host: margaret talev, and the go to this headline in bloomberg.t does he do on his health care law, if anything? guest: so, it really is a little bit of the congress, and this will play out in fiscal cliff and debt reduction negotiations, but a lot of this is in the hands of the states and whether they want to engage on the medicare front and in setting up their own exchanges. this will play out fairly quickly in the coming weeks. the notion of a repeal effort of what mitt romney pledged is gone now. there will be tinkering around the edges and governors making decisions pitted the individual state will have a lot to do with how the state receives it. host: scott wilson, "the washington post," your colleague, "jobs will be the real test for obama." guest: i think that the second to the fiscal cliff. if all of the bush era tax cuts expire without any renewal, and all of the sequestration, across-the-board spending cuts take place, some economists estimate two, three, four points off of gdp, plunging the country into another recession. the best job

you can follow her on twitter at margaret talev or online at bloomberg.com. o you have on the program. >> david, great to talk to you. >> so first you're heading out on a big trip to asia tomorrow. president obama, the first u.s. president to visit burma. what's he doing on the trip? >> president obama goes to asia every year. they're trying to make a big deal that this will be his first stop after re-election but it is that time of year. he has set out to do this pivot to asia where the u.s. places a greater emphasis on building relations with the countries around china and with china at the same time and this is the southeast asia trip built around the east share summit in cambodia where he will also be the first u.s. president to go. so we will stop in thailand, in myanmar and burma and cambodia. it is the myanmar visit that is sort of narrativewise or -- most interesting. >> how so? >> well, part of it is just that there's been so much change there and move toward democracyityization but still a lot of problems and the now opposition leader who was in hous

margaret talev, jonathan martin, thank you both. >> thank yo w judy. >> woodruff: does the electorallege system work? political analyst eric black of minn post, a nonprofit news site, considers that question and offers some historical rspective, on our website.rs >> brown: and we turn from presidential politics to two looks at the battleor control of the senate. the "newshour" and npr have partnered with kantar meditrc- mag to examine television advertic-ng spending this campaign season. the final part of the project looked at competitive senate contests. among the most expensive races: in ohio, the candidates, their parties and oundide groups have spent more than $41 million to air 62,000 spots.ou in massachusetts, the total is $38 million on more than 50,000 spots, with little outside spending. in virginia, $37.5 million dollars have been used to air nearly 44,000 ads. in connecticut, more than $32 million has been spent on 19,000 ads. and in wisconsin there's been nearly $30 million on almost 66,000 spots. tamara keith has taken a close look at the data. she joins us now. you've t

host: margaret talev, and the go to this headline in bloomberg. what does he do on his health care law, if anything? guest: so, it really is a little bit of the congress, and this will play out in fiscal cliff and debt reduction negotiations, but a lot of this is in the hands of the states and whether they want to engage on the medicare front and in setting up their own exchanges. this will play out fairly quickly in the coming weeks. the notion of a repeal effort of what mitt romney pledged is gone now. there will be tinkering around the edges and governors making decisions pitted the individual state will have a lot to do with how the state receives it. host: scott wilson, "the washington post," your colleague, "jobs will be the real test for obama." guest: i think that the second to the fiscal cliff. if all of the bush era tax cuts expire without any renewal, and all of the sequestration, across-the-board spending cuts take place, some economists estimate two, three, four points off of gdp, plunging the country into another recession. the best

host: margaret talev, and the go to this headline in bloomberg. what does he do on his health care law, if anything? guest: so, it really is a little bit of the congress, and this will play out in fiscal cliff and debt reduction negotiations, but a lot of this is in the hands of the states and whether they want to engage on the medicare front and in setting up their own exchanges. this will play out fairly quickly in the coming weeks. the notion of a repeal effort of what mitt romney pledged is gone now. there will be tinkering around the edges and governors making decisions pitted the individual state will have a lot to do with how the state receives it. host: scott wilson, "the washington post," your colleague, "jobs will be the real test for obama." guest: i think that the second to the fiscal cliff. if all of the bush era tax cuts expire without any renewal, and all of the sequestration, across-the-board spending cuts take place, some economists estimate two, three, four points off of gdp, plunging the country into another recession. the best

host: "the wall street journal" says this -- margaret talev, who replaces let's start with hillary clinton? guest: it is a great question. i think the conventional wisdom is right in that there are two candidates that are being looked at. john kerry, a sit-in for mitt romney in president obama's debate prep. the present perform strongly in the last two. they have different cases to make for each of them. for john kerry, the problem is if they take him out of the senate, they have lost this big guy in the senate and they open up massachusetts again. one perceived problem is the whole libya, benghazi controversy that popped up to us before the election in terms of whether susan rice would toe the line. to the extent that that would resonate or persist is unclear. host: one newspaper this morning said possibly former senator luger for secretary of state. guest: when everybody decides there is one or two candidate, there is always somebody who could come out of nowhere. in the weeks between now and the end of the year when a lot of the decisions are going to be made, there is a floating up of