Transcripts For MSNBCW Melissa Harris-Perry 20120421

for re-election the first issue the strength of the opponent. you can't beat somebody with nobody. second, economic indicators and particularly unemployment and remember this, lower is better for re-election. third, war. wartime incumbents usually hold an electoral kind of rally around the flag edge, but after ten years of combat in foreign lands it is not sure how much rallying this incull bent can expect. and chicago may have rewritten book in 2008, but this time the opponent may be short on charisma, but the very being is organization and attention to i minutia and the battleground on the ground will be epic. and the fifth or the x-factor, president obama is black. oh,riñi i'm sorry, did you thin that we were past that? hardly. let's go back to the numbers again where the racial polarization is palpable. among the black voters barack obama leads mitt romney by 91 points. i did not inverse that. it is 91 points. that is more or less in line with the african-american voting in ç2008. now for the obama campaign the issue is turnout. among the white voters mitt romney is leading the presidere 9 -- 43 to 36%. and that is off of the charts with the last time a centrist ran for election. when bill clinton beat bob dole, he did so with a coalition of minorities to overcome a deficit of white voters, but clinton only lost the white voters by three points. at end of the day, there is a theory propheted that without race, the obama victory would have been a landslide. because he won beside race and because the race is omnipresent in the body, candidate obama barely spoke of race. and in fact, the biological p z presentation going back to the 2008 speech was inclusive and voters were afraid to project the ideal candidate on to him, and for white voters, they were liberals and saw it as a chance to participate in a great moment of racial transcendence to cast their ballot for a black man. and others who for plolitical biases would not have voted for candidate obama under any circumstances. and then the great vast middle of moderate republicans and disaffected republican eed dem open the voting forç a black candidate if he was the right candidate and then that invited the entry into the big tent. but it is not the blank canvas for president obama that he was in 2008, because he has a specific record of governing and a record that i contend because of the race will be held a much higher standard than it would have been for white incumbent. those white voters who found what they were looking for in 2008 will not necessarily be so enthusiastic in 2012. the election of 2008 may have made history in the election of the first black president, but the much greater challenge and i think that maybe the greater indication of social change would be the re-election of the first black president in 2012. at the table with me alex wagner, host of msnbc's now, and doug thornel a press secretary for the democratic congressional committee, and robert trainim and now a msnbc contributor and journalist rebecca tracer of is alon.com and also the author of "big girls don't cry." hey, everyone. >> hello. >> hello. >> thanks for hanging out about my long scream of what i think is going on in 2012. alex, do i have this right in terms of the things that i have laid out? is this what it takes for the president to be elected the strength of the other candidate and war and economy and in this case race. >> race absolutely has to do with the conversation around re-election and your point about the re-election of the first black president is almost more of a milestone for american culture than the election. there are things toç unpack within each one of those. >> sure. >> i think that we can't underestimate the complexity in terms of the opponent. mitt romney is in many ways a cipher and you are seeing team obama reconstruct the strategy vis-a-vis team romney. in the primary it is mitt romney is a flip-flopper and no core but it is now a pivot and acknowledged in the pages of the new york times that the obama team is looking to paint him as a crazy hard-core conservative. that is twofold and one, it is to undermine i think that a lot of the positions that he took when he was governor of massachusetts and a stark difference of the president and also to strike fear in the hearts of liberals who in many ways are not paying attention to the race or perhaps are not ginned up in enthusiasm. >> it is cipher is better than the term of etch-a-sketch which is a term we have heard. and how do we understand to paint mitt romney as the extreme conservative. >> and alex is exactly on point with what she said, because there are two pillars of the democratic party that president obama won that he needs for re-election and that is college educated white women. and that is why there is a gop war on women, and secondly mier no ti -- minorities, because 91%, and if the president can hold on to the two strongholds he can win reek sh election, but this is a problem the blue collar reagan democrats and blue collar men out there who are not educated in terms of the four-year degree and that is why, melissa, you hear them talkilg about college educatio and community colleges, because he is trying to bring up the numbers with white working class men. >> white folks are kind of a tough voting bloc because they -- right. we always think of the latinos or the african-americans as voting bloc, but in this case, as we start to pick apart what is the white electorate, we have young people who went strong for president obama and the question of women and working class and all of the intersections on this notion of whiteness. >> right. >> i think that what is happening is that voters are shopping around right now. especially with, you know, blue collar work class whites who have always been not necessarily a strength of the president's. they are shopping around. for the president's campaign, the good thing is that the candidate that they are running against is probably not the best person to win those votes. he has real problems disconnecting with the white working class voters, but there is also something else that we are not talking about here. this is a strategy going back to 1968 by the republican party to kind of divide the electorate based on racial lines, and that started with the southern strategy. it is not so much unique to president obama, but the democratic party has had problems with the rural white voters and with southern voters for years now, and he actually did better than most, than every democratic candidate running for president. >> and yes, running the first time. >> yes, and he is still right around where he needs to be to be re-elected. >> and one of the things that we should mention is that with every election the white vote and whether you win it actually matters less and less. so that is a crucial thing. the fact is white vote and lost white men and women and he still won in 2008 by a big margin and i think that in fact, he was the first presidential candidate to lose white men by double-digits and still lose the election. >> that is right. >> so what you are looking at is an an electorate which is diverse and it was 26% non-white voters and projected to be at 28% this year, though voter suppression measures in lots of states around the country could have a practical impact on that, and this is something to keep in mind and also talk about the connection of the republican strategy in states around the country when you talk about the variety of voter suppression measures and how it does real damage to the chances. >> and let me ask you a question, and so, you know, voters of color may have the votes, but white folks have the money, just in the most dramatic ways looking at the wealth gas.s >> historically in h terms of giving, absolutely. >> looking at the cover of the new york times big donations drop sharply for the president and clearly some of it is about the assessment that maybe this is a lock already, but if he is having trouble with white folks, it could be a money problem, right? >> well, he is doing pretty well with raising money. >> far affront. >> we should not cry for the obama campaign, because they are raising a lot of money and always have been from the small donors and the romney campaign is depending on the huge donations and depending upon the outside groups to run a supportive shadow campaign for him, but the president, there is an enthusiasm gap when it comes >> and i know saturday night. on the weird titles. >> and you know. i was lecturing in class and the half of the class you start hearing, and i said, what is that? oh, it is the president texting again. >> melissa, breaking news, because i thought it was coming from the romney campaign and it was them asking for money. >> well, they have spiced up the subject lines as well. >> and in terms of the fund-raising thing, the biggest disparity is the super pacs and the obama super pac is a drop in the bucket compared to crossroads gms, -- gps, but th strategy of painting romney as a super conservative, regardless of that, there is going to be a debate and they relish it and so do the republicans in context of the american social context, and i think that people will open up the pockets when they realize that social security is on the line. >> and when we come back, we will see how president obama has put a silver spoon in the mouth of mitt romney, and also former senator bob graham is going to join us and tell us why he is concerned about the state of oil drilling in america. 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[ male announcer ] for a smoothie with real fruit plus veggie nutrition new v8 v-fusion smoothie. could've had a v8. i wasn't born with a silver spoon in my mouth. michelle wasn't.