Transcripts For MSNBCW NOW With Alex Wagner 20141105

Accident have a job and wants one. Im not going to be satisfied as long as theres a kid who writes me a letter who says ive got 60,000 worth of debt and i dont know how to pay it back. And the American People arent satisfied. I want to do everything i can to deliver for them. How about democrats . Listen. As i think some of you saw when i was out on the campaign trail, i love campaigning. I love talking to ordinary people. I love listening to their stories. I love shaking hands and getting hugs and just seeing the process of democracy and citizenship manifest itself during an election. But im also a practical guy, and ultimately every candidate out there had to make their own decisions about what they thought would be most helpful for them, and, you know, i wanted to make sure that im respectful of their particular region, their particular state or congressional district, and if it was more helpful for them to be behind the scenes, im happy to do it. I dont have ill let other people analyze that. But what i will emphasize is that one of the nice things about being in the sixth year of your presidency is youve seen a lot of ups and downs, and youve gotten more than your fair share of attention. You know, ive had the limelight and there have been times where the request for my appearances were endless. There have been times where politically we were down. And it all kind of evens out, which is why whats most important, i think, is keeping your eye on the ball, and that is actually getting something done. Scott horsily, last question. Thank you, mr. President. You mentioned that where your policies actually were on the ballot they often did better than members of your party . Yeah. Does that signal some shortcoming on your part or on the partys part in framing this election and communicating to the American People what it is that democrats stand for . You know, i do think that, you know, one area where i know were constantly experimenting and trying to do better is just making sure the people know exactly what it is were trying to accomplish and what we have accomplished in clear ways that people can that understand how it affects them. You know, i think the minimum wage, i talked a lot about it on the campaign trail, but, you know, im not sure it penetrated well enough to make a difference. Part of what i also think weve got to look at is that twothirds of people who are eligible to vote and just didnt vote. You know, one of the things that im very proud of in 2008 and 2012 when i ran for office was we got people involved who hadnt been involved before. We got folks to vote who hadnt voted for, particularly young people. And that was part of the promise and the excitement was if you get involved, if you participate, if you embrace that sense of citizenship, then things change, and not just in abstract ways. They change in concrete ways. Somebody gets a job who didnt have it before. Somebody gets health care who didnt have it before or a student is able to go to college who couldnt afford it before. And sustaining that, especially in midterm elections is proving difficult. Sustaining that sense of if you get involved, you know, then and if you vote, then theres going to be big change out there. And partly, i think, when they look to washington and they say nothings working and its not making a difference and theres just a constant slew of bad news coming over the tv screen, then you can understand how folks would get discouraged. But its my job to figure this out as best i can, and if the way we are talking about issues isnt working, then im going to try some different things. If the ways that were approaching the republicans in congress isnt working, you know, im going to try different things, whether its having to drink with Mitch Mcconnell or letting john boehner beat me again at golf, you nknow, or weekly press conferences, i dont know if that would be effective. But, you know, whatever i think might make a difference in this, im going to be trying out up until my last day in office. But ill close with what i said in my opening statement. I am really optimistic about america. I know that runs counter to the current mood, but when you look at the facts, our economy is stronger than just about anybodys, our Energy Production is better than just about anybodys, weve slashed our deficit by more than half, more people have health insurance, businesses have the strongest Balance Sheets that theyve had in decades, our young people are just incredibly talented and gifted, and more of them are graduating from high school and more of them are going on to college, and more women are getting degrees and entering into the work force. Part of the reason i love campaigning is you travel around the country. Folks are just good. Theyre smart and theyre hardworking, and theyre not always paying a lot of attention to washington. And in some cases theyve given up on washington. But their impulses are not sharply partisan and their impulses are not ideological. Theyre really practical, good, generous people. So can we continue to be the magnet for the brightest and be best around the world . We have the best. Our armed forces, i had a chance to call some of them. Our Health Service that is operating in liberia, and the amount of hope and professionalism that theyve brought has galvanized the entire country and theyve built a platform effectively for other countries to start coming in, and were seeing Real Progress in