remember this about zell miller., he was a democrat, and at that stage they there still were conservative democrats around. most of them have moved to the republican party, which required a party shift, but not a principle shift for them. zell miller's presence was a symbol of a shift in the fortunes of the democratic party in the south and in the makeup of it. they were losing people like zell miller and that was meaningful at the time. this is a different matter with charlie crist of course who was once a conservative and is now apparently a full-blown liberal. it represents a shift of a different kind. jon: and completely unregistered, or with no party affiliation at least -- >> reporter: i guess he ran as an independent against marco rubio after losing to him in the primary an went nowhere. his star really had begun to fade. it's kind of sad really. jon: it won't have the same impact as say a zell miller did in speaking to the republicans. >> reporter: i doubt it. zell miller was a colorful personality and charli

zell miller is a personality. the aftermath when he ran for governor, a political narrative that raises this question far more complicated than that, and if cornell were here, he would tell you, some of the early polling showed that the more the gop does the birther talk and all that the more african-americans become galvanized around the president. >> all got to get your people. if you would all get your people and have this -- part of what i -- >> republicans in general. i actually think that there are reasons, strategic regions for african-americans to be more of a swing vote, more like latinos are, but in order for that to happen, the kind of discourse and policies that we're seeing are going to have to shift. >> i think it's -- it's just not going to happen when you have the first elected african-american president, black people, the lion's share of black people are proud. they say this has never happened before. we didn't and this to happen. we have got a smart african-american president. >> i'll give you al

slowly ran statewide, got crushed, gradually migrated to the republican party and is sort of the zell millerican ticket. seems like every cycle we have one person like that. >> i was surprised how far artur davis went, and totally surprised doug wilder how far he went criticizing joe biden. john mccain said he should dump biden and put hillary clinton on the ticket. not going to happen. >> and john mccain knows just mentioning that is like cat nip to reporters. hope he will get a news cycle out of it. >> hold on. we expect to hear from paul ryan, standing by in ohio, live pictures of ohio on the right part of the screen, davenport, iowa on the left. first lady and the president speaking there. live coverage coming up here in "the situation room." one is for a clean, wedomestic energy future that puts us in control. our abundant natural gas is already saving us money, producing cleaner electricity, putting us to work here in america and supporting wind and solar. though all energy development comes with some risk, we're committed to safely and responsibly producing natural gas. it's not a dre

it is a significant play, and george bush brought zell miller to his convention and some people say itome. >> what this is about for the romney campaign is disaffected democrats, and they are using him as a symbol of people who voted for barack obama in 2008 and are now what they call the switchers or they hope will be the switchers. so he's the perfect opportunity for them to say, okay, here was somebody who was very enthusiastic about president obama and he has now changed his mind and he will tell you why and that is why you should change your mind, too. >> let's see if he can help. former congressman archer davis speaking to the republican national convention in this cycle. >> who knew when asked, could government conceivably impose a federal mandate requiring middle class americans to buy health insurance whether they could afford it or not that the obama answer would be yes, we can. so this time in the name of 23 million of our children and parents and brothers and sisters who are officially unemployed, underemployed or who have stopped looking for work, let's put the poetry asid

been able to get artur davis, they've been able to get joe lieberman, they've been able to get zell millerited at the republican convention that they have former florida republican governor charlie chris speaking at the democratic convention. everybody loves a crossover artist. coming up, the headliners tonight, ann romney and chris christie. they're both still ahead. msnbc's live coverage of the republican convention continues after this. felennnc ]re flre regenerbe time but last year my daughter was checking up on me. i wasn't eating well. she's a dietitian and she suggested i try boost complete nutritional drink to help get the nutrition i was missing. now i drink it every day, and i love the great taste. [ female announcer ] boost has 26 essential vitamins and minerals, including calcium and vitamin d to help keep bones strong and 10 grams of protein to help maintain muscle. all with a delicious taste. your favorite patient is here! [ dad ] i choose great taste. i choose boost. the calcium they take because they don't take it with food. switch to citracal maximum plus d. it's the only