in the "crossfire" tonight, democratic strategist maria cardona and faith coalition ralph reed. let's start with the democrats, we'll get to the republicans. but for now let's focus on the democrats. maria, van clearly wants to push the president to the left. he wants the president to reach out to those progressives. but look at the president's approval ratings in the most competition states for the senate this year. he is not doing well. in red states where democrats are vulnerable. wouldn't it be suicide for the president to take van's advice, which is why i want him to. >> no, i don't think it would be suicide. and i think the reason is because a lot of the issueses that van mentioned and a lot of the issues that the president talked about when he was inaugurated for his second inauguration speech and how many people talked about it was such a lefty libbereral speech, immigration reform, climate change, minimum wage, even talking about income inequality right now. the majority of the american people, the mainstream of america are there, they're with him. now, there's no quest

joining me now to talk about it our political commentator tons right, ben ferguson, on the left, maria cardona you both. your reaction. are republicans in kansas protecting the rights of religious entities and religious people or discriminating against same-sex couples or is this an uncomfortable hybrid? where do you see this? >> there's no question that this law, if it becomes law, would absolutely discriminate against gay couples. and it is something that i think that the republican party should really be careful with. if you're looking at a party who wants to at any point in the future become a national party again and try to reach the white house, this is completely against what their own quote, unquote, autopsy did about a year ago when they were shellacked in the november 2012 elections instead of opening up and becoming more inclusive and trying to draw more voters to the party. this goes completely against it. i mean, this is going back to 19 noin 90s, victor. it's so knee an d-- >> a map showing so many states that allow same-sex marriage. you see them here in yellow. this week virgin

let's discuss with republican strategist o'connell and cnn political commentator, maria cardona.ot of people have -- i just randomly, anecdotally asked people, do you think the country would have been better off today, a year after the election, if romney had been elected? and a lot of folks, including people who voted for barack obama for re-election, have been so disappointed by obamacare and other issues, they say, yes, they think romney would have turned out to be a better president. >> well, i think those kinds of questions, wolf -- >> totally. it's not scientific. >> anecdotally. but this has been a tough year for the president. we have talked about this several times on your show. but he is actually now doing much better. his polls have rebounded. obamacare is doing much better. we're looking at all of the benefits that millions of americans are getting from obamacare. his state of the union well received in terms of the themes moving forward and focusing on economic, income inequality, economic issues, number-one issues. so, again, i think this is fun to talk about right

. >> joining us to talk about this ben ferguson in new york and maria cardona a commentator in washingtonou. >> happy super bowl sunday. >> yes, you, too. >> it's a holiday. let's start with you, ben, since you spoke out first. in a statement to friend and allies slamming wildstein with examples from his high school social studies teacher. is this smart defense or a lame, personal swipe. >> you don't have to go that far back. this is a guy who pleaded the fifth when asked to turn over evidence and he basically said, i'm not speaking. his lawyer since day one when all this came out and he got busted and lost his job has been trying to get some sort of plea deal for immunity. i mean, that's the one thing they have been consistently doing. now basically the claim is, there's evidence that may exist. we don't even know if it does exist. and, to me, you're looking at a guy that won't tell the truth, that won't answer questions, that won't talk but now says, well, there may be evidence. i really don't think this changes the story at all. if the governor knew something and he lied to the people

joining me to discuss this is rick gates and maria cardona. a cnn political analyst.longer have a bumper sticker approach to medical marijuana. at this stage, you cannot stage a debate on two people under the age of 40 if there is no appropriate application for cannabis. the issue is to do it in a sa safe way. >> the polls suggest you could not stage a debate with people over 40, under 40, black, white, hispanic. i'm looking at the polls from quinnipiac and the latest from florida in november and no group here that is less than 70% who support medical marijuana in the state of florida. maria, is this for the democrats in florida what marriage equality was or let's say the marriage protection was in 2000 for the republicans nationwide? >> i think initially definitely. democrats are on the side of legalizing for medicinal purposes. the change that is happening in the country is going toward that. we are seeing it play out on the state level and now we are seeing it play out in florida. but i commend matt gaetz because he is certainly on to something, not just in terms o