backwards because the rest of us didn't care enough to fight. >> schieffer: democrats had expected republican opposition but as the midterm elections loomed last week the president was finding himself trying to rally the liberal base that propelled him into the presidency. a base that seems to have lost much of its enthusiasm for the new president. how deep does this dissatisfaction run? where does it come from? we'll bring in three veteran office holders to talk about it. pennsylvania governor ed rendell, new mexico governor bill richardson and independent vermont senator bernard, one of the most liberal members of the congress. we'll get analysis from cbs news consultant. i'll have final thoughts on eric, who brought what some today would consider a novel approach to news analysis. he actually thought before he spoke. but first obama and the left

on "face the nation." captioning sponsored by cbs "face the nation" with cbs news chief washington correspondent bob schieffer. and now in washington, bob schieffer. good morning again. we want to begin this morning with some breaking news that has happened since your sunday newspaper came out. the state department this morning issued a travel alert to americans about potential terrorist threats in europe and urges all u.s. citizens to be extra vigilant when they are in public places in europe. tourist spots, transportation hubs and so forth. u.s. and european security experts have been concerned for the last week or so that terrorists may be plotting attacks in europe similar to the 2008 attack in mumbai india. this is is one step below warning americans not to travel to specific places but it's been sometime since americans were warned to take

extra precautions when going to europe. apparently europe is considerably worried this morning about possible attacks. britain's foreign office has upgraded its travel advice to its citizens going to france and germany. so we will keep you informed as more details on this become available. well now to the political news which we're going to focus on this morning. in the studio this morning vermont's independent senator bernard sanders, in albuquerque new mexico governor bill richardson in harrisburg pennsylvania governor ed rendell. gentlemen, the president found himself last week trying to rally the people who were the core of his support in 2008. his liberal base. yesterday there was a good turnout of democrats on the mall in washington. we have to say not as big as that rally that glen beck held, but a sizable turnout nonetheless. senator sanders, i want to start with you first. you are proudly one of the

most liberal members of the senate. you're an independent and a democratic socialist actually is what you call yourself. so i want to just start by asking you why do people at your end of the political spectrum seem so, if not disenchanted but rather unenthusiastic about the president that they supported so strongly in 2008? what's happened here? >> what's happened is i think that people understand the president and the democratic congress have made very significant accomplishments which can't be dismissed. a health care reform. 30 million more people getting health insurance. the stimulus package which has changed national priorities, created and saved 2.3 to 3 million jobs. financial reform. that's nothing to sneeze at. i think the concern is that despite all of that, the middle class in america continues to collapse. poverty is increasing. and the gap between the very, very rich and everybody else is going wider. you can do all kinds of good things.

but if you have 16% of our population unemployed, underemployed or have given up looking for work you know what? we have a very serious situation. i think there's a concern that the president hasn't seen that urgency, stood up for working families in the way we would like him to do and taken on the big money interests and said to the american people, exactly what fdr said in the 1930s, listen i am on your side. their greed, their recklessness on wall street has caused these problems. i'm going to take them on. i'm coming to you. wooer going to work together on a progressive agenda to expand the middle class. >> schieffer: some on the left and some very strident voices on the left are saying the president was just looking for compromise too much with moderate republicans rather than taking a stand and pushing through some of this stuff. >> i think in his heart the president is a very, very decent guy. he wants to do what most americans want him to do: to reach out, bring people together. but what has happened is the

republicans have said no, no, no. they have waged more filibusters than any time in the history of this country. they have been the party of no and obstructionism. at some point what the president has got to understand they do not want america to succeed. they're in to politics. his job is to rally the american people as he did in wisconsin and say, we are going to create the jobs that we desperately need in this country. we are going to take on wall street. we are going to save social security. we are going to do something about the gap between the very rich and everybody else. >> schieffer: i must interrupt you and say that's a strong statement to say, i mean, yes the republicans are against the president's policies but is it really fair to say they don't want america to succeed? >> i would say that given the choice between regaining power or obstructing the initiatives that create jobs, that protect the american people, yes, i think gaining power is their major initiative. on the floor of the senate, bob. i've got to tell you every

