james peterson, last thought here.s a pattern now of real dishonesty on the part of the romney campaign ads. they're out there saying that romney's been accused of outlawing birth control, contraception. nobody's ever accused him of that. they've said that he's not supporting the right of women to have it covered in their health plans. why are they putting out these desperate ads, like jeeps going to china and women are under attack for buying birth control pills. it's an absurdity. who would be so uninformed to believe these ads? >> chris, that's a different question. there are such a thing as uninformed voters and that's fine, that's part of our process. but this is the silly season. you know this, chris. you've studied many more elections than i have. this is the silly season. that's why you get that kind of desperation. it's kind of strange, though, because i'm not sure whether they're making the appeal to the right demographics in the state we need to make these certain appeals to. it seems strange they have the s

. >> james peterson, professor james peterson and michelle cottle, thank you both for your time. >> thanks. we've got news on these intimidating billboards put up in inner city african-american neighborhoods. we'll be right back. ♪ [ male announcer ] it's time for medicare open enrollment. are you ready? time to compare plans and see what's new. you don't have to make changes, but it's good to look. maybe you can find better coverage, save money, or both. and check out the preventive benefits you get after the health care law. ♪ medicare open enrollment. now's the time. visit medicare.gov or call 1-800-medicare. ♪ to compete on the global stage. what we need are people prepared for the careers of our new economy. by 2025 we could have 20 million jobs without enough college graduates to fill them. that's why at devry university, we're teaming up with companies like cisco to help make sure everyone's ready with the know how we need for a new tomorrow. [ male announcer ] make sure america's ready. make sure you're ready. at devry.edu/knowhow. ♪ >>> on the republican side, we've seen or heard

james peterson, ana marie cox, thank you for your time tonight. >> yep.thank you. >>> still ahead, it all comes down to this. 19 primary debates for romney but none on the biggest stage in politics. president obama's been here before. so what will happen tonight? we'll talk about it on this special edition of "politicsnation" as we gear up to nbc's primetime coverage of the first presidential debate of 2012. stay with us. >> i will not make age an issue in this campaign. i am not going to exploit my opponent's youth and inexperience. customer erin swenson bought from us online today. so, i'm happy. sales go up... i'm happy. it went out today... i'm happy. what if she's not home? (together) she won't be happy. use ups! she can get a text alert, reroute... even reschedule her package. it's ups my choice. are you happy? i'm happy. i'm happy. i'm happy. i'm happy. i'm happy. happy. happy. happy. happy. (together) happy. i love logistics. ♪ [ male announcer ] this is karen and jeremiah. they don't know it yet, but they're gonna fall in love, get married, have

james peterson, and kelly goff, political contributor to theroot.com.go people were saying president obama was going to run away with it. >> we said it all along, it will be a knife fight in a foon boot.ne iñ think that was the expectatin with both camps. you see with polls as they do they go up and down depending on the weather. this happens to be a good week for the ñrcampaign, but we do continue to expect this to be a robust competitive race going into the election. at the end of the day, we do hope that governor romney comes out with a win. >> the only person morectp exci than tara is myself and every other member of the media. i think we were worried that people were reading stories, what else would you read other than obama is increased by several points. so who knows if it will stay this tight down to the wire, but everyone is a little more excited than they were a couple weeks ago. >> and this is the nature of campaigns. i hope this isfá what people wa, you know, the back and forth, to hear both sides, and for it to really be a race if you will.

maria theresa kumar is president and ceo of vote latino and professor james peterson is professor oflehigh university. mitt romney's record may be instructive. as governor of massachusetts he gutted affirmative action in the dead of night, during a holiday, without any consultation whatsoever. is this an example of how minorities would fare under a president romney? >> i think it's also indicative just yesterday "the wall street journal" asked mitt romney if he believed in affirmative action, he couldn't answer yes on no, he kept quiet. if he can't give a straight answer on an issue that's not a campaign issue is incredibly telling. this issue before the supreme court, it's supported by 17 senators both democratic and republican. the military is in support of it, as are a lot have business leaders. fortune 100 companies. they are support ty because they recognize demographics are changing. as americans we should make sure we have a fair shot at the american dream, through our educational system. >> absolutely. professor, we know where mitt romney stands. as for paul ryan, he was aske

