, i think we're in a strong position because first and foremost, the case that this president has to press, to build this economy stronger, to bring back manufacturing jobs, send more exports overseas, strengthen our economy, that's a better case, better case against

mitt romney. i think you'll hear him talk directly about that tonight. >> and the middle of this windstorm some good news for you guys came in from the supreme court. they declined to reverse decisions in ohio which would have cut back on early voting in some counties. elaine ga kagan ruled, the full board declined to take it up. ohio will be able to continue early voting something you've been trying to bank. >> important for ohio and important for this country. we don't suffer in this political process from too few people voting. i think it's great news we have the ekts tended early voting period for those in ohio, in the military that live in ohio. this is good for democracy. >> thank you so much. robert gibbs. >> thanks for having me. >> and what is mitt romney's battle plan for tonight? coming up romney senior adviser joins us next right here. still ahead, nbc's tom brokaw, new york magazine's john heilemann, strategist bob sh rum, michael gerson.

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we've talked about president obama how he's preparing. now how is mitt romney preparing for tonight's challenge? joining me now, romney campaign senior adviser kevin madden. welcome. >> good to be with you. thanks for having me. >> great to be out here. he won the first debate, now people in pew are expecting president obama to win tonight's debate. what's -- what is the sort of game plan, battle plan you're facing a town hall format very

different. as many as 20 questions from undecided likely voters chosen by gallup. >> what we like about the debate formats in general is that it allows governor romney to cut through a lot of the clutter of just 30-second negative advertising that's been launched by president obama's campaign. >> or by both sides. the advertising has been fierce on both sides. >> it is great for the governor to cut through all of that and talk directly to voters about how it is they're managing their way through this obama economy. and when we have an ability to do that and talk about what governor romney would do as president romney and implement a recovery, what he would do to bring down tax rates, put the country back on the right direction, a lot of that really helps him. i think that's the one thing we want to do. the second part of it is having this ability to personalize his message, talk directly to the voters about how his plans would genuinely affect their lives. what it would do to help people

who don't have a job find a job and what it would do to those that have a job and worry about health care costs and a clear choice, that's the one thing that came out of the debate that we think had helped move voters once they had a choice and saw the contrast between the two candidates on the campaign stage -- >> i think what we're hearing is -- >> governor romney did very well. >> this is marine one. >> right. >> this is -- this is marine one. the president is coming for a 1:30 walk through. both candidates as you know very well -- we're looking at live pictures right now of marine one landing here at hofstra university. >> that's one of the advantages of incumbency there. >> that is one of the advantages. let's talk, though, about ross perot. >> right. >> you've rolled out ross perot's endorsement in the des moines register. ross perot after the 92 campaign pretty much faded from view.

at one point he was leading the polls in june of 1992. he was ahead of bush '41 and bill clinton. but eventually he did fade in the polls. what is the virtue of having ross perot appealing to iowa voters? is this the deficit hawk and tea party support. >> i think there's a very big sliver of voters out there that are anxious about the direction of the country as it relates to spending and deficits and bringing reform and bringing a new sensibility to washington. we haven't seen that for the last four years. ross perot i think speaks to a lot of those voters. i don't want to make too much of endorsements but it does say something about this -- the voters out there who care about those issues that governor romney does have that type of support. the independent swing voters that many years ago looked at somebody like perot who could bring a change to washington, i think they see the same in governor romney right now. somebody who can really tackle deficits bring down spending and reform washington with a new

sense of putting the country back on track. >> now the joint committee on tagsation, highly regarded the congressional bipartisan committee, these are the real experts on the hill. >> right. >> they took a look at your plan and you just said that the president -- that the -- mitt romney excuse me wants to be specific about how he would contrast himself to the president on helping middle class and other americans economically. but according to the joint committee on taxation, there is no way even if you eliminated all of the deductions and he has not been specific about which ones, but if you eliminated about all of the deductions in the tax code you could not do more than a 4% tax cut, not nearly the 20% tax cut and be revenue neutral. >> governor romney's tax plan is designed to spur more growth because it does bring down the marginal rates 20% and when you bring down those rates and tackle some of the spending problems we have and find efficiencies in the system. >> will he be more specific

