with us now, the political director of the atlantic media company ron brownstein in a new piece for thejournal. ron explains why the democrats may be losing ground in the mountain west. he writes this. "ominous for democrats are signs that the independent voters who flocked to the party in 2006 and 2008 may be growing uneasy with the cost and sweep of obama's plans. asked what congress could do to most strengthen his position heading into the 2010 election, a democrat offered two ideas. pass a health care reform bill "that's paid for" and then demonstrate a per situative commitment commitment to pay down our deficit and debt." good morning to you. >> good morning. >> how big a problem is this for the democrats right now, these centrist democrats concerned with deficits? >> let's climb up the hill before we climb down it. the mountain states have been one of the towering success stories for the democrats in this decade, and they crystallize the challenge they're going to face in a lot of the country in 2010. republicans dominated the mountain states. they had 13 of the 16 senate seats, f

it's time for "the politics fix" with david gregory, moderator of nbc's "meet the press" and ron brownstein, political director for atlantic media. we saw the president on a stage in pittsburgh. it's really a world stage for him now. does this change the dynamic of what his presidency is all about and who he is? is he now more of a leader of the western world than just the united states? >> well, inevitably in a presidency there are events that are thrust upon the president he has to respond to, shape, and he has to shape it not just for himself but as you say for the western world, for the western allies. that's what the president is in the middle of doing right now. this is the moment of confrontation, of challenge with regard to iran. this is the moment when he is able to say to the iranians, got you. we got you. we see what you're doing. now you sit down and talk and negotiate away nuclear weapons or there's going to be a dimpbts track you're not going to like. stop haranguing, stop negotiating and stop saying one thing one day and something else another. let's talk about talk about the

ron brownstein, atlantic media's political director and columnist for "national journal."david, let me ask you this. now, it's as if i've come in and landed from another planet. i'm seeing the president of the united states attacked for basically telling kids to do their homework and brush after every meal. i'm being told that tomorrow could be a break or make night for his presidency on health care. i heard harry reid, the senate majority leader this afternoon basically saying the public option, maybe it will happen and speaker pelosi standing along side of him saying, no, it has to happen. what's the deal tomorrow night? what does the president have to do? what's he going to do. >> i think the primary think he's got to do is get the american people on board and try to persuade them and really drum up for public support for this plan than now exists. the problem with august is the debate got off the rails. the white house knows it. the white house understands at this point there's too few people in america who have any idea who the president wants to do about health care.

get the picture. >>> we're back with drafd gregory and ron brownstein. connolly of virginia on. he he sort of liked the public option but he said it's not theology to him and his main intent in any legislation is to get to yes. so my question to you and ron, tomorrow night, how does the president of the united states get a majority of people in the house of representatives specifically to get to yes, and doesn't he have to get something out of this ordeal? >> well, look, i think the way he does that is he says to liberals in his party, look, look what we've got here. are you going to be responsible for taking down health care reform? what we have in the way of an agreement now with the pharmaceutical company, the insurance companies, is something the likes of ted kennedy couldn't achieve over three decades of trying. so let's not -- you know the cliche, let the perfect be the enemy of the good. the other thing i think he's going to say whether he uses these words are not, hey, guys, do you think it's going to get easier to pass health care reform next ye

ron brownstein the political director joins us now. , you have been following the intr intricacies of all this but the senate has not given up on the public option. >> both -- >> problems for the white house. >> both chambers are trying to figure out where they're trying to go. actually, andrea, the story this week is i think democrats are increasingly confident that they will come together as a party on these difficult issues. you still have the public option as one of those. affordability issues and, in general, in both chambers, you do see them beginning to envision the path by which they can get this to president obama's desk. this is a change from a month ago. >> what kind of time frame? >> we have a lot of twists and turns in this road yet to go. striking this week and one of the more difficult vote and a very difficult vote for democrats. chairman baucus was able to defend a deal with the drug industry that the white house struck to limit the amount of its contribution to savings on it. that was a sign of democrats basically bein

we'll be right back with david gregory fresh from his interview with president obama and with ron brownsteinho's trying to keep up here. politics fix coming up. we're going to talk about joe wilson's first sort of apology. here's one for your skin that's clinically proven. olay professional pro-x wrinkle protocol is as effective as the leading wrinkle prescription brand at reducing the look of wrinkles. that's because olay has teamed with a highly specialized group of dermatologists and created a wrinkle protocol that gives you the results of the leading wrinkle prescription brand, without a prescription. olay professional pro-x. this is a guarantee you're guaranteed to love. getting an early flu shot is the best thing you can do... to protect you and your loved ones from the flu. it's also one of the easiest things you can do... because walgreens is now offering seasonal flu shots... every day of the week with convenient hours guaranteed. so you can just stop in. our 16,000 dedicated pharmacists... and take care clinic nurse practitioners... are waiting to help you beat the flu... in neighb

ron brownstein is political director for atlantic media. ay, ron, the baucus bill, seems like this is something to hate for everybody, after all those months of hard work. realistically, is this a template going forward or is it dead on arrival? >> no, i think it's actually more the template than it might seem today. there is one obvious, large flaw with this, and then perhaps a second significant flaw. the large flaw is that it does not provide sufficient subsidies for middle class families who would be required to buy insurance under the individual mandate, which is essential in all the bills because it is the key to insurance reform. a second flaw is the way it deals with contributions from employers. it might discourage employers from hiring certain kinds of low-income workers. but savannah, he has built a structure here that i believe is going to be the foundation of any bill that ultimately reaches the president, because it does two things that none of the other bills have yet been able to do. first, it goes much further than anyone ha

. >> withes now, moderator of "meet the press" david gregory who asked the great question and ron brownsteinhe one thing i like about this president when you get to sit down the benefit of doing is the way he thinks outloud and understands that great american tension, which is the very essence of our country. how much freedom do we have? how much equality do we have? how much taking care of each other versus how much do we leave each other alone? it is the great american tension. i think he got to it. >> absolutely. chris, something you and i have talked about off the air, this question of role of government. is this president effectively selling to the american people the proposition that government is the solution to some of these huge challenges? and i thought it was very interesting that a lot of what is lined up against him by way of opposition is not something he thinks is motivated by race. he makes the concession that some of it may be. from the president's remarks, you can get it. and talking to people behind the scenes, they do not want to turn this into a conversation about race.

