other leading job as in the obama administration went to the career military people, general jones who was the national security adviser, dennis blair who was in charge of the intelligence for the top jobs in his attic ministration. so you have a democratic president but without the same kind of colewort the republicans represented and the democrats over the years since vietnam have been struggling with issues precisely the ones the republicans took for granted. in america force for and the world and is it everything that the united states does over these sees and at the grassroots of the party you get the debates about whether the use of the force is ever justified. so i tend to think of the obama administration when it took office in 2009 as confronting what i call the legacy of the first george of course george w. bush. obama needed to figure out what he was going to do in the wake of the bush presidency. the other george, less obvious, would be mcgovern. the republicans ever since the george mcgovern campaign of 1972 has been ki

while he gained in the lean obama category, lost in the solid obama category. own to the lowest number since we began tracking this, 17 179 electoral votes. romney is at the high, 111. that leaves south carolina, kentucky, tennessee, south dakota, texas, all of which in all likelihood are solid romney states. still in various different categories because we don't have polling in the states. if the they're all solid romney as i think joe and i would agree they are, we have 180 solid romney states to 179 obama states. this is tight as a tick. while there has been minor move in the the last week, for the first time in april there has been movement, more movement in electoral college votes for obama than romney. this is still tight as a tick. nothing is set in concrete. yes, money is going to matter. >> bret: yeah. >> deployment of money is going to matter. what we have essentially since may 15 when obama began tv advertising he will spend by the end of july, by tomorrow, north of $130 million. on the other hand, that is between obama and the dnc and outside allies.

name of the game, david, from the obamatandpoint is to simply engulf the romney campaign in stuff like this, so that they cannot mount an offensive against obama. i mean, obama is vulnerable on his record and so he's filling the air with shrapnel, basically, so that the romney campaign can't get at him and he's so far being pretty successful, the romney people are spending a tremendous amount of time honoring the charges. is that what the american people want to hear or as said to mitt romney, mr. romney has a plan, but have you begun to talk about the details of the plan because they're pinned down. >> and the charges are so bogus, that even leading democrats, we've got a list of democrats who said that bain capital is it not guilty of what they say he is. and duval patrick, bill clinton, come on, why is it that the romney campaign doesn't just use these guys for their message. >> they have, although you know what happens, when the democrats stare under the truth that bain capital is a wealth and job creator, and the chica

we know the obama administration has been playing word games about the health care mandate right from the beginning, but now, the romney campaign can't seem to make up its mind whether it's really a tax. and early this week, romney advisor said that his boss had the same view as the white house, that it's a penalty, not a tax, but the can dat walked that back, telling cbs news, quote the majority of the court said it's a tax and therefore, it is a tax. and they have spoken, there's no way around that, end so the. but has the opportunity to hang this vast middle class tax increase on president obama been lost in the confusion? and does it reveal larger problems within the romney campaign? let's ask wall street journal columnist and deputy editor, and james freeman and columnist, mary anastasia o'grady. and how has the campaign dealt with in. >> obviously not you've leapt through the sequence. they say it's a tax and upheld the obama health care law and the obama white house says it's not a tax, it's a penalty and the law has been upheld and every major republican says they have imposed

is the obama plan working? we won't know until november. and finally, you betcha, the romney runninging make looks to be a safe choice, no sarah palin this time. any chance that goes safe is an overreaction. the bland leading the bland. i'm chuck todd. chris matthews is off this week. welcome to the show. with us today, dan rather, gloria borger, kathleen parker and david ignatius. first up, the tragedy in denver came at the end of a week that was notable for how small and petty the campaign was getting and only seemed to highlight the smallness. dan, look, you have been through a lot of these rodeos. looking back at the last week of politics, it was awful. and then friday happens and all the campaigns started acting responsibly again. >> but that won't last long. this does perspective, this puts this into perspective. it signals to us once again just how bland and mostly irrelevant the campaign rhetoric has been. yes, the initial responses were on the news, that won't last very long. >> gloria, look, these are moments and sometimes they're

