the republicans know they have to win some of these states, especially ohio, but they have to do betterthey did in 2008. go to 2010. look at the republicans races, look at the gains they had in this area of the country including wisconsin. you have the big obama win in 2008. a better history for george. bush. look at this. the most erecent elections, statewide elections in 2010 they did quite well. just for the sake of going forward in the race for president, if you look at wisconsin, it was a blowout, not even close. some of these states were a bit closer, why paul ryan? jansville, southern part of the state. but he's well known across the state from his budget plan. this is the key test. he's never run or run statewide. here's the latest poll. 51% to 45%. if you go across the midwest. most of the the states in this ballpark, a little closer in ohio, romney campaign is making a bet. they saw the republican energy there, they are making a bet they can take this state away from president obama and complicate his math by picking paul ryan. let's go to the midwest. that's why we had pawlen

especially ohio. ohio is very much in play. wisconsin, i don't know how much he's going to bring paul ryan to wisconsin. i assume he's going to help him in wisconsin. wisconsin did elect a republican governor, scott walker, in 2010. there's been a lot of controversy in wisconsin. been a long time since wisconsin in the presidential race went for a republican. i assume that romney thinks paul ryan is going to help him in wisconsin and maybe bring him over the top although i think that is still very much an uphill struggle. >> going to be very interesting to watch. wolf blitzer, ron brownstein, thank you. >>> we're watching other news as well this morning. hillary clinton is in turkey talking syria. we'll tell you who she is meeting and what exactly is on the table today. you do what you do... because it matters. at hp we don't just believe in the power of technology. we believe in the power of people when technology works for you. to dream. to create. to work. if you're going to do something. make it matter. >>> welcome back. 24

the ads, huge advantage in advertising especially in ohio. the poll show the ads work.rly the negative ads. they have been able to portray romney as out of touch. he has to say i may be out of touch. socially. but obama got out of touch ideologically. he believes he built everything and not you. hang that around his neck until election day. >> bret: next up, chick-fil-a and gay marriage. >>> i think we are inviting god's judgment on our nation when we shake our fist at hip and say you know, we know better than you as to what constitutes a marriage. i pray god's mercy on our generation that has such a prideful arrogant attitude to think we had the audacity to redefine what marriage is all about. >> bret: chick-fil-a ceo dan cathy two weeks ago saying he supports and his restaurant supports traditional marriage. that set off a fire storm in cities like chicago and boston. and washington, d.c. those mayors saying that that restaurant is not welcome. take a listen. >> chick-fil-a values are not values that are respectful of our residents, neighbors and our family members. i

we see lots of dry air especially around the ohio valley. we have high pressure building in across that area. back off towards the west around the four corners pushing into oklahoma we are seeing showers there but this is the area that is going to develop as we go through the weekend. this will ride up along the coast and this is going to spit back clouds and also some showers as we go through time. but for today, i am going to keep it dry and we will have a few clouds and sun as we go through the day. but all in all it's going to be another nice day on tap and we can see that temperatures right now looking in the low 60s. we have humidity out there with some patchy fog once again. over a you charley. >>> 4:37 and thanks to your generosity thousands of local kids who may have starred the school year with no -- started the school year without supplies will receive all the donation you have given. we teamed up with the preston mitchum foundation and celebree learning centers to collect the basics the kids need and thank you to everyone who don

then, the paul ryan pick and the akin controversy are shaking things up in a lot of races, especially in ohio. senator sherrod brown is here to talk about his senate race and so much more. stay with us. we're right back on "the ed show." ask me what it's like when my tempur-pedic moves. [ male announcer ] why not talk to someone who owns an adjustable version of the most highly recommended bed in america? ask me about my tempur advanced ergo. goes up. goes up. ask me what it's like to get a massage anytime you want. goes down. goes down. [ male announcer ] tempur-pedic brand owners are more satisfied than owners of any traditional mattress brand. ergonomics. [ male announcer ] tempur-pedic. the most highly recommended bed in america. [ female announcer ] for more information or to find a retailer near you, visit tempurpedic.com. but proven technologies allow natural gas producers to supply affordable, cleaner energy, while protecting our environment. across america, these technologies protect air - by monitoring air quality and reducing emissions... ...protect water - through conservation and

