then the illinois senate race. that is followed by two more governors races, one in the hampshire, the other in minnesota. among registered voters, democrats lead by six points, a 47% to 41% lead. if you look leader, their strength comes directly from the cellphone only population. if they are skipping the demographics, the results might be too favorable to republicans. >> the c-span networks, we provide coverage of public affairs, nonfiction books, american history. this is available to you on the radio, on line, and on social networking sides. we take c-span on the road with local contact vehicle. it is washington your way, the c-span network now available and more than 100 million pounds. >> here is a debate between the 14th house district candidates. the incumbent congressman and his republican challenger. the poll has represented a foster trailing republican by one. . this debate is about half an hour. first, a closer look at the race. >> we are looking at some of the most hotly contested races leading up to t

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>> pat, now the illinois race. >> in illinois, democrat state treasurer, alexi has a tiny lead over republican representative, mark kirk. >> question, which way is this illinois senate race leaning, i ask you pat. >> this one is close. i think alexi is up a couple points now and obama is out there. i think it is slightly leaning toward the democrats. overall, john, the democrats have come back from august when they lost the senate and they have come back, i think they are going to hold the united states senate. >> which states lean republican in their senate inclinations? do you want to give that list? >> you have five locks. you have north dakota, wisconsin, indiana. pennsylvania looks like it's gone. you have five that are very close. the kirk race would be one, nevada would be another. california, i'd salines democratic. washington state is very close. > let's talk about feingold. is he likely to lose to republican johnson for the senate seat in wisconsin? >> absolutely. it's gone. johnson has been above 50 in almost every poll. this is the key thing. these three liberal democrats, boxer, feingold, and murray, who never had to run in a republican year or ever had

both experts on illinois and you have a big debate on "meet the press" on sunday with the illinois senate race. >> i would defer to mr. alter for the expertise on illinois. this senate race is much tighter than people thought it would be between giannoulias and kirk. it is the president's former senate seat. we kick off our senate debate series on sunday. giannoulias and kirk. >> and jonathan, in terms of the outlook there for that candidate who is either a washingtonian or a chicagoan, he's running for mayor and he's had a little bit of a rough patch in his welcome home. >> don't count rahm emanuel out though. >> i would be the last person to count him out. we all watched him for too many years. >> there ar number of people in chicago who are saying that he's going to have a hard time and that everything he's done in washington counts for little, if anything, in chicago. but he does have an important backer, one barack obama, who still has tremendous popularity in chicago, and he also has this work ethic. we were talking earlier about tom donilon, who is very close to rahm emanuel, they are b

look at the nevada senate race, colorado, big illinois senate race, races for governor in some of those states. could be a huge issue. the question is how engaged are they in the campaign. let's look at these numbers. if the democrats -- would love that. here's the numbers. 65% to 22%. latinos, their preference, when asked for, who you going to vote for for congress. here's the issue for the democrats. have you thought quite a lot about the november elections, meaning, are you engaged? only about a third of latino registered voters say they've thought a lot about it. about half of the broader american electorate say they've thought about it. are you certain to vote in november? about half of latino registered voters say they intend to vote in november. so if you have that big drop-off, all that intensity doesn't matter as much. if those latinos do go to the polls, they look at issues a little differently than the broader electorate. education is their number one issue. jobs just behind it. the broader electorate, jobs is, by far, number one. the big question, joe, is that's a great gap

senate race, a house race, a governor's race that you find a race to watch. karl, we start with you. you point to the illinois senate race, mark kirk versus alexi giannoulis. >> look, there are lots of interesting senate races. joe and i had an interesting set of conversations about these. i just picked this one because to me it is interesting the president is putting a lot of time and energy and effort and going there and the vice president has gone there several times. the president himself has been there several times. and this is the president's home state. a seat that should be easily in the democrats column and the fact that it isn't says something about the quality of the republican candidate mark kirk and the problems and difficulties in the democratic candidate alexis giannoulis. >> you picked washington state. patty murray and republican dino rossi. right now it is essentially tied in the polls or is it. in. >> if patty murray wins the seat there is no way the republican cassiopoeia take the senate. this will go down to the wire, both parties fighting tooth and nail for it. patty murray has been han

