we are grateful jonathan martin joins us this evening. good he is the senior reporter for public ago. thank you for being here. fellowalk about the citizens impacted by this dangerous storm, your sense on how the campaigns navigate these storms. good >> it is a slow rolling reaction, starting yesterday. both campaigns have been canceling more of events, and both will be dark until at least tomorrow. i have talked with historians, trying to figure out when the campaign for president of the united states -- will effectively shut down while folks are voting and a week before: open nationally. it is a remarkable turn of events, and i do not think anyone knows what the outcome will be. tavis: i am a sports guy, so in any particular game, if there is something that causes a stoppage in the play, some rained out games, it always depends whether they were making a comeback. it does have an impact if they have to stop for the weather. might this be the situation politically, that one side will be harmed if they have this stoppage? >> i think that

thank you very much, joan walsh -- not that there is something wrong with it -- jonathan martin, thankou. the debate and its aftermath becomes fodder for the comedians. >> time to go full-blown tyson, show up in the next debate with a face tattoo, not one of those subtle ones, but one of these jobs. [ feedback ] attention, well, everyone. you can now try snapshot from progressive free for 30 days. just plug this into your car, and your good driving can save you up to 30%. you could even try it without switching your insurance. why not give it a shot? carry on. now you can test-drive snapshot before you switch. visit progressive.com today. >>> i think we can probably stop worrying about the obama campaign is surely going to be well outspent by romney's. the obama campaign and the dnc announced they have raised $181 million just last month and that's just ten shy of the amount they raised in september of 2008. no word yet on how much the romney campaign has raised. we'll be right back. >>> well, jim, when it comes to jobs, president obama prefers what i call a trickle down government sol

thank you very much, joan walsh -- not that there is something wrong with it -- jonathan martin, thankbate and it's aftermath 's becomes fodder for the comedians. >> time to go full-blown tyson, show up in the next debate with a face tattoo, not one of those subtle ones, but one of these jobs. [ chuckles ] ♪ [ honk! ] ♪ [ honk! ] ♪ [ honk! ] ♪ [ male announcer ] now you'll know when to stop. [ honk! ] the all-new nissan altima with easy fill tire alert. [ honk! ] it's our most innovative altima ever. nissan. innovation that excites. ♪ is the same frequent heartburn treatment as prilosec otc. now with a fancy coating that gives you a burst of wildberry flavor. now why make a flavored heartburn pill? because this is america. and we don't just make things you want, we make things you didn't even know you wanted. like a spoon fork. spray cheese. and jeans made out of sweatpants. so grab yourself some new prilosec otc wildberry. [ male announcer ] one pill each morning. 24 hours. zero heartburn. satisfaction guaranteed or your money back. >>> i think we can probably stop worrying about the

jonathan martin is the senior political reporter with politico and joan wap shall is editor-at-largeor salon. that's author of "what's the mat we are white people." i said it like i'm supposed to talk. this idea of -- let's talk tactics. does biden go in and nail ryan for what he stood there for all those years. put it in the present tense. you want to voucherize medicare, you are an ayn rand ideologue who wants to shift wealth. >> the short answer is yes. my reporting indicates from talking to both camps that biden is going to be the aggressor. he is going to go through the transcript from last week in denver, and the places where president obama either did not raise or didn't fully prosecute the issue against romney, biden will do so against ryan. it's the entitlements, it's the auto bailout, and i think also it's the issues around romney. perhaps the income taxes, his 47% comments. this is going to be, i think, a full-throated joe biden thursday night in kentucky, and i think what they also want to do, the biden folks, is try to get ryan into the weeds. they want to get ryan in a

jonathan martin, you have spent some time follows this joe biden around the obama biden campaign. etting your tie adjusted right now. we want to you have injure tie on straight for this. jonathan, just based on-- based on watching joe biden on the trail and you know what the obama-biden team has been doing. how did joe biden come across tonight. what did he accomplish in. >> judy, this was the full joe biden. joe biden in full tonight. what you saw this evening, here at centre colleges with what people who have been watching him on the campaign trail, not just this year but the last 40 years in american politics has seen. he is demon strattive, at times over the top. he is what he is. some folks like t others don't. but it's raw, it's authentic and it's certainly real. look, i think he had some clear blows tonight on paul ryan, on substance, certainly on the issue about whether or not ryan wanted to have a stimulus in wisconsin for his district. on question about its entitlements in this country, certainly on the romney comment over the 47% of americans who don't pay taxes. the big