ç but somebody gave us a chance. just like these folks up here are looking for a chance. >> and with one silver-plated smack in the mouth, president obama throws down the gauntlet at mitt romney's feet. it is the tough talk that many have hoped to hear from the president in the beginning of the administration, and is he ready to take the gloves off and go all bill clinton on opposition? joining me is alex wagner, and rebecca rebec rebecca traister. and so we have the polls breaking down mitt romney, and showing that president obama is coming out as more likable and more likely to care about people like me and more understanding of people like me and more caring of the people in the middle-class, and romney is lower on those things, but in the same poll, respondents were asked about who is better at improving the economy and changing washington? neither one of them rise to 50% there which is interesting, but you do see romney with a little bit of the edge. >> rich people have ran for president before and rich people have been president before. george h.w. bush, franklin roosevelt and john f. kennedy and people don't care, well, to a certain degree they care, but they won't begrudge your wealth, but it speaks to what have you done for me lately and what programs are you going to better my opportunity to be just like you? that is the main issue that the obama campaign is maybe really walking down where they don't want to walk down to. don't begrudge me, if i'm mitt romney, because i'm successful and that is the american dream and if anything, you should want everybody to be like me, and it reminds me of 1988 when ann richardson stood up and said, poor george, he was born with a silver foot in his mouth. and most people are, i want a silver foot in my mouth, but the point is mr. president, what can i do to get the silver spoon for my kid. >> and is it begrudging or more of an attempt to empathy, and i know what you have experienced? >> and what side of the issues are you on? he has the incumbent problem with this, if people are dissatisfied with the way things have done, they are looking for a new al teternative and that i where the new agreed upon candidate romney comes in and we don't know a lot about where he will stand policy-wise or proposing to do to change the way that washington works and change the way the economy works and we don't have that information yet, so a lot of the bump and the numbers is that maybe this other person and nil the blank whoever it is going to be, and we will see the attitudes shift and change, and what obama is trying to get at is not simple resentment of the wealthy, but he talks about his own wealth often, and he acknowledges his own wealth that he had as he came into the presidency. >> and his own tax bracket. but he was not wellalthy in the same way. >> he just paid off the law student loans when -- >> but the difference is that it appear appears to a certain degree that he pushes people down that have money now. it is almost like -- >>ç i don't agree with that at all. i don't agree with that. >> and if you take a look at my brother who is a prime example of this, and he was born with no money whatsoever who now lives on wall street, and very successful and no money in the family and a democrat and he says that every time the president speaks to me, he is talk down to me, because i am successful. >> and what the president is talk about is that we are in this together, and it is a shared responsibility. mitt romney has an economic plan that puts the burden of reducing the deficit on middle-class families and seniors and low income workers and what the president is talking about is, look, i don't begrudge success and i want everyone to be success and his ideas in policies will make that happen much sooner than mitt romney's, but it is a shared responsibility. we have gone through the last eight or ten or 12 years with huge tax cuts for the rich and unpaid for prescription drug plan, and two wars and drove up the deficit and now republicans care about spending, and they are talking about reducing the deficit by cutting a lot of the programs that the middle class/poor people care about. that is what he is getting at. by talking about this silver spoon piece, it is a way to show, look, he is not on your side. i am. >> can i say two things. when i read -- >> say three. >> well, the first screen that you showed mitt romney doesn't care about -- and the empathy, and the compassion and the you know unclear whether the american electorate thinks he has a beating human heart in the chest, i almost felt bad reading that and saying, wow, people do not like that dude. but we are seeing a parsing of likability and trustworthiness, and this has been said at is alon and a fine point, he has to tie the inequality and fair shot message together. people cannot think of those two things as disparate, and that has to be the economic message, because right now they are singular things. he has an economic plan and also want t wants to help the middle-class. >> and it is useful to go back to the democrat who managed to do it, right. when bill clinton won re-election, they did not like him but they found him competent so he had the opposite problem of president obama. >> well, he actually taxed successful people, but people never begrudged him. >> i find that out, begrudged. >> well, when did he ever criticize people who are successful? >> well, examplef after example, when you ask people in the corporate world about the confidence and whether it is -- >> well, that is different of begrudging them. there is an effect that the dodd/frank regulatory structure seen has been seen as begrudging the wealthy people as their money, but it is trying to create financial stability. >> and we are talking about a ryan and romney-blessed budget that what does it do? it cuts food stamps for the poor and begrudging versus the real policy. >> and if you look at who is actually mounting a class warfare fight, you can make an argument that it is the republican, because their policies andç the thing about mitt romney is that he is a very, and one of the most secretive candidates that we have had and the only way to get information about what he will cut is if you go to the high dollar fund-raiser and it comes out there. but we don't know how he will pay for a $5 trillion tax cut and part of it is that we are hearing that it is cutting education to the point where the only reason why you have a department of education is to go police teachers unions, and so it is kind of like you are hearing some of the things, and i also would say that mitt romney has not done himself much favor s wi favors with the own kind of, like in his own language and the way he talks about this whole e scene in pennsylvania with the cookie. i mean. that was just so awkward. >> i feel bad on the part that it is difficult on a campaign trail and you don't want to talk about the small stuff and you watch that scene and you think, who behaves this way? who sits down with supporters who have put a plate of cookies in front of you and said that these cookies look kind of bad? >> nobody ever says bad things about my fruit. it would be rude. >> and i would be the first. it is rude. >> i would be the first to say that mitt romney needs help in terms of just trying to be normal. >> he is running for president for seven years. >> but at the end of the day i am not sure it matters, because when you look at polls people say he may be awkward and stiff and not like me, and i don't care, because i want somebody to solve the problem. but he is losing it in the end. >> but anyone can solve the problem. >> and forget cookiegate but remember theç joke he made abo the father closing down factories and that is a joke. this is a man who does not have the same empathy and wiring for the human condition as other people. and an analyst or speechwriter or strategist can fix. >> and we talk about people who run for president who came from means and george w. bush and forget about the policies, but if you looked at the character questions at the poll eight years ago when he ran against john ter kerry, he had a similar standing as president obama. everyone likes him. they want to sit there and have a beer with him. there was some issues on the policy issues that they favored kerry, but don't dismiss the character questions when it comes to, you know, voting. people don't necessarily always vote on policies. they also vote on who they want to follow. >> and one thing we know for sure, you cannot have a beer with mitt romney. [ laughter ] everybody is staying right here, but up next, george zimmerman is currently sitting in a florida jail. until he can post $150,000 bond. we will bring you all of the latest on the trayvon martin case right here after the break. [ female announcer ] with swiffer wet cleaning better doesn't have to take longer. i'm done. i'm gonna...use these. ♪ give me just a little more time ♪ [ female announcer ] unlike mops, swiffer can maneuver into tight spaces without the hassle and its wet mopping cloths can clean better in half the time, so you don't miss a thing. mom? ahhhh! ahhhh! no it's mommy! [ female announcer ] swiffer. better clean in half the time. or your money back. 