each of you to come up with three race, senate race, house race, governor's race you find a race to watch. karl, we'll start with you. you point to the illinoisenate race. republican mark kirk versus gin giannoulias, why this one. >> look, there are lots of interesting senate races and joe and i have had an interesting set of conversations about these and i picked it, it is interesting, the president is putting time and energy there and he and michelle and the vice president has gone there several times and the president has been there, several times and this is the e president's home state, a seat that should be easily in the democrats' column, and the fact that it isn't, says something about the quality of the republican candidate, mark kirk, and the problems and difficulties of the democratic candidate, alexis giannoulias. >> you chose washington state, the senate race and it pits patty murray against republican nino rossi. and now, real clear has it essentially tied in the polls. why this one. >> look, i think if patty murray wins the seat there is no, in my view, no way the republicans can take the senate. it will be the one that goes do

joe, dodging embarrassment obama agenda in the illinois senate race. he has been involved in this race. he's been campaigning for him. >> giannoulias just said he didn't know the full extent of the criminal activity of people that his bank was giving loans to. i don't think i've ever seen a politician say anything like that before. >> it's part of what has been such a negative campaign, peggy. and we put this on the screen now. it's a tight race, in part, perhaps because congressman kirk's statements about his military record but giannoulias is seen as more of a flawed candidate and perhaps that answer is going to dog him. >> yeah. i think it might. look, it is a very -- one of the things that turns off people about politics is that it can be so negative, so personal. they know if they look at their own lives, they know anything they did could be made into something huge, negative and bad if it were turned into a 60-second spot. and a lot of people running for office this year do not want to talk about issues or do not want to talk about their past stan

one hour later, the illinois senate race. that is followed by two more governor's races in new hampshire and minnesota. >> with just days until election day, follow the key races and candidates on c-span. go online to view archived debates at the c-span the library. this weekend, see jon stewart / steven colbert rallied live on c-span. follow election coverage right through election day. >> we have alive the louisiana senate debate coming up. the huffington post, writing about an ad running it in the state, a louisiana representative mickey remains stuck behind david vitter , but is closing his campaign on the same message he has maintained throughout. the messages that his opponent was a prostitute. here is at at, plus one from a vvitter campaign. >> our tax dollars pay his salary and he is of four prostitutes. you're welcome, senator. our money paid for his serious sins -- phone calls to prostitutes during votes and tax dollars to defend a day to violently abused his girlfriend. in return, we got a disgraced senator ranked a

you point to illinois senate race. mark kirk against alexi giannoulias. it shows kirk up 1.2. this one besides the president was talking about you there thursday? >> look, there are lots of interesting senate races. joe and i had an interesting set of conversations about these. to me this is interesting that the president is putting time and energy and effort. he is going there, michelle has gone there. the president himself has been there several times. this is the president's home state and a seat that should be in the democrat's column and that it isn't says something about the quality of the republican candidate, mark kirk and the problems and the difficulties of the democratic candidate alexi giannoulias. >> bret: joe, you chose washington state, pitting patty murray against dino rossi. real clear has this tied in the polls. why this one? >> if patty murray wins this seat there is no way the republicans can take the senate. this will go down the wire. both parties fighting tooth and nail. patty is hanging in there. tough race. if she wins it, no way the republicans take th

one hour later, the focus on his on illinois senate race. -- the focus is on the illinois senate race. from the asheville citizen times, north carolina democratic incumbent, congressman heat shuler said he would vote for himself as speaker over house speaker nancy pelosi if democrats. -- retain control. he says i can actually bring people together. he said that during a two hour debate with his opponent, jeff miller. >> with just days until election day, follow the key races and candidates on c-span with debates every night, and go online to view archived debates. visit our policy page for other resources. see the jon stewart steven colbert rally by, this saturday, at noon eastern. for the weekend, we will show lots of campaign events. follow the election coverage right through election day. >> more campaign programming with a debate between texas 17th house candidates chet edwards and bill flores. it was held at kxxv-tv in waco, texas. the hill newspaper has bill flores leading. it is represented currently by a democrat. it is rated as liens republic which r-texas less about one hour