jonathan martin joins me now. let's talk about -- >> hi, andrea. >> mitt romney or at least he is clearly moderating a lot of what he has said, the tone is different, the words are different, you hear empathy, caring. >> right. >> talking about the suffering of the american business. >> middle class, income. >> softer mitt romney and don't hear outcries from the conservative right. they want to win. >> i've been so struck about how muted the response has been, not just after the debate, but even going back to where governor romney told nbc's ron allen that his state health care plan showed his empathy. that's the kind of thing that would typically drive conservatives crazy who don't believe using government is a way of showing empathy. andrea i was struck and i'm sure you were too, how many times did romney say that he was not trying to push some big tax cut plan. i mean, jack kemp must be spinning in his grave, the orthodox in the republican party has been that big tax cuts, especially for high earners, lead to e

jonathan martin. coming up, the battle for the female vote, can't help republicans when congressman joe walsh says concern for the health of the woman is just an excuse to have an abortion. kathleen turner comes here, the kathleen turner, to fight the fight for women. also it got hot in senate debates across the country. check out that bout between sherrod brown and his republican opponent josh mandel. >> being called a liar, a liar by the winner of the pants on crown fire is just a pretty remarkable thing for a young man to say or for a man of any age to say in a political debate. >> that was one of the many roundhouse punches thrown last night in senate debates around the country. we're going to bring you the important action. it's going to get hot here. >>> and monday, the last of the presidential debates coming up now. this one on foreign policy. a home game for the president, but the president needs to put out the bottom line on what happened in benghazi and get it over with. let me finish with t

chuck todd is nbc's chief white house correspondent and political director, and jonathan martin is politico's senior political reporter. i brought you on as the big brains. i was at the al smith dinner. a bunch of rich irish, i get it. the fact of the matter -- >> finger on the pulse. >> not regular. this thing seems to be drifting around. i don't want to bring a lot of numbers in. is there a drift, a turn, is it moving towards romney clearly ever since that first debate? is that a safe assessment or is it not? >> i think it moved clearly in romney's direction. i think it is now sort of sitting there. the question is does he still have a little momentum or did the president stop him? and, you know, that's -- >> so that's -- a little more momentum left, but he gained ground. >> he gained a lot of ground. this is a coin flip race. it's about whether mitt romney can break through in the three midwestern states, ohio, iowa, and wisconsin. it's the only way the math works. >> you're implying it's going to be so close in the popular vote that these electoral decisions are going to really matter. >>

chuck todd is nbc's chief white house correspondent and political director, and jonathan martin is politico'senior political reporter. gentlemen, i brought you on as the big brains. now, i want some big brains. i was at the al smith dinner. a bunch of rich irish, i get it. the fact of the matter -- some of the guys are smart. i get it. >> finger on the pulse. >> not regular. this thing seems to be drifting around. i don't want to bring a lot of numbers in. they all conflict with each other. is there a drift, a turn, is it moving towards romney clearly ever since that first debate? is that a safe assessment or is it not? >> i think it moved clearly in romney's direction. i think it is now sort of sitting there. the question is does he still have a little momentum or did the president stop him? and, you know, that's -- >> so that's -- a little more momentum left, but he gained ground. >> he gained a lot of ground. this is basically an even race, a coin flip race, whether mitt romney can breakthrough in the three midwestern states, ohio, iowa, and wisconsin. it's the only way the math works. >>

jonathan martin was on the ground for the debate in denver. you say romney took the debate stage with the top republican verging on panic. did this turnaround for them? >> they are backing away from the edge. there is no question that this was a make or break moment for governor romney. if he had not shown up like he did in denver, you would have seen a really ugly scene here. a lot of folks in his party would have backed away from him. this puts him back in the game, it restores confidence among other people running for the house and senate this year who are now happy to be seen with him. it gives them a real boost when they desperately need it. he still has problems and a lot of swing states. this puts them back in the game, it turns around the narrative. i am curious to see the next wave of polling. if he is closing the gap in the swing states, there will be immense pressure on president obama to show up in the second debate. >> the president's critics have said that he was essentially sleepwalking through history here, like he wanted to be

