at a time when no woman had chaired the state republican party prominent republicans pushed romney toecruit peterson for the job. a month later the state party convention she was waiting to go out on stage to accept her new position when max fischer and the industrialist who's served as head of the party finance committee, pulled her aside. he congratulated your honor new job and then said, but of course we can't pay you what we pay our -- her predecessor. you are a woman. he then told her if she would be paid $15,000 which was $6000 less than elly had received. peterson's response typifies the kind of person she was. she later knowledge that she had thought about crying but on the other side of the curtain, the convention delegates were growing restless and she knew her party needed her, so she went straight to the podium and delivered what reporters describe his quote, an emotional speech for party unity. then she announced that she was donating $6000 of her own salary to help retire the party and she expected all the delegates to make contributions as well. nobody realize she was n

the republican party left her.ow accurate do you really think that is quite say that utah about the republican party took a turn for the right, but i talked to allie peterson in the late 60s and she was already can do at the administration was too far to the right to conservatives. and today, richard nixon probably isn't acceptable at all to moderate republicanism. so how much did she actually change her views or do you think she was absolutely pretty much rock solid, the same in her philosophical outlook in ideology from the time of larry wendover in the late 50s all the way out until the unquiet >> no, i think she evolved clearly in the 1960s, she was concerned about right-wing elements of the republican party, both in michigan and on the national level. one of the reasons why she was there about the possibility to become president of the national federation of republican women. i think the banshee champion during the romney rockefeller, bill scranton, that kind of mold. she says when nixon ended at that candidat

they will not identify with the republican party for the rest of their life. >> and the issue is can ou persuade them that your yours are their issues. and i say that because you are a republican. >> i call myself a conservative. iim not a social conservative. and the question is -- >> on social issues from the book you make john hunts plan look like rick perry. [ llughter ] >> well, because i'm in favor of same sex marriage, not civil unions. >> and you describe yourself as personally pro life, but polittcally pro choice. being politically pro choice and being for civil unions, and -- many of the things in this book peg you as outside whht we now understand to be the new mainstream of the republican party. >> well, but keep in mind what i'm doing is characterizing sensibilities of the millennial generation. and on the issue of morally equivalent with gay rights. the millennials have tte view. they believe that abortion is morally unethical. they not in favor of it personally or for their friends or for the people they know in their lives, but they are also not in favor of roe vs. wad

so the republican party billed itself as the white man's party. here you have abraham lincoln and he is debating stephen douglas in that famous 1858 senatorial campaign. the republican party slogan that year was vanquished the twin despotisms, catholicism and slavery. going hand-in-hand. now i should tell you in full disclosure that abraham lincoln was not a religious figure. in fact he hated to religious bigotry but he swallowed the republican party line, because it was very effective among the republican party base. hue effort in politics, get out the base, get out the

the democratic party's had very conservative members in the south and liberals in the north. the republicans had a conservative wing from the midwest and a republic -- a liberal wing from the northeast. with the barry goldwater campaign was all about was trying to take over the party from the bottom up -- the bottom up being these conservative ideological activists. they had their meetings and country clubs and very fancy places. it was presumed that someone like nelson rockefeller was the heir apparent for the republican nomination. the idea that a conservative could have won the nomination was absolutely seen as a possible by the pundits. the pundits then said that america was a liberal center- left consensus. when dwight eisenhower not only embraced in the new deal but even expanded it, opening up something like the department of health, education, and welfare. instituting the interstate. it was just presumed that the conservatism of the 1920's, which was seen as something that have gotten us into the depression was no longer relevant to modern life. >> in your book, you point out to dump

