>> "inside washington" is brought you in part by the american federation of vernment employees, proud make america work. for more information about afge and membership, visit afge.org. >> don't forget, he has been president for three and a half years, and talk is cheap. >> this week on "inside washington," squaring off in ohio. >> if you want to give the policies of the next decade another try, vo for mr. romney. >> is the president connecting with the american people? >> they need some signal that he has their interests at heart.

>> the attorney general under siege. >> you leave me no alternative but to join those who call upon you to resign. >> i don't have any intention of resigning. >> what to do about syria. >> we have repeatedly urged the russian government tout tse military ties completely. captionened by the national captioning institutee --www.ncicap.org-- >> it wasn't a face-to-face debate, but it will do for the time being. mitt romney and barack obama delivering speeches on the same day within minutes of each o other in the same battleground state of ohio. first, romney in cincinnati. >> he has put together almost as much a public debt is all the prior presidents combined. you want four more years of

that? you calll that forward? that is forward over a cliff. >> president obama speaking at a community college in cleveland. >> i don't believe that giving someone like mr. romney another huhuge tax cut is worth eing the guarantee of basic security we have always provided the elderly anththe sick and those who are actively looking for work. >> governor romn's speech was short and to the point -- the american economy is broken, and replace barack obama w with me and i wiwill fix it. the president's speech was long -- reelect me and we will keep momoving forward, and romney and his alls in congress will make things worse. it either candidate make the salele in ohio,ark? >> i don't think so. mitt romney'ss speech made me homesick for the rhetoric of george w. bush. for the president, i would int out that for a s speech to be

immortal, it does not t have to be eternal. . >> charles? >> the president's own staff said it was a reaming his speech. the picture was the same. yes, i have a vision, ideas on education, entrepreneueurship whenever -- was the same litany of stuff back to the speech he gave to congress after his inauguration. he does not have a visn, is not proposed anything and romney is simply doing the attack which is what you do in a weak economy. >> nina? >> one guy has a new frame, one guy has an etch a sketch, and the public is not particularly like either. they do not connect with either one of these people, and neither one has made the sale.

>> colby, would you pick a winner in this thing? >> not in ohio. romney did what he h to do, which was attked. obama did not do whahat he had to do, which is explained why we are where we are and how to get out. he is not talking aboutt the root problem he has had for 3.5 years, t obstruction in congress and why cannot overcome it. that is the big problelem he h has to be able to show that hehe can be an effective president. what we have seen over the past three years is that he has been blocked and blocked and blocked -- >> he had control of congress for two full years. head the wind at his back, yet public opinion on his side, and he got a program he wanted -- >> we need to dispel this argument about control of congress. he has not had control of the

united states senate. takes 60 vototes to get something done in the senate -- >> these days. >> he does not have 60 votes and therefore the obstruction -- >> he gave aa speech after spch in the beginning saying that we neneed a stimulus and we need reform of health care. he also said cap-and-trade, which democrats opposed. stimulus he got obamacare he got, and here we are. >> mark, we heard james carville, a couple minutes ago saying that he needs to convince voters that he has the best interests at heart. y are democrats so nervous about this? >> elections in the final analysis, as james carville understands, or about voters, and they seem -- and there seems to be precious little about the voters. folling up on colby's point, i would compare the nation -- we

are on a subway car, and all of a sudden the subway car has come to an abrupt, unexpected, and kind of scary stop between the two scheduled stations. indeed on this point in the way of leadership is an authoritative confident voice that can getreassure you that this is what happenened, this is what is being done to change it, and this how we will get out. that is what is missing. >> the reason he cannot do the second part -- i agree with your analysis -- the second partrt he cannot do because he doe not have an answer on n what to do to get out. he has shot the arrows from his quiver. all he has now is the buffett rule, other small ball stuff that everybody unrstands is not going to make any real difference. they are talking points, but not a program or vision. he hadad won, he would give it. >> everybody also understand

that every time we get momentum going, the car comes to stop again, as it did over raising the debt limit. the 60-vote business is a new twist in american political life. one last thing -- harry truman campaign against the do nothing congress. he has to figure out a way to explain iin a not-53-minute way how he hahas been stymied, if he believes that. >> one of my favorite columnists righ this week at "barack obama's opponent is a stolid, gaffe-prone challenger for whom conservatism is a second language, and unless we sesee of these gentlemen -- unless we see ofhese gentlemen, the better each of them affairs." >> that is a clown question bro. [laughter] back story there. look it up on n the internet, on twitter. yes, this is not the finest of

