howard fineman, thanks for your time tonight. good to have you here in denver. remember to answer tonight's question. share jr. thoughts on twitter at @edshow. coming up, chris christie says mitt romney will turn the presidential race upside down with his debate performance? chris california fee nous joins me for the co favorite surrogate >>> and buddy chris christie says that the candidate is going to wipe the floor with president obama. really? the campaign says mitt romney is working on some zingers. this could get ugly. and very entertaining. >>> the second debate between elizabeth warren and scott brown has just ended. >>> and another big debate tonight. and you are going to see the coverage right here before anywhere else. democrat wayne powell just finishes debate with eric cantor. i'll talk to the man trying to unseat one of the biggest obstructionists in congress. share your thoughts with us on facebook and on twitter using the hash tag ed show. >>> welcome back to "the ed show." thanks for watching tonight. the presidential debate is just two days away

. >> no, not burgess meredith, but howard fineman. howard, take us through, what are you expecting for this debate tonight? >> well, what i'm expecting is vice president biden to come out and repair some of the damage that the ticket took on last week in denver. i think the vice president knows that he has to answer some of the accusations that the president didn't a week ago and that joe biden has to attack on points that the president didn't do very effectively or specifically including what deductions, what end of tax credits do you want paul ryan and more important mitt romney and what about medicare? what does your plan really amount to? i think the vice president needs to be specific. he needs to focus and he will and he needs to remember that nobody votes based on the vice presidential candidates themselves. joe biden's target tonight in the end is not really paul ryan, it's mitt romney and it's the mitt romney that the president didn't successfully attack last week. >> and, howard, to that point, has romney in some ways made pa

howard fineman, thanks for your time tonight. good to have you here in denver. remember to answer tonight's question. their your thoughts on twitter and on facebook. coming up, chris christie says mitt romney will turn the presidential race upside down with his debate performance? chris kofinis joins me for the conversation. stay with us. we've right back. and the world's only tridion safety cell which can withstand over three and a half tons. right back. right back.re righ. tridion safety cell with the blackish-blue frame and the white dots and the splattered paint pattern, your lights are on. what? [ male announcer ] the endlessly customizable 2013 smart. >>> coming up, mitt romney, his favorite surrogate and buddy chris christie says that the candidate is going to wipe the floor with president obama. really? the campaign says mitt romney is working on some zingers. this could get ugly. and very entertaining. >>> the second debate between elizabeth warren and scott brown has just ended. there were a ton of fireworks. we will be life in massachusetts with the l

i'm joined by former white house press secretary dee dee myers and howard fineman.ow does mitt romney overcome the last two months or so of bad campaigning? where he has been over the london olympics and over the libya and their feelings about the economy, how does he build up his presidentialness and bring down the economy aspects all in one night? we >> well, tonight chris, we see the real mitt romney. he's going to have to answer questions and make an argument. he's going to have to explain where he wants to lead the country. we live in momentous times. what is his plan to move the american people forward? i think they are going to take his measure tonight. >> would you lay out the map if you were him? would you tell him how he's going to stimulate economic growth by cutting taxes and getting rid of deductions? would you tell the american people exactly or even generally what you're actually going to do? >> well, i'm with you, chris. i think plat tuds and zingers don't work in a format like this. he has to have a good debate. he has to pass president obama in the

howard fineman, thanks for your time tonight. good to have you here in denver. remember to answer tonight's question. share jr. thoughts on twitter at @edshow. coming up, chris christie says mitt romney will turn the presidential race upside down with his debate performance? chris california fee nous joins me for the conversation. things still get you. for you, life's about her. but your erectile dysfunction - that could be a question of blood flow. cialis tadalafil for daily use helps you be ready anytime the moment's right. you can be more confident in your ability to be ready. and the same cialis is the only daily ed tablet approved to treat ed and symptoms of bph, like needing to go frequently or urgently. tell your doctor about all your medical conditions and medications, and ask if your heart is healthy enough for sexual activity. do not take cialis if you take nitrates for chest pain, as this may cause an unsafe drop in blood pressure. do notrink alcohol in excess with cialis. si effects maylude headache, upset stomach, delayed backache or muscle ache. to