live at 8:00 eastern will be the illinois senate race. following that, the pennsylvania governor race, followed by the florida senate debate, and finally, the debate before candidates -- the debate between candidates for wisconsin governor. the wisconsin public radio poll was conducted october 12th-15th with a margin of error of five points. mr. walker is the milwaukee county executive. his opponent is the mayor. we aren' airing that at 11:00 eastern tonight on c-span. we are also airing political debates on our companion network. at 8:00, the massachusetts fourth district where barney frank is running. that will be followed by the pennsylvania eighth house district race and the arkansas governor race. there is political news from the hill and a fund-raising e-mail in which president obama asked supporters for more than $900,000 in donations before thursday to finance a get out the vote pushed. 15 races are still up for grabs in the final days. republicans will need to pick up 10 senate seats to win a majority in the senate. coming up next

eastern, the focus will be on the illinois senate race. we will have that debate live for you. that will be followed by the pennsylvania governor's race, the florida senate candidate, and finally, a debate to be wisconsin's next governor. we are also showing debates on our companion network, c-span-2 tonight. later, a debate from pennsylvania's eighth district race, followed by the arkansas governor's race. from the journal of line -- hot line, which you see there, the republicans are cutting in half their support for bob ehrlich. the latest polls show governor o'malley maintaining a five point lead, his largest of the year. we have other debates available for you to watch online any time. that is that c-span.org /politics. >> every weekend, experience american history tv, starting saturday at 8:00 a.m. eastern. people and events tell the american story. here historic speeches and eyewitness accounts that -- accounts of events that shaped our nation. topps history professors and leading historians delve into america's past. it is all weekend every weekend on c-span 3. >> in abou

senate up for grabs. every seat counts for republicans and democrats. one race that could have an impact is illinois. e kirtz has more. >> reporter: this is a high profile contest. if the race for obama former senate seat and a loss for democrats would be symbolic. the latest numbers show a tight battle in obama's home state. republican mark kirk up a point in the real clear politics average against the democrat alexi giannoulias. they faced off on nbc with giannoulias charging that kirk's claim of being a fiscal hawk and military record aren't true. >> this race is different. kirk says she a fiscal hawk. the congressman has told real whoppers in the campaign, but that may be the biggest one of all. >> it's ironic to oppose my record on fiscal conservative. the tribune asked him to name a spending bill he would vote to cut. he couldn't name one. as they said when they endorsed me it was painful to watch. >> reporter: character has been a theme of the race. it came up today as you heard kirk accusing his opponent family bank of making loans to the mob. giannoulias says his family bank didn't know the e

senator russ feingold. finally, to illinois, the senate race is tied. 37 apiece in the new simon poll from southern illinois university. but look at all of those undecideds there. we'll continue to check the "hardball" scoreboard and off. big races each night leading up to november 2nd election tuesday. >>> go to some wild debates on both coasts last night. the fight for governor in california and the fight for u.s. senator up in connecticut. willie brown is the former mayor of san francisco and former california assembly speaker. joan walsh is, of course, the editor and chief of salon.com. mr. mayor and joan, let's take a look at that debate in california last night. let's listen to the first chunk of it. here it comes. >> we've heard no outrage from you about the use of that kind of language, which to many women is the same as calling an african-american the "n" word. have you been in charge of the investigation of your campaign to find out who is responsible for using that phrase? >> i don't agree with that comparison, number one. number two, this is a five-week-old private conversation picked up on a ce

. >> reporter: and the illinois senate race has big implications because the seat is currently held by a democrat and it is the republican mark kirk who has been leading in most polls. in the new york race, it's democrat andrew cuomo who has been leading in the race for governor against carl paladino. >> mr. paladino, welcome back, good to see you. if you are elected governor of new york, will you active le re lere -- actively recruit gays in. >> wherever their expertise might be, we'll put them in our government. >> and it doesn't matter if those people talk about being openly gay, even if they have been brainwashed into thinking that homosexuality is an equally valid sexual option? >> that remark has to do with schooling children. my feelings on homosexuality are unequivocal, i have absolutely no problem with it whatsoever. my only reservation is marriage. that's the only reservation i have. i have a lot of homosexuals working in my organization. >> but you didn't say that you don't want children to be brainwashed into thinking that gay marriage is an equally valid or successful opti