fighting a disease in a country that just a month or a month and a half ago was desperate and had no hope. So all that makes me optimistic. And my job over the next couple of years is to do some practical concrete things as much as possible with congress. Its not possible without congress on my own. To show people why were confident and to give people a sense of progress and a sense of hope. That doesnt mean there arent going to be ongoing neighing problems that are stubborn and cant be solved overnight and probably the biggest one is despite economic growth, wages and income still have not gone up, and thats a longterm trend weve seen for ten, 20rks 30 years and it makes people worry about not just their own situation but whether their kids are going to be doing better than they did, which is the essence of the american dream. Tlirng are some concrete things we can do to make sure that wages and incomes do go up. Minimum wage in those five states was a good start. But i think, you know, more than anything, what i want to communicate over these next two years is the promise and possibility of america. This is just an extraordinary country, and our democracy is messy and were diverse and were big and there are times where youre a politician and youre disappointed with election results. But maybe im just getting older. I dont know. It doesnt make me mopey. It energizes me because it means that this democracy is working and people in america were restless and impatient and we want to get things done and even when things are going good, we want to do better, and thats why this is the greatest country on earth. Thats why im so privileged to have the chance to be president for the next couple of years. All right . Thank you, everybody. That was president obama making his first public remarks since republicans seized full control of the u. S. Congress. His remarks come just hours after soontobe presumed Senate Majority winner Mitch Mcconnell said he would try to work with the president on trade agreements. Joining me now is the host of msnbcs hard bawl yts Patricia Murphy and former Deputy White House press secretary bill burton and former rnc chair Michael Steele. Chris, if you wanted contrition this afternoon from the president , you certainly did not get it in that press conference. No. We have to go three everything. He talked about everything that has to get done, ebola, the isis and the budget and everything with regard to tax reform and infrastructure and minimum wage. But then there were the ships passing in the night. I tell you, the president either didnt like what the results of the Campaign Last night were, the election, he didnt think that was a true american constituency. He kept saying the twothirds that didnt vote. He didnt agree with the people who voted last night. Heres where theres going to be a problem. Hes set the end of the year as the deadline before he deals with his version of the polling. We had a law back in the 80s that was never enforced. People come into the country illegally and say make me legal. Theres rightis to immigrants. Heres what he says. He says, im going to fix the problem. Hes not going to do anything to stop immigration or hiring of illegal immigrants. Hes going to deal with it by saying im going to give them green cards. Hes not going to solve the problem. Hes contributing to the problem. There are the his spannic people and their leaders who say our problem is not illegal immigration. Our problem is the people who came here illegally are not being treated right and we want them getting a path to citizenship. We have two ships passing in the night. Hes not going to recognize what happened last night. So we have a real struggle coming here, a collision coming. Mitch mcconnell speaking for those who dont like illegal immigration. So does boehner. The president speaks with passion for those who come here illegally and feel like americans and want to be recognized. What bothered me about him tonight. He talked about Common Ground. Damnit theres little on Common Ground. You give me something with Corporate Tax reform and ill get rid of some of the loopholes. He never mentioned trading and compromi compromising. He always talks about Common Ground. Damnit, theres no Common Ground. You want to take care of people who have been here illegally for 20, 30 years. Heres what i want. No more illegal hiring. He doesnt want that. Hes acting like theres no other world out there and thats going to be a collision at the toechbld year like youve never seen. I do believe it will be waving a red flag in front of the bull. Clearly compromise is the story. He doesnt say compromise. He says Common Ground. From the republican side there was clearly a memo that went out with the exception of reince priebus, were not going to bask in this and rub mud in the democrats faces. I wonder from chriss point. The president sounds like hes ready to make an executive action on Immigration Reform. In what way does that scuttle any cooperation . It kills it. It kills it. The fact that hes mentioning it today in the press conference i guess its his warning shots to the republicans. After last night with advi, as it, its probably the best weve heard on this subject of immigration which actively reflects how hes handled a number of other things. If that is his first move, it will absolutely poison any conversation he will have with the republicans. Republicans recognize they geesht to find a sweet spot on immigration because theyre going into a 2016 campaign. Theyre