>> i am not a witch. i'm nothing you've heard. i'm you. >> our debt problem is because washington cannot control spending. >> this week on "inside washington," with just over three weeks until election day, democrats tried to change the game plan. >> the reports of the death of the democratic party have been greatly exaggerated. [applause] >> record $3 billion in campaign spending by election day. where is the money coming from? >> they are posing as a nonprofit groups with names like americans prosperity. >> t his is a filthy nation and

thank god for dead soldiers. >> the best way to describe it is being kicked in the days when you are laying on the ground. >> with his numbers dipping, would the president considered stopping joe -- >swapping joe for hillary? >> both of us are happy doing what you're doing. captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org-- >> november 2, election day, is rapidly approaching. there are plenty of tossups out there and democratic leaders fear a major increase as the gap by election day. outcomes are uncertain in colorado, nevada, washington state, even in west virginia, where a popular governor is in the fight of his political life. vice-president joe biden says not to worry. >> on november 3, the democrats

will retain a majority in the house, a majority in the senate, and these two folks will be heading to the state capital. >> mark, do you think the vice president is being overly optimistic? >> in 1940, harry truman was the 10-1 underdog -- 1948, at harry truman was the 10-1 underdog to thomas dewey. a guy in the senate walked to the midwest and came back and said, " harry truman is going to wind." only person in washington. joe biden will win that award on november 2 if the democrats retain control of both houses. he is alone, virtually, in that prediction. >> charles? >> the sage of wilmington strikes again. i am glad to hear him say that, because the republican chatter

of how big of weight is going to be already measuring the drapes for the speakership is that, because it means that if the republicans in do well but not overwhelming, it will be considered a defeat, the same way that in the new hampshire primary of 1992, where the flowers scandal broke and clinton, the front runner, collapsed, and he came in second, he was the winner, essentially, as the comeback kid. the more the democrats want to talk up their chances, bring it on. >> colby? >> i think the vice president is probably wrong on this, although i have been saying that i thought the democrats would retain both houses. but if you look at the tossup races, in the house you have 38 tossup contests, and 37 are democratic seats. senate, at 6 tossups, most of them democratic seats.

i don't see where they will pull this out. >> nina? >> the really dangerous thing, long term, for the democrats is that they are going to lose governorships and statehouses. this is going to be your where he redraw districts. in 2000, when that happened, they lost a lot of seats' in laos by redistricting -- in the house by redistricting. many of them are hard to defend because of that redrawing. >> the vice-president was campaigning in st. paul earlier this week. >> i don't have any doubt in my mind that if we turn out average people, if we turn out those independents, republicans, and democrats, who are in a struggle like all of us are, we will win. [applause] and i have no doubt, i have no

doubt if we do not, we will lose and we will see a rerun of the last movie that ended in devastation for so many american people. >> he starts a positive and qualifies his remarks. >> a shout-out for joe biden. he is the happy warrior of the campaign, a campaign or the democrats look a little bit like the melancholy gang that couldn't shoot straight. to nina for a transcript of this broadcast, log on to insidewashington.tv. --to nina's point about redistricting, it will be difficult to redraw those lines for republicans, because they bought to protect the new republicans coming in, and the old ones will be furious that their districts are we tampered with and they will lose the majority. >> unemployment figures, at 9.6%, 14 consecutive months of hovering around 9.5% in

unemployment. housing industry still in deep trouble. you know about the foreclosures and the paperwork. >> the thing that is so strange about this -- the president goes to illinois and tax karl rove. who cares? -- and attacks karl rove. who cares? who will go to the polls because of karl rove? it is jobs, jobs, jobs. if you cannot do anything positive on the economy, he is in trouble. >> that is the point. you try to change the subject if you do not have anything positive to say at the moment. there is material to use, and that is what he does. >> if you have the law on your side, argue the facts, if you don't have either, pound the table. by the way, you said that the

vice president is a happy warrior. you can be a happy warrior if you are delusional. on the governorships, i will make a bold prediction, a governorship that the democrats will retain, at new york state. if anyone has seen the latest advertisement put out by the challenger, it is the most lunatic ad i have ever seen, in which there is a reference where he tries to defend himself against accusations of sexual scandals, to the province of his opponent. that is a word i have never heard -- prowess of his opponent. that is a word i've never heard in a political ad. >> if there are rumors about your sexual prowess, you do not turn it down. [laughter] on the mortgages, anybody who has gotten a mortgage in the past 25 years has no idea who is holding it. each month it would change.