they include the nevada senate race, the florida governor's race, the illinois senate race, the three-way race in alaska, the colorado senate race, and washington's third congressional district. we want to focus on the nevada senate race, the first and only debate that took place last thursday, which is available on our site for politics, as is all of our political programming, c-span.org/politics. and one of the latest ads from the national republican committee taking aim at democratic leader harry reid. >> it took thousands of men to erect hoover damn but it only -- dam. barack obama and harry reid. they've dumped bailouts, takeovers, giving us a 1.5 trillion budget deficit, a $13 trl debt. when it comes to nevada's economy, obama and reid are a bust. the republican national committee is responsible for the content of this advertising. host: so back to your calls. this mid-term election, a referendum on reid and pelosi. jean joins us from warren, ohio. good morning. caller: good morning. thank you for taking my call. i think it's certainly a referendum on pelosi, reid, and also obama. a

senator bill brady, a conservative republican. he would be the most conservative governor that we have had in illinois in recent history. but he is running a tight race. today, actually, vice-president biden is coming to town for a rally for quinn. michelle obama will be here tomorrow attending a rally for the senate seat once held by her husband. she will also be rallying for some vulnerable congressional candidates in the area. host: a lot of people are paying attention to the senate race. what are the issues driving the race? >> mark kirk, the republican nominee, had some misstatements over the summer, as he called them, about his military record that he got called out on. the democrat has had some problems because his family bank was taken over by the fdic this past spring. on the issues, kirk is a moderate republican, but he has run this campaign moderate on social issues but anti- stimulus, anti-health care overhaul. both of those policies, the democrat stands behind. host: there have been some complexities in this race? >> yes, there are two personal issues that have been at the forefront. on sunday, the candidates met for their first televise

with just a week to go illinois senate race is super tight and super testy and for cnn's don lemon, it'shewing things over with voters live from a restaurant in chicago. int. your core competency... is competency. and you rent from national. because only national lets you choose any car in the aisle. and go. you can even take a full-size or above. and still pay the mid-size price. i'm getting an upgrade. [ male announcer ] indeed, business pro. indeed. go national. go like a pro. indulge in endless servings of your favorite shrimp. including crunchy new parmesan shrimp in a buttery garlic sauce. it's endless shrimp. just $15.99. now at red lobster. climate protection. challenges as vast as the space race a generation ago. and vital to global security. to reach this destination, our engineers are exploring every possibility. from energy efficiency to climate monitoring. securing our nations clean energy future is all a question of how. and it is the how that will make all the difference. i pull up a nice cozy chair and go through it. see, every year during open enrollment we can make chan

the borrowed money runs out. >> reporter: the illinois state treasurer are vying for president obama's old senate seat in illinois. a closely watched race. the two candidates talked about the issues. kirk says the bush era tax cuts set to expire need to stay in place. >> if you look at congressional leaders want to do they want to hit the u.s. economy with a $900 billion tax increase on december 31st on top of the ten new taxes in the healthcare bill and on top of the other tax increases. >> reporter: he defended the handling of the economy, saying the stimulus programs prevented a second grade depression but admits there were mistakes. >> i think i would have liked to have seen as a former community banker some moreover site and more accountability and requirement that these banks lend money to help increase capital something we have done in the state's treasurer's office. that was a missed opportunity. >> reporter: but come november voters will have their opportunity to decide which party should be in control of congress. and many agree the control is up for grabs. sarah simmons, fox 5 news. >>> a key crossing on the pakistan, afghani

host: reid wilson, the illinois senate race, expensive? >> yes, mark kirk, the republican nominee, is running neck and neck with the state treasurer. the illinois primary is back in this is another one of those races where both candidates have unfavorable matings -- unfavorable ratings. we are likely to see a winner having only 146% of the vote. ote. both sides believe they can be the winner. host: it is still neck-and-neck? >> we have some internal polling that shows that kirk had an advantage. this race is coming down to the wire. one thing to be careful about, both parties have pollsters who have assumptions about what the electorate will look like. reid wilson is our guest. what about the senate majority leader's race? how much money has been spent in the back? >> harry reid has promised to spend $25 million for his reelection bid. angle has now become the cause celeb in her effort. in fact, i did some back of the honorable of the other day. it is more than christopher dodd, joe wilson, and bill richardson raising in their first candida

