is the electoral college outdated?to our website and i will share the results at the end of the show. we have big dreams. one is for a clean, domestic energy future that puts us in control. our abundant natural gas is already saving us money, producing cleaner electricity, putting us to work here in america and supporting wind and solar. though all energy development comes with some risk, we're committed to safely and responsibly producing natural gas. it's not a dream. america's natural gas... putting us in control of our energy future, now. gerri: investors sending stocks lower gerri: speculators whirring again. worried that the fed will employ a stimulus measures. this after the market rally came yesterday afternoon when the fed said it would take action. what is the real story? let's ask randy costner. welcome back to the show. it's always great to have you here. but that seems to indicate that we get some kind of stimulus. james bullard, that the president saying, going along at a slow pace is not enough to justif

is the electoral college outdated?to our website and i will share the results at the end of the show. gerri: investors sending stocks lower gerri: speculators whirring again. worried that the fed will employ a stimulus measures. this after the market rally came yesterday afternoon when the fed said it would take action. what is the real story? let's ask randy costner. welcome back to the show. it's always great to have you here. but that seems to indicate that we get some kind of stimulus. james bullard, that the president saying, going along at a slow pace is not enough to justify gigantic action. i would like to see some deterioration of the indication that we will slide down further. were they going to do? >> i think that jim made it very clear. speaking for himself, not for the entire fnc. if you look at the minutes, you will see that a number of members.it was pretty close to time to take some action. i think that they didn't take action at the previous meeting, and they are waiting to see how they are evolving. i

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is the electoral college outdated?to our website and i will share the results at the end of the show. 0,=>hoúócr3> gerri: investors sending stocks gerri: investors sending stocks lower and waiting in line. i don't have to leave my desk and get up and go to the post office anymore. [ male announcer ] with stamps.com, you can print real u.s. postage for all your letters and packages. it gives you the exact amount of postage you need the instant you need it. can you print only stamps? no. first class. priority mail. certified. international. and the mailman picks it up. i don't leave the shop anymore. [ male announcer ] get a 4-week trial plus $100 in extras including postage and a digital scale. go to stamps.com/tv and never go to the post office again. gerri: speculators whirring again. worried that the fed will employ a stimulus measures. this after the market rally came yesterday afternoon when the fed said it would take action. what is the real story? let's ask randy costner. welcome back to the show. it's always

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as the electoral college outdated?tay with us. ♪ hmm, it says here that cheerios helps lower cholesterol as part of a heart healthy diet. that's true. ...but you still have to go to the gym. ♪ the one and only, cheerios [ male announcer ] to hold a patent that has changed the modern world... would define you as an innovator. to hold more than one patent of this caliber... would define you as a true leader. to hold over 80,000... well, that would make you... the creato of the 2012 mercedes-benz e-class... quite possibly the most advanced luxury sedan ever. ♪ join mercedes-benz usa on facebook for the best summer sweepstakes. gerri: a new poll says that mitt romney will win with more than 300 electoral votes. these guys in their pool are bringing us to our question of the day. is the electoral college updated? it is totally outdated. just another way that the powers that be make sure that real voters don't matter. another viewer agreed with him. get with the times already. jimmy writes the guesstimate the electoral colle

course, strongly oppose getting rid of the electoral college. i think there are -- that also has become a bit of a partisan issue because i think democrats feel populist states and why don't we have majority elections? you say that would minimize the impact of smaller states. so, we're not going to get rid of the electoral college because three-quarters of the states would have to approve and it small states never would. but why do you think a majority -- just in principle, an election decided by the majority is wrong? >> it's not wrong but we're a federal system, we're a'm, not a democracy, and that federal system was put in place to have certain comprimise. if what you're saying is correct we need to get rid of the united states senate because the united states senate, every state no matter how small or big the population, has two senators. there were all kinds of protections the framers put in because they feared the tyranny of the majority, and with the electoral college it generally reflects the popular vote. but if you look at the conventi

oppose getting rid of the electoral college. i think there are -- that also has become a bit of a partisan issue because democrats feel populous state and to be space why don't we have the majority election? you of course say that would minimize the impact of the smaller states. so, i -- you know, we are not willing to get rid of the electoral college because three-quarters of the states would have to approve it and small states never would. a majority justin principal and election decided by the majority is wrong? >> guest: i don't think it's wrong cash. but we are a federal system to the pra republic not a democracy. and that is a federal system put in place to have certain compromises. if what you're saying is correct honestly we need to get rid of the united states senate. no matter how small or big if the population has the two senators. there were all kinds of protections the framers put in because they feared the tyranny of the majority coming and with an electoral college generally reflects the popular vote. if you look