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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. perhaps you know the details by now. bond was set at $150,000 yesterday for trayvon martin's confessed killer george zimmerman. if and when the bond is actually posted, zimmerman would have to wear an electronic monitor and adhere to a 7:00 p.m.oz curfew d not touch drugs or alcohol or heaven forbid a firearm. the judge did not rule on whether he would beç allowed t leave the state of florida. that is the long and short of it. but this is what happened in the bond hearing that caught my attention. start back on april 11th, the morning before zimmerman was arrested and charged when trayvon martin's mother said i would give him an opportunity to apologize. when fulton appeared the next morning alongside trayvon's mother and father's attorney, she asked not so much for an apology, but an explanation. >> i would ask him if he knew that was a minor, a teenager, and that he did not have a weapon. >> okay. so when trayvon's parents arrived at the seminole kocount courthouse yesterday for zimmerman's bond hearing they knew he wanted to apologize and they made it clear they wanted no part of it. they refused the offer to meet with him to tell them that he is sorry, and so when zimmerman took the stand, he surprised the prosecutor and almost everyone in the room by first addressing trayvon's parents. >> i wanted to say i am sorry. for the loss of your son. i did not know how old he was. i thought he was a little bit younger than i am, and i did not know if he was armed or not. that was part apology and part direct answers to the questions that trayvon's mother asked on the "today" show. he said he didn't know how old he was and whether he had a weapon. i can't know what zimmerman knew about his age, but i do know that zimmerman wasç completely aware that these parents still mourning their slain son bearing up emotionally to confront his confessed killer for the first time did not want a public apology from the stand. one of the attorneys for trayvon's family told the orlando sentinel that the apology was quote insulting, and i'm inclined to agree considering that zimmerman took 54 days, offered it on his own terms and did so when his apology could benefit nim front of the court and all of us watching from home. coming up, why the president's commission investigating the bp oil spill were not pleased this week with the progress that washington has made since that disaster. former senator bob graham, ch r chairman of that commission, joins us after the break. ok! who gets occasional constipation, diarrhea, gas or bloating? get ahead of it! one phillips' colon health probiotic cap a day helps defend against digestive issues with three strains of good bacteria. hit me! [ female announcer ] live the regular life. phillips'. ♪ [ lauer ] this is our team. and unlike other countries, it's built by your donations, not government funding. and now, to support our athletes, you can donate a stitch in america's flag for the 2012 olympic games in london. help raise our flag, add your stitch at teamusa.org. the teacher that comes to mind for me is my high school math teacher, dr. gilmore. i mean he could teach. he was there for us, even if we needed him in college. you could call him, you had his phone number. he was just focused on making sure we were gonna be successful. he would never give up on any of us. two years after the massive oil spill that consumed the gulf of mexico, congress has yet to enact a single bill to make drilling safer and that what the commission formed by president obama after the bp oil spill to investigate the disaster was supposed to do. and two days later after the explosion, an oil slick began and for 87 days the oil spewed from the well that lay 5,000 feet below the surface off of the coast of louisiana. we watched it live underwater, the worst oil spill in history, and the disaster released 260 million gallons of oil and a devastating blow to the ecosystem. just this week, the bp executives announced a settlement between bp and the plaintiffs. joining me from miami is former senator bobç graham, the co-chr of the presidential commission that investigated the bp oil spill. back with me is msnbc host alex wagner and also at the table is doug hinkley, senior biologist for the wildlife federation. senator graham, i want to start with you, because you said this week that you were disappointed with congress' lack of action and here we are two years later and they haven't taken any action to make drilling safer and what could congress do if they were so inclined to make drilling safer? >> well, melissa, a long list of things that congress could do. many important reforms have taken place at the department of interior. for instance, they have re-organized to eliminate the politicalization, and the conflict of interest and hiring more and more fist sophisticated engineers and scientists to oversee the offshore oil industry, and the industry, itself, has taken important steps in increasing the capability to respond to an accident, but congress is the only one who can make all of those changes permanent. so that the next head of the industry or the next head of the department of interior cannot do what has happened in the past unfortunately, and that is strong safety rules be repealed. >> and you know, doug, i want to ask you in part about this, because that point i think is really critically important, this idea of immediately during a disaster, we all become experts on everything happening and we learn about the underwater drilling and what was happening and you get the new regulations, but then our attention wanes, right, as aç public, so then they can repeal them and we don't even really notice it until the next disaster. what do we need to know, doug, right now about how this drilling is occurring or what we need to know as a public to keep people held accountable? >> well, we need to understand that what is happening right now despite the gulf oil drill, they are drilling for more oil in gulf of mexico and other offshores, and yet as senator graham has indicated no reform by congress of the oil and gas drilling regulations so that an accident cannot happen like this again. and going down to the voluntary basis, which is what happened because it was inadequate did not work, and we have to make sure that the regulations are strengthened and enforced. >> alex, any political will for this? >> no. let's put it in context this is the two-year anniversary of the horizon explosion and what has happened now? the keystone pipeline and every couple of weeks, it is known that the permit processing for deep water drilling is not fast enough, and i was two years ago that i covered this, and the sight of that gusher was a site of national horror and shame. >> horror is right, because you said, i can't believe it is still happening and happening. >> and for days and days and yet, nothing. not only that, we have taken steps backwards. >> senator, let me ask you -- >> melissa, if i could add actuallyç production in the united states both onshore and offshore is as high as any time in recent american history. so the idea that there has been some restraint beyond those necessary restraints to try to make the drilling not only more in quantity, but more in quality and safety is frankly ridiculous. >> senator graham, at the most basic level should we be drilling fdrill ing oil in the ocean? is it sufficiently safe? >> yes. for instance, if we were as safe as the norwegians and today, there is a significant gap between the safety standards and the safety results such as fatalities in the gulf of mexico, and in the much more difficult north sea in which the norwegians operate, because they have developed some effective standards, and industry heavily involved, and that i ha nd thnde en forcement and sanctions if the standards are violated. we can drill safely, but it is whether or not we have the commitment to do so. >> doug, are you on the same page with this one? >> i am on the same page to some extent, and that is that in very difficult conditions such as a mile down, it is proven that we don't have the technology the do it safely. in some of the shallow areas, we do, but the fundamental problem is that we are addicted to oil, and we don't have to be. we don't have to be drilling in difficult places, because we can look to the alternative energy sources to supply much of the energy that we need. i'm talking about wind power and solar power and all sorts of otherç technologies that we ca develop that we know how to do now, and in fact, developed now that we could implement, but we are not doing that. we need to make a decision to get off of this dirty oil, and get off of the dirty fuel and go to clean energy. we need a clean energy future, and we can do that, but we have to make the decision. >> and yet when president obama has talked about energy alternatives, he has often labeled as quixotic and literally going after the windmills and the notion of easily available oil. >> yes, and there are a couple of things at play. one is that when you talk about the al teternative energy, and many cases that energy needs government support to carry it through the sort of the development phase known as the valley of death. government involvement and investment in green energy is a taboo subject following solyndra and the federal funds set aside for alternative energy development are not granted out because of the concern around solyndra especially in an election year. and the other fundamental thing is that alternative energies take time and we have shown ourselves to be impatient public. there has to be a long-term scenario sketched out that americans really wrap their arms around in order to embrace alternative fuels. >> yes, it takes a while. senator graham, thank you for joining us. coming up, we will keep talking about bp oil andxñi this time, will talk about shrimp without eyes and crabs without legs, and we will get details from the owner of a major fish company in the gulf coast, and that is up next. thanks again, senator graham. i'm done. i'm gonna...use these. ♪ give me just a little more time ♪ [ female announcer ] unlike mops, swiffer can maneuver into tight spaces without the hassle and its wet mopping cloths can clean better in half the time, so you don't miss a thing. mom? 