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captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org-- >> now is not my time. i have a commitment to new jersey that i simply will not abandon. >> this week, chris christie says no go and sarah palin is a no show. how will this change the 2012 race for the white house? >> i would like mr. cantor to come down here to dallas and explain what exactly is in this jobs bill he does not believe in. >> the president pushes his jobs plan and takes aim at his opponents by name. >> people are angry but they have nowhere to get the anger out. >> anger over the economy starts demonstrations as we observe another anniversary in the afghanistan war. >> i do not see this war being won or loss in the next several years. i think it will continue. captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org--

"insideme to washington." i'm mark shields. gordon peterson has the week off. new jersey gov. chris christie went from an object of intense republican desire to the big one that got away. >> the people sent me to trenton to get a job done and i am not prepared to walk away. i know not everyone agrees with my decision. but my loyalty to this state is what it is. >> christie had company, former alaska gov. sarah palin. how does this duo change things for the 2012 race? charles krauthammer? >> i do not think it changes anything. i do not think there was any chance for christie to come in. he gave it some thought. he came up with the only conclusion. he would not have one and if he lost the would have been

diminished and could not go home to his home state. palin, i think, has never been serious about running for the could presidency. and it would not make sense for her, either. i think the field isn't what it -- the field is what it is is and i think on the inside never expected anything really different. >> whom does it help, nina? >> i am not saying anything you have not read a million times but it obviously helps romney. for the moment it seemsfor some reason it has also helped cain as well. it helps romney because he is the person who can carry the banner. that is a way it looks. now, perry raised $17 million in the first quarter and it kept in -- it kept him -- the political establishment said he could raise a lot of money but he has to be a better candidate and at the moment he has not shown he can be a better candidate except for raising money. and that is not enough. >> colby? >> it will affect the race this way.

people sitting on the sidelines holding their money now realize they are not to be considered -- so the money race is really on. i don't think it is fair to say gov. perry is out of this. i think it is a two-person race. they recognize it. this weekend you have perry been blasted by mitt romney as hitting an attacking him on immigration. you have perry attacking romani's environmental effort. -- mitt romney's environmental record. you will see the attacks increasingly over the next several weeks especially with the change in the republican primary schedule. >> i agree it is a mistake. i notice the smart guys are already riding of perry. -- writing off perry. it does not sound right. he is an enormously attractive characters a lot of people --

maybe not to the know what bugs -- maybe not the know it all p and the press but an awful lot of voters. i did it will be a long and probably ugly fight. it going. >> let me speak on behalf of the know what bugs in the press. it is not just the press. his poll numbers have been cut in half. he came in about 20% -- 28%, at a romney, and now 17. it is only explanation is the performance in the debate. i do not think he has been out there anywhere else where he would have had an impact. i think it is interesting how these debates, they also account of the rise of cain. no other explanation. it is so interesting that so early on, but the odds with nine people on the states have had such an impact -- debates with nine people on the stage have had an impact. >> romney, compared to four years ago, he is a superb candidate. i believe it -- agree that he is bloodless, and that is his problem in the general election.

but you see the republican constituencies -- it is the flavor of the week. they don't really like him. they don't trust them and they -- they don't trust him and they want somebody else. michele bachmann, cain, perry. maybe perry can come back. i did not write anybody off. i'm not that a silly. >> hypothetical -- republicans are behaving like democrats. democrats have to be a low -- emotional, they have to be glandular before they support somebody. whether it is obama -- emotional. they have to love their candid. republicans accept bob dole, george bush the first. this time, watching the feverish pursuit of chris christie by sensible republicans and practical shoes, they were like justin bieber fans. >> that is because they are not happy with the rest of the field. romney is acceptable but he is

