and this organization is headed by bill kristol, the ardent propagandist for invading iraq ten yearsago who once said that the war would be over in two months. and gary bauer who's a right-wing christian who works with the christian zionists to make sure the united states supports israel 1,000 percent. bauer has said, as this ad suggests, "i'll be brutally honest: i don't trust the president on israel." and yet the president keeps assuring them that he can be trusted. and his actions seem to back that up, do they not? >> well, they do to me. but i mean, i think this is -- this is gary bauer and william kristol act, in essence, as agents of the republican party. they are committed to president obama's defeat in november. and i think the question of israel is useful to them as a vehicle for mobilizing support for the republican candidate, whoever that's going to be. >> driving a wedge between obama and american jews and maybe between american jews and blacks who have been a strong, long coalition for -- >> well, but also, i mean, garnering the votes of christian evangelicals. there's m

bill kristol makes the point, u.s.e more time because of greater military capacity but has to quiet israel's fear in the absence of real steps by iran to develop nuclear weapons leadsinous a situation where the united states and israel acts. iran has no weapons of mass destruction. >> chris: there is a big component in all of juan referred to a-pac and american-israel public affairs committee. big group and thousands of folks who are in town and the president is going to speak to them today and all of the republican candidates speak to them on tuesday and they are all, president and republicans say we are the best friend of israel? >> no question. and this president had a hard time with this group of republicans. the democrat voters who are jewish as well he for several reasons there a are skeptical of him and his administration . i look for him when he goes to apack to peek and take a harder line. i think he has as juan said, he was signaling his willingness to be tough on military issues. of course, he,um,um, has sev

bill kristol makes the point the u.s. can take more time because it has greater military capacity than israel but it has to quiet israel's fears that i think could in the absence of real steps by iran to develop nuclear weapons lead us into a situation where the united states or israel acts and in fact we find that iran has no weapons of mass destruction. >> chris: there is also a big political component in all this. one referred to apac which is the america israel public affairs committee. big group, thousands are folks who are here in town and the president is going to speak to them today. all the republican candidates speak to them on tuesday. and they are all the president and the republicans going to say we are the best friend of israel. >> no question. and this president has had a hard time sort of with this group of republicans and democratic voters who are jewish as well because he for several reasons they have been skeptical of him and his administration. i look for him when goes to apac to speak to do more of a

bill kristol, tucker carlson and charles lane, opinion writer for the "washington post."this issue and how it's playing? >> the conventional wisdom is if you are president and the gas prices go up that's bad for you. as a conservative and wishes republicans well, i'm worried if you end up in a micro debate about gas prices the president lost opportunity to do little things, release oil petroleum reserve. make a lot of little gestures. republicans that i think need and the truth is even if we had done every policy for the last three years, gas prices wouldn't be that different from what we are today. the number isn't big enough to alternate. i'm for drilling, for progressive energy policy. if you get to a micro level debate, republicans could lose. if you get in a big debate about regulation and energy policy, and don't focus on, don't pretend, though, we can, that either party could effect the price of gas, very much in the short-term, the republicans would be better off. >> if his argument is supply is not the answer and lower demand is the answer. releasing from the str

bill kristol, editor of the weekly standard and mara liasson, syndicated columnist, charles krauthammert hume. marra, your thoughts, what does this mean politically? >> politically, republicans now have something to rally around. it's simple, in terms of tax reform. two rates. cuts spen egg lot, which republicans want. the big piece that's missing really is they say they want to get rid of tax expenditures to do this reform and broaden the base and lower the rates, but they don't say what they will cu. so that remains to be answered. they haven't said what income levels will go into the tax bracket. but it's clear t. does say that it's going to solve the problem and it gives republicans something to run on and that's important. >> bret: bill? >> yeah. i think it is what the republican nominee's going to run on and the republican president fthere is one in january, 2013, will governor on. so i think in some important ray ways, this is paul ryan's party when it comes to budgetary, fiscal, debt, medicare and a health care reform, which is a lot. he addresses defense with the sequester, han

and bill kristol of the weekly standard and charles lane from the washington post. the president's approval rating 46.9, approve and 47 percent disapprove. >> i am not sure anybody will notice. he's campaigning with such vigor and raising money in such amounts it is all a continuium i think. i think that poll number is worrisome for the president. his approval less than 50 percent this close to the election is in difficulty. and he is and will continue to be in difficulty. i think you will see an all stop at nothing campaign. i think we have seen the leadings edge of it now. >>> and raising a money of frenzy. >> i don't think they are embarrassed by you can call it cynical or political. there is 7 and half months left and there is a lot of damage to the coalition that elected him . he needs to rebuild it he's doing badly in states that unemployment is higher and gas prices are a factor and trying to get out there and explain over and over. he has a silver bullet for bringing down prices. they are naming names in the republican field and insulting them and they are d

