this sunday, nine days left before election day, 2010. theinal countdown and the final argument. will it be a gop wave or more of a split decision? both sis are fired up and fighting hard to get their voters to the polls. >> we need l of you fire ed fir. we need all of you fired up. we need all of you ready to go. >> get ready to win! get ready to fire pelosi! get ready to take down harry

reid! >> can republicans send majority leader harry reid back home and remove democrats fropower in the house? how will their embrace of the tea party play out on election day and beyond? with us exclusively this morning, the man at the center of it all, the leader of the republicanparty, chairman michael steele. plus, we'll look at the latest polls. who is up, who is down and who is pulling out all the stops? as the president spends the week, trying to rally the democratic base out west, the right declares war on public radio after the abrupt fighting of analyst juan williams. we look at it all with our expanded round table, former democratic congressman harold ford jr., msnbc's rachel maddow democratic congressman harold ford jr., msnbc's rachel maddow and cnbc's rick santelli. captions paid for by nbc-universal television

good morning. here we are, final countdown to election day 2010. with us exclusively this morng, the chairman of the republican national committee, michael steele. welcome back to "meet the press." >> it's great to be back wth you, david. >> let's get right to t. it's final argument time. the president is on the campaign trail. he has been out west, was in the midwest and friday he leveled probably his most potent charge against republican leaders in washington, saying that they made a cold, political calculation when he came into office, bacally not to work with the obama white house. let's listen to what he said. >> the republican leaders in washington, ey made a different calculation. they looked around at the mess that they had made, at the mess that they had left me and they said, boy, this is a really big mess. and they said it's going to take a long time to fix. so, maybe if we ju sit on the

sidelines, say no to everything and then point our fingers at obama and say 's to blame, they figured that maybe y'all would forget that they caused the mess in theirst place, and they would be able to ride anger all the way to election time. >> chairman, what's your answer that? your vision of what the story of the last two years has been? >> well, actually, it sounded more like a pity party than a rally. i can't believe the president is sitting there, wth hindsight, saying we didn't cooperate, republican leaders did not cooperate with the president. i think from health care to the environment to the economy, republicans in the house and the senate had made very clear this is what we would like to do. let's talk about health care reform that includes tort reform, doctor/patient relationship and not put government in the middle of that. let's tk about job creation by stimulating small businesses and

not the federal government. and so the ideas that were put on the table, a lot of them propounded by folks like mr. boehner, eric cantor and pa ryan were summarily rejected. as you recall, david, republican leaders, particular members, couldn't get meetings with the president. they tried after sending letters and requests to through the president's agenda, to see how we could help. we're hoping for a better relationship between the white house and republicans come january. >> let me ask you about the landscape right now. what do you see out thre? what are we looking at on election day, a huge gop wave that takes the house and senate? what are your views at this poi point? >> david, there is a vibrion out here that's unlike anything i've seen before. i've been on my fire pelosi bus since september 15th. we get off the bus on october 30th. in that time i've seen a consistent ground swell of excitement and energy toward

this election. the voters are tired of the fact that the federal government has not listenedo them over the past two years, has moved in its own direction, at its own rhythm and they want to pull back on that. i think you're going to see a wave, unprecedented wave on election day that's going to surprise a lot of people. >> what does that mean? what does that mean in terms -- and state legislatures. >> what does it mean to the house balance of power? >> we need to get to 39 seats to get control. but i think we're more than there. >> you say the house will go to the republicans. what about the senate? >> the senate is a little bit tougher but i think we're going to be there. if ts wave continues the way it's been going, and over the past few weeks especially, you'll see the senate as well go to republicans. >> tea party-backed candidates, sharron angle, speaking to latinos in nevada or ken buck's statement about gays on this

