there is such a difference between michigan mcconnell and allison grimes. this comes down to who is on the ballot. i want to say our democratic candidates across the board are in good positions, particularly with women voters who will decide the election because of the vision for the future. that's what this election will be about. >> you know, no matter how traditionally she is completely free. thank you. great having your expertise. don't get any more sun. you have too much sun, i think. anyway, thanks for coming on. stephanie, thank you. >>> up next, he's ducking, diving and dodging when it comes to topics he isn't comfortable with. how governor rick scott of florida -- not my favorite governor -- has made avoiding a question a show in itself. this is "hardball," the place for politics. >>> the national governor's association held its annual summer meeting in nashville over the weekend. it came to an abrupt end during team building when they let chris christie do a trust fall. [ applause ] >> welcome back to "hardball." time now for the side show. the bo

and let me mention kentucky again because allison grimes raised $4 million in the second quarter, which is a colossal amount of money. i think the senate races are going to come down to that race in kentucky. and it's going to be pro-choice women in that state. there are a lot of them. she's going to have to turn out if she's going to beat mitch mcconnell in what is now a dead-heat race. >> and another thing that's happening in that race and a few other races around the country is allison grimes has brought in elizabeth warren to campaign for her, which some folks have been surprised about. warren's also gone to west virginia to campaign for natalie tennin. she's in the progressive wing of the party. she's been portrayed as outside the mainstream. when you're looking at candidates in kentucky and west virginia saying, hey, elizabeth warren, come here, come campaign with me, it shows the message, the populous message that warren really champions focused on the middle class is one that has resonance in a whole lot of places across the country. >> yes, and she's pretty strong on environmen

what mitch mcconnell does today and what allison grimes does today matters more.'s part of why iowa is more of a toss-up race, that joni ernst has been very, very clever about how she's run her campaigns, and bruce braley's been a lot more passive, and colorado, at least from the people i talk to, is not probably in the same category because mark udall, the very well funded democratic incumbent, has just been murderously brutal on his challenger when it comes to these social issues that have been so devisive in colorado. and corey gardener who was correctly thought to be quite a strong republican recruit has taken time responding. >> thank you. maagty, i'm going to put you on the spot a little bit. you talked about how hillary clinton is doing all these events. how accessible is she to you, and how does that compare to the accessibility of another politician you cover a lot, that's chris christie? >> i mean, it's night and day. and for, to some extent for specific reasons, and some of it's stylistic reasons. but what has been really striking about hillary clinton'

what mitch mcconnell does today and what allison grimes does today matters more.'s part of why iowa is more of a toss-up race, that joni ernst has been very, very clever about how she's run her campaigns, and bruce braley's been a lot more passive, and colorado, at least from the people i talk to, is not probably in the same category because mark udall, the very well funded democratic incumbent, has just been murderously brutal on his challenger when it comes to these social issues that have been so devisive in colorado. and corey gardener who was correctly thought to be quite a strong republican recruit has taken time responding. >> thank you. maagty, i'm going to put you on the spot a little bit. you talked about how hillary clinton is doing all these events. how accessible is she to you, and how does that compare to the accessibility of another politician you cover a lot, that's chris christie? >> i mean, it's night and day. and for, to some extent for specific reasons, and some of it's stylistic reasons. but what has been really striking about hillary clinton'

opportunities where democratic women could pull off some real upsets and that's in kentucky with allison grimes and in georgia, michelle nun is doing very well. i think the republicans certainly have a better than even chance of taking control but it's not inevitable by any means. >> no, it's not inevitable but the underlying issue, two underlying issues. i don't think there's any great deal of confidence in the administration. and that sort of prevades and spreads all over the party because nobody has that much confidence in obama and he's the symbol of the democratic party. but the other side which nobody has yet mentioned it seems to me is how weak the economy is. we have a huge number of people underemployed or unemployed and it's not getting better and people know it out there. they sense it in terms of the lives their leading, the problems they're having in terms of jobs, and they know the economy is weak and of course hold the democrats responsible. >> we had minus 3% growth the 1st quarter. you've got people sort of a malaise on the economy. secondly, you've got the scandals breaking, t