. >> meet the press across the country, and ron brownstein thanks for that. he's got problems in the west as well as the south. join us again monday for more "hardball." "countdown" with keith olbermann starts right now. >>> which of these stories will you be talking about tomorrow? the nation's health care crisis. a new study finds more people die from lack of insurance than drunk driving and murder combined. as we enter a critical weekend of negotiations, senator rockefeller says there is still life in the public option and now's the time to improve the baucus bill. >> i really don't care how long it takes us to do it. i want to get it right. i want it to be a real improvement in health care. >> and the pressure on republican senator olympia snowe as the gop tries to keep her in line. snowe says she won't be dictated to by her party. the values on display at the value voters forum. obamacare, rationing your life away, fighting the vast left wing conspiracy. and the new masculinity, which session does mike huckabee belong in? >> we've been the land of czars,

ron brownstein writes this about the baucus bill.t office concluded that the baucus bill could move close to universal coverage, reaching 94% of eligible americans, with a funding stream that not only met the cost of expanding coverage but also reduced the deficit in that second decade. >> right. isn't that something you could support? >> yes, and i'm on the bennett bill that is deficit neutral but the baucus bill is getting ipartisan criticism. democrats are saying they don't want a 35% tax on so-called cadillac plans that union members are involved in where if you have 21,000 for family and 8,000 for individual, the baucus bill taxes those plans. they are taxing medical services that companies want to provide to their employees and employees are willing to pay for it to cover the uninsured and puts 11 million people on the medicaid system and reduces medicare by $400 billion to get to deficit neutrality. i don't believe it. we tried to reduce medicare by $33.89 billion and conned get one democrat to vote for it, so i don't believe

. >> david gregory, ron brownstein, thanks very much. >>> join us tomorrow tomorrow night at 5:00 and 7:00 eastern for more "hardball." "countdown" with keith olbermann starts right now. >>> which of these stories will you be talking about tomorrow? the indoctrination has begun! >> here in america, you write your own destiny. you make your own future. >> this just in -- the republican party is now opposed to you writing your own destiny, making your own future, and especially writing your own future destiny. >> i'm george, george mcfly. i'm your destiny. >> and they don't like that either! the conservative national review calls it the finest speech of obama's presidency, the speech to school kids praised by laura bush and newt gingrich. but the deranged head of the florida gop, who had insisted obama would defend health care reform, the stimulus and socialism, is now back pedalling pastor than a unicyclist tornado chaser. >> this was never about the president speaking to children about the importance of education. it was about the white house writing lesson plans. >> 24 hours before t

ron brownstein writes this about the baucus bill. the congressional budget office concluded that the baucus bill could move close to universal coverage, reaching 94% of eligible americans, with a funding stream that not only met the cost of expanding coverage but also reduced the deficit in that second decade. >> right. isn't that something you could support? >> yes, and i'm on the bennett bill that is deficit neutral but the baucus bill is getting bipartisan criticism. democrats are saying they don't want a 35% tax on so-called cadillac plans that union members are involved in where if you have 21,000 for family and 8,000 for individual, the baucus bill taxes those plans. they are taxing medical services that companies want to provide to their employees and employees are willing to pay for it to cover the uninsured and puts 11 million people on the medicaid system and reduces medicare by $400 billion to get to deficit neutrality. i don't believe it. we tried to reduce medicare by $33.89 billion and conned get one democrat to vote fo

. >> david gregory, ron brownstein, thanks very much. join us tomorrow night at 5:00 and 7:00 eastern for more "hardball." right now, it's time for "the ed show" with ed schultz. >>> i'm ed schultz. this is "the ed show." >>> good evening, americans, i'm ed schultz coming to you from washington, d.c., tonight. wooil be here the next few days in the nation's capital because the president has a big week. i'll have a special program tomorrow night here at 11:00 eastern time. first i want to talk about what the president said today. i want the republicans to answer one question tonight. how stupid do you feel now? the president said today to schoolchildren all across america real basic stuff. bay attention, show up in school, listen to your parents. so new and invo native and it still works. what we saw today was an academic locker room talk that is long overdue from somebody in the oval office. conservatives, you ought to be loving this because he talked about responsibility. here's what the president said. at the end of the day, we can hav

ron brownstein at the journal point out, you've got so many democrats out of red states in the last twoident to make that a safe vote. >> if the president does go on these five shows or six shows and goes on letterman, we all know where he stands on health care. we've heard him 100 times. i'd like to know, and i think americans would like to know, what do you think of what jimmy carter said? what do you think of the instability in american politics? what do you think of kanye west maybe on the late night show? all these questions are very interesting. folks like you and others are going to ask them. quite frankly, the answers to those questions, it seems to me, are, if they're not more important, are certainlyaudienc. and aren't these the answers that are going to be played all over the country that night from these appearances? >> well, we'll see what happens. i mean, i think -- look, from my perspective, i think from all of our perspective, we want to see the president sit down for a lot of interviews. we want to ask him a lot of direct questions, and i think that's a good thing. obvi