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my understanding is that you live in grand isle and you brought with you tar balls so that doug was telling us that the oil spill is not over in the sense of the effects are not just over, but you are actually still seeing the tar balls, and -- oh, my gosh. look at that. >> we are seeing them on a daily basis, melissa. you could pick up thousands and thousands of these on the beach everyday. >> that is çstunning. >> you are finding that on the beach near your home? >> on the beach. on my property, on the back bay by my house, and as far as the dolphins, all of the dolphins died in our area, and two months ago they brought 20 dolphins with radios and numbers on them, and they died within a week. then they brought about a week ago they brought 20 more, and they don't look like they are doing too good right now. >> and talk to me also about the shrimp, because shrimp is your business, dean. i eat gulf coast seafood three or four times a week and you also brought a photograph for us of stlhrimp blinded by the oil. >> we are getting shrimpp without eyes or shrimp without heads and we are seeing red snapper with lesions and holes in them and crabs that you can see through and through them, and oysters with oil in it. it is, you know, it is far from over. the definition of insanity is when you do the same thing and expect a different result and they did the same thing in the gulf coast that they did in alaska only on a way larger scale. >> so, alex, here is the political challenge from my perspective as i look at this, when we live on the gulf coast, you are a supporter of oil, and of oil and gas industries because they provide jobs and opportunities, but if you live on the gulf coast, i mean, this is one day of claims against bp for what happened after it is not providing jobs and opportunities, but it is nmw spilling into the -- do you vote pro oil or no oil? >> well, that is the problem, pro oil or no oil, andb at least sort of positioned. the president does not have a no oilp approach, but it has to be a balanced portfolio, but as far as the claims go, we are talking about the fish and the wildlife and a great piece in "the nation" dwe tailing the respiratory problems of the workers who worked in the cleanup phase and bleeding from the eyes and the kidneys and serious health functions and many people do not believe that the claims process is working out, and we will have ken fi feinberg on my show monday to talk about that. and there was a case made that there needs to be not only a criminal investigation ongoing, but somebody needs to be charged here. the idea that this is the nation's worst ecological disaster and nobody paid the price and no heads have rolled is an american travesty. >> so despite the huge settlement, bp has record profits. >> $26 billion last year. >> both of those things happening last year, the last word, alex, and as we heard from dean, there are human effects here, but remind us of the impact of the earth and this is sort of the afterall the earth week here. >> the oil spill has been to the gulf of mexico as smoking is to human. to kills some of you, and for those who it doesn't kill, it will degrade your overall health. so we need to do more gulf coast restoration to recover the wetlands and some of it we cannot do, but we can restore the gulf of mexico through the >> we lose a football field an hour of our coastland and wetlands. >> yes. >> i appreciate both of you being here. and last week's foot soldier catherine switzer the woman who officially first ran the boston marathon will be here. and then i am resurrecting my pom poms. that is next. ♪ hey mickey you are are so fine ♪ ♪ you blow my mindno ♪ t from na. because only national lets you choose any car in the aisle... and go. you can even take a full-size or above, and still pay the mid-size price. i'm going b-i-g. [ male announcer ] good choice business pro. good choice. go national. go like a pro. all at 150 calories or less, there's definitely a temptations for you. unless you're one of those people who doesn't like delicious stuff. temptations. it's the first jell-o that's just for adults. standard keyless access, and standard leather-trimmed seats, then your choice is obvious. the lexus es. it's complete luxury in a class full of compromises. see your lexus dealer. championship season is upon us. no, i know we are in the thick of the nba season and baseball is under way, but i'm talk about acrobatics and tumbling or ak row for sho dk acro for short. this week kicks off the national championships and this is brand new competitive cheerleading is looking to get ncaa recognition and coverage under title ix by distancing from the sup pportiv roots on the sideline. acro allows for displays of all of the athleticism of cheerleading without the rah, rah rallying behind the team. but given a choice, i would choose cheer over competition. what? you didn't think that i'd say that. okay. ready. okay. first of all, don't let the pompoms and the ponytails fool you, cheerleaders have always been athletes. well, at least as long as cheerleaders have been women that is. you see it was privileged educated men who were the first cheer loo cheerleaders and literally leading the crowd to cheer in support of a college team. franklin roosevelt and dwight eisenhower andç george bush we even cheerleaders, but it was not until the 1920s that women picked up the pompoms and began to dominate and introduced elite athleticism and competition into cheerleading. before they were allowed to be athletes on the field, women were proving the prowess on the sidelines and cheerleading requires the same teamwork and conditioning and agility and strength as any sport. but sports are not just about head-to-head competition and physical contact on the field of play. sports are also about rallying a commu community together around a team, and full disclosure, at one time in my life, i shook my pompoms with the best of them and i loved every minute of it. in fact, if i weren't wearing these heels right now i would set out a hurkey, because i have the moves! one thing is that we were symbols of the community and in the uniforms were were ambassadors of team and the collective spirit of athletes supporting one another. so i don't want the cheerleading without the cheer. there no shame in playing a supporting role. in fact, i'd argue thalt is just as valuable as the sport, itself. it is why i am proudly and cheerfully come ting to the d-e-f-e-n-s-e of cheerleading! coming up, soccer balls and running shorts and how women athletes are fighting for equality one step at a time. legendary marathoner catherine switzer, the first woman to run the boston marathon joins us next. ♪ everybody move your body arrival. with hertz gold plus rewards, you skip the counters, the lines, and the paperwork. zap. it's our fastest and easiest way to get you into your car. it's just another way you'll be traveling at the speed of hertz. 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this is big news. departure. hertz gold plus rewards also offers ereturn-- our fastest way to return your car. just note your mileage and zap ! you're outta there ! we'll e-mail your receipt in a flash, too. it's just another way you'll be traveling at the speed of hertz. on thursday, the white house announced it will award the presidential medal of freedom the nation's highestç civili o honor to a basketball coach. not just any coach, but pat summitt, arguably the best women's coach ever. she led the basketball team to 108 -- excuse me, 1,100 wins and 8 ncaa titles. last summer, summit revealed she had been diagnosed with early onset dementia, and a precursor to alzheimer's disease and after 38 seasons she stepped down wednesday and accepted an advisory role for the team. she is exemplary for any man or woman regardless if you are a sports fan. title ix the landmark legislation which is so known for making careers like hers possible, if you read it, it is not about sports at all. it says no person in the united states shall on the basis of sex be excluded in participation in or denied the benefits of of or be subjected to discrimination under the education program or activity receiving federal financial assistance. in the 40 years since president nixon signed those words into law, women collegiate sports have flourished, but women athletes have just begun. let me bring in camille hill, and also our foot soldier from last week catherine switzer, the first woman to run in the boston marathon and also author of "the american woman running the race to revolutionize women's sports." thank you allç for being here. catherine, i want to start with you, since -- >> i'm the oldest. >> well, you are. you are the pretitle ix person sitting at the table, because you did the work that benefited all of us. talk to me about the boston marathon experience, but more importantly the broad social movement around women and sports. >> and melissa, it is a social revolution and absolutely aston nishing, but briefly in 1967, i was the first woman to pin on numbers and run the boston marathon and my coach didn't believe that a woman could do the distance. and in practice at syracuse university i proved that i could. we ran 31 miles and he passed out at the end of the workout and he said that women didn't have any potential or endurance or stamina. we had discovered something. i felt like magellan everyday discovering how far the body would go, and i was so excited about the first boston marathon and who would have realized in the race two miles the race director jumped off of the press truck and grabbed me and said, get the hell out of my race and give me those numbers and grabbed me. and