governor mitt romney is going to be on our show. plus so much more. did you see geraldo's beard?at did you think? >> sean: i saw frank luntz 'beard. one other thing, this race is important, because that's one lessen for, if the republicans win statewide office in massachusetts that means potentially, health care guess away if in go into conference. >> greta: unless the democrats can get that vote before january 19th, before the contest and the swearing in. >> sean: they better. see you in 21 minutes from now. the great, great, great american panel, next. ♪ ♪ >> sean: tonight on our great, great american panel senior writer stephen hayes is back. former vicer to the soon to be former majority leader harry reid. former communications director for governor rendell penny lee is back. he has served as u.s. ambassador and rnc chair jim nicholson is back. helen thomas wants to know what the terrorists' motivations are. roll tape. >> what is really lacking always for us, you don't give the motivation of why they want to do us harm? what is the motivation? you never hear --. >> al-qaeda i

we had fun lucci and mitt romney. the romney campaign did pay attention to this. republicans and democrats across the state were never voted for -- have voted for republicans a lot. host: how much money was raised? guest: i am not sure how much at in all. host: you can see geographically the red areas are for mr. brown. you can see he won most of the state geographically. but we will point out in the story that the key was the boston suburbs, even though the city was one for martha coakley. any insight into that? guest: he ran a good statewide race, and he was very effective in that host: let's hear from warren, michigan. denise, democrats. good morning. caller: the reason i am calling is i am hoping just because a republican one in massachusetts does not mean-because a republican won in massachusetts does not mean the house bill will go under. my husband and i are unemployed, we have no insurance. one of us work for the auto industry. i work for a bank, a dozen works for security -- my husband works for security. i'm hoping people not -- i am hoping that people i

that is former governor mitt romney. thank you, governor. applause] when i went to washington a few months ago, i'll never forget the help of another man who took the time to meet with me. he told me that i could actually win. he gave me the confidence for the fight. it was also characterristic of a great american, a true hero. and tonight i want to thank my new colleague, senator john mccain. [cheers and applause] and on a night like this when so many people mark your name on a statewide ballot, you think back to the first people who gave you a chance and believed. and for the trust they placed in me and for all they have taught me i want to thank my neighbors, friends in my senate district, and especially my hometown of wrentham. the victory that all america has seen tonight started right here with all of you. all of you. yes. let me tell you, when i first got the feeling something big was happening in this campaign was when i was driving along on a road out in central massachusetts, in my truck, yes. and it has over 201,000 now. and i kne

mitt romney raised $110 million. rudy giuliani raised $70 million and got one delegate i think.ay, it stuns me in terms of giuliani because he had something that roll think didn't and that he had favorables in within the republican party that were huge. when he was well liked there were differences of opinion. but so with $70 million i think he had -- with a delegate. he should have gotten more than one delegate. so, john mccain, when he had all of these resources with a miserable candidate. then when he got out from uneverybody and rote the obituary, had no money he managed to come back and positioned himself to win. then you have huckabee who had no money and he was there at the end. the pointing that resources are important to have but they are only as good as what you do with them. and if you are doing something stupid with them or doing something ineffective with them, you are going to lose. and i will tell that you what frustrates me in terms of watching a lot of campaigns, they spend -- yes, you need resources but in and of itself doesn't matter. ron paul raised $15 milli

. >> tonight governor mitt romney, right here, right now. welcome governor. >> hey greta, good to be with you. >> greta: nice to see you. the whole country is sort of abuzz about the fact that president obama promised on tape, seven, eight, nine times that the health care debate, discussion, would be on c-span. if you were president of the united states would it be on c-span do you agree? >> he made the prop if you make a promise like that you have to keep. there are bigger promises he has not kept. the most important of which he would have this open process. there would be a bipartisan effort. new style of politics in washington. and the style he has brought has been far more of the backroom, if you will, bribery type of arrangement that we've seen in many, many years. >> greta: why? why has he made those promises about having it open and everybody have a seat at the table for instance? why since you don't think he has kept those promises didn't he or hasn't he? >> i can't guess to his motivation other than the fact has been unsuccessful in

mitt romney's public image, if anything, was defined as a competent ceo character. he was an arch catalyst and had run -- arch-capitalist and had run bain capital. he could run government like running a board room. throughout our coverage in the book of romney was the fact that the staff was totally frustrated that he was totally indecisive. he could not decide on something as elemental as picking a campaign slogan. they never came up with a campaign slogan. the consultant side of him actually dominated in some ways. he would ask for more and more input and constantly take more and more time and wanted more and more data, and the deluge of data that he sought actually cut paralyzed and 34 people around him, -- actually kind of paralyzed him. for people around him, the worse died. -- they were stunned. we have details of how much john mccain, how much mike huckabee and others disliked commit money to he was sort of a preening -- this like to make romney. he was sort of eigha preening prima donna. they would malkin behind his back, and that he would rocked -- would mo