program last week or christine o'donnell, who has gotten so much attention, except for the fa that she's so far behind in that senate race. she's had misstatements or gaffs in her statements with chris coons. >> folks make mistakes, lord knows. i'm familiar with foot in mouth disease. i understand how that is sometimes. you get in the heat of the battle and you have the passio and fire in your belly and you really wanto get out there and speak to the issues, speak to the people. you say things that don't come out correctly. you create misperceptions. that happens a lot in campaigns on both sides. what really matters is how the voters receive that, how voters look at those candidates. despite those flaws, if you will, of the misspoken word, people understand where their heart is. people understand these folks are going to go out ere and fight for them. as i said a little bit earlier,

david, this reality right now for people is that we want a leadership that's going to listen to us. we want someone that's going to take the fight to congress and not fight against us. whether it's christine o'donnell, sharron angle, oever it happens to be, who has this ground swell of energy behind them, that's what matters to the people right now. >> is she qualified to be a u.s. senat senator? would she be a good senator? >> i think she would be. i don't get to make that judgment. the people in her state ge to make that judgment. they're the one whose vote for her. they're the ones who nominated her. for the establishment in washington or anyone else to sit back in judgment of her abilities to be a senator, to be effective on the senate is misplaced. all that matters is that the people have decided this is the standard bearer we want and the push now is in the general election and broad population of voters in the state of delaware florida, around the country, are going to make the judgment about

the standard bearers that we have and at the end of the day i think we'll do very well. >> let me ask you about a big area of debate. speaker nancy pelosi appeared on "countdown with keith bermann" this week. she, as the president, describes it as a threat to the nation's democracy. >> this election is about r nation's democracy. if they win, which i fully intend to stop them from doing. if they win, we are now an oligarthy, whatever leads to wealthy, secret, unlimited sources of money are can control our entire agenda. >> our investigative correspondent, mike izikopf has id not since watergate have we seen this special interest money washing into an election cycle. are you worried about this? >> no. i don't know what they're talking about. no one has produced one shred of

evidence that any of that is happening. you know, when the president, then candidate obama was asked to disclose som of his donors because there was suspicion of there being foreign source of money into this campaign, they refused to do it. don't give me this high and mighty, holier than thou attitude of special intest flooding the political marketplace. the docrats have been dabbling in those areas. if you think that there's something out there, disclose it, nancy. disclose it, anyone else who has that evidence. don't just make the charge, sit back and say, see. give the evidence. put it out there and then we'll have the discussion. >> are you denying there's special interest money, outside money that's coming into the campaign that is not being disclosed, we don't know who the indiduals are in some of these groups? >> how would i know that? i don't run those organizations, number o. i'm prohibited, by law, by engaging in such activity,

number two. so, i know we don't take it and i suspect that those organizations out the, those 527s and others know what the law is and are complying with the law. if you have evidence to the contrary, produce it. otherwise, put up or shut up. th's it. put up or shut up. >> chairman, i'm putting up with this question, which is are you concerned? as you know, there are laws that you do not have to disclose. that's the question. is that a problem in our politics when you can put a great deal of money into th campaign without disclosing your agenda or who you are? >> that's a fair question. >> you said put up or shut up. >> then the put up part by the congress would be to change the law, but the law is what it is right now and everybody is complying with the law. if the law does not require disclosure of certain individuals -- >> i'm asking you, is that a problem? >> i don't know that it is so far. i haven't seen any evidence that it is. why are you saying it's a problem? >> i'm asking whether you think -- certainly candidates who are running, who are

republicans, think there should be more traparency. ken ck says yoshould say where the money is coming from in a campaign. >> absolutely. at the end of the day m absolutely all for transparency. it's the appropate part of the system and instills trust that people have in the system and avoids questions like this, because that information is out tre and it absolutely will avoid the allegations and charges just thrown out there in the middle of a discussion about health care and the economy. so, i agree, the transparency should be there. the law is what the law is right now. if people are that bothered by it, then coness needs to change it. >> let me ask you abut the firing of juan williams, analyst at npr and fox news channel. it's become a point of debate i the course of the campaign. >> yeah. >> eric cantor, the republican whip, issued a statement on friday, overreaching political correctness is chipng away at the fundamental american