my boyfriend at the time was an official timer in the race, and he punched him and i went on to finish, but there was a moment of an innocent girl running the first marathon as a reward from the coach. i had proved to him that i could do it, and he helped me to sign up for the race, and he said it is a serious race, and you have to sign up, and then as i was t attacked i realized, hey, i have to finish this race no matter what. >> you know, this is not just racing for me now, and i'm )acing for the whole right to run in this. >> and yes, nobody believed that women could do something that arduous and if they did, they would turn into a man or something bad would happen, you know. big legs and your uterus would fall out and these were the misconception misconception, and the myths are what keep women from being unempowered. i would have finished the race on my hands and knees, and i had a life plan after that which is to create opportunities for women in sports and become a better athlete. i campaigned very hard. i did become a better athlete. i work the new york city marathon eventually, but more importantly, helped lead the drive to get the women's marathon into the olympic games, and that happened in 1984, but five years after my run in boston, we campaigned to the official in the boston marathon and this is the 40th anniversary of women being allowed to run the boston mare thathon. >> and it is monday, right? >> no, it was last monday. a lot of celebrations, and it did not make title ix sign when president nixon signed it into law, but it helped, because if a woman could run 26 miles, a woman could do anything. >> and we could before that, but obviously, your work at espn, and you have seen so much of the lifeblood of what this is coming to fruition and the very fact as you of a sports voice is indicative of where we are now, maya. >> yes, a lot of the pioneers who have preceded me, and christine veeren in and leslie viser,ç and those are battles that i fought that i don't have to do now, and now the athletes are not barred from going in to interview. and there were times when women were barred. so when you look at a augusta national and the masters and them not allowing female members, that some of the strongest voices were female sports writers, and so it is important just how my profession is flourishing and how title ix has impacted me and allowed me the do something that i love which is sports and journalism. >> i am listening to catherine talk about the effort of being able to run, and then the notion that you already stand on the shoulders of a group of women's sports reporters who came before you and then your organization actually black girls run, and the idea that -- i know my daughter was involved with girls on the run which is a national organization to get girls running and black girls run is about saying that even as we have opened doors there are communities of people with fewer opportunities and particularly of girls with fewer opportunities. >> right. when my partner tony and i started black girls run, three years ago we realized very few african-american women running and we thought initially a great way to bring that community together and then we realized a couple ofçy years later that we would inspire thousands of women to start running. so that has been the best part of encouraging them, because we in the african community have not had the exposure to distance running and the education to know how to get started running and what do i wear and what is this about, because we don't have a mom orç grandmother who ran. >> and this is -- one of my favorite parts of your story, catherine is the visuals of you in the sweats. i am thinking that i could not run 26 miles in, like, it was before wicking fabric and, you know, all of the extra kinds of things. i want to talk a little bit about why girls participation in sports matters. right? this is not a general fairness question although it is part of it, but what are some of the reasons that it matters to actually have girls and women participating as equals in sports. >> well, four reasons. this is one reason why michelle obama's effort to get kids moving is so critically important. it is in a way beyond obesity and beyond preventing disease and first of all cardiovascular disease is the number one killer of women and it leaves cancer, and forget it. >> and thinking about breast cancer. >> but all of the cancers combined cannot match what cardiovascular will do to kill women. and actually all you need to do is a 30-minute a walk a day to prevent all cases of the cardiovascular diseases and phenomenal. >> and the empowerment issue that you talked about and we are changing the movement profoundly. in particular the black women who are coming over to win the marathons the ethiopians and the kenyans and it is profound what the money is doing to the villages. they are changing the social fabric and inoculating kids and building schools and changing the social status, and it is fascinating. >> because the kenyan men have long been at the front of the prize winningç races, but when women win the impact into the communities is greater. >> so look at that as a dramatic example, but yet, every community in the united states women are run manage the millions and changing their own sense of self-esteem and their empowerment, and more women runners now in the united states than men and it is 53% which is a social change. the other thing is that we are preventing aging. you know, there is all kinds of evidence that cardio. >> i am hooked up with that and i want to up the mileage this week and i do the best i can to get it in, but seriously, i won't age? >> well, we have proved that cardiovascular disease not only sho shortens and makes the aging process longer and you last longer, and that you show aging less and actually there is really recent evidence that it prevents alzheimer's and dementia, and those are four great reasons, plus it is fun. >> and the psychological impact on women is profound. the women who participate in sports have higher self-esteem and the girls at the high school level who participate in sports are likely to graduate. >> and less likely to be pregnant as a teen. >> it is a profound psychological effect and makes us feel good about who we are develop i developing that confidence. sports gave me so much con i fi dense and a big reason why i have been able to succeed in this job is because i got the confidence from playing sports and that competitiveness that i think that there used to be perceptions that women could beç as come petstive, not as competitive, but that is not the case. it gives you a inner spark. >> and i want to talk about the organization that helps to get this started for kids. and we will talk about that when we come back. ♪ she has legs and knows how to use them ♪ 12k3w4r50i6r7b8g9s c'mon dad! i'm here to unleash my inner cowboy. instead i got heartburn. 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[ male announcer ] the spark business card from capital one. choose unlimited rewards with double miles or 2% cash back on every purchase, every day! wait! your boa. what's in your wallet? if you want something done right, then do it yourself. that's the idea behind our children, our future -- the ballot initiative to fix our schools. we've waited years for the politicians to do it. now, we can do it ourselves. our children, our future sends every k through 12 dollar straight to our schools... not to sacramento. it benefits every kid in every school, with local control of the money. that's why the p-t-a supports it. my mom likes it, too. it has been 40 years since the signing of the landmark title ix legislation the law that put women's collegiate sports on the same line as men's, and here to discuss it about politics and women and sports are the espn columnist, and black girls co-founder ashley hicks and pioneering marathoner catherine hicks and sal salon.com editor rebecca traister. so talking about michelle obama's movement to get people moving and as a person of example, and so we saw a recent episode of nbc's "biggest loser" and she was kind of gamely in there and working it out and bringing attention and i love it. look at those, and she does boy push-ups, right. all of this sort of providing an opportunity for us to talk about women's participation at this national level, but there are undoubtedly people watching mhp right now who don't lace up shoes, and who don't care much about sports, why should we care about participation and participation of everybody and particularly of girls? >> i think that one of the things that is great about "let's move" is that as far as a program goes, it is about increasing possibility for more people, right. when it is criticized and you hear itç criticized is the nan state and finger wagging and the thing about "let's move" it is not about bad body image or taking away the food, but increasing education and increasing nutritional options and the reason it is good is because it is part of the many factors to begin to put people on an equal playing field to begin with. being fit, and having healthy attitudes and healthy food to fuel your mind and body is a good starting place for anywhere else you want to go in the world is bringing that message is not about deprivation or monitoring, but increasing possibility, and that is one of the things that we should aspire to in all realms and fitness is a great start. >> and that is actually political and not individual choices. i know that black girls run and other organizations have talked about it is tough to go for the 30-minute walk if you don't have decent sidewalks or safe communities or opportunities for girls to play pick-up basketball, too. >> right. and one of the good things about black