mourdock's comments do not reflect governor romney's views. we disagree on the policy regarding exceptions for rape and incest-- increst but still support him. >> jon: not often do you hear someone say i disagree with your views on rape and increst but -- -- incest. >> i disagree with your views on rape and incest but not a deal breaker. (laughter) well, if romney wasn't willing to throw mourdock under the bus the same couldn't be said for your friends at morning joe. >> it is remarkable what republican candidates have said this year. >> i know. >> regarding abortion, regarding rape. >> jon: finally, republican admits fellow republicans is renug-- repugnant. please, continue with the moral stand you take. >> i'm a pro-life guy. but they are driving away so many swing voters. >> jon: no, that's not the problem. that's not the problem. no, no, no. the problem is the beliefing of the things, not that he-- the problem isn't that he violated the first law of the fetus club which is don't talk about fetus club, like that's not-- because it's the ide

. >>> another candidate trying to rebound from controversial comments about rape, richard mourdock. however, he too lost the indiana senate race to joe donnellly. he will replace richard hugher who lost to mourdock in the may area. >>> we go to jessica doyle with more on this. jessica? >> you've come a long way baby. the 113th congress will have at least 19 female senators. that's a record and two more than right now. kate shepherd from mother jones

focus on mourdock and akin revealed neither of them are outliers. as john weaver told "new york times"sh, quote, they did not seem foreign to our party, they seemed representative of our party. wow. the senate will make history with 20 women making up the largest percentage of women ever to sit in the upper chamber. i don't like the phrase upper chamber. one of those members will be senator amy klobuchar of minnesota who is coming off a big win tuesday night. senator, thank you, and congratulations. you're one of those people that people dare not run against, i guess. anyway, what do you make of the fact -- just the whole women's thing and the way women now tend to be democrats. you see it in california. we have two senators who are women in washington state, and new york, of course, you have a woman senator now and in the northeast. in fact, i think you've got 17 democratic women now, right? >> well, we do. we have -- we're going to have 20 women senators, which is incredible. the american public in this election, chris, sent us a binder full of wo

these remarks by mourdock continued to erode away. how big of an impact is this going to have on these races? >> huge. it already is, right? and i think the way i look at this, ed, is the other perspective of the gop was that this election cycle was essentially about three issues. the economy, the economy, the economy. and that is partially true, right? but you can be the brightest economic business mind on the planet and if you run for office and you say i kick puppies in my spare time, i like adolf hitler, i hate black people, people aren't going to vote for you. i think what a lost the men in the gop underestimated is in the eyes of a lot of americans, making crazy insulting comments about rape falls along those lines and they won't for candidates even if the economy is the number one issue and they're making these crazy comments. >> michele bachmann had a hard time splitting away from richard mourdock's comments. >> because she agrees with him but doesn't want to say that out loud because she sees what happens when you say that ou

then indiana where richard mourdock lost by six points.oney spent and we discussed this ad nauseam. the amount of money spent in two senate races by linda mcmahon who lost to murphy, and then that tester race, you look at the state of montana. you look at the senate race, so much of what they got and tester was able to get was indian reservation land here in montana. up here you have the reservation. so much of it is in indian land. the same thing in south north dakota. and then we can't get that map to work. in any case the indian reservations helped both the democrats in these razor thin margin states. in the house there are a couple of races we want to talk about. the house of representatives saw what we think is a big upset. allen west doesn't think it's a big upset. he lost. he'll demand a recount. he has demanded that recount in florida. that is great news for the house of representatives. great news for the tea party losing. one race in california, the brad sherman, howard berman race that was almost literally a bloodbath when sherm

saying they weren't so much voting for mccaskill or donnelly, they were voting against akin and mourdock in those races. >> while we remain a nation divided, i think the diversity we'll see in congress is reflective of the voter demographics we see in our nation. >> well, we remain a nation divided, but, clearly, the g.o.p. at this point is in reformation mode because of the changing demographics of the united states. what do you think is first and foremost in the party's mind in terms of reattracting women voters to the fold? >> there is such a sense of urgency, i can tell you, at this point. and so many people are talking. jeb bush said it so clearly when he said, it's about the tone. in this particular election, we were focused so much on the economic issues and, you know, thinking with the head and, really, i think, especially for women voters, in particular, it's the heart issues as well. so whether -- >> well -- >> on the abortion issues, it was about the tone and the messaging. >> it's the messaging's advocacy. >> -- in reaching out and talking to the women voters. >> i agree 100%

