you are on the air with john avlon. caller: i became independent on the because i could not criticize either party. becoming an independent allow me the chance to go outside looking in. what i've seen is how this rural -- how visceral the campaigns have become. the independents have been put out as the french, or as the enemy, according to president , or as- as the fringe the enemy, according to president obama right now. host: before we get an answer, who are you voting for for senate down there with an independent candidate? caller: after what we just saw the last debate and i think it is pretty much guaranteed that we're going to go with rick scott and marker rubio. we do not have a candidate -- charlie crist is not an independent. he was only running as an independent because he had no chance of getting reelected with the republican party. and we do not have a true independent there. host: thanks, jay. john avlon. guest: i appreciate the caller's comments. if there had been an open republican primary, it would have

>> john avlon, this is where the democrats say they're going to surprise us. they say they're going to have a ground game. they say as they did in 2008 where the obama ground game was exceptional, they say they're going to recreate at least most of it. can they? >> no. i don't think so. there is a massive enthusiasm gap pf we've seen it. of course they're focusing on getting their base out right now. but at the end of the day elections are won or lost by the party that connects with the moderates and middle class. we've seen independent voters swing toward republican for some time now, and their issues are always the same. deficits. and they like divided control of government. while this rally can motivate some of the base and the unions were busing in folks, you saw in person that enthusiasm gap between the conservative populace who crowded the mall for glenn beck's rally and the union folks and left activists who didn't really fill the mall nearly as much. it was a symbol of the kind of enthusiasm gap they're facing. and they can't just be focused on getting

well, the columnist for "the daily beast," john avlon, joins us this morning. >> good morning. ues, ify wihing. races theyxpect, w much power l eyely wield in washington? >> they could have considerable influence. they could help set the agenda n right now, they've be democrats. so, the big question is, will they have the ability to work with them and play a constructive role to move the agenda? or will they be in opposition mode? to which case, they will be loud, but ineffective. >> sarah palin and john mccai are campaigning in california. there are people that are shunning her there. is that a surprise? >> like meg whitman and carly fiorina. it is not a surprise. because the reality is, while sarah palin is great to pulling out the base, she is kryptonite to independents and centrist. that's who you need to win general elections, especially in california. while she's going to be deployed to a lot of conservative rallies, the leading candidates for governor and senator don't want anywhere near her. >> let's turn to delaware. a lot of people were wondering why the president and

. >> and it's never dullch john avlon, thanks for joining us. >> and goodf thword >>> we check the other stories with ron claiborne. >> good morning, everyone. just three days after the chilean miners were freed, news of two, serious mine accidents elsewhere. in china, at least 20 miners were killed in a mine explosion this morning south of beijing. that blast trapped 17 workers. in ecuador, 4 miners are trapped almost 500 feet underground after a mine collapse there. >>> there could be peace talks in afghanistan that could include the taliban. general david petraeus has confirmed that coalition forces have allowed taliban representatives to travel to kabul to meet with afghan government officials. however, petraeus says the discussions are only preliminary at this point. >>> and botox has been approved as a treatment for migraine headaches. the food and drug administration has given the okay for botox injections for patients who have migraines at least 15 days in a month. doctors would inject patients every 12 weeks to dull the pain of the migraine attacks. >>> and the last of ponzi sch

joining us, cnn contributor and senior political columnist of the daily beast.com john avlon. here in republican, former newt gingrich aide rich gailon. and democratic pollster cornell belcher. gloria borger. >> i don't like the idea when you said "it annoys me," you looked at me. >> he's a very smart guy but he likes to throw flames sometimes. he put out this memo today that says to republicans, i have it too, engage in the tax debate, engage in the size of government debate, amen, let's have that debate. but why this line? you should use this vivid contrast between the tax raising, job killing agenda of the democrats and the low tax agenda of the republicans as a way to reinforce the choice for voters this far. let's have that debate. which future do i want? more food stamps or more paychecks? >> that's classic newt. he has said that in every speech -- you have two futures. let me just say this, though, i won't take a long time, that we had this -- this is the same kind of thing that went on during the debate over welfare reform way, way back when, the title of which was, pe