what do your political party leave behind you call him out that's exactly what senator chuck hagel did in an interview with the financial times the reference to the republican behavior after the debt ceiling to be hable said he saw and i was standing lack of responsible leadership by many in the republican party i think about some of the presidents we've had on my side of the aisle he said ronald reagan george bush sr the way through them eisenhower is that they would be stunned senators right it's no longer your dad's republican party it's the party of billionaires it's on the folks in iran it's we need more republicans like chuck hagel telling the truth about this transformation the bad the shell are you hypnotized bachmann or the poll numbers dropping bachmann is trying to lure voters to her side in florida i think she's getting some bad advice campaigning in tampa bachmann called for oil drilling in the state's most pristine natural environment the everglades still bachmann doesn't back down on drilling for oil in the everglades let's abscessed is wonderful treasure trove of en

. >> chuck hagel -- interesting interview with him on "national journal" on friday, that he does not understand why the president did not just embrace simpson- bowles -- buthat is charles' anthem, i want to say something about jon huntsman. i spent a lot of time in new hampshire. i don't think he has a shot at being the nominee, but i would not write him off in new hampshire. his biggest problem right now is that he is not considered a serious candidate, but because independents can vote in new hampshire, you don't have to be republican to vote in the primary, and it is a state with a more moderate republican history, i would not write him off entirely if he spends all his time in their. he is not going to be the nominee, but he might redeem his political integrity. >> if that happens, then it mitt romney is really in trouble. >> that is exactly right. >> let it be now that governor huntsman wants to eliminate all taxes on capital gains and dividends, which is used towards the very best off in our society against people who earned it with their hands and heads and hard work and tired

. >>> former republican senator chuck hagel of nebraska had harsh words about his own party.en to what he told the financial times about the republican party's handling of the debt ceiling fight. >> the irresponsible actions of my party, the republican party, over this was astounding. i'd never seen anything like it in my lifetime. i think about some of the presidents we've had on my side of the aisle. ronald reagan and george bush sr. and eisenhower. they would be stunned, i think. >> hagel said they've moved too far to the right and too captive to the ideologues of the tea party movement. we'll be right back. >>> welcome back to "hardball." 14 months away from the pedal election it's looking like a grim picture for president obama with unemployment numbers hovering over 9% and opinion polls at all-time lows.ç what does he need to do to stand a chance next year? looking to two former presidents who scored similarly during rough economic time. franklin roosevelt and ronald reagan. fdr and reagan argued the country though in plain was improving and opponents anchored in past

. >>> former republican senator chuck hagel of nebraska had harsh words about his own party.what he told the financial times about the republican party's handling of the debt ceiling fight. >> the irresponsible actions of my party, the republican party, over this was astounding. i'd never seen anything like it in my lifetime. i think about some of the presidents we've had on my side of the aisle. ronald reagan and george bush sr. and eisenhower. they would be stunned, i think. >> hagel said they've moved too far to the right and too captive to the ideologues of the tea party movement. we'll be right back. possibilities are everywhere. multiply them with the premier rewards gold card from american express. with triple membership rewards points on airfare, double on gas, double on groceries, and a single point on everthing else, it's a fast way to earn more every day. plus, you can earn 10,000 bonus points. and the annual fee the first year is on us. call 800.axp.gold to apply. >>> welcome back to "hardball." 14 months "way from the pedal election it's looking like a grim peck

. >>> former republican senator chuck hagel of nebraska had harsh words about his own party.ten to what he told the financial times about the republican party's handling of the debt ceiling fight. >> the irresponsible actions of my party, the republican party, over this was astounding. i'd never seen anything like it in my lifetime. i think about some of the presidents we've had on my side of the aisle. ronald reagan and george bush sr. and eisenhower. they would be stunned, i think. >> hagel said they've moved too far to the right and too captive to the ideologues of the tea party movement. wheat be right back. day. ever wonder what this costs you as a taxpayer? millions? tens of millions? hundreds of millions? not a single cent. the united states postal service doesn't run on your tax dollars. it's funded solely by stamps and postage. brought to you by the men and women of the american postal workers union. ♪ you're gonna have the hottest car on the block. [ airplane engine rumbles ] show me the carfax. yeah, show me the carfax. we...we ran out. what? just show me the carfa

the way back to troy, the trojan horse being entered into the gates and i talked with people like chuck hagel, former senator from nebraska, bob graham, former senator from florida, who believes this is on a scale of when the athenians lost their empire. i really think you need to look at it in those terms because on the eve of 9/11, we were at the pinnacle of our power and prestige as a country. the cold war was over. if anything, we were even more powerful than we had been in 1991 when the cold war ended. you have to raise the question, how did we get here ten years later, still engulfed in two wasting wars, all this debt, a substantial portion of which, possibly as much as half of the total national debt related either to the wars or the credit crisis that also came of a lot of feckless policy in the last administration. in order to accumulate all the debt that was needed to underwrite the wars. i think if you look at it, not monday morning quarterbacking but in terms of what was known at the time about the wmd, about the links with al qaeda that really didn't exist in terms of going into

colin powell, evan bayh, chuck hag hagel, bob kerry?ne of the things that would make this so viable is that the media would be a great accomplice. because they want it to happen. >> so it's almost -- >> like i say -- >> free press off this. >> they will go -- >> but inside the echo chamber and not necessarily -- >> what do you mean? this is a potential party or ticket that people up and down the east coast would find very appealing. that would take a percentage of independents -- >> and then would vote for obama. >> the republican party or the democrats, both parties could be hurt by this. but it is not -- >> this is not -- >> i can see america voting for an independent candidate. the blocks are too strong. >> if bases aren't solid, the republican, democratic party have historically low support like 20%, people by a margin of 50% or more want an independent ticket. they'd like a unity ticket, which an organization called americans elect right now is doing -- they've had half the signatures that they need to be on 50 states, and they're