people say oh, he was misconstrued, mourdock was.is reflecting what was an incredibly extreme policy position that is in the republican party platform, which is saying that there should be no abortion even in the cases of rape or incest. and that's something honestly as a young woman, i never thought we would be having that conversation actually at this point in time. so of course. i think mitt romney has to walk this line of sort of recalling his former massachusetts moderate ways, playing the way he did during the primary, which was incredibly right-wing on these issues, and then saying that, you know, i'd be happy to sign a bill outlawing roe v. wade, but then he also said around the first debate when we saw the new etch a sketch romney, he said he didn't know of any bill that he would want to pass to limit abortion. it was really quite shocking. and with no information there, you have to go with where the heart of the party is. >> right. >> because that's actually where laws are generated is in congress. and that's a very scary p

bachmann was asked about richard mourdock's remarks. bachmann wouldn't tell voters

we're talking about todd akin and the richard mourdock races? >> both are looking unlikely to win this time around. richard mourdock looks like he's got a better shot, although the polling is not looking good for him. todd akin in missouri, claire mccaskill, everyone thought she was going to be a dead woman months back but she is probably going to win that race. the polling is tightening a little bit there, more spending from the gop. outside groups got involved the last week and: zeros like -- looks like claire mccaskill are going to hold on. those were two seats the republicans were holding on to control. they were hoping to win back the senate. after the two societies were taken off the map, it's harder for them to get to 50 or 51 seats. >> and in the house, are we expecting the republicans to keep control? and gain seats, lose seats? >> democrats are bullish about taking back the seats they lost in 2010. they're going to picture up a few and going to be like three to six or 10 if they have a good night. that is not going to be the big number

ryan's view on abortion is exactly the same as richard mourdock and todd akin.act, akin and ryan co-sponsored one of the anti-abortion bills. and i think they muzzled ryan on purpose and romney converted himself through various phases from a moderate to a right wing to a moderate again and he can't stand up to those kind of questioning because he doesn't appear to be at anyplace. >> when given a multiple choice test, they dloe throw away the pencil. >> the greatest quote about this is ted kennedy versus mitt romney in 1994 when kennedy said i'm the pro-choice candidate and mitt romney is the multiple choice candidate. >> he nailed it. that is a clip that should be on loop for some time to come. former governor from vermont, howard dean, thank you for joining me this evening. >> thanks for having me on, alex. >>> the fight for control over the senate. who is likely to hold on and who has absolutely no chance at all and where does that missouri race stand right now? joy reid and ryan grim join me coming up. >>> former president bill clinton is making nearly as man

mourdock and akin won't get back in there. they're gone.e's what you tweeted, bill, last night about somebody else we know well, and i think we helped create her. i'm pulling for michele bachmann in minnesota. can't lose all the punch lines in one night. michele bachmann has staying power, we must admit. >> well, she won by 500 votes, but, yeah, it's very hard to unseat any incumbents. that's one of the problems we have in this country, is that people are always complaining about congress and they hate it and they give it a 9% approval rating and then they vote the same people back in every time. >> you spent a million dollars backing -- you spent a million dollars, which i never imagined giving anything like it, you give $1 million to the obama effort, obama superpac and the other guys, koch brothers gave a couple hundred million, and addelson, he gave a bunch, but he makes it every hour in the casinos in macaw. you know what i liked, the tv advertisement had nothing to do with results. people don't pick their president from 30-second tv a

then you had todd akin and mourdock. i know you don't think they are responsible for a presidential loss. but they teed it up to the point, laura where the message of barack obama, which was so artfully done was they hate women, they don't want you to get healthcare, which, to many women was really about abortion, reproductive freedom and they said, you know what? what we want is the ability to economically survive, to gretchen's point but that means abortion and health cair as well. >> that's really depressing to me, laura. that's really short-sighted for women if they only looked at that one little message about the war on woman. if they didn't look more into the details. and one other thing about the economy. i think married women to it a certain extent they are less maybe less likely undoubtedly when a couple is together. they probably have more finances. >> you are right. to a lot of women they are married to the government they used her as a brilliant battering ram against the republicans. that was done largely in

