director. did they go too far? he was asked about biden's comments earlier on "morning joe." >> i think it takes things to a new level. a level of negativity. >> that byte was from "the today show." how do you respond to the ak sigs that the president has become unhinged? >> thanks for having me on. i want to make sure i'm clear on the clip you just showed. was that the same gentleman who compared the president of the united states to the captain of that sinking italian ship i'm pretty sure. it's pretty clear that mitt romney, when he entered into florida a couple days ago saw the headlines about his pick for vice president and about how seniors in that state were profoundly concerned about the impact of his budget. he need to change the conversation and he's decided had he would do this by being absolutely hypocrite call and acting sank moanhouse about being questioned an his pick, being questioned on the ways in which he'd like to unshackle wall street. so i understand why he's trying to change the subject, but clearly for a guy who ran a 99% negative campaign to get past gingrich, santorum, and perry, it's beyond hypocrite kl for him to say that. >> this was said of the remarks in the paper today. he knew what he was doing. if this were the last presidential election, the one of hope and change, obama would have to dump him for sure. but now the president is fighting for his political life and they will do what they all do, fight to win. whether it's in an alley or a mud pit. do you think they think this is what they need to do? that's what the biden and obama ticket represents. do you think they are painting a good enough vision for that instead of droning on? >> to respond to that, barack obama is not fighting for his political life. he's working hard every single day on the behalf of the middle class and is looking for the opportunity to have positive change for all americans on the economy and on health care and securing the future for young people in this country. as it relates to the kind of vision that came out of this campaign, they made it clear the president continues to double down on his investment on clean energy. we're going to do all we can to make sure young people have opportunities through investing things like pell grants that romney and ryan would basically x out in their budget. we're also going to continue to draw a sharp contrast between what this president has done for seniors, making it possible to get prescription drugs as opposed to what romney and ryan called for in their budget. i also want to say i understand that mitt romney thought he could run a presidential campaign without being questioned. when he was in the private sector, he was unassailable when cutting jobs, laying off workers and eliminatie ining pensions. but running for president, there's a different measure of accountability. >> let's talk about medicare. they are doing so with this new ad. take a listen. >> you paid into medicare for years. every paycheck. now when you need it, obama has cut $716 billion from medicare. why? to pay for obama care. >> the romney camp seems to think it can turn the tables and make this about the president's health care plan. could that strategy work? >> clearly, it's not working for them. you all saw the approval ratings for the ryan pick. the lowest approval rating since dan kwail was selected as a vice presidential nominee. even sarah palin had higher ratings. so their tactic is not working. seniors know because of the savings that barack obama found in medicare were able to close the door hole for them and provide all matter of screenings that are critical. they know the same savings that romney and ryan put in that ad, ryan himself accounts for those savings in his budget and house republicans who want to repeal obama care have voted twice now to preserve the savings that the president found that extend the life of the medicare program out to 2024. so mitt romney can duck and weave and throw out lies about medicare, lies about welfare reform, but the american people are more sophisticated than that. >> thank you for your time. we want to bring in our power panel. erin mcpike, great to see all of you. as we look back at the arkansas koo archives, i want to show everybody who said it first and get reaction on the other side. >> because they will put you in chains called obama care and you will be dependent upon government and never break away. >> that was rick santorum comparing the affordable care act to chains in august of 2011. why isn't what's good for the goose good r for the gander? >> it's worth noting that rick santorum is not the presidential candidate and so comparing what biden -- >> but he's not the presidential candidate here. joe biden is not the presidential candidate either. we're talking about the type of rhetoric that's going back and forth that's led mitt romney to call president obama angry and unhinged. >> it's also worth noting that when we're talking about this whole rhetoric thing that while obama care would force people to pay into a system that's just subsidizing somebody else. it forces the young to pay for senior care that they will never actually receive themselves. i think it's fair game to say that it's problematic. that was the point santorum was making. but he's not the person on the top of the ticket right now. >> let's talk about nbc's first read comparing the