strongly oppose getting rid of the electoral college. i think that also has become a bit of a partisan issue i think, because i think democrats feel popular in a state to be democratic white only have majority elections? you of course say that would minimize the impact of smaller states. so you know we are not going to get rid of the electoral college because three-quarters of states would have to approve it and small states never would. but why do you think a majority, just in principle, an election decided that the majority is wrong? >> guest: i don't think it's wrong but we are a federal system. we are a republic, not a democracy and that federal system was put in place to have certain compromises. if what you're saying is correct obviously we need to get rid of the united states -- said that. every state no matter how small or big population has two senators. there are all kinds of protections that the framers put in because they feared the tyranny of the majority. with the electoral college is generally reflects the popular vote. bu

strongly oppose getting rid of the electoral college. think there are -- that also has become a bit of a partisan issue i think because i think democrats feel populous states and to be democratic, why don't we have majority elections. you of course say that would minimize the impact of smaller states. so you know, we're not going to get rid of the electoral college because three quarters of the states have to approve them in small states never would. but why do you think a majority just in principle an election decided by the majority is wrong? >> well, i don't did is wrong, but we are a federal system, a republic not a democracy. and that federal system is put in place to have certain compromises. if what you're saying is correct, obviously we need to get rid of the united states senate because the united states senate, every state of matter how big or small the population has two senators. you know, there's all kinds of protections the framers put in because they feared the tyranny of the majority. but the electoral college, it general

advantage in the electoral college because in the united states you know we don't. as we saw in two thousand election we don't elect the president on the popular vote it can sometimes be different than the electoral college so we really don't have a national election we have a state by state election and so the. candidates have to win so many states which add up to two hundred seventy electoral votes and so that can sometimes differ from the national popular vote totals so this could be another election where that happens we'll see obama as a slight edge in the electoral map and they kind of means that romney's policies are too far to the right and he seems as if he's moving even further to the right choosing paul ryan for instance a lot of people like his and accuse him of wanting to assert to the right wing of the republican party do you think the u.s. is moving in that direction or is it just politics that brought him here well the republicans seem to think that they can energize their base more than the democratic base because the democratic base is kind of disa

advantage in the electoral college because in the united states you know we don't. as we saw on t.v. thousand election we don't elect the president on the popular vote it can sometimes be different in the electoral college so we really don't have a national election we have a state by state election and so the. candidates have to win so many states which add up to two hundred seventy electoral votes and so that can sometimes differ from the national got the popular vote total so this could be another election where that happens we'll see but obama has a slight edge in the electoral map do you think he's able to move to appeal to the middle there well not as much i guess somewhat it's hard to say where he stands on many issues he's kind of moved around enough that's believable but after you do that and now if people just you know stick you with the flip flopper type thing flipping back and forth between you know viewers like john kerry was labeled with that. a while back for the demo on the democratic side you know if you're inconsistent on your and then mitt romney

so ten electoral college votes out of the obama column to tossup. ctoral in mexico from lean obama to obama. >> bret: american samoa is testing by the way, behind us just so you know. >> no electoral votes. >> bret: joe, most important of the changes? >> wisconsin moving to tossup, karl and i agree that would likely happen. it did. that is important. but the most important may be the polls that are coming out of ohio that show that it was a tossup but it is getting tighter, which is significant. obama had been widening up things there. and romney really needs ohio. now it looks like it's a possibility. it is going to change i think a lot of the tactics on all sides. if ohio really is in play. i think it may be. >> bret: let's review to the first time we did this. karl, we talk about the 3-2-1 strategy for republicans. let's review and kind of tell people where we are on that. >> well, the three are the three historically republican states whom which were taken by obama 2008. indiana, totally out of the play. solid red for romney. 11 electoral votes.

so ten electoral college votes out of the obama column to tossup. al in mexico from lean obama to obama. >> bret: american samoa is testing by the way, behind us just so you know. >> no electoral votes. >> bret: joe, most important of the changes? >> wisconsin moving to tossup, karl and i agree that would likely happen. it did. that is important. but the most important may be the polls that are coming out of ohio that show that it was a tossup but it is getting tighter, which is significant. obama had been widening up things there. and romney really needs ohio. now it looks like it's a possibility. it is going to change i think a lot of the tactics on all sides. if ohio really is in play. i think it may be. >> bret: let's review to the first time we did this. karl, we talk about the 3-2-1 strategy for republicans. let's review and kind of tell people where we are on that. >> well, the three are the three historically republican states whom which were taken by obama 2008. indiana, totally out of the play. solid red for romney. 11 electoral votes. the