starting to hear rumblings and pressures from those who want to be the nominee. You all got to clean this up. Okay. You all got to clean this up. Is that what they say . Its more like, gentlemen, i think we need to do something about this. Youve got a bill with 12 republicans. Thats the president s starting spot and thats what he should have led with in this conversation. Mr. Boehner, mr. Mcconnell, we have something on the table. Lets start with this. He did, in his defense, repeatedly say, just pass that bill and i no. He wont admit to two items in the bill. He never mentions the teeth in the bill which the republicans need to take home to the people. Theyve got to go home and say were really going to stop give them something. Give them something. In part if hes not talking about it, he has some ground to make up with hispanics in the country. There were, as they see it, promises broken. This administration has led in terms of level historic deportation. How does he pass that deal . Im saying at this particular time when theres a real question about it over the bass for the president to come out and highlight all we need is more politics. Thats what this is. It is politics. And, chris, i feel like im living in a different world than the one that youre living in. Because to listen to you talk about this bill and the president s not selling it and blah, blah, blah, the problem is the bill has been passed by the United States senate and they will not move on it in the house, period. Thats it. Thats why. Whats the answer . The answer is the tea party is holding the house hostage. Whats the claim of the 30 or 40 members of the tea party in congress . First of all, theres more like 100 in the United States congress. And second what theyve tried to do is stop the president from having any major accomplishment. This is not about the policy. Its about the politics. The reason they dont move forward is not because of passion or teeth, they dont want president obama to get a major accomplishment. Let me politics is new in this country. I just had to make the point. Thats right. It is different. When the president talks about what the American People want, the American People do want Immigration Reform. What do you mean by Immigration Reform . What do you mean by it . I mean a path to citizenship . A path to citizenship. What dont they like about it now . Whats bothering them about it . I know what youre trying to draw out of me in the conversation . The truth . The americans want a path to citizenship. Check the polling. The public doesnt like illegal immigration. Chris, let me interrupt you for a second. Patricia, in terms of the house which has been sitting on the senate bill, theres been a lot of talk about whether the fact that john boehner now has more soldiers on the field in the house, well do anything, give him more running room to make compromise. It sounds like the new population of the house, more republicans are going to be more conservative than the older population what is your assessment . Hell have a more conservative caucus. Mitch mcconnell will have am more conservative caucus. I want to go back to something chris said. The problem with the way the president is handling this and the way hes approached republicans and always has, theres a difference between what theyre there for and how theyre agreeing. Thats his form of negotiation. Instead of doing something you dont want to do in order to get somebody else to do something they dont want to do but to come to some sort some of a compromise. Mitch mcconnell is actually a deal maker and john boehner is actually a deal maker. Theyre two men who are old school washington. They want to leave the table with something in hand. I think boehner has been strengthened in the last couple of years. Hes been able to turn to the outside groups and says, you know what . I dont care what you think anymore. I think he has a stronger negotiation. The ball is in the president s court. If this is the salvo and here it is, where do grow from there . Its hard to imagine. By the way, the republicans want this off their back. They dont want this thing in 2016. Theyre losing the battle. Its like the old deal between tip and reagan on social security. The democrats wanted to get more benefits, they wanted more taxes. They want the whole deal. Reagan wanted the monkey off their back. This Common Ground is stupid talk. The fact that hes getting advice from American People who are saying hes already right is the problem. Hes got too many fans around him saying all you need to do is keep doing what youre doing. What i need to hear is, youre right. I was wrong last night. Thats an important piece of what happened. They didnt show up. The president definitely reiterated several times in the press conference twothirds of the country did not vote. Which is saying that wasnt my america who didnt vote. Well unpack that. Why dont we elect the voters and have them pick for us. That would be a great system. Stay with me. The host of hardball the hardest working man in political coverage, always an honor. You can catch hardball right here on msnbc. After the break, can anybody put ted cruz in the corner . One believes he can. This bodes well for something actually getting done. Ill tell you what that thing was coming up ahead on now. Wethey were a littlehorizons to mbit skeptical. Ss, what they do actually is rocket science. But at ge capital we also bring expertise from across ge, like lean process engineers we asked who does