. >>> bill clinton is headed back to kentucky next week to campaign with allison grimes. we have new polling on that race. let's check the "hardball" scoreboard. according to a bluegrass poll, i love the name. mcconnell leads grimes by two points. mcconnell, 47, grimes 45. we'll be right back. we got married, we became a family of five. without the time and money to wash all this stuff separately. so we wash it all in cold water with tide. even sara's shorts. those are mine. seriously? throw it all in... really? because tide cleans better. even in cold. and cialis for daily use helps you be ready anytime the moment is right. cialis is also the only daily ed tablet approved to treat symptoms of bph, like needing to go frequently. tell your doctor about all your medical conditions and medicines, and ask if your heart is healthy enough for sex. do not take cialis if you take nitrates for chest pain, as it may cause an unsafe drop in blood pressure. do not drink alcohol in excess. side effects may include headache, upset stomach, delayed backache or muscle ache. to avoid long

georgia where my nel nunt is running and kentucky where you have a real shot with allison grimes going after mitch mcconnell. joining me are nya henderson with the washington post and amy walter who eat this is stuff for breakfast. senior editor. you know more than i do. >> thank are you. i appreciate that. that's huge. i should leave now. >> that's called patronizing. when you look at the states i see the usual problems. in the conservative states they want to vote against obama and this is their choice. where do you see the democrat bucking that? you see are even though people in louisiana or alaska or north carolina or arkansas don't like the president they will say, yeah, but i like this guy or this woman. >> mark begich is trying to localize the race successfully. part of the reason is there is not a nominee yet. >> isn't there -- >> they have to have a primary. there's been a lot of focus on mark begich not yet on the republican. >> there is a down side. we know one other thing. once a party picks a nominee. >> they poll less. >> they unite. >> theoretically. >> landrieu is doing

in kentucky the secretary of state democrat allison grimes who like nunn has an influential politicalst the most powerful republican in the senate mitch mcconnell. former president bill clinton returns next week for his second kentucky campaign swing with grimes. democrats have made mcconnell a top target and are throwing everything they can at him but the respected blue grass poll in kentucky shows mcconnell up two points but not good for grimes who led by four points earlier this year. plus mcconnell virtually tied among women. at the start of this election year democrats were counting on conservative tea party politics to the senate seats in georgia and kentucky would flip democrat. there are still a few key primaries left overall republicans are you night and gaining momentum and the election is 97 days from now. >> countdown is on. >>> it did not take long for the corruption trial of virginia's former governor and his wife to veer into unexpected territory. defense attorneys say bob and maureen mcdonnell's marriage was broken and the state's first lady had a crush on johnny willi

in kentucky, allison grimes has many more. they are look at her talking about the war on coal -- obama's so-called war on coal. they are looking at different issues. >> so many are red states are battlegrounds. democrats do have the numbers on the issue according to a poll taken in march. only 14% of americans said employers who object to contraceptives on religious grounds should be exempt from that provision of the act. 53% said they should not. that jumps to 59% among single women. i got into this a minute ago. we talk about the gender gap, men versus women. the gap that exists within women. married women versus single women. the democrats keep telling me this is our future. it's single women specifically. you have 30, 40 point gap of oh democrats and republicans among single women. >> i believe it's not just single women. when you look at culturally conservative states, white women as a demographic are becoming a smaller and smaller number in states. a lot of the women voted republican in the last presidential election. i