the romney campaign is jumping into the fray and misleading folks around the country, especially in ohiointo thinking that the obama campaign wants to disenfranchise soldiers from voting. here's the candidate himself. >> any effort to empede the right of our military members overseas or here domestically in voting would be an extraordinary violation of the trust we should have for those who serve so valiantly. >> can i call time-out for a moment? think about this. mitt romney and the romney campaign, the candidate himself, is claiming that president obama, the president of the united states, any president of the united states, would be trying to disenfranchise people who put on the uniform to defend this country, do months of deployments around the world, ah, president obama really doesn't want them to have a chance to early vote. are you kidding me? and here is the crux of the story i cannot believe. there are 15 military groups, including amvets, that have intervened in the campaign's lawsuit because they're with mitt romney. efforts to facilitate and maximize voting should be welcome,

ohio, to it's game over. that shows you why the three states we are talking about now, especially florida and ohio, are so criticalmney has a tougher map. he needs to win florida, needs ohio and would like to win wisconsin. the three states, florida and ohio, if they are not red come november, very hard to see romney in the white house, anderson. >> john, i want to bring in candy crowley, chief political correspondent. the poll numbers john just outlined, a point of two increase here and there. what do you think is behind that? >> a couple things and the dynamic of the race, like the poll numbers, haven't changed that much. because what you have are countervailing forces. you have the economy, which really is a drag on president obama. still when you look at the polls. any time you have an economy showing the kind of figures that this economy shows right now, it's a danger zone for the president. on the other hand, you have mitt romney who the american voter has not yet warmed up to. they still have this skepticism about whether he can make things better. some of the early advertising from president obama and folk

and i think those have had, especially in ohio which is one of the five battlegrounds where they have been up consistently and in specific markets those have had a real impact on mitt romney's numbers. to john's point also about the various groups that mitt romney has not fixed his problems with, women have been-- there is a huge gender gap, on both sides. there is one for obama with men t there is one for mitt romney with women. obama's campaign is very mindful of his and they do try to work on it. mitt romney's campaign has not done much about the female gender gap since the primaries, since february, since he was faciick santorum who presented him with opportunities to tack more towards the center. and he didn't. and you are saying with this todd aiken thing right now, the missouri senate candidate who mitt romney is trying to distance himself from, there did present an opportunity. the party responded forcefully to him on trying to get him off the ticket. but some people believe there was a moment for mitt romney to also say we are moving to extremes-- . >> rose: to say this is no

that year in ohio, voters waited in line for eight hours or more just to get a ballot. the problems were especiallyere voters tend to support democrats. and where in 2004, voters discovered polling places were really just not ready for everybody who wanted to vote. that night, that night of the long lines, george w. bush, of course, won the state of ohio, and mr. bush won a second term as president. and a few months later a congressional committee called out ohio for the way it had run that election. congress called on ohio to reform its elections to make things work better. but it was not just ohio where people waited if line in 2004. in florida, that year, people also waited in long hours in lines at the polls. we went back to look for old footage of those lines in ohio, we also found these images, people lined up at the polls in the great state of florida waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting for the chance to vote. that night, george w. bush, of course, won the state of florida as well. after the debacle of the '04 election, officials in the states took another loo

he is very popular, especially in southern ohio where he was a coming man for many years. for many years. and pennsylvania that is my home state. governor ridge is a popular name. and he would be an effective surrogate there as well. pat tomb me was not on the vp short list, but he is another effective surrogate for mr. romney. >> great perspective and analysis. great to see you. >>> president obama's senior campaign advisor continues to slams paul ryan this morning. appears on "meet the press" david axel rod smashed him as an idealog with the wrong policy. >> there were debates in the republican primary where neither governor romney or either of the candidates mentioned middle class. now they are incorporating it into their rhetoric. i think there is a national consensus that we need to pursue economic policies that will lift the middle class. we have a very clear choice as to whose will and whose won't. that will create pressure for policies that will move our country forward in the right direction when the president is re-elected in november. >> the romney-ryan team is

ohio, wisconsin, and new hampshire. then you drill down on the polling and we show just how important medicare is now going to be. especiallyn florida, ohio, and some of these other states where there are large numbers of senior citizens. >> iowa has large numbers of senior citizens, pennsylvania has large numbers of senior citizens. but as our old friend used to say, florida, florida, florida. that's going to be fascinating. the other -- the flip side of the coin, though, for governor romney, is that voters trust him more on the economy. and they disapprove of the president's performance on the economy. and that is, has always been, will continue to be, i think, in terms of voters' minds, the president's weakness. he's got unemployment numbers, deficit numbers, and all sorts of other ugly numbers out there that are going to dog him until election day. >> and when we talk about the president and the president's campaigning, big fund-raisers in new york city, hoop dreams. he actually, you know, went out there with michael jordan and teams, those who competed as a fund-raising gimmick. he actually said, he talked, first of al

