back with us now, daily call senior contributor matt lewis and karen finney, former dnc spokesperson. karen icut you off at the top of the hour to go to the president. i want to start with you. this story seems to have some legs now. can herman cain continue to stonewall? >> probably not. and again, what we were talking about at the top of the hour was now that it seems we will have an actual human being who will be able to come forward. we can look her in the eye. we can listen to her story and make a judgment. that really changes the dynamics of the conversation that we were having. you know, the other thing that i find disappointing and surprising, although i think most people have tried to be very careful as we talked about this, think about the report that you just were talking about in terms of sexual harassment and the rates that we're seeing. we have to be very careful that we don't send a message to young people that this is in any way, shape or form tolerated at the highest levels of our society. so i think it's important that, yes, we're going to have to judge whether or no

is trying to engage him, what he is doing is appealing to base impulses and the electorate as karen finney said has no understanding of the critical nature of me sojinizing and sexism, herman is the other black meat. this is our black guy as ann coulter said. his a hyperer investment to prove that the republicans are not racist and they can receive the leadership of a black man. it's a convergence of the worst of both worlds. >> it's offensive and we will end up back on hannity with this conversation, but what the heck. >> you are on that show more than ours. >> it's offensive because i agree with what they are saying. to think that i know, they have a black so let's get one of our blacks and it's all even. what an offensive statement that ann coulter was making. my god. >> the people and races. karen finy and michael eric dyson, thank you for joining us. next on this veteran's day, the president honors america's bravest men and women. stay with us. [ male announcer ] want to achieve more with your money? pnc virtual wallet gathers your spending and saving in one place. credit and debit pu

karen finney, ken vogel and professor michael eric dyson.utation, and my name. isn't that a bit rich coming from a man who repeatedly refers to his accusers as troubled women? or women in tough financial straits? >> absolutely true. i mean, this is a bit of a hypocrisy blowing back in his face. the disregard for women, the disrespect for women has evoked this response from a woman who voluntarily came forth to subject herself to ridicule and dismissal as the other woman. and who put all of her wares so to speak on the table. the phone records, the late night calls and so on and so forth to say don't disrespect other women and treat them as if they're somehow engaging in hyperbolebly or exaggeration because you want to win the presidency and the ultimate sweepstakes to occupy the oval office. but herman cain has been so obviously damaging to these other women that this woman stemmed forward. so i think that to suggest that we're attacking his character is as you say a bit rich. the reality is if character is the read that cat for your service

political an list karen finney and politico chief investigative reporter ken vogel joins me from washington. karen, mr. cain has fired at almost everyone. the democratic party, rick perry, he's blamed the accusers, accusing them of fabrication. what was your reaction when his campaign chief mark block made up a story about her son? >> number one he know that mr. block is completely not ready for prime time mr. smoky, right? we've shown that that for some time. the whole blaming the victim. we're the victim. we're being victimized mentality that i think has gotten them into trouble. when politico first came to them with the story, they had ten days to come up with a credible answer. and instead know what did we see when the stories came snout all this obje the changing of answers. >> who is the young man? >> he has no connection to karen kraushaar. he is not related to her. he said she was his mother. he did work at politico. he covered house races. he went on to the national journal where he is an editor for the hotline covering house races and congressional races. he tweeted that he was no

political analyst and dnc communications direct director karen finney and mark insburg, a middle eastdviser to president carter. as i watch this debate on saturday, it was almost as if the candidates were suffering a form of collective amnesia and the last ten years never happened. mitt romney talks about invade iran, but isn't that what happened in iraq? how well did that go? >> the fact is it's disappointing for those of us who are professionals in the foreign policy area. to listen to this slogan that it would make ronald reagan roll over in his grave. for mitt romney to oversimplify what especially is an extraordinarily complex problem and it's not merely that iran had a nuclear weapon. our ally israel has to contend. how do we defend israel if there is an attack by iran. how do you deal with the consequences of the resources we need to get the international support to deal with iran. you cannot merely say that you are going to stop iran from having a nuclear weapon when both former republican secretary of defense gates and democratic secretary of defense panetta, both served that

and karen finney is an msnbc political analyst and former dnc communications director. now, karen, we'll get to the name game in a minute. let's start with newt gingrich on immigration. did he put himself in the conservative dog house defending long material undocumented workers? we saw how well that worked for rick perry. >> yeah. but newt gingrich is crazy like a fofl. i think it was a politically calculated move. it gives him an opportunity to move more to the center. this is clearly a play for a general election issue. knowing that the latino vote will be very important. it moves hill to the center a little on an issue where mitt romney is trying to be more to the right. and remember, newt gingrich has plenty of other crazy that he talks about when he talks about things like, little children scrub toilets and telling peel to go take a bath. i have to say that was part of, though, why i think again we need to be very suspicious of newt. he is a little like a sociopath. on the one hand, he is talking about high schoumanity and the compassion. and he is saying little ki