. >> howard fineman and john nichols have the debate preview. >>> and from the coal mine owner to the real estate mogul, ceos are holding their workers hostage to get votes for mitt romney. tonight, former labor secretary robert reich on the revolt of the plutocrats. >> i'll tell you, you've got a great boss, he runs a great operation. >>> good to have you with us tonight, folks. thanks for watching. mitt romney is the candidate who will say whatever it takes to win. the race is tightening, but romney still needs to win over women voters. romney offered this moderate position when asked by a local iowa reporter if he will pursue any legislation specifically regarding abortion. >> there's no legislation with regards to abortion that i'm familiar with that would become part of my agenda. >> that statement is at odds with romney's entire campaign. his running mate and his party platform. president obama called romney on it during an interview with abc news. >> this is another example of governor romney hiding positions he's been campaigning on for a year and a half. >> does he lie? >> no

. >> bring in howard fineman of "the huffington post" media group. howard, i want to pick up on the libya thing because this is the second time now since benghazi attack that romney really stepped in it on the issue of the attack. my diagnose sis is he's sort of a victim of i would say right wing media because there's a caricature of obama as an apologize first foreign policy president that the right pushed and believed in for four years and seemed like romney bought in to that with the statement on that initially a few weeks ago and doesn't seem to jive with anybody else thinks about this president on foreign policy and national security. >> well, first of all, the headline of the day so far is that s.e. was despondent. i mean, that says it all. and i think that that moment was important not only for the substance of the libya exchange and the questions about benghazi and how mitt romney has kind of got stuck in something that if he'd left it alone had good sense to leave it alone it would be a more powerful weapon for him pair doxically. what i thou

i'll visit with howard fineman and michelle goldberg on that. we are coming right back. >>> welcome back to "the ed show." thanks for watching tonight. the math still isn't adding up for mitt romney so the lies are just piling up. this is their campaign. here's romney adviser ed gillespie trying to defend romney's tax plan. >> very questionable. some of them are blogs, some from the aei. >> these are very credible sources. >> one of them is from a blogger to george w. bush. these are hardly nonpartisan studies. >> if you look at harvard and other studies, they are very credible sources for economic analysis. >> you wouldn't say aie is a conservative think tank? >> it's a right-leaning think tank. that doesn't make it not credible. >> those six studies don't hold water. besides the blog posts, two of the studies had had to change romney's tax plan to make it work. these aren't the only numbers the romney camp is lying about. there was vice presidential candidate paul ryan's claim about unemployment in the debate. >> you know what the unemployment

howard fineman is with us from the spin room. he's spoken to both tonight. >> well, it's fascinating rachel to see the verdict coalesce here within minutes of the debate. everybody in the press room thought that the president had done a good job. after talking to both camps and reading between the lines and listening to the spin, it was clear that this was a big night for the president, and i think even the romney campaign understands that. they said the president came out swinging talking about the romney people now. and he certainly did. the president scored victories on pay equity, on education, on the vagueness of romney's tax plans and in one of the signal moments when mitt romney thought he had the question cornered on what the president had said in the rose garden. when mitt romney had that killer look in in his eye, the president turned out to be correct. candy crowley corrected the record. and it was a key moment. as you said, the obama people rushed out to the press room. listening to david axlerod and stephanie cutter,

i'll visit with howard fineman and michelle goldberg on that. we are coming right back.when you take a closer look... ...at the best schools in the world... ...you see they all have something very interesting in common. they have teachers... ...with a deeper knowledge of their subjects. as a result, their students achieve at a higher level. let's develop more stars in education. let's invest in our teachers... ...so they can inspire our students. let's solve this. >>> welcome back to "the ed show." thanks for watching tonight. the math still isn't adding up for mitt romney so the lies are just piling up. this is their campaign. here's romney adviser ed gillespie trying to defend romney's tax plan. >> very questionable. some of them are blogs, some from the aei. >> these are very credible sources. >> one of them is from a blogger to george w. bush. these are hardly nonpartisan studies. >> if you look at harvard and other studies, they are very credible sources for economic analysis. >> you wouldn't say aie is a conservative think tank? >> it's a right-leaning think tank.