yet, you've been vitriolic toward the republican party. what explains that?because i'm still a conservative, and they're not. >> they're not? >> well, no. i think if you -- if you look at what they're saying, which is that really the most of major institutions in this country and government should be exploded, i mean, should be sdproi be destr get rid of traditions like medicare, cut it off with a voucher system or preemptive war again iran which, again, violate most conservative ideas, the idea that you can't defeat and cut the budget deficit without raising taxes at all is not a very conservative position. i mean, it's a very anti-tax, anti-government position. it isn't a conservative one. if you define conservative as liking the status quo, as wanting it to be limited government but understanding there are two parties in the system, a little give and take, compromise. none of that is on display at all. >> you don't mince words. after the cnn debate you said the ignorance and narrow not of mind and shallowness were on display. let me run through what you sa

this is a different republican party from the party that newt gingrich brought into the congress when he became the speaker. and he learned that when he criticized paul ryan's budget plan, calling it right-wing social engineering. he was out of step. >> america is a different place than it was when ronald reagan was president. the number of hispanics who will be voting in november, 2012 is higher than 20 four years. >> i think the question is has gingrich caused himself a real problem or found a way to talk about this issue, because he isn't talking about a path to citizenship which is what george w. bush was promoting, but a path to legality. has he found a way to talk about this that will prevent infladges of the republican base -- inflammation of the republican base? >> what about mitt romney, what does he do now? >> he runs to the right, whenever he can, and he is running to the right of newt gingrich on the amnesty issue. and you know, the question is whether in the last campaign, he was to the right of -- on the amnesty issue. we have to go back and pars much e everything that m

that's right president united states shot through the head of the republican party official mass email the winner of that went out a week before a local state election. virtually every single republican has condemned the loudon county digital mailing the republican party of virginia calling it a disgusting image when you've gone so low that even the rest of the republican party can agree that it's disgusting then you know you've done something very very . crazy alert breaking and entering just got weird according to surveillance cameras a man in indianapolis broke into a children's daycare center last week to try and girls eighteen suits a man described as five foot seven with a long black bony tail stuck into the daycare center and into typical goalie locks of the three bears fashion began trying on bikini's something large something small until he finally found one that fit in just right. after about ten minutes the man settled on a skimpy pink two piece shortly after he jumped over the car set off the motion detector and quickly changed back into his street clothes and fled the scen

tradition, they were more skeptical, and eisenhower made it very clear that he was going to lead the republican party in a more internationalist direction. and it stayed there. um, and there never was a republican president during the cold war that ever really rebuked that. yeah. >> what would you consider to be ike's successes, his failures in foreign policy? >> i think on the whole he was a very successful foreign policy president. i think he, he avoided unnecessary wars. i mean, there were multiple cases over, um, taiwan and over indochina, berlin where he managed to kind of maintain a firm line diplomatically, militarily without actually entangling the u.s. in a third world war. so that was very useful. he also managed to strike a balance between the fiscal responsibility and the u.s. diplomatic role overseas. he sort of insisted on a cap to military spending as a percentage of the gross national product and in spite of a lot of pressure, he kept it there. by the way, it was much higher than it is today. it was almost 10% throughout eisenhower's years, so that was the context at the time. >> what

is for showing us what not to do in the middle east and the very very ugly the loudon county republican party for some reason these virginia republicans figured it'd be a good idea to get in the holiday spirit by sending out an e-mail yesterday depicting president obama as a zombie complete with part of his skull missing and a polar hole right through said ed as an added bonus an image of house minority leader nancy pelosi that looks like she has about i bolted out of the socket that's right president united states shot through the head on a republican party official mass email the winner that went out a week before local state elections virtually every single republican has condemned the loudon county digital mailing the republican party of virginia calling it a disgusting image. when you've gone so low that even the rest of the republican party can agree that it's disgusting then you know you've done something very. crazy alert breaking and entering just got weird according to surveillance cameras a man in indianapolis broke into a children's daycare center last week to try on girls eightee