freedoms of speech and expression. npr's decision to fire juan williams not only undermines that, it shows an ignorance of the fact that radical islam and the terrorists whourder in its name scare people of all faiths, religious and beliefs. in heit light of their rash decision, we will include termination of federal funding for npr as an option in the youcut program so thatmericans can let it be known whether they want their dollars going to that organization. >> i think what npr did was overreaching, it was an overreaction to his comments. he was expressing a personal perfect expectativ i the more appropriate thing would have bee as we've seen in other cases, when outlandish comments were made about, you know, strom thurman or others

getting aids, you take them aside and say, wam, that's a line you don't ed to cross. immediately firing juan over this was an overreaction. you've seen the reaction not just by republicans but a whole lot of folks out tere around the country as they -- really? this is not the appropriate way to really handle this. and ihink that, you know, npr is paying a little bit of a price for it. >> should federal funding for npr be cut? >> that's noty decision. i'm sure members of congress who have raised that as a concern will address that at the prescript time. but i thinright now my focus, and the focus of those of us who are on the political side of this equation are much more interested to getting to the election on november 2nd so we can win and put in place a new congress to look at questions like that. >> let's end with a couple of points about politics. what does the mid-term result, in your mind, say about 2012? >> good question.

i think it's a transitional pattern. it puts us all in a point where, you know, you kind of look down the road to 2012 and say for the republicans, what kind of leader is going toemerge to deal more precisely with the economy, with our relations overseas, with, you know, thoseoncerns that people have about jobs here in the country. i think it may be a harbin gech ger campaign in 2012. you would still have the additional house seats that would be out there as well as some state legislative races. and governors' races. this election cycle in 2010 really lays an interesting foundation for how we go forward. you're looking at two very different philosophical views of the country. >> do you think president obama is a one-term president? >> i don't know that. again, you know, my job is to

make sure he is. but, you know -- because we philosophically disagree with the direction the president is going. the spending, the debt, the deficit, the burden that's been placed on the backs of future generations is unsustainable. we see that the administration, along with nancy pelosi and harry reid, are whistling past that graveyard, ignoring the hard facts that we cannot sustain nor afford the continued spending policies of this administration. and there are other concerns out there as well with respect to, again, our relationships with israel, our relationships with north korea. all of these concns need to be addressed. and i think have pretty much not been effectively by the administration. you'll see over the next two years, i think, the president try to step upis game a little bit. but we'll be there, step for step on all of these issues, clearly delineating e difference between a government that wants to take and

redistribute wealth and a free people who are there to create that wealth and save it for the future. >> finally, chairman, let me ask you about your own leadership. you say you will be judged on whether e party wins this fall or you can raise money. hard truth is that the rnc has fallen down in terms of raising money. the committee is in debt. you've been outraged by the democrats and yet this is such a positive environment for republicans and the criticism has been harshed. it's been summed up by fred barnes in an op-ed piece. mr. steelend the relative rnc, many congressional republicans and governors no longer trust mr. steele as their spokesman they tend to work around the rnc rather than engage mr. steele. are you irrelevant? >> no, i'm not irrelevant. and god bless fred rnes. if he only called me and talked with e, i would have shared with him some very interesting information. it's easy to write that without knowledge and, clearly, he is without knowledge here. the fact of the matter is, number one, we have been outraged recently, recently by the democrats, because they have

the white house, the congress and thesenate. we don't. yet in 2009, we out-raised the democrats in seven out of eleven months. we're keeng pace with the democrats right now. i really appreciate the question. i've said from the very beginning, i would be a fferent kind of chairman, because this is a different time for us, for our party. i wanted us to play on all 50 states. i wanted us to be out in the cmunities. i wanted a grassroots, bottom-up party that was focused on what the people want out there. we put in place around this country a network now that you're going to see unleaed on november 2nd. >> so you'll run for re-election? >> so, i don't know if i'll -- we'll worry about my re-election after we get tough this re-election. we have smashed the records in fund-raising for a partyut of power, not having those white house, congress and senate. to date we've raised over $75