criticism of biden bringing a gun to a knife point. what's the strategy on the part of the romney camp and coming out so forcefully against those words used in their own party? >> i think that it's a problem for mitt romney to be the one who is accusing president obama of these kinds of tactics. we saw hillary clinton do that against barack obama in the 2008 primary in march in ohio. that didn't work out very well for her. of course, she won ohio, but she lost the primary. newt gingrich was also complaining about mitt romney's tactics in the primary this year and he lost. to be the candidate and complain about the other candidate's tactics is not a good strategy. it looks like you're complaining and losing. you appear to have the weaker hand. mitt romney should be trying to come out of this by talking about policy in his own campaign. >> my grandmother used to say he who carries the least has the most power. so why point fingers? just move on with the big ideas, what you want to drive home. as we talk about the words here, the slogan for obama and biden is forward. but they are not talking about moving forward as they are trying to demonize what it would mean going backward if mitt romney were select elected. >> what erin said is people don't like whiners and complainers. the obama campaign is pushing forward because they are creating a vision of what america will be like in the next four years under the obama presidency. and the differences are stark. it's a $700 billion cut that they are talking about in medicare. that's the same cut that ryan has in his budget proposal, but it's not a cut to current beneficiaries, it's a cut in savings. i don't think they are talking about that because this campaign is operated on distortion and honesty from the very beginning. the idea that mitt romney, the guy that newt gingrich called a liar is now complaining about campaign tactics seems hypocrite call. >> so people are eager for clarity. paul ryan was asked about his ticket's platform on medicare. here's his answer. take a look. >> i joined the romney ticket. what mitt romney is proposing to do is repeal all of obama care. >> ryan is distancing himself from his own -- or distancing his own from that of mitt romney. what does it say about the second person in the republican ticket that he's already backing away from his own platform? the reason paul ryan was attractive is he's this budget guy. >> it's smart for them to revisit and put out a newer plan. one they can both agree on. that makes perfect sense. but to go back to one of the points mentioned earlier. when ryan has been developing his own plan, he did so along with a democrat from oregon. he approached this in a bipartisan way. every plan he's come up with has been done with a bipartisan consensus, to some extent. that's not true of obama care. in terms of the amount of money that's cut, we shouldn't be get sboog a back and forth as to who is going to cut more. what are we going to do with the savings? obama wants to put it into obama care and a new entitlement for health care. whereas ryan wants to put us on a more sustainable fiscal path. that's a big difference. >> he wants to put us on a sustainable fiscal path, why won't he raise revenues? why doesn't his plan reduce the deficit? it doesn't deal with the debt that the republican plans have actually added on? paul ryan is the guy who voted for the tax cut that added trillions of of dollars to the debt. he voted for tarp. he voted for the automobile bailout. now he wants to be a deficit hog. it just doesn't add up. >> i hear your point. >> i think the american people can see through it. >> real quickly, i want to play something. take a look. >> i think we're either today going to escalate into nuclear war, duh this is not the campaign either candidates want but it's really escalated. >> are we watching a game of political chicken? >> i think so. only 80 some odd days left and that's what it's going to be from here on out. >> okay. erin mcpike, j.p. frair, and keith stick around. thanks to all three of you for joining me. i appreciate it. again, we are talking about a major story of voter i.d. law held in pennsylvania. the details coming up. also straight ahead, how 90 million voters could sway this election. plus how the drought is impacting the mississippi river and everything that travels through it. and the saying goes x all you need is a dollar and a dream. that could win you $320 million. what would you do if you won the power ball? 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[ phillips' lady ] live the regular life. phillips'. some people think steak is only limeant for special occasions. well who said breakfast. on a tuesday. can't be special. get that great taste anytime. with kingsford match light charcoal welcome back. we're following break news. a major development this morning that could impact your vote in 2012. in pennsylvania a judge refused to block a tough voter i.d. law from going into effect that requires all voters to show photo i.d. at the polls. pennsylvania is a battleground state and critics argue 10% of the society voeting population would be disenfranchised from voting. which could hurt democrats. ron allen joins me now with the details. first off, pennsylvania, what was the judge's reasoning for upholding this law? >> the judge essentially said that the new law would not immediately prevent