what, when, where, and why that step first . Ideas for improvement started pouring out. With a little help from us, they actually doubled their output speed. If you just need a loan, just call a bank. At ge capital, were builders. And what we know. Can help you grow. For over 19 million people. [ mom ] with life insurance, were not just insuring our lives. Were helping protect his. [ female announcer ] everyone has a moment when tomorrow becomes real. Transamerica. Transform tomorrow. Transamerica. Hark how the bells, sweet silver bells, all seem to say, throw care away. From everywhere, filling the air chex party mix. Easy fifteenminute homemade recipes you just pop in a microwave. Like chocolate caramel drizzles. Happier holidays. Chex party mix. I am the guy whos elected by everybody. Moments ago president obama got into exactly what went on last night. The American People overwhelmingly believe that this town doesnt work well and that it is not attentive to their needs, and as president they rightly hold me accountable to do more to make it work properly. Im the guy whos elected by everybody. Indeed the throw your hands up postmortem is a time honored president ial tradition. Im not recommending for every future president that they take a shellacking like i did last night. If you look at it race by race, it was close. The cumulative effect, however, was not too close. It was a thumping. I think they still just dont like it when they watch what we do up here. However, however, however its been phrased, election day 2014 was a route. Republicans won nearly every contested seat in the u. S. Senate picking up arkansas, colorado, iowa, montana, kansas, and north carolina. In the house they gain 14d seats. Even more shocking the governors races. They held on in florida and maine and won in deep blue massachusetts and illinois and maichblt the chief officer also offered up what the next two years might look like. I have confidence that if we continue to focus on the American People and not on, you know, our own ambitions or image or, you know, various concerns like that, that, you know, at the end of the day when i look back, im going to be able to look back and say the American People are better off than before i was president. So will the new party in pow graesh the president s outstretched hand . Maybe. Mitch mcconnell offered his own olive branch of at least what appeared to be an olive branch. When the American People choose the government, i dont think it means they dont want us to do anything. I think it means they want us to look for areas of agreement. I think we have an obligation to change the behavior of the senate and to begin to function again. That doesnt guarantee that the president s going to agree with everything we do. Perhaps there is one thing on which the pair can agree. You know, actually i would enjoy having some kentucky bourbon with Mitch Mcconnell. But would Mitch Mcconnell enjoy drinking kentucky bourbon with you. Joining us now is howard fineman. Howard, let me start first with theres many dimensions to what happened last night. Many, many. One of the things we were discussing just contentiously a moment ago is the president s lack of contrition here. The notion of saying i was the guy elected by everyone. Twothirds of the country didnt show up to vote. Senate democrats seem to have a different assessment of that. Theyre angry. Harry reids staff is quoted in the Washington Post saying we were never going to get on the same page at the white house, we were beating our heads against the wall. I dont think the political white house was truly up to speed and up to par to truly get done what was needed to get done rchl you surprised by that . No, im not surprised in the least. The party that gets shellacked starts pointing fingers at people within their own ranks and thats exactly whats happening. Its also true that the president s team and harry reids team have rarely ever been on the same page from the beginning and that adds dimension in itself. There was a time when harry reid thought the president wasnt negotiating hard enough, wasnt carrying the ball strong enough, wasnt staking out positions that would help the people in the senate. And flip side in the election harry reid basically ran a campaign designed to make the president irrelevant that really didnt do enough to focus on what the Democratic Partys achievements were. Instead he kind of went into a boxers crouch and stayed there the entire time, which infuriated the white house. And theyre at each others throats and thats not surprising and theyre going to continue. The other thing the president talked about is how much he loved the American People and how great he thought they were. Its very clear that its stated the reaction of the voters themselves, not the congress or the political chattering glass. I guess i wonder in terms of 2016, theres a lot that will be expected of the leader of the Democratic Party who sits in 1600 pennsylvania avenue in terms of setting the table for the Democratic Party. How much of a priority do you think that is for this president in particular . I think the president understands that a lot of his legacy will lean on the fact that if theres a democrat who comes after him, a lot of it will be protected. If theres a republican, a lot will be dismantled. I think about the power plant rules which the president would try to take apart. But i dont think the president is focused who the next president is going to be. Like he said, hes still got 25 