bush's 2004 re-election campaign, matthew dowd. matthew, thank you so much. all right. matthew (cheers and applause) matthew, these kids want to know what i stand for, okay. what do pacs usually stand for like americans for prosperity, what do they stand for? >> well, it could be taxes, there's lower taxes. it could be change the laws on health-care reform. it's any number of issues but you have to stick it out. you can't just stick your finger in the wind. >> stephen: where should i stick my finger because if it will help raise money i can think of a few places. >> that may be between you and your significant other. >> stephen: okay. or my significant donor. because like karl rove and americans for prosperity they've got these billionaires who bankroll them, right. >> yeah, well, millionaires and some average people but a lot of rich people. >> stephen: average billionaires so, do those billionaires help set the agenda? >> obviously they're part of it and they're influential in the process. but if somebody really, like you stands for something, they're not going to be

(laughter) thank you so much, matthew dowd, abc news political analyst. and my advisor, matthew do >> stephen: welcome back everybody. my guest tonight the former democratic governor of the louisiana who is now a republican candidate for president, i better get to the interview table before he becomes a federalist. please welcome buddy roemer. (cheers and applause) governor, good to see you, please, sit down. >> a federalist, huh. >> stephen: well, i don't know. you were a democrat then you became a republican. >> i can see like lincoln, a wig, dinner republican. you have to be flexible, steve. >> stephen: all right, speaking of flexible we have a couple issues to deal with before we start the interview. >> all right. >> stephen: i have a federal superpac. and my lawyer trevor potter who turns out is also your lawyer trevor potter has warned us that i can in no way coordinate with you. i can't discuss your campaign plans prorx swrekts, activities or feeds so no one can accuse us of working together. i may be a high priced call girl but i'm not offering my

(laughter) thank you so much, matthew dowd, abc news political analyst. analyst. and my advisor, matthew vo: this is cheryl. this is her four-year-old computer she doesn't think she needs to update. so to show her what she's missing, we built a pc store in her house. cheryl: oh my gosh! employee: what do you say we go shopping? cheryl: this one's very cool. cheryl: where's the tower for this? employee: everything is right here. cheryl: oh stop! cheryl: okay... alright... employee: flip that screen around. very light-weight! employee: 500gb hard drive. cheryl: i like the dvr thing... i like this one. vo: new pc in the house. cheryl: i'm a pc, and i'm finally up to date. ♪ ♪ ♪ grey goose. world's best tasting vodka. >> stephen: welcome back everybody. my guest tonight the former democratic governor of the louisiana who is now a republican candidate for president, i better get to the interview table before he becomes a federalist. please welcome buddy roemer. (cheers and applause) governor, good to see you, please, sit down. >> a federalist, huh. >> stephen: well, i d

. >> reporter: it is not a proud moment for american politics, as abc news analyst, matthew dowd, who has consulted both republicans and democrats and now sees votering looking for a solution and, instead, seeing incompetence. >> basically, the country thinks, washington has become a cesspool of dysfunction. and there seems to be a great inability of anybody to sit down in a room and solve the problems. >> reporter: americans are paying attention, and seem to know what's at stake. a just released gallup poll asked, why do you want this solved? the top three reasons were avoiding economic catastrophe, avoid default on dead and because we have no choice. and few we heard from today felt it's a problem too big to fix. >> make it happen. you are going to effect americans. bread and butter americans. >> reporter: a plea from americans to put aside the politics and find a way to pay the bills, before the nation is publicly humiliated, as a country that just doesn't work. >> all right, jim, thank you. and this afternoon, as you know, the meeting lasted one hour and 19 minutes. so, was anythi

matthew dowd, former strategist for george w. bush and abc correspondent, jonathan karl. you heard what we plpled from mitch mcconnell. do you take his warning? is it bad for the republicans right now? >> i do. i think the president would like -- let's go back, for months, he has clear and emphatic on what he wanted, a clean lifting on the ceiling which is no restraint on the spending merry-go-round. now he wants $4 trillion in dedecit reduction. what he would do is have the republicans sign on to tax increases which demoralizes the republican base and fractures the party and enable him to run as a born-again deficit producer. my feeling the house will have its say and the sesete will reject it. the senate has its say and house rejects it and the last standing will be mcconnell-reed, something like that will be passed. >> let me go straight you to. you said you would not vote toto raise the debt ceiling under any circumstances. you heard what senator kyl said, there will not be a default. are you willing to push it that far? >> i never said i would not raise it under any