joining me now, ken vogel whose recent piece democrats lower sites on donors tackle this very issue. ken, thank you for joining us tonight. >> my pleasure tonight. >> eliot: if i read your article properly the super rich democrats are fleeing for the hills, basically saying to the president, don't chase us, we're not interested. >> there has been a little bit of this dynamic in play for most of this election cycle. a number of these wealthy democrats are philosophically opposed to the super pacs and raising and spending unlimited money in politics. as a result, they don't want to play the game. the operatives who are trying to get them back in the game, if you don't help, we're never going to address this legislatively and get fixes in terms of campaign finance that will change it. some of these donors are not happy with president obama. they believe he's been inefficiently aggressive on keystone issues most notably the environment. and some of them more selfishly perhaps don't think president obama and his team have done a good job with the "donor maintenance." in other words patting

politico ken vogel it here with us. ken, no republican has won the white house without winning ohio in the entire history of america. given your reporting at politico, this thing over? should we all go home? >> certainly the advantage obama is enjoying in ohio is something that cheers his supporters in his campaign, but they even acknowledge there's still a lodge way to go particularly to the economic trend line if the job reports have bad news. there's a chance for mitt romney to make it around the economy and hang the economy around obama's neck. if he does that, we'll see movement in ohio potentially. the other thing kind of favors romney even though president obama outraised him for the first time in august. we saw them just come out with their figures early it this morning. these outside groups that mitt romney has on the side are able to if he cannively bring a negative message in a different way than some candidates who rely on the outside groups to bolster their positives. a negative message is what mitt romney i

politico's ken vogel is in charlotte. the weekend before the dnc, i cannot imagine a worse time to have a messaging breakdown. what's your sense on the ground, are they scrambling to try and fix this or are they going to let it hang there and hope it goes away, what are you sensing on the ground? >> they've been really struggling with this question for months. it is the central question in the election and it's kind of a catch-22 for them. they don't want to say yes, because they do look insensitive to the economic suffering. they don't want to say no, republicans are quick. we saw mitt romney doing so just recently, so instead they have this nuanced answer you would be worse off if we hadn't have done the things and the steps we took. you hear joe biden taking an alternate attack saying we are better off because obama bin laden is dead and general motors is alive, but not the majority of americans are coming up with an answer that does not look good for the obama administration. >> you touched on the exact right answer,

we're still waiting on that. >> jonathan capehart ken vogel, thank you to both. >>> next team romney, union men? stay with us. >> i want to see some experienced referees with nfl experience come back onto the nfl playing fields. >> i have a lot of good friends, the owner of the miami dolphins and the new york jets, both owners are friends of mine. [ male announcer ] at scottrade we believe the more you know, the better you trade. so we have ongoing webinars and interactive learning, plus, in-branch seminars at over 500 locations, where our dedicated support teams help you know more so your money can do more. [ rodger ] at scottrade, seven dollar trades are just the start. our teams have the information you want when you need it. it's another reason more investors are saying... [ all ] i'm with scottrade. i didn't think it was anything. i had pain in my abdomen... it just wouldn't go away. i was spotting but i had already gone through menopause. these symptoms may be nothing... but they could be early warning signs of a gynecologic cancer, such as cervical ovarian, or uterine cancer. f

. >> ken vogel, his chief investigative reporter and kevin bacon is the political editor. ed to explain his hypocrisy on the sequester, or how he can balance the budget while vastly increasing the military spending, will anybody be able to look at boehner in the eyes? >> you see from the personal tone, some of this criticism, it's not just about the ryan plan, or the sequester, or his requesting stimulus funds or criticizing him on the campaign trail, they're really going after him personally. >> it's pointless being polite about this. it's just hypocrisy. >> you often have where a member of congress is running for president or vice president and they present this long track record of votes that you can ding them on. saying one thing on the campaign trail, but voting a different way during their long congressional careers in some cases. but with paul ryan, it's different, because it's just not that he's cast these votes, but that he is a primary author of this plan, the ryan plan. drew attention to his budget hypocrisy last night. >> get rid of tax interests and lower tax r

ken vogel, josh borro, thanks for your time tonight. >> thanks a lot, elliot. >>> the wife of (vo) this program is presented by american express. welcome to the possibilities of membership. welcome in. american express. we've all had those moments. when you lost the thing you can't believe you lost. when what you just bought, just broke. or when you have a little trouble a long way from home... as an american express cardmember you can expect some help. but what you might not expect, is you can get all this with a prepaid card. spends like cash. feels like membership. nah, he's probably got... [ dennis' voice ] allstate. they can bundle all your policies together. lot of paperwork. actually... [ dennis' voice ] an allstate agent can help do the switching and paperwork for you. well, it probably costs a lot. [ dennis' voice ] allstate can save you up to 30% more when you bundle. well, his dog's stupid. [ dennis' voice ] poodles are one of the world's smartest breeds. ♪ ♪ bundle and save with an allstate agent. are you in good hands? climate change has gone from theoretical to real and th

has been marching sssten cal, a joining us is jonathan capehart, washington post columnist, and ken vogelf investigative reporter for politico. i need to start by plang you a clip at a paul ryan rallyod whoold san get off welfare. she asks him what he should do -- what she should do. his answer is that w must grow the economy, not allow the president's welfare work requirement. then in a long, rambling answer, this is what he recommends hot hand out. teach a man to fish, he can feed himself for a life. don't simply feed fish. >> don't simply feed fish. >> that's not terribly empathetic -- or sympathetic. >>t's bonkers, isn't it 12? >> i don't know about bonkers. the poor man is stuck -- >> he's talking about feeding fish now. >> yes, he's talking about eding fish -- >> but he uses the erb,iv a fish once -- >> the problem he has is he's stuck in this mind set, in the long term a good thing to be worried about deficit and debt, anthe practice jeker to it's put this country on, but there's a woman sayi to m, onwee, wan to get off and i can't. she's looking to him -- >> she's actually working