i am pleased to be joined by a longtime fixture in michigan politics debbie dingell. she is president of d2 strategies based in dearborn. good to have you on this program. >> it is an honor to be here with you. tavis: let me start with the notion about michigan being romney's home state. he has not been there since he was five or six. is michigan really romney's home state or are we in the media ratcheting this up to see what happens? >> he did go to high school there. since it is long but then when he was five or six. people now think of this as his home state. if he does not win there, the dynamics will change. his family remains a very prominent family in michigan. his brother was a candidate for attorney general and was on the board at michigan state university. very good, decent man who was a leader on affirmative action in michigan. his family remains big in michigan. losing would be a big blow. tavis: social issues are playing well in michigan. is that always the case? >> the tea party was a very real force in 2010. many viewers know that republicans took the t

. >> debbie dingell, you know of which you speak. you have what is known as a mixed marriage when it comes to the nra. thank you. >> that is true. >> good to see you. and up next, what happens if romney loses michigan and still ahead, the anti-american backlash in afghan, this is "andrea mitchell reports" only on msnbc. [ rosa ] i'm rosa and i quit smoking with chantix. when the doctor told me that i could smoke for the first week... i'm like...yeah, ok... little did i know that one week later i wasn't smoking. [ male announcer ] along with support, chantix is proven to help people quit smoking. it reduces the urge to smoke. some people had changes in behavior, thinking or mood, hostility, agitation, depressed mood and suicidal thoughts or actions while taking or after stopping chantix. if you notice any of these stop taking chantix and call your doctor right away. tell your doctor about any history of depression or other mental health problems, which could get worse while taking chantix. don't take chantix if you've had a serious al

like to say, bringing in now to discuss what's happening, democratic national committee member debbie dingell, and phyllomesser, president of the new frontier and former director of the republican governor's association. i want to say welcome to both of you. phil, i'm going to start with you because we just got the big news there coming from cpac, romney winning there with 38% of the vote there. of course, ron paul took it twice, two years. so what is this saying to you? are you reading the tea leaves? i ask you, is this a sign that perhaps the conservatives are finally coalescing around mitt romney? >> yeah, this was a big day for mitt romney anyway you cut it. i'm anxious to see the maine results, which we're all waiting on. cpac, there is a lot of talk in the media about the consternation and the lack of satisfaction with governor romney coming into cpac. but the reality is, look, of the 3400 votes that were cast in cpac, mitt pulled 38% today. that's a solid validation by the conservative movement that they think he's a standard bearer they can get behind. regardless almost of the results

. >> debbie dingell calls it as she sees it. good to see you this morning. >> good to be with you. >> republicans like paul ryan are getting slammed for proposing big budget cuts. isn't that the cold, hard truth? is the president just ignoring the crisis until after re-election? >> then, if your kids play, you may have to pay. yep, one school actually charging their students for detention. is that a good idea? we're going to report, you're going to decide and then pay. >> and happy birthday to a favorite friend of this show, florence henderson. she's a young 78 today. may have some sort of a smackdown. >> we have great questions for her. we do. >> yeah. time out. sweet. [ female announcer ] with charmin ultra soft, you can get that cushiony feeling you love while still using less. charmin ultra soft is designed with extra cushions that are soft and more absorbent and you can use four times less versus the leading value brand. ♪ ah. [ female announcer ] we all go. why not enjoy the go with charmin ultra soft. i took some steep ri

. >> we have a great show today, susan rice with everything that's happening and debbie dingell talkingoters, union members being encouraged to vote for santorum to try to mess up the results. david walker, and mark haleprin. >> wow, all in that one-half hour? >> that's one of those -- >> one of those -- how can i say no now? >> thank you, andrea. we're going to talk to puerto rico's republican governor and north carolina's democratic governor bev perdue. americans believe they should be in charge of their own future. how they'll live tomorrow. for more than 116 years, ameriprise financial has worked for their clients' futures. helping millions of americans retire on their terms. when they want. where they want. doing what they want. ameriprise. the strength of a leader in retirement planning. the heart of 10,000 advisors working with you one-to-one. together for your future. ♪ today is gonna be an timportant day for us.re. you ready? we wanna be our brother's keeper. what's number two we wanna do? bring it up to 90 decatherms. how bout ya, joe? let's go ahead and bring it online. atten