out of this avalanche of bad decisions that were before the obama presidency, one thing we see is clear, mitt romney's plan is to go back to a failed economic theory of tax cuts for the rich, despite the fact he deny attend tax cuts, and the math. and let's go to war with sesame street but give wall street a big, wet, kiss, that is call what got us into this mess, we spent four years digging out of it. meanwhile, gingrich saying the numbers were good for the president, but the overall picture is still gloomy. >> i think it was a significant help to the president. imagine coming out at 8.2 following the debate, i mean people would have entered the week saying it is close to the end. so it is part of the whole process, the campaign will go down to the end. it will be one of the most interesting campaigns in american history, i think you will see it go back and forth somewhat. on friday, the imf said probably no recovery until 2018. >> more reaction from them on the president's debate in just a moment. but first, here is the gallop daily tracking poll, mitt romney closing the gap on president obama, who still leads by three points, 49-46, and taking to the tv air waves, the romney camp claiming the president's plan will increase taxes, here is the new ad. >> president obama continues to distort mitt romney's economic plan. the latest? not telling the truth about mitt romney's plan, it doesn't add up, abc news, mostly fiction, even the obama campaign admitted it was not true. >> okay, stipulatelated. it won't be near 5 trillion. >> obama's plan? $4,000 more in taxes on the middle class, we can't afford four more years. from the obama campaign, an ad targeting mitt romney's plan, and calling it just an act. >> why was romney so dishonest about his plan? the massive new tax cut for millionaires means higher tax cuts for the middle class, and aarp says romney's plan undermines medicare by turning it into a voucher. we have real challenges to meet. children to educate, a class to rebuild. >> one more note within this past hour, the president left on a two-day campaign swing through california, on a campaign effort, how else do you think they pay for those ads? >> hey, you don't miss much, do you, alex? >> talking about the unemployment number, we also saw a strong debate, still about the debate. >> well, you know it is a good thing for the president's supporters and they're looking forward to it. he gets two more bites of the apple, when vp paul ryan goes up against joe biden, and candidates have less and less tried to paint it as a victory, nobody agrees with it. and david axelrod said the president let mitt romney get away with too much. the president is his own worst critic. and robert gibbs, of course, works directly for the campaign, and newt gingrich talked more about the campaign, let's have a little bit more of a listen. >> it is not rocket science to believe that the president was disappointed in the expectations he has for himself. but look, i think part of that was because as i said earlier, we met a new mitt romney, we met a mitt romney that wanted to walk away from the central theory of his economic plan, which was his tax cut. i don't have a tax plan that is 4.8 trillion, i am not going to cut taxes on the rich. i don't have a voucher plan, i love teachers, i think we need more of them. don't believe me, speaker gingrich was eloquent in the primaries, saying that mitt romney will say absolutely anything to get elected. >> the president had 90 minutes, now, if he had done his homework and prepared, if he had actually studied romney, why didn't he say it? virtually every analyst has said, and even your deputy campaign manager has said the charges -- was made wrong. forgetting that for a second, the job of the president is supposed to be able to be competent and to stand up for what he believes in and articulate what is wrong. mitt romney walked over him. >> and alex, you mentioned the president is air born to the golden state, a star studded concert with katy perry, and tuesday, campaigning in ohio, meanwhile, mitt romney had a rally last night in florida and stays in florida for a second day, more campaign events later in that swing state. >> yeah, i think you left out george clooney, because for some, that is a headliner, just saying, as well. thank you. as mike said, mitt romney is in the sunshine state. t nominee there for a second day. and a good sunday to you, peter, how is mitt romney coming off to the crowd there is? >> mitt romney prepares to head out to another swing state, boarding the plane with his wife, ann, last night trying to put an emphasis on the state of florida, which they think will be a significant path. the new sense of confidence has been within the campaign, enthusiasm among the crowds, particularly trying to counter the attacks, trying to cast mitt romney as an out-of-touch executive. usually he sort of out sources that opportunity to speak about himself to others. now he is speaking about his own life story, and here is one story about an old friend of his who was disabled. >> he stayed active, active in his business, active in spinal cord research, doing everything he could to try to keep other people from experiencing the suffering he had had. so i was happy to put my hand on his shoulder and express my love to him, and thank him, and ask god to bless him. and i got -- i got a call from a friend that he had died the next day after that visit. it is rare that you get the chance to tell somebody how much you love them when you still can. >> alex, there was one other important event, over the course of the next several days. that is tomorrow at the virginia institute, he will give a speech on foreign policy, trying to attack the president's policies overseas as being soft overseas. he will try to project the image of strength and once again sort of cast himself as a man who is ready to lead america. >> okay, thanks once again, peter alexander, contributing. and at the washington post, ladies, good day to both of you. >> good morning. >> so to both of you, we are 30 days out. i want to get a general assessment from each of you as to where we are in this election. eleanor, you go first. >> well, i think mitt romney revived his campaign, he was on the verge of being discounted. and his donors were going to move their money to senate races and house races. and so his campaign is obviously revived. i think he thinks he can win, and his supporters think he can win. i think he is still the underdog when you look at the key states, the president still maintains an edge. we have not really seen how the polls will bounce, after the debate and whether the president has lost ground, say, in ohio. but i think that romney still has a steeper electoral climb than the president. but he has turned this into a race. >> anne? >> i agree 100% with what eleanor just said, and would just add that we are in a close race. i think that months and months after we were in a close race, president obama is starting to get his edge, we're back in the place now, a surprising place to be this year. and the next couple of debates, the vice presidential debate next week, they will take on added significance, i really didn't think we would be here at this point in the campaign. >> and i'm going to say, just in bottom line, i said it just got really interesting this week. there was sort of a trend, and i think there were a lot of people out there putting predictions prior to this past week, and now look where we are. but eleanor, you said mitt romney was skilled in mixing facts with falsehoods, and did little last night to create a bond of trust with the people. his glib, even slick performance may score with the debate coaches, but the american people may not be similarly wowed. do you still feel that today? >> yes, the fact checkers are still all over mitt romneys, reversing some of his ideas, and his key proposals. so i think he is paying a price for not having formed a bond of trust with the american people earlier in this campaign. the fact that he -- convention was a missed opportunity, that people still really are not sure who he is. i think he has strong family values, strong religious values. but whats poli his policy value believes or core are, i think people are still confused. so polls, i think, will still show that the president has an advantage, and people will fight for me. the president has not closed the sale, but romney, i don't think, has convinced the american people that they know who he is. >> and you know, anne, the president on mixing falsehoods, that is exactly how he tried to present the challenger today. can that re-write the debate impressions? >> i think we're going to have to find out. it may be tough. in part because governor romney has been compelling on the stump since then, and