joining me is gwen moore and howard fineman. richard mourdock answered a question submitted about i a voter about his position on abortion. let's listen. >> you know this is that issue that every candidate for federal or state office faces and i, too, certainly stand for life. i know there are some who disagree and i respect their point of view but i believe life begins at conception. the only exception i have to have an abortion is in that case of the life of the mother. i just, i struggled with it myself for a long time but i came to realize life is that gift from god and i think even when life begins in that horrible situation of rape that it is something that god intended to happen. >> and there is he saying under the law woman should be denied the right to choose an abortion, she would be criminalized under his law. shortly after the debate ended mourdock's comments had gone rival. romney's spokesperson who often does the cleanup distanced her candidate. "governor romney disagrees with richard mourdock's comments and they d

. >> howard fineman, a political analyst and editorial director of the huffington post. he's here and rounding out our panel in kentucky is the pulitzer prize columnist eugene robinson. thank you for being with us. i want to start with chuck. your reporting, does it tell you that it's going to be a broad debate about philosophy and differences or a congressional markup sessions where they argue over details? >> i think if it's up to paul ryan it's going to be details, a little markups and in the weeds. if it's up to biden, it's going to be more of a lively, ideological split. one of the goals they would hope that joe biden accomplishes tonight is to make you feel better, essentially, chris, is to make the base of the party feel better. show some fight. get in there in some issues that they know, create a divide in some part of the electorate, including women issues. with paul ryan, in some ways, expectations got out of hand for them. the base of their own party doesn't have a lot of respect for paul ryan. but i think his advisers know he's never been on this kind of big

i'll visit with howard fineman and michelle goldberg on that. we are coming right back. o have♪ ♪ it's got something for everyone ♪ ♪ the car of the future many have said ♪ ♪ 'cause at the pump it's miles ahead ♪ ♪ let's hum, hum, hum, hum ♪ let's hum ♪ a prius for everyone ♪ the perfect match, electric and gas ♪ ♪ mile after mile its tank could last ♪ ♪ we made three more for all to use ♪ ♪ big, small, and plug in, it's yours to choose ♪ ♪ and let's hum, hum, hum, hum, let's hum ♪ ♪ a prius for everyone >>> welcome back to "the ed show." thanks for watching tonight. the math still isn't adding up for mitt romney so the lies are just piling up. this is their campaign. here's romney adviser ed gillespie trying to defend romney's tax plan. >> very questionable. some of them are blogs, some from the aei. >> these are very credible sources. >> one of them is from a blogger to george w. bush. these are hardly nonpartisan studies. >> if you look at harvard and other studies, they are very credible sources for economic analysis. >> you wouldn't say aie is a conservative think t

i'm joined by chuck todd and howard fineman with "the huffington post."he latest poll shows among likely voters the president leads 49% to 46% for romney. that's down net two points from two weeks ago when the president was up by five. to what to you attribute the movement, chuck todd? >> well, first of all, the more important number has always been the president sitting at 49% or 50%. i would go through his job approval rating at 49%, his ballot test at 49%, those converge, and that's what matters and 49% puts you in the, quote, re-elect zone. what's affecting romney, this is something we've been watching all year long. there is an enthusiasm gap among core republican voters among core democratic groups. overall there's a ten-point advantage among those republicans who call themselves nines or tens when on a scale of one to ten asked how interested they are in this election. there's been a ten-point gap pretty consistent all year. that's why for instance on the registered voter number, the president has a seven-point lead and it shrinks more than in half

here with us now in denver, we have howard fineman, the "huffington post" media group. said he is the buffalo bob of our show. >> now i'm don meredith because don meredith always used to say on monday night football, when the game was nearly over, woe start singing. ♪ the party's over but not there yet. >> bring you back to sing at some point, heward. before we do that, we have another task and i thought howard would be the perfect guy to lead this off. basically, we want to look ahead to this debate tonight and all for a moment, assume the role of moderator, jim lehrer, pbs, a moderating this thing tonight. let just go around right now, we will start with you, howard. you got jim lehrer's seat, the two questions in front of you -- two candidates right in front of you. what is the one question that you think would you most like to see jim lehrer ask one of these candidates tonight? >> i would focus on mitt romney because this really is it for mitt. i would go right at the central concern. i would say i would ask, governor, bain capital, which you helped to run, had many

