the battle will be broadcast like everyone since jack kennedy beat dick nixon. can barack obama exploit television like he did last time? can he relate the magic? beware of the blind side. john kerry got swift voted when when money is poured into destroy you. no limits. spend all you want wasting a candidate. can the democrats match the money power of those planning to do just that to obama finally does, he really want it? is his heart in it it? president obama called himself the underdog. really, that is that how he feels. i'm chris matthews. welcome to the show. with us today. joe klein, katty kay, nia-malika henderson and major garrett. first up, in this next election, we will reup president obama or will reject him and whether it's regrettable or not, this media mirror watching will dominate that decision. ever since kennedy and nixon, television has been the decider. down in the polls, the obama campaign is not going to stick to the high road. they're going negative to use tv to try to take down the republican. but in the huge balancing act, they hope to re

dick harpootlian is a south carolina democratic party chair. and that president who had an approval rating one year out of 43% -- i'm sorry, 49%, was richard m. nixon. we all know how he achieved that. [laughter] so the point is, brad, that, you know, the president's approval rating is low, and while it's not the be-all, end-all predicter of how things are going to go in november, there is some historical context for democrats to be concerned. >> absolutely. look, history has a way of repeating itself, and this president has had a precipitous drop in the polls, and i don't think he's reached bottom yet, megyn. i think in june if the supreme court were to totally throw out obamacare, i think his numbers would absolutely go into the 30s, the same place where jimmy carter found himself in his re-election. the president who promised to have all the answers to everything that ails us, sadly, turns out to not have any of the answers as president. all his campaign promises have turned out to be negatives for this country whether it be the economy, immigration, taxation. so i think the republicans have a lot to be hopeful for, but it's going to be a close