talking about envy, job envy, wealth envy. that we don't dream. my mother believed and my father believed that if i want today be president of the united states i could be, i could be vice president. they dreamed as much as any rich guy dreams. they don't get us. they don't get who we are. this election is going to be a choice between two fundamentally different philosophies. that choice is about whether or not we're going to rebuild the middle class, or continue to help those at the top and hope everything works out well. romney made sure the guys at the top got to play by a separate set of rules. he ran up debts. he thinks that will help our kmi? let's look. past is prologue. i want you to think about what he will do as president. laying of workers, layering on debt, helping those at the top while every else fends for themselves. we can't afford that. things really are starting to come back. there are signs of life, hope, and heart in the heartland. jobs are starting to come back. and the ones coming back are the kind of jobs you can build a middle class family on. >> the kind of jobs you can build a middle class family on. they're taking the fight to places that build this country. pennsylvania, wisconsin, michigan, illinois, indiana, ohio. places where millions of americans have been hit hard by the economic downturn. millions of americans lost their jobs while governor romney and his pals at bain capital made off with millions of dollars in profits. this week the president hit romney with an ad featuring workers from a steel mill in kansas city that bain capital shut down. >> you get up on national tv and brag about making jobs, when he has destroyed thousands of people's careers, lifetimes, just destroying people. >> and today we learned of another company that bain shut down in florida. dade behring, which, saddled with debt, wound up shuttering two medical technology facilities in yam. so 850 jobs were lost. while bain walked away with $242 million. and 800% return on it's investment. but for some reason, willard continues to pretend he is a great job creator. he will have to fool hard hit workers in places like ohio where vice president biden spoke today, and where the president's policies have already helped millions of americans. in 2010, 10.6% of the state was unemployed, but unemployment has now dropped to 7.5% today. it's no wonder president obama officially quicked off his campaign in ohio, and went right after willard's time at bain capital. >> he's one large financial firm. and i think he has drawn the wrong lessons from those experiences. he sincerely believe that's if ceo and wealthy investors like him make money, the rest of us will prosper as well. >> mitt romney may have a credible response to this line of attack, but if so, we haven't heard it yet. joining me now is congresswoman from ohio, and former pennsylvania governor ed rendell, now an msnbc political news analyst. thank you for being here tonight. congresswoman, you're up for reelection in ohio, does romney's time at bain have an effect on ohio? >> oh yes, we have seen it before. thousands of thousands of workers put out of work. even rick perry called mitt romney a vulture capitalist. those that run the company that's come in and suck the equity out throwing thousands and thousands and thousands of people out of work. our people experienced this firsthand. >> governor rendell, mr. romney accused the president of trying to divide the country with class warfa warfare, let me show you his statement. >> i think it's about envy, class warfare, when you have a president thinking about dividing america with 99% verses 1%. you open a new wave of approach in this country entirely inconsistent with one nation under god. >> in the heartland, where you were governor of pennsylvania, and people have suffered and absolutely felt the pain of the economic downturn, will the class warfare argument resonate? >> no, i think people will see that what the president wants to do is really help create jobs for the middle class. and he wants to do it by getting our economy back on track and that means balancing the budget, and that the wealthiest americans should pay more. one thing people should understand the president is not saying we should go back to the days when people in the top 1% paid 70% or 50% of their income on taxes. he is saying they should go back to the days of bill clinton when they paid not 35%, but 39%. under bill clinton, we created 23.5 million new jobs, and the rich people, they got really rich in that same time. >> now, it's not just his history then, but his policies now. what he is saying now, he is a pro-ryan plan. $2.9 trillion in cuts to low income programs. tax cuts for the wealthiest americans. congresswoman, we're not just talking about romney of yesteryear but what he is promoting for president snp. >> yes, like ryan, they all favor helping the 1%, and i any what about the other 99%. what about the middle class. if you look at hedge fund managers and executives, they pay 15%. it would be great if all of the executives including governor romney would pay the same thing as my neighbors pay. that isn't