kevin madden, senior advisor to mitt romney's campaign. here in los angeles the actor, author, longtime friend of barack obama. he was active in the campaign. he's one of the stars of "csi: new york." and a former mccain campaign adviser. arianna, how did he do? >> well, of course, he was charming. there was the impassioned rhetoric once in a while. he was at ease. but my concern, larry, is that the speech felt as though he had been focused group tested within an inch of its life. there's a little bit of everything for everyone. the spending freeze, for example, which was clearly something which he felt republicans and independents wanted. well, republicans met it with derision. so much so that the president had to make a caustic remark and say that's how budgets work. so he did not make the middle class the priority that he should have made it. these are the people who are hurting, and they should have been at the forefront of this speech. >> larry: kevin madden, how did you read it? >> well i'm surprised i agree with arianna. i was very

tim pawlenty was on the screen, mitt romney. he wanted to pick joe lieberman where there would have been obvious downside and he was born there might be a revolt if he did that. they looked around the political landscape and said he raised this hot and use the term meaning in every respect young female governor of alaska. we didn't have a chance we would have liked it might have been wise to the detector nonetheless and what they didn't think about in hindsight are some of the pitfalls that women candidates across the country experience one of which, one of the main ones is they are scrutinized for their credentials and often challenged about whether they are experiencing a to run and that is what happened to sarah palin. >> host: leader sarah palin will be speaking at the first tea party convention. what does that tell you? >> guest: she is not going away necessarily and some people would like her to. is she going to run for president? i don't know. i don't think anyone knows to get shoup have a right given she was on the ticke

scott brown has a very adroit answer which is we in massachusetts already have health insurance, mitt romney's plan which he owned and disowned in his campaign for the presidency. >> lehrer: but it is still in existence. >> that's right t is still the law, 96% of the people in massachusetts have elevator insurance. he said why should we pay our tacks to cover people in texas so there is a certain sense of pride as well as provincialism, as well as anti-tax in his message. republicans have already won this race, swim, let's get that straight. >> lehrer: what dow mean. >> i mean because -- here is the democrats spending the president's capitol and time, a half a million dollars in massachusetts in january. i mean what does that mean they are going to be spending in nevada and arkansas and ohio and missouri in october. you know, i have to go to benzodiazepine ang to underwrite it tand has made the recruiting easier for the republicans. victories in new jersey, candidate recruitment, convince piece people to to run for office. >> lehrer: the two governors. >> that's right, kevin mccarthy is in cha

i voted for mitt romney as governor. i voted for senator kennedy.it doesn't matter your political party. it matters who you are as an individual and how outspoken you are as an individual and are you going to represent my voice as an individual? host: so based on that, mar martha copely and scott brown, who will you vote for next tuesday? >> i'm voting for scott brown for basically where he stands on the healthcare bill and how they were both raised. martha coakley is somebody who has never really experienced the hardships of the world. i don't know much of their difference but i see a lieutenant colonel in the national guard. this is somebody who has endured. i see that as a fine candidate. host: what is going to happen tuesday? what is your prediction? caller: i believe that brown will win because the voice of independents are the sleeping giants in massachusetts. host: your reaction? guest: the numbers don't suggest that the numbers are closing but if you look at the boston globe and even at some of the polls that just call people sort of on the

mitt romney's public image, if anything, was defined as a competent ceo character.ad run -- arch-capitalist and had run bain capital. he could run government like running a board room. throughout our coverage in the book of romney was the fact that the staff was totally frustrated that he was totally indecisive. he could not decide on something as elemental as picking a campaign slogan. they never came up with a campaign slogan. the consultant side of him actually dominated in some ways. he would ask for more and more input and constantly take more and more time and wanted more and more data, and the deluge of data that he sought actually cut paralyzed and 34 people around him, -- actually kind of paralyzed him. for people around him, the worse died. -- they were stunned. we have details of how much john mccain, how much mike huckabee and others disliked commit money to he was sort of a preening -- this like to make romney. he was sort of eigha preening prima donna. they would malkin behind his back, and that he would rocked -- would mock him behind his back, and he