he has been speaking in ways people understand, and unless president obama can counter the fact that he has an equally successful language, the president has not been able to do it. he has done it a little bit on the stump. but to have president obama on the campaign trail or probably their best shot would be during one of the debates to be able to counter with the governor, in saying, easily accessible language, that remains to be seen. that is the challenge ahead of them. obviously, we hope that voters are always going to be based on substance, we have the fact checkers out there doing their best. but it is not always clear that what is considered true or false breaks through. >> yes, i would like you to take a look at this week's "new worker" cover, the chair, do you think people may have negatively over-reacted to the president's performance? >> well, ouch, the way the cover portrait shows the president. and i think if you just dropped onto the planet, and looked at the debate, you would have thought that romney was the president. not obama. i think he forfeited a lot of his office. but if you look at past debates, president bush lost the first debate, president reagan lost the debate to mondale. it is not as powerful as this one, i have to admit. so i think that you know, democrats are taking a deep breath, and understanding there are still more events ahead. plus, the jobs numbers on friday, the reduction in the overall unemployment rate, i think, gave the campaign a boost. and i think showed us once again that president obama may be the most lucky politician alive. >> all right, well, ladies, we'll have more time with you both during the week, thank you. the speaker of of the house says he doesn't expect the budget deal to avoid the so-called fiscal cliff. he doesn't believe they should make decisions like the budget deal to avoid the cuts january one, other lawmakers are trying to negotiate a deal that congress would pass by the end of the year. more politics coming up later in strategy talk, we'll have the best path to take against mitt romney in the next debate. but up next, a mystery of international intrigue. whose unmanned drone did israel shoot down? 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[ male announcer ] the spark business card from capital one. choose unlimited rewards with 2% cash back or double miles on every purchase, every day! what's in your wallet? here's your invoice. skoourn. welcome back to weekends with alex witt, now headlines coming from the west coast from nevada. news say folks there lead the nation in the amount of money they owe. the average personal debt is $26,326, more than the national average. and federal funding for california's high speed rail could be in jeopardy, because legal experts have locked the construction, if it doesn't get going, the grant could expire before the work is done. and an encouraging sign for the economy, at least in idaho. they say the building slump there may be over. they highlighted major construction projects where hundreds of millions are being spent in the treasure valley. and those are headlines from america's great west. and officials say a drone missile they shot down may have been spying on crucial sites. they released a video of the drone flying over the southern desert. with a good day to you, duncan, israel is saying this drone may have been sent by iran and hezbollah. are you hearing anything like that? >> reporter: hey, alex, good afternoon, well, officially the israeli government has not said who they believe launched the drone, however, they cite media sources which they blame hezbollah and the media backers. officials fear the drone may have been part of an operation to spy on strategic sites in the country. and hezbollah is known to have sent israeli drones in the air space on previous occasions, in 2006, they launched a drone capable of carrying explosives into israel, but was shot down. but this was the first time in six years that hostile aircraft was known to have penetrated the country's air space. the defense minister said that israel takes the incident very seriously and will consider responses. of course, tensions between israel and iran are high as they continue to face off regarding iran's nuclear program. >> and then iran's response has been what? >> reporter: >> reporter: well, so far no immediate response, but they are reporting the israeli defenses, one website calls it a reference to the country's missile defense system. so so far, neither country is saying anything official, but the war of words is continuing by proxy, if you like. >> okay, thank you very much. up next, the video game world identity, and why it may come back to haunt you you. you're watching weekends with alex witt. yo, give it up, dude! up high... ok. up high... ok. high! up high!!! ok ok that's getting pretty old. don't you have any useful apps on that thing? who do you think i am, quicken loans? 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[ male announcer ] progresso. you gotta taste this soup. welcome back to "weekends with alex witt," now to political headlines before the election, just 30 days to go. and the candidates are kicking off a busy week on the trail. right now the president is traveling the fundraisers in los angeles, while mitt romney holds a rally in florida. and mitt romney will deliver a foreign policy speech at the virginia military institute in lexington. then on tuesday, both candidates will be in the midwest. the president will campaign in ohio, while mitt romney will campaign in ohio. meanwhile, a brand-new poll from the university of denver shows the president with a 4-point lead, taken right after the first debate. and in florida, mitt romney thanked the campaign volunteers with a pizza, they urged the people to vote and vote early. meanwhile, debating the debate, still the rage inside and outside the beltway. senior adviser robert gibbs sought to take the attention off the performance, while mitt romney found parallels. >> i think you're going to see a very engaged president that is ready and willing to cal out whichever mitt romney shows up. >> and you have to admit that is not the president who showed up in the first debate? >> again, i'm not going to take away from mitt's masterful, theater performance. he did a great job, everything but learning tab dance. >> romney has two advantages, first, there are two major differences in the approaches, the second is, every time they add a truly vicious ad, and you see romney, that is just what happened to reagan. >> and joining us, political analyst and larry sabato, director of the university of virginia, center for politics, good to see you both. gentlemen, you just heard robert gibbs, he was saying that president obama would be more engaged in the next debate. but really tried to portray mitt romney as a chameleon. is that really the thing that they can focus on at this point? >> well, the campaign certainly hopes he is not lessen engage -- engaged or as engaged, but he has to bring up his game. he was playing not to lose, what they call prevent defense, or in basketball, a four-corner offense. but you don't do that in the third quarter. and so he was sitting on his lead and he was not taking any chances. and as a result, he seemed like he had not showed up. so this next time, he is not going to have to not just call out mitt romney on distortions, but actually make a forceful case for himself and what he would do in a second term and seem like he really wants the job. the problem at the last debate was the president seemed like he wanted to be someplace else. >> did you see the "new yorker" cover, by the way? >> yes. >> hey, is newt gingrich's comparison to mitt romney a bit of post-euphoria -- >> yes, is the pope german? yes, that was excessive, that is what partisan spokes people do after these debates, this is not 1984, although the obama people hope it is 1984 in a way, because you will remember that president reagan after a terrible performance with walter mondale, came back stronger in the second debate. and by the way, alex, that is the history of the presidential debates. the candidate, who does badly in the first debate off, not always, comes back better in the next debate. nixon was better in the second, gerald ford came back, ronald reagan came back after the disaster. and one assumes that president obama is doing the homework to make sure it happens. >> so johnathan, giving what larry describes here, does this mean the president has to come back and do just a solid debate performance or does he have to blow the socks off this one? >> just a solid performance. you know, he does have a lead, he lost, at most, two points. one to two points out of this last week, so he is going to be going in at this next debate, unless something