massachusetts. never once was the issue of his religion raised. never once did it play any part in his governance of the state. not once. the idea that people on the fringe of the republican party try and make this an issue is obscene. >> it's important to point out, mika, this is the fringe f. you look inside the nbc poll that came out yesterday, 66% of republican primary voters say they're totally comfortable with hills faith. only 12% say they're not comfortable with the fact that he's a mormon. this is a fringe issue and perhaps overplayed in the press. >> but it will impact the ut come, will it not? >> i don't know that it will impact the outcome. it certainly colors the primary process in that party right now. >> i think it makes us potentially even more despondent about our prospects. moving the "the new york times," no jobs bill and no ideas. i want to queue up, if we can, alex, eric cantor's sound bite. the senate republicans went through a filibuster that led to