host: kevin madden, a republican strategist, former communications director for mitt romney.aren finney the work for john edwards in it 2004. under a contributor to msnbc. dean joins us from san diego. caller: good morning. i'm a disabled veteran. the young lady sitting there, was wondering whether washington would change of, or obama will change washington -- i think that washington will change obama. i'm disappointed. we're all christians. but only god knows who is christian and who is not. republicans when they were in office put this country in the worst situation that we could be in. this guy sitting there talking, he realizes what the republicans did to this country. how in the world can you sit there with a straight face it and say what you say? i told people that obama would get some jobs in hear. the republicans -- the republicans did not do a day's work since they were in office. we are paying them some $100,000 per year to a creek. how many jobs did the republicans make? not one. guest: i think that he is emblematic of many people's an ger out there when they look

. >> this bill was signed in by mitt romney, the hero of the conservative movement, scott brown.he refused to repudiate it at the state level, and forced it, and all he could come up with was a parochial concern that there was no reason to duplicated on another level. there was substantive policy of reach to the right, but a political refusal to go along. what do you do with that kind of opposition bella what does the republican party what? do they not care that health care is going up 10% every year? i do know >> you are nodding your head -- i do not know. guest: you are nodding your head, suggesting that this could not be possible. guest: i would love to see everyone boating -- i would love to see everyone vote on banning preconditions. host: is that where we are heading? guest: here is why we are not. no one can vote on it individually, you would destroy the private health insurance industry. i am for a refund with that, there were the being destroyed. -- they are worthy of being destroyed. there's all of this head shaking on the right, saying that we need to break it down int

we elected governors bill wells , mitt romney. his lieutenant governor, a woman. mitt romney, the republicans send him in. it is stupid. americans should wake up. ryan said that we are endowed with -- you need to read the constitution and the bill of rights. host: philip, you are on, open phones. caller: i want to make a point because i have been listening and you have a lot of people on. it seems like when people do not get their way or they do not like the selection from massachusetts, everybody is upset because now all of a sudden they do not get what they want and how they perceive things to change with every day government. we have to learn to accept it and try to make the changes as we see it. congress has got to keep working the way they are and there is not much we can do about it unless we do make the changes in we do get people in light brown to make those changes for us. that is the only way we can change government. but to complain about him and get all upset does not accomplish anything for us. host: two things to tell you about -- c-span3, the senate

i voted for mitt romney as governor. i voted for senator kennedy. it doesn't matter your political party. it matters who you are as an individual and how outspoken you are as an individual and are you going to represent my voice as an individual? host: so based on that, mar martha copely and scott brown, who will you vote for next tuesday? >> i'm voting for scott brown for basically where he stands on the healthcare bill and how they were both raised. martha coakley is somebody who has never really experienced the hardships of the world. i don't know much of their difference but i see a lieutenant colonel in the national guard. this is somebody who has endured. i see that as a fine candidate. host: what is going to happen tuesday? what is your prediction? caller: i believe that brown will win because the voice of independents are the sleeping giants in massachusetts. host: your reaction? guest: the numbers don't suggest that the numbers are closing but if you look at the boston globe and even at some of the polls that just call people sort of on the

i voted for mitt romney as governor. i have voted for senator kennedy. it doesn't matter your political party. it matters who you are as an individual and how outspoken you are as an individual and are you going to represent my voice as an individual. >> host: based on that, martha coakley and scott brough will you vote for? >> guest: >> caller: basically scott brown for the stand on the bil as a middle class individual i see marvelous the line as somebody that's not experienced the hardships of the world. i see, i don't much of the difference i see lieutenant colonel and national guard. this is somebody who has endured and i see that as a fine candidate. >> host: i want to come back to the earlier point was we to happen on tuesday what is your prediction? >> guest: i believe brown will win because the voice of the independents are the speaking giants of massachusetts. >> host: the reaction and follow up with you. >> guest: the numbers don't suggest that you get the numbers are closing, but i think if you look at the "boston globe," if you look at even s

mitt romney's public image, if anything, was defined as a competent ceo character.run bain capital. he could run government like running a board room. throughout our coverage in the book of romney was the fact that the staff was totally frustrated that he was totally indecisive. he could not decide on something as elemental as picking a campaign slogan. they never came up with a campaign slogan. the consultant side of him actually dominated in some ways. he would ask for more and more input and constantly take more and more time and wanted more and more data, and the deluge of data that he sought actually cut paralyzed and 34 people around him, -- actually kind of paralyzed him. for people around him, the worse died. -- they were stunned. we have details of how much john mccain, how much mike huckabee and others disliked commit money to he was sort of a preening -- this like to make romney. he was sort of eigha preening prima donna. they would malkin behind his back, and that he would rocked -- would mock him behind his back, and he would walk into the room and it w

