joining me now to help peel apart these mitt romneys is jonathan capeheart and maggie haberman.hink the basic principles, he will negotia with the congress he gets. when he's in massachusetts, which is really he sort of derived his persona from at the debate and he's dealing with a legislature that is filled with democrats, he reaches across the aisles, he cuts deals, he has universal health care. it's hard to imagine mitt romney standing up to the republicans in congress and demanding to do everything in a bipartisan way. >> right. >> so is that it? it's really just about who he's dealing with and what kind of deals are open there to be struck? >> i wouldn't -- i mean, the mitt romney we saw on wednesday is not the mitt romney we've been seeing on this campaign trail, at all. and you know, the idea that he is going to go to washington and reach across the aisle, there's a congress there that doesn't want to reach across the aisle. they want hip, if he gets elected, to do what they say. and on top of that, he didn't mention his name, but paul ryan would be his vice president. pa

mark halperin, maggie haberman.e'll get the latest on the outspoken school girl whose activism made her the target of the taliban. >>> plus, will tonight's vice presidential debate move the race in the critical swing states? we'll talk to democratic caucus vice chair, coming up on "andrea mitchell reports" only on msnbc. >> who am i? why am i here? two years ago, the people of bp made a commitment to the gulf. bp has paid over twenty-three billion dollars to help those affected and to cover cleanup costs. today, the beaches and gulf are open, and many areas are reporting their best tourism seasons in years. and bp's also committed to america. we support nearly 250,000 jobs and invest more here than anywhere else. we're working to fuel america for generations to come. our commitment has never been stronger. your doctor will say get smart about your weight. i tried weight loss plans... but their shakes aren't always made for people with diabetes. that's why there's glucerna hunger smart shakes. they have carb steady,

the intrepid maggie haberman of politico joins us. and "new york times" magaz

the intrepid maggie haberman o

let me read you a quote from maggie haberman at "politico". >> sure.: post-debate the president's campaign was spinning valiantly in the media center that no mistake among democratic operatives here and in other states that obama blew it. if that is the thinking of the mainstream media, how do you try to counterer that notion? >> well, listen, governor romney delivered a great work of performance art last night. something that think clint eastwood would be proud of, but on substance, his positions were just as the in as the chair that mr. eastwood had on stage. the president's goal last night was to lay out his plan to restore economic security for middle class for undecided voter tuning into the campaign for the first time. i think he achieved that. governor romney locked himself into number of positions last night. recommitting to tax breaks for companies that ship jobs overseas and a medicare plan that would turn medicare into a voucher and cost seniors more than $6,000 out-of-pocket for their health insurance that won't pay long term dividends for