that's exactly what the obama team is trying to do. define him at a time of exhibiting un-- of economic uncertainty, and it was reinforced by his refusal to deal with the tax return issue. he just won't released the tax returns, and it appears either -- >> what do you mean? he released the 2010, 2011. >> he did that under pressure during the primaries, buts he has not released others. >> the back taxes ? >> everybody releases 12 years, and it was a practice started by george romney in 1968. he has not released that. it comes like revelations in the news media he has offshore investments -- >> had. >> he had a company in bermuda and swiss bank accounts. it is muddying the waters and hurting mitt romney. >> i think it is hurting romney a little it is taking the luster off the bain experience. it is important to romney's candidacy. what it hasn't done is had an affect on the one on one numbers against president obama. they are basically tight. in fact, i think romney under polls by two or three points. >> why do you say that? >> because th

>> guest: barack obama's heart was not in the operation. e have seen a very limited amount of data, but barack obama, the reason why, i mean few people know that the middle east does not talk about obama's foreign-policy. barack obama and his foreign-policy team from day one to leave that america was too enged in the middle east, far beyo what the strategic interests are from day one. america's future lies somewhere else. it lies in the pacific region. from day one, and in fact be a rousing rhetoric without which basically was launched by barack obama using his own personal story, his speeches and cairo, were really designed to begin systematically to shift american foreign policy priority somewhere else. and that is why barack obama wanted to basically reduce the american boots on the ground. the area itself, he really wanted to bring most american troops from iraq and american from afghanistan and that is why he was deeply suspicious of a close national security. in fact it was hillary clinton that forced his hand a great deal, hillary cli

an issue that's been made by the obama campaign. the huffington post described the issue this way, the headline romney's signature appears on bain s.e.c. filings during time he says he left bain, between '99 and 2001, mitt romney, then ceo of bain capital, signed at least six documents that the private equity firm filed with the securities and exchange commission. can you understand the confusion here about when he was at bain and when he wasn't? >> yes. and the fact is, he took a leave of absence from bain to go and run the olympics in salt lake city. as you remember, at the time the international olympic committee was going to pull the olympics from the united states, which would have been a huge embarrassment for our country. there was corruption. it was poorly run. it was in chaos. and they needed someone of mitt romney's stature and leadership ability to come in and save it. so he took a leave of absence from bain and left a life that he loved to help a country that he loves more, to save the olympics. and he was not responsible

they say it's a tax and upheld the obama health care law and the obama white house says it's not a tax, it's a penalty and the law has been upheld and every major republican says they have imposed a tax on the middle class and along comes the romney campaign, oh, we agree, it's a penalty. now, why are they saying this? they're saying this because mitt romney himself enacted the mandate in the massachusetts health care law and they're afraid to have that. and that massachusetts health care law is turning out to be the biggest gosh darn albatross is any presidential candidate has ever had. >> and romney has to-- >> it's never too late he has got it get that thing off the back and repudiate it. >> after spending so much time defending what he did in massachusetts how can he now come out and say that the mandate was a mistake with obama care and a mistake in massachusetts? >> i think what you've got to understand is what the american people care more about than his consistency of health care policies over the years is their life and their money and their health. and this big government pla

look at the record barack obama has to run on. economic recovery on record, the highest deficits and biggest government since world war ii, the worst jobs quarter in two years and the highest poverty rates in a generation. that's not a record you can run on and mitt romney has been very clear and very specific with how he'll do things differently to get our economy turned around to save us from a debt crisis and so he will continue to emphasize those things and at the end of the day it's going to be a big choice about two futures. do you want the path the president has put us on-- a path of debt, doubt, and decline, a welfare state with a debt crisis-- or the mitt romney path this which has been very clear about prosperity, the american idea, turning the economy around and getting us back to growth again? >> schieffer: again, i go back to my point here. isn't he going to have to say something beyond "we've got to keep taxes low on businesses to get this economy going again"? isn't it going to take a much bolder plan that that? thi