mitt romney was a moderate until he decided to run for president and he became different common -- differentrm. i think it would be good if you have more diversity, but as you have now become more partisan, the partisan -- parties are taking on their own identities were you basically do not have a republican democrat as much as liberal and conservative, and it is getting harder and harder for any moderate republican to win a primary. it does not mean the electorate as a whole can vote and a moderate cannot win in ion -- in new hampshire or vermont, but you ought to get through the primary system first. that is a different topic about partisanship. you go to the polls inçç nove, and there may be a lot of people you would like to vote for but you cannot because those private clubs have gotten together and weeded out everybody they did not want, so that was so different part of the problem, but i think it would be really high return really hard to have moderate republican or conservative democrats -- i think it would be really hard to have moderate republicans or conservative democrats. >> as

but after all, we were dealing with a state who had in place with senator brown's vote and mitt romney'snature a plan very similar to the plan that the united states senate put forward in terms of including people and having the responsibility to be involved in an insurance program covering their health. in america. so it's somewhat ironic that the state that has chosen and supports in the polling data by 68% a program similar to that proposed in the united states senate that somebody would extrapolate from the vote from massachusetts a concern solely about healthcare. the concern in massachusetts and in maryland and in minnesota and in montana. i'm trying to think of all the m's that are around the country. is that their country is not working the way they think it ought to. and they are experiencing the worst economic downturn in three-quarters of a century. which means that very few of them had any experience in the great depression. this is the worst of times that they have seen. they're expecting us to bring them better times and hopefully the best of times. >> a concern for many vo

encouragement from the very beginning, and helped show us the way to victory - former governor mitt romney. i'll never forget the help of another man who took the time to meet with me months ago - who told me i could win, and gave me confidence for the fight. it was all so characteristic of a truly great and heroic american, and tonight i thank my new colleague, senator john mccain. on a night like this, when so many people mark your name on a statewide ballot, you think back to the first people who gave you a chance and believed. for the trust they placed in me, and for all they have taught me, i thank my neighbors and friends in my senate district and especially my hometown of wrentham. the cause and victory that all america has seen tonight started right let me tell you when i first got the feeling something big was happening in this campaign. it was when i was driving along -- i knew things were starting to click when i saw a brown yard sign that i hadn't actually put there myself. this little campaign of ours was destined for greater things than went far beyond the name on the sign. i

. >> this bill was signed in by mitt romney, the hero of the conservative movement, scott brown.e refused to repudiate it at the state level, and forced it, and all he could come up with was a parochial concern that there was no reason to duplicated on another level. there was substantive policy of reach to the right, but a political refusal to go along. what do you do with that kind of opposition bella what does the republican party what? do they not care that health care is going up 10% every year? i do know >> you are nodding your head -- i do not know. guest: you are nodding your head, suggesting that this could not be possible. guest: i would love to see everyone boating -- i would love to see everyone vote on banning preconditions. host: is that where we are heading? guest: here is why we are not. no one can vote on it individually, you would destroy the private health insurance industry. i am for a refund with that, there were the being destroyed. -- they are worthy of being destroyed. there's all of this head shaking on the right, saying that we need to break it down into

about the 2008 election campaign and he was discussing a presidential debate and he said quote, mitt romneyut some liberal establishment which doesn't exist anymore. there has been a liberal establishment it shrunk a lot and it is not in washington. that is the 70's, said. how can a christian who has been around for so long it's such a remarkable assertion? >> guest: the quaid is part about the quote, i was talking to alex castellanos, you know that alex. whenever they give you do you know that all sensible people agree you know liberals are lying and this is that is what we used to get all the time from the left before there was any alternative at all. was just to act like people were crazy for talking about the fact that the information industries were slightly to the left of lyndon, and you know suddenly fox news came along and liberals discovered it was possible to present the news in an agenda pushing way. i am not saying fox news does that the boy they sure got accused of it and for 34 years we heard, we are just reporting the news. news does not have a political content. suddenly the

