hatch had this to say yesterday to politico, "we're probably going to lose the maine race because angus kings the most popular politician in maine. he'll caucus with the democrats, there's no question about that." angus, is he right or are you open to caucus with either party or neither party? >> well, he's right in the first half of what he said. that was a brilliant insight. at least i hope he's right. the second half, john, i can look you right in the eye and tell you i haven't made a decision. i'm not going to make a decision until i get down there. if i tell you right now i'm going to caucus with the republicans or the democrats, it defeats the purpose of what i want to do, which is steer a middle course and remain independent for as long as i possibly can. look, i'm not naive. i don't have illusions that i can go down there and mitch mcconnell and harry reid will put their arms around me and ask me how to solve these problems, but i think that i can go down and remain independent as long as possible. if it ends up that i have to join a caucus in order to be effective on behalf of maine

do you have some views of angus king? guest: oh, yes, when he was governor of maine as an independent governor, he did so much and he got me to read tom freedman for one thing. but i do think susan collins and limbs you snow, even though they are republicans, they are independent republicans. i think it's more important to be independent than republican or democrat. host: martha, i want to keep you on maine for just a second. john is a democrat for a senate. he served as governor of that state as well. he is in the house of representatives. what do you think of the matchup between the two? >> guest: see, we don't vote in maine. i can't comment about baldacci. we don't vote there. i just want to comment on former governor king. host: let's go to irene. guest: good morning. i think in maryland, we have a very fine race between ben garden and mr. mules and garden is going to be a handsdown winner and in massachusetts, that's where i'm originally from and frankly, i think that scott brown is out of the loop. he is not going t

probably loss of twompt we might lose scott brown in massachusetts and olympia snow, will go to angus king who is an independent and really a democrat. i think it may be a net republican pick up of 8 seats and give the republicans if i have seats in the senate and basically practically not officially 60. would assure passage which would be president mitt romney's agenda. >> the audience agrees with that. >> but you think that no matter whether it is it mitt romney, santorum or newt gingrich. obviously mitt romney is on track. and you think that mitt romney beats obama in the fall and why? >> the accurate poll by rassmusen. the others do registered vores. and that is not a good measurement and those likely to vote. obama 46-45 . when incumbent is at 46 percent of the vote that means undecided goes with the challenger. i did a study and went back to 1964 and measured the last gall up poll and where did the undecided q. when there was an incumbent president. 80 percent of the time to a challenger. if i ask my wife, are you going to be married to the same guy next year. and she said honey, i a

and we might lose scott brown in massachusetts, and we might-- and the olympia snowe seat to angus kingedly an independent, but really a democrat. but i think what may be a net republican pickup of eight seats which would give the republicans 55 seats in the senate. and basically, practically, even though it's not officially 60. with a sure passage of most of what will be president romney's agenda. >> so, speaking of the audience-- (applause) >> certainly agrees with that. but do you think that no matter whether it's romney, santorum, grinch and romney is on track, you're going to say it's romney, you think that romney beats obama in the fall and why? >> yeah, well, first of all, there's the polling. the most accurate poll is by rasmussen, and 'cause he actually polls people that are likely to vote the other polls just do registered voters and that's not a good measurement. and among those likely to vote, in his last poll, obama is ahead by 46-45. now, when an incumbent is at 46% of the vote, that means he's probably going to lose, because the undecided goes with the challenger. i did a

i think it is true but angus king is the front runner in that race. until angus king says what he will do. host: this clip is talking about the scott brown-elizabeth warren race. [video clip] >> who is the single most vulnerable republican? who is not coming back in 2013? >> scott brown apparel there's a couple of reasons. scott brown is out of touch with the voters of massachusetts. i understand he will use every photo op possible to go to the white house and talk about the fact that he co-sponsored a bill that got 93 votes in the united states senate, which is not a profile in courage. at every opportunity where he had a chance to stand up against his own party, to really stand up on the votes that matter, he has failed to take that opportunity whether it is tax breaks for the biggest oil companies, whether it is his substance on the buffett r ule, that is out of step with the voters in massachusetts. >> he does not have a believable message. he is one of two republicans that voted for a bill against the republican leadership. he stood up and said t

they didn't really get anyone marquee so what happened instead was former two-term governor angus king is running there and he's being very coy about what whether he caucus with the republicans or democrats because if you have a split chamber he could be a king makeer in party control so we'll watch this as a bonus race. king said he vote for president obama in the fall so that gives you one indication of where he's headed. >> suarez: christina bellantoni, thanks a lot. >> thank you. there's another senate race we'll examine-- veteran republican dick lugar is facing a challenge from the right. gwen ifill reports on that primary fight tomorrow night. >> woodruff: finally tonight, another in our occasional series on poets and poetry. naomi shihab nye is author of more than 25 volumes and winner of numerous awards. she was recently elected to the board of chancellors of the academy of american poets and, as we'll hear, regularly conducts writing workshops around the country for young people. >> my name is naomi shihab nye. i live in san antonio, texas. i have been working with students of

now, angus king is the frontrunner in the race, i saw a poll this week, he was polling at 56% in a three-wayw, it's hard to put this one in the bank. host: we have one more, this one talking about the scot brown, elizabeth warren race. >> who is the most vulnerable republican, who is not coming back in 013? >> scot brown. >> why? >> there's a couple of reasons. scot brown is out of touch with the voters of massachusetts. i understand he will use every photo op possible to go to the white house to talk about the fact that he co-sponsored a bill that got 9 votes in the united states senate, not exactly a profile in courage. but at every opportunity where he had a chance to stand up gevpbs his own party, to really stand up on the votes that mattered, he has failed to take that couldn't. whether it's tax breaks for the biggest oil companies, whether it's his on city nance on the buffett rule, that's -- he's out of touch. >> no one believe scott brown is campaigning for the republican party, he's not a believable message. the -- the consumer financial protection, guy said he didn't stand up for a

they didn't really get anyone marquee so what happened instead was former two-term governor angus kingrunning there and he's being very coy about what whether he caucus with the republicans or democrats because if you have a split chamber he could be a king makeer in party control so we'll watch this as a bonus race. king said he vote for president obama in the fall so that gives you one indication of where he's headed. >> suarez: christina bellantoni, thanks a lot. >> thank you. there's another senate race we'll examine-- veteran republican dick lugar is facing a challenge from the right. gwen ifill reports on that primary fight tomorrow night. >> woodruff: finally tonight, another in our occasional series on poets and poetry. naomi shihab nye is author of more than 25 volumes and winner of numerous awards. she was recently elected to the board of chancellors of the academy of american poets and, as we'll hear, regularly conducts writing workshops around the country for young people. >> my name is naomi shihab nye. i live in san antonio, texas. i have been wking with tudents of all ag

angus king is the front-runner in that race, he was a 56% in a three-way race.the same time, it is hard to put this one in the bag until he says what he is going to do. we talked about the scott brown elizabeth warren race. >> who is the single most vulnerable republican? who is not coming back in january 2013? >> scott brown. >> why? >> scott brown is out of touch with the voters of massachusetts. i understand he will use every photo op possible to talk about the fact that he co-sponsored a bill that got 93 votes in the united states senate. in every opportunity he had a chance to stand up against his own party, to stand up on the vote that matters, he has failed to take that opportunity weather is tax breaks for the biggest oil companies, the budget rule, it is out of touch with the people of massachusetts. >> it is simply not a believable message. the consumer financial protection bureau, he said he did not stand up for anything that israel. they said that with the republican leadership, it should be passed. the national journal's said that nobody believes wh