. >> sean: well, karen finney was on nbc news talking about that there's a layer of black sexuality infused into this. the g.o.p., how are they going to react to a black man being sexually aggressive towards a woman, especially a blonde? i mean, these type of racial comments that have been made, this happens to every african-american conservative i know. what does this tell you now that you've been through all of this in the campaign about race, politics, and america and those that are black and conservative? >> what i see, sean, and what you just spoke of is not what we see on the campaign trail. again, i think these are vicious attacks on mr. cain's character because he has risen in the poll, and quite frankly, you have to admit. it's been an unconventional campaign with an unconventional candidate, and those in the inner circle or the washington elite just don't understand why this is happening. but if you get out of the beltway of washington, dc and see how his programs are resonated, the fact that he not only talks about the problems but offers solutions, especially 999. that has reson

. >> let's bring in our panel and democratic strategist crystal ball and karen finney, former communicationsector for the dnc. aren't they doing romney's work for him by talking him up as the likely nominee regardless of the rise of other candidates? >> i think they had to do the work of the other candidates for them. by now you would see an engagement and the campaigns that we are not really seeing. they thought it was penitentiary that they get the message that they get that early and often. there is so much in terms of switching positions. >> i guess the bottom line is they don't really need to attack newt gingrich. poison out life politically. >> they will not temporarily forget the things and mitt will be the nominee. the president is beating newt gingrich by 6 percentage points and 1 to 2% against romney. they drudge up the past. they think about newt. is it possible that he could be the nominee? >> i think it is. this new hampshire endorsement is a new deal. analysis with the bump in new hampshire. he has a clear path in iowa and they come into play. mitt romney is the front-runner an

joining me to talk about it, karen finney, msnbc political analyst and former dnc communications directoru chief. good to see you. in the book, your former boss wonders why president obama and congressional democrats did not make a stronger case for stimulus back in 2009. he also blames the democrats for not crafting a national message. how much of a problem has messaging been for this administrati administration? >> it's been a big problem. everyone from president obama to lots of folks admitted that. the point of president clinton, there's two big points to make about president clinton's comments here. this point was, there were a lot of good things in the stimulus and a lot of things that worked. democrats should have and could have done a better job talking about what those things are and he's right. i think, again, the obama administration has admitted that communication in the beginning was not something they were as strong on as they could be. another strong point on president clinton, remember that president clinton when he came to office, he was very much, and i happen to agree w

joining us from washington, msnbc analyst and former dnc communications director karen finney. i want to begin with you. you heard the offensive critique that newt gingrich offered, telling protesters to have a bath and get a job. these protesters have a point. they looked at what's happened on wall street and have seen the global economy tank and haven't seen one criminal prosecution for anything. they are justified. they are getting pepper sprayed. >> they are beyond justified. peaceful protests have a long and important history in the country and that's all these kids were doing at the uc davis campus last friday. the reward for that is pepper spray as if he was watering the lawn. it's beyond inexcusable. the police should have relieved of their duties and the chancellor should be relieved. this is beyond unacceptable. >> you were referencing an image? >> it reminded me probably even worse. it will probably have the lasting image as that 67 pentagon image where the student was putting the flower power into a barrel of a gun at the pentagon and had a lasting image, a powerful

karen finney, susan del percio, and jimmy williams. you're shaking your hand, i think, channeling america right now, karen. >> it's shocking. i mentioned this before on this network. i actually worked with children who'd been sexually abused. actually, i'd prefer to say that they were raped. because i think these kids have to endure such a violent act that we should be able to say, as adults, admit what they have to deal with. and it's stunning. it is stunning the that anybody who saw anything or heard anything didn't immediately go to the police. and as you said, every single day, we're finding out some new piece of information. and again, i think it's important that we talk about this as what it is. i think that's important for the victims, that they are not re-victimized in this process. they were raped by a predator. it was not just abuse or fondling, or whatever, taking a shower, or whatever. they were raped. >> and it's also important that everyone sees that there are consequences for everyone along the way that knew something. th

i was just talking to karen finney, a democratic consultant, who said the business press can simply issue statement and move on. with the political press, we're not satisfied with that. isn't that a fair estimate of this guy's inability to deal with something which has become a ball of wax for this guy, if that's the right word? >> well, sure, chris. and i would point out that for most of this year, cain has learned from the political press in his experience as a lower tier presidential candidate, that if you mess up verbally but keep talking, you can usually talk your way out of it. that's how he handled it when he said, at first that he wouldn't want muslims in his cabinet and then backtracked on that. that's how he tried to handle just last month some muddled statements he made about his position on abortion. this is a much more serious issue because it involves legal questions, it involves character questions. it's not just about how -- >> he's smart. it's like, you can't keep erasing the blackboard and starting over. dana milbank, you're a funny guy, but i'll tell you, the republican

