and the very same lee atwater made the willie horton ad a key part of george h.w.1988 bid for the white house. and in 2012 the same ugliness took center stage in the gop primary. >> we know president obama is the best food stamp president in american history. >> i don't want to make black people's lives better by giving them somebody else's money. i want to give them the opportunity to go out and earn the money. >> you're doing it because you care about america. paul and i have not promised you a bigger check from the government. >> as atwater said, the message is coded. but what he's getting at is crystal clear. joining me now is toure, host of "the cycle" here on msnbc, and the man who tracked down the atwater tape, james carter iv. he's an opposition researcher and the grandson of president jimmy carter. thank you both for coming on the show. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> james, first of all, tell us how you got your hands on this tape. >> well, i started looking for it after some of the racially coded language in this campaign, and i came across this quote sev

if you remember, lee atwater and the willy horton fiasco, even to the point that at his death bed leepologized to the late brown for the strategy that they used. so they are in disarray. and we talked about this during the whole election return and that is that it's not about including the art of inclusion. you know, you can't get -- like newt gingrich said, five white guys get in a room, decide what they are going to do and their idea of outreach is to invite some black hispanic or woman in telling them what we've decided to do. that's not inclusion. >> no. >> that's not inclusion. >> not at all. nia-malika, though, there's a lot of finger pointing going on. what do you think? >> there is. as know said, there is a lot of finger pointing and this is a party in disarray. you saw over the last many years not only the southern strategy in play but a declining reliance, i think, on a realization that america is a diverse country. we saw a decline of 72%. there was a sign among republicans that this was still reagan's america. 88% of the share of the vote was white americans and that is ju

over from woodrow who's a student a leo he is a student of lee atwater and until the turd blossom is asked to go away that we don't want your caliber of politics we want decent politics we want to look like a party of decency again where we include all americans where we understand we can't win an election by simply gathering all the late low low hanging fruit in this country and expect it to be sustainable it's bashfully in light of the fact that we're getting ready to see a major demographic change that's going to take place in the next four years the reason they had to win the reason they had to win tonight was because if they didn't they didn't have the chance to prepare for that four years where they could have made national changes that would have made it more difficult to vote where they could have picked up more governorships that would have made it difficult to vote they had to win tonight because they understand the numbers just like all of us do we look at the numbers just like they do and we see the latino demographics changing the african-american change demographics cha

i remember lee atwater and others saying, years and years ago, we've got to have a bigger tent.ou can't have a party that is not inclusive of hispanics, that is not inclusive of african-americans, that is not inclusive of gays and lesbians, and hope to win an election. >> rick: now that the president doesn't have to worry about more campaigning, does he have a duty to try to unite this country? do you think that he really has to work at that? is that a part of his agenda? does it need to be over the next four years? there seems to be so much divisiveness in this country. >> it's awful. >> rick: is that the president's responsibility to try to help that? >> i think his mandate and maybe this is a little talking jew jet sue last week. i think his mandate is take this divided electorate, to take this divided electorate and take this divided house and try to heal it and with no campaigns in his future. frankly, no possibility of governing the way he did the first two years, which is basically all i need is the democrats and i can do it. he's going to make history and if he's going t

southern strategy that we will protect you -- >> and that's over ten years old nap goat back to lee atwater. >> to the '60s. we'll protect you from these black and brown people who want to take away from you, you know, via welfare, redistribution. >> abby, you know the party better than toure. >> not today i don't. >> is this a change in name only or are you seeing a real shift in the party? >> let me first say that i think karl rove and romney need to ride out into the sunset together. i think they've both been blackmailed by the party, which is not a surprise. this is inevitable. we knew it would happen. romney is an easy target right now. it's a ship that sunk and romney was the captain. no one wants to be a part of that right now. you see a lot of these people speaking as far as they can from the romney, the whole message that lost. but what you have to question is the authenticity. i've been surprised at how quickly some of these folks have come out like jindal. but you can't just say we can't be the stupid party anymore. the republican party needs to get back to results. i mean, you l

we need to be a big tent, as lee atwater said and as jack kemp agreed with. >> listen, reagan taughtff, too. reagan welcomed -- as a former governor of california, he welcomed the various immigrant groups coming in. >> always. >> jimmy, you're going to have a test now with this fiscal cliff business. will the republican leadership stay true to their economic principles, namely limited government, lower spending, low tax rate reform, et cetera, et cetera? or are they going to sound like democrats? in other words, everybody wants a deal, jimmy, but a bad deal be a bad idea. >> we have an economy which is not particularly strong. the last thing it needs is a bunch of tax hikes. i was heartened that speaker boehner said he was against raising marginal tax rate. there's other ways you can get revenue, whether through growth, getting rid of crony capitalist tax deductions. i think that's a great place to draw a line in the sand. >> we can't cave on -- >> jennifer ruben, you're not so much the economist. how do we right now, how does the gop get off to a better start on attracting a more in

the game is transparent but was further decoded by an infamous 1981 interview with lee atwater. after his death but it's veracity was still doubted until james carter iv went to the widow of the political scientist who originally interviewed atwater and got her to release the original sound and that's why we now hear the brilliant atwater explaining how to turn racial anxiety into votes. he says that the overtly racist appeals of the '50s will backfire by say 1968 so in the '70s and '80s they had to learn how to be more subtle. >> so you say stuff like forced busing, states rights and all that stuff. you're getting be a strukt now and you're talking about cutting tacks and all these things you're talking about are totally economic things and a by-product of them is that blacks get hurt worse than whites. and subconsciously maybe that is part of it i'm not saying that. but i'm saying that if it is getting that be a strukt and that coded, we are doing away with the racial problem one way or the another. >> it sounds like he would recognize that working in be a strux whether it's s

[cheers and applause] and our campaign chairman lee atwater.ur state chairmen and chairwomen and all of the organization's and the political clubs. i especially thank the young people who were always up at night putting up the signs. the people at those telephone banks and the ones to canvass door-to-door. there is a large gathering of volunteers right now at the washington hilton. folks, my heart is with you. many, many thank you for all that you have done for our nation's capital. i want to talk about my family. the fact is i would be nothing without them. our four sons, our daughter and my own barbara bush. i guess i shouldn't say she is my down anymore. forcing she will be the first lady of all the united states. -- for soon she will be the first lady of all the united states. and i thank god for the faith he has given me. as i grow older, i am more where that -- i am more aware of the spiritual element in life and i ask for god's help. and i thank the men and women of texas. the people here started with me in politics in 1962 and you never

the lee atwater tape substantiates something that people suspected. the republicans will say things and that is this honest and something putting republicans on the fast track to obsolescence. it is not necessarily the tone that is offensive. i hate to pull the race card but that is kind of the perception. perception becomes the reality. guest: chris matthews -- they think everything is racial-coded language. if you say susan rice is incompetent, that becomes racist. we have to have discussion and debate. i think if republicans and conservatives are compassionate -- i knew bush or one that brand associating it with innovations and spending. we disagree but how can i communicate that in a compassionate, loving way? host: matt lewis, senior contributor at the "daily caller." up next, dan glickman about whether congress can raise compromise on some key issues. also nick timiraos will talk about the shortfall. first a news update from c-span radio. >> in detonations talk on a new climate pact resume today. negotiators are discussing how to fight global wa