we go through thousands of dollars to check the title when you buy the house. why the hell to these letters just put a stamp on it -- >> that is absolutely inexcusable. if you cannot document a loan as a banker, you don't belong in the business. if the banking industry gets and trouble because of this, i would not give them a dime. >> amen. >> these are the people who got billions and billions in the bailout. it's a double whammy. >> $3 billion election. [ man ] no huddle. they've got -- [ static ]

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created crushing debt. >> ouch! >> that is how john spratt's votes in congress feel. >> the target is john spratt, a democrat, who has no i did was attacking and and with the money comes from. >> it comes from nonprofit groups with names like americans for prosperity or americans for apple pie. [laughter] in the last one up. >> thanks to the citizens united really, millions of dollars can be pumped into our elections and they don't tell us where the money is coming from. >> this is the next scandal, a scandal in the making. they don't have to disclose anything. this is the kind of thing that led to watergate. >> are you or any democrats turning on soft money like this? >> no, but the democrats are not getting -- >> whining.

>> let me finish what i was going to say. eventually we are going to have real problems with this. the disclosure laws pending in congress, which republicans blocked -- what we see here -- what i am curious about, i don't have the answer to, is what is happening in the states. we have fewer newspapers, we have television stations that more and more go for "if it bleeds, it needs." is there any coverage, serious coverage, about the amount of money being spent and that we don't know where it is coming from? that is problem -- that is a problem in a democracy. >> "the new york times" had a piece the other day with the reporter tries to chase the money and he finally gives up. >> he gets a voice mail after voicemail. this is hypocrisy on the part of

republicans. i say it because the republican position, ever since watergate, has been we should not limit contributions, we should not limit expenditures, but what we should have its full, timely, complete disclosure, that sunshine is the ultimate disinfected. put them on line as soon as they. larry kudlow, the conservative economist, to his everlasting credit, says that ought to be the position. all the others, including my old champion john mccain, have deserted this cause, and they are sitting there getting this money that is solicited from companies in egypt and india to cut into american politics. that is in violation of the law for the past 34 years. >> mark is talking about the chamber of commerce. >> it oversees the contributions and it puts the money out there. they will get by with this this

cycle. i don't think they will do it two years from now. there will be pushed back -- for example, corporations putting money into this will have to be held accountable. they will hear from their customers. >> how do you identify them, though? >> they will be identified. this is not top-secret information. they will be found out that it ought to be held accountable. >> charles? >> this is whining squared. democrats are also in the game, but they are losing the game so they are unhappy. i am not a fan of the ruling, but it is the law, within the law. in the last election cycle, obama allowed raised $600 billion, breaking all records

and the galaxy, another $300 million for the dnc. the supreme court has decided -- the implication is that -- you showed that clip of the president -- the implication is that republicans are purchasing the election. that is nonsense. rove raised $50 million, the unions set aside $100 million. the difference is the union member does not have to say on whether it goes to a democrat or republican, even if he is a republican. let's not hear this whining. that is not why republicans lost in 2008 and not why democrats will lose in 2010. >> federal law has always required that political contributions be approved by union members -- >> by individuals. individual members of the union -- >> it is a democracy.

let's get this straight -- barbara boxer -- >> not voluntary. >> they shouldn't be. do it on your own time -- i want to make this point. barbara boxer is accused of destroying jobs. dick limit all in connecticut is called the worst attorney general in the united states -- dick blackmon fall in connecticut is called the worst attorney general in the united states but there is no acknowledgment, no accountability. big republican word -- accountability. where is it?