can rates in the illinois senate race held their debate last night. alexi giannoulias is running against mark kirk. the races been rated a toss up. polls are showing 15% of illinois voters are still undecided. >> tonight's moderator is george stephanopoulos. >> good evening, and welcome. it is great to be here tonight. the race could not be tighter between mark kirk and alexi giannoulias. their report -- the debate is being presented by the league of women voters in illinois. joining me is and the shaw, executive director of the better government association. . . over the last decade the congressman has been an architect of these decisions. why would we send the same people that created this mess back to washington, d.c.? you deserve a senator that will fight for the truth and stand up to the special interests of rural washington, d.c.. you will always know where i stand. i cannot promise that this will no one will fight for work harder to make sure that you and your family have a shot at the american dream. >> i would like to thank channel 7 for havin

race. that's another dynamic in colorado. gwen: let's go to illinois, your former home state. where we have a senateace between alexei, who is a great friend of the president, and mark, a former congressman -- current congressman. and they're bumping noses right up against each other. >> and there's no race in america that has a higher share of undecided voters than illinois. it's some 15%. gwen: are they still undecided? >> or they won't vote. and the race there is so personal and so nasty. but there really has become a sense of, you know, voters may not want either one of them. but what's happening underneath that electorate is there's years of scandal in illinois. there was just a big trial. rod blagojevich, of course, his first trial, now he's having a second trial next year. there's a lot of distrust of government, probably more than other places. and this race has not turned on any big issues. it's just been about one candidate accusing the other one of overstating his record, his military service record. the other candidate is accusing the democrat of being part of a mob bank. it's not about

governor, and later this afternoon to chicago and tonight, a fundraiser for the illinois senate candidate. this is a race to watch. illinois is usually blue state and this race is in a dead heat. and steve brown, our correspondent, live. this is the second fundraising trip for the candidate and more help is on the way? >>reporter: there is more white house help on the way. the president visited last month and tonight. the vice president bide were has been in for a swing and axelrod, senior advisor to the president has been through here, a chicago native, and next week, it is the first lady so an all lot of white house oriented help to make sure that he is the next senator from the state of illinois and as you said, this is a dead heat so it is a toss up. >> what is the republican candidate saying about this white house attention to the race? he is having fun. >>reporter: he is. he knows this is the kind of stuff that will go on and he has been a member of congress for 10 years in a district which in the year he won re-election in 2008 the district went 61 percent for obama so right now he understands tha

illinois. two of the closest races in the country, the illinois governor and senate, his old senate seat. brian? >> chuck todd, watching it all from washington tonight. chuck, thanks. >>> as we mentioned, there was a big development here today in the california senate race. one of the big races we'll be watching closely on election night. the republican candidate, former hewlett packard carly fiorina was hospitalized today. this was a sudden bit of news today? >> sudden and bad timing. she was hospitalized with an infection related to reconstructive surgery she had after breast cancer. her campaign says she'll return to the trail soon but it comes at a tough time. the two candidates for senate are locked in a fierce race that both parties are watching closely. >> what's with the hair? >> reporter: when she announced her candidacy, she had just finished chemotherapy for breast cancer months before. today, a scare, she was hospitalized with an infection from reconstructive surgery over the summer. the campaign said in a statement, she remains cancer-free but the timing for her is not good. >

republicans have a good shot at taking back governor seats in pennsylvania, ohio, illinois, wisconsin and michigan. and some key senate races are leaning towards the g.o.p. as well. including the seat of russ feingold in wisconsin. as well as president obama's old seat in illinois. fox news contributor michael baron and co-author of the almanac of american politics joins me now from washington. michael, welcome back to the program. >> thank you. good to be with you, paul. >> a lot of people are comparing this election to 1994 when republicans picked up a lot of seats there. is a difference i know is that in that year, republicans picked up gains in the south. this year a lot of the gains they expect to get are from upper mid west what. is going on in that part of the country? >> something important is going on. a political comment teary hasn't figured out yet. growing up in michigan and when you were growing up in wisconsin political rule was in times of distress, industrial heartland, states you just named, in times of economic disstress moved towards democrats. we're seeing now they're moving towards republicans in a way

host: what about the senate race in an illinois? guest: the senate race and a illinois is really going to come down to turnout. in 2008 we saw really high african-american turnout in illinois and that really helped the democratic ticket there. now they are under this cloud of rod blagojevich's administration and the end of that. and it has been a nasty race between mark kirk and alexi giannouilis -- mark kirk because of the military record and his opponent, because of the bank loans. host: we are talking specifically about the house but sean miller can talk about nearly all the races in the country. if you want to talk about a specific race he could start dialing in in just a minute. you have six relatively long term democratic congressman and your hair, going, going. let's go would budget chairman john spratt of republicans have been after for several terms but they have not really gotten that close. what does your polling say? guest: we got him down 10 points against republican mike will be neat. -- mulvaney. that race is always a