happening. so they sheltered income in a thousand ways, and they made huge amounts of fortune off of raiding companying, and they're not playing by the same rules. so they're protecting the super class that has done so much to damage this economy. >> let me get this right, in your district, the ticket is willard romney and joe the plumber. >> that is correct. >> and mr. plumber, or joe the plumber, how i should refer to him, is supported willard and the ryan plan i assume. >> he sure is. i can't understand, joe, that's not his name and he's not a plumber. i don't know why he would be supporting those policies. he should be fighting for the middle class, not the super rich. >> governor rendell, she says he's not a plumber, mr. romney says he's a job creator, but he has a hard time explaining how he is a job creator. >> some businesses shrunk, we tried to turn them around, sometimes it works, sometimes not. >> you every want to see an enterprise go bankrupt. >> those documented to have lost jobs, it's about 10,000 jobs. >> free enterprise makes america the stronger economic nation in the world. >> now that's him responding in debates in a republican primary for being attacked for his service as ceo of bain, and where he has touted this as his record as a job creator, and he is trying to justify bain. therefore, is it legitimate, governor rendell, that the opponen opponents, of course the incumbent president and his team, raise questions about his behavior and what happened under his tenure at bain. >> yes, governor romney says they created more jobs than they closed down. he should tell bane to open the books so they can look at that and do an accurate computation. governmental experience matters too. he was essentially the president of a state. the governor is a president of the state, the state of massachusetts. while he was governor of massachusetts for four years, massachusetts was 47th out of 50 states in job creation. and remember, massachusetts had has all of the new high-tech dot com businesses and they were still only 47th in job creation. that to me is more telling than bain. >> two of those that were underneath him, in the 47th percent were hit by katrina that year. let's not forget that. so thank you. >> thank you. >> congresswoman, tell joe the plumber if he wants equal time to call al the preacher. hours after his endorsement, willard can't seem to remember bush's name. and why sarah palin's latest move has republicans talking, a big story could be developing behind closed doors. and the political beer test. why president obama's likeability might be the answer to all of that gop money. >> you have a lot of people around always laughing at your jokes and thinking you're funny, and michelle is like, this guy? and when sh does it in front of my team, they love it, they'll crack up. you're watching "politicsnation". we love theme parks but with four kids, it can just be too expensive. yeah, so to save money we just made our own. oh no! what could be worse than ninety-foot swells?! typhoon! first prize! it's a cheese grater. wooooo... this isn't scary. are you kidding me? look at that picture of your mom's hair from the '80s. there's an easier way to save. wooohooo... geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance. manage beats the summer time, days at the beach, cookouts with friends, and john boehner making threats to hold the economy hostage. it's hard to believe, but summer is just around the corner. speaker john boehner will bring the economy to the edge of collapse. yep, he is at it again, restarting last summer's dragout fight to raise the debt limit. but he says it's no threat. >> are you threatening to -- >> whoa, i am not threatening default. >> boehner and other leaders met behind closed doors at the white house today, and guess how that went? leader pelosi tells us about it. >> i haven't heard kumbiya in so long i would not recognize it. i'm glad he enjoyed the sandwiches. >> i don't think we will be hearing it this summer. joining me now is jim m why would he threaten to do this again? >> i would think john boehner was a slow learner. when he went through all that stuff he went through last year and brought the country to all that chaos, you would think he would not want to do that get in an election year. but they decided the best way to beat the president is to create yay yos, not solve any problems, make a mess where you can, throw everybody under the bus you can get ahold of. john boehner does not care about the people of the united states. if he did, he would never talk about threatening the recovery going on in this country. >> the congressional approval rating fell to a then record low after the last debt sealing fight. only 15% approved last ought. he is not even doing well for his own colleagues. >> no, if you think about it, he is going into an election where he has to elect some of these folks he drug back and forth through the mud on his own side with these silly vote that's go nowhere and make them look bad. they're a tax on women and a tax on all kinds of things, science, where ever you look, he dragged them through this, and now he is going to say go