left. Shouldnt he be based on what you said, shouldnt he be more focused on who the 2016 nominee should be if that person stands the chance of unwinding everything hes done as president . I think thats part of it but i think the ultimate thrust of what hes up to is going to be doing his job, making sure were attending to the ebola crisis, taking care of our National Security threats abroad. Thats going to be what hes focused on. When you listen to him today, i know people felt like he wasnt contrite or whatever. What he was was very focused on the issues at hand and making sure that people do a little better, be it on education, health care, any of those things. Thats what hes focused on. What did you think, Michael Steele, on the general posture of the press conference . He wanted to be anyplace else. He did not want to do the press conference at all. You could see it at certain times. One of my favorite moments was when he was asked about not having met with Mitch Mcconnell but twice over six years. Before he gave the answer, you heard the sigh that sort of summed up the campaign and his not wanting to be there. Thats the problem. I appreciate what bill just said about all the president focused on and concentrated on but it landed on ho how hes talking. The relationship between the president and the democratic leadership, the president and his opposition. He has none. And last night was the culmination of six years of not having that relationship snooki just let me ask patricia. From the view of congress, there have been some unsparing editorials and is says and analyses about the president. This one, president may end his term of office as the most isolated president since richard nixon. That seems a little harsh, patricia. I wonder what you think or a lot harsh. I wonder what you think is the relationship between him and democratic my north leadership on capitol hill at this point. There is not one. There is not a relationship. Thats why you have these problems. I cannot overstate the irony that all of these democrats have lost their jobs for the policy of a president who never even talks to him very much. Some of them have never spoken to the president. You heard complaints large and small. I wanted to go to the white house picnic and didnt get invited. I wanted to bring ply daughter. The white house said no. And the large bill, they knew it was going to be toxic and they rammed it through anyway. They wanted to get their win. They believed in it, thats fine, but they didnt Pay Attention the politics of it. 30 who voted are gone now. Thing about that. Its not because they wanted to leave. Howard, for the first time i can remember, the president acknowledged how contentious it was to pass the Affordable Care act in that press conference and sort of spoke to the issue that it was done in way that would have stoked tensions and, you know, created, i think frustration on both sides of the aisle. Look. As somebody who loved politics, the interplay of politics, the game of politics, the tors straighting of politics would in a way be rubbing their hands at this point. They would be saying lets see what mitch anded ei can do here absolutely. Instead he said im go doing go over here and work on these things. He said im not mopey. Its no different than saying im not a crook. Is it really fair . I dont think of him as particularly mopey person but that line for sure is going to live on as one of the its not the thumping or the shellacking. That is his version. Im not mopey. It was 30 minutes of pure mope. As bill can tell you as a spin guy, you never apologize for something you havent been accused of. That is true, although we have to take a break. Theres obviously much more to unpack. Coming up whether youre a democrat or republican, laust night was a good night for women. Ill tell you why. Coming up next. Dad,thank you mom for said this oftprotecting my future. You. Thank you for being my hero and my dad. Military families are uniquely thankful for many things, the legacy of usaa Auto Insurance could be one of them. If youre a current or former military member or their family, get an Auto Insurance quote and see why 92 of our members plan to stay for life. Into one youll never forget. Earn triple points when you book with the expedia app. Expedia plus rewards. Ay. Sometimes too close, which means were always getting into each others hair. Thats why we use head shoulders. Keeps us 100 flake free, and smells gorgeous. I use it. My whole world uses it. Head shoulders. Now smells better than ever. But when we start worrying about tomorrow, we miss out on what matters today. At axa, we offer advice and help you break down your retirement goals into small, manageable steps. Because when you plan for tomorrow, it helps you live for today. Can we help you take a small step . For advice, retirement, and life insurance, connect with axa. Last night may have been a terrible night for democrats and the white house but it was a good night for the other half that cares about legal representation because there are now a total of 100 women in congress marking the first time the number of women on capitol hill has been in the triple digits, and for a country that ranks among the worst in the developed world, thats a wonderful thing. Utah electi elected the first b female. Iowa and scott brown gained the dubious distinction of becoming the first man in u. S. History to loose two senate races to women. Youre welcome, scott. Granted there is still much progress to be made and candidates