not the one that turns them on. perry on the other hand does have an exciting days. -- an excited base. the question is will romney -- the next several weeks or months as they go to the vote. that is the big question, can he sustain this. >> he has been amazingly discipline, romney has, and he has run a really good campaign. error-free. but i still think that perry is kind of a protean force. he is likable to an awful lot of people. and in this time, this time where we are living where passions are running and fear is great, a democrat the -- demagogue has a chance. >> let me buy into your hypothetical that democrats have to get glandular and republicans never did before. i think it is partly true. but i am not sure -- even when clinton and obama were going at

each other, except for the 3:00 in the morning had, -- ad, having vicious attack ads of this early inside of the party strikes me as a party not used to doing this. i do not know how it affects their prospects. >> one exception to the shields glandularity faces -- john kerry, i do not know if there were people going hormonal over him. but he lost. but on the republican side that is the story. romney is the man who wants to be the last man standing in he is the one i think in the end will be considered acceptable -- just conservative enough. but it is early. so, if you are energized as republicans are over obama, you don't want to settle early on conservative enough. you want somebody who is really conservative. that is why you have the rotating dates -- bachmann,

perry. >> speed dating on the republican side. >> president obama appeals for public support. in his battle with republican lawmakers. >> i am dealing with a majority leader who says his number one goal was to beat me. not to put americans back to work, not grow the economy, not help small businesses expand, but to defeat me. >> that is the president defending why he is appealing directly to the public to support his jobs plan. the plan is going to be paid for by increasing taxes on the wealthy. how you think the republicans would react to the idea? then i assume he thought they -- >> i assume he thought they knew -- would reject it because it>> i would assume he thought they would reject it because

that is what they did before. but the problem goes beyond eric cantor and the republicans in the house. his plan today could not pass the united states senate. he doesn't have the votes. as a matter of fact, our earlier this week, ms. mcconnell path -- when mitch mcconnell proposed to have an up or down vote on the plan -- harry reid, majority leader, wisely it withdrew that opportunity because the bill would have failed in the senate. not just because of republican opposition. he doesn't have enough democrats to push the bill over. >> compensation -- he does not -- consultation, he does not do it with his own people. >> he has to do it -- i understand the political argument but the government is not exclusively limited to the house of representatives. >> well, as the president's record on consulting democrats when he puts something for is not a good one. however, turning to the question at hand which is, is it smart to do this -- yes, it is bark -- smart to do this. republicans are about to go into full campaign mode.

>> about to? >> he got nowhere being reasonable and responsible and now he wants to keep this job, you better act more like a partisan. >> charles, on friday morning we learned the unemployment rate remained at 911% despite 103,000 jobs created in september -- 9.1%. >> 100,000 jobs is not really a lot to cheer. better than expected but you need about a quarter of a million to stay up with increasing population. it shows that either unemployment will continue to increase or be flat. i think as a candidate, which obama is right now, he is looking at a landscape where next year running at 9% unemployment -- historically high. nobody has been reelected at anything over 7.8% except fdr and that is a long time. he is in full campaign mode. the hypocrisy is remarkable -- in one of the speeches he said we need action right now

because the country can't wait a year and two months to get action. he proposed a bill that ino's has no chance of becoming law. democrats in the senate will reject. he knows it will not have an effect on the economy. it is entirely campaigning and he has ended the governing stage and all in campaign mode and nothing else. >> if he is lucky, and unemployment will be 9%. we are heading the something much worse. you talk about fiddling while rome burns -- politicians all over the west are fiddling while the global burns and happens -- it is happening in europe and here. an unbelievable a disconnect between bill act -- absolute lack of political will to get anything done, including europe, and a tidal wave. that is just about drown all of us. >> one example is dick durbin and many people in the congress

railing against citibank over a $5 surcharge on a cards white -- swipe -- >> bank of america. >> is it bankamerica? -- of america? urging a run. at a time the economies are completely allowed to imploding. i think he is right -- they are simply not facing at all the magnitude. >> banks really are not an object of sympathy. >> but up $5 surcharge is not what the american economy hangs on. >> but not exactly for the one island of prosperity in a sea of misery. records set -- set the straight on the political campaign. it is happening on both sides. the effort to defeat barack obama started two and a half years ago and it has been sustained. obama, yes from he is in campaign mode and the question is has he gotten to the mode to late.