joe donnelly in indiana and not against mourdock -- hanging on against mourdock, the tea party candidate. jon tester in an absolute dead heat -- >> heidekamp, the long shot parcourse in north dakota, a perfect candidate, basically even with the republic -- terrific candidate, basically even with the republican candidate. mccaskill is close, i think. >> to use t -- do you see much ticket splitting? a vote for obama or romney and then republican or democrat? >> i think we are in more plus n -- allies nation. >> ticket splitting would be helpful to romney, if the democrats held the senate, because romney could say to the crazies and his party that i have to make a deal with the democrats. >> back at bain? >> i am saying if elected, it might not be a tragedy -- >> republicans on not only going to keep tabs, probably going to keep most of their majority. the democrats would have to take over and seriously dent it. this is where it redistricting and late monday from super pacs has made a difference. >> rerun of 2000? >> i don't see that i see barack obama -- i talked to a republican charge who

. >> we have joe donnelly defeat republican tea party-backed richard mourdock. >> dave the screaming behind you is because claire mccaskill was nominated. allan west appears to have lost to his opponent patrick murphy. >> jennifer: last night was just not kind to tea party republicans. four of its most famous faces went down in defeat. michele bachmann eked out a third term but it cost her a pretty penny, actually more than $20 million. she outspent her opponent 12-1 and she only won 50.59% of the vote. in all at least 47 tea party house remembers retained their seethes with the help of obscene amounts of money. so where does the gop go from here? tonight we're putting that question to j.d. hayworth and duf sundheim. who is joining me here in studio. i want to thank you both for bringing both ends of the spectrum. j.d. just two years ago, there were 60-newly elected lawmakers who swept into congress and now some of the most prominent among them went down in defeat so did the tea party overreach? >> no not at all. the fact is there is still a substantial majority you mentioned in this

joe donnelly in indiana and not against mourdock. -- hanging on against mourdock. jon tester in montana absolute dead heat. heidekamp in north dakota, r an a tour of the campaign, even with the republican -- think.ill is close, i >> do you see much ticket splitting? a vote for obama or romney and then vote for republican or democrat for the senate? >> i think we are a more polarized nation. >> ticket splitting would be good because there is an interesting theory that it would be helpful to romney if the democrats kept control of the senate by a vote or two because it would allow romney to tell the crazies in his own party that i have to make a deal with the democrats. >> well -- >> back at bain? >> i'm saying, if elected, it might not be a tragedy. >> the republicans are not only going to keep the house, and they all will keep most of their majority. this is one place where redistricting and a late money from super pacs has made a difference. >> crystal ball, colby. >> i see barack obama -- i talked to a former republican chairman, could judiciously looks at the nu

joe walsh, allen west, todd akin, and richard mourdock were all sent walking.er two years of tea party talk, american voters said, they've had enough. joining me now is former pennsylvania governor ed rendell, now an msnbc political analyst and michelle cottle, washington correspondent for "newsweek" and "the daily bea beast." thank you for being here. america spoke loud and clear last night. what does this say about the rhetoric be that we've seen over the last two years. >> well, i think if the republican party is smart, they are going to take control of the divisiveness but they've also got to take control of themselves because this was, too me, a moral victory in many ways. you and i discussed this and you deserve abundant credit, rev for getting this done. but all of the voter suppressions, shortening the days, voter i.d.s, all of those things backfired tremendously. i was in philadelphia and appeared in four black churches on sunday and the voters there, the congregation, they were angry. they were angry because they thought somebody was trying to take aw

not just akin or mourdock. do you think the gop brand is drag romney down just enough? >> well i think a few years ago congressman tom davis of virginia had talked about this basically saying the gop brand was dog food. i think it's better than it was then. i do think that -- look i think romney has had a lot of things to overcome in terms above signatureses that he took in the primary when he talked about being severely conservative. not necessarily the republican brand but perhaps the conservative wing of the republican party was hard for him to make that pivot to the middle. we'll find out on tuesday if that was an insurmountable obstacle or he wrangled free from. public officials are held in low esteem. all you have to look at is congressional approval ratings to understand americans don't have a lot of fate in their officials. >> the president has been repeating the line don't boo, vote at rallies. he's tacked on another adage and mitt romney has respond. let's take a listen to that. >> at the time the republican congress any senate candidate by the name of mitt ro