single day it's 60 votes to pass legislation. that is unprecedented in american history. >> schieffer: let me go to governor richardson. governor, you're watching all this from out there in new mexico. you heard the vice president last week tell the left, it's time to stop whining. and to kind of get on the team and get on board here. how serious is this disaffection? are liberals going to stay home? >> well, it's important that liberals, conservatives, moderates and the democratic party basically stop complaining and realize that we have a month to go. we've had some gains in the last months since labor day. but this is when voters are paying attention. and the first step we need to take is energize the democratic base. there's nobody better than the president and the vice president to go after that base of young people, of minorities, of independents that got the president elected. he's the best person to do that. but all democrats, if there's

one message that i want to send is that we should stop firing at each other. we've got enough people, the republicans, firing at us already. so we don't need these divisions in the party. but what i would do, bob, is stop talking about bills in congress, financial overhaul, health care reform, bailouts, start talking about creating jobs and housing and making the american people recognize that we need to make investments in sagging industries and renewable energy and manufacturing. jobs, work force development, connect with voters emotionally. but more than anything, bob, we have got to come together and realize that we can't go back to those republican policies of a horrendous economy and huge deficits. >> schieffer: let me just ask you this. what is it do you think that the president did wrong here? >> i believe that he has

tackled the major issues. he has tackled the fact that we were heading into a depression. he avoided it. he's restored our standing internationally. i know that's not a big campaign theme but he's done that. wall street... the stock market is coming back. there's still 20 million unemployed. and underemployed. there's still foreclosures. there's no question that we've got problems. but i saw the president in albuquerque. he was here in some of these backyard chats. and the vice president. they're doing everything they can to energize the base. but i think we've got to stop talking about the belt way and all the races in washington. yes, it's important. the senate and the house. but, you know, they should listen more to governors, the democratic party. we're the ones creating jobs, renewable energy, movies in my state. ed rendell in pennsylvania has created a lot of jobs. look at success stories in the states, in the grass roots

with mayors, with county commissioners. it's not just the washington d.c. party. >> schieffer: all right. well, governor rendell, you're up there in what is always a key state, pennsylvania. a lot of those suburbs around philadelphia that the president carried last time out looks like he's going to have the candidates, democrats are going to have real trouble there. what is it that has caused this drift away from the president in your view that we saw so many independents were for the president in 2008 and also so many young people who so far despite that big rally that we saw out there in wisconsin haven't shown much interest in this election. its going to be hard for all democrats if that... those groups don't turn out this time around. >> well there's no question, bob. i think part of it is perception. i think the president has done a much better job than people perceive including the base. i meantime magazine had a wonderful piece two weeks ago about how far-reaching and

changing our economy the stimulus was. i know you read it. it's incredible what they're doing in renewable energy and all sorts of things that are important to us in the future that are in that bill but nobody knows it. >> schieffer: why not? i guess the question i'm asking is, why have they been unable to get that message out? why have folks like the tea party on the other side of the spectrum where there's also great frustration, they have seemed to get the message out at least the other side of it. so why have democrats been unable to do that? >> for two reasons, bob. number one, ours is is a complex message. the tea party message is pretty easy and simple. secondly we just don't have it in our make-up, in our dna to mislead the public. we don't go out there and talk like that. the question you asked to bernie about is the republican party the party of no, you thought that was a little extreme. look at the small business bill. republicans have talked all summer about helping small business. and yet there was a bill with

$30 billion of lending authority with elimination of capital gains on small businesses. and they held it up until senator boin veitch cast the deciding vote. they held it up all summer long. it could have been helping small businesses three or four months earlier. had they acted responsibly. >> schieffer: president clinton on this broadcast several weeks ago said, look, we wouldn't even be holding this conversation if unemployment was 5%. is this basically just the economy is really bad and the president happens to be the guy in office right now? and when you're in office and the economy is bad, you're going to pay at the polls? is is that what basically is going on here? >> bob, there's some of that. i have no doubt about it. there's some of that in every governor, evason tore who is is an incumbent is feeling that. our job in the next four weeks is to tell our base, our liberal friends, this is is is a choice. the other choice is is starkly bad for america and for the things you believe in. remember, there's an old political adage.

