is erick erickson right?referring to theoretically don't see themselves aas the people he is referring to? >> i watched erick erickson grit his teeth this morning, trying to defend mitt romney. the problem with the number and the problem with this discussion, soledad, is -- and erick referred to this as well. there are a huge number of that 47% who do not see themselves as dependent and who are not dependent. there are lots of those people who do pay taxes and they're people who don't see themselves as victims. seniors don't see themselves as victims. veterans don't see themselves as victims. this whole notion of painting a broad swath of the american electorate as victims is highly problematic. so, you know, it's getting later and later in the game. and, you know, it's just getting more difficult to defend mitt romney for people like erick erickson and me to come out and defend this kind of behavior and these kind of statements. and it's getting harder and harder to support them. >> mitt romney has said it w

joining us cnn contributors, democratic strategist donna brazile, and erick erickson. start with you, clinton smiled at the beginning of his remarks. listen to this. >> if there's one thing we've learned in this election season by the way, it is that a few words from bill clinton can do a man a lot of good. [ applause ] all i got to do now is wait a couple days for that bounce to happen. >> a cute moment indeed. the former president bill clinton had said some really nice things about mitt romney in introducing him. even though that was sort of light hearted, there's an important substantiative serious point that could be made as well, erick. >> i think so. they did a very good job there. mitt romney stayed away from really going after the president today. it really does show you how bill clinton has shined after being outside of the office. and it also does raise a point that the crowd there recognized that a lot of the bounce that barack obama got out of his convention was really bill clinton's bounce. but i don't think he'll dispute it. but i think he'll take it. and

conservative blogger erick erickson declared he was the 53%. taxpayers subsidizing people in his words so they can hang out on wall street and complain. others chimed in. it quickly became a tea party mantra. >> today only 53% of americans pay federal income tax. 47% of americans pay nothing. >> reporter: what are the facts? it's true that approximately 47% of americans do not pay federal income taxes, as mitt romney said. but not because they are living off of the 53%. >> in fact, about 60% of people who don't pay federal income taxes have jobs. and nearly half the rest are elderly who are retired. they had jobs and they're now no longer working. these are hardly people who are sitting around living off the government gold. >> reporter: they say 44% who don't pay federal income taxes are elderly, retirees living on social security. another 30% get child tax credits and other tax benefits favored by republicans. a smaller percentage are the very rich. benefiting from special tax breaks for investment income. responding to romney today, "new yor

i also want to say that phil and erick erickson deserve an a-plus for spinning but must be out of theiry way, shape, or form say what governor romney was overheard saying helped, is ludicrous. he showed a callous disregard and almost a contempt for 47% of america, most of whom work. among that 47% who don't pay taxes, andrea is 45 million workers who make less than $19,000 and don't pay taxes as a result. 12 million senior citizens who are disabled folks who don't pay taxes as a result. this was a callous disregard and it was a very good window into the philosophy not only of mitt philosophy not only of mitt romney or the republican party as it stands today and why the scott browns and the linda mcmahons are fleeing at jet warp speed from the comment. >> phil, what about the fact that in fact this 40% plus of those who don't pay federal income taxes pay payroll taxes, withholding and don't make enough money to pay the taxes? >> that's right. governor, i wasn't defending necessarily the series of word choice. >> this is the sentiment. >> it's more than word choice but a look in to his so

i saw erick erickson on twitter, for example, kind of stand by romney a little more. then we've seen other conservatives say romney should stand down. so far, romney appears to be standing by his comments, just calling them inarticulate or something like that. we'll see in the coming days. the bigger problem here is that this is after a series of bad events over the last week. romney's campaign is not in the upswing in terms of momentum. it's exactly the opposite. >> without a doubt. we're going to talk much more about this coming up later on in the hour, but i want to thank shira toeplitz, anne kornblut and david corn. thank you so much. >>> in afghanistan today, mail tant group says a suicide bombing that killed at least 12 people was revenge for the american-made anti-muslim film. the bomber, reportedly a female, drove a car full of explosives into a minibus carrying foreign workers on their way to kabul airport this morning. coming up, senator chris kuhns from the foreign relations committee will join me to talk about these recent crises around the globe. [ man ]