million in this cycle, 34% more than the democrats did in a very similar cycle in 2006. and, furthermore, we have also -- just to be clear about this -- ceeded the amount that was raised by the rnc in 1994 in today's dollars. so, we have kept pa and we have 360 victory centers around the country. we have made 35 million voter contacts since january this year because of the work that the rnc has done early. we spent the money early. we didn't stockpile the money, david, as the old rnc's would d so th could have a good cash on hand at the end of the month. we wanted the money in the state. that's where it isnd come november 2nd you'll see the efct of that planning. >> chairman steele, we'll leave it there. thank you very much as always. >> you got it, friend. take care. a lo at all the very latest pol a all the big races. the 2010 landscape as we head into the final week of

campaigning. can democrats turn out thir voters? what role will the a party play? our round table put it is all in perspective, david brooks, e.j. dionne, harold ford jr., rachel maddow and cnbc's rick santelli. we know why we're here. tohart a greener path in the air and in our factories. ♪ to find cleaner, more efficient ways to power flight. ♪ and harness our technology for new energy solutis. [ female announcer ] around the globe, the people of boeing are working together, to build a better tomorrow. that's why we're here. ♪

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t it in motion... and it goes out into the world like fuel for the economy. one opportunity leading to another... and another. we all have a hand in it. because opportunity can start anywhere, and go everywhere. let's keep it moving. ♪ will election 2010 bring gop to washington? our round table breaks down the biggest races across the country and the keys to the final stretch of the campaign. [ technician ] are you busy? management just sent or thesnew technical nuals. they need you to translate them into portuguese. by tomorrow.

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information from "the l.a. times," barbara boxer is now 50% over the challenger carly fiorina. boxer, 50%, that's a big deal. in colorado, a new poll out also this morning from "the denver post." you saw them debate right here last sunday, the senate race between mike bennet and ken buck. it is now a dead heat, 47-47. chris dodd retiring there, democrats coming home a bit, dick blumenthal against linda mcmahon, he is up 57 over 39%, widening spread there. president obama's senate seat in illinois, the candidates both debated here, that race between mark kirk and democrat alexi giannoulias, mark kirk has a slight edge over giannoulias.

the president's benefactor in that race. joe sestak in pennsvania has surprised a lot of pollsters. on the right, sestak has an edge and on the left, toomey has the edge. russ feingold in an unexpectedly tough ride, in danger of losing his seat to republican ron johnson with the edge, 49-47%. and some recent polling in republican-held seats now. the ntest in alaska, a wild run, lisa murkowski is waging a write-in campaign against joe miller, who defeated her in the primary. the two of them in a dead heat at %. you have scott mcadams at 23%. in florida another three-way cotest. marco rubio leading charlie

crist and kendrick meek. rubio at 41%, crist at 26% and meek at 20%. and finally in kentucky, rand paul, close and incrsingly nasty race against jack conway. rand paul at 48%, five-point spread over jack conway. so, those are some of the latest polls. let's talk, overall, about the landsca landscape. i'll do it with my round tabl here, as i make my way over to them. joining me to break it all down, e.j. dionne of "the washington post," "n york times" david brooks, msnbc's rachel maddow, cnbc's rick santelli and harold ford jr. that was a mouthful. david brook, again, a snapshot

of where we are, what's the big picture landscape of what's going on here? >> sort of two big pictures. if you ask generically on the national level, republicans are still doing quite well, huge leads among independents, a 59-31% lead. if you look at those numbers nationally, republicans ar still building momentum. in these indivual races you're seeing a bit of a mixture, a lot of tightening. i'm a little dubious about that l.a. times poll that showed her so far down. if you average them, she's down like 2%. most races in opposite directions, pennsylvania got a lot more tight in the democratic direction, illinois moving a little republican. but basically i think you have a situation where it's candidate-driven, people are disgusted by the candidates in both parties and they're basically flipping a coin. >> rachel maddow, look at the national overhang here, a new poll out this week. he's still upside down, disapproval at 49%, approval at