especially in the races, when he said ohio, pennsylvania, and virginia, i do not think we will know who controls the election night. this race could be decided within 1000 votes. >> bill clinton had some political coattails in 1996. how popular is the president in some of these key state? >> it is state to state. we are talking about close senate races. virginia, florida, ohio. one of the questions we are asking ourselves now is look at virginia. you can envision this. energy is a big issue. are there a lot about barack obama voters? we

example, it is going over the fiscal cliff in wisconsin people like scott walker and ohio john kasich, chris christie especially if new jersey just leveled with the people in new jersey we cannot go on the way we are or our state will face economic ruin. that was what the tea party was all about, not just the usual we don't like government spending. is that we can no longer afford these levels. >> four years ago, eight years ago the republican party did not want to take on entitlements. bush tried, but didn't campaign on it much in 2004. he tried in 2005, he couldn't even get a vote out of the republican congress. >> what james said about scott walker is right. you talk about a sacred cow, third rail, whatever metaphor you want to use he took it to them and survived and it isn't a message to the rest of the party the rest of the country, that you can push these reforms successfully and survive them. i think the presence of the tea party has been felt much deeper at the state level where they in control of certain states. in congress, the republicans only control the house there's some good senators and probably

especially in the races, when he said ohio, pennsylvania, and virginia, i do not think we will know who controls the election night. i think of races like montana. this race could be decided within 1000 votes. could be days after the election before we know who controls the senate if those races are close. >> bill clinton had some political coattails in 1996. how popular is the president in some of these key states? >> it is state to state. we are talking about close senate races. virginia, florida, ohio. one of the questions we are asking ourselves now is look at virginia. you can envision this. in the south part of the state, energy is a big issue. are there a lot about barack obama voters? we are trying to see where a democrat has to over-perform the president. north dakota would be a great example. they have to do 10. points better. the republicans have to do something similar. >> let me ask you about this lame duck session. you talk about post-elect and senate. the senator said the senate is broken. will anything be different during the lame duck session or in january of 2013? >> i

there's a stationary boundary to our northwest, especially in the midwest and ohio valley.is stationary, but it will get a kick from the system coming from the upper midwest. that will stir up our atmosphere around here tomorrow to give us an increased chance of severe storms. today, ohio valley, western maryland, a slight risk of severe storms. across the abc 7 viewing area, we are under a slight risk for severe and thunderstorms. damaging wind posing the biggest threat later on friday. storms lingering into early saturday. sunday looking good, low humidity, mid 80's. lisa baden >> . no accidents to report right now all the way around the beltway. looking and feeling good on 95 virginia northbound, lanes are open. a little volume through springfield. that is traffic heading toward us. headed away from us is quiet traffic. a crash downstream at 121 is out of the way. things are settling down in hyattsville. a delay on metro rail has been resolved. >> it's time to announce today's winner of four tickets to the montgomery county fair as well as ride wristbands and $25 to spen

republicans in areas with high senior populations in the south and in swing states, florida, ohio and pennsylvania, are especiallyorried. in a conference call with republican members of congress earlier this week, house speaker john boehner provided republicans with a game plan in this new environment, telling them to "stay on offense on jobs and the economy." >> there are some washington insiders and members who are nervous about how this plays out. >> reporter: and republican leaders say romney should focus entirely on president obama's handling of the economy and the 8.3% unemployment rate, die yap. >> all right, jake. and i know you will be tackling all of this in depth on "this week," on sunday morning. watch jake. he is hosting this sunday. >>> and now, we turn to a government warning tonight, another alarm about the risks of leaving a child alone in a car on a hot day. eight children died in just the first week of august, for being left in cars. and now, there's new evidence that the bodies of young children heat up more quickly than adults. here's abc's david kerley. >> reporter: a hot day. an unimaginabl

. >> especially in places like ohio. but -- in every swing state, and what i'm told is that the republicans found, to their surprise, over recent weeks, that the welfare ad really worked with those women. now, they were surprised, because women don't, as often, respond on the welfare issue, but at a time when everybody's strapped, when everybody's struggling, old resentments resurface. that's my interpretation of what's happening. now, wait a minute, the romney people saw that, and they're defending and using and driving, with money, an ad that every fair -- every fair analyst, every fact checker from the -- every fact checker has said is just factually wrong. >> an ad that you just sat here and admitted that white women, that part of that focus group, agreed with. so -- >> but it's a dishonest ad they agree with. >> the ad itself is straightforward. >> where's a 30-year-old white woman that agrees with this ad, against this old vestige of -- i assume you're talking racism here, and that's not what this ad is about. that