girls run is that we are fitness role models for young black women, and for just people in general to see that this is really about creating a lifestyle and a lifestyle that is of moderation. it is not trying to fit into some ideal image, but living the best quality of life, and that is really what we are trying to preach to people. >> and to have a woman of color and first lady obama being the one spearheading this is important, because statistically right now, you have 50% of black women are either obese or overweight and by 2020 they expect the number to be 70% and that is ç50% right now compare to 33%m among the white men. so for women of color to see working out is cool and fun and keeps you healthy, that is just a critical message. >> and another thing that i think in terms of the children, is that creating that program that michelle obama is creating is allowing them to play and giving them a goal and giving them a focus. if you can create a basis of fitness at an early age in life, it sticks with you your whole life. it is so important, and it is inclusionary. and we beat up on the fast food industry, and how about let's just get the kids moving. get them moving. >> and your notion of inclusionary is interesting, because part of the book that i love around women running in the 2008 election is that there was sarah palin who for whatever ways we may disagree with her understands herself as what she would call herself a title ix feminist. >> there is a whole generation of female politicians who identify with title ix and talk about fitness and competition, and when i hear about black girls run, i think that black girls run for office, too. >> and yes. >> and that is visually not accidental. the language of competition of ambition of feeling comfortable going out on a playing field is we use that language with regard to the political competition all of the time and with men, quarterbacks and presidents and all of the same thing, right. >> there is a reason it is called a race. >> exactly. exactly. but think about the fact that up until title ix we had women who were not encouraged to behave that way on playgrounds let alone on soccer fields and let marathon and let alone in a presidential or even any kind of other political race. so the connection and sarah palin did a great favor in making it shark atark and clear >> and sarah palin was explicit and she said, you cannot beat me, because i am tough and here are the ways i am tough. i run the races and i played on this basketball team. >> sarah barracuda was her nickname. >> yes, and you could see it. you could see the psychology develop as a basketball player and her approach to politics. >> so it is like -- >> and she also played sports, too. >> as someone who played sports my entire life, it is leadership skills in being the team captain and let's rally the girls and this is the plan of action on the field, and that easily translates into politics an into business and i feel like i use the skills on a daily basis. >> i want to complicate it, because we are having a fest cal of joy of playing sports, but the other side is just as sports should be encouraging us to just think about what the bodies do and not what they look like, the fact is that women athletes when we do cover them in the news, we do talk about what they look like. i remember the amazing photo of the soccer champion brandi chastain, and there she is ripping off the shirt, and she has an incredible muscular body, but then we start talking about, oh, should a woman take her shirt off, and this somehow becomes a sexualized moment, and we know that yes, there is all of the confidence and leadership ability, but there is rampant eating disorders and i talked aboutç the cheerleading earlie and gymnastics and nbc has the olympics coming up and the gymnasts who are expected to have narrow and small, and so how do we give the good without passing on all of the bad? >> well, i don't know if it is possible unfortunately. i would say not just female athletes, but the all athletes, and look at the david beckham commercial, so it is not just happening for the female athletes, but we are so accustomed to having the female athletes to be role models and superstars that it does normalize the sports for a larger majority of the women and girls watching. we will have coverage issues, but the gains made far outweigh the negatives and looking at espn for example, we carried the entire ncaa women's tournament and a huge initiative this year with title ix and celebrating that anniversary and we have espnw that we kicked off and those were not happening. >> and be honest, the nfl draft is happening across the street at radio music city hall, and it is basically an event and we had the wnba draft, and it was like a party. >> on the campus. right. compared to the men. >> obviously, there is an entire coverage differential, but let's not forget where men's sports started. the nba used to be on tape delay, okay. there have been plenty of leagues that have fallen. the first super bowl, the ticket was $13, so we don't always have to put women's athletics in the box p of comparing them to men, but we have to realize where they have gained in the last 40 years and it isç significant progress, and where they are going. i don't know if it will equal out, but it is trending upward. >> yes, it will equal out. here is the old lady talking here. we have is a short history, but we have a long future. we are only beginning to understand what women's capability is all about. we know that men have speed, power and strength, but we are just exploring the women's superior capacity in stamina, enduran endurance, and flexibility and balance and sport may be completely different in 50 years from what we know. it is already reached in track and field and athletics for example parity, but imagine sports that we can't think of right now. women are winning out 100 mile six-day races and three-day events and it is stunning. i think that i'd like to throw out to the young people, that you guys plan it. you know. >> no pressure. >> and we had no black girls run ten years ago and we thought about it, but we were trying to get more black women out running, but to imagine what using our best abilities and it does not mean that women are better than men or men are better than women, but we are different. >> it is exciting that we both have young daughters and yours are littler than mine. >> and she is not walking. >> but soon she will be running. and i thank you rebecca tracer, and jemele hill, and alex wagner and catherine switzer. i thank you all. and also ahead, how a piece of cake got me all riled up this week. in here, great food demands a great presentation. so at&t showed corporate caterers how to better collaborate by using a mobile solution, in a whole new way. using real-time photo sharing abilities, they can create and maintain high standards, from kitchen to table. this technology allows us to collaborate with our drivers to make a better experience for our customers. [ male announcer ] it's a network of possibilities -- helping you do what you do... even better. ♪ and on small business saturday bothey remind a nations of the benefits of shopping small. on just one day, 100 million of us joined a movement... and main street found its might again. and main street found its fight again. and we, the locals, found delight again. that's the power of all of us. that's the power of all of us. that's the membership effect of american express. get two miracles in one product. new tone rehab 2-in-1 foundation. covers spots, lines... and wrinkles. and helps improve skin tone over time. new tone rehab from easy... breezy... beautiful... covergirl! covergirl! this week, the nerd land crew debated for hours whether or not to show this next piece of video. we never came to a consensus, and now the video we are about to play may disturb some of you, but i decide id to show çit, because it is the most effective way to have an effective conversation. a teachable moment if you will. this comes from the 75th anniversary of the swedish arts federation at the museum of modern art in stockholm. on display is one of the cakes that the artists were invited to make from the event and this is from afro-swedish artist. he is there in the cake in black face as the head of a caricature of an kafr can body and this is where it is hard to watch. because he invited for the women to slide into the body as represented in cake form to allow her innerds to spill on to the face, and as they cut, he screams in apparent agony and the screams are met with smiles and laughs and photos and more people taking pieces of the cake woman. their representation violence utter indifference and stunning lack of em pathy for the suffering cake became critical parts of the performance. the artist says that his intent is to highlight and to oppose the practice of female genital mutilation, and art provokes feeling and art, and art is a valuable tool in a democracy and it is not to create -- well, still, i have not been able to shake the anger and sadness i have seen since seeing this video. provocative art must be account fobl the violence it can do to the viewers. now, i willç never forget the the ending the without sanctuary, because they have displayed images of lynchings and charred and hanging bodies that were turned into postcards and mailed throughout the country. it is grotesque art, but everyone in the exhibit was silent as we passed through and literally rendered mute by the horror we were seeing, but the swedish cake performance felt like the carnival displays of african-american bodies that were popular in the 20th century and the glee and the spectacle recalled the laughing crowds at minstrel shows where gators consumed black babies or