47%. senate stays with the democrats. you heard michael steele say the house will go to the reblicans, in his view, and key governor races shing some tightening and good news for democrats. what do we see? >> initial diagnosis that democrats don't care and weren't going to be able to turn out, get off their hands and get out to the polls this year has turned out to be a little bit of -- a ttle bit wrong. high democratic numbers in terms of earl voting, for example. but it was less than two years ago that this country turned out and elected barack obama by seven points, by 10 million votes and for the second straight election, elected a hugely greater number of democrats to congress and the senate than they did republicans and that was less than two years ago. i don't think the country has changed that much. that time in 2008 we saw people screaming about the president's bir certificate and imaging everybody was a muslim and fainting at the sight of sarah palin. those people existed in 2008 as well, but they lost. the narrativ has been exciting

on the republican side but i don't think the country has changed that much since 2008. >> the president has been out there, campaigni and campaigning hard. he has made stements that's certainly gotten some attention. fund-raising dinner, some of the reason our politics seem so tough right now and facts and science and argument does not seem tobe winni the day all the time, is because we're hardwired not to always think clearly when we're scared and the country is scared and ey have good reason to be. >> i think that comment is overrated with regard to the politicians being afraid. if you look at the fear factor, the anomaly was the last election cycle, there was fear. there was fear over the credit crisis. there was fear over the big hiccup in globalization. there is a certain ount of level-headed thinking that's coming back into the electorate and they'll vote out the incumbent

the fear cycle was the last election. the fear cycle at this point is in the politicians trying to hold on to what was the anomaly of a changin regime in the '08 cycle. >> bill clinton has been all over the country, another st planned. there's been reporting he has been baffled, that there isn't a tighter message on the democratic side about jobs, j jobs, jobs. the president talked about bo. ehner, karl rove and clear thinking not winning out. is this the right way to campaign? >> a lot of democrats are struck by the fact that there was not a clear, overriding message from the beginning, whereas the republicans have had this list. it doesn't really answer any problems but they talk about taxes, unemployment and the like. joe sestak in pennsylvania is a good example. i was up there yesterday. the ones saying, yes, i voted for the stimulus and here is why. here ishe good it did.

yes, i voted for health care. ere is why and here is what good it did. democrats would be better served by embracing what they've done, explaining it and even bragging about it a ltle bit. but on the overa race, i walked into a sestak headquarters in harrisburg and this lely man at a call center was making calls for sestak and he said what we democrats are procrastin attachment. orswe engage late. the best hope th they have for closing these gaps is that that gentleman is right. that's the fight right now. >> rold, the big driver, the big change election of 2006, 1994, is whether people think the country is headed in the right or the wrong direction. people feeling the country is on the wrong track. 61% and 55% respectivel in terms of being on the wro track. where are we today? new polling out this week october 2010, 59% of americans ink the country is on the

wrong track. >> the number doesn't bode well. the question is whether people believe democrats or republicans an lead us in a different or better direction. i think one of the things the president has been able to achieve is get out and remind democrats why they electedhim, what he represents and that he's still president and he needs help of democrats, not those tea partiers or way out of the mainstream. there's a chance we absolutely could. the likelihd is that we won't but the chance is we could. the president and democrats will have to take a very different approach than they have up to this poin they'll have to be willing for more reconciliation. they'll have to be more focused on growth and jobs and there might even have to be some admissions about mistakes that are made. one thing is clear. even if we hold, the approach has not been the right approach over the last two years. goals have bn laudible, and

the right es, but the approach needs some tinkering if not major reshaping. >> chairman steele seemed to be dismissive of this as a problem, real factor in the race. he says he's for transparency but doesn't see a problem that you've had such big donations coming from outside groups where we don't know where they're coming from and who they are. mike isikoff, who i referenced in that interview, has done some reportinon this and has talked to us about what his reporting shows him. take a look. >> notince the days watergate have we seen specl interest money pouri into political campaigns with no transparency, no disclosure about where the money is coming from. you've got groups being set up around the country with names that voters have never heard of bombarding t airwaves with campaign ads and what this is doing is con fusing voters more than enlightning them. they have no idea who is behind