who ran big on reproductive rights including wendy davis and mark udall in colorado, they faced major defeats last night. But there is reason for optimism and perhaps just maybe a new coalition for space. Coming up, mitch money connells bold prediction and why ted cruz may be voting against it. But first Mary Thompson has the cnbc market wrap. The dow fished at all time points, the dow up over 100 point, the s p 500 up over 11. The nasdaq down. Thats it in cnbc, first in business worldwide. Sheila you see this ball control . You see this right . Its 80 confidence and 64 knee brace. Thats more. Shh. I know thats more than 100 . But thats what winners give. Now bicycle kick your old 401 k into an ira. I know, i know. Listen, just get td ameritrades rollover consultants on the horn. Theyll guide you through the whole process. Its simple. Even she could do it. Whatever, janet. For all the confidence you need. Td ameritrade. You got this. I have a cold with terrible chest congestion. Better take something. Theraflu severe cold doesnt treat chest congestion. Really . New alkaseltzer plus day powder rushes relief to your worst cold symptoms plus chest congestion. Oh, what a relief it is. Here we go fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance. Everybody knows that. Well, did you know genies can be really literal . No. What is your wish . No. Ok. A million bucks oh no. Geico. Fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance. For new nestle© toll houser delightfulls morsels, the chocolate you know and love now filled with caramel, Peanut Butter, cherry, and mint. So Peanut Butter up some brownies. And caramelify those chocolate chip cookies with new nestle© toll house delightfulls. Now that he has won the majority, some Big Questions loom for Mitch Mcconnell. What might be his approach to governing in the last two years and how much might that approach be foiled by members of his own party who preferred a crash and burn. Last night ted cruz would not admit to Mitch Mcconnell being the majority winner and he also had an idea how the gop should spend the next two years. Now is the time to go after and do everything humanly pos to repeal obamacare. Now is the time to stand up to the president and say no more amnesty. The era of obama lawlessness is over. On both of those fronts, mcconnell had some news for cruz. Clearly there will be no government shutdowns and national debt. Ill make a prediction for you. Ill be the majority leader. Boom, drop the mike. That was just what of ted cruz, Michael Steele . I mean we all he makes everybodys life miserable but he seems particularly intent on making Mitch Mcconnell and the resur subsequent establishment moderate wing of the gops life miserable. I dont know if its making it miserable. I think he wants to pull them into his way of governing. Which is what . Does he have a style of govern answ ance . As weve seen over the last year, he has a lot of relationship with the house members and has considerable influence over those house members as well. Boehner before he has a vote needs to check to make sure there hasnt been a separate meeting by some members of the caucus with cruz. Thats kind of the old reality. The question that needs to be answered by boehner and mcconnell together is that going to be part of the new reality. Do they appropriately put ted cruz in check . Hes a u. S. Senator, so hes one of 100. Hes got free range, but as you heard from mcconnell this afternoon, you know, a week from today, im going to be the majority leader, and hes old school and hes going to bring some old school approaches to dealing with the likes of cruz. Bill, you know in the world of outside Campaign Finance and spending groups, the republicans were really active in making sure the candidates that ran this cycle, the way that they spoke about the issues, i mean the establishment was asserting control in way that they have not in previous election cycles and i think to put it, you know, coloek weeially, feeling themselves now. I think to put it in two ways, i think in picking the candidates that they got in each one of these states. For example in north carolina, democrats dmoidet want to run against thom tillis. Or chris mcdaniel, thad cochran. He was put in place by them. Secondly, ted cruz is barely going to Pay Attention to whats happening in the senate, but to attack it, in 2016, running against anybody in washington is a good political strategy. Knowing mcconnell, having covered him back in louisville when i was a reporter there, and watching him operate, what hes going to do, i think, is hes going to have a meeting with ted cruz. I dont know if theyll be drinkingky bdrink ing kentucky bourbon at that one or not. Hell say im going to give you something to chew on, ted. If you want to investigate everything, do a bunch of investigations, give me an area and some lanes youll stay in and ill let you go do your thing, but if you try to mess up Everything Else that i want to do to make history, because thats what mcconnells thinking now and get a republican in the white house, then im going to dedicate my time as the majority leader in screwing you over. And dont forget, there are other people running for senate, key among them rand paul, with who mcconnell has sort of an operating agreement. Theyre not buddies either but he can use rand paul against ted cruz if he chooses to do so. But think about how dangerous ted cruz is really to the entire republican brand. If you listen to just the tone of that sound bite