presidential campaigns. it is not lincoln-douglas. what we're seeing is a relatively weak republican candidate -- there were others on the bench who were stronger -- and romney is not a natural conservative who can me the case that ryan or mitch danls could. obama got his way in the first two years and has a dismal ececonomy. there were a lot of liberals like william galston adviser in the clinton administration, excellent social scientist, who says that what obama can and should do is to seize the big issues, entitlement reform or tax reform something large. it is risky, but it would give him a target does not have now. >> i regret that h he did not take advantage of the opportunity he had a year ago with the simpson- bowles to go with that. i thought he was going to step

up to that. he didn't. i think obama from the issue in ohio by saying that there is a choice, a choice between the direction he wants to go and the direction romney wants to go. >> let's [ male announcer ] are you paying more and more and more for cable -- and enjoying it less? upgrade to verizon fios internet, tv and phone for just $99.99 a month, guaranteed for a year with no annual contract. or choose a two-year contract and get $200 back and a two-year price guarantee. fios is a 100% fiber-optic network that delivers america's fastest, most consistent most reliable internet. and now, it's faster than ever. you get speed you can count on... even when everyone at home is online at the same time. plus, the best tv picture quality. tired of cable's inflated bills?

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>> the private sector is doing fine. >> that was president obama last week, and almost immediately republicans had an ad criticizing him. >> the private sector is doing fine the privatate sector is doing fine. >> he was mitt romney's response. >>e says we need more firemen, more teachers did he not get the message from wisconsin? >> the democrats were out with an ad attacking him for that. >> did he not get the msage of

wisconsin? >> romney economics it doe't work. it did not work in massachusetts, it will not work in washington. >> colby, let's look at the private economy. how fight is it? >> not as fine as the president seems to think. look, that was a gaffe, d there are ps on both sides and we can play the election out this way. i did not expect this of president obama. i rereally did not expect him to say something like that. it is like john mccain's comments four years ago about the economy -- >> fundamentally sound. >> he did it, he said ithe is going toto have to work his way out of it. >> on the other hand, charles how smart is it politically to criticize the president for saying that we need more policemen and teachers and fireman? >> that is what i mean by saying

that romney is new to the game of political discourse. it is a classic liberal ctrap. you have a city budget and you are a democratic mayor and you propose a cut of, you will close the fire station. it is a trope always use. theyey don't speak about the guy in the back room of the dmv playing angry birds all day. no, it is always the firemen and policemen. romney steps into eight and repeated itthe line that obamama used instead of stepping a away and sayiying that obama thinks the way to increase employmentnt is to hire extra bureaucrat. he got the wrong word and is paying for it. >> the revered poster boy of the new republican party, scott walker, governor of wisconsin immediately took the governor

romney to test and said that no, this is wrong, we want teachers and firefighters and police, th is why we provided for them in wisconsin. mitt romney -- he calls barack obama out of touch. being called out of touch by mitt romney is a little bit like being called tasteless by lady gaga. [laughter] it just it is really too much. >> do you prepare these? >> they are spontaneous. where is the prompter? [laughter] no, i really think that president obama talking about the private sector -- since 2001, there has not been a net single job created in the united states in the private sector. eight years of george w. bush, three andnd a half years of barack obama. that is a terrible, terrible record and dismal for the future. >> nina, what did you make of

jeb bush's comments about the republican party that ronald reagan would have hard time if you define the republican party as having an orthodoxy that does not allow this agreement? >> it a vicious truth. and it is so ortrthodox that you saw him try to walk it back the next day. what we are watching -- i am not saying anything dramatically new hehere -- is that extremesn both rties, more at the moment in the republican party, but it will be true in the democratic party eventually -- that is whwhere the money i is. the money gets plowed into oever is thehe most orthodox candidate in the primary, and whoever wins is by a factor of x more to the right or left e than the previous candidate, which is why we have a shrinking middle. it may be that the vast majori of a americans think of themselves as moderates or middle-of-the- road or want to compromise, but

the systemspecially with the sort of a guer of money that we now see on the outside, is not doing that. >> i think jeb bush s making another point about one of lincoln, and that was his capaci to bridge differences making another point about ronald reagan, and that was hiis capacity to bridge differences and compromise. not to give up ideological ground but to nd common ground, and that is what is missing in washington toda >> jeb's remark was ridiculous. he says reagan was too rht wing, and to quote your favorite columnist, who happens to be me -- cldn't be nominated today? the party has just nominated a guy who is 1515 miles to the left of ronald reagan. how do you explain that? every republican nominee since reagan has been more liberal. >> we had a special election this week in arizona, and aa district that republicans have

carried at the presidential level consistently since its creation. the democrat running as an national democrat vanquished the republican, who was an a iraq veteran, who came out for the ryan budget, the privatization of medicare, and that was a loser, folks. take that as an example where wee are going in the ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] from