roland martin, erick erickson, good discussion.lection day, another aspect of mitt romney's wealth in texas could become a hot political topic. you're going to find up with his quote i dig it. hey america, even though slisa rinna is wearing the new depend silhouette briefs for charity to prove how great the fit is even under a fantastic dress. the best protection now looks, fits and feels just like underwear. we invite you to get a free sample and try one on too. romney: "it's time to stand up to the cheaters" vo: tough on china? not mitt romney. when a flood of chinese tires threatened a thousand american jobs... it was president obama who stood up to china and protected american workers. mitt romney attacked obama's decision... said standing up to china was "bad for the nation and our workers." how can mitt romney take on the cheaters... when he's taking their side? ...and we inspected his brakes for free. -free is good. -free is very good. [ male announcer ] now get 50% off brake pads and shoes at meineke. >>> another example of

really thoughtful and reasonable -- rush limbaugh as well as fox new's sean alan rest of florida, erick ericksonhe founder of the koch brother's freedom works -- actually it seems like the entire population of crazytown is on board with mitt romney. but more main stream conservatives have been critical including bill crystal, and david brooks who called him famously now thurston howell romney, and called his ideas a country club fantasy. here is the reality, though. this my dear progressives is not over. while i thoroughly enjoyed talking about who is jumping ship, while the republican chattering classes might be running away, it is still not clear that voters are entirely. so democrats do not count your chickens. in two tracking polls a "wall street journal" nbc poll shows the president's convention bounce is eroding somewhere. and that poll comes after mitt romney's disastrous comments on libya, which many observers thought would play in the president's favor. romney also has the money edge. it raised a record $35.6 million in august and has raised nearly $200 million overall. the only way to

erick erickson, what do you think of the presentation that prime minister netanyahu made today?very simple and very effective. i can guarantee you what the headlines are going to be tomorrow on this issue. people are focused on what tanyahu di inrestingly enough i think it -- test on this election a lot of coti republicans praised him. a lot of democrats and liberals on twitter and elsewhere thought it wasly silist, but fact oeatter w tpay attention to iran's nuclear rep weapons program, which is what his point was. wheyou saw th, and,rol what do you k of tt presentation? >> imagery matters. think abouit. to this day we remember nikita pounding on the podium at the unnations. remember general collin powell astaf state usinthose to poi outeapons of mass destruction in iraq that we have yet to find. so the imagery matters. that is going to be the front page photo across newspapers worldwide. but here's what's also interesting. on this samay a "new york times" reporting right now that the foreign ministry right before he spoke released an internal report showing they could stop ira

let's talk about it with cnn contributor, erick erickson, editor and chief of redstate.org.an. i want you to listen to his reaction to governor romney's comments. >> i don't know what he was referring to, but i can tell you this. when i won in 2008, 47% of the american people voted for john mccain. they didn't vote for me. and what i said on election night was, even though you didn't vote for me, i hear your voices and i'm going to work as hard as i can to be your president. and one of the things i've learned at president is you represent the entire country. and when i meet republicans, as i'm traveling around the country, they are hard-working, family people, who care deeply about this country, and my expectation is that if you want to be president, you've got to work for everybody. not just for some. >> so i think the implication here, if i get it right, is that romney is alienating republican voters. do you think that's so? >> no, i don't think so. look, i get there's some angst in washington today from conservatives, and i'm not exactly someone the romney camp adores, bu