mar, jonathan mart martin.iden, first of all for the opposition, you're on defense, michael. >> always on defense. >> what does mr. ryan have to do to fend off the older, perhaps more seasoned veterans tonight? >> i think what he has to do is not get down in the weeds of the numbers but take those numbers and translate them into real people, real stories out there, very much as you saw romney do at the beginning of the delate last time. it really set the tone for where he was going to go and how he was going to frame the discussion. so i think to the extent he can do that, it gets him in some good ground. >> does he have the ability to nail the guy on where the weedy decisions on vouchers, on person 45 hood, on cuts of things like capital gains, and getting rid of estate taxes and lowering the top individual rate. all the wealth going to the top people, can biden nail him on that stuff? >> i did an interview with the vice president back in august and he hasn't done very many ser interviews. we talked about this

jonathan martin from politico. i have one more statistic to put out. as somebody who has been with me having to cover obama for so long, obama had more air time speaking. guess who uttered 500 more words than the president last night? mitt romney. we did the check. 7,890 words. obama, 7,354. it goes to the ideas and explains he was listless and a little bit, shall we say, he pondered a long time. >> we've seen him ponder a lot in the speeches. it was business consultant versus college professor. sort of harvard versus harvard. no question harvard business school versus harvard law school. no question that president obama showed his campaign has been doing the work for him and mitt romney has been doing the work for his campaign. we'll see what happens going forward. pout a question, the obama supporters were on their heels last night. were disappointed. wondering, where was this guy who they've been seeing in the tv commercials going so hard at mitt romney? he was clearly trying to be too presidential and not going after romney. >> we can't escape the

joining me now, jonathan martin.hank you very much for being with us. >> hey, andrea. >> we have both candidates practicing in debate camp. paul ryan spending time in virginia over the weekend and practicing with ted olsson, the former state police tolicitor ge biden practicing with chris holland. what does that tell you about how they are trying to prepare? >> van hollan is the ranking member of the budget committee. he knows ryan well. he knows ryan is a font of information. he can crunch numbers with the best of them and van holland is one of the best republicans in the country to go toe to toe with ryan in the number game. ted olsson is a brilliant courtroom lawyer capable of the rhetorical flourishes we know joe biden is famous for. both are good fits. this is going to be a year y where the vp debate could have outsize importance. there is pressure on biden to deliver after president obama's poor performance last week. also, this is a campaign where president obama is running as much against paul ryan's ideas as

social security, medicare, and drive that home this week. >> jonathan martin, senior political reporter for politico, his work available online at politico.com, thank you for joining us. joining us here now is richard benedetto, professor at american university in washington, d.c. joining us from florida is robert watson, a professor from lynn university, which is hosting the final presidential debate later this month. thanks for being with us. watson, i want to begin with you -- do vp debates matter? >> yes, they do. if i could go back, i like jonathan's comments and agree with them completely. in terms of the presidential preparation, they also try to recreate the actual stage they will use in the debate to try to make these folks as comfortable as possible. with biden going on the attack presumably in this debate, that is not an entirely new role for the vice president. all the way back to 1960 when vice was picked as ike's president, vice presidents have been used in that attack role. remember in 1976 how frustrated bob dole was one camp did not go -- when kemp did not go on the att

politico's jonathan martin joins us now. hey, jonathan.hat a gorgeous day here on this beautiful campus. let's talk about the five things to watch. you think that mitt romney has to get off to a strong start the first half hour. >> his first impression for millions of americans. come out and show how he can be president, that he belongs on the same stage with the president. and then his indictment of the president but also tell the story about what he wants to do in the next four years. he has to get a lot done in the first half an hour because it's a cliche, but the first impression does count. >> and how -- the second thing is how hard will president obama come out swinging? >> i think president obama's entire campaign going back tokts of last year, andrea, against governor romney has been really tough, really aggressive and i think you're going to see that once again tonight. he will say mitt, you ssupport same policies that got us into this mess, he will go after the tax cuts for the rich, wall street regulations, we know what he's goi