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even when everyone at home is online at the same time. plus, the best tv picture quality. tired of cable's inflated bills? get fios for just $99.99 a month for a year with no annual contrac or choose a two-year contract and get $200 back, plus a two-year price guarantee. call 1.866.685.fios. that's 1.866.685.3467. fios. a network ahead. contact the verizon center for customers with disabilities at 800-974-6006 tty/v. >> there has been zero accountability at the departmement of justice. you won't appoint a spspecial prosecutor in the face of a potential conflict of interest. you won't tell the truth about what you know and when you knew it on a fast and furious. >> with all due respect senator, there is so muchh factually wrong with the promises that you started your statement with it almost breathtaking. >> that is senator john cornyn

and torney g general eric holder. holder says he is not goioing to quit. reblicans are calling for an independent investigator looking into series of leaks of c classified information. john mccain says they are inintended to make the esident look tough. how much trouble is older in, na?? >>one. yes, they will beat blachly daylights out of him every chance they get, -- beat the ho ly lights out of him every chance they get, and if obama is reelected, he will probably not come for a second term. there has not been an attorney general s not had the bejeezus bonked out of him m in memory. some of t them deserved it, like gonzal, and some of them didn't -- >> depending on thr party. >> no, not depending on their party. john ashcroft took a hell of a

beating and end up looking have a decent -- halfway decent. this not a job for ninnnies. no matter what you decide, you will have us beating you up often without hesitation. >> what about the fast anand furious situation? >> look, i think holder sent a letter in which he offered to personally negegotiate and get a lot away. i don't know if that is acceptable to the republicans -- >> they at don't want to find compromise. >> they might or might not. again, it depends on a party spirit if they are republicans th don't want to compromise. i think he will probably get a dealarly next week. >> colby you have been in the national security fifield. what do you make of this? >> the leaks are disturbing, not

only the ones with talked about and republicans are mad about but even my own newspaper the last couple of days asescribed in great detail the intelligence activities the united states is engaged in in africa. just can't understand why somebody would want to disclose that kind of informamati and be supportive of the united states. i think the investigation the attorney general has launched two of every good prosecutors one in maryland republican a.g. the other a d.c. attorney, they will be good. >> they want an independent prosecutor, the republicans. >> the party of thehe knot of the president always what the independent prosecutor . charles saying republicans don't want to coromise is tongue-in- chk k -- >> into i have to have a chyron

under me -- "ony"? >> on television, charles. certainly nonot in this forum. behind this are the bureau of a firearm of the oil tobacco, and explosives at a plan not to confiscate guns but to get a rger fish -- >> it started in the bush administration -- >> and thahat apparently is what he did not want to talk about trade relations between the attorney general and congress seem very strange. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ >> it is time for everyone in the international community including russia, d all security council members, to speak to assad with a unified voice and insist that the

violence stop and come together with kofi annan plant a ansition coming forward. >> 10,000 syrians have died sas assad fights to stay in power. what should we do? a no-fly zone? >> i am glad i'm not president. it's not just syria. egypt is in a dangerous situation with parliament is ssolved. there was an interesting piece that david ignatius wrote on friday in he washington post" about what will happen a as a result of this election and the dissolution of the parliament. it is a very scary situation in thatat part of the world. >> the syrian situation is more complicated because of the involvement of iran. syria is almost a surrogate of iran. the iranian inflfluence in the region is starting to expand,

and at some point, this is what we're going to have to come to grips with.. not just syria, but iran. >> meanwhile, there is a humanitarian crisis. >> t this situation in the words of the secretary clinton i spiraling towards civil war. what we have now is saudi arabia as a proxy of the united states, very deeply committed to moving assa from power. you have the united arab emirates in there as well, and qatar. it is ming to a point where the united states has to decide, because russia is now in as well, and those are the only two supporters internatationally of syria. >> that statement by the secretetary of state was pathetic, begging the russians to be n nice on syria. of course they and not going to. they are building and naval

facility, they are not going to move, and it tells you what has happened to the reset policy with rusa. a total abject failure. we cannot get anything out of them after everythining we give ay, for which we have nothing in return. >> see you next week. >> "inside washington" is brought you in part by the american federation of government employees, proud to make arica work. for more information about afge and membership, visit afge.org.

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