else happens, which is not likely. you know, with a four-point lead, possibly. so if he can just deliver a solid performance, he will be fine. the danger for him is over compensating. so they talked about al gore, when he was sighing, and demeanor was not good, gore over-compensated again in the third debate, so that is something that people who have had a poor debate performance have to worry about. >> larry, i want to ask you about this very quickly, the next debate style will be town hall. we talked about how the president was looking down. it is completely different. so we can't expect him to take lessons from what he did, so he is basically going to be talking to the people. so o-- >> and the one debate, the town hall debate that he really ought to watch two or three times was the one that was held in richmond with george bush, bill clinton, and the campaign manager. because clinton knocked that one out of the park because he connected to questions being asked by people in the room. those are not debates where you come with prepared answers, and you deliver them irrespective of what you're asked. >> and can i just ask you, the word "connecting," heretofor, it has been that romney had trouble connecting, so do you expect the president to do better here? >> i do, but the richmond debate is very telling. because something else that happened in that debate, george h.w. bush, he looked at his watch. so they may want to take the watch away from him before the debate. so he needs to do what he can do pretty well in front of audiences, which is really connect with average voters. and mitt romney has had more challenges in that department. >> and here is something you have seen before, larry, just a couple of months before, the national geographic is going to air a clip. >> tonight, we know why we are here. >> tonight, we fight for something truly greater than ourselves. >> tonight, we ride. >> get down! >> break, break, break. >> three, two, one execute! >> that is a good trailer right there. let me tell you. this movie was produced and distributed by harvey winestein, who has raised a lot of money for president obama, was it propaganda or just sweeps? >> well, we have to see what is in it. i am sure they know the election calendar, the producer is a smart guy, he knows the elections, but by that time, 35% at least of the american public will have already cast a ballot. the remaining 65 or so who have not cast a ballot, if we can squeeze out 1 to 2% undecided, i will be shocked. everybody else will be locked in. and how many of those percentages will be watching the national geographic? i like them, but it is a small audience. >> compared to 67% who watched the debates. >> considering the debates, give me the smart pick, joe biden or paul ryan? who is the smart pick? >> you know, joe biden was a much better debater in 2008 than people remember. so i think if he can avoid gaffes, which is a pretty big "if" with the vp, he should be able to deliver, and paul ryan can be a little too much of a policy wonk. >> let me ask you this, do the vice presidential debates really matter? >> hardly ever, in fact, i can't think of one except the bob dole, remarking about the wars, world war i and ii, but by and large, i don't think they are much more than entertainment, although they're great entertainment. >> yes, indeed, i'm looking forward to the one years ago, that was entertaining. and larry ssabato, i have to sa thank you to you. and somebody else being featur d in politics will be after you. and take a look -- >> it is your birthday, anyway, all right, you guys, good to see you both. thank you so much. and speaking of office politics, today we have former new jersey governor who discusses the policy with ronald reagan, and why in the heartland, women are going to the polls, starting with mitt romney's flub. >> the problem is he is not wrong in saying 47% of the people don't pay taxes, and 47% of the people today have to rely on government more than they had to, because the job situation was so bad. but the problem with that was, what he went on to say, i don't have to worry about them. i always worry about the 35%, no matter what i do, they wouldn't vote for me, hardline democrats, wouldn't cross over. you can say 46%, that doesn't mean you don't govern for them. you may not run a campaign for them, because you have to concede this number of votes, you don't say you govern for them. because you govern for everybody. >> so can he recover? >> the big problem he has, if you look at the polls there is a huge gender gap. and what happens there, with todd akens' comment, and the platform, you have energized women who were not happy, and were not going to vote -- the energy showed they were just not going to vote. they were sick, upset, tending to their own business. now they're energized to vote against the republicans, and so they will be voting for obama, because they don't want to see women's rights hurt. >> do you think that the tea party is detrimental to the future of the gop? >> well, it is interesting to me. to me, both the tea party and the 1 percenters, or the 49ers, are reacting to the same thing, they're both out of control. we have a deficit that is going to kill us. they're not minding the store. now, we come at it from two other spectrums, but they're the same issues, basically the same issues they're focused on. and when the tea party first came in. and i was at a rally down in arizona with a candidate on the first tax day, first april 15th after the tea party was founded. and there were people who were democrats, there were republicans, there were independents who were there rallying on the street. but when they got into the office, they started to morph over to the social issues, so as they have done that, i think the basic premise for the party is very right, frankly. we have got to get serious about these issues. >> president reagan said famously he didn't leave the democratic party, the democratic party left him. do you feel that members of the gop feel that way? do you feel that way? >> oh, i know people feel that way. and i'm certainly verging on that. the party that i saw at the convention when you looked at the clips that -- if you read the -- the platform, the rhetoric that you hear, the vitriol, it is not the party in which i grew up. it is not the party that would even accept a reagan. barry goldwater would be too liberal for them today. he was not against gays in the military. it has become a litmus test party that is so narrow that you just have to wonder how long it will be a national factor? >> do you miss politics? >> i am still involved, because i really love the policy, i do a lot of speaking. and i'm out and do a lot of speaking for candidates, individual candidates and i'm able to do a lot of things. >> you are campaigning for senator scott brown in massachusetts, what about him appeals to you? >> he has been an independent thinker, and i like that. he has been able to stand up to the leadership in congress, and it is not easy to do. >> you live here in a home that is a beautiful -- it is a horse farm. >> actually, it used to be hay, now it is mulch hay, and we run pigs and cattle, it is where i grew up. >> so are you a city girl or a country girl? >> no, this -- i'm a country girl, this has been my home, my parents bought this, and i farmed it ever since. >> we loved our time with her, and we'll begin two weeks of office politics. and still ahead, the afghanistan war started 11 years ago, today. and now new questions on why we don't just pull out now. you're watching "weekends with alex witt." res with toothpaste. but they have to use special care in keeping the denture clean. dentures are very different to real teeth. they're about 10 times softer and may have surface pores where bacteria can multiply. polident is designed to clean dentures daily. its unique micro-clean formula kills 99.9% of odor causing bacteria and helps dissolve stains, cleaning in a better way than brushing with toothpaste. that's why i recommend using polident. 