trying to stop the obama camp from controlling the message. it's been rough. we said, team obama is accusing team romney of lying. and even criminal action. it all has to do with questions about when romney left bain capital. democrats say romney should release more of his tax records to clarify his departure. mr. romney figured it would get this ugly. again, here's what he told cnn's jim acosta just a short time ago. >> they announced early on, one of their insiders said their campaign was going to be based upon the strategy of, quote, kill romney, end of quote. that's what they're doing. it's disgusting. it's demeaning. it's something which i think the president should take responsibility for and stop. >> well, insiders say don't expect that anytime soon. in just a moment, we're going to take a look at how president obama's offensive is right out a powerful political play book. first, keeping them honest, obama's pushback on bain may be all about nothing. cnn's john king spoke with four sources, all who have firsthand knowledge of bain's operations after feb

the obama camp is not backing down. , virginia governor bob mcdonnell with a full readout from the national governors association meeting, where the message to mitt romney from some republicans was get tough, get tougher. >>> and as mitt romney already decided on a running mate? we'll talk about the latest with our experts. coming up next on "andrea mitchell reports." >>> best chance of delays in the afternoon hours with thunderstorms in areas like atlanta and especially down in central florida. it's another hot day around the country. temperatures in the 90s pretty much everywhere. even a chance of 100 degree heat today up around minneapolis. the latest heat wave is gripping the country. [ male announcer ] it's simple physics... a body at rest tends to stay at rest... while a body in motion tends to stay in motion. staying active can actually ease arthritis symptoms. but if you have arthritis, staying active can be difficult. prescription celebrex can help relieve arthritis pain so your body can stay in motion. because

obama in the obama campaign during 2008. he felt that he had a special relationship with obama. one that went on for 23 years. it is a mistake to think that barack obama only knew jeremiah wright are sitting in a pew in his church and listening to these sermons. in fact, barack obama and jeremiah wright had a one-on-one relationship. they met for literally hundreds of times in the reverend wright's home. at every step of obama's career area you enter the reverend wright for advice, counsel, political direction, so this is a relationship that was closer than any relationship in his life, with possible exceptions of his relationship with his own wife, michelle obama. >> mr. klein, does he have any contact with the president? >> no, there is no contact. after president obama won the presidency, the reverend wright told me that he sent him a note congratulating him on achieving his ambition, as he put it. >> and that he didn't expect to know to get there, so he gave it to a neighbor to hand-deliver. he doesn't know today whether

took the is taken in houston. team obama saying "mitt romney's speech to the naacp won't be able to hide he has consistently opposed policies that helped african-american communities, including the recovery act, auto rescue and expanded access toes quality, affordable health care. mitt romney's the wrong choice for african-american communities." let me bringing in erl o farry hutchinson, political analyst is as well as joy reed, managing editor of the grio.com. earl i'll start off with you and get your response to the obama campaign saying that the policies in place right now, it especially when you think about detroit, michigan and surrounding cities that benefits from the auto rescue which governor romney was against that, these policies have specifically helped the african-american community is that a viable argument when you look at the unemployment rate right now in the black community. >> i think it's a very valid argument. you have to go beyond essentially the policies in place. you have to look at t other things. num

much about contraception and the social issues, a few months back, because president obama wants to lk about anything but the economy. the other thing that is sort of troubling here, though, is that it is also pretty effective. you know, a week ago, week and three days ago, we got news of the -- you know, unemployment continues to go up, and the economy is -- looks like it will not get better. worse before it gets better and these are troubling signs and within days, the entire media shifted and had gone after president obama's attacks on mitt romney and, spent all week stalking about bain capital and... >> jamie: i said it is like deja vu, yesterday, we have talked about it and, the other thing the president keeps raising is governor romney's wealth, if you attack someone, tell me if i'm right or wrong, i want the american people to understand, we are all striving to succeed and if we, attack someone for gaining wealth, what does it say about the rest of us and the ability to obtain the american dream? >> exactly and that is exactly why the class warfare tactics don't work, because