the second war on republican party establishment.ch they believe compromised too much, sold out conservative principles too much for the previous decade and really enabled the rise of the obama -- of barack obama. so what that meant when you looked at the whole situation leading into the supercommittee and the debt ceiling drama over the summer, it meant basically that any deal that republicans might strike with obama would be inherently suspicious to the republican party base. and there would be a huge incentive for conservative leaders to call it a sellout, no matter what was in it. then if you look closer than that, any deal obama was going to strike with republicans would have to have included a significant revenue component, you know, with ref livenues on wealthy. that's another, an absolute sacred violation of conservative principle these days. the idea of raising taxes on anyone, let alone the rich. i think clearly there was never going to be a deal that would pass muster with the conservative base. if there was a deal, the re

the president of the united states and certain members of the republican party. it's now the law that it's illegal. >> do those kind of responses further marginalize people that looked like that he had more prospects? >> this is a lively debate in the republican party. jon huntsman and ron paul said no. but romney was more or less silent on it. he might be nominally in support of it. the other thing is all the camps except for huntsman and ron paul said we need to stay in afghanistan longer. well, that is something that's not consistent with the polling data in this country and imposes enormous costs and when we asked rick perry, could you sum riles what the ground combat situation is right now in afghanistan? that was another one of those think questions. and when we broached those kind of questions i sometimes found the answers to be less knowledge-based than i was expecting. >> major, the president was also off on a foreign trip. how did that fit in, not fit in to the debate? >> there's a tremendous amount of criticism of the president, he's all wrong on forei

the republican party had an isolationist conservative wing from the midwest. had a liberal wing in the northeast, people like jake javet and ken keeting. what it was all about was trying to take over the party from the bottom up, being the conservative ideology aspects. they had their meetings in country clubs and very fancy places. and it was presumed that someone like nelson rockefeller was the heir apparent for the republican nomination the idea that a conservative could have won the nomination was absolutely seen as impossible by the pundants because pundits said america was enconsed within a liberal center left. that when dwight icen hower embraced the new deal but also expanded it, opening up the department of health and welfare. instituting the interstate, it was just presumed that the conservativism of the 1920's, which was seen as something that had gotten us into the depression was no longer relevant to modern life. >> in your book you point out two tee primaries that were critical in 1964. oregon, in which nelson rockefeller won and in california whe

republicans three steps backwards. they end in the same place. we let the two partiesalpost almost without us noticing. then they become liberal positions. it's hard for ordinary people who take cues from the way the debates from the parties deceive who is compromising and who is not. >> you just see there's no compromise so there must be -- >> barack obama is a moderate republican from the 1990s. it's true if you look at what they supported in the 1990s. >> maya macguineas, what should -- >> i want to touch on what ezra said. >> respond. >> i think that the extremes have moved. but also the world has moved. i guess i have a little bit more understanding why what one was considered center isn't now. >> explain that. on something as specific as -- talk about cap and trade. to me, that's the most important issue and it's one in which we've seen what was a consensus. remember, newt gingrich is appearing in the@ads on the sofa. pat robertson. >> john mccain, the cap and trade plan -- >> i completely agree. that is one that i -- the casey would make is that the world on fis

with ron paul and all of the other republicans would be considered outliers for the historic republican party that's why i think you know what you have is historically and if you want to pull all the way back is this debate has been happening since the days of the barbary pirates where we balance whether or not we have liberty or security and it's not and there's i don't think there's a binary formula there i think there's a balance obviously ron paul is far in the direction of liberty he's very forward and we need ron paul's and the republican party to be able to bring that guides back and make that conversation a part of it but at the same time just accepting i think new gamers part of a great point the fact is you have to be vigilant from a security standpoint to protect against folks like timothy mcveigh it's better to have prevention than it is to have chased out of here but it's a patriot act where the f.b.i. can just write write a letter and they're not to worry about judges they don't have you know the it's and i think it's a serious problem i think it's un-american i think it goes ag