. >>> bill clinton is headed back to kentucky next week to campaign with allison grimes. new polling on that race. let's check the "hardball" scoreboard. according to a bluegrass poll, i love the name. mcconnell leads grimes by two points. mcconnell, 47, grimes 45. we'll be right back. even in the garage. max what's going on? we're doing a tech startup. we're streamlining an algorithm. we're going public! [cheering] the fastest in-home wifi for your entire family. the x-1 entertainment operating system. only from xfinity. let's show 'em what a breakfast with whole grain fiber can do. one coffee with room, one large mocha latte, medium macchiato, a light hot chocolate hold the whip, two espressos. make one a double. she's full and focused. [ barista ] i have two cappuccinos, one coffee with room, one large mocha latte, a medium macchiato, a light hot chocolate hold the whip, and two espressos -- one with a double shot. heh, heh. that's not the coffee talkin'. [ female announcer ] start your day with kellogg's frosted mini wheats cereal. with whole wheat goodness on one sid

allison grimes takes on mitch mcconnell if her first statewide tv ad. you're watching "morning joe." we will be right back. the cadillac summer collection is here. ♪ ♪ during the cadillac summer's best event, lease this 2014 ats for around $299 a month and make this the summer of style. ♪ he gets a ready for you alert the second his room is ready. when sales rep steve hatfield books at laquinta.com, so he knows exactly when he can prep for his presentation. and when steve is perfectly prepped, ya know what he brings? and that's how you'll increase market share. any questions? can i get an "a", steve? yes! three a's! amazing sales! he brings his a-game! la quinta inns and suites is ready for you, so you'll be ready for business. the ready for you alert, only at laquinta.com! ♪ >>> all right. time to take a look at the morning papers. joe, look at this. this is the "wall street journal" and they put on their front page their very first issue, which is july 8th, 1889 and they have the stories! they are so fun to read the way they are written. mike allen po

in kentucky one local official said that he expects her to be campaigning this fall for allison grimeson't think that's a surprise given their relationship with her father. but so far they have yet to announce exactly what her targets are going to be, and i think they're going to be more limited than sweeping. >> larry, can you tell us about some surprises, upsets that may be in the offing for the fall that may not be on our radar? >> oh, i think most of them are on our radar. obviously, people are looking at iowa. we're getting ready to move that to toss-up. we were waiting for this partnership to begin. i think it's been obvious that it's become a toss-up. and colorado is close to a toss-up. i suppose that might be an upset. in some people's minds if it happens. you know, the key races in the senate have been well known for some time now. look, you never know when somebody's going to be indicted. you never know -- [laughter] when, you know, someone's tongue is disconnected from the brain and they say something incredibly stupid and it ends up throwing away a senate or a house seat. s

senate races, mark getting itch in -- bell itch in alaska -- begich in ag, mary landrieu and allison grimes. ashley o'connor, founding partner at burning glass consulting, congratulations. she just won the thad cochran primary. i'm here everyone in this room accurately predicted the outcome of that runoff. [laughter] and she now is doing his general, and she also is doing asa hutchinson, republican for governor in arkansas. arkansas, such a republican -- such a political hot spot right now. and todd harris who couldn't think of a name for his new firm, so he called it something else strategies. is there ever going to be another name, or is that it? >> no, that's it. [laughter] we had to pay five grand to buy somethingelse.com. [laughter] >> you're stuck with it. mark does mike owe and is five for five -- marco rubio and is five for five in statewide republican primaries this year. first of all, ashley o'connor, while we were standing back there, you told us the best thing about the romney campaign. she worked at romney hq, what was the best thing about the romney campaign? >> the food. the

. >> i'm allison lundergan-grimes. >> senator, i'm a retired coal miner.'d like to know how you could have voted to raise my medicare cost to $6,000. how are you wife and i supposed to afford that? >> you can tell when an attack ad draws blood by the level of defensiveness. on a scale of 1 to 10, i'd say this was about a 10. >> as barack obama's kentucky candidate, alison grimes repeats the same falsehoods obama does, but news media call the grimes/obama medicare attack laughable, using shaky claims to mischaracterize mitch mcconnell's record. >> okay. on the facts, the mcconnell campaign is right here. that $6,000 estimate was revised down and the guy in the ad would most likely not have been affected by the proposed medicare changes. and also, technically, mitch mcconnell never voted to pass the ryan budget when it was orange fallfallly proposed in 2. in a statement to factcheck.org, the mcconnell campaign said, "there's just no way to speculate if mcconnell would have voted for final passage without having debated the amendments." here's the thing. the