i'm bob ehrlich. i'm not the kind of guy who likes to hang on the sidelines. today maryland's in trouble. we're worse off than we were four years ago. dangerous debt, higher taxes, not enough jobs. we need real leadership to turn this state around. fix the budget honestly. grow small businesses, really. excellent schools everywhere. protect the bay, finally. it's why i'm running -- to make the state we love

not just good, but great. now let's get down to work. >> i am sorry that they raised their sons with the devil in

hell. >> the concept of the westboro baptist church was so extreme in went beyond all bounds of human decency that it can be regarded as intolerable in a civilized nation. >> that is albert snyder, father of marine lance corporal matthew snyder, killed in iraq in 2006. the fuel was the target of members of a small topeka, -- the funeral was the target of members of a small to become a kansas church, claiming that the death of soldiers is god's punishment for homosexuality. he sued and a baltimore jury awarded $10 million and a judge cut that in half. it went to the supreme court. what were the arguments like? >> you could see the justices really struggling with this. some of them were clearly looking for a way out, to carve

an exception for a funeral or to deal with the kind of society we live in now where you can harass people on the internet with your posting, saying unbelievable things that get published wider than they ever did before. but this is a very difficult thing to draw this kind of line, and you could see this in the argument. >> we saw this in the skokie, illinois case -- >> i don't think you can apply a standard of decency to any kind of political speech, because once you do, you have really changed something fundamentally in the country. i mean, this is a hard case, but i think it is a case where you want to reaffirm the fact we don't draw those kinds of lines. it is the most painful kind of case, but it is obvious that this is not stuff you want to protect our have to protect, you have no reason ito

it is like the burning of the crown or the nazi march in skokie, all kinds of stuff that you don't see, but once you draw the line, you are in real trouble, with political control over political speech. >> i stand in awe of robert snyder, the father of the marine, that he could -- of albert snyder, the father of the marine, that he could express with a straight something that must absolutely be tearing him apart. i do agree with charles' conclusion. >> at a certain level, you know how you really want to handle this. >> it is despicable and i would like that punch him out. i also come out on the first amendment, but i have had many experiences with family funerals, and given some of the behavior i have seen at some of my family funerals, i would

take those people before i take my relatives for things that have happened -- at the post- funeral gatherings, people tend to act out. we have just got to allow for that. i think in reality, if it happened, at one of my funerals, i would go ahead and punch them out -- >> but could you established a perimeter? could you make it wider? there are practical ways to approach it. at a political convention, you could only demonstrate in certain areas, and the argument is about safety. >> justice kagan at the argument actually said that, if you have a statute that had a buffer zone of five moderate -- of a 500

feet, could not apply to everybody. he was 1000 feet away. one of the things that upset albert's under so much was a posting on at the website that he saw 30 days later. >> you cannot regulate websites. that is crazy di. >> that is my point. >> he did not see the signs at the funeral. >> he saw on television. >> how did kagan strike you? >> she seems completely at ease and part of the gang. having covered the court for several decades, seeing three women out there for the first time felt really good. >> there you go.

>> we have a great relationship,

and i have absolutely no interest and no reason for doing anything other than dismissing these stories and moving on. >> secretary of state responded to recent comments by bob woodward that a job swap with a vice president joe biden prior to the 2012 election is on the table at the white house. rumors have been floating around for months, colby. >> robert gibbs knocked down pretty hard -- press secretary -- this week. i suspect you will not find the principals talking about this, but you will have friends of hillary, who probably have a good idea. i don't think they are close to talking about this seriously. >> what do you think, mark? >> usually when this speculation, always idle speculation, starts, it is because the partisans see the vice-president as a liability

-- in the case of dan quayle, for instance, in the 1992 ticket with george bush. it is a reflection more of the problems that the presidential candidate has. that is what this reflects. i don't think it is real. it is washington kind of chatter. but if, in fact, or 6% and obama was at 61 percent approval, it would be saying, "what a hell of a ticket." >> this is the tribute to the power of bob woodward. he repeats the idle chatter that has been going on for months, and suddenly it is serious. it could happen in two years, but at the moment, mark is right, it is a reflection of obama's problems, not joe biden. >> if there is no rapid recovery, and you go into 2012,

and you are a republican, i would look at that and say that if you had that swap, that would be something i would be worried about. her constituency is a constituency with which obama is cratering, reagan democrats who came home and are wandering away again did itt would be a good idea if you were a democrat. as a political issue, it would be good for them. >> last word. see you next week. gecko: are you ready for your talk, sir?

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