first of all let me remind the members and futures features on march 5th the honorable mitt romney former governor of massachusetts will be here, and on april 12, dennis quaid, the actor, will discuss the prevention of potentially deadly medical errors. second, i would like to present our guest with the traditional in much coveted npc mug. [applause] >> thank you. >> you are welcome. we are only going to give you half a cup of coffee because years beach wendover 25 minutes. [laughter] >> if you would have given me a full cup of coffee it would have been an hour. [laughter] >> okay, so your meeting with the president this afternoon. what will you be telling him? >> we will be talking about the weather, about this weekend's football games in who we think is going to win the super bowl, health care and a couple of other things. [laughter] we will be talking about health care. >> what is your message to him? what you want to come away from that meeting with? >> we are going to talk to the president, a friendly meeting among friends tried to solve problems and i'm not going to go into what we

mitt romney is the most recent example.uest: voters in the state are willing to vote for the minority party for governor and statewide offices but usually not for senate seats which are regarded as more ideological and to some extent more partisan. if you look at republicans elected governors in massachusetts. rhode island. hawaii and vermont. very democratic states and they have governors in places like wyoming and a number of conservative and for senate seats we don't see it often and increasingly we don't see that at all when we live in the polarized washington politics i think we're all watching because we remember there was a house special election in massachusetts not long ago where now congressman won but it was a surprising raise. we're all looking here to see is there going to be some message of dissatisfaction even in a democratic state but it's difficult to imagine republicans winning. if they do that will send chills. host: snapshot on january 19th? guest: i would be astonished if republicans didn't win but it's

my other comment would be that this whole thing smells a lot like mitt romneys republican plan in massachusettshich is basically mandating you pump private insurance. thanks a lot. guest: based on what you told me, it sounds like you would certainlyly qualify for some kind of assistance whether it would be an expansion or medicaid expansion depending on if you are married and have any other income. yes, it wouldn't be determined by any aspect of your health. it would be determined by your income. you might be eligible for medicaid and if not, it sounds likely you would be eligible for some type of tax credit that would help you buy insurance. those tax credits stratch out to a family of four earning up to $88,000 a year having their premiums capped. you mentioned the massachusetts model. you are right, lawmakers looked closely at what was done in massachusetts a couple years ago. that's the only state that has a near universal health system within their state where people are mandated to buy insurance. it is true that the democrats took a close look at this and modeled things like the exchanges

for instance, mitt romney, he went in and bought up these companies and shipped away these jobs, .ody mentions this. there was one senator who was missing from a vote -- host: which one is that? caller: it turns out he was in new york meeting with bankers. some of these people just cannot get it. guest: good to hear from texas. on hiring and unemployment, they have not come back. that is a mixed phase. we are not fully in recovery yet, but we stopped the slide and we can start to see the signs of recovery. it took us awhile to get into this mess, and it will take us awhile to get out. as far as bonuses, they did get out of line. about the thing about that is if a board of directors pay their people too much, they will go broke. if you pay them too little, you will lose your best talent, and then you will also go broke. whether it is a restaurant, new car dealership, that is a constant judgment that business has to make. the government cannot make that answer for you. let me defend john corn and -- jon cornyn. he is my senator, too. i do not know if he ever missed a vote that was cl

host: kevin madden, a republican strategist, former communications director for mitt romney. karen finney the work for john edwards in it 2004. under a contributor to msnbc. dean joins us from san diego. caller: good morning. i'm a disabled veteran. the young lady sitting there, was wondering whether washington would change of, or obama will change washington -- i think that washington will change obama. i'm disappointed. we're all christians. but only god knows who is christian and who is not. republicans when they were in office put this country in the worst situation that we could be in. this guy sitting there talking, he realizes what the republicans did to this country. how in the world can you sit there with a straight face it and say what you say? i told people that obama would get some jobs in hear. the republicans -- the republicans did not do a day's work since they were in office. we are paying them some $100,000 per year to a creek. how many jobs did the republicans make? not one. guest: i think that he is emblematic of many people's an ger out there when they loo

my other comment would be that this whole thing smells a lot like mitt romneys republican plan in massachusetts which is basically mandating you pump private insurance. thanks a lot. guest: based on what you told me, it sounds like you would certainlyly qualify for some kind of assistance whether it would be an expansion or medicaid expansion depending on if you are married and have any other income. yes, it wouldn't be determined by any aspect of your health. it would be determined by your income. you might be eligible for medicaid and if not, it sounds likely you would be eligible for some type of tax credit that would help you buy insurance. those tax credits stratch out to a family of four earning up to $88,000 a year having their premiums capped. you mentioned the massachusetts model. you are right, lawmakers looked closely at what was done in massachusetts a couple years ago. that's the only state that has a near universal health system within their state where people are mandated to buy insurance. it is true that the democrats took a close look at this and modeled things like the exchang

