blanch lincoln and christy todd whitman. both are moderates. thank you for coming on. going to step out of the way. i'm just a television commentator. you guys have ran for office. won election. difficult elections. lost some. i don't think christy todd ever lost any. you lost that first one for governor up there. >> no, senate. >> that's right. that was a close one. tell me your views about the two political parties. i know you want to hit both. why is there no room for people crossinging the aisle, making deals with the other side, being close to the aisle so you can be one of those people that helps make those deals work? >> i'll just jump in there. >> go ahead. >> hello, christy, it's great to be with you. >> it's because it's all about politics. it's all about who is going to win and stay in charge. it's not about what are we going to get done and do for the country. that's why it's so sad to see olympia leave. she was amazing. she was always about hard work, solving the problem and getting down to making a difference. >> i wonder, governor, who is supposed to rep

we want to bring in former senator, blanche lincoln. the swing state poll showing president obama in good shape in florida and ohio. some internal polls telling them. that's the question, are there internal polls showing the campaign saying that there are some places like iowa where the president might be vulnerable? >> well, i think it was e.j. that just said, you can't take anything for granted. i think that the president's campaign is not. i think that that's critically important. i didn't hear vice president biden's speech but some of the commentary afterwards. he is focusing spot on where they need to focus. that's the economy. i think that's what's on people's minds. i think that's what both sides are going to have to start talking about. they are going to have to start talking about it with some solutions in mind in terms of what's the next step and how do we do something about the economy. we have seen the worst economic time since the great depression. we are coming out of it. we are not in the clear and we have to start coming

i want to bring in former arkansas senator blanche lincoln. senator, good to see you.at to be with you. >> we have spent so much time talking about super pacs and all the ad money being spent, $5 million between romney and santorum just in ohio for this primary. and yet we sometimes forget about that old-fashioned ground game. how important is it going to be this november? >> well, they're both going to be very important and we've made that it way. the ground game is tremendous. and i think the obama administration understands that. they've got their campaign working diligently in putting that ground operation in place. but they're not forgetting about the fact that money is a critical part and those super pacs can make a difference quickly because they can immediately put you on to tv and into the media and do the kind of things that you need to bring a ground campaign into action quickly. so they're both very, very critical parts of the campaign. but you definitely see the president taking it all seriously, getting out there and making sure that he's going to be prep

the honorable john lewis as well as my dear friend, my former senate colleague from arkansas, blanche lincoln for spearheading this long-overduhoner. i'm pleased to be here today to take part in the commemoration of sweat and tears laid the very cornerstones of our temple of democracy. it is one of the great sad ironies of american history that the foundation of our capitol in which we have debated essential questions of liberty and even decided who was free and who was not was laid by those in bondage. we don't know much about them. in the scant records that were kept, nl a few fironly a few fi survived along with their sums paid for their back-breaking work. we do know this. he labored in the hot sun and the cold wind of the quarries in virginia and maryland to unearth a stone upon which rests our nation's capitol. from 1793 to 1826, as many as 800 slaves at any one time painted, roofed, sawed, glazed and perfected a building that represented a freedom that was never to be theirs. and as the civil war tore our country asunder over the very issue of human liberty, a slave laborer named phill

. >> that was from democratic senator blanche lincoln delivering her farewell address in 2010. she joins me now. thank you, both. >> thank you. >> both of you, you didn't choose to leave. you both got booted out arguably by -- you had problems because of the ideological left, in your case, ideological right in your case. you watched senator snowe leave and the way she's leaving and how do you react? >> well, first, i'm very sad. i believe that she was truly one of the last centrists middle of the road senators a person willing to work with both sides with anybody to get things done. blanche and i have talked about this and she confirms all of that. and i just think she was a very competent senator. i think she was going to be reelected rather easily, and i believe her reasons are she's just frustrated by the inability to get things done, and that's a problem for this country. i believe the senators need to work together to achieve a greater good for people once they are elected. >> to me it was almost more impactful, senator lincoln, because arguably the republicans have a bett

. >> former arkansas senator blanche lincoln was first elected to the house in 1992. year's year of the woman four years later became a u.s. senator. she joins me now. senator lincoln, nice to see you. >> thanks, chuck. glad to be with yo uh. >> when i look at the -- first, we're going to take this total political map. look at the map here. and when it comes to the road to control for the united states senate for the democrats, if they keep control, it's going to be because they elect more women to the u.s. senate. here are the number of women running for reelection starting with dianne feinstein, debbie stabenow, and look at the women candidates that may end up the democratic nominees in wisconsin. tammy baldwin, shelly berkeley, elizabeth warren in massachusetts. there was some talk of recruiting shelly pingry in maine, that didn't happen. it does seem clear to me that democrats realize this is their road to stay in control. >> well, democrats realize it, but women realize how important it is. and i think with as many polarized candidates and polarized issues in peo

blanche lincoln, the moderate to conservative was challenged by unions last time around and lost her primary, democratic senator from arkansas. but for the most part i think the republicans move to alj more of a litmus test. >> host: why do you think it is? is it psychological in some way or ideological or about discipline or about the attitude towards having political power, what is it do you think? >> i think that's a good question. i think it has been a strategy that the his worked for in coalescing and energizing the base. increasingly i think the republican party has to come, and i quote tom davis, a former moderate republican congressman from northern virginia saying much the same thing. the republican party is become a part of older white males of the voters. and they are not a party especially with the birth that tends to appeal to the women as much. they don't appeal to minorities. i fink the hispanic vote very rapidly growing vote and a very important swing vote i think was the behavior they could kiss the hispanic vote goodbye and the election even if they pick someone lik

much less stricter action the lawsuit against goldman ignited this firestorm in congress and blanch lincoln's idea of a populist, proposes incredibly strict derivatives reform and no one could stop it. there was this -- this moment where, you know, wall street was on the defensive and they were completely petrified that you had something that was essentially force a lot of banks to stop trading huge swaths of their derivatives. that gained a lot of momentum as a result of that. i think it did reflect this bill in -- intensity of feeling that had been bottled up and just hadn't been tapped yet. you had these moments where you saw it flare up but no one on either side wanted to harness that. >> the only guy standing between them and pitchforks. the part of the bill that made them spin off that which had been very, very tough on them, mind? sing with ibuprofen support, there's legislation now in the house to gut that and it is one of the -- sort of unpleasantries about the financial regulation bill which i think, again had a lot of good stuff in it but so much of it was left up to regulators.