that we just heard, theres no compromise, theres no discussion of conciliation that. Is just angry red meat hard core i think there were actually lightning bolts that shot out of his eyes at the end. Exactly. Thats one piece of the play. The other piece is during the general election, he was the largest donor, gave 250,000 to all of his colleagues who he has been offending for so long. Now hes giving them money. He went campaigning for patrick roberts. The irony is mcconnell spent all these decades slowly like the turtdle slowly getting to run the institution of the senate, but the institution of the senate has now changed. Its run from the outside as much as the inside, which is the point youre making. Outside spending and freelancers like ted cruz. That is the huge question. With were talking about this during the break. One of the most despicable pieces from the National Review today, Michael Steele, written by the editors of the National Review, quote, the governing trap is the name of it. Its up to the republicans to prove they can governor. This makes no sense as a political strategy. Its stunning to me that the governing trap which is also known as governing is seen as a losing political strategy. Mine are these people not elected but to govern . Thats exactly what theyre elected for and im surprised they would take that approach because, in fact, that s what this election was about. You saw in the exit poll from the voters that they were looking for our leaders, and i assume that included the Republican Leadership in the house and the senate to govern. And now that theyve ginch the congress to both the republicans and senate in the house, the expectation is youre going to do that. If in the next two years are sitting back is just sitting back and throwing bombs and acting like you smell better than everybody else in the room, theyre going to have a real problem. And you fwhoes going to put a stop to it . Those individuals who are going to be running for president because at the end of the day thats why Mitch Mcconnell at the point of his maximum initial authority here said no government shutdown, no debt ceiling crap and that was aimed specifically at ted cruz. To your point, howard, he always said, oh, you can bet on an irs hearing. Here ted cruz is a small lukewarm baby pool who will let you flap around as long as you dont pee in it. The benghazi stuff is for the reason that Hillary Clinton is there. Mitch mcconnell became the majority leader because of this exact thing, governance. Now hes got to actually do it. Right. Let me just say in closing Rush Limbaugh agrees with the National Review and said republicans were not elected to govern. The Republican Party was e lectd to stop us before we go over the cliff. Chool. My familys all military. You dont know what to expect. Then suddenly youre there. In another world. I did my job. You do your best. I remember the faces. How everything mattered. So much more. My buddies. My country. Everything. And everyone i loved. Back home. [ male announcer ] for all whove served and all who serve, we can never thank them enough. For medicare. The annual Enrollment Period is now open. Now is the time to find the coverage thats right for you. At the right price. The way to do that is to explore your options. You can spend hours doing that yourself. Or you can call healthmarkets. And let us do the legwork for you with no cost or obligation. Well search a variety of plans from nationally recognized companies to find the coverage thats the best fit for you. At a price that fits your budget. And well do it at no charge to you. You can talk to us over the phone. Or meet with a local licensed representative in person. Why pay a penny more than you have to for insurance policy. In the past 3 years, Healthmarkets Insurance Agency has enrolled americans in more than 1. 1 million insurance polices. Put our free service to work for you at no charge. Call now and let healthmarkets find the right medicare plan for you without cost or obligation. Call this number. Call now. So i can reach ally bank 24 7, but there are24 7branches . Its just im a little reluctant to try new things. Whats wrong with trying new things . Feel that in your muscles . Yeah. I do. Try a new way to bank, where no branches equals great rates. [mony mony by billy idole she cokicks in on car stereo]y. Dont stop now come on mony come on yeah i say yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah cause you make me feel like a pony so good like your pony so good ride the pony the sentra, with bose audio and nissanconnect technology. Spread your joy. Nissan. Innovation that excites. [singing] mony mony while a republican takeover was widely expected last night, it also brought democrats surprising defeat in the state houses. Charlie crist was left to cool his fans with his famous electric fan but one of the biggest shockers was in kansas where sam brournbecks experiment left eager republicans bitter. Im not reading this prompter correctly, was i . Sam brownback was able to hold his seat against senator davis and it extended to blue states with republicans declaring victory in maryland and in the liberal bastion of massachusetts and in the president s home state of illinois. Thats what happens when you edit a teleprompter on the fly which is something i shouldnt do with very little sleep under my belt. If theres action happening in america, its happening at the state level and there was a sense of confidence shared by some progressives like, okay, its