tonight about which. >> one of the reasons governor romney came out of that first debate so much better than the president he offered more specifics and he did give voters a better sense he has a better plan for rejuvenating the economy and institutes a real recovery in this country. when governor romney talks about all of those issue particularly on tax reform and help small businesses, the middle class he's going to come out better in this campaign. >> kevin madden great to see you. >> great to be with you as always. >> good luck. >> my home state of new york. >> right. >> hopefully have some good luck. >> up next the challenges of tonight's town hall style debates with nbc's tom brokaw who did it four years ago with obama and john mccain. this is "andrea mitchell reports" live from hofstra university. ♪ ♪ [ multiple sounds making melodic tune ]

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presents challenges not only for the candidates but also for the moderator. nbc's tom brokaw who moderated the last town hall presidential debate four years ago and tried to keep the candidates on track. >> gentlemen you may not have noticed we have lights around here. they have red and green and yellow and they are to signal to where -- >> i'm just trying to keep up with john. >> john -- >> wave like that and i'll look at you. >> and nbc news special correspondent tom brokaw joins me now from 30 rock. hey, tom. remember that? >> i remember it very well. i'm going to take your audience a little -- through a little bit of what happens if you're the moderator in the town hall format. >> please. >> at least four years ago. i don't know what candy is going through today. gallup does a survey of people near the ven few of the debate, in this case eastern long island. they try to get a representative group. you get a whole stack of questions they've written out and go through those questions

match them with the people you meet in a closed room. one great question from a woman who said i don't want to be on television. that didn't help. and then number of other questions of people not comfortable. you have not very much time to sort through those. the candidates say they're going to respond for two minutes and answer for one minute. you saw what happened there. in the end the country is well served because they get to hear from real voters. i did four years ago break the rules that the commission had established by saying, look, i'm not going to be a potted plant if something has to be followed up i'm going to ask that question. candy has said that in this case as well. i think the country is well served by that. we got in as many questions last year as they had in previous town halls. and we could have gotten in more if they had played by the time rules that they had established themselves. so, end of my defense. >> well, the candidates themselves, if they go over that's what cuts into the

opportunity for the people, the voters in front of them to ask the questions. the rules tonight are just about as they were with you, except there aren't on-line questions this time as there had been four years ago so they get two minutes, a question asked and about five or six seconds and two minutes for each candidate to answer, two minutes for candy to follow up and go on to the next question. they'll got about 20 questions preselected. they expect they might get to about 19, or -- >> they will be lucky if they get to that, yes. >> exactly. what is the pitfalls here? president obama obviously had a bad night in denver. he wants to show that he's more forceful, more connected but he has to also really relate to the people asking the questions. that is probably the biggest test, isn't it? >> it really is. and for the moderator it's a matter of trying to have a light touch, but with a firm attitude about trying to keep them on-line and on subject. i think once it gets under way

however, if president obama begins to stray, then in the response, that it's up to governor romney to point that out and vice versa for that matter. what troubles me more, when we have these kinds of debates is that a lot of the questions that come from the american public understandably are not very, very specific. they want to know about tone, they want to know about what you're going to do to help cooperate and the candidates only want to take those kinds of questions because they get a lot of running room. they can decide what part of the question they want to answer. in the final analysis, the moderator always ends up like the zebra, that is, the man or woman in a striped shirt on the football field or in the basketball court you're not going to be popular with anyone. >> already in the days leading up to this, the two campaigns were trying to sort of game the ref and kind of brushback pitch if you will to mix my sports metaphors because they were trying to say, you know, you