>> president of the united states. he had a debt commission last year that he ignored, a budget he submitted this year that was laughed at in his own democratic senate. 97-0. he has not governed at all. >> know it is your fault, no it is your fault. after a while somebody -- >> i don't think the history is quite equal. i think level performance over -- the whole performance over the raising of the debt limit was so disgusting, and it was mainly -- that one was mainly on the republican side. and it really did shut -- >> approval rating of the congress. it is at an all-time low. 14%. >> obama did try to do the right thing then, but after dropping the ball -- he dropped the ball on the commission, and then in the state of the union -- he consistently dropped the ball. when push came to shove he was a really bad politician and failed to bring it home.

there is blame on everybody. >> demonstrators take to the street. what street? wall street. >> dissents is part of our democracy. this is the epitome of dissent -- a protest in the middle of the financial district. >> 35 years after the movie "network" made the phrase -- as, demonstrators have turned out to declare they are mad as hell and will not take it anymore. exactly what they are mad about is up for grabs but signs of shown anger at banks and the plight of the middle class. how significant is this? >> i think in some sociological sense it is significant. this is sort of the tea party of the left. but they don't know what they want.

and organized labor has joined in, which certainly means politically they have a little more clout. but you have to have something you want. a specific thing or two that you want and there is no consensus on that. >> the tea party began with a financial reporter in chicago with this statement -- how many people want to pay for your neighbor's mortgage that has an extra bathroom and can't pay their bills. that is the give me liberty or give me death with a tea party. not all movements begin with a specific itemized agenda. >> that this is " the kids a banging on drums -- it is so easy to dismiss. but to me, it is a fire bell in the night. it is the significant thing. it may or may not turn into the tea party of the left but what it does signal is you may have civil unrest. as the politicians screw around and do nothing. it is not like people will go home and wait to die.

there is going to be real unrest. it is happening in greece but it is coming to our shores. it is here. we are on the verge of a 1960 pop the kind of period of tremendous and the ability and unrest. >> the difference between this and the tea party is that these people have admittedly no idea what they want. whereas the tea party, reputedly the toothless proletarian an underclass turned out to the people -- no, this is how they were covered all through the "the new york times" the first year as a minute peasantry -- they had the idea of smaller government, less regulation and lower taxes. you can disagree but it is an idea. unlike the indignant indolence in the street who are carrying around their ipods, wearing their nike shoes and designer levi's while protesting corporate america. >> all protest movement start with a grievance. >> what is the grievance?

>> several grievances. >> give me one. >> start with several grievances -- lack of jobs, for one, that they think that wall street has benefited but main street has not, that they can't find work. you name it. >> the rich get richer. class warfare. >> it has coalesced into something greater. and we are at the early stages. but to dismiss it as a bunch of hippies out there is a sound bite but not the reality. >> it is worth remembering that historically at the are really in some ways it saved capitalism because there was an enormous unrest in the depths of the depression. and it could have turned into real violence, it could have turned into a genuine socialist state, even communism. there was a threat of a real

undoing. >> you get median family income dropping in this country as dramatically as that has in the past decade and you are going to get undressed. >> the people out there are not the unemployed steelworkers of pittsburgh. take a look at them. >> charles, do not stereotype any more of a stereotype the tea party people. >> some of those are children of people who have their jobs in jeopardy. >> last words -- afghanistan, 10 years after it the invasion. >> this is where they are bringing weapons, where they are bringing drugs and money. all here down the border. we are here to make it harder for them. >> that is army specialist anthony cook from largo, florida, explaining his mission 10 years after u.s. forces entered the troubled country. there are now about 90,000 americans among the 130,000 nato

troops. they are scheduled to leave by the end of 2014. how will history judges of the reason? >> as a tragedy that was inevitable. once you have 9/11, the united states, the great giant was going to stomp on somebody. and one of the first places was afghanistan. but once they are in we can't get out. and i think we need to get out. but i think once you go in and we just got stuck there and i see a not so much as anything other than a tragedy, inevitable tragedy. >> charles, how can you nation build a country where you have 72% of afghan over the age of 16 who are illiterate and the second-highest in the mortality rate was in a >> you can't. that is the lesson of the afghan war. evan's in application was we wanted to show our manliness. it was an act of self-defense. al-qaeda was acted out of there, they plan out of there and we smashed and disperse them.