i'm joined by msnbc political director, chuck todd, howard fineman and joy read. >> we have had two debatesdid neither debate, president or vice president, raise the strong ticket issue of women's issues. will they do it tonight? >> he almost has no choice. when you look at the structural shifts in this race that we've been witnessing, the one thing that is held for the president is this advantage he's had with suburban women. however, there is some hints that this voting group could peel away and mitt romney can get it. here's what we saw after the first debate. mitt romney's favorable rating went up with suburban women. his handling of the economy went up with suburban women. the only thing that didn't move enough was the ballot test. i think that's what you'll hear a lot tonight. you'll hear mitt romney trying to target these folks. not talking about social issues. you're going to hear the president, i think, try to bring this up in a way, because they believe this is their trump card into colorado, their trump card into virginia, their trump card in some of these suburban areas. you're

i'm joined by howard fineman with "the huffington post." so we have romney's -- let's take a look at this howard, romney's 47% comments had a lasting impact on his standing. "the washington post" reported just today, quote, in the two weeks since the surreptitious video of the remarks surfaced, they have pierced the national consciousness in a way few blunders do. in the closing stretch of the presidential campaign, the moment has become a defining element of romney's candidacy. new poll by pew shows how deep these comments penetrated. 67% say they knew romney made those comments. that's of the whole country. of those people, 55% said they had a negative reaction toward hearing them. the only thing in politic that is is worse than voters deciding they don't like you is when voters decide you don't like them. howard, what a great turn of phrase by alex castellanos when voters sense you don't like them. >> well, here in colorado, chris, the obama campaign is certainly not letting people forget those comments from that private fund-raiser back

howard fineman is with us.hat are you hearing. >> it always interesting to watch the body language of the spin room. the side that feels confident that it won comes rushing out into the spin room with their signs above their head and start to talk with smiles on their faces. that was obviously the romney people tonight. it took a while for the obama crowd to get out here. and interestingly the one i listened to most carefully, david axelrod, a former reporter that knows he has to make tactical concessions to maintain his credibility with the press core. he said, look, we knew this was going to be a close race. we knew the challenger always benefits from the first debate. we knew romney would be a well-prepared debater, having practiced having done 20 or 25 debates. i thought it was interesting that axelrod saidal that. the consensus in this room from all sides is what you guys have been saying on the air which is that there were lots of missed opportunities for the president. romney was -- has said for months,

howard fineman is with us from the spin room. he's spoken to both tonight. >> well, it's fascinating rachel to see the verdict coalesce here within minutes of the debate. everybody in the press room thought that the president had done a good job. after talking to both camps and reading between the lines and listening to the spin, it was clear that this was a big night for the president, and i think even the romney campaign understands that. they said the president came out swinging talking about the romney people now. and he certainly did. the president scored victories on pay equity, on education, on the vagueness of romney's tax plans and in one of the signal moments when mitt romney thought he had the question cornered on what the president had said in the rose garden. when mitt romney had that killer look in in his eye, the president turned out to be correct. candy crowley corrected the record. and it was a key moment. as you said, the obama people rushed out to the press room. listening to david axlerod and stephanie cutter,

howard fineman is one of those people who joins us from the spin room to explain how that worked out.ard? >> well, rachel, i had a pretty long conversation with rob portman about this. not only is he from ohio, a meticulous kind of guy, but he knows that ohio is what this is about when we're talking about the auto industry. and the obama people insist, and i think with good reason, that mitt romney was just flat outlying, not to put too fine a point on it, on the question of whether he, mitt romney, was willing to support direct federal help, the kind of help that the president put forth, for the auto industry. and in talking to rob portman, i went at him on this and he said, well, i'm going to send you the op ed again and i pressed him on it and he said, romney was willing to support backup guarantees. he was willing to have government support for for warranties and so forth. to me that was cutting it too fine by half and it sounded to me like rob portman was not only defensive about it but sort of trying to cut it very, very fine and this really matters, rachel, so we're down to the