can't do anything except be the time keeper and candy crowley has said, no, that's not right. i can say, you asked about apples but the question about apples but the answer about oranges and let's get to the apples this person is asking about. i've known candy a long time. used to work with her when she was many years ago at nbc. i think she's going to be pretty straightforward and tough. >> yeah. look, it's a tricky piece and i hope that she does find a way to ask those questions when they are appropriate. that's what i tried to do. everyone is a judge and critic of these and looking yacht for bias of some kind, breaking the rules, making it all about you. but at the end of 90 minutes what happened to me last time as i traveled across the country the next day on two or three flights people were coming up to me in airports telling me how much they enjoyed, had seat mates and others on the plane itself saying that one was at least vigorous and robust, and i

learned a lot from it. so, we have to separate the choir from the rest of the country. people will have strong feelings depending on how their candidate does. >> we'll all be looking for that and enjoy and your views tonight as well. tom brokaw, as always, thank you for joining us today. >> my pleasure. >> the clinton factor. what does the former president's role on the trail mean for president obama's re-election hopes? send me your thoughts on facebook and twitte twitter @mitchellreports. this is "andrea mitchell reports" live at hofstra university only on msnbc. new trident layers juicy berry + tangy tangerine is a thrilling, dual-flavored ride to mouth fun-town. but it's not like everyone is going to break into a karaoke jam session. ♪ this will literally probably never happen. [ male announcer ] it's time for medicare open enrollment. are you ready? time to compare plans and see what's new.

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the romney campaign got a boost this morning in iowa with ross perot endorsing romney. talking about that with robert gibbs before. he slammed president obama's record on the economy. nbc's peter alexander joins me now as, of course, covered the

romney campaign throughout. what is the strategy for mitt romney tonight? >> well, andrea, part of that strategy is still being formulated as we speak. exchanged e-mails with a aide that says mitt romney is with senator rob portman from ohio behind closed doors trying to make more of their plan for tonight. simply put they recognize this is a unique opportunity to try to break one of the stereotypes that was hammered in by negative ads over the course of the summer to build an emotional connection with viewers in this unique town hall format. why one of the top advisors to governor romney said to me a short time ago that one of the things we focused on is what people have referred to as stage craft, whether you look into the camera, moderator or to the questioner themselves. >> thanks so much, peter. we'll all be covering and watching with you and nbc white house correspondent kristen welker joins me now. you've been covering the president's preparations down in williamsburg he's here now. what's his game plan. >> andrea, good afternoon. i think the president's game

plan is to be aggressive without being rude and to really make up for that lackluster first debate that he had. sources close to the campaign tell me that we can expect president obama to reference mitt romney's 47% comments, that he did not reference during the first debate, much to the chagrin of his supporters and i'm also told that the president is not going to shy away from drawing sharp contrasts over his views about women as well as taxes. the challenge, of course, is for the president to be stern, but respectful. and aides say that is what he is focused on going into tonight's debate. >> kristen welker, traveling with the president today. and both candidates agree on one thing bill clinton's endorsement countps. in new york magazine yousafzai john heilemann explores the relationship between barack obama and bill clinton. and joining me now, msnbc political analyst and new york benghazi m magazine affairs editor john

heilema heilemann. what a great piece. brings me back to all of the campaigns past, present and perhaps future. talk about the clinton/obama relationship. back in 2008 a very rocky start and they as you describe in "new york" magazine had the get together in the harlan office of president clinton and it was still edgy. how has this come together so you have bill clinton being not only the most effective speaker at the convention, for president obama, but now going out this thursday and joining the boss in ohio, can you imagine the big dog and the boss both in ohio? the critical state. >> god, how much -- >> for president obama's re-election. >> how much i wish i could be there that day i would pay money to see that concert. >> exactly. >> the thaw, a lot of raw feelings on both sides by the end of 2008 but the thaw began when president obama reached out and put hillary clinton in his cabinet, offered her the job of secretary of state. that meant a huge amount to president clinton. and the way that obama has