. >> one thing i wanted to ask you is how you felt about eliminating the electoral college?s, and the electoral college i believe is based on the ten-year census? >> well the electoral college is based on the constitution of the united states. >> right, and they changed the numbers. >> that's right. some states lose population other states have bigger populations. >> right, but that is only every ten years. >> that's correct. >> and as you very well know vermont is very top heavy as far as a college state, so -- you know, we do -- every fall we have a huge influx of students -- >> i think that's -- population -- students will -- will they can't say that they live in michigan and they live in vermont. it depends on where students want to register to vote -- >> bernie i know you have got to run. are you concerned about these voter id laws? >> very, very concerned. on one hand now the supreme court has opened the spigot so that billionaires can bialek shuns. and then we'll seeing republican governors and legislatures engaging very clearly in what i could call voter suppression

right now, the president has a relatively comfortable lead in the electoral college. >> george stephanopoulos, thank you very much. >>> george has a big show this morning. a face-off between congresswoman debbie wasserman schultz. and republican national committee reines priebus. that's coming up on this "this week." >>> time now for another look at the weather. we go back to ginger. >>> one of my favorite chicago events, is lollapalooza. you get almost not the weather but bands. then this happened, very scary scene. they evacuated all of the people in time before the storms rolled through. they got a lot of rain that they needed in chicago. that type of energy and storm action is going to move east today. along that cold front, places like buffalo, new york, charleston there, memphis, all included in this severe weather threat. i'm going to leave you with some cooler weather. that's the big picture. let's get a check now a little closer to home. >> portland, oregon, yesterday, record high 102. wait until you see the numbers coming up in the pacific northwest. >> even higher than that? oh, wo

how will paul ryan's selection play out in the electoral college? as you may know 270 electoral votes are needed to win the presidency. joining us now from washington fox news analyst carl rove. first of all, mr. rove, am i making any mistakes in my analysis? >> so far so good but we're just starting. >> okay o. so, the reason that i think it was a good choice for america, romney selecting paul ryan, is because now we can run on the economy, the vision for the future, the debt, the budget, the deficit, all of the things that i think are putting americans in jeopardy. so that is why i think it's a good choice. it's a stark contrast. with me so far? >> yeah. in fact, i think t makes it about big ideas. there is one big idea you left out there paul ryan is focused on making these changes in entitlements, spending and deficits in order to grow the economy. he comes from that part of the republic economic school that says our first and foremost goal ought to be encourage, prosperity for all of america and by doing so, we will have a brighter future. but t

those are critical states in the electoral college. >> yeah. although, you know to be fair there are other and may be some negative ads that obama has blown a lot of money on aren't moving the national poll numbers but moving some of the numbers in state by state. still at the end of the day what obama is desperate to do is have this be a choice between obama and demonized mitt romney. if it is referendum on obama, obama is in a lot of trouble, particularly given how the economy seems to be stalling out again. jon: you say that voters tend to break, you know, they, they know the president. they know the job he's done, late deciders tend to break for the opponent? >> that's right. late deciders, in most elections late deciders tend to break for the opponent by a wide margin. that is because most voters see these elections as referendum on the incumbent. how is the president doing his job? and that is how mitt romney wants to make this race. that is why he doesn't take a lot of bait about all the distractions. he wants this to be a referend

we learned what happens if no candidate receives a majority of the electoral college. even in a two-person race, there can be a tie or someone may not receive the majority as remote as that is. so for the high school or college graduate or mere graduate having read the book i can tell you there's plenty for a family to discuss. eleanor, i loved your dedication to those who educate us on the six and respect for those that run for office. atv political commentator and even as a person who's been featured in movies. tonight we welcome you as an author. let's welcome eleanor clift to politics and prose. >> thanking, david. i remember the trip we went to several countries and traveled by train and the cold war just ended and every time you cross the border someone would come into the cabin and shine of lights in your eyes and we actually shared with david and carla and she wanted us to experience life as the level of average human beings, and we did come and it was grand, it was wonderful. so politics and prose brings back so many neighborhoods become memories. it's a neigh