people from voting on disenfranchise them. that's somewhat legalese, but let's be clear what we're talking about here. the law requires people to bring a specific i.d., a government-issued i.d. with a photo, driver's license, passport, to vote. in the past, you only had to bring a bank statement. the plaintiffs are saying this puts an unfair burden on seniors or minorities who don't have driver's licenses or government i.d.s. the lead plaintiffs in the case was elderly women. she was born in the south and the records don't exist anymore. that's the sort of complication we're talking about. most of these laws were passed by republican-controlled legislatures. the democrats are alleging that all these laws are an effort to suppress their vote because the people who will be -- >> those necessary to maintain election integrity. what can opponents do about this law? is there an appeal process that they can go forward with to appeal the decision? >> they are appealing it to a higher court. we have 80 days until the election. the point though is that the plaintiffs insist that this is just unfair. it's politics. and we all expect a raiser-close election. pennsylvania, a key battleground state. also in ohio and florida and other key states. with some 5 million voters affected by this nationally, that's less than the margin of victory of two of the past three elections. that's why this is really a very critical issue that hasn't been covered a lot. but now that we're coming close to november, every vote is going to count. that's why democrats are trying to fight these laws in the courts. they want all voters to get to the polls. >> i also want to bring keith back into this conversation. you have been tweeting a lot about what's going on in ohio. so certainly states are going to look at what happened in pennsylvania where voters are affected by this, disenfranchised. there are more voters that fall into this category than others. but as we look at ohio and the obama campaign trying to get the restrictions lifted, what does it say about what republicans had the opportunity to do during the primary season? >> in ohio it's interesting because the state of ohio has this county by county evaluation. in some districts mostly white and republican districts, you can actually vote early starting in october. but in the mostly-democratic districts, you can't vote early in october. you can't vote on weekends. it's such a blatant discriminatory policy. it was called sleazy. i think this is something that the voters will be looking at. it's being challenged by the obama team and by people who are democrats in the state. it's clearly a controversial issue. >> all right. ron allen and keith boykin st e sticking around. we're going to talk about some wildfires that are burning through at least ten states. 70 homes have been destroyed. tens of thousands of acres charred. sglnlts plus why drew peterson's withdraw their latest request for a mistrial. the third in just a few weeks. that's just ahead. 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[ female announcer ] purina cat chow indoor. and for a delicious way to help maintain a healthy weight, try new purina cat chow healthy weight. more than 50 times a day? so brighten your smile a healthy way with listerine® whitening plus restoring rinse. it's the only rinse that makes your teeth two shades whiter and two times stronger. ♪ listerine® whitening... power to your mouth. listerine® whitening... it's time to live... wider awake. only the beautyrest recharge sleep system combines the comfort of aircool memory foam layered on top of beautyrest pocketed coils to promote proper sleeping posture all night long. the revolutionary recharge sleep system from beautyrest... it's you, fully charged. receive up to a $300 beautyrest visa prepaid card when you buy select beautyrest mattress sets. crispy granola, layered with creamy peanut butter or rich dark chocolate flavor. 90 calories. 100% natural. and nature...approves. granola thins. from nature valley. nature at its most delicious. welcome back. it's time for a primary recap. in a primary smackdown linda mcmahon won. she now faces murphy. in wisconsin former governor and presidential candidate tommy thompson won the republican primary despite attacks from critics over his support for a health care mandate. he edged out conservative opponents who split the tea party vote. he squares off against tammie baldwin. that could determine control of the senate. then in florida congressman cliff sterns is trailing. the two presidential tickets spent the week blitzing a handful of battleground states that could make or break their run. has the addition of paul ryan tipped it in romney's favor. joining me is the presidential historian and director of the university of virginia center for politics. it's good to have you here. your blog puts seven states up for grabs. wisconsin not among them. could tommy thompson's win last night open a door for romney in wisconsin, at least maybe a window? >> it could. i think wisconsin is moving toward greater competition. i wouldn't put it as a pure toss up though. at least prior to ryan and you're correct to mention tommy thompson. that strengths the republican ticket there as well. but prior to the primary, president obama on average was ahead in wisconsin about 4.8%. close to 5%. i think this has narrowed it to perhaps 2% but