these ads or what the agenda is of the people who are running them. >> you wrote, david, this week, this isn't a big deal. you think it's more hype than real. >> does it affect the electorate? first, it's important to member that outside money is only 10% of the total money. most money is still candidate driven and it's party driven. the second thing is the money is flowing in on both sides. naa $40 million. there's a ton of money. >> you do know where they're coming from? >> that's exactly right. unansparent money is a genuine problem. the third and final thing, does it affect voters? we have $3.5 billion being spent on thiselection. karl rove, american crossroads, they're spending $20 million. the democrat and the republican in colorado, each are throwing 5,000 ads at each other, do we really think if one candidate throws 7,000 as opposed it to 5,000 it will me a difference?

>> you do? >> i don't think so. >> karl rove's group is spending a lot more, by their own account. >> that's not true. >> secret conservative groups are going to spend about $200, $220 million, according to the current estimate. m money matters and secret money is corrupting secret money is dangerous. secret money, as mike isikoff said, leads to scandal. a lot of big pieces of the watergate scandal was secret money. to say this money doesn matter is to say that karl rove, who really care ace lot about politics, is wasting his tim trying to raise all this money and gillespie, who knows a lot about politics, is wasting his time. voters -- people will know about this money. the congressmen will know who helped them get elected. only voters will b kept in the dark. >> the rove money -- i don't know where you're getting the $12 million number. they're bragging on raising and spending $52 million. they said that was their initial

goal and now th say they will blow past that and spend significantly more. one of the issues is that they're not disclosed. 72% of people in the last nbc/wall street journal poll said it concerns them that they do not know who is funding these political ads. individual ople, the owner of the chicago cubs could legally contribute $2,400 to sharron angle, who doesn't live in nevada, but is spending $6,000 personally for sharron angle. that's a concern. >> th is the law of the land. now, is there a political will and democrats are in control to actually change the law -- michael steele was right. this is the law you want to change all of this, democrats and republicans have to agree to change the law, because this is what the supreme court has said. >> th pendulum of money swings both ways and dependi on the year, state of the incouple bin

different sides cry foul. any politics on any level is horrible. i would like to see a set amount, have every candidate spend it, and be completely transparent. getting to that spot, as we have learned through the decades, is very difficult. whether it's the supreme court or some of these issues regarding transparency, this is a process. i'm a firm believer in process. >> we're going to take a break here. harold will start us off on the next segment. we're going to talk about some of the key issues in some of these races as well as the controversy over juan williams. more from our round table after this brief station break. don't go away. during its first year, the humpback calf and its mother are almost inseparable. she lifts hecalf to its first breath of air, then protects it on the long journey to their feeding grounds. one of the most important things you can do is help the next generation. at pacific life, we offer financial solutions

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we're back with more of our political round table. the conversation hasn't stopped, even during the break. i want to talk about the vulnerabilitand the strength of the teaparty in this race. rick santelli, everyone knows, of course -- you're a mild-manored man but the father of the tea party, as you sit the. you look at some of the impact. the delaware senate race, chris coons, christine o'nnell. she was supported by the tea party, sarah palin. she's way behind. you wouldn't know that by all the attention it's getting. some of her statements in the course of this campaign, beyond having to say she's not a witch in a campaign ad, she's gotten a lot of attention for the debate, whether she derstood what was in the first amendment,

separation of church and state. does she hurt the republican brand as someone who, a lot of people feel, isot qualified to be a u.s. senator? >> there's a lot of people in congress who didn't know all the ins and outs of the constitution. we have a whole roomful of people that have record legislation in terms of quantity of pages who didn't read it. who am i to say or put words in the mouth of the electorate in delaware? the tea party movement is terrific. it's created discourse that might not otherwise have occurred, it's happened at br k breakneck speed against all odds. neither of the media, left or right, were very happy that they showed up on the doorstep. as far as o'donnell, she's a lot mor normal less elite, and she's going to make mistakes. whether she has or not, it's not for me to say. but you are bringing in outsider. >> harold, if you look at the impact she may have had on the pennsylvania race, you watch tv from delaare if you're sitting in philadelphia. a lot of democrats say if that's