the 2012 obama would not recognize the 2008 obama. >> paul, is this the birther movement by obama? on. there's some people that -- >> a felony? a felony? >> just a second, ari. some people maybe think they got over their ski tips a little too far on this one. if you look at what they said, is mr. romney and bain capital filed securities and exchange commission documents that swore under oath that he was the president, ceo, chairman and sole owner of the company. then in 2011 romney signed a personal financial disclosure form also under pain of perjury that said he had nothing to do with bain capital. during the same time the other sworn document said he was ceo and president and chairman. so one of those two documents seems to me inarguably to be wrong. and i think that's probably where the argument should be. i don't think mitt romney's a felon. i don't think that at all. but actually i think both those documents may well be in error. in other words, i don't think he s really running bain capital every single day while he was running the olympics. i also don't think he was complet

so where did the obama stimulus money go? windmills from china. ectric cars from finland 79% of the 2.1 billion in stimulus grants awarded through it went to overseas companies. [ romney ] i'm mitt romney and i approve this message. introducing share everything, only from verizon. a shareable pool of data to power up to 10 different devices. add a smartphone like the samsung galaxy siii, so everyone in your family can enjoy unlimited talk and text. the first plan of its kind. share everything. get your student a samsung galaxy nexus for $99.99.

do you think the obama administration knows where the money is? it's an awful lot of money to keep track of in. >> i not only don't believe they know, i'm somewhat skeptical of their intent and i don't think they necessarily care. more troubling is the national media doesn't have a very good grip on this. watchdog agencies are doing better, but they're only now focusing on the reality of what was stimulus. >> you are cynical. lou dobbs is cynical saying the federal government doesn't care about the taxpayer dollars and doesn't want to find out where it is. >> by the way, the more we learn about where this money has gone, they're desperately hoping we don't find out. >> let's go over that now. chinese windmills. what's the chinese windmills? >> the chinese windmills is probably the weakest part of the romney ad because only a few windmills were actually supported by american taxpayer dollars. >> why do we want to support chinese windmills? >> we don't. the ad makes it sound like there are a gusher a windmills. >> why would we give any money to buil

the convention got a pre- recorded video message from president obama. 2009 was the last year that mr. obama attended the conclave. the support from black voters for obama has been overwhelming in past years, but some blacks are now saying that he is taking the black vote for granted, and that is a mistake. joe biden, by the way, picked up the slack and did address the group, saying to nistration has boosted education, clean energy, women's rights, scientific research, and affordable healthcare. as a result, 8 million african americans will get coverage. so, on balance, does despite joe biden's statements and his rhetoric, did it do duty and cancel out any obama no-show criticism? i ask you. do you understand all that? >> i do. and i'll tell you why he didn't go. barack obama cannot do better with the african-american vote than he's done with 95%. secondly, if you go there and you get a cheering rallying black audience, it's like mitt romney going before the tea party right now. you just don't do it. i disagree with clarence here. i think that barack obama is not going to get 95%. i t

all the numbers now are basically stacked against barack obama. i know you keep coming back and saying, you know, lead by a small margin. fact of the matter is that small margin is one percentage points, average of all the polls. fact of the matter is if you look at the likely voter polls which you said earlier, i believe, a better thing to look at this point in the campaign, through the campaign, romney is actually winning with those. fact of the matter is he is actually leading in a few more states. he's now leading in missouri, he's now very close in virginia. every single one of the target states is within the margin of error. and every one of the target states, barack obama is under 50 percent. so you know, talking about the numbers and talking about the reality of the numbers are two different things. within the margin of error, below 50 percent should be extremely disconcerning to the obama campaign. host: david is on the phone, clinton township, republican line, good morning. caller: good morning. i got a mouthful of food! good morning gent