that's not as close as some other tossups like iowa. >> a new poll puts romney six points behind the president there. in 27 out of the last 29 elections ohio has leaned slightly. >> look. ohio, as you know, does pretty much reflect the country as a whole. it's a little more republican than average. a point or so. you said it's been right 27 of 29 times. it is worth noting that the two times it was wrong, it picked the republican candidate. tom dewey in 1944 and fdrr's final election. so when it's wrong, it tends to be wrong in a republican direction. right now, president obama is slightly ahead there. >> is there a way to pennsylvania avenue other than through ohio? >> not for romney. at least i don't think so. you can always put all these strange combinations together in the electoral college. i play that game too. but practically speaking, i think romney has to win florida and ohio. >> it's a chemistry of numbers. great to see you. thank you. >> thanks, thomas. coming up, new reasons to hold a beer summit. details ahead. plus five days since the paul ryan pick was announced. is he hurting or helping the ticket? the cycle host, they join me next. and one of these lucky cycle members is going to walk away with a special prize for correctly picking paul ryan as the running mate. wait until you see what my team has put together as a gift. has helped fund economic and environmental recovery. long-term, bp's made a five hundred million dollar commitment to support scientists studying the environment. and the gulf is open for business - the beaches are beautiful, the seafood is delicious. last year, many areas even reported record tourism seasons. the progress continues... but that doesn't mean our job is done. we're still committed to seeing this through. humans -- even when we cross our t's and dot our i's, we still run into problems. namely, other humans. which is why, at liberty mutual insurance, auto policies come with new car replacement and accident forgiveness if you qualify. see what else comes standard at libertymutual.com. liberty mutual insurance. responsibility. what's your policy? juicy brats grilled up on a thursday. the perfect use of the 7th inning stretch. get that great taste anytime with kingsford match light charcoal. ♪ [music plays] ♪ [music plays] welcome back, everybody. here's a look at some stories topping the nation. wildfires threatening the western u.s. spreading flames across several states. firefighters in southern california are contending with gusty winds, triple-digit temperatures. two dozen homes have been evacuated. no mistrial in drew peterson's murder case. his attorneys withdrew their request this morning saying he wants to have a jury try it. there was question over hearsay material yesterday. today the judge denied a request by the defense to toss out all hearsay evidence, ordered jurors to not consider some of the information. he's on trial in the death of his third wife. his fourth wife disappeared in 2007. a not guilty plea is expected from the army psychiatrist charged with opening fire at fort hood in 2009. major nadal hassan faces 13 counts of premeditated murder. he's not allowed to plead not guilty. the the judge has refused to delay the trial which is set to start next week. we just learned that prince phillip is in the hospital. queen elizabeth's husband was admitted as a precautionary measure. no further details has been released. he was hospitalized back in june for a bladder infection. so the jackpot for tonight's powerball has ballooned to $320 million and could climb even higher by the end of today with people out there purchasing tickets. hopefuls are lining up to buy tickets for this national lottery. if a single winner takes the cash option, that person could pocket over $213 million. not a bad day at the office. speaking of big gambles, the romney campaign made a big one five days over. over the last few months we have power ranked the veepstakes with the host of the host of the cycle. they pick their top three choices. only one of them correctly predicted that mitt romney would choose paul ryan. >> no one wants to give me any credit ever. >> i gave you credit on the air, but there's a difference between who did you really think and who did you wish and dream would be picked. >> be honest. did you really think romney was going to pick paul ryan? >> i've been honest. i said i thought he was going to pick portman but paul ryan was the only good pick. >> and steve, thank you for not hijacking me. i didn't even get a chance to introduce the hosts. we ha so i let you guys get keyed up. can we bring out that you said paul ryan was going to be the pick. we came up with this super classy gift. this is your paul ryan gift basket. >> i see a little p90x. you are now going to train all of us in p90x. and this is filled with all things paul ryan. cheese, brats, you guys have to all share this. >> this is wonderful. >> but what do you think? has there been a good response from the party about what paul ryan means and how it solidifies the romney message. >> no one said he was a perfect pick or he wouldn't present some challenges. i think mitt romney knew he was going to have to contend with some things. but on the ground, lots of conservatives think this is a good boost to the tincket. that he's a good addition. on the left, of course, you see the machinations over there. the spin that