of governor ted strickland, former gotch ted strickland, -- governor ted strickland, who lost in 2010 because of high unemployment, and said the single campaign message should be osama bin laden is dead and general motors is alive. he borrowed that from vice president biden. but it is the central thing. one out of every eight jobs in ohio is connected to the auto industry. which is actually improving. so it's why it makes ohio so interesting. even more so that be other years. -- more so than other years. >> do you see any clear point of disagreement on how -- what to do about the economy? is there a place where this sort of campaign is going to come down to a choice between one man's policy on jobs and another? >> here's what's fascinating about the debate so far. more than half of americans in most polls say that what they care most about in this election is the economy. but we haven't really had an economic debate yet. we're having a debate about a whole bunch of things that are tangentially related to the economy. a debate about warren buffett's secretary's tax rate. we're having a

ted strickland ranked number 1 in renew alan and advanced manufacturing projects but thanks to republicansmplishments are in jeopardy. governor strickland is a fellow at harvard's kennedy school of government, coming to us from boston. governor strickland, ted, welcome back to the program. >> jennifer, it is great to be with you. >> it's great to have you on. before i get into the energy piece, there is a quick reaction. obviously ohio is a swing state and there has been some discussion of rob portman being a potential vice presidential pick for governor rom anything else. what's your take on that? >> well, rob is a good guy. he is very conservative. i describe him as sort of a tea party conservative with really good manners. and so he's perceived to be, i think, more moderate than he really is. but recent polling has shown senator shari brown has a higher approval rating than senator portman. i don't think he is well known throughout the state of ohio. he was known in the sensenatty area. he probably would be some help to mr. romney but i still believe barack obama will carry ohio in nove

former ohio governor our former former ted strickland will join me to talk about that in ohio.l that and more at the top of the hour. >> excellent. what a line-up. i will be thrilled to join you. >> great. >> honored to be in that line-up. millionaires, don't they call themselves the patriotic millionaires. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> >>this is outrageous! [[vo]]cenk uygur calls out the mainstream media. >>the rest of the media seems like, "ho-hum, no big deal." we've have no choice, we've lost our democracy here. just refreshing to hear. no other television show does that. we're keeping it real. hd

former ohio governor, ted strickland. >>> an incredible feat in baseball. we bring you the numbers behind one game last night and how it relates to space travel. oooh, what's her secret? [ male announcer ] dawn hand renewal with olay beauty. improves the look and feel of hands in just five uses. [ sponge ] soft, smooth... fabulous! [ male announcer ] dawn does more... [ sponge ] so it's not a chore. farmer who says... [farmer:] we've gotta protect the land. [announcer:] and, to the consumer who says... [consumer:] the economists make some good points. [announcer:] conocophillips says, you're right. find out how natural gas answers both at powerincooperation.com. all your important legal matters in just minutes. now it's quicker and easier for you to start your business... protect your family... and launch your dreams. at legalzoom.com, we put the law on your side. >>> let's go to politics now. and the state level in connecticut, state representative william trong is setting his sights on higher office and drawing compares

stoddard, ted strickland, and susan delpurso. great to have all three of us with me. ben labolt responded to the information that we're getting now about mitt romney and what he had to say, but here is his response no chris jansing. >> the fact is that governor romney has a very specific plan, that he has not unveiled to the american people, but he's unveiled to high dollar donors. and there really is a secre sec trend here. >> so what i say in private is not what i say in public. what's to be taken away from this? >> just like president obama may be having some secret negotiations with the russians over what they're going to do over missile defense. but the real thing that we can take away from this is i don't know if mitt romney, who is so disciplined, was upset no those things came out in that meeting. i think he's very disciplined and in a he stathat he started broach issues that will come up. >> when we talk about the cuts, the proposals morphing the department of education, getting rid of hud, what's your reaction? >> well, my reaction is you really can't believ

ted strickland had a big column related to it. it's going to be part of the character message by democrats. i agree with the former chairman here. he needs to do some level of outreach. there are still some ruffled feelings on the right. usually when you're in a primary, you does coalition building during the primary. i think mitt romney has to do it because this is not a narrative he wants to deal with for the coming months. >> if there's a moment when he's going to turn on conservatives, i would wait for september and october. they're all expecting that. this is the moment when he brings them to his boson. >> this group of conservatives is not going to vote for the president. >> maybe with the women thing he moved a little bit closer to the middle and pivots back when he does the nra stuff. is that the strategy? this is a firearms instructor quoted in the "huffington post" by the enimtable sam stein. i trust him a lot more than obama. that's romney. from what i've gathered i think he's going to go with the in, with what's popula

former ohio governor, our former former ted strickland will join me to talk about that in ohio.that and more at the top of the hour. >> excellent. what a line-up. i will be thrilled to join you. >> great. >> honored to be in that line-up. millionaires, don't they call themselves the patriotic millionaires. >> they do. >> more "viewpoint"coming up next. >> thanks. we're keeping it real. i think its brilliant. >>current tv welcomes two new hosts. news and analysis with a washington perspective from an emmy winning insider. >>i know this stuff and i love it and i try to bring that to the show. >>and humor and politics with a west coast edge. >>politically direct means no bs, cutting through the clutter. >>bill press and stephanie miller, current's new morning news block. weekdays six to noon. >> still to come $700 million for a boat. it had better float. but first, here is my view. so who is waging a war on women? it depends who you ask. president obama? or governor romney? the gap among independent women in the swing states who will determine this election? a staggering 14% in fav

joining me now, republican strategist, chip saltsman and ted strickland.his primary season has seen mitt romney pushing further and further to the right. as with any election, he has to come back to the middle for the general. how difficult will that be given the primary nature of this primary season? >> it's taken its toll but the good news for governor romney is he gets back to his comfort zone which is talking about jobs and the economy in things he did as governor of massachusetts and in the private sector as well. that's the number one issue out there as you can tell from your tweets and earlier conversations from today. >> governor strickland, we were just discussing this disappointing march jobs report. i'm curious, is there a risk of the economy becoming an achilles heel for president obama? >> well, i think the economy is improving. we hope it continues to improve. and we remind people that when barack obama became president, the month he became president, we had lost about 750,000 jobs. he's reversed that trend. we've had 26 months of job growth.

given that hope and change listen to what former governor of ohio ted strickland told me yesterday. >ign policy a and his domestic policy. >> is there an echo in here? that's what he just said. joe, regardless. slogans, how does the republican nominee counter a message like that? >> i think the republican nominee counters the message by talking to the 12.7 million americans who aren't working and desperately want to work and the millions more working in part-time jobs making less than they used to make and people worried about gas prices. the republican nominee will talk to all of them. he'll say to america, i'll put you back to work, fix the economy and have a domestic energy policy that will keep gas prices low. he won't beat the president up over his successes, he'll talk to americans about what mat earns here and now. >> our next topic, the campaign bunny trail. "the new york times" says president obama will start emphasizing his national security accomplishments as we head towards the general election. how do you see this playing out? >> well, this is an obvious theme for the pre