the gawking won deof the englishmen who came to see the hot and taut venus naked in the cage at the piccadilly. yes, the cake is art, but understanding it as art does not remove our rights as observers and consumers to mark the human violation that the art encompasses and it does not take away our right to react with disgust and agny. up next, why the most important election coming up is one that you have not heard of at all. that is right after the break. a. unless you're one of those people who doesn't like delicious stuff. temptations. it's the first jell-o that's just for adults. cleaning better, doesn't have to take longer. i'm done. i'm going to... drink this... on the porch! ♪ give me just a little more time ♪ [ female announcer ] mops can be a hassle, but swiffer wetjet's spray cleaner and absorbent pads can clean better in half the time so you don't miss a thing. swiffer. better clean in half the time. or your money back. and for dry messes big and small try swiffer sweeper vac. and for dry messes big easy label, right? but that label can lead to prejudice and discrimination, and we don't want to go there. so let's try to see people for who they really are. you can help create a more united states. the more you know. [ male announcer ] strip away the styling. strip away the rearview monitors, tv screens, bluetooth... and even the cup holders. you know what's left? the only suv's with american-built f-alpha truck frames. the ruggedly capable pathfinder, xterra, armada. ♪ receive up to twenty-five hundred dollars cash back on select nissan suv's. ♪ president obama doesn't matter. no, that is not what i am saying. that is the message that some o? his fellow democrats are putting out there as they are running for their own political lives in their own re-election campaigns this election season. on thursday democratic senator jon tester of montana facing his own re-election bid had this to say on my colleague andrea mitchell's show. >> is the president at the top of the ticket a drag for your race, because he is not popular in montana? >> andrea,ç it is six of one a half a dozen of another. there is more people vote in this election than in 2010, and mainly because the president is on the ticket, and the president is not particularly doing well in a state like montana, but this isn't about the presidential race, but it is about a u.s. senate race from montana. >> and west virginia democrat joe manchin said he had reservations of voting for mitt romney or president obama, so here is the thing, being below the ballot of the president may be a drag or a lift for some candidates, but for voters the ballot races are much more important than the race for the white house. here to discuss all politics being local are msnbc host alex wagner, and msnbc contributor robert trainim and also the director of the press secretary for the democratic congressional contribute doug thornel and rebecca traister as well. and so, that is where the real action is the gubernatorial election and so where are the important races? >> well, it depends on the states, because in massachusetts and utah, it is vanilla, but in virginia and other states and ohio, it matters. when it comes the gay marriage, that really matters. when it comes to propositions in california, that really matters so again, it depends on the state. both of to senators saidç something interesting if i'm jon tester in montana and i'm running in 2012 i'm scared and very, very scared, and it is because that is a republican state. however, if i'm an entrenched republican that is running for re-election perhaps and it is dick lugar in indian, i'm not sure that barack obama matters. >> but they are facing a convention in utah and orrin hatch has been there for 30 years. >> yes, running in the general with barack obama at the top. >> right. >> and i think that most incumbents should be worried in general, because it is a bad, bad environment for any incumbent, and the approval rating for congress is basically in the toilet. >> and everybody hates congress. >> it is not getting much better, but i think that the interesting thing about the senate and nathan knows this like the back of his hand is that a number of the top senate races are in states where the presidential race is really not going to be that important. there is not going to be a ton of advertising there. is not coordinated campaigns, but you are talking about montana, and talking about a massachusetts and these are places where, you know, it is the basically going to be the senate race or the congressional races on their own. so that is going to be something to pay attention to. >> and there may be just as much lift from the bottom, right. so if this is a safe blue or red state and you are not getting the spending from the presidential candidates and what you are saying is that the statewide senate races are going to provide the opportunities for people to remember that there is an election showing up. >> in the case of jon tester it is for others who are running in the cases of the split ticket voters and crossover and vote for another çparty, it is abou how the election is framed. jon tester wants to have a personal election, and he is more montana, and he was tweeting about the sack lunch he had in the tractor when he was out on the farm. >> and he said he wants to make the u.s. congress a little bit more montana, right? >> and yeah, it is about how the election is framed and the same for massachusetts. senator scott brown is going to need potentially a half a million voter es that voted for obama on the top of the ticket to turn around and vote for him if he wants to win re-election and he is airing ads about the red sox that have nothing to do with the politics. that is going the decide this. >> i want to pause on massachusetts for a second, because it is one of these non-presidential races that people are nonetheless paying attention to, and you are right, he is running the boston red sox as his commercial. we have that sound, don't we? okay. let's take a quick listen. >> hello. this is scott brown. well, it is spring training again and while it is fun to look forward to a new season of red sox baseball, i want to take you back a moment because two of my favorite players are retiring, people who meant a lot to us over the years. >> that is all politics. i don't care what anybody says. >> hello. >> that is all politics and very, very smart and here is why, because it is speaking to what? the white average mid class or lower middle class individual out there who is i sag, yis say the bums out and i don't want to hear about politic, but talk to me about the red sox and understanding that, it is called microtargeting and scott brown is speaking to that voter out there who has politics on the back of their minds and sports on the front of the mind, and he is tryingç to conflate the two >> well, scott brown is doing something interesting that you don't see in american politics which is touting the record as a moderate and someone who got things done in washington. the race is interest, because we have talked a lot about the republican caucus being really fractured and sort of shifting sands in terms of right, the magnet magnets moving right, and here in massachusetts, you have elizabeth warren who is a strong liberal candidate and scott brown who is of course a republican, but he is very moderate and it is going to be really interesting to see how the democrats react to that. >> to this local way of doing politics without talking about politics. >> this is the guy who drove in a pickup truck, and remember he won election and a special election, but he won in massachusetts because he knows the state. >> and the thing about scott brown is that, you know, he ran as a tea party candidate when he was winning the special election. he had a lot of support from the tea party and conservatives and now he is walking away from the support. >> and touting the moderate. >> and i don't know what it is about flip-flopping in the state of massachusetts, but it seems to be running rampant in that with politicians there. >> he got the talking point in there. he did it. give it to him. >> and my point is that he is doing what he is needing to do to get re-elected, but he is having a tough time as nathan is saying, the president will run up a huge number there, and elizabeth warren, say what you want, but i like her and she has proven to be a really good candidate raising a ton of money, and she is catch, and she is catching up to him. that is race that the democrats can pickç up. >> and the other thing when you talk about the dynamics of local versus national is what is happening in the state legislatures in the country, and there is a big article in the times saying that the gop understands that the bills being passed on everything from evolution to contraception to the local level are complicating things at the party at the national level. >> yes. >> and in the house, and you have over 60 house republicans who represent districts that barack obama won in 2008. so, in 2010, it was a terrible environment for republicans, but now it is shifting -- >> for dems. >> right. and a little bit more neutral now, and how do they juggle representing the districts where the president is not a evil person, and with, you know, keeping that conservative suppo support, and that put them in there. >> i we want to come back and talk to nathan about all of the other races and talk about the one thing that all members of congress are doing all of the time, and that is going to be right when we come back. you know, those farmers, those foragers, those fishermen.... for me, it's really about building this extraordinary community. american express is passionate about the same thing. they're one of those partners that i would really rely on whether it's finding new customers, or, a new location for my next restaurant. when we all come together, my restaurants, my partners, and the community amazing things happen. to me, that's the membership effect. ♪ oh oh oh oh you see it in the brush... ♪ oh oh oh oh ooh oh ...and then there's the pillow. ♪ i dare you to dare me so they dared me to try this pantene. 