to me like that massachusetts bill, which i had heard about a long time ago -- which i knew was mitt romneyea's deal. it came to mind what gore vidal said, he said, you have two conservative parties in this country and one is just as conservative than the other one. the thing about with the romney plan is that, like any state that has auto insurance -- or you require auto insurance in iowa, we just had that happen to was about three or four years ago. the auto insurance premiums went up 30%. it was exactly the opposite of what they claimed would happen. i like the way this woman talks about all this health care and everything because she seems so thorough. and she has mentioned the massachusetts plan a couple of times. what i do not get is, once you have an external -- an insurance exchange, but it is still a mandate -- you are still going to have the mandate. the insurance companies in the exchange, would inspire them to lower their costs? i do not get it at all. it still seems like a two party system, but one less conservative. it is like we are spoon feeding customers to the insurance co

to me like that massachusetts bill, which i had heard about a long time ago -- which i knew was mitt romneyvidal said, he said, you have two conservative parties in this country and one is just as conservative than the other one. the thing about with the romney plan is that, like any state that has auto insurance -- or you require auto insurance in iowa, we just had that happen to was about three or four years ago. the auto insurance premiums went up 30%. it was exactly the opposite of what they claimed would happen. i like the way this woman talks about all this health care and everything because she seems so thorough. and she has mentioned the massachusetts plan a couple of times. what i do not get is, once you have an external -- an insurance exchange, but it is still a mandate -- you are still going to have the mandate. the insurance companies in the exchange, would inspire them to lower their costs? i do not get it at all. it still seems like a two party system, but one less conservative. it is like we are spoon feeding customers to the insurance companies. guest: i will try to respond

massachusetts but after all, we were dealing with a state who had in place with senators brown's vote and mitt romney'ssignature, a plan very similar to the plan that the united states senator put forward in terms of including people and having the responsibility to be involved in an insurance program covering their health in america so it is somewhat ironic that the state that has chosen and supports in the polling data by 68%, a program similar to that proposed by the united states senate that someone would extrapolate from the vote in massachusetts a concern solely about health care. the concern in massachusetts and in maryland and in minnesota and in montana, i'm trying to think of all michigan's that are around the country, is that their country is not working the way they think it ought to and they are thinking, it means that very few of them had any experience in the great depression. this is the worst of times that they have seen. they are expecting us to bring them better times and hopefully the best of times. >> a concern for many voters in places like mississippi, michigan, missouri, other p

now, you elect republican governors there, an they tend to be more moderate, although mitt romney was a moderate until he decided to run for president and then he became different, but i think probably not, not in the short term. i think it would be good if you had more diversity in the parties, but as you become more partisan and it's a matter of standing together as a party, the parties are taking on their own identities, where you basically don't have republican and democrat as much as you have liberal and conservative and it's getting harder and harder for any moderate republican to win a primary. doesn't mean that the electorate as a whole could vote that a moderate could not win in a massachusetts, or, you know, new hampshire, vermont, whatever, but you have to get through the primary system first and by the way, what's a whole different topic about partisanship, because we allow these two -- i don't know if you thought about it, you go to the polls in november and there may be a lot of people you would like to vote for but you can't, because these two private clubs have gotten

with senator brown's vote and mitt romney's signature, a plan very similar to the plan the united states senate put forward in terms of including people and have a responsibility to be involved in an insurance program covering health in america, so it is somewhat ironic that the state that has chosen and supports in the polling data a program similar to that proposed by the united states senate, that somebody would extrapolate from the vote in massachusetts a concern solely about health care -- a concern in massachusetts and in maryland and in minnesota and in montana. i am trying to think of all of the m's around the country. it is that their country is not working the way that they think it ought to, and they are experiencing the worst economic downturn in three-quarters of the century, which means that very few of them have any experience in the great depression. this is the worst of times that they have seen. they are expecting us to bring them better times, and, hopefully, the best of times. >> a concern for many voters in places like mississippi, michigan, missouri, and other place

there definitely were some splits in that we saw in the republican primary when it came down to mitt romneyd john mccain, and there were some splits about who is on what side. and i believe -- i believe mccain contributed to rubio. but charlie crist is basically a mccain guy and because charlie crist back the stimulus, which mccain had not, that is something that really hampered him. rubio, who is just viewed as an up-and-coming star, newt gingrich had said a lot of good things about him over the years. really closing in but that image of charlie crist hugging obama and then charlie crist recently saying he really didn't back the stimulus has hurt his political standing. but charlie crist is still a very shrewd politician. anyone who counts and out could be foolish. host: washington, pennsylvania. paul on the republican line. caller: i would like to make a comment on the 2010 elections. i don't think there are going to be any presidential coattails. i certainly hope we can include arlen specter in that retirement party. i'm always amazed, mr. cusack, people like you, will have such a wealth