host: what about the senate race in an illinois? t: the senate race and a illinois is really going to come down to turnout. in 2008 we saw really high african-american turnout in illinois and that really helped the democratic ticket there. now they are under this cloud of rod blagojevich's administration and the end of that. and it has been a nasty race between mark kirk and alexi giannouilis -- mark kirk because of the military record and his opponent, because of the bank loans. host: we are talking specifically about the house but sean miller can talk about nearly all the races in the country. if you want to talk about a specific race he could start dialing in in just a minute. you have six relatively long term democratic congressman and your hair, going, going. let's go would budget chairman john spratt of republicans have been after for several terms but they have not really gotten that close. what does your polling say? guest: we got him down 10 points against republican mike will be neat. -- mulvaney. that race is always a targ

and there's senate debates in florida, delaware and illinois. >>> those races are especially critical since they determine which party controls congress. our chief political correspondent, george stephanopoulos, says the republicans will control the house, after gaining 50 seats. as for the senate? >> let me show you why the senate is so difficult. the republicans start out with arkansas, indiana and north dakota in the bank. and wisconsin increasingly moving in that direction. then, you have five tossup seats, which are either tied now or republicans in the margin of error. even if they win all five of he demeats where the democrats are ahead. the republicans need to pick up 40 seats. pretty tall order to win this. here's the problem for democrats. there's currently 89 democratic seats at risk. you see the polls, who do you support? democrats getting closer in the last few weeks, the number of seats, the math as expanded. the number of vulnerable seats has actually expanded. that's why things are so difficult for democrats right now. >> and george will have more insight later this mo

republicans have a good shot at taking back governor seats in pennsylvania, ohio, illinois, wisconsin and michigan and some key senate races are leaning toward the g.o.p. as well. including the seat of incumbent democrat russ fi finegold and president obama's old seat in illinois. a senior political analyst for the washington examiner and co-author of the almanac of american politics. he joins me now from washington. michael, welcome back to the program. >> it's very good to be with you, paul. >> juliet:. >> paul: a lat of people are comparing this when the republicans picked up a lot of seats. republicans picked up a lot of gains in the south. this year, a lot of the gains they expect to get if they're going to take back the house and senate are across the upper midwest. what's going on in that part of the country? >> well, i think something very important it coming on that the political comment hasn't figured out. when i was growing up in michigan, when you were growing up in wisconsin, paul, the rules of economic distress, the industrial heartland as you named, pennsylvania, michigan, ohio, wisconsin illinois. they move

senate seat. democrats in illinois control almost every, major elected office. and yet, the senate race there is still too close to call. >>> and republicans will not be able to benefit from this explosive campaign issue. the ethics trial of two, prominent democrats is now going to be held after the election. gop lawmakers had tried to push up the hearings of charles rangel and maxine waters. preelection trials could have generated headlines that republicans could have used in campaign ads. >>> national republicans have been forced to pull campaign ads in west virginia after an embarrassing disclosure. here is just part of the ad. >> obama's messing things up. >> spending money we don't have. stimulus. obama care. >> and joe mansion supported it all. >> the casting call sought actors who had, quote, a hicky, blue-collar look. the republican against joe mansion denounced the ad, said his campaign had nothing to do with this. >>> a report in how the money of last year's massive economic recovery package was spent, said that thousands of checks went to dead people. the inspector general's

if you look at the illinois senate race, but the republican has raised about $12.8 million for that raisedhand as two million dollars. this is all from opensecrets .org. the democrat in denver has read $11 million. a lot of money is going into this race. these are reports as of october 13, you can expect those numbers to change. in the pennsylvania senate race, pat has raised about $30.8 million. the democratic opponent has raised $9.2 million. finally, the nevada senate race is one of the most competitive. sharon angle has raised $18.8 million. on that show, harry reid said that he planned to bring legislation that would create a path for some illegal immigrants to gain legal status by a vote in the -- . >> what about the conservative groups like american action network and the amount of money they spent? >> that does not affect me. >> the republicans and democrats are for spending money. everybody makes of big deal about what the republicans are doing, and democrats act like they never have done anything or are not doing anything. that is outright dishonest. >> let's go to an independent