in today's republican party, that's heresy. that's either the white cap on newt's wave or another twist in his unpredictable rise to the top of the gop field. and here's the biggest reason newt is getting so much attention. after about five years of campaigning, roughly three-quarters of republicans still want little to do with mitt romney. romney is lining up endorsements but where's the love? can newt or some other dark horse actually break through and win republican minds as well as hearts? plus, if it seems as if there's no room for compromise in congress anymore, here's why. three decades ago, 60 of 100 senators were considered to be moderates. people who would compromise with the other side. today that number is zero. who is to blame, the senators or we the people who vote them in? also, the penn state investigation with new alleged victims coming forward and more indicated that there were signs of trouble for a long time. why wasn't something done sooner? and putting on the blitz. wolf blitzer has one of the best known n

the republican party finally realized the shameful truth that herman cain is a con man, he's a huckster. he tricked an entire political party into propping him up as a tea party friendly anti-obama candidate, would say anything, make fun of everything else but his 9-9-9 plan. he fooled the regular folks into giving him their hard-earned dollars. and he made a mockery of our democratic process. when does he get out? well, i think the calculation right now is just how much more can he milk the media for exposure? he may be mopping up his reputation as best he possibly can at this point, not even thinking about the nomination. because, you know, there's the rubber chicken circuit. you got to get out and give speeches and make a ton of money. that's coming down the road, right? get your cell phones out. i want to know what you think. tonight' question, did herman cain ever have a chance at the gop nomination? text "a" for yes, text "b" for no to 622639. you can always go to our blog at ed.msnbc.com and bring you the result the later on in the show. joining us, michael eric dyson, msnbc poli

joining us now is the former chairman of the republican party, michael steele. he is now an msnbc contributor. mr. steele, it's great to see you again. >> good to see you. >> for all the things that parties do not do well, one thing that parties do is they vet candidates. they keep people out of the running who are going to embarrass themselves and the party if they get too far. right? isn't that part of what's supposed to happen? >> yeah. those days are long gone, rachel. i mean, the primary process and the electoral process has changed dramatically. and the ability of parties at the local level or the national level to keep someone in or to take someone out is very, very difficult to do. i mean, the old days of that kind of happening where you kind of pushed some guy or gal up front and said it's your turn has really kind of been turned on its head. so there's very little that you can do to keep someone out of the race who really wants to get in. the filing fee that, you know, you make the filing fee, you're on the ballot. so then it's a matter of getting the p

party that gave theme to the suffrage movement. when susan b. anthony cast her illegal vote in 1872, she was proud to cast a straight republican ticket.3 the republicanpaaty has been the party of individual freedom, especially in new york, since its founding, and i believe that there are shifts going on beneath the surface that the national scene isn't seeing and we won't see in the 2012 presidential election, but we will fundamental shifts in terms of the directioo of the pprty in the favor of the course i outline in my boofnlgt. >> what you're saying is very forward looking and progressive position relative -- >> i don't like the word progressive. >> i know you don't. how about small p progressive. i have to tell you that this ú&s always een the fundamental question about republicans who on the one hand say we want the government out of everything, we want the free market, we want the 10th amendment. leave us alone. on gay marriage when we want to be totally in your business. >> i couldn't agree with you more. the democrats are the same give you all the freedom to make the choices for your body and make the choices in your personal life, but we'll

the republican party was a moderate party and a conservative had one. what you are supposed to do, your role is to bind the wounds together of a divisive campaign. people can you night and go forward. instead, he seemed to be pushing in people's faces his acceptance of this notion of extremism. in the context of the time it meant things like the john birch society. it meant things like the southern segregationists who are changing their democratic affiliation to republican affiliation. the public itself and the context of this kennedy assassination was the idea that the bottom had dropped out of civility, people wanting so much for normalcy, it really did seem like something once again that was frightening, that was strange, that was perverse. his numbers went way down. a week after that, there was a terrible riot and harlem. increased their sense that barry goldwater was associated with these very frightening sources in american life. when people were riding in harlem, people were saying things like, they are shooting black people. this barry goldwater