going to be real bad across washington but across the states maybe it wont be so bad but it turns out it was even worse. In term os testify governance races heading into 2016 is the republicans picking up seats in states that are either tossup states or are hardlined democratic states, illinois being an example, massachusetts being another, although massachusetts has the habit of electing republican governors periodically. And maryland, which is close to where i live, people thought it was going to be close state. Maybe michael didnt. Thats his home state. Former lieutenant governor. That he would lose by over 100,000 votes. He didnt just lose. He got whacked. In president ial elections as bill well knows, if you have a democratic governor in place when youre running in a general election, that can be very helpful to you as a candidate and democrats have to worry about it. Hillarys home state in a way, illinois, is now in republican hands. Florida 2,0000, thats goingo matter. Go ahead. Maryland was a good example of what the election was about except for maybe a lot of us sitting here talking. It was the kitchen table, econom economics. In m. It was the growing tax increases in the last six, seven years. It was about the loss of jobs, loss of businesses. It was an economic argument. Larry hogan made the argument concisely. Did not get sidetracked by the gun argument from brown or the war on women argument by brown. Thats what he concentrated on. They never told him why he should be governor after eight years and all of that and that is the difference. What is endlessly frustrated, i think, you look at some of these states, red states in particular, bill, its been expand and now tens of thousands have access to basic health care they never would have and they remain strongly opposed to the Democratic Party despite the fact that the Democratic Party has given them a very important service. Thats the real policy implication of this election. Youre right. I do thing this came down to policies and democrats inability to really articulate a vision that was appealing to this electorate. But when you look at this state like florida, the fact that they kept rick scott as opposed to Charlie Crist means not that medicate is going to be expanded there. Its for the 1. 3 million living in florida. Huge, huge, huge. The other thing were seeing, patricia, is the consolidation of oneparty power. Again, it seems to be an issue, right . The gop now holds total control, which means they have the governorship and a majority in the state legislature in 24 states. The democrats are likely to hold total control in only six states. That again has profound implications for National Policy as it is executed at the state level and for state initiatives. It does and it also has profound implications for the nature of these states going into 2020 the next time that they redraw those lines. Were talking about states that the pendulum has swung and when you can draw your own lines, you keep the pendulum over on your side for as long as you possibly want it. Theyre going to be able to hole onto control of those states really for as long as you want it and you have to think, well, if a state overreaches and the party overreaches, theyll be turned out by the people voting. Then you look to kansas. I talked to republicans who were just disgusted with sam brown beck. Theres no explanation for his victory except the democratic brand has gotten so destroyed that anybody who is a democrat is having a really hard time getting elected. But still, i mean, Michael Steele, there was a 20 the kansas revenue drt reports in the month of october, which just ended, revenue in the state of kansas had fallen 23 million below estimates. Thats just in the month of october. Moodys, Standard Poors has downgraded it. The conservative experiment has failed spectacularly, and yet he got reelected. Sam brownback is reelected. I think its boiled down to what they just said, who they like. And right now, those democrats are the symbol of obama. They dont like the president. Tlefr, i dont like this candidate who represents the president , case over. Or i like the candidate but i cant assistant the party. Thats the issue for democrats, the platform ma thanks people understand and believe in notion that the government can actually help them. With the president being so unpop larks in the state senate race, his popularity was 35 . They needed to find a way to say yes but heres some good things that happened in the last few years and heres our vision and they didnt do it. As a result, billion, nearly billions of dollars in negative advertising was launched against the president and you do see the results. We do see the results. A brutal postmortem this afternoon. But good autopsy managers. Thank you to bill burton, Michael Steele, and Patricia Murphy, and, of course, howard fineman. Thats all for now. Ill see you back here tomorrow at 4 00 p. M. Eastern. The ed show is coming up next. Good evening, americans. Welcome to the ed show like from detroit lakes, minnesota. Weve got to a lot do. Lets get to work. The republicans had a good night. Here comes america. This was a great day for the country. But back to the future senator mcconnell decided to have his press conference before president obamas. The president s always been cordial. Our top political priority tonight, president obama, a political concern. Hes always been cordial. Were going to make them squeal. It might be a little like the carpenters song weve only jt