. >>> and the former vp says it is time to eliminate the electoral college and have the popular vote to decide who will be president. >>> and the nielsen tv ratings for the speech showing a relatively low audience of almost 22 million people, compared to 40 million watching sarah palin four years ago. meanwhile, sarah palin's complaints about being bumped off fox news when ryan spoke, reveals a rocky relationship with the network. they are looking at offering her a new deal when her contract runs out in january. >>> and taken favorite, former senator rubio winning good marks for his speech last night. the buzz was he and other prime timers avoided mentioning the tea party. >>> and the clint eastwood ad-libbed speech was called bizarre by many commentators. in particular, his imaginary speech with president obama and a chair, was the most memorable moment ever. they sent a tweet, saying "this seat is taken." and that is your morning dish of scrambled politics. >>> and now here is a first look on how wall street kicks off the dow, the dow closing at 13,000 after falling 106 points yest

but he lost the electoral college. his first term was a defense, though probably not exemplars. the interstate commerce act was passed. it was an important piece of legislation that cleveland did not identify himself with it. he considered the civil war a disability pension program that he had become very serious about. but he presided over expensive labor unrest during his time just like they were the president to get out of, it is a political poison for a sitting president. he also promised to reduce terror, which he promised to sort through. it was written in that record. the second term with a clear failure. characterized by persistent economic downturn, extensive bank failures, corporate bankruptcy, demonstration of the farm sector in the kind of in her inner response on the part of the president. so overall, his record is minimal at best and the voters probably had it right, i think maybe the historians were a little bit off the mark on that one. why was he eighth? i don't even know. but historians can be influenced by various things, a few years before that first poll in

if john kerry had gotten 71,000 more votes in ohio, he wins the electoral college and loses the popularee million votes. i think looking at that poll, there's a real chance that the president gets re-elected in the electoral college and could lose the popular vote. >> interesting food for thought. >> ed rendell, thanks so much. governor, good to see you. up next, live from tampa, another governor, sitting governor, virginia governor bob mcdonnell. what democrats are doing here in tampa. and we're live on the gulf coast, where residents are getting ready for isaac. managing my diabetes is part of my life, between taking insulin and testing my blood sugar... is this part of your life? freestyle lite test strips? why, are they any... beep! wow, that hardly needs any blood! yeah... and the unique zipwik tab targets the blood and pulls it in. so easy. freestyle lite needs just a third the blood of onetouch ultra. really? yep, which is great for people who use insulin and test a lot. max and i are gonna run out and get them right now. or you can call or click today and get strips and a meter

the electoral college thing is really tough. talking to republican strategists here both inside and outside the campaign, that is the nut they have to crack. they either have to cherry pick and win just enough states to get to 270, which means winning states like florida and ohio, where right now, they're not in a commanding position, to say the least, or they've got to get a national tie and more republicans i'm talking to, mike murphy, for instance, used to work with governor romney, very smart guy, of course, agreed with me that that seems to be right now the more likely thing. it's an overwhelming national tide where these battleground states go almost all to governor romney rather than trying to figure out how can he win some of these individual states. >> lawrence, i wanted to go back to the governor's point about specifics. one of the things i see standing in the way of mitt romney getting specific about anything is his record and the fact that even on basic economics and economic policy, he's pivoted back and forth. you

and you can explore electoral college scenarios in our vote 2012 map center. hari sreenivasan explains. >> sreenivasan: we're going to take a deep dive into the digital map center you can find on our web site at newshour dot pbs.org. christina bellantoni, thanks for being with us. people notice these yellow states, why are they tossups? >> we've looked at the states the associated press ranks as tossups and they're tossups because it means they're close in the polls, the voters there are not sold on the president deserving a second term. >> sreenivasan: let's lookt 2008 every single one of these states that are battleground this time around were light blue for obama. >> that's very true. and when you look at the general rust belt area this is why it's the romney campaign strategy because they feel like they have an opportunity there. the president was able to win by a slim margin of votes. >> it's such disenchantment with the entire political system right now part of the listen to me campaign, here's a couple sample of voters that are frustrated. >> when a per

he actually won the popular vote, but he lost the electoral college, and his first term was a decent, though probably not exemplary term. the interstate commerce act was passed which wrought control to the -- brought control to the railroad trusts, and it was an important piece of legislation. but interestingly, cleveland didn't really identify himself with it, so he didn't really get credit for it. there was solid economic growth at the time. he curbed the abuses in the civil war pension and disability program that had become very, very serious. but he presided over extensive labor unrest during his time that led to a lot of demonstrations, riots and death. a lot of bloodshed, significant loss of life and significant property damage. and just like an intractable war that a president can't get out of, blood on the streets is a political poison for a sitting president. and then he also failed to reduce tariffs which he promised he was going to do. so his fate was written in that record. second term was a clear failure. characterized by persistent economic downturn, extensive bank failu