there have been two, mitt romney and pawlenty. and the white house have said, couldn't we be lucky enough to end up with another opponent who is just as lame as the ones we faced in the past. chris: he may get a little bit of a break. i'm looking at some of these races. nevada, he thought he may have had a safe seat. harry reid facing sharro ankle. so he may not lose the senate. >> the appetite for republicans and the environment is good for republicans out there. got to get 10 seats to take back the senate, but haven't field the the best seats. nevada, that has been a disaster for the republican party. a lot of the donors are starting to run and charlie crist who is running as an independent is dahean the polls even though rubio is a star, charlie crist may win that seat. >> kelly, it seems to be a bifurcation. sometimes zany and tea party people. bachmann and palin and you have a dull group of leaders, mitch mcconnell and john boehner. people wouldn't recognize them on the subway. [laughter] chris: does that hurt the republican

>> i would say if i were to buy a penny stock, it would be tim pawlenty or mitch daniels. >> pawlentyoesn't think very highly. >> and people don't figure who he was. > i think these guys can start from scratch. obama started from scratch. >> if pawlenty stepped into iowa and won it somehow, came from behind and won that thing, he would suddenly clip romney. >> why are mike and john on this list? >> on the list because he is a u.s. senator. he's an attractive guy. a congressman and i don't know when the last time a congressman ran for president and got the nomination. >> mitch daniels has a lot of good ideas for government. >> who is he? >> he's the governor of indiana. >> what position did he hold? >> working in the white house. >> what position in the white house? >> officer management and budget. is that important? >> he was the head of the political office. >> is the white house very important? am i going through this question? >> one of the problems is -- >> the most powerful entity in the white house is the omb. >> but if you work for george w. bush who ballooned the deficit, is

we are hearing from tim pawlenty and mitt romney but they haven't fully engaged. >> what role do you think they'll play in this mid-term election? who will they campaign for, will they expand beyond the early primary states? >> you will see them in the swing states, where there will be close races. even in california, boxer's race or in washington state. some of the races that for a while seemed like these were solidly democratic states that are starting to move towards the tossup column or lean republican. there will be effort among these 2012 candidates to go into these states and try to at least declare themselves a victor if the candidates turn out victorious in the fall. >> when he was in this position in 1966, nixon was able to pick and choose candidates he thought was going to win. would you see a republican campaigning in nevada with angle or romney or -- >> nevada is a curious situation because not all republicans are totally embracing angle and not sure what to make of her candidacy. if angle starts to show that she can win this race and is competitive in the final weeks of

tim pawlenty was at the state fair. >> right after the november elections, he will start seeing even more movement. people will start to form exploratory committees and visit the early primary states. a lot of it is building goodwill and showing what you can do on the campaign trail by fund- raising and by stumping for candidates. i think that a lot of these prospective 2012 candidates want to see those efforts come back to help them by endorsements in the future. so, we will see a lot of activity, especially with these guys spending money and helping out some candidates in these races. >> will this early start to 2012 have an impact on the obama agenda? there was a piece talking about washington been broken. we talked about the hyperkinetic media environment, the web, the twitterverse. if you combine that with 20 12th on the republican side, does that impact the obama a jet -- with 2012 on the republican side, does that impact the obama agenda? >> to their regret, it does. this white term -- this white house is very long-term focus. these are cancers to the agenda. the 2012 race is

pawlenty -- it is the responsibility of the municipality and it is the responsibility of the taxpayers. if we build a new highway, we know how much it costs, but we also know how much it costs yearly to maintain it. it is one and the same. it is part of the bill. >> doesn't anybody here in san francisco care about the cost? all about the streets, the pavement is quite bad. i think it seems to be quite a port town. the same in boston. everywhere, the pavement, the maintenance of the roads are a lot worse than anywhere in europe. >> on that note, any other questions? >> hi, i work for the san francisco board of supervisors. a year or two ago, there is talk about changing the traffic laws so that cyclists would treat it red lights like stop signs and treat stop signs like yield signs. it was wondering about any changes in law? >> it has been suggested recently that cyclist conditions should be improved. one was that cyclists should be able to ride on a red light. that was a discussion. i do not think that we will get that in denmark, because you have to change the legislation opinion that

wants to be president but you have to put governor romney on the list and a few others like tim pawlenty >> charlie: you have to watch how many trips they make to iowa. >> exactly. >> charlie: same-sex marriage in other countries. give us a status report. >> this is breaking news on this front, so earlier -- there is breaking news on this front, earlier, last month, argentina became the 10th country to valorize -- to permit same-sex marriage, some countries have done it by courts some by legislature, south africa did it by court opinion -- spain did it by parliamentary decision, the trend is unidirectional and i not want to point out it's nonlinear. there has been a tipping point. three of those countries were within the past year so i think that both internationally and domestically the toothpaste is out of the tube on this one. >> charlie: argentina, belgium, canada, icelands, south africa, spain, sweden allow same-sex marriage. here is what's interesting. iceland. >> yes. >> charlie: the prime minister of iceland made history last month when she wed her long-time friend becoming the w

the interesting thing in minnesota is pawlenti setting himself up.ack to minnesota concerning dayton. he resigned from the senate, but has not decided to run for governor? guest: many say that you may hate the political bug will you were here, but you miss it when you're gone. many former members talk about it. he is back and made a statement in that race. host: he is spending a lot of his own money. now to texas, james. caller: it is the time of year with the -- the negative campaigns drive me crazy. i have been a democrat for a long time, i think, because that is the way i was brought up. i believe all will switch sides because i like the tea party. one thing that discuss me -- tell me if i'm right -- some of the negative campaigns and things politicians will say, it seems to me, if i were to make comments like that, i could be sued couldlibel or send a. are there different laws that apply to politicians and campaigns? guest: no, you see politicians get sued in civil courts and complaints made to the federal election committee every election. no, t

i think it is important to understand the 25th amendment is designed not pawlenty fill a vacancy but has some degree of continuity of policy. out is the first one to testify in the house in support of gerald ford. i thought they would followed nixon's policy. they are entitled to get it. i found myself in an unusual position of supporting gerald ford on the florida senate in opposing rockefeller. alibi rockefeller's idea in the white house. i do not think it is continuity policy. you are putting someone in the vice presidency that has a history of investment in involvement. it is moving the party farther to the left of them i led the charge. and just some random thoughts. thank you so much for the contributions you made. >> those are more than random thoughts. those were great thoughts. >> he was very successful in being able to deceive not only the people that came in to investigate but he actually had his doctor as a member of the group that was keeping the deception alive. i think doctors can be coopted as well. i think it stands as a good example. >> moving from a physical with f

i think the interesting point on the minnesota one may be it's pawlenty senting himself up and how the012 fight is playing out. host: back to minnesota and talk about mark dayton re-entering the ring. he resigned from the senate not wanting to be in the senate. now he's decided to run for governor. guest: a lot of people say the political bug, you may hate it while you're up here, you miss it when you're gone. you hear a lot of former members talk about it. he's back and he made a statement in that race. host: spending a lot of his own money as well. host: jane, democratic line, good morning caller: good morning. time of year with campaigns, negative campaigns just really drop me -- drive me crazy. i have been a democrat for a long time. i think because i was brought up, that's the way we voted, i have seen the light and i believe i'm going to switch sides. i like tea party. one of the things i just disgust me about this negative campaign, tell me if i'm right, some of the negative campaigns are things that these politicians will say about one another, seems to me it's a person like me