all we have to do is get them to the polls because a tepid vote is the same as a wiley enthusiastic vote. >> schieffer: let me just ask senator sanders here, are liberals going to turn out because i hear a lot of people say, well, i just may not get around to voting this time. >> i think you're going to see more progressives coming out than you otherwise would have. but i think in the next month what we have got to do is not only make it clear that the bush agenda and the policies of the republicans want will be a disaster for america. we've got to bring forth a positive agenda. for example, we brought forth a bill on outsourcing. under the bush administration we lost five million good-paying manufacturing jobs. companies are throwing american workers out on the street and move to go china. people are going nuts about this. we have got to stand up bold and say corporate america has got to reinvest in america. in terms of tax breaks for billionaires when the top 1% earns 23% of all income in

america, they don't need tax breaks. as ed rendell said we have to invest in infrastructure transforming our energy system. social security. we have got to stand up and say no privatization, no cuts in social security. we have to differentiate our self-s from the republicans. >> schieffer: bill richardson you were trying to get into the conversation there. >> i also think we should take on the tea party. for some reason everyone is scared of them. what they really want to do to this country is when they talk about reducing deficits is they're cutting in to medicare, medicaid, firefighters, teachers, nurses, people's benefits, social security. i think it's important that we not be defensive, that we be strong, but we have to unify and stop the internal carping. it's important that we recognize that we not only have to attract our liberal progressive base but also the democratic party is moderates, it's conservatives.

it's western democrats. it's southern democrats. it's important that we not be so concentric, so washington- based. here i do think the president's efforts at going into backyards, at rallying the base and the vice president very strongly are being very effective but the rest of the party seems to be doing their own thing. i think it's important that we talk and make those populist themes about creating jobs, about foreclosures. not talk about all these washington bills and initiatives that are happening. the people want to be connected emotionally. >> schieffer: would democrats have been better off had the vice president not told the left to stop whining? it seems to have... it doesn't seem to go down very well on the left. >> well, no. i think that's exactly what needed to happen. sure maybe it wasn't popular within the left. but it's important that we come together, that we not stay home. that we talk about the importance of not going back

to the years of republicans that brought us this recession. that brought us this unemployment. but it's not enough to say, okay, american people, give us credit because we democrats prevented it from getting any worse. you've got to be positive. you've got to talk about jobs and you've got to talk about the economy. you've got to connect with people emotionally. >> schieffer: all right. governor rendell, do you think that as it stands now republicans are probably going to take the house? >> i'm not sure. i think we're definitely going to keep the senate. i think we have a chance to win the house because i believe the democrats, including the base, are starting to come back. they're starting to realize that this is an alternative. it's not a referendum on how the president has done or how the congress has done. it's an alternative. republican leaders have said if they control the house, the first thing they're going to do is issue subpoenas and have one investigation after another. if you're listening out there, democrat, republican or independent, that's the worst thing this country could

undertake right now given all the challenges we face. that's destructive. >> schieffer: all right. well for the last couple of weeks we've been focusing on the tea party and some of the republicans on this broadcast today. we let the democrats have their side. we'll be back in one minute. thanks, gentlemen for the discussion. life leaves spaces for you to create in, shouldn't your card do the same? it can. meet zync from american express. it's a great way to get more out of the things you're into. build yours to fit your life by adding packs filled with bundles of rewards and benefits. it's not just a card. it's your canvas. create yours at zynccard.com. [ heather ] businesses need a reliable financial partner. one who can stay in sync with their moves.

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that's possible? >> of course it's possible. but if you take a look at what's happening on the ground you don't see that. people have been paying a lot of attention to the national polls. even if you look at the national polls "newsweek" has one out today that has a tie with democrats maybe a little bit ahead. the same thing with gallup, politico, a bunch of them have the polls closing. why is that happening? because if you look at a state like ohio where governor strickland has been running behind as much as double digits in ohio for two months his opponent was airing ads by himself. now he's airing ads in ohio. he's down by four points. if you look at places like california with barbara boxer she's ahead of carly fiorina. if you look at washington with patty murray she's now pulling up ahead. if the candidate level are now starting to close these races as we get down to the final stretch. the democrats have a.... >> schieffer: here you have barbara box era long-time democrat. you say she's now closing. patty murray she's running for what her third term out there now closing? just saying that tells you a little bit about what the

