dana milbank is with me along with joan walsh of salon. are you buying the demise of the tea party argument that dana has made? >> i would love to, but i think it's too soon. and dana says that himself. all of these data points are real. i guess the only one i would take issue with is the bobby jindal characterization. i think bobby jindal remains, i guess talks a good game but remains a conservative force and tea party force. because he's trying to do away with personal income taxes. and he wanted to eliminate hospice care for medicaid patients. so this perspective on spending that the tea party brought certainly hasn't gone away. anytime you've got 36 united states senators who voted down sandy relief a couple days ago, you know that something has fundamentally changed about the way that republicans talk about government. so i think it's too early to say that they're dead, but all the things dana points to are good signs and signs of some kind of sanity seeping in. >> and dana, maybe it's all in a name. because i think what continues on f

dana milbank, he has that quality? >> right. it's hard to hear the name bill clinton without immediately thinking "i feel your pain". he is the human empath. that's the standard by which all since have been judged and have failed. >> you mentioned bill clinton in a funny way and a good way. i think of "snl" and him jogging through a mickey d's in a sweatsuit. >> no matter what he did, it was classic bubba. elvis is definitely at the top of the scale. >> i love bush 41. i don't know i can say he had it. but bush 43, we'll put the image up of him working the stump. i think he had those characteristics. joy, would you disagree or agree with that? >> again, "clerks." that's all i'm going to say. he is the regular dude you know even if you don't think he is too compliment. >> came out of yale and harvard business school, but had the ability to convey himself as the ordinary man, the common guy. >> one more. he might be worth 100 million more today than he was last week. vice president and presidential candidate al gore. not a guy who

dana milbank, he has that quality? >> right.ar the name bill clinton without immediately thinking "i feel your pain". he is the human empath. that's the standard by which all since have been judged and have failed. >> you mentioned bill clinton in a funny way and a good way. i think of "snl" and him jogging through a mickey d's in a sweatsuit. >> no matter what he did, it was classic bubba. elvis is definitely at the top of the scale. >> i love bush 41. i don't know i can say he had it. but bush 43, we'll put the image up of him working the stump. i think he had those characteristics. joy, would you disagree or agree with that? >> again, "clerks." that's all i'm going to say. he is the regular dude you know even if you don't think he is too compliment. >> came out of yale and harvard business school, but had the ability to convey himself as the ordinary man, the common guy. >> one more. he might be worth 100 million more today than he was last week. vice president and presidential candidate al gore. not a guy who has that qualit

dana milbank and joy reid, thank you so much. next, breaking the myth of the imperial presidency.y with us. [ male announcer ] there are only so many foods that make kids happy. and even fewer that make moms happy too. with wholesome noodles and bite sized chicken, nothing brings you together like chicken noodle soup from campbell's. it's amazing what soup can do. you so much. nnouncer ] eligible for medicare? that's a good thing, but it doesn't cover everything. only about 80% of your part b medical expenses. the rest is up to you. so consider an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan, insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company. like all standardized medicare supplement plans, they help save you up to thousands in out-of-pocket costs. call today to request a free decision guide. with these types of plans, you'll be able to visit any doctor or hospital that dana milbank and joy reid, thank plus, there are no networks, and you'll never need a referral dana milbank and joy reid, thank join the millions dana milbank and joy reid, thank in the only medicare supplement insurance pl

joining me now is dana milbank. , did fox news just miss the irony of dick cheney talking about gun safety proposals? >> well, irony has never been the strong point of the former vice president, but we can say that he has retained his ability to shoot from the hip. but he -- he's -- he is a remarkable spokesman on this issue. we can be pleased that he did not as harry whittington is happy he did not have an assault gun that day in the woods. but i suspect that the republicans will not bring him out as their main spokesman on the gun issue henceforth. >> but, you know, what has really caught my attention, in just three weeks democrats in the house and of course in the senate have already proposed several laws to combat gun violence from child gun access prevention to senator feinstein's assault weapons ban proposal. democrats have introduced 12 bills dedicated to gun safety. but then you see the extreme right, the ugliness on the other side. example, yesterday nia helsin who's the father of a 6-year-old killed in sand

. >> ken vogel is the chief investigative reporter for politico and dana milbank is a political columnistthe washington post." good afternoon to both of you. dana, i want to begin with the chuck hagel nomination. you have come out with a pretty stark defense. you write of the disparaging claments republicans are making against him and quoting you, most of that is false and the rest is irrelevant. now, what did you mean by this because wee keep being told by conservative that is mr. hagel is a homophobic, anti-semitic lover of hamas. >> the interesting thing is when senator hagel was a republican senator, various of his colleagues, republican senators, had a very high view of his foreign policy credentials, including senate republican leader mitch mcconnell. now that he's actually been tapped by this democraticed a m, they have some problems and they have to check into his record. even a guy that was one of them before, once he is blessed by president obama is persona nongrata among the congressional republicans. they're going to have a tough time i think making the case against chuck hage