there's four states, pennsylvania another big one, connecticut and illinois because of that senate race. but florida was not on the raise. is there disappointment in kendrick meek's camp? becau and does it send the signal that the white house doesn't believe he's within striking distance? >> you have to follow the money and you watch where the democratic committees are putting the money and it's not here. but the meek campaign will say to you, listen, we've had a lot of support. listen, there is no one who has supported the white house more really on capitol hill than kendrick meek. 98% of the time he voted with nancy pelosi, which generally it was a vote for president obama. so you can understand that he is having a tough time down here because not only is it a three-way race and he's got an independent governor who used to be a republican, charlie crist, who is going after the democratic vote, the independent vote, and the republican vote. and then you have kendrick meek who is trying to keep all those democrats with him. so far what we've seen, particularly here in florida, there was

one recent report, right here in illinois, this senate race have outspent the senate race 2/1 funded and advised by karl. so the question to the people of illinois. are you going to let special interests come to this state and tell us who our senator should be? >> they joined yesterday saying this may not be true. the "new york times" also writing about this. guest: here's the problem, steve. because we will never know host: specifically about the gps? >> there are several groups that are spending millions on behalf of conservative candidates to try to beat the opponents. it's something that's unprecedented and came from the supreme court citizens united. i think what this says to the american people, you now have corporations, billions and billions of dollars that have the same exact voice as one american voter. that's not real democracy in my eyes. everyone should be very concerned about this. to me, it's aback lash to standing up against wall street. the credit card companies and credit card reform. what the obama administration did standing with gulf coast residents. it's kind of

but then you had -- it is not a governors race, it is a senate race, illinois on "meet the press" davidgregory did stump both of the candidates, mark kirk on his resumÉ enhancement about his military career, but alsoç jeweljulius about his family bank. let's watch. >> there are individuals with those with colorful pasts we didn't want to do business with. i didn't know the extent of their activity. >> david grabbed him on that and said he didn't know the extent of it. you were a senior loan officer, how did you not know there were crime figures getting loans from the bank. is this damaging? >> reporter: the word extent, it just feeds into the narrative republicans are trying to hit him on, which is the idea that, you know what, he did know of some of the ties that this bank had with some questionable figures, so just an awful way to answer that question. and as you brought up, mark kirk seemed just as stumped when having to explain why he spent so much time exaggerating his duties when in the reserves. >> chuck, bottom line going into this final three weeks of the campaign, the preside

one recent report, right here in illinois, this senate race have outspent the senate race 2/1 funded d advised by karl. so the question to the people of illinois. are you going to let special interests come to this state and tell us who our senator should be? >> they joined yesterday saying this may not be true. the "new york times" also writing about this. guest: here's the problem, steve. because we will never know host: specifically about the gps? >> there are several groups that are spending millions on behalf of conservative candidates to try to beat the opponents. it's something that's unprecedented and came from the supreme court citizens united. i think what this says to the american people, you now have corporations, billions and billions of dollars that have the same exact voice as one american voter. that's not real democracy in my eyes. everyone should be very concerned about this. to me, it's aback lash to standing up against wall street. the credit card companies and credit card reform. what the obama administration did standing with gulf coast residents. it's kind of li

senate races. in colorado, where a democratic incumbent is endangered, and in illinois, where president obama's old seat is up for grabs. >> lehrer: and historians beverly gage and richard norton smith give us a history lesson on the importance of mid-term elections. >> ifill: then, from pakistan, special correspondent saima mohsin reports on the plight of pregnant women and newborn infants after the floods. >> lehrer: ray suarez gets the latest on the french parliament's vote to raise the retirement age to 62. >> ifill: and jeffrey brown talks to the new poet laureate, w.s. merwin. >> i want to wite that peom. >> lehrer: that's all ahead on tonight's "newshour." major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> i do a lot of different exercises, but, basically, i'm a runner. last year, i had a bum knee that needed surgery, but it got complicated because i had an old injury. so, i wanted a doctor who had done this before. and united healthcare's database helped me find a surgeon. you know, you can't have great legs, if you don't have good knees. >> we're 78,000 people looking out for 70 m