the republican brand, maybe i want to go to sestak? >> if christine o'donnell had answeredhe question like rick santelli did and say, look, i don't know the full answer to that. let me tell you why i'm running. she almost celebrated the fact that she didn't know it and even went further and suggested that what's clearly in the constitution isn't in the constituon. michael steele's answer was a pretty good one on it, when asked whether or not she was qualified. voters in delaware, like a lot of voters ound the country are saying, if the guys in washington are so smart, maybe we ought to send people not as smart or not as smart as people washington think. i happen to think that christine o'donnell is not qualified for a number of other reasons and i think chris coons has done a good job of pointing out where she is weak. what president clinton ais sayig and what president oba is trying to do. look at the mess, we've got a

long way to go. give us two more years. if we don't get this right, you have a right to remo us from power. if you push us the other way, we're going to go back to the mess that got us into this problem we're facing today. >> rachel, look what's happening in nevada. harry reid, majority leader, sh sharron angle, who has come back. bh really disliked and yet it's a cse race. she's running an ad reminiscent of what was done to tom daschle, catching that anti-establishment out there. >> harry reid lives at the rilgs carlton while thousands are osing their homes. the country needs a new direction and nevada needs jobs. >> say no who harry reid because of where he live sincere remarkable. sharron angleampaign is obstructive. the money has just poured, poured into that race. she also ran an ad in that race that i think is the most

overtally racist, showing a group of white college student being menaced by a group of tough-looking latinos. for a lot of democrats there is no national message. that's absolutely true. decrats decided they didn't want anational message. in almost every race, the democratic message to get out the base are three words, google my oppont. look at this guy i'm running against. sharron angle says conservatives should be expected to use guns to get what they want. the second amendment remedy thing, a woman who is raped and gets pregnant as a result of that rape to be forced to bea that child. you may not like me but look what you're being asked to choose instead of me is t most power fful statement. >> views so far outside of the mainstream. at the end of the day only thing on voters minds is jobs and the economy. >> the unemployment rate.

>> exactly. what would help at the end of this last week, in additiono obama and clinton -- clinton is a great messenger on this -- to talk about what we're going to do to create jobs. stay away from attacking these guys personally, stay away from foreign moy. money is in politics. it's been there. i was in politics ten years and had some of the worst ads run against me ever, the most money spenty a guy in my state running against me. that's not the issue. the issue is getting out, making the case for what we're going to do to create jobs an make the economy for inviduals and famies better. >> how difficult it is for the government, really, to move something on the economy. here is a portion, i'll put it up on the screen. this is something for the republicans deal with. the latest tax cut screed the republican party's pledge to america is economically incoherent. it has no meaningful numbers, proposes no changes in programs and asks no sacrifices of anyone, yet says it can balance the budget. good luck with that.

what can they make to put them back in power, if they are in power? a question for democrats, too. >> it might be offensive to talk about the issues but the reason the democrats are in a mess here is thafirst the economy is bad. second, the policies are unpopular. health care has 38% approval. going back to those core issues, voters are not inane. they'll vote on those core issues. the problem is the country -- the polls are pretty clear about this. the country is not willing to make the sacrifices the way that brish people are, that is necessary to get them back in the fiscal situation that is stable. we have to take away some of the middle-class ta subsidies and raise taxes. we probably need to raise taxes on consumption and probably will have to repeal the bush tax cuts, middle class and rich at some point. that's what has to be done. the american people sort of don't accept that yet, polls show that and, as a result, neither party is willing to face that. >> something you wanted to talk