let's get right to our panel now in washington is dana milbank, political columnist for "the washington" and in philadelphia lehigh university professor james peterson, a contributor to thegrio.com. good afternoon to both of you. professor peterson, as the president was busy today working on immigration overhaul, the gop was trying very hard to stop being the stupid party, to stop being the big bucks party. all the while re-electing their leadership and celebrating a losing candidate with a fancy lunch. so what's wrong with that picture? >> i mean, once again i think they've got this all wrong. i mean, first of all, msnbc's own michael steele outperformed reince priebus in a lot of different ways when he was chairman of the party. so it's interesting reince got another crack at it after all the losses they sustained over the course of this election season. but they just have it all mixed up. they think they need to change their messaging. their messaging was very, very clear during the election season. their message to the 47%, their message in support of the 1%, their message to women

and dana milbank, editor for "washington post." >>> dana, let me go to you first. weren't president obama's nominations today a perfect example of how elections have consequences? >> well, sitting where i'm sitting, not in the clint eastwood chair, i would say yes, it certainly does. it's a case of continuing a very tough policy of enforcement at the sec. so the president is sending a signal that at least in this area of regulation enforcement, he's not going to be backing down at all. surely, that's exactly what wall street and corporate america expected when he won that election. >> and that was the way he campaigned. in many ways, we're looking at, joan, him continuing the path that he campaign ds oed on, gots on and won. look at the poll on rights for gay people, 60%. on aid to the poor, 59%, on tax levels for millionaires and big corporation, 59%. women's issue, 55%. immigration, 55%. i mean, these are high numbers of people feeling the gop is out of touch on these issues. >> yeah, i mean, reverend al, the shocking thing is, as you just laid out, the support f

thank you, dana milbank. thank you, mayor brown.nk you for coming on from california. >>> when we return, we finish with hillary clinton's strong performance, back and better than ever, you would have to say in that tv performance, an all-day performance. you're watching msnbc, the place for politics. [ female announcer ] going to sleep may be easy, but when you wake up in the middle of the night it can be frustrating. it's hard to turn off and go back to sleep. intermezzo is the first and only prescription sleep aid approved for use as needed in the middle of the night when you can't get back to sleep. it's an effective sleep medicine you don't take before bedtime. take it in bed only when you need it and have at least four hours left for sleep. do not take intermezzo if you have had an allergic reaction to drugs containing zolpidem, such as ambien. allergic reactions such as shortness of breath or swelling of your tongue or throat may occur and may be fatal. intermezzo should not be taken if you have taken another sleep medicine a

joining us now is julian epstein a democratic strategist and dana milbank a columnist for "the washingtonpresident says addressing gun violence will be a priority. but given what you and i have just witnessed in the congress and a new debt ceiling fight to come in about two months, can we really be optimistic about anything being done to address the issue of gun violence in this country? >> martin, i was up on capitol hill today to watch them wind things down. forget about the fiscal cliff which you point out all they did was punt it for 60 days. >> exactly. >> they can't even agree on -- in the house on enacting the hurricane sandy relief bill which everybody agrees needs to be done. so for us to predict this new incoming congress is going to do anything is fool hearty. ics last month if the president doesn't act now and take advantage of that moment when the public's attention is focused on gun control, you wind up -- it winds up getting lost and swallowed. i fear that's what's happening here. it's important for you to keep this up on your show and elsewhere. they're just overloaded wit

the washington post dana milbank paints christie as an anomaly. americans are crying out for an end to ideological warfare. that has developed into christie's signature in new jersey. a poll found support for the tea party is at record lows, while the poll found 24% called themselves tea party members in 2010, 8% see themselves as one now. evenly between democrats and republicans, that changed this past year. currently, 47% of americans identify with democrats compared to 42% who align with the gop. last night on "hardball," crusader dick army diagnosed the problem as mistakes made by candidates on the trail. his prescription, however, isn't to change the fringe positions that got them into trouble, but rather to conceal them. >> i got this years and years ago from the head of the texas right to work committee, which was take your position on this issue, then keep your mouth shut about it, talk on the campaign trail about those issues that don't upset people where you can find agreement. >> in the end, this may not be just a tea party problem, it

lauren ashburn is in contributor to the daily beast, and dana milbank, a brilliant political commentist hey! >> you're probably brilliant too. i thought that was an interesting gag reel. but that's her best. i don't think you have to make fun of her like i did sort of coming out of the last segment. but the stupid party has to make some changes, and maybe fox has to too. why didn't she cut the mustard with fox? they were giving her a ton of money. now she is not on the air anymore. >> her star has fallen. she is not as relevant as she used to be. chris, to put it in terms you can understand, she didn't rate. when someone doesn't rate, you don't review. >> she is only on for a minute. >> you have minute-by-minute ratings, you know that. what are your minute-by-minute ratings? >> you know what i thought? i thought she had something when she ran for vp. like a lot of people when she went out on that stage and announced with mccain, i thought there was star quality there. i know it's theatrical. that's politics. bill clinton had it. some other people don't have it. something faded. i think