. >> msnbc political analyst michael steele and karen finney a former communication director for theonal committee and dan is the washington chief correspondent and author of everybody's must read these monday morns "the take." it's 36 days. we were just talking. i had operatives who were veterans of campaigns shaking their head going, this is the weirdest feeling of a month out from an actual presidential caucus state where you still have no idea where this race is going. >> you have some idea where it is going, but you have no idea why it is operating the way it is operating. the way campaigns are operating defies everything we know about campaigning. at this point, you expect some engagement. the only engagement we see are in debates and much of that came earlier in the debates and not even in the recent debates. i think a lot of these candidates are afraid to go after somebody for fear that it will boom rang against them. >> it's interesting, gingrich versus romney, michael steele, they have the old cold war mentality, but here's what mitt romney did say about newt just a little

. >> karen finney's been pointing out this man's absolute incompetence when it comes to policy. so he should get out anyway. but i think he's going to create the illusion that this woman or these women are doing this for financial gain. it's a classic diversionary tactic. it's used by sportsmen around the world. it's used now by politicians. it's used by the republican presidential candidate. the question i have for him is, how is it possible that five -- potentially five individual women are motivated by money to make allegations that are so shocking and disturbing, frankly. this is a man who allegedly takes a woman's head, while he's sitting in his car, and forces it towards his groin. that's, in my view, close to sexual assault. this isn't something to be joking about. so he's got to give us a better answer today at 5:00 than just, "they're after money." this woman, sharon bialek, has said she's not interested in any money. she didn't ask for any money from nbc. she did an interview with cnn. she did an interview with nbc. she's not asking for money. but that, i think, is wha

. >>> i'm joined with anne kornblut, former dnc communications director, karen finney and robert trainth you. the influential union leader newspaper endorses newt gingrich. is this a game change sner. >> it's a very big deal. it's a coveted endorsement. no question. certainly, today the romney campaign is not happy. this definitely put a kink in their strategy, no question. it remains to be seen whether or not it's really a game changer. again, the conversation we've been having about newt is that this is a guy who rises and falls but has a bad tendency to shoot himself in the foot when he rises to prominence. whether or not he can capture the momentum out of this, do well in iowa, then do well in new hampshire and actually stay in the game remains to be seen. it's a very good start. >> i don't know, robert. karen seems too giddy about all of this. do you think that ultimately this could be -- is it good or bad for the gop? >> i don't know if it's good or bad. it's good for gingrich. let put this in perspective. joe mcquaide and the manchester leader and so forth, they have endorsed pe

. >> joining me now, karen finney, former communications director for the dnc and analyst, robert trains reporter for usa today. good to see you. you guys are regulars. thanks for being here. jackie, i'll begin with you. there's a war weary public in america right now. could jon huntsman gain traction with the message of bringing our troops home. >> he said this before. i don't know what will get jon huntsman traffic at this point. it seems like he says something and a lot of us talk about it and it never happens. while people may agree with him on that issue, i just -- i don't know why he's not connecting. but he doesn't seem to with the republican -- this republican primary. >> okay. karen, i want to ask you about a comment by mitt romney on iran. we're going to play it. >> republican candidates for their parties nomination. the focus will be foreign policy and national -- iran will have a new -- if you like me as the next president, they will not have a nuclear weapon. >> what do you make of that statement? could he really use that in a general election? >> i think that that was an a

chief of the comcast network and karen finney. msnbc political analyst.people are angry with politicians in washington. what does this mean for the election which is one year from today. >> it means president obama has a rough road a led head. there are a lot of metrics suggesting that he couldn't be re-elected. no president has been re-elected in this -- in a climate as gloomy as this one in recent memory. now, that said and what you're going to hear from team obama and the white house, he'll be running against somebody. somehow the republicans aren't faring better than he is. if romney is the republican nominee, it will be a tough race. it doesn't look as if some of the economic factors will change between now and then. it will be an important sales job for the president. >> karen, the post points out that the choice americans face in 2012 goes beyond the candidates, more than ever it is a choice between two sharply different ideologies and visions for american's future. what's your take on that? >> that's absolutely right. approximate we go to the laye