erick erickson is the editor of redstate.com, a conservative website. >> you sit in the room with conservativesras on and ask them how many really believe mitt romney is going to repeal obama care, i don't think a hand will go up in the room. >> when romney calls himself this -- >> i was a severely conservative republican governor. >> he gets this -- >> that's not a line you hear conservatives say about themselves. that's something you hear democrats say about conservatives. >> this is not the time to be doubting people's words. >> one by one, the old demons reappeared. >> romney care. pro abortion. bain capital. >> handing the democrats a primer on romney's vulnerabilities. >> i will release multiple years. i don't know how many years. >> on bain, flip-flops, taxes, secrecy, his wealth. but romney finally crawled across the finish line. his new junior partner, paul ryan, has given reluctant conservatives some hope. >> i want to hear what he has to say on this topic. >> but presidential politics is about more than just piecing together coalitions, it's also about telling a story of who you are,

spending time with us this morning, and i want to start with something that conservative blocker erick erickson wrote in response to the remarks we were just discussing, saying "the romney campaign should double down on what he said. they should own it. the trouble for the left and media is that most americans agree with mitt romney." what do you think here? should romney double down on these comments? >> well, what mitt romney said was that he didn't state it the most elegant way but that it's a different philosophy that he's trying to express. this administration has been focused on a government-centered society where government grows larger and larger in terms of the services. they put out an infographic earlier this year talking about the life of julia, how every american is dependent on government. at their convention, they talked about how government's the only thing we all belong to. and i think what mitt romney is talking about is the free enterprise system, allowing people to go out there and make it on their own, to try to succeed, get government out of the way and let the free enterp

erick erickson is the editor of redstate.com, a conservative website. >> you sit in the room with conservativesny really believe mitt romney will repeal obama-care, i don't think a hand will go up in the room. >> when romney calls himself this -- >> i was a severely conservative republican governor. >> he gets this -- >> that's not a line you hear conservatives say about themselves. that's something you hear democrats say about conservatives. >> this is not the time to be doubting people's words. >> one by one, the old demons reappeared. >> romney care. pro abortion. bain capital. >> handing the democrats a primer on romney's vulnerabilities. >> i will release multiple years. i don't know how many years. >> on bain, flip-flops, taxes, secrecy, his wealth. but romney finally crawled across the finish line. his new junior partner, paul ryan, has given reluctant conservatives some hope. >> i want to hear what he has to say on this topic. >> presidential politics is more than just piecing together coalitions, it's also about telling a story of who you are, what you believe and why you can be truste

also a piece by red state, erick erickson's website as well that asks the same question about relevance'm joined by tony sayag, aide with former vice president nominee jack kemp and "daily beast" columnist, kirsten powers. welcome to both of. >> good morning. martha: kirsten, start with you. obviously maureen dowd hadn't seen the late latest polls when she wrote the piece this weekend. there were raised eyebrows at the moment. we were the change? we thought the president was the change we were supposed to seek? >> really? i thought he told everybody he was running we were the change we were waiting for. that type of message, exactly that fight. i was fascinated that to learn maureen dowd was filled with hope of barack obama. i don't remember that. i remember making fun of him for un-american for not eating fried twinkies. i think this is such a disconnect from reality column, in the same way that a lot of liberals, she is not only one have been attacking obama's speech when it was extremely effective speech and we've seen, in the polling that you just referenced that he has gotten quite

. >> stephanie: they are called poll truthers and it's among the erick erickson hugh hue wet, dick morris who predicted hilary versus condy. >> i don't agree, so it must be wrong. >> stephanie: rush limbaugh said the polls are the replacement refs. [ scooby-doo's "huh?" ] >> what? >> stephanie: and sean hannity also accused this media of cooking the numbers. >> these liberal pollsters polling people who have cell phones and not land lines. but we get complaisant, every time we say obama has it in the bag, ten democrats stay home. >> stephanie: no, don't stay home. >> get out and vote. >> stephanie: all right. back with more fridays with fugelsang on the "stephanie miller show." >> romney: i love it. it's a fabulous program. >> announcer: it's the "stephanie miller show." ♪ what the current audience can expect from my show is the unexpected. >>stephanie miller challenges the system, now it's your turn. >>it's a little bit of magic. >>connect with "talking liberally with stephanie miller" at facebook.com/stephaniemillershow and on twitter at smshow. [ ♪ music ♪ ] >> announcer: stephanie mil