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(female announcer) most life insurance companies look at you and just see a policy. at aviva, we do things differently. we're bringing humanity back to life insurance. that's why only aviva rewards you with savings for getting a check-up. it's our wellness for life program, with online access to mayo clinic. see the difference at avivausa.com. okay. here is something we know from political science research, congressmen are single minded seekers of reelection and that is it. whatever they are doing or policies they are passing or positions in the world, and what congress persons are doing is seeking re-election, and in every single two-year election cycle, the entire u.s. house of representatives is up for re-election which means they are running all of the time. they must be tired. still at the table is alex wagner, and nathan trainim and doug thornel and so why should i be wor royed aboworried about r states? >> well, when you boil it down, even though we hear about the anti-incumbent narrative there are 78 races that are truly competitive that have a chance of flipping from one party to another. that is a fairly large amount compared tod to the middle of t decade. >> when it is closer to 40. >> yes, and they will have a opportunity to gain key states in illinois, california and florida on election night when the presidential race is over, you want to look at who is in control in those three states, because it will show you who is in control, and whether it is president obama or president romney. >> and this is when the democrats are facing particular challenges in the races, because of the 2010ojóó census and we big election that led them into the state legislatures and starting to redraw the districts to benefit the republicans and so you have some democrats running against one another, because there is few democratic seats in some of the places. >> and republicans won 63 seats in 2010 and what they did through redistricting is to strengthen a lot of the seats to make it more difficult for the democrats to take over the majority of this cycle. but it is true that some of the incumbents areç drawn together and next week in pennsylvania with mark krits and jason altmire in western pennsylvania is a big incumbent battle and what is unique, it is not a strong democratic seat. whoever wins there is vulnerable to the republican challenge, and redistricting is one of the most chaotic and complicated processes that we have in the country, and it is so important that most people don't realize how it can dramatically affect the election before it even comes. >> and so if in fact we have a presidential election that is looking at safe red and safe blue states and so not that the republicans and the democrats are not sending in their ground game into the states, because these are safe states, how does that impact the down card? >> well, one of the things that happens with the house races is that early on in the candidates have to define getting back to tester point have to define themselves independent of everything else going on and democrats when they were really good and successful in '06 and '08 they were able to recruit the candidates in the southern districts and the rural districts to define themselves as people of part of that district, as part of that community. they were also able to build and put together a very, very aggressive voter contact program that started early. that is something that i know that my friends at the dccc are starting to get going right now, and you have to do it, because in some of the districts you don't have the dnc or the rnc or the ofa there so you are to do it on your own and build the campaign ow oft scratch, and that is why the dccc and the rnc and the otherç committees are important in the early part. >> wasn't this the genius of gingrich and -- i know, i said the genius of gingrich, but i meep when he was congress gingrich is to turn the races into contract with -- that is right. contract with america. and is it possible for president obama with the democrats and the house to make it a national race on reproductive rights issues and can we make the local races national? >> well, they are trying. i dont n i don't know if it is going the work this time around, but this is a national conversation about the economy. i know that the democrats want this to be a national conversation about women's rights and -- what? >> why do you think that democrats would want that? i mean -- because they are on better footing with it? >> well, based on the talking points and based on what you see on the democratic national committee -- >> well, that is from the republican statehouses and the republican legislatures. >> but looking at the poll numbers that is not on the top three of people's issues. it is education, health care and the economy being number one through three, and understanding that, this is a national conversation about the economy and to both of your points here, the question then becomes is if i'm a member of congress in virginia perhaps that the state matters at both the republican and the democratic levels i want president obama on my side if i'm a democrat and mitt romney on my side if i'm a republican, but to your point if i'm in california or massachusetts, i'm on my own. >> or virginia, florida, and you have lots of company. >> and sometimes you want it and sometimes you don't and it depends upon what kind ofç district you are running in. members of congress are all about running for the re-election, because politics is local, but we know that the national polls show that the congressional approval rating is 12%, but when you ask that person about the local member of congress, that number is higher. >> not everybody hates their member of congress, but they hate congress. i want to give you the last word. >> well, the decline of mod ratss, because some of the folks are retiring because they don't have is the stomach for the fisticuffs which is now legislating on capitol hill and it is shocking to me that we have the defense triggers going into place, and the bush tax cuts that need to be extended or not, an unemployment insurance that needs to be extended or not and alternative minimum tax stuff and big ticket stuff and none of it dealt with until the lame duck session of congress. and congress no longer governs and they don't want to do what congress does. >> and take one's lumps, but the role to be elected is in fact to go. >> and the tea party is afraid of the bases of the extreme right and the democrats are afraid of the extreme they want bipartisanship or just get something done. but the voters aren't rewarding that without a vote of primaries. >> i'm going to show you a story about how storytelling tab very political. but first a preview for "weekends with alex witt." >> it has been a strange spring. we'll detail that. and what do the latest numbers tell us about what might happen in november? and what went in the hotel. the scandal that's costing secret service agents their jobs. then in office politics, rachel mad do tells us why she thinks politicians' families should not be part of their campaign. that's interesting. >> i love that you and rachel -- even just in one-on-one conversations, she has props. >> pretty cool. >> thank you, alex. coming up, our foot soldiers this week or a group that actually built a bridge over troubled waters. that's up next. c'mon dad! i'm here to unleash my inner cowboy. instead i got heartburn. 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[ female announcer ] swiffer. better clean in half the time. or your money back. every week, we bring you the stories of those we rarely hear from in national media. today's soldier has a mission who highlights those who have overlooked. bridge the gulf. the coalition was founded in response to how often citizens were misrepresented and communities were regularly ignored in the aftermath of hurricane katrina. two years ago, these documentarans began to impact those who were affected by the hurricane. bridge the gulf gathered the testimonials of clean up-workers suffering with illnesses directly related to chemical exposure. the story of this woman, the wife of an oil worker and mother of six, who walked from new orleans to washington, d.c. to congress to clean up the gulf. and daniel nguyen workingç wit viatnamese fishermen. this month, bridge the gulf released its report "troubled waters." it pieces together a more complete picture of the material and emotional effects of the bp oil spill through the voices of those who lived it and are working to rebuild the coast. the data and stories reflected reflect a sobering reality. despite two years of promises, many people in the gulf coast continue to battle economic hardship and lingering health problems. bridge the gulf is now calling for federal and state governments to play more of a direct role in the ongoing recovery efforts. in the meantime, these foot soldiers soldier on. to hear and read more from these stories from the gulf coast or to nominate your own foot soldier, go to mhpshow.com. and that is our show for today. thank you to our panel. and thanks to you at home for watching. i'll see you tomorrow morning at 10:00 a.m. eastern when i ask, what happened to the tea party? coming up, "weekends with alex witt." 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