james peterson, and jimy williams. thank you, gentlemen.on the president's diagnosis of mitt romney and his ever changing moods. stay with us. >> all of a sudden you heard governor romney claim $5 trillion tax cut, what are you talking about? all of a sudden as my little granddaughter natalie would say, what happened, did casper the ghost steal it? where did it go? i hope you all don't get romnesia. a taste of what's hot? check out the latest collection of snacks from lean cuisine. creamy spinach artichoke dip, crispy garlic chicken spring rolls. they're this season's must-have accessory. lean cuisine. be culinary chic. overmany discounts to thine customers! [old english accent] safe driver, multi-car, paid in full -- a most fulsome bounty indeed, lord jamie. thou cometh and we thy saveth! what are you doing? we doth offer so many discounts, we have some to spare. oh, you have any of those homeowners discounts? here we go. thank you. he took my shield, my lady. these are troubling times in the kingdom. more discounts than we knoweth what to

james peterson in view as well. thank you.ber to tune into our special coverage of the debate tonight here on msnbc. next, polls show many americans don't really know who paul ryan is. we'll continue to fill in the blanks. stay with us. >> then there was the time we said mitt was a soap opera actor. remember that? >> mitt romney played wealthy tycoon victor neuman on the young and the restless. >> you need to love and you need to be loved. >> and then there was the time we thought he was actually chuck wool ri, host of "love connection. >> her ears, her private parts, everything was so -- ♪ chances are, you're not made of money, so don't overpay for motorcycle insurance. geico, see how much you could save. everything was so -- [ male announcer ] alka-seltzer plus presents the cold truth. i have a cold... i took dayquil, but i still have a runny nose. [ male announcer ] truth is, dayquil doesn't work on runny noses. what? [ male announcer ] it doesn't have an antihistamine. really? [ male announcer ] really. alka-seltzer plus c

james peterson, an associate professor at lehigh university and contribute irto thegrio.com, and in newand an msnbc contributor. welcome to both of you. ari, if i might begin with you. the poll is very well respected and the voters in this focus group say they want to see a tough president obama. even if he is sharper, can he fact check in realtime like vice president joe biden did because, frankly, mitt romney produces more lies than sausages in a meat factory. >> well, you know, joe biden did more than fact check. i think he fact slapped paul ryan all over the room, and i think that that came across both in style and in substance. i don't think we're going to see the vam vigor or the same bon hoe mi from president obama. we know he brings a different style from joe biden. he can fact check and redefine the terms of the debate. if you looked at the last debate, taxes were mentioned over 100 times. jobs were mentioned just 50 times. we have talked about that. that was because mitt romney was very effective at defining it as a discussion about taxes. if you go to those swing voters that

professor james peterson and mayor kasim reed, thank you both for your considered views.tay with us. much more ahead. >> thank you. >> we are going to do everything we can to get resources to you and make sure that any unmet need that is identified we are responding to it as quickly as possible and i told the mayors and the governors if they're getting no for an answer somewhere in the federal government, they can call me personally. [ female announcer ] you can make macaroni & cheese without freshly-made pasta. you could also cut corners by making it without 100% real cheddar cheese. but then...it wouldn't be stouffer's mac & cheese. just one of over 70 satisfying recipes for one from stouffer's. five days later, i had a massive heart attack. bayer aspirin was the first thing the emts gave me. now, i'm on a bayer aspirin regimen. [ male announcer ] be sure to talk to your doctor before you begin an aspirin regimen. [ woman ] learn from my story. >>> during the darkness of the storm, i think we also saw what's brightest in america. nurses at nyu hospital caring fragile ne

msnbc political analyst karen finy, and in philadelphia professor james peterson of lehigh universityren, if i can start with you, mr. sununu has distinguished himself as a co-chair of the romney campaign by being a sulfurous mass of sweat, bitterness, and halitosis, but isn't he using race here simply to get us away from the stark truth, the truth, that general powell believes mitt romney doesn't have a single policy that's worthy of support? >> absolutely, and we've actually seen this before. remember earlier in the campaign they tried to marginalize bill clinton when they recognize what an impact he was having. let's be very clear, john sununu left the federal government in disgrace. colin powell is one of our most decorated american heroes. he is a statesman in this country. he is well-respected not only in the private and public sector, he's respected and beloved by people who are white, black, pink, brown, male, female, if you're in the service, not -- >> he's respected around the world. he's respected around the world. >> oh, you know, martin, i'm just trying to stick to our li