the dock. sometimes it works. obamahe's got something here as if it's the cause of the economic difficulty, but he blames it on the other. he is succeeding. >> bret: ten seconds down the row. is romney on the offense now? >> no. he is still playing defense. >> defense. >> punching from a defensive crouch. >> that is it for the panel. stay tuned for more speculation on mitt romney's potential running mate. man: there's a cattle guard, take a right. do you have any idea where you're going ? wherever the wind takes me. . nature can surprise you sometimes... next time, you drive. next time, signal your turn. ...that's why we got a subaru. love wherever the road takes you. how much coffee are you fellows going to need today? three...four cups? [dumbfounded] well, we... doesn't last long does it? listen. 5-hour energy lasts a whole lot of hours. so you can get a lot done without refills. it's packed with b-vitamins and nutrients to make it last. so don't just stand there holding your lattes, boys. make your move. we'll take t

. >> welcome to the "journal editorial report" that. is president obama on the now famous comment going after mitt romney for his time in private business repeating a claim that bain capitol sent jobs overseas. the line of attacks is becoming the central fight of the presidential campaign. whether government or private industry is best suited to create jobs who. is winning that argument so far? we'll ask jason riley. and james froom onand kim straussel. so jason, candidates don't typically keep repeating an argument inless it's working. this s.this one working for barack obama? the closeness of the race might suggest it's not working but this is goinging to be in a handful of swing states. the white house believes in the south, ohio, pennsylvania among working-class voters, among people without a college degree, plant, factory workers that those tacks can be effective and that is why they're doubling down on them. some democratic believers don't like them. it's working with some voters obama is trying to reach. >> still even in polls. and what is striking

it has the obama campaign going negative. chief political correspondent carl call ro cameron has the st. >> tied in the ratio polls and winning the money race. romney has $160 million cash on hand. obama has not said how much he has in a bank. in respected poll of 12 key battleground states, romney is in a virtual tie. the battleground survey gives obama 47% and romney 45%. the g.o.p. superpac following last week's disappointing jobs report with blast at the president for making excuses. >> democrats launched a coordinated weekend attack on the overseas holding. >> why does an american businessman need swiss barclay's bank account. >> romney says it meetings all the fiscal requirements. but nonetheless, obama campaign hit with this. >> romney keeps million of income offshore. romney had a bank account in swizland. >> but they accuse romney of hiding things. >> release the tax return and put this to rest. >> tax concern -- the account you are criticizing are from tax returns he released. >> rnc citing independent analysis slam

the same way that obama did. i do not think that worked all that well. that line of attack probably will not be a very effective. does mitt romney have all of the -- an incumbent has the air force one a fact. mitt romney cannot do that. obama it is consistently gone to make himself -- or take instances when he is gone to try to be a strong leader, demonstrating himself as being a global figure with the authority of air force wind, making national-security decisions, things like he did going to afghanistan and announcing the agreement to withdraw troops. having the nato summit in chicago recently. these things are going to keep taking place over the course of the election. there could be crises or things that makes foreign affairs issues that don't go the way we might like, like economic crises in europe. the incumbent is then held responsible for those things whether or not he had anything to do that. that is a mixed bag, but that advantage accrues to the president. i think mitt romney's caucused this is not going

you bring up the super pac sup porgt president obama. ç the super pac supporting mitt romney desecrated newt gingrich. they destroyed him and they're not blowing kisses at president obama. >> absolutely. i think that's the nature of super pacs. you've seen very negative ad campaigns throughout the election cycle. i think for the obama campaign it's fair to go after mitt romney's record in massachusetts and at bain capital, especially because mitt romney is the one who's touted his private sector background as a key component to what would make him a better president than obama. so i think that it's fair game. i don't think it's fair for ann to say the attacks or personal. think it's her trying to defend her husband. >> politico had an article called her secret weapon. that's also been said about michelle obama, her approval rating, certainly the highest it seems in washington these days. do we know about the strategy? >> i think what they've seen is she has more of an ability to connect with voters, especially women. you're going to see