about and it's been a big issue this week, juan williams being fired as analyst at npr. you heard michael steele talk about it, saying npr's money should be cut. did npr get it wrong here? >> there are two issues here. npr is quite simply one of the best news organizations in the world. and anybody who thinksthat they are liberal biased, i challenge them to take a week of transcripts, a month of transcripts and examine it for politicalbias. you won't find it. fox new on the other hand, is a republican propaganda network that put into crculation the false idea that president obama ent to a madrosa and stoked the tea party -- not the tea party movement but the death panels. npr handled this wrony. they should have sat juan williams down he has done a lot of good work for them and said

you have a choice here. look at the context you were on. you could barely get your points out in the middle of propaganda. you want to work for fox, that's okay, you want towork for us, that's okay, but you've got to decide, to use fox's slogan. >> rick, does this belong in the campaign? >> i think a company can make any choice from a management/employee standpoint that they wish. the one issue i see in here is the funding from the federal government. it's not an issue. to me, i think the funding could be an issue, but it's not going to alter the election results in any way. what mr. brooks is talking about is the issue of austerity. you don't sell belt tightening, y don't knock your opponent. you need to tell america get behind us. it's going to be a bit painful. the reason americans aren't buying into it is because they don't trust congress. that's the whole epicenter of this electric.

maybe we can put some people we trust in and maybe they're not going to fit the normal mold. that's a good thing and maybe if we trust them we'll pay higher taxes and not feel bad about it becse the outcome will be a better country. >> to address the juan williams' issue, too, i want to get your thoughts on that. >> it may be an election iue if jim demint leads the issue and they're going to go after big bird and go after him like they went after the nra. belt tightening is the right thing, american people need to be told. we need the right politicians. in the real world when you talk about the real politicians and what they're putting out there, the protypical tea party candidate, marco rubio, his plan is to add $3.5 trillion to the deficit. he is being marketed as e fiscal conservative, outsider, new guy.

>> theovernor of pennsylvania -- no, npr should not have fired juan williams. >> we argue politics on npr all the time. i should sclose that. i'm always countered by david or someone more conservative than david. >> is that possible? >> thank god, it is. >> we'll leave it there for a moment. election day predictions, hear from the round table on the keys to the last couple of weeks. don't go awy. we're cracking down on medicare fraud.

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we're back. just a couple of minutes left. harold, what do you see on election day? >> i think the democrats can holdhe senate and the house very narrowly, if the president promises to set the reset button. >> you're not ready to pronounce the house as gone? >> no. >> rick santelli? >> i think we'll send a record number of incumbents to disney world on november 3rd. >> rachel, break it down. does the house go? >> i don't know. i'm a bad predictor. i do not think it will be a republican land slide but do think we'll get a lot more red and i do ink christine o'donnell's new show on fox is going to be awesome. >> democrats actually go to the vineyard, not disney world, when they lose. i'm guessing it will be -- it's aguess, 52 seats the republicans pick up, but not as many in the senate as they think. >> you think democrats ho on to the senate? >> yeah. >> white house is looking at

california, florida, ohio, saying that would be good for 2012. >> ohio, republican, california, democratic. nobody knows who will show up. that's the big mystery. >> if the far right in the epublican party wakes democrats up and find a coherent economic message, they still have a ance of holding on to both narrowly. >> sarah palin was out this week, saying we can see 2012 from my house. a play on her sli up from 2008. harold, what is the relationship between this mid-term race and barack obama's run for re-election in 2012? >> again, after the race, the president has to sethe reset button on a number of funds. if he does not do that -- if we think by holding a narrow majority, we've completely misread the public. they want answers on debt, and most importantly on growth. it will be a worse year i 2012. he's a smart guy and the white house is even smarter. >> ten seconds. >> the goldwaterization of the

republican party is a possibility. if they do very well in these electrics we're seeing a jesse helms vibe revival and tha may push candidates way to the right. >> a few qui programming tes. watch msnbc 9:00 pm eastern for the documentary "the assassination of dr. tiller" rerted by rachel maddow. i'll be modeting a debate between the three candidates for the florida u.s. senate. the country can watch live. if it's sunday, it's "meet the press."

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