we have james peterson, director of african in a studies at lehigh university and republican strategist chip salts man. let's launch off of what was just said. james, to you on this one. when we look at it, you know, "the wall street journal" reporting today that obama aids have two concerns about the format of this debate, and as they go through that format there is the issue itself of benghazi and how he will handle that, whether romney will hit hard on that. what's your thought? >> well, first and foremost, i think the president will be really concientious about the fact that the town hall style requires him to prioritize with the kwequestioners and the folkn the audience. he'll pivot but i'll stay focused on the issues at hand which is communicating with the american people through the kwers that are there. when the bez comes up and i'm sure that it will come up, i think the president has to do what needs to be done here, which is try to depot lit size it. exercise the patience that's required for this kind of situation and for all of those folks trying to make analogize between thi

james peterson from lehigh university and in washington professor david corn, the man who introduced the term 47%. he's also an msnbc political analyst. david, if i can start with you, i'm sorry to be so upfront about this, but tagg romney is a mommy's boy. he's such a hard man that he took $10 million from his mommy to help him start his investment fund, and now he wants to fight the president. he's a boy who should learn some manners, isn't he? >> well, first, thank you for the promotion to professor. i'm happy to have that title. >> it's a pleasure. >> this is what happens in campaigns. when you start listening to relatives and family members, they often, you know, go beyond the talking points. i thought ann romney was very snippy on "the view" when they asked her questions about abortion and access to contraception. she said you have to get my husband on the couch. they tried. he said no, and he sent you and you're not answering the question. all in all, probably not the best day for the romney clan. i got to tell you, after the debate on tuesday night, i don't think ann romney l

communications director and msnbc political analyst karen finney, and in philadelphia professor james petersonlehigh university and a regular contributor to thegrio.com. good afternoon to both of you. karen, what did you make of the president's recognition today that his rival is leading the double life of willard "mitt" romney, there are two people traveling around the country. >> well, there might even be three or four because a couple times i thought i heard all new versions of the fact that is we've heard in various versions of mitt romney. look, mitt romney, i got to say honestly, did he what he needed to do last night. i thought the president was fine. i'm sure he'll do much better coming up, and, of course, today was important for him. i think one of the most important things that needs to be reiterated coming out of last night is how often mitt romney just plain lied. for the president, you know, he had to balance between how much of his time was he going to take correcting that and how much of his time was he going to take trying to talk about his own ideas. >> karen, do you accept th

james peterson, an associate professor at lehigh university and a grio.com contributor.has been calling conservatives in the media, quote, after weeks of mounting criticism, ryan reportedly felt compelled to respond in a friendly way to the beltway buzz. are conservatives now also part of the conspiracy, sir? >> well, first of all, i mean he's trying to stop the bleeding. remember, he's a darling of these sort of conservative media figures, and so it makes good political sense for him to reach out this them directly. martin, i can no longer stomach this discussion about a left bias media because if we look at the political history of this country over the last 20 to 30 years, it is so clear that this country has been moving to the right in so the many different ways. you think about the war on womewomen and a host of other issues, economic, social, and otherwise. this country has been moving to the right, media and everything, for most of my lifetime. so the idea that there's some kind of left wing media bias is a simple strawman move that folk on the right continue to u

blanche lincoln, joe sestak, james peterson, much appreciated. >> thank you, alex. >>> keeping our eyehurricane sandy, historic storm projected to hit the mid-atlantic states. it is expected to be felt over an 800-mile area. more reports coming up on "weekends with alex witt." maybe new buildings? what about updated equipment? they can help, but recent research shows... ... nothing transforms schools like investing in advanced teacher education. let's build a strong foundation. let's invest in our teachers so they can inspire our students. let's solve this. backyard. i found boomer's toy under the couch. i looked everywhere for this. [ toy squeaks, boomer barks ] whoa. that's nothing... watch this... [ whoosh ] whoo-hoo! that's so weird... [ whoosh ] [ male announcer ] with reddi-wip... [ boy ] oh, yeah! ...a slice of pie never sounded better. mmm! that's because it's always made with real cream, never hydrogenated oil like some other whipped toppings. the sound of reddi-wip [ whoosh ] is the sound of joy. >>> welcome back. it's now precisely half past the hour. we have breaking news w