dr. james peterson. professor, thanks for coming on. it's so hard to know where to begin here because those on the right call this president divisive but the pattern seems to be clear, they do it themselves to try to blame obama for the mess that they have gotten us into with their divisive politics. >> you're right. it's projection politics. i think a certain point the american voting populous is going to grow tired of the karl rove play book. this is what he tries to do all the time. the romney campaign is taking a page out of that play book and the republicans are rallying around this idea that this president is divisive. we don't have to be too smart to understand the ways in which president obama has moved toward consensus with every policy he's started. there's no policy that we can point to where president obama wasn't more interested in consensus and consensus building in getting what he wanted for his base and the democratic party. >> what value do the republicans get where creating a narrative where obama looks like he's the d

dr. james peterson, a professor of i think english at lehigh university. crystal, you were listening.t's your immediate reaction? >> leave it to newt gingrich to find a way to go through his entire career from the very early days. >> he did. he spoke about 54 years of public service and he went through every decade. >> in case any of us had forgotten he was there to remind us. >> absolutely. >> he ended the campaign in a similar way to the way that he started it, very grandiose and a little delusional and he clearly does not want to relinquish his public role and i think that's the real reason why he hesitated to end the campaign is because he enjoys being in the public spotlight and enjoys the visibility so he is trying to set the table for all of the things that he is going to do now that he is done. >> dr. peterson, he did make one reference to the presumptive nominee mitt romney. he said i am sometimes asked is romney conservative enough? compared with president obama, he said, he is the most radical, leftist president we have ever had. >> wow. >> your reaction to that? >> yeah, n

dr. james peterson and karen finney, thank you both.h more ahead. >> i use a phrase to the daily commentary, people are not that stupid. that's like saying when you are president of god fares pizza, you made one pizza and that doesn't qualify you to be president. ahh, now that's a clean mouth. i wish i could keep it this way. [ dr. rahmany ] you see, even after a dental cleaning... plaque quickly starts to grow back. but new crest pro-health clinical plaque control toothpaste can help. it not only reduces plaque... it's also clinically proven... to help keep plaque from coming back. plus, it works in these other areas dentists check most. ♪ new crest pro-health clinical plaque control toothpaste. life opens up when you do. for extra plaque protection try new crest pro-health clinical rinse. wanted to provide better employee benefits while balancing the company's bottom line, their very first word was... [ to the tune of "lullaby and good night" ] ♪ af-lac ♪ aflac [ male announcer ] find out more at... [ duck ] aflac! [ male announcer ]

dr. james peterson, director of africaa studies at lehigh university. good to have you with me.nnouncement of support for marriage equality was a large announcement in terms of casting inspiration and a leadership for people to see for others to rise up. is this the tipping point? and the leadership that the naacp was looking for in making its decision? >> i think so. there are a number of things to consider. this is a tipping point, first it's an opportunity to applaud the president's leadership on this issue. the repeal of don't ask don't tell. members of his administration, the vice president, then secretary of education, arne dunc duncan. and you see people like jay-z and p. diddy and all of these different black pastors, a good model for the way that leadership needs to work. so yes, the naacp needs to acknowledge that. and ben gellis is one of the youngest leaders of the naacp historically. he's of the right mind here as well. he seized the opportunity, he created a consensus in the organization and tomorrow we'll get their historic decision. all of this i think underscore

philadelphia, professor james peterson, director of africana studies at lehigh university and a blogger for "washington post" and in washington, julian epstein. good afternoon with all of you. dr. peterson, if i might start with you, the president. he's left an invariable trails of tears from the likes of herman cain and sean hannity, right? >> right. to think they haven't covered it enough is absolutely absurd. as you mentioned hannity has had it on his show consistently for years now. i'm not sure what mr. romney is talking about. this is a huge issue in the previous presidential election. >> dr. peterson, you can't expect mr. herman cain to pay attention to anything. >> you're right. here's what's interesting. when you look at mr. ricketts and that super pac and all the politics around chicago and the cubs and mayor rahm emanuel, he had to move away from that. romney still needs donations and support from the ricketts super pac so it's a very complex political situation. and what i hope here is folks move away from the jeremiah wright piece and get back to the brass tacks politics and get back to thejulian, why do they ? i mean he's an attack ad, i guess, running every week