bill kristol wrote in the weekly standard -- rarely has an intelligent man been so wrong. >> well, could but the fact is, there's economy of politics. there's only so much time, so much enthusiasm and so much energy, and i think there may come a point when people look at the math and the defects of the republican nominee, whoever it is, and say we have a better chance of maximizing the real objective, which is to stop obama, by getting all of the committee chairmanships. >> peggy, how does mitt romney keep the race from getting that point? >> i don't know. i think republicans really do have to focus. on the senate and the house. but not at the exclusion of the presidency. i think you can argue if you look at the past 15 years or so, that a lot of legislating -- a lot of big things are coming out of the hill. mr. obama's great domestic achievements, if you will, obama care, the stimulus, et cetera, they were created by congress, i think if the republicans take the house -- keep the house and take the senate next time, there will be things like the ryan plan, entitlement reform, reform of

brit hume, am stoddard and bill kristol and brit, the real clear politics average of polls is 46 passportf the president and 47.1 disapprove. this is another launch of his re-election effort. >> i am not certain. he has been campaigning with such vigor for so long and such prodigious amounts, that's all a continuum, i think. i think that poll number is worrisome for the president. the president has a approval rating less than 50% is in difficulty. i think this president is and has been and will continue to be in difficulty. but i think you will see an all-out, stop-at-nothing campaign. i happening we are seeing the leading edges of it now. >> and raising money, a frenzy is this. >> i don't think they're embarrassed by this. you can call it cynical. you can -- you can call it political, anything you want. there are 7 1/2 months left. he has done a lot of damage to the coalition that elected him in 2008. he needs to rebuild t. he is doing badly in states where there is high unemployment. gas price is a pressure. he is trying to plain over and over again that he has a silver bullet for bring

still have mitch daniels and paul ryanen influential with both wings of the party to the quiet bill kristol down, the weekly standard crowd. >> these are people who could be running mates. >> they could be. i think they're more in the bull pen for the next presidential run. >> let's talk about the gender issue because one thing chrysalchris cillizza that has really been noticeable in the way mitt romney has run this campaign is also what he has said about women. we sort of expected it from rick santorum to be consistent with his past history about contraception and a lot of other issues sending his wife carolina out to try to soften that a bit on gender. take a listen to sa see richards of planned parenthood trying to stop some of the state initiatives in arizona, her home state. i talked to her yesterday. >> we have enormous bipartisan support and yet, mitt romney the other day said one of his goals was to get rid of planned parenthood, an organization that sees one in five women for health care in their lifetime. >> this chris and chuck, is one of the big issues that's going to be running

i was talking to bill kristol who has just drawn a very tough note about mitt romney and mandates andow that's going to play in the general election. and i want to ask you, with so many people, santorum, of course, is hammering away on mitt romney's support of mandateds in massachusetts and taxes. when is mitt romney going to make a full-fledged obamacare health care reform speech to try to put his positions into greater clarity for the whole republican party and the rest of the country? when's this going to happen, vin? >> well, you're going to absolutely get that, larry, but first you've got a couple things already. >> no, no, when? you say i'm absolutely going to get that. when? >> but he's already basically endorsed the ryan approach to medicare reform which, as you know, is the alternative to obamacare. he's called for the repeal of obamacare. that really is the core of what we need to talk about in terms of replacing obamacare. >> i just don't think that's enough, though. i was on the trail with governor romney last week. and voters at his town halls are still asking whether he'

bill kristol has this -- to 73 for rick santorum. 273 for rick santorum. guess what, candidates adjust their message and the course of political and campaigns especially when moving from one stage to another. fehrnstom may be overly confident about the ability of a campaign to start over again, as if your opponents will not be there to remind you of pass statements, and as if the voters' minds can simply be wiped clean. even for the gifted campaigns and silver tongue to politicians, resets are not easy. there is a toss say we want to pay attention to and this is the obituary this morning from inside "the washington post." the house clerk that took the role calls for votes to enter world war ii passed. he brought the word to an end. this is on december 8, 1941, the day after the attack on coral harbour. he was a congressional clerk who took the roll call in the u.s. house of representatives voted to declare war. he was seated steps away from fdr when the president gave his famous day of infamy speech. [video clip] >> december 7, 1941, a date which will live