we're excited about paul ryan. >> we're not spinning. we're completely excited by the pick. >> you can say that all you want. >> what did you say? >> it would have been more than just wanting him. but i understand. >> of course, they want him now because we give gifts. >> if i knew a can of miller lite was at stake. >> a poll said 42% of responders said romney's pick of ryan was poor or fair. you're cool with that? but poor, not so good. >> i actually understand the impulse making this pick for romney. i don't think the impulse was wrong. he looked at the race and said it's the middle of the summer. and i'm losing this race. i'm a few points behind and that gap has been consistent. i need to do something to shake this up a bit. to go with paul ryan, though, as the guy who is going to shake it up, i would question that. there were other options out there. chris christie comes immediately to mind. >> that would have been devastating. >> would that be a different gift basket? >> chris christie does not come with a trail of budget plans that make it devastating going forward. how do you run against the ryan plan? romney is stuck with it now. and he says, that's not exactly my plan. so what is your plan? that is your plan. you own the ryan plan now. chris christie would be a personal problem rather than a political problem. >> you dock as a governor, you have less of a trail of votes that you have to atone for. but who does paul ryan bring that they want to woo in and seduce to this ticket? it's not so much latinos. maybe not so much women. >> he already had you, i think. >> he had you at hello. >> they have isolated women and a lot of minority groups. if they start making the old white people nervous, they are really going to be in trouble. but the paul ryan pick is a sort of underscoring of the idea that this is a base turnout strategy. so conservatives are excited about this pick. they are psyched he's in there. perhaps we were seeing some george will, bill crystals, being a bit more critical of the romney campaign. at least that will quiet and everybody will have sort of oars rowing in the same direction. >> and gop ob ratives saying we're going to lose big. >> and you're going to start to see more and more senate candidates in tougher seats trying to distance themselves from paul ryan and his plan. we're already seeing scott brown in massachusetts doing that. >> what do you think about paul ryan has a gen-xor? >> he may scare the older white folk. >> yes, a younger guy. he loves led zeppelin. we made a big deal about that on monday. he seems somewhat relatable. he's a cheese head. he's a real guy. we can wrap our heads around that. but then he's the super wong. it's not that charismatic that figure that anybody outside can wrap their head around. >> blanket statements all around here. let's be honest. no one mitt romney was going to pick would have had all of you folks saying, this is great. i think this is a really excellent choice. >> this is great. this is an excellent choice. >> haven't some democrats said that? some democrats are excited to see paul ryan on board because he has to own the budget that he wants to put forward. >> absolutely. but if you really believe this budget that does not exist except on paper is going to define the mitt romney campaign for the next two months, i think that's a little nearsighted. >> he'll have to put on his own ideas and distinguish them clearly from paul ryan, which he hasn't been able to do yet. >> or co-op paul ryan. >> if you pick this guy who is known and a relative political figure only because of his budget plans and medicare plans and to say i actually don't subscribe to all this. it raises the questions of why did you pick this guy when there were other options? >> the most interesting to me that he's 6'2" and 163. i'm like 50 pounds heavier than this guy. >> i've seen him up close and personal. he's in shape. >> i can see through the suit that thomas is look iing good t. figure it out for me. >> maybe they should arm wrestle. >> i have now been -- you are going to train all of us. thanks to all of you. >> congratulations. >> he you can catch "the cycle" weekdays at 3:00. congratulations. so the drought is drying up crops across the country losing money for a lot of farmers. some industries, get this, they are cashing in on what mother nature is putting out there. plus another president clinton in the future? chelsea opens up about her future in politics. and what's your thought about a third clinton in office. tweet me. telephone rings ♪ hello... ♪ what the... what the... what the... ♪ are you seein' this? ♪ ♪ uh-huh... uh-huh... uh-huh... ♪ ♪ it kinda makes me miss the days when we ♪ ♪ used to rock the microphone ♪ back when our credit score couldn't get us a micro-loan ♪ ♪ so light it up! ♪ even better than we did before ♪ ♪ yeah prep yourself america we're back for more ♪ ♪ our look is slacker chic and our sound is hardcore ♪ ♪ and we're here to drop a rhyme about free-credit-score ♪ ♪ i'm singing free-credit-score-dot-com ♪ ♪ dot-com narrator: offer applies with enrollment in freecreditscore.com. i've been fortunate to win on golf's biggest stages. but when joint pain and stiffness from psoriatic arthritis hit, even the smallest things became difficult. i finally understood what serious joint pain is like. i talked to my rheumatologist and he prescribed enbrel. enbrel can help relieve pain, stiffness, and stop joint damage. because enbrel, etanercept, suppresses your immune system, it may lower your ability to fight infections. serious, sometimes fatal events including infections, tuberculosis, lymphoma, other cancers, and nervous system and blood disorders have occurred. before starting enbrel, your doctor should test you for tuberculosis and discuss whether you've been to a region where certain fungal infections are common. don't start enbrel if you have an infection like the flu. tell your doctor if you're prone to infections, have cuts or sores, have had hepatitis b, have been treated for heart failure, or if, while on enbrel, you experience persistent fever, bruising, bleeding, or paleness. 