i love allison lundergan grimes and think she is a hell of a candidate but coal is not helping her outher with the co 2 emission standards and it won't help her out there and i think she could throws that over this issue. abortion rights is not a good issue for democrats down south. you'll notice even emily's list of candidates are not talking about it this year. people -- culture matters, damn it! i think people care about what they believe in and they don't like being messed around with. i do think this guy begich is smart out there. i'm going to be a thorn in his ass. that is the word he used. he is going to play that card because alaska feels itself out there by itself and you better play that culture to your advantage or you're going to lose. i think begich can win because of sticking it to the president on the butt. >> okay. that's one way of putting it. joe, jump in. >> that's his way of putting it. not mine. >> i was just going to say -- no! if you want to cut through with alaska voters, that's a good way to do it or voters anywhere. chris, really quickly. joy was talking about

. >> you also write about mitch mcconnell and allison lungren grimes.he raised $4 million last quarter. mcconnell raking in money, too, pulled up about $3 million. by comparison he raised $20 million at the end of the entire 2008 race. go back to lungren grimes, she's done extraordinarily well for a first-time candidate in a national race. >> everyone wants to beat mitch mcconnell on the left. he's the poster child for the senate republicans. out of state money on both sighs. it has a lot of money from out of state. both these candidates are going to have a ton of money backing them and in their own coffers. >> according to a maris poll, jean sheheen is hanging on to an 8% lead over scott brown. in another pivotal senate race, joanie ernest is surging, turning iowa into a tight race, tied with bruce braley at 43%. in both states the president's approval doesn't break 4%. joe? >> the president's approval ratings in state after state after state over the past couple days, sam stein has been dismal. he's down in the 30s in the two states. new hampshire he'

senate and is left in a tight race agains against allison lunder began grimes. >> i can never get himo answer this one, either. >> even some republicans say the creative jet civil barbs against mcconnell have been effective. >>> and the koch brothers attacking mark prior. the issue here prior dismissing concerns about people losing insurance coverage under obamacare. >> while this is anecdote at a. >> we got a letter telling us that our policy was going to be canceled. you don't know if you're going to have insurance or afford insurance. >> if someone tells you if you like it you can keep it, you believe them. >> finally the president politics sort of two months ago 15 democratic senators sent a letter to the owner of the washington redskins to change their name. hillary clinton said she also now believes the name should be changed. >> i think it is insensitive, and i think there is no reason for it to continue with a name of the team in our nation's capitol i would love to see the owners think hard. >> any suggestions? >> no, i'm i haven't thought a lot about that. >> fair enough. on

one of the race, a tough one, one of the races that the democrats think they can pick up, allison grimesnd the key is to turn out women voters. look at this new ad. >> this is arlene woods from woods, ken kept. here's her question for senator mcconnell. >> senator, why did you vote two times against the violence against women's act and against enforcing equal pay for women? >> i can never get him to answer this one either. >> both in substance and style, i like this ad. alison grimes is in a tough race. turning out women is key for democrats, see that in everything the president does and in their ads, a little bit of offbeat production there. why is this so important for the democrats? >> well, they have to maintain this gender gap that they have had in recent elections. single women are a huge percentage of the voting base. they voted overwhelmingly for democrats in the past, and for democrats mid-term elections is about inducing turnout so this is one key group that they have to juice the turnout for. >> on the substance senator mcconnell says he was for the original violence against w

last month warren was on the campaign trail for allison lungren grimes trying to knock out mitch mcconnellhlt these are states where president obama was annihilated in 2012, lost by well over 20 points. west virginia and kentucky have been moving toward the republican column for years, but swung dramatically in that direction during the obama years. any democrat running from office is not only to stay away from president obama, but to stay away from every national democrat. anyone associated with the national democratic party. and yet, here are these two democratic senate candidates inviting into their states in full public view a woman who emerged as a hero to the progressive base of the national democratic party. conventional wisdom would say elizabeth warren is about the last person a democratic stat candidate in a red state would want to be identified with. warren helped tennant and grimes bring in badly needed money, more than $200,000 for grimes last month. these candidates are saying there is something about warren's message, the same message that gets heads nodding in the most libe