treated her as secretary of state, to say as a partner, giving her a huge amount of responsibility for foreign policy, letting her run the state department is pretty much her own eminent domain has meant a lot to president clinton also. over time the relationship has evolved to the point where no one on either side of the house says that there's a lot of genuine affection or warmth between the two of them but quote someone close to president clinton saying the relationship is now totally transaction but highly functional and that's to say, president clinton really -- president obama has moved a lot in president clinton's direction on policy, and on the way that he thinks about politics and how to win re-election. president clinton is happy to see his -- to see that -- the thing that obama started out as an ante dote to clinton-ism he's the inheriter and running very much as the president's heir and i think that gives president clinton a lot of satisfaction, seeing clinton-ism restored to its rightful place and that's

good for his wife should she decide to run for president in 2016, seeing the clinton brand and the clinton era glorified by this president, is good for business. >> and as you pointed out and i recall, during the nevada caucuses back in 2008, that's when it really got very edgy with president clinton because he felt that president obama's comments praising ronald reagan as being the historic figure were a slap at his presidency and went downhill from there. we saw what happened in south carolina and pennsylvania primary. but they really did try to patch it up. i think that's a picture in the clinton office. i actually saw former president bill clinton last night at an educational fund-raiser in washington before i came here, a fund-raiser for public charter schools in d.c. for kids at risk, in the inner city and for kids being educated in the d.c. corrections department and he just went -- he gave an amazing speech, frankly, about education, education reform,

number of the cabinet members were there but went off and said in a little bit of a riff that he is, of course, president obama's secretary in charge of explaining stuff. and that he went on to talk about education. that's what had he did in that speech at the convention and shows you how bill clinton has become a full partner here, whatever the real relationship is, he is effectively one of the best campaigners that president obama has. >> you know, president obama's people will tell you that speech? charlotte and in particular the single line that president clinton actually as i report in the magazine spent a long time on the day of the speech word smithing the single line about how no president, not even bill clinton could have repaired the damage that president obama faced when he came into office in just four years, those are -- that's the speech was incredibly important, moved public opinion and that line in particular was something president obama could not say about himself. president clinton understood how important that was and understands had his role in a

lot of places in the country, not only a guy with a 69% approval rating, not only the most popular political figure in america, but he's become kind of like a neutral arbiter on economics and on economic policy, on what it takes to make the government successful in terms of managing the economy. he speaks with particular force and authority to middle-class voters to working-class voters, a lot of the voters that president obama's had trouble reaching over the course of his term, the white middle-class voters and working-class voters, president clinton has traction with those people and they have run the obama campaign has, the ad with bill clinton speaking direct to camera, making the case for obama's economic record. they've run that ad more than 16,000 times in the swing states. it's the ad they've run more than any other single ad and as you know there are also ads out there that look like bill clinton is barack obama's running mate. a clip for him speaking at the convention followed by a clip of president obama speaking. he is the most important surrogate and as you know andrea, you want to have a guy

with that kind of credibility and a guy that can talk the owls down from the trees. >> indeed. great piece. "new york" magazine, john heilemann, thank you so much. no accident that hillary clinton was taking the blame for benghazi on the eve of this debate. >> up next debate expectations with bob shrum and michael gerson. you're watching "andrea mitchell reports" only on msnbc. live from hofstra. [ cat 1 ] i am not a vegetarian... look at these teeth! they're made for meat! [ cat 2 ] do i look like i'm stalking plants? [ male announcer ] most dry foods add plant protein, like gluten but iams never adds gluten. iams adds 50% more animal protein, [ cat 3 ] look at this body! under this shiny coat is a lean, mean purring machine [ cat 4 ] i am too! hahahaha! [ male announcer ] iams. with 50% more animal protein. [ cat 5 ] yum! [ cat 1 ] i'm an iams cat. feed me what i'm born to eat. meow.