we're joined now by "washington post" political columnist dana milbank, professor james peterson of lehigh and msnbc contractor jimmy williams. dana, i'm going to start with you. we saw freshman senator ted cruz of texas making a big push in the spotlight. this time going after chuck hagel. he was one of three senators who streeted against john kerry's appointment of secretary of state. he seems to be staking out a specific territory for himself, sort of more on the right. but when you wrote about senator cruz during the election, you said that you were, quote, comforted by the theory that cruz is driven more by ambition than by tea party doctrine. so does that theory still give you comfort? >> it does, karen. i mean, i can't say that what he's doing right now is reassuring for people who are seeking some sort of moderate and reasonable behavior. now, he voted against kerry most likely like his fellow texas senator john cornyn to appease the big donors down there in texas who have it in for john kerry. he's definitely been a real hotdog since he's arrived in the senate wanting to stir thin

dana milbank writes in the washington post that stockman was once considered too radical for congresswhich is why he only served one term in the mid 1990s, but he is not too crazy for this congress. as milbank notes, "what's frightening is that stockman no longer sounds like an outliar." with reactionary statements that seem at times unhinged from reality, congressman stockman fits in just fine. >> our founding fathers were very concerned about having a separation of powers. they didn't want to let the president become a king. >> i'm afraud that president obama may have this king complex sort of developing, and we're going to make sure it doesn't happen. >> maria theresa, it's like, you know, i feel like i -- we played a little bit of sound from rachel maddow last night, my distinguished colleague. she floats the theory that this is part of the strategy is just raise the hackles of liberals, of the media and get them to sort of pay attention to the nonsincere spewing, and really there's no idealogical basis for it. it's not that really rahn paul thinks that president obama is acting l

michael o'hanlon and dana milbank. gentlemen, thank you so much.tay with us, our "top line" week in review is coming up. >> he has long severed his ties with the republican party. this is an in-your-face nomination to the president to all of us who were supportive of israel. >> yes, yes, in his face! in his face! >> yes, in the face! [ male announcer ] when ziggy the cat appeared at their door, he opened up jake's very private world. at first, jake's family thought they saved ziggy, but his connection with jake has been a lifesaver. for a love this strong, his family only feeds him iams. compared to other leading brands, it has 50% more animal protein... ...to help keep ziggy's body as strong as a love that reaches further than anyone's words. iams. keep love strong. >>> stay with us. this week's "top lines" are coming up. >> i don't quite understand why everybody would be afraid that we determine what is happening. >> i'm here to tell you, 1776 will commence again if you try to take our firearms! this is $100,000. we asked total strangers to watch

thank you, dana milbank. thank you, mayor brown.ing on from california. >>> when we return, we finish with hillary clinton's strong performance, back and better than ever, you would have to say in that tv performance, an all-day performance. you're watching msnbc, the place for politics. our financial advice is geared specifically to current and former military members and their families. [ laughs ] dad! dad! [ applause ] [ male announcer ] life brings obstacles. usaa brings retirement advice. call or visit us online. we're ready to help. learn more with our free usaa retirement guide. call 877-242-usaa. i wish my patients could see what i see. ♪ that over time, having high cholesterol and any of these risk factors can put them at increased risk for plaque buildup in their arteries. so it's even more important to lower their cholesterol, and that's why, when diet and exercise alone aren't enough, i prescribe crestor. in a clinical trial versus lipitor, crestor got more high-risk patients' bad cholesterol to a goal of under 100. [ fe

dana milbank's column in the washington post -- that is this morning in the washington post.dward from miami on the independent line. good morning. what are your views on gun laws and have they changed since newtown? caller: yes, thanks for taking my call. as far as what happened in connecticut, i am sick that these children could be gunned down like this. and the pro-gun lobbyists still not changed their stance. it is disgusting. we need strict gun-control. we need the same control that we have on our cars. we need to have been registered and insured and we need to do that now. host: antonio in anaheim, democrat. caller: good morning. i feel we should take the votes to the people. the republicans are not for the big government and everything. let's take the assault weapons ban to the people and let them vote on it. if they say we don't want the government to tell us what to do. and let the nra to the same thing, let's take the vote to the people. host: how do you think they would vote? caller: the polls say that people are for gun-control and an assault weapons ban. so the r

. >> you know, john meacham, dana milbank who occasionally writes a snarky column or two in the "washington broad supportive embrace of chris christie as the republican party's savior for obvious reasons. he says this. certainly the storm and more important christie's forceful response boosted the governor's standing. but the tea party's record lows and christie's record highs tell a larger story. americans are crying out to end the ideological warfare that has developed into christie's signature in new jersey. he began his term promising tax cuts and fighting with teachers unions over tenure, pay, education, now he preaches reconciliation. a recuring theme in his state of the state address tuesday afternoon. john, yeah, he did that. but he never once compromised a single value. he fought the unions. he won. he got the unions coming to him to reform schools. and he's fought budget battles and he's won. he's won them on his terms. but he doesn't vilify the democrats. he works with them. and this is -- again, for some reason, for some reason in washington, d.c., and with certain members of th