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[ male announcer ] how do you make 70,000 trades a second... ♪ reach one customer at a time? ♪ or help doctors turn billions of bytes of shared information... ♪ into a fifth anniversary of remission? ♪ whatever your business challenge, dell has the technology and services to help you solve it. 11 years ago today, u.s. troops were first deployed to afghanistan, following the attacks on september 11th, it is now the nation's longest war, during which over 2,000 american troops have died in country. despite that it has received little attention from the presidential candidates, and an increasingly war-weary nation. gener general, as always a pleasure to have you. good morning, alex. >> where does this war stand as we hit this anniversary? >> well, we're in trouble, obviously. we're trying to pull out by 2014. and yet, leave behind allegedly probably 25,000 advisers and trainers spread out all over this country. karzai has been an absolute disaster, eroding national support. and now the taliban signals they will not negotiate. why would they? they can wait us out. so i think once the election is over there will be a new discussion in u.s. and nato policy on how to pull out. >> i wanted to introduce to you, sir, just last weekend the number of americans killed in afghanistan hit 2,000. is there a point at which the cost just becomes too great and we pull out. are we already there? >> well, i think the american people have backed off this struggle. two thirds of americans don't support it. they're running 6 or 7 billion a month. this year, we have lost a company-sized unit from nato, killed or wounded by afghanistan security forces. so the trust has eroded between nato and the troops. so i think again, we're headed towards the door. does it revert to civil war when we're out, or can the government resort to civil war? >> well, you bring up nato. and the actions have is stopped them from working with the afghans. the mission was to get in there, train the afghans to lead the country in a position that they could take care of it themselves. so what is the mission now for nato? >> well, there is a good argument, the taliban said that hey, the americans are trying to wait out their position, we're trying to wait it out until they leave in 2014. i think that is essentially what is happening, and after the election process, hopefully sanity will return, there is no stomach for this in europe, so i think the allies will pull out in great haste. so one would anticipate the funding would evaporate also, the question is, will they see the neighbors surge by stopping the war in afghanistan? and so much it doesn't look good. >> "the washington post," they looked at informal looks at establishing a bare bones type of framework to end the war. the u.s. demands are no al-qaeda in afghanistan, no taliban oppressive policies towards women. i think it sounds like a lot. >> well, they are one of the best informed people on this issue, as i read. it is hard to imagine why the taliban would negotiate and give up something when they're not militarily losing. essentially, diplomacy only works when they think they have something to lose on the battlefield. and the taliban said these guys already said they're leaving, why would we talk? i think they are already paying attention to the pakistanis. karzai's government is totally alien to their national interests, they are more likely wanting to see a pasthun-dominated government there. so there is really little reason to see we'll get much out of the negotiations. secretary clinton is brilliant as a diplomat, she is trying to pull together what she has got. but the fact of the matter is, we're coming out. the taliban knows it. so does the karzai government, why would this not be a bad situation? >> so looking at history, sir, is the u.s. the soviet union? >> well, no, not at all. we're actually in there, and i think in a legitimate way. with a punitive expedition to try to respond to the attack, which was launched and coordinated from afghanistan. and, so i think the intervention was legitimate. it was flawed execution, starting with the bush team. president obama surged more forces in there, did some good on the ground. but it didn't produce an afghan government that was competent, and had some sense integrity, the key to afghanistan is pakistan, and possibly, they're on the verge of unraveling also, potentially with nuclear weapons, so tough situation for america. >> yes, you have to be sitting down when you here those statements, thank you. and now to number four, it appears michael vick may own a dog, the evidence comes from a tweet that he had. the evidence comes there, you see on the right. there is that milk bone dog biscuits. anyway, the photo was deleted and replaced with a lesser one. but it already caught attention. you should know that vick is allowed to own a dog since his probation ended in july. there's big news. presenting androgel 1.62%. both are used to treat men with low testosterone. androgel 1.62% is from the makers of the number one prescribed testosterone replacement therapy. it raises your testosterone levels, and... is concentrated, so you could use less gel. and with androgel 1.62%, you can save on your monthly prescription. [ male announcer ] dosing and application sites between these products differ. women and children should avoid contact with application sites. discontinue androgel and call your doctor if you see unexpected signs of early puberty in a child, or, signs in a woman which may include changes in body hair or a large increase in acne, possibly due to accidental exposure. men with breast cancer or who have or might have prostate cancer, and women who are, or may become pregnant or are breast feeding should not use androgel. serious side effects include worsening of an enlarged prostate, possible increased risk of prostate cancer, lower sperm count, swelling of ankles, feet, or body, enlarged or painful breasts, problems breathing during sleep, and blood clots in the legs. tell your doctor about your medical conditions and medications, especially insulin, corticosteroids, or medicines to decrease blood clotting. talk to your doctor today about androgel 1.62% so you can use less gel. log on now to androgeloffer.com and you could pay as little as ten dollars a month for androgel 1.62%. what are you waiting for? this is big news. and now for the political endorsement on line from that wild and crazy guy, steve martin, martin's friend, bob kerry is running for the senate. he did something to boost the campaign, but it was just a little unusual. >> hi, i'm steve martin, you probably know me as the actor and comedian, but did you know i'm also a home crafts expert? today, i'm going to show you how to make a wad of paper. a wad of paper can be a lot of fun to just play with around the house, or maybe toss expertly in a trash can. >> you see here, martin is starting the demonstration, printed signs of kerrey's campaign is printed on screen. and on this day in 2003, california sacked gray davis in favor of arnold schwarzenegger. the famed body builder took the job in the country's most highly populated state. >> governor arnold schwarzenegger, even though the polls predicted it, a lot of people expected it. and even more wanted it, it still is a stunning development in american politics and for what it could mean across the country. governor gray davis lost the recall poll by ten percentage points. >> i will work as a governor, i will work as much as i can, even if it is around the clock. there will be no time for movies or anything else. i will pay full attention to this job. >> well, the former governor has been back in the spotlight, making televised comments on his release of "total recall". and does he really have a chance for their vote? also, ahead, big bird drops in on saturday night live. what does he have to say about the romney threat? you're watching weekends with alex witt. from the home depot... ...the best selling paint and primer in one that now eliminates stains. so it paints over stained surfaces, scuffed surfaces, just about any surface. what do you say we go where no paint has gone before, and end up some place beautiful. more saving. more doing. that's the power of the home depot. behr ultra. now with advanced stain blocking, only at the home depot, and only $31.98 a gallon. for their "destination wedding." double miles you can "actually" use. but with those single mile travel cards... 