political atmosphere is out there. >> the atmosphere is tough. no one has denied that. democrats are probably going to lose seats in this election. if you take a look at losing the house or losing the senate it's very, very tough. give you a couple districts. childers in mississippi a fairly conservative district. the lincoln davis in tennessee pretty conservative. the republicans aren't really blasting ahead in those races. they're actually holding on or even stephanie out in south dakota her opponent is caught in a traffic ticket scandal. she's kind of having some trouble right now. if you look at these races state by state dem rats are not in trouble. i think we're going to have enthusiasm that everyone is downplaying you're start to go see that enthusiasm come back a little. >> schieffer: why is president obama having the troubles he's having with his base with the liberal side of the democratic party? >> you know, it's interesting. i think the president has done some pretty remarkable things. it's hard to argue with. the first latino on the supreme court. the the third woman on the supreme court. ending the war in iraq.

health care. financial regulatory reform. all these things. but you haven't had a broad- based packaging of the message that really speaks to some of the core issues of what americans are concerned about. one obviously their jobs in the short term but in the longer term there's a concern about competitiveness. americans are concerned about having a country where their children will do better tomorrow than they're doing today. they're starting to worry about that. on the other hand though you have the republicans who have the pledge to america a week or so ago. they talk about competitiveness as being important but 48 pages. 20 something pages of it are pictures and big words. for 48 pages they don't even mention the word education. we're 30th in math. 21st out of 30 when it comes to science. they don't even mention education. they do want to take us back to 2008 spend levels. if they take us back to that that's a 21% cut in american education for kids. that's not going to help us close that gap. americans know that. >> schieffer: about a minute left here, jamal. quickly, do you think looking back on it the president would have been better off had he simply concentrated first on

jobs and then moves to some of these other issues like health care? >> you know, hindsight is 20-20. health care has been such a dogged thing for democrats to get done in the last 40 years. there's an opportunity to do a big thing, cover 30 million more people which will happen. yes, you look back and say jobs are important. you're talking nothing more than about jobs right now but you know, hindsight is is 20-20. i would have liked him to do financial regulatory reform earlier. after these bonuses hit because you would have been better off if you had a chance to do that. >> schieffer: thank you and welcome to cbs. we'll be hearing from you along the way. >> thank you for having me. >> schieffer: back in moment with closing thoughts. ♪ when it's planes in the sky ♪ ♪ for a chain of supply, that's logistics ♪ ♪ when the parts for the line ♪

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washington bureau when i first encountered him in 1969. already he was a story book character you couldn't have made up. one of ed murrow's boys, to reporters who invented broadcast journalism as they covered world war ii. the dashing correspondent who later escaped a tribe of cannibals in the jungles of burma, who went on to become the analyst of the news on walter cronkite's broadcast. today as we think about the vulgarity and the attacks into which so much of our national conversation has fallen because too many have convinced themselves there can be only one side to every issue, their own, i cannot help but think about what eric used to tell us. that in a world of passionate certainty, it is as important to retain the courage of one's thoughts as the courage of one's convictions. eric was a wild man but he never fooled himself into believing he had all the answers and he never stopped

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in 2008 i quit venture capital to follow my passion for food. i saw a gap in the market for a fresh culinary brand and launched behindtheburner.com. we create and broadcast content and then distribute it across tv, the web, and via mobile. i even use the web to get paid. with acceptpay from american express open, we now invoice advertisers and receive payments digitally. and i get paid on average three weeks faster. booming is never looking for a check in the mail. because it's already in my email. >> schieffer: that's all for today. we'll see you next week right here on face the nation. captioning sponsored by cbs captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org

four years ago, bob ehrlich got fired as governor of maryland. for good reason. first, he protected tax loopholes for giant cable cable companies. then, he let utilities jack up our rates 72%. and for the last four years, he worked as a hired gun for big corporations, even a bank that took billions from a taxpayer funded bailout. ehrlich sides with corporate executives again and again and again tell bob ehrlich big banks and billionares don't need help. middle class marylanders do.