first of all this special election never would have happened if they didn't change the rule when mitt romney was the republican governor and the concern of john carey won in 2004 he would have appointed a republican governor. and also massachusetts is that for elective a woman to the senate or governorship. >> caller: you know, on the top of the fans like so many people say who would have thunk that senator ted kennedy's seat would be replaced by a grass-roots campaign of star state senator, not even a federal, you know, he liked the official. there are no statewide republicans statewide elected republicans in the state of massachusetts than now we have one. it is a fascinating political turn of events and one that i do think could very well be across the country. >> host: agreed to give back to boston.com. there is a map on there that we want to show that gives you a sense of where the vote came from for scott brown and martha coakley. you can see the blue area in boston of course in the western part of massachusetts heavily democratic as well as martha's vineyard, and off the cape, but the

mitt romney is the most recent example.guest: voters in the state are willing to vote for the minority party for governor and statewide offices but usually not for senate seats which are regarded as more ideological and to some extent more partisan. if you look at republicans elected governors in massachusetts. rhode island. hawaii and vermont. very democratic states and they have governors in places like wyoming and a number of conservative and for senate seats we don't see it often and increasingly we don't see that at all when we live in the polarized washington politics i think we're all watching because we remember there was a house special election in massachusetts not long ago where now congressman won but it was a surprising raise. we're all looking here to see is there going to be some message of dissatisfaction even in a democratic state but it's difficult to imagine republicans winning. if they do that will send chills. host: snapshot on january 19th? guest: i would be astonished if republicans didn't win but it'

he was discussing a presidential debate in he said quote mitt romney tried to argue last night aboutome liberal establishment which does not exist anymore. up there has been at liberal establishment it shrunk a lot. that is the '70s concept. how can a christian who has been around for so long make such a remarkable assertion? loan. >> guest: because it is david gergen. the grit is part about the quote is he was talking to ellen castellanos. whenever they give you do you know that all sensible people agree you know liberals are lying that is what we used to get all the time from a left before there was any alternative at all. was just act like people were crazy for talking about with the fact that the information industry or slightly to the left of the island and pennino so they fox news came along and liberals discovered it was possible to present the news in a agenda pushing way. i'm not saying fox news this that the boy they sure got accused of it in for 30 or 40 years we heard no, we are just reporting the news. newsome auth habicht political context. said late they discovered it

are names out there that have been anted about and we know from all the polls, mike huckabee and mitt romneytim pawlenty now coming into his own, as well as sarah palin always there, as a present. i have no idea. i have no idea who it could be. maybe there's some state legislator out there on the same sort of experience playing as barack obama who could emerge. and then bobby jindal of course is also among that list of front runners mention. >> host: who do you like? >> guest: i like bobby jindal. i've known him personally for the last couple of years, and i think that he's doing an amazing job as an administrator of the state that's gone through a lot. that's gone through hell, literally. and he has a lot of experience in many domestic policy areas that were at the forefront, you know, policy debates right now, whether it's health care, fighting corruption, ethics reform. and he emerged as a quote unquote rock star, or up-and-coming rock star. and i think it's a good thing after he gave the response last year to the president, the january address, that he had sort of come down a notch. i th

he represents so much this party has to offer along with mitt romney and sarah palin and governor paletewe have the leadership that's out there and guess what's going to happen? over the course of this year and early next year, individuals will begin to emerge who will contend for the presidency that want to represent the principals of this party nationally for the presidency and that's exciting to watch. you know i think people shouldn't be surprised that, the leadership is there and they're ready to get the job done. host: "washington post". steel's comments put congressional republicans on the hunt for a muzzle is the headline. brad wood house of the democratic national house committee says you're the gift that keeps on giving. guest: [laughs] well, try to wrap the gifts. the reality is look, this job is tough, it's important, but the more important thing that we do is that we build the team and put the resources in place, we run good candidates and they reflect the principals that define this party. if we don't do that it doesn't matter what michael steel says or congressional leader

first of all let me remind the members and futures features on march 5th the honorable mitt romney formervernor of massachusetts will be here, and on april 12, dennis quaid, there prevention of potentially deadly medical errors. second, i would like to present our guest with the traditional in much coveted npc mug. [applause] >> thank you. >> you are welcome. we are only going to give you half a cup of coffee because years beach wendover 25 minutes. [laughter] >> if you would have given me a full cup of coffee it would have been an hour. [laughter] >> okay, so your meeting with the president this afternoon. what will you be telling him? >> we will be talking about the weather, about this weekend's football games in who we think is going to win the super bowl, health care and a couple of other things. [laughter] we will be talking about health care. >> what is your message to him? what you want to come away from that meeting with? >> we are going to talk to the president, a friendly meeting among friends tried to solve problems and i'm not going to go into what we are going to talk about.