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[ all screaming ] watch the elbows ladies. good day to all of you, and welcome to "weekends with alex witt" just past 1 p.m. in the east, and at this hour, we're waiting for gallop to release a brand-new tracking poll. today, both sides sparred on how to reduce the debt. and today, big bird had a lead role. >> when you ask him, what role will you take to pay for the 4.8 trillion in reduced revenue there is no answer. i mean, let's be clear, paul ryan a week ago was asked about the math for this. and paul ryan said look, the math takes too long. well, mitt romney's solution, he just decided there was not math involved in this problem. and that is absolutely crazy, the only thing he outlined in the budget, that he would cut is big bird. he has taken to sesame street and let wall street run wild. >> if you impose this debt on future generations, and big bird, i can tell you as the father of three children grown now, but any father who has gone to a toy store knows that big bird is a pretty commercially successful. and whether or not we should subsidize it, and say it is not that big of a percentage of the budget, that is true, but every penny that you raise as a cut, seems to be sacred with this administration, and they can't cut it. and i think the american people understand this is a big election and a big choice. >> meanwhile, the big debate about the presidential debate has spilled into a second week. >> the president of the united states had 90 minutes. now, if he had done his homework and actually prepared and actually studied romney, why didn't he say it? i mean, why didn't he take romney head-on? first of all, the charges on the tax cuts is just plain wrong. and even the analysts have said, even your department campaigner has said -- forgetting that for a second, the job of the president is supposed to be competent and to be able to stand up for what he believes in. and to be able to articulate what is wrong. mitt romney walked over him. >> not rocket science to believe that the president was disappointed in the expectations he has for himself. but look, i think part of it was because as i said earlier we met a new mitt romney, we met a new mitt romney that wanted to walk away from the central theory of his economic plan, which was a tax cut. i don't have a tax cut that is 4.8 or $5 trillion, i'm not going to cut taxes on the rich. i don't have a medicare voucher plan, i love teachers, i think we need more of them. i mean, don't believe me, speaker gingrich was pretty eloquent in talking about the primaries, saying mitt romney will do absolutely anything to get elected. joining me now, david drucker, welcome to both of you. >> good to be here. >> so what is the conventional wisdom on the latest numbers, with the gallup poll? did the new numbers trump the performance or not? david? >> well, i think that it is still too early to tell how the president -- how the job numbers competed or are competing with the debate. what we have seen in the past couple of days is the president's approval number tick down in gallup, and his disapproval tick down, we saw mitt romney's tick up a little bit. so it is important to see with the campaigns what they do going forward. and also in terms of the jobs numbers, how the americans feel about the economy. i have been saying this for six to nine months, it is about how they feel. and if this new 7.6 number reflects a big change in the picture, that will reflect how the americans feel. and that will, of course, benefit the president. if they still feel the same about the economy as they did in the past several months, then it doesn't hurt them. but changes the cycle of the overall picture. >> here is what they said about the impact of the debate performance. >> romney got an unfiltered shot. and everybody is taking a second look at him. so the real question to me of the campaign, is can romney take this campaign and run with it? if so the campaign of president obama will only get more negative, that is what fear does. >> so the second look that murphy is talking about, does that have a lasting impact? one or two news cycles and then it is forgotten? >> it certainly can have a lasting impact, the debates are a very big moment in the presidential campaigns. right now, we're already seeing that mitt romney is using personal stories in the debate of people he met on the campaign trail. and using them on the stump in states like florida, as he is doing this weekend. we are seeing a more energetic and happier mitt romney. and that is a good image for him. and of course, we're seeing ads come out about the debates on both sides and could stop a second look. but it should help, for now. >> so david, the second presidential debate, could it potentially erase all the talk like this. because the president is not going to be caught flat-footed the second time around, i'm guessing? >> i highly doubt it. he is very competitive. and when he is on his game he is very good. so i think what it does is raise expectations to a degree for romney. but also for the president, because all of us are expecting him to come back, come out with guns blazing, i think for romney the key is not that he needs to decisively win as he did in the first debate, but if he can hold his own and look as sharp as he did, then even with a good, strong president obama performance, people would say hey, that looks good, was not a fluke. but it could change the opinion in him heading down the stretch in terms of people looking at him in the first debate, saying okay, he is still the guy i thought i liked. so a lot of this really depends, and aaron touched on a lot of it. a lot of this depends on -- there is a lot of unknowns. i still think it is a very tight race and it is competitive. >> erin, all morning, the obama campaign tried to portray the campaign as mixing falsehoods with narratives, can that in any way re-write the debate impressions? >> it can, we saw the president do this the morning just after the debate thursday. they were essentially calling mitt romney a liar. and david axelrod said not surprisingly, he will say anything on a conference call that they did with reporters. and the ads are doing this, as well. saying that mitt romney is a flip-flopper, saying anything to get elected. that could be very powerful for president obama. >> and if you haven't seen this cover, mitt romney there at the debate podium, next to an empty chair. that image not withstanding, do you get a sense that those in democratic circles may have negatively over-reacted to the president's performance? >> you know, i thought a lot about that. and i don't think they did in this regard. the debate was seen by nearly 70 million people. almost a record, at least over the past 20 years or so. and you know when something permeates culturally, when it ends up on saturday night live. and you get these kinds of covers, especially when you thought you were winning, going away possibly and you have an evening like you did the other night, i can understand why people are really upset in terms of the president's supporters. it doesn't mean that the campaign is over or that the trajectory is changed. it doesn't mean that we don't have a competitive race. but if the shoes were reversed, and the president trounced the governor, we would probably be talking about the campaign being over, and it would be a big deal. >> hey, erin, what do you expect on thursday, and how important is it? >> it is important, not as important as the following debate the next week, as the presidential debate. but i think joe biden and paul ryan might be very evenly matched because of course joe biden was in the senate for 36 years, because he knows the federal government inside and out. and paul ryan jokes how he has been reading federal budget since he was 22 years old. so they both will have a lot of data, obviously coming at it have different perspectives, but i think they will be very well matched. >> thank you both so much. and back to the white house, mike with a good sunday to you. >> hi, alex. >> let's check out the president's schedule, what does it look like? >> well, he left a very rainy office, and is on his way to california. whenever a democratic president goes to california, that is usually to raise money. and indeed, the president has several fundraisers scheduled in california, in los angeles, including at the nokia center, with jennifer hudson, and katy perry, friends tell me she is pretty cool. he goes on to san francisco, california, for more fundraising in between, and he will be there for a dedication of the national monument, to caesar chavez, a hero. and let me check my notes here, wednesday a down day here at the white house, and thursday back on air force one, down to florida for more campaign events. so certainly, the president, pedal to the metal, trying to keep up with mitt romney in the fundraising, he has done that, nearly 180 million in the last month. >> you have got to tune in more often to the top 100 songs on the radio. katy perry just finding out she is cool? she is, got to tell you, so how, thank you very much, mike. and straight ahead, a state with six electoral vote, but it could play a decisive decision with the white house. yeah, i'm looking to save, but i'm not sure which policy is right for me. you should try our coverage checker. it helps you see if you have too much coverage or not enough, making it easier to get what you need. [ beeping ] these are great! [ beeping ] how are you, um, how are you doing? i'm going to keep looking over here. probably a good idea. ken: what's a good idea? nothing. with coverage checker, it's easy to find your perfect policy. visit progressive.com today. > here is what many of you may consider a head-scratcher, or worse, the prospects of getting anything done in congress to avoid the