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george w. bush in 2000 and 2004. welcome to both of you. >> good to be here. >> first to you, the pressure is on the president to do better than he did in denver. what would your advice be to him and telling him behind the scenes? >> the pressure really is on and i think he'll show up and he has to show up with his best game. he's shown a capacity over the years to be at his best when the pressure is on. we saw that in 2008 in the south carolina debate where i think his performance sealed his victory in the primary and probably sealed his nomination. we saw it when health care hung in the balance. i also expect that tonight, we're going to hear a lot more questions, for example, on social issues like women's rights and equal pay. finally, be what somebody said earlier in the show is absolutely right. in this era of reality tv, showmanship matters more than it has. in fact, we probably repelled the rule that you're supposed to be cool. i think you got -- people rate this as a contest. you have to see it as a contest and win it on points. i think the president's probably

been prepared for that. by the way, i don't agree with the conventional wisdom you can't do this in a town hall format. you can ask the question, say i'm glad you asked me that, real differences here and then discuss them with empathy and passion. >> and can you can you in that michael, turn to the other candidate, can president obama turn to mitt romney, can mitt romney turn to president obama and just take each other on within the context of the question that the person has asked? >> i think it's perfectly possible to be forceful in the context of a town hall debate. i think you can't use the people that actually question as props. you have it to address their concerns, you have to show genuine empathy. that's a challenge for romney. that's not necessarily been his strength, but then you can turn it into a firm but not nasty confrontation with your opponent. that's been very successfully done. i think president obama needs to do more than that, though. he has to show some spirit and

some vision for the next four years, which frankly he did not show in the first debate and his convention speech. he's getting criticism from his own party on that front. how is the next four years different than the last four in specific ways. that's a challenge for him as well. >> does president obama have to be more specific? we've talked about earlier with kevin madden, i was talking about how he has to be more specific, which so far he has not been, about how exactly his tax cuts would add up. doesn't the president also, bob, have to be more specific about what he would do differently in the next four years? >> i don't know that i like the world "differently," but he has to be specific and set out a vision for the next four years. i think michael is right about that. he has to talk about what was achieved, but then be very honest and say it to people, that's not enough. we have to do more, and here's what i want to do. i think, for example, we will hear about his desire to create a million more manufacturing jobs, his plan to do so and hire

100,000 more teachers. they'll be less like a list of ideas and there's more in the context of what kind of country we can become if we do these things. >> andrea -- i'm sorry. >> i was going to say you're both great speech writers. that's one of the wonderful virtues that you share. what do you do when you don't have an opening statement or a closing statement? how does that affect tonight's format? it permits neither. >> i don't think that the formal remarks in this context are what's decisive. i think a lot of it is body language and a lot is the way you elm path size people. it's al gore being too aggressive and getting in george bush's face in 20 thou that fired on him. imt not sure speeches are kind of what you do in a context like this. i do think that the challenge that the president has is

significant, though. you know, if you would look at the polling, people don't want continuity. they want change. for an incumbent to position himself as an agent of change is a difficult communication task, and that's what his task is tonight. >> we're going to have to leave it there. thank you so much. we'll be right back. atest collen of snacks from lean cuisine. creamy spinach artichoke dip, crispy garlic chicken spring rolls. they're this season's must-have accessory. lean cuisine. be culinary chic.

predebate edition of "andrea mitchell reports." tomorrow we wrap up the debate with former senator tom dashle among other guests. hi, tom ran. >> i know you'll stick around to be in the hour as well with the perils of the town hall style debate. she was the obama supporters whose words resonated across the country two years ago. >> quite frankly i'm exhausted. i'm exhausted at defending you, defending your administration. >> but today like so many

others, velma is waiting to see if the president will fight back and defend his rock. velma hart will join us live. does she still stand by the president? chris matthews will join us with his he pre-debate analysis and what chris wants to see tonight. in case i get hit by a meteor. wow, your hair looks great. didn't realize they did photoshop here. hey, good call on those mugs. can't let 'em see what you're drinking. you know, i'm glad we're both running a nice, clean race. no need to get nasty. here's your "honk if you had an affair with taylor" yard sign. looks good. [ male announcer ] fedex office. now save 50% on banners.

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