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[ male announcer ] for fruits, veggies and natural green tea energy... new v8 v-fusion plus energy. could've had a v8. total knee and hip replacement surgery may increase your risk for heart attack. the results from a new study show that the chances for a heart attack were strongest in the two weeks after surgery with a smaller chance remaining for up to six weeks. the risk is only associated with patients over 80 years old. high, dry and harsh. that's the only way to describe the worst drought we have seen in 50 years. to give you an idea, since july 3rd, the zone has spread from the country's midsection to both coasts with nearly every state affected. signs visible on the campaign trail. clouds of cropland dust swirling around the president's motorcade in iowa where record temperatures have scorched acres. the mighty mississippi hasn't even been spared. supply barges are being cut off from routes killing commerce for those who earn a living off the river. john yang joins us live from mississippi. how low are water levels there where you are and what do the low levels mean for cities where the barges would normally be traveling to? >> reporter: right now in this area, we're about 10 to 12 feet below normal water levels. given the record floods last year, we're already 57 feet below what they were a year ago. that means they have to work hard to keep this river channel at least nine feet deep and 300 feet wide so barges can move through here. we have the army corps of engineers with me. you were say iing that you were working hard moving around from spot to spot to keep this river channel deep enough and wide enough for the barges. you were tell iing me that the real challenge is in the ports. >> correct, john. the corps of engineers takes that debris off the bottom and transports it to keep the channel open. the river is naf gatable. but the real issues are the ports. they are suffering tremendously with some of them even closing. >> reporter: closing because the water is so shallow. >> it's so shallow they can't get the barges and vessels in and out. we're using other vessels to dredge those. it's very difficult and shallow. >> reporter: and talk about the traffic on the river are there areas where the barges have to have less of a load so the draft, where they sit higher in the water? >> correct. if they have a full load, they are going to sit lower in the water, take on more water and be deeper. what they are doing is lightening their loads and pushing less barges on the river to help navigate this river without any trouble. >> reporter: that means higher shipping costs and higher costs for the consumer. thank you very much. thomas, to give you an idea how much this dredge can do, give this dredge 24 hours and it will cover a football field in 15 feet of sand. thomas? >> john yang reporting for us today, thank you so much. as we look at the other side of the coin here, while the drought is battering crops, the dry spell is a benefit to some. that's good news for kpoen companys bringing relief on the farm front. ja jackie deangelis joins us from kentucky. american water is one of the companies whose business is up because of what mother nature has put out. tell us about how and some of the others benefitting because of the dry spell. >> reporter: well, that's exactly right. american water is benefitting as a result of increase in demand right now. we saw in their last quarter, water-related issues added 6 to 9 cents to their bottom line. as a matter of fact, they raised their guidance as well. by 22 cents for l whole year saying 70% of that was as a result of the increase that they were seeing for water. if you're looking in the space for other names as well, aqua america is also one to watch when looking for similar trends. now another segment that could benefit is the irrigation segment. one analyst told me that a corn farm that had irrigation systems in place this year had approximately 100 more bushels yield than a neighboring farm. so if some farmers look ahead to next year saying it's time to put in irrigation systems, we could see companies like lindsey manufacturing and val mount industries benefit as well. >> jackie deangelis, thank you so much. is the drought drying up the economy? coming up next hour, alex wagner will talk to jeffrey saks, so stay tuned for that. the least productive and most productive, we're talking about in the clinton family and chelsea's name comes up first. it's not completely out of the question. the former first daughter tells "vogue" magazine she just might decide to run for office one of these days. the