fiscal cliff, may be appearing darker. john boehner says it may not only be tough for a lame duck congress to piece together a deal, it would also be a wrong deal for the country. in the interview, john boehner says about that, it is a difficult thing to do, and frankly i'm not sure it is the right thing to do, have a lot of retiring members voting on big bi bills. johnathan, good day to you. >> good afternoon. >> is this making you angry, leaders thinking we should fall over this fiscal cliff? is that what they want? >> well, the part of this that is new is the idea that he is opposed to any kind of deal in principle, because it occurs after the election, but before the new lawmakers have taken office. we always knew that the two sides were far apart, but you know, now it looks even worse. on the other side you have senator patty murray, saying that she is ready to go over the fiscal cliff in order to secure tax increases on the wealthy, so it does look pretty dire at this stage. >> so januaohnathan, look, john boehner is a seasoned politician, do you think this is the new hand he is using to strengthen their policy against the democrats? >> it is not really new, in the past couple of weeks we've seen all kinds of discussions on the senate side. trial balloons, meetings with six or eight senators. and on the house side, it has been very quiet. and the reason why, they're not kind of trumpeting, and there is a lot going on in full swing. but the republicans are not willing to concede any ground. and they're the ones in control of the house, likely to continue controlling the house after the election. so we're not seeing any types of steps, work necessarily where you see any type of common ground in december. >> is there any sort of a guarantee know a new congress will be any better at solving the problem than the old congress? >> i don't think so, because if you look at where the polls are, the house is projected to stay republican. and the senate is projected to stay democrat. and it looks like president obama has got an edge in the polls. so we're going to probably have a re-hash of the status quo, and i don't see how anything will get solved, actually. >> deep sigh, thank you so much, johnathan strong of "roll call". and president obama is showed with an overwhelming lead with the latino voters, in fact, 78% say they would vote for him if it was held today. the state only has six electoral votes, but 76% of people identifying as latino, it could be a window into the november results. joining me is john ralston, host of "ralston reports." so that is a big number, what do you think of president obama's support among the latino voters. >> well, i think there are a couple of things going on, the exit polls in nevada showed that barack obama won, but i think mitt romney got himself in trouble with the latino community with the positions he took running to the right in that primary. and now, that is hurting him here in nevada. also, you have to -- realize that the democrats here, especially the culinary union, which is heavily hispanic, has been registering voters at a remarkable clip the last couple of months. and while it is hard for me to believe the margin is that big, alex, it is pretty big. >> hey, john, are nevada's latino voters unique in some sort of way, that we can't take what we see there, and take it to a national level? i mean, do you think it is a fair representation? >> i don't see any reason why it would be different, alex. listen, latinos here are higher unemployment than the white population, just as they do across the country. they have the same hopes and fears. some of them are not as enthusiastic about obama as they once were. but they're just not going to buy into romney. polls across the country, as you know, alex, have shown that latinos are not going to vote for mitt romney in big numbers. they have wanted to get it up into the low 30s as opposed to the low 20s, they are not getting there. >> well, the latest nbc news poll for all the likely voters gives the president a narrow lead, 49-47% for mitt romney. what do you hear on the ground? is that pretty much what you hear? >> i don't think it is that close here right now, alex. listen, i mentioned the registration figures. the democrats, yesterday was the end of on-line registration. they have now built up such a huge lead here in clark county, about 70% of the population. this would be very difficult, from a math standpoint for mitt romney to win the state if he loses to clark county, by as much as he is likely to. and don't forget, the hispanic vote which you mentioned before, will be 15-20% of the overall vote here in nevada. you can't lose a demographic vote by as large a margin as mitt romney does, as part of the electora electorate, i think he is in trouble here, despite what the poll says. >> nevada has voted with the winning candidate nine out of ten times. so as nevada goes, so goes the nation, you think? >> well, you know, it is funny, alex, because at one time, maybe a long time ago, people said nevada was such an alien land, different from the rest of the country, but i think las vegas, nevada, is a reflection of the country, a melting pot community. the highest unemployment in the country, the foreclosure crisis has hit this state harder than any state. we really are a reflection of what is going on in america. and i don't think we are very different. but we are happy to have the record of the state that has picked presidents the most. >> yeah, hey, john, i know you recently interviewed steve wynn that has donated millions, what did he tell you? >> well, he didn't tell me much about those donations, politico has reported that money, i am sure he has given a lot to carl rove, they are friends, he doesn't want to be out there as much as friend -- but i'm telling you, he has said pretty harsh things about the president, during this interview, which is going to air. he said the president doesn't have a clue. he started buying into. of the anti-colonialism stuff from the far right. it is really startling what he has to say. he is saying the president is destroying his employees' paychecks in real time. trust me, he is very opposed to barack obama win ining re-election. >> thank you so much for joining us. in a moment, the fights of the votes of the so-called walmart moms, why is their vote so critical? to pack a bowling ball. that was ups. and who called ups? you did, bob. i just asked a question. it takes a long time to pack a bowling ball. the last guy pitched more ball packers. but you... you consulted ups. you found a better way. that's logistics. that's margin. find out what else ups knows. i'll do that. you're on a roll. that's funny. i wasn't being funny, bob. i know. you're not using too much are you, hon? ♪ nope. [ female announcer ] charmin ultra soft is so soft you'll have to remind your family they can use less. charmin ultra soft is made with extra cushions that are soft and more absorbent. plus you can use four times less versus the leading value brand. don't worry, there's plenty left for you dad. we all go. why not enjoy the go with charmin ultra soft? polit re-elect . we'll talk about a tight race, here is the latest poll from gallup today, here the specific fighting for groups is more urgent than ever. and one specific group is the women defined by their link to walmart. we'll show you there. a good day to you. >> good day to you. >> so here we are, just a few days away from the vice presidential debate. who are the walmart moms? how are they defined? and why are they vital to this race? >> well, we define them as moms with kids living at home, under 18, we define them as moms who shopped in the last month. and we have studied the moms in the course of the last few years. and they're important, because they're a pretty big group. about 15% of the electorate. and they may really sway this election. in 2008, they voted for obama. in 2010, they moved, and then decidedly republican. and last year, they were moving back to the middle again. and so we think that they're a real key group to watch. >> okay, with the takeaway group being the first to watch, what were they? >> well, first of all, they were really interested in the debate, thought it was really interesting. they either thought it was a wash or a draw between the two candidates, or they thought romney won. and i think that mirrors the national dialogue. i think it is important they didn't use the extreme language, that you hear both from president obama and mitt romney's performance. they tended to hear more about mitt romney, that they didn't know much about. and are looking forward to the next few debates to really make their decision. >> how about changing their minds? did that happen, or did they go in with a presumed affiliation and stay that