todd akin, of course, that's missouri and of course, richard mourdock.or us. >> bill: let me tell ya, it's nice to know that democrats are finally getting smart about campaigns and smart about politics. and now we just need more of these wealthy people to put more money into democratic super pacs. >> amen. >> bill: and progressive talk radio and television while you're at it. >> amen to that, too. >> bill: rodell, thanks for coming in. >> thanks for having me. >>oh really? >>tax cuts don't create jobs. the golden years as the conservatives call them, we had the highest tax rates, and the highest amount of growth, and the highest amount of jobs. those are facts. >>"if you ever raise taxes on the rich, you're going to destroy our economy." not true! >> announcer: chatting with you live at current.com/billpress. this is the "bill press show." live on your radio and current tv. >> bill: 33 minutes after the hour. happy thursday, november 8. what a happy week. it was a big night tuesday for president obama and a big night for democrats in the united states se

mourdock is opposing democratic congressman joe donelley.ock appeared to have the edge in this race. it was a safe republican seat. he made controversial comments about abortion now this race is also too close to call. david and liz? david: peter barnes, thank you very much. peter, we'll be seeing you all night. >> thanks, peter. david: coming up next two states that still have an election day alcohol ban in place. could it be your state? find out which ones next is. liz: time to take it off the desk, if you're thinking today will be a good day to go out and drink i hope you're not in kentucky or south carolina. they're the last states with a election day alcohol ban in bars and restaurants. david: kentucky? the home of bourbon for god's sake. our coverage kicking off next with a special io

mourdock hurt romney. let's be honest here. akin hurt romney. sharron angle hurt the party and still hurts the party. i think people like michele bachmann still hurt the party. allen west hurts the people. these people are so far over i will argue they make the republican party look whacky and loony as steve schmitz said the other day. >> i'll tell you would -- go ahead, erin. >> i was going to say let's go back to dan's first comment. dan is a smart guy but that was naive of him to say. look, no one liked mitt romney to begin with. people don't like mitt romney now. he had a good first debate and so people thought, oh, maybe he actually has a chance. but the republican party never liked mitt romney 37 they never felt in love with him. he happened to be the establishment guy who was going to get the job. you look to the 2016 field of republican candidates and a lot of the electorate loves those people. like marco rubio. the electorate loves him. i'm sorry, i think dan was very off on those comments. >> chris, there's something deeper here we hav

mourdock in indiana being beaten so soundly. when you have joe walsh in the state of illinois being beaten so soundly by a veteran tammy duckworth, i think the fever has a potential to break. the tea party has been repudiated, at least two cycles in a row. and i think you will see a number of republicans at least i hope good ones that are going to have the courage to stand up to the tea party caucus. and they know it is not in the nation's interest to build a principle compromise starting with the fiscal cliff, which needs to be dealt with over the next few weeks. >> what is your father's plan now? >> his plan is to get to work. he will be back in dc tomorrow. he is home here in wilmington tonight. they have a number of issues to tackle. not just the fiscal cliff, immigration reform, energy, education. a whole host of issues he is focused on. that you heard him talk about during the entire campaign. >> he's been one of the unsung heroes. i think his vice presidential debate was fantastic. he has given the president a yin/yang. h

joe donnelly defeated tea party favorite, richard mourdock, in indiana.should have been impossible. joining us now is steve kornacki, co-host of "the cycle," 3:00 weekdays here on msnbc. happy aftermath, steve. >> i was just checking unskewedelectionreturns.com and they said republicans have 67 senate seats now, so i'm not sure what you're talking about here. >> also, mitt romney won with a anonymous vote. >> yes, in d.c., that's right. >> that's right. what happened yesterday in the senate specifically? obviously, the expectations were leaning much more toward the democrats by the time we actually voted, but the distance between patty murray having to be essentially arm twisted into taking that job and what happened last night, what happened? >> you could have put a headline from something i wrote in 2010 up there, because i was saying there was no chance for the democrats after the last election too. but what you can see now, it's a reflection of the conclusions the republicans drew from the 2008 election and the actions they took over the last four yea