we have had remarkable success against al qaeda. the problem is when you topple the government you have to replace it. we did well in japan and germany. in a place like afghanistan there isn't a nation and in the first couple of years it was quiet until about 2005 of or to thao law and then the taliban concerned. >> 90% of the afghan government revenues, from foreign aid. >> and the rest of the comes from the poppy fields. the problem was, it was not inevitable. we went into afghanistan to go after al qaeda. that was the source of 9/11. and we went in there and we had to disrupt the taliban. but we did not have tuesday. it is not a matter of saving a government -- there was no government to save. the objective expanded by

choice. but we didn't have to do that. >> we also took our eye off the ball and went into iraq. i don't have any idea what would have happened if we really concentrated three or four years there and got out. that would have been i felt what we should have done. and i also think it is a tragedy and to many young lives are being lost. >> there is never a clear joyce. we should not be in iraq when the real war is in afghanistan -- i think president obama said that. and you can't get out. >> one of the big story was the passing of steve jobs, the founder of apple which got worldwide attention. the meaning of his life and career? >> i think there has been almost a disproportionate response. i think he did great things the people have gone crazy about him there and my take on this is because he is the only hero of our modern age. he is it. we have not advanced than any

other area -- in cancer, we have not liked that some airplanes don't fly faster but not much innovation except in is one area where it has been enormous and he is the one american who seems like the old days -- the great inventor and pioneer. he conjures up his vision of american greatness in a kind of solidary fashion and i think there has been this kind of overwhelming reaction. >> i think really it underestimates the difference he made. it is like saying, well, he only invented the airplane or he only invested -- invented the combustion engine. he changed the way of everything works, for good or ill. for all the people walk around like this. for all the people who don't really -- read real books or newspapers. all the people who can do things because of the kinds of things computers and digital stuff that he did instantly do what used to

take zillions of people to do. >> he was going up when the rest of us were going down. >> let's not go overboard. we have had a number of heroes. david petreaus, to mind. an outstanding military man. we have seen this and other fields as well. america is not in decline. the genius of steve jobs to me seems to be the genius of the individual. a person who did not finish college but had something in him, ideas, to explore. we have people like that all over the country. if they had the opportunity. this argues more for opportunity for individuals than anything i can think of because that person is not alone. if there are others like him who could do the same thing if they had in the opportunities. >> like the joke about the four

people to examining an elephant and each one would give you a different description of the animal. i see him as the thomas edison of our time. the affect of what he did was to james -- change many things in our lives. thomas edison gave us the moving picture, the phonograph, and the light bulb. every one of those is revolutionary. he gave us new ways of reading. but think of how many industries he killed -- cameras, newspapers, publishing. in a travel agency. of all the middlemen in life. >> the culture of this country -- you can go down the list and find example after example. >> but everything he changed -- thomas edison had a role in the beginning of the last century where he gave us a world to live in that never existed but he tried everything in a

laboratory. there was no elegance in it. he experimented. it worked. if it didn't -- i think he had 1000 light bulbs before he ended up with the right one. steve jobs had this sort of zen mine, an idea of how he did -- it should look and he said to want thousand people here is how i see it. you make it. that is what made him remarkable. >> and the people who make it or who made it -- they say, by the way, the government needs to play some role. of the former ceo of intel said that intel would not have existed without some additional help from the government to commercialize an idea that was already supported it >> how did the government help apple? >> i don't know. >> i don't think it did. >> last word. that is it for this week. it took and again next time for -- tune in again next time for "inside washington."

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