way? >> well, we talked with moms who were more towards the middle. some of them moved a little more towards mitt romney, some of them stayed where they were. and some of them were a little bit undecided. i think we found that mitt romney had a good performance, they didn't necessarily point to a specific moment where they said this moment from the president really changed my mind, or this moment from mitt romney really changed the way i viewed this race. i think they really saw it as the beginning of the campaign, for a lot of them this is when they really begin to start paying close attention. and while some changed their mind, i think it is quite possible that some of them will change their mind back. >> well, you're a democratic strategist, and so you know the variable pulls one way or the other. and we show that the unemployment numbers are down, hiring is up, how can these make a difference in the race. >> well, a lot of these moms view the political difference in how they view their daily lives. we learned that a lot of moms, 2-1, are concerned about their personal situation, compared to voters who are railroad evenly divided. and we see it more in the focus moms, who are just worried about how they're going to get their kids to school, food on the table, education, shopping, so on. they will view the political debate really not just about jobs numbers, or one report or this report, but which candidate can present a real clear plan and can really speak to what -- their daily life, and can demonstrate how their vision is going to affect their daily life and their family economic situation. >> okay, margie, thank you for weighing in, we appreciate it. and the joe biden debate, coming up. will it be like four years ago? the presidential analyst weighs in. plus, big bird, what does the president have to say about the threat? you're watching weekends with alex witt. [ male announcer ] this is anna, her long day teaching the perfect swing begins with back pain and a choice. take advil, and maybe have to take up to four in a day. or take aleve, which can relieve pain all day with just two pills. good eye. welcome to "weekends with alex witt," at just half past the hour, we start in venezuela where voters are going to the polls to decide if hugo chavez should be back in office, he has been president for four years, and wants to turn his country into a socialist state. and u.s. given south korea permission to develop long-range missiles capable of reaching any part of north korea, seoul's agreement was one with the u.s. and the polls in california hitting record highs once again, going up five cents overnight to 4.66 a gallon, and some states are charging more than $5 for regular. and authorities in northeastern oklahoma arrested a man who they say was planning to bomb 48 churches. police say they found 52 glass bottle grenades in his hotel room, along with the bombing plans. and a liquor store owner recovering from minor injuries here, the pickup truck jumped the curb, and crashed into the store. the driver took off, police say he was drunk, really not smart. and new reaction from both sides as to how each candidate did in each presidential debate. robert gibbs gave his take, the presidential adviser. >> it is not rocket science to believe that the president was disappointed in the expectations that he has for helps. but look, i think part of that was because as i said earlier we met a new mitt romney. speaker gingrich was pretty eloquent in running during the primaries, saying that mitt romney will say absolutely anything to get elected. >> but former speaker of the house, newt gingrich, says that president obama had no excuse. >> president obama had 90 minutes. now if he had done his homework, if he had actually prepared and studiy eied romney, why didn't say it? why didn't he take him on? the job of the president is supposed to be able to fight back. and douglas brinkly of rice university, thank you for joining us. >> great to be here. >> you just heard robert gibb saying that the president was disappointed in himself. give us your idea on the debates. >> well, he is an incumbent president, we had some bad ones, ronald reagan lost his first debate, seemed quite listless, george w. bush had a bad first debate, you can say he joined them. the dgood news, the bad news is you don't want to be on the cover of the liberal magazine, with the empty podium. or the president staring down mumbling, so president bush, or reagan, did they do as bad a performance as president obama did? >> mr. gibbs portrayed romney as a chameleon, who takes on different positions when he goes into the debate. has any other challenger thrown that type of a curve ball? >> well, they used to call franklin roosevelt a chameleon, because he would change colors, his other name was the juggler, so politics, that name is pretty common. but barack obama doesn't buy into that style. he tries to always be kind of the ernest candidate. and mitt romney is a candidate of convenience. so it is an unusual pairing of these two. the president is going to have to call the chameleon out, if you like, in the next debate. >> so you gave us an example of a couple of first-time debates. can you suggest that history will judge this debate in total with the other ones? i mean, we talk about things that are bad with the first one, that is usually the things that stand out the most, but more about that? >> i teach presidential studies for a living and i get confused. we tend to group all of the debates together. and at best we have an impression or two, who did well, who did not, who did well in one, two, or three. the good news for president obama if he performs well in the next two debates he could end up becoming the debate champion of the year. and that poor performance will become a very vague, distant memory, however, the fact he is becoming comedy fodder is a problem. >> if you have a challenger coming in, does really well the first time, do they continue to come in and do well or does the standing politician come back and dukes up, go for it? >> if you're a republican and you look for the history, you like to think of 1980, in this case, where ronald reagan did very well against jimmy carter, carter had 52 hostages in iran, you know, long gasoline lines. yet people didn't quite imagine reagan in the white house. reagan turned that around in the debates, and of course won a landslide victory. however, there is not going to be a landslide for any of the other candidates, we are a red/blue country, i think the elections will be closer to something like that 2004 -- kerry/bush than it will be anything else. >> yeah, with regard to what you're looking for out of the vice presidential debate on thursday, how do you see that? >> well, everybody is looking to see if joe biden makings a gaffe, one doubts he will. and the problem, you talked about the chameleon nature of mitt romney, paul ryan is not one. he is going to have to hold to these very tough principles. so you're going to have to hear ryan explain his medicare/medicaid policy. and what he has going for him, he didn't seem to do much of a dent, at all. we'll see how the polls go this week. and he is going, president obama, monday, to california for caesar chavez. he signed an executive order to say this is where chavez is buried. it is going to be part of our national park service. >> where -- >> yeah, it is la paz, and he will be there with the widow of caesar cheavez, the widow. and mitt romney screwed up, when he was a let hard on the mexican-american vote. you see president obama making a big play with ken salazar, the hispanic, and the whole clan. watch for the sound bite to be very moving. >> do you think -- >> paul ryan has -- is an intellect, and joe biden is a consummate pro. so i think you will see a really spirited one. so you will have joe biden throwing punches and paul ryan punching back. and in fact, if you're going to have a pop corn debate, one that doesn't bore you. first of all, while mitt romney was pretty good, it was boring, this one should be very fascinating. >> we'll have you back, thank you. and ever since mitt romney talked about firing big bird it has gone to political headliner. well, last night, he came on the show and got a rousing welcome from the crowd. >> thank you -- thank you for coming, big bird. >> well, thanks for having me, mr. meyers. >> why are you on here? are you bored already? >> no, no, it is just like it is seven hours past my bedtime. >> i should have thought of that. so big bird, how did you find out that your name had been mentioned in the debate? >> oh, i got a million tweets. >> so you're on twitter? >> no, i'm a bird, that is how we talk. how do you not love that? like being a kid again. and allegations that mitt romney lied in the debate, are the