hopeful says before my mom's campaign i would have said no, and now i don't know. president obama seems to be working his way through iowa one beer at a time preferably. bud lite, and honey ail are brewed at the white house. the campaign has gone to the dogs. the president made a joke about mitt romney's infamous story about his dog riding on the roof of his >> you can't drive a car with a windmill on it. that's what he said about wind power. you can't drive a car with a windmill on it. now, i don't know if he's actually tried that. i know he's had other things on his car. >> so there's been a lot of talk recently about the training program, p-90x. >> you know, i have never tried that. i might have him show me how to do it some day. i get on the elliptical or the treadmill or stationary bike about 40 minutes and that's about it for me but that workout of his, he's in pretty darned good shape. mine hurt more! mine stopped hurting faster... [ female announcer ] neosporin® plus pain relief starts relieving pain faster and kills more types of infectious bacteria. neosporin® plus pain relief. for a two dollar coupon, visit neosporin.com. neosporin® plus pain relief. it's time to live wider awake. only the beautyrest recharge sleep system combines the comfort of aircool memory foam layered on top of beautyrest pocketed coils to promote proper sleeping posture all night long. the revolutionary recharge sleep system... from beautyrest. it's you, fully charged. juicy brats grilled up on a thursday. the perfect use of the 7th inning stretch. get that great taste anytime with kingsford match light charcoal. so as we've been telling you, 83, just 83 days to go before the country's main event, the presidential election. a new poll shows one demographic stands between president obama and the landslide of a victory. they're called stay-at-home americans. there are 90 million of them and they're unlikely to vote. according to stats from "usa today" /suffolk university polling, they back president obama's re-election over mitt romney by more than two to one. two-thirds of them are registered to vote. now, eight in ten say the government plays a vital role in their lives. for more, let's talk to nbc news senior political editor, mark murray. so mark, what's keeping those folks at home? there's 90 million of them, but they're not feeling the urge to get off their couch or out of their houses to go vote. >> it's a historical disadvantage that democrats typically have at this time of an election season. the people who are more likely to vote tend to be a wider, older, little bit more republican. those who aren't as likely tend to actually be more democratic voters. it's one of the big challenges president obama has is getting key segments of his base talking about young voters and latino voters, to the polls in november. >> mark, when we talk about getting people encouraged, the current conversation that's going on for those that are just now tuning in and paying attention since mitt romney has announced paul ryan as his veep pick, will people get turned off by the conversation? >> it's very possible they might get turned off, thomas. but one thing to keep in mind, this is the middle of august. a lot of people, particularly those folks in that poll, aren't the people who are paying the day-to-day attention that you and i are to this race. let's look to where the race is right after the conventions. that's when people really start tuning in. >> all right. mark murray, nbc news senior political editor, good to see you. thank you. that's going to wrap things up for me today. see you back here tomorrow at 11:00 a.m. eastern time. don't go anywhere. "now" with alex wagner is coming up next. what you got? >> lots of stuff, including a real talk. lost in all the heated rhetoric and campaign finger pointing are critical questions about the romney/ryan alliance. they may be on the same ticket but are they on the same page? plus, know when to hold them and when to walk away. we ask congressman elijah cummings about darrell issa's civil suit against attorney general eric holder. and earth science and economics guru dr. jeffrey sachs talk about the consequences of the drought un-gulfing the u.s. this man is about to be the millionth customer. would you mind if i go ahead of you? instead we had someone go ahead of him and win fifty thousand dollars. congratulations you are our one millionth customer. people don't like to miss out on money that should have been theirs. that's why at ally we have the raise your rate 2-year cd. you can get a one-time rate increase if our two-year rate goes up. if your bank makes you miss out, you need an ally. ally bank. no nonsense. just people sense. drse ce d w to there are projects. drse ce and there are game-changers. those ideas that start with us rolling up our sleeves... ...and end with a new favorite room in the house. and when we can save even more on those kinds of projects... ...with advice to make them even better... ...that's a game-changer in itself. more saving. more doing. that's the power of the home depot. get this exclusive vanity with porcelain top for the new low price of just $99. jeff rejeff on day five as mitt romney's running mate paul ryan is in the process of changing out of his policy suit and putting on his campaign hat. problem is, it doesn't fit so good. it's wednesday, august 15th and this is "now."