matter how individually idiotic they may appear on international issues, they can count on the republican partyg a good ç brand on national security and foreign policy. that the beltway common wisdom. that common wisdom may be changing. "the new york times" today quoting republican foreign policy heavyweights who are not pleased with this crop of republican candidates and all the stuff they keep screwing up on foreign issues. a former george w. bush national security official telling the "times" quote, this is the core of the republican brand. you mess with it at your peril. republicans should be concerned about this. a former white house counsel for the first president bush saying, quote, people are taking this stuff in stride. at some point the public picks up on it. ronald reagan's former chief of staff says, quote, honestly the republican debates have become a reality show. people have to be perceived as being capable of governing this country. now that we're less than two months out from the voting in iowa, candidates trying to get themselves into the top tier, trying to keep themselves in

this does not bode well for the republican party in an election that republicans should win. and so i think that there's a lot of disturbing aspects to this. >> and is there -- is there something disturbing in republican inconsistency here? i want to read you something from bill bennett, because it strikes me from the outside of republican world that this is the kind of thing that will eventually start to sink in in republican minds. bill bennett, obviously a very strongly credentialed conservative, the former secretary of education, under president george h.w. bush. he said today "if herman cain cannot stand up to these charges, if he refuses to, then he should step out of the race. a man big enough to run for president should be big enough to have a full and candid press conference on all of this. he wants us to elect him president, after all. he's asking us to trust our lives and the country's life to him." and steve, he added in that statement, a point about the hypocrisy of people who attacked bill clinton over this sort of thing and are defending herman cain over this s

>> well, i'm talking about a republican party that dismisses mainstream science. i think in order for us to be successful, we've got to win over some independents. we've got to do the math. the math has to be in our favor. you can't run away from mainstream ience, for example, and expect to win the race. you can't be on an extreme end of politics, and expect to win over the independent vote. that's going to be a critical calculus in making sure that the next president is a republican. you can't avoid that reality. >> but, you would not put romney in that camp, per se, yet you're saying unequivocally, he cannot beat president obama? >> listen, when i stand on the debate stage after the whole debt ceiling debate has been had, and every single person on that stage who was in favor of default, i mean, i don't think you can get any more extreme than that. at a time in this nation's history where we've got to stand up as 25% of the world's gdp, we've got to fixhe problem as opposed to default. a default would have destroyed this economy. retirements and 401(k) programs

i'm looking at americans elect a unity group outside of the republican party who would go to independence republicans and liberals and conservatives who put their country first. i plan on announcing as a candidate for that ticket. i'm a republican, but i'm a prouder american. i'll stay in the republican primary and do all i can, but i need a stage to talk about what is really wrong with america, rachel and what is wrong is this, a big check gets first in line and everybody else is forgotten. it's not right. >> are you staying in this no matter what happens? how long can you stay in? >> i'm going as far as i can. i have gotten contributions from 50 states. i have raised a quarter million dollars at $60 the average gift. i'm free. if i can get an audience, we'll see if this is an election issue. it ought to be. >> former louisiana governor buddy roemer. thank you for being here. if i put you on the spot with governor paul li lenity backstage, i apologize for any personal front. best new thing in the world coming up. [ sue ] wow! i've been so looking forward to this. when my asthma symptoms

this is a problem the republican party has. >> it is clear to me that in a general election what newt gingrich is taking as you point out that could help them. in a republican contest, it probably won't necessarily help them. i guess is it too far fetch to think that given the polls where he stands right now, newt gingrich, he's already looking ahead beyond these republican contests? >> maybe. but probably not. i don't think so. >> i don't think so. >> this is classic newt. one thing that is really interesting about the debate, wolf, is that i think americans today saw the newt gingrich that we both covered in the '80s and '90s who was almost imperial and radiated the sense that he was the one that had the long term vision. i see myself as a transformtive figure back then. and that is the moment. what he is most in that expansive mode that i think he is the most likely to say something that is not preprogrammed, it can be rhetorically flamboyant. i do think he did a much better job as you suggested of explaining his position than rick perry d the national review editorial had a favor