attacks really hurting the republican? a lot less. the great american fix-up is going on now... ...with new projects every week and big savings every day. so you can do what needs to be done. today. more saving. more doing. that's the power of the home depot. right now, owens corning ecotouch attik insulation is only $11.87 a roll. what a bargain! [ female announcer ] sometimes a good deal turns out to be not such a good deal. but bounty gives you value you can see. in this lab demo, one sheet of bounty leaves this surface cleaner than two sheets of the leading ordinary brand. so you can clean this mess with half as many sheets. bounty has trap and lock technology to soak up big spills and lock them in. why use more when you can use less? bounty. the clean picker upper. chamel . time for the today's topics, still debating, jobs ratings, and the washington post editor, doug hattaway, and sarah taylor, former senior aide to president george w. bush. so welcome, i'll start with you, anne, let's all take a look at what happened earlier. >> by the time the debate was over, mitt romney seemed a completely moderate centrist figure, who showed up as mitt romney the governor, not as mitt romney, the candidate. >> except everything he mentioned wasn't true. so does that start to take its toll over the next few months? >> i just think that that is unjust, to say that -- >> when you say my plan covers pre-existing con i think they will call whatever mitt romney said in the debate, untruthful. no matter how the debate had gone. it just so happens they take extreme issue with certain things, the fact-checkers took issue with, as well, it is a lot to hang their hats on, but away they have to go on at this point. >> are they saying that mitt romney and paul ryan are ignoring the facts? has it gotten any traction? >> it is picking up a story line going on in the campaign. and with mitt romney, people just do not trust him. and you saw this at the debate, this was extreme makeover on live television, he just ran away from everything he was telling the voters. people are aware of that i think voters are seeing that with romney. he will say what he thinks you want to hear, and just change his tune, as soon as it becomes expedient, that is the rap on romney we have been hearing for quite sometime. >> so sarah, the reviews are good, newt gingrich made mention of ronald reagan, so where does he go from here? has he peaked too soon? >> well, i don't think he has peaked too soon. the most important thing that came out of the debate was not who won or lost the debate. but after a six-month barrage of negative attack ads from the obama again against romney, voters tuned in and saw a very different mitt romney. and it caused people to give the governor a second look. and that comes at a very crucial time, 30 days out from this campaign. and so you know, mitt romney was funny, he was in command of his facts. he had a really good night. and he does need to keep the momentum going, as you know, there are two more debates. >> absolutely, but sarah, the reason they say in part, you describe him -- they say look, he did really well because he is changing the topics and changing the facts. i mean, this is the kind of thing. so in that case, they're saying yeah, there was a different mitt romney. so in that case, you know he has to be prepared come the next two debates, to pounce, the president, to pounce. >> yeah, he has been talking about the economy and specifically creating 12 million jobs and bringing down the deficit for the entirety of the campaign. he talked about it in the campaign, and the general election. i disagree that he changed the facts and he is somehow an entirely different candidate, post-wednesday. i think it is the first time, this is a format that mitt romney does very well in, a long format, a debate. it was the first time the voters had a chance to see him give long answers to questions. i think that what we're seeing in the polls from recent days is that he is getting a little bit of a bounce out of that. >> yeah, well, we should note that town hall style. anne, with our next topic on the jobs bounce, here is how newt gingrich spoke about it on today's "meet the press." >> i think it was a significant help to the president. imagine it come out at 8.2 following the debate. people would have entered this weekend saying that's close to the end. so i think it's part of the whole process, this campaign is going to go down to the end i think. it's going to be one of the most interesting campaigns in american history. and i think you're going to see it go back and forth somewhat over the next week. on the other hand friday, the international monetary fund said probably no recovery until 20018. >> so, unemployment numbers are going to help the president. that they'll essentially acco according to newt gingrich wipe out any sort of negative publicity if the debate. do you agree with that, anne? >> i agree with him that it will help. i don't know if i agree that it will weep out any negative publicity. there's some who believe and there's evidence to support that people's feelings towards the economy get pretty locked in by labor day. so whether those feelings can change a month after labor day, i think we'll have to see. and find out. but absolutely. it undercuts the momentum perhaps from the debate. and it also undercuts the chief argument. mitt romney had a hard time staying focused on the economy. we come out of the debate, we talk about the improved numbers and tomorrow he's going to give a foreign policy speech. there's another week to go before the next presidential debate. although there's the vice presidential one in the meantime. so i agree with sara, who knows? it's a lot closer i think than anyone thought it would be at this point. >> hey doug, can the president sell this to the 7.8% that are still unemployed that there's an improving economy out there? >> this is the more important story than who won or loss the debate as we know. and the numbers add to the narrative as anne alluded to, inform how people feel about the economy. if you think things getting better. you're much more likely to vote for the president. if you don't, you're leaning toward romney. i think the president has an opportunity, has been doing a good job sort of pointing at the facts, he really has turned around the job picture since he came into office. we were hemorrhaging jobs at the end of the bush administration, that has been turned around. it's not as fast as anybody would like. but it's definitely on the right track. and i think that's exactly the story line that the campaign would like to keep hearing, he's going to keep pushing moving forward. up next we start with sara with the must-reads after the short break. plus the perfecting color of a bb cream equal? 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[ female announcer ] fight 7 signs of aging flawlessly. cc what's possible. try the #1 gastroenterologist recommended probiotic. align. align naturally helps maintain digestive balance. ♪ ooh, baby, can i do for you today? ♪ try align today. check out the latest collection of snacks from lean cuisine. creamy spinach artichoke dip, crispy garlic chicken spring rolls. they're this season's must-have accessory. lean cuisine. be culinary chic. we're back with the big three for the must-reads, sara, yours first, what have you got? >> i like dan ball's piece in the "post," the take. where he puts some much-needed perspective around the last week. which is that we don't yet know what the effect of both the debate and the jobs numbers are going to be on this race. it's probably a week away before we see the true effect of these things. and oftentimes in politics, things are never as good as they seem and they're often not as bad as they seem. so sage, "washington post" dan ball had a good piece. >> let's move on to you, doug, what's yours? >> mine was a similar theme. it's a piece in the "huffington post" which puts the post debate hysteria in perspective. romney obviously had a good night. but it's not likely to change the dynamics in a lot of the swing states. i'm hoping it short of shakes some folks out of complacency among democrats who might have been lulled by the president's lead in the polls, because we don't know how it's going to come down. it will come down to the wire. >> anne, i've got to ask you to give me yours quickly. >> bhi my colleague at the "washington post," he spent months with the owner of a small business in what i'll call the real economy, an incredible read, i highly recommend it. >> thank you very much. that's a wrap of this edition of "weekends with alex witt." up next, we have david gregory. ] it's not for colds, it's not for pain, it's just for sleep. 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