joining us is jonathan martin is been writing about this debate for politico.or being with us. how important is this debate in light of what was the last week in denver? >> steve, i think he touched on the biggest reason why this debate could be more important than these under cards typically are. that is because there is pressure on joe biden to stand and deliver, and to change the narrative from what we've had the last few days. which is a fact given president obama's weak performance in denver, that mitt romney for the first time it seemed a real bump in the polls, and in some states is polling narrowly ahead. so i think biden will try to turn that around, put paul ryan and the gop ticket back on the defensive and at the same time the burden is on trying to keep the mojo going, keep romney's sort of balance here a life released a few more days until the president and mitt romney face off again next week. so i think that's the biggest reason why this thing matters. also one important point and that is this is one of the first perhaps the only campaign where o

host: jonathan martin -- a few days ago in politico.com i.p. writes that republicans are genuinely intrigued and the prospect of pennsylvania. they may strike with advertising in the philadelphia and pittsburgh markets. guest: that is what we have just been talking about. if weput it this way -- give governor romney virginia and florida, not out of the question period to 140 electoral votes with the state seats -- the magic numbers to a 70. ohio has a team, which is why they are seriously competing -- that gets into 266, 4 short. therefore he only has to win one of the other four baburam states view of uncovering -- battleground states that you have been covering. if he wins one. if he loses ohio, he needs a combination of three of the four, a much bigger hurdle. if he could win pennsylvania, that is 20 electoral votes. the thinking is that he has got to win one or the other. he has got to win pennsylvania or ohio. if he wins pennsylvania and the president were to lose my stay, i think he loses the presidential election. everybody could see tha

changing political landscape out here in a battleground state and chris cizilla, dan balls and jonathan martine on what to watch for tonight. "andrea mitchell reports" live in denver on msnbc. >> i'm meteorologist bill karins with your big travel forecast. big changes in the midwest but until the cold air arrives a warm day from minneapolis to kansas city, all the way coun through texas. we do have a soupy airs mass, humidity in the air along the eastern seaboard. a chance of showers, but they will be isolated during the day today. the cool air arrives in chicago tomorrow. or get the yard ready for cool an energy weather?n to size? the answer? a lot less. the great american fix-up is going on now... ...with new projects every week and big savings every day. so you can do what needs to be done. today. more saving. more doing. that's the power of the home depot. right now, owens corning ecotouch attik insulation is only $11.87 a roll. that's a good thing, but it doesn't cover everything. only about 80% of your part b medical expenses. the rest is up to you. so consider an aarp medicare supplemen

we thank you both jonathan martin and ari shapiro. both of you joining us from the debate site at hofstra university in new york. so come back here to our two guests, gwen. david and mark. is there any danger though that the difference that we saw in president obama tonight was so different that there's any risk in a different persona >> the risk as michael and jonathan were talking about was the iciness and the coldness. michael earlier. how that plays. it's clearly the people who are on their side they're going to love that. how those who are undecided and persuadable, the two of them are not likable in this context. they're not warm and fuzzy. for people who are judging more a personality, who is like me? who gets me? i'm not sure they see each of them saying, i want... he gets me. >> ifill: the president seemed determined to come back time and again to mitt romney's consistency or lack thereof on any number of issues. he kept circle being back to that >> he did. even where mitt romney had an advantage i thought on the president on

. >> let's go to politico, our friend jonathan martin with a look at the "playbook." athan. >> hey, willie. >> you guys are writing this morning about the big three, the three states that are going to determine this race. we talked about your battleground polling at the top of the show. we're talking ohio, florida and virginia. how does it shake out there? >> yeah, i track both the travel and the spending, willie, from the last two weeks. and that's the best measure that we have of what the campaigns are focusing on, where the candidates are going, where they're spending their money. and overwhelmingly, it's on those three states. if you look at just romney's schedule alone, over the last two weeks, he's been to those three states, he's had 15 events in those three states. and the other six battleground states, he's had a total of just three events. and financially both the republican super pacs and romney campaign, the obama campaign and his super pac, they've spent more cash in those three states than anywhere else. and if you look at ohio especially, the spending in