he represents so much that this party has to offer along with, you know, mitt romney and sarah palin and governor pawlenty, governor general, my good friend, haley barbour. so we have the leadership that's out there and guess what's going to happen? over the course of this year and early next year and officials are going to begin to emerge who will contend for the presidency. who want to represent the principles of this party nationally for the presidency. and that is going to be an exciting to watch. we don't know who is goi be surprised that that leadership is there and that they are ready to get the job done. >> host: "washington post" this morning. phillips story steele's story is but congressional republicans on the hunt for a muscle is the headline. brad what house of the democratic national committee says that you are the gift that keeps on giving. >> guest: yeah, well you know, try to wrap the gifts. the reality is, this job is tough, important, but the more important thing that we do is we build the team, put their resources in place, run candidates and they reflect back to

there definitely were some splits in that we saw in the republican primary when it came down to mitt romney and john mccain, and there were some splits about who is on what side. and i believe -- i believe mccain contributed to rubio. but charlie crist is basically a mccain guy and because charlie crist back the stimulus, which mccain had not, that is something that really hampered him. rubio, who is just viewed as an up-and-coming star, newt gingrich had said a lot of good things about him over the years. really closing in but that image of charlie crist hugging obama and then charlie crist recently saying he really didn't back the stimulus has hurt his political standing. but charlie crist is still a very shrewd politician. anyone who counts and out could be foolish. host: washington, pennsylvania. paul on the republican line. caller: i would like to make a comment on the 2010 elections. i don't think there are going to be any presidential coattails. i certainly hope we can include arlen specter in that retirement party. i'm always amazed, mr. cusack, people like you, will have such a wea

he represents so much that this party has to offer, along with mitt romney and sarah palin and governor pawlenty and governor general, my good friend, haley barbour. we have the leadership that is out there. over the course of this year and early next year, individuals are going to begin to emerge that will contend for the presidency, who want to represent the principles of this party nationally for the presidency. we do not know who that is going to be yet, but i think people should not be surprised that leadership is there and we will get the job done. host: "washington post" this morning, philip brecker's story. wrightwood house of the democratic national committee wrap the gifts.e the reality is look, this job is tough, it's important, but the more important thing that we do is that we build the team and put the resources in place, we run good candidates and they reflect the principals that define this party. if we don't do that it doesn't matter what michael steel says or congressional leaders. we'll not garner back the su part is in the face of the american people. we'll remain at

mitt romney will be here. then it dennis quaid will discuss potentially deadly medical errors.next, i would like to present our guest with the much coveted national press club mud. -- national press club mug. but we're only give you half a cup of coffee because your speech went over. >> if you would have given me a full cup of coffee it would have gone an hour. [laughter] >> your meeting with president as afternoon, what will you be telling him? >> we will be talking about the weather and the football games, he thinks will win the super bowl, health-care and a couple of other things. we will be talking about health care. >> what is your message to him? what is the one thing you want to come away from a meeting with? >> it is a meeting among friends trying to solve problems. i'm not going into what are we are going to talk about. we will talk about trying to solve problems. >> i would like to thank you for coming today. i appreciate it. really. [applause] i would also like to think the national press club staff members for organizing today's lunch. . [applause] >> join us a litt

to me like that massachusetts bill, which i had heard about a long time ago -- which i knew was mitt romneyy dea's deal. it came to mind what gore vidal said, he said, you have two conservative parties in this country and one is just as conservative than the other one. the thing about with the romney plan is that, like any state that has auto insurance -- or you require auto insurance in iowa, we just had that happen to was about three or four years ago. the auto insurance premiums went up 30%. it was exactly the opposite of what they claimed would happen. i like the way this woman talks about all this health care and everything because she seems so thorough. and she has mentioned the massachusetts plan a couple of times. what i do not get is, once you have an external -- an insurance exchange, but it is still a mandate -- you are still going to have the mandate. the insurance companies in the exchange, would inspire them to lower their costs? i do not get it at all. it still seems like a two party system, but one less conservative. it is like we are spoon feeding customers to the insurance