out and get yourself reelected. he has been no help to them. i think she going to wind up asking mr. pelosi would she please take the gavel from him. >> he is not by himself because paul ryan was on cnbc yesterday. and he was asked about whether he compromised. and this is what he had to say. >> you got to give up something, you can't have a deal just by saying this is my position. >> so look, i'm not interested in negotiating with myself on television, that futile in my opinion. >> we see that the speaker, has said, after the meeting, president obama spokesman says he doesn't want a replay of last summer's fight, but boehner's office had a different take. he says he told the president as long as i'm around here, i'm not going to allow a debit ceiling increase without doing something serious about the debt. at the same time he could be using the debt limit as a bargaining tool. $500 billion in defense cuts will start to go into effect. is that what they're after? a bargaining chip on this? >> my feeling is they creating the perfect storm. they have all of those tax cuts, all of those cuts in the military, all of the digressionary cuts in the budget, all coming due along with this debt crisis at the same time right around the election. and i believe they really have no interest in anything but capturing the white house. boehner became the cheep spokesman for the romney team to get romney elected. he simply has given up dealing with what's best for the american people. >> can you fight them? can something be done to stop this? >> we'll keep talking about it, and the people will make the decision ultimately. i trust them to look at this and say why is he creating chaos the same as he did last year. the definition of mental illness is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. he expects a different result, and he won't get it, he'll have chaos. >> thank you for your time tonight. >> you're welcome. >> ahead, sarah palin has been a little quiet recently, but what she is doing behind the scenes has her party on alert. 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. that's good morning, veggie style. hmmm. for half the calories plus veggie nutrition. could've had a v8. but they haven't experienced extra strength bayer advanced aspirin. in fact, in a recent survey, 92% of people who tried it said they would buy it again. visit fastreliefchallenge.com today for a special trial offer. want to hop in the back and get weird? no. no. ♪ ugh, no! [ sighs ] we can have hotdogs for dinner?! yes. [ male announcer ] it's nice to finally say "yes." new oscar mayer selects. it's yes food. got the mirrors all adjusted? you can see everything ok? just stay off the freeways, all right? i don't want you going out on those yet. mmm-hmm. and just leave your phone in your purse. i don't want you texting, all right? daddy...ok! ok, here you go. be careful. thanks dad. call me -- but not while you're driving. ♪ [ dad ] we knew this day was coming. that's why we bought a subaru. ♪ >> welcome back to "politicsnation," mitt romney loves a lot of things, he loves his money, he loves his family, and he loves his presidents. >> bill clinton announced that the era of jimmy carter was over. >> one of missouri's greatest sons harry truman. jfk and fdr -- >> yes, the great lbj, don't forget harry truman, he even got john adams in there. he can't seem to remember the guy who came before president obama. >> i find it incomprehensible that a president can come to office and call his predecessor's record irresponsible. he was very critical of his predecessor because he put together four trillion dollars worth of debt. >> predecessor -- his name is george w. bush. isn't that weird? not so much, bush had the highest disapproval rating of any president in gallup history. higher than nixon, the one who resigned in disgrace. i guess that makes sense, he got us into two wars, he left us with all of that massive debt. the same debt that willard won't stop talking about. but let's not feel bad for george w. bush. this summer, he plans to publish a book, outlining strategies for economic growth. coming soon you too can soak in all of bush's economic knowledge. you can buy the secrets to his economics st economics strategy. 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[ laughs ] [ male announcer ] the febreze set & refresh. breathe happy for 30 days, guaranteed. welcome back to "politicsnation," we have a lot of balls in the air today when it comes to politics, we're looking at the likeability and the endorsements, and even the aliens. that's right, aliens. joining me now to go through it all, is jamal simmons, a national democratic editor for govote.com. and maria, an msnbc contributor. thank you for being with me tonight. let's get started with our fist topic. voting for mr. popularity. how much will vilikeability matter. president obama showed it on the view, taking a pop culture kwiez from bahair. >> which kardashian was only married for 72 days. >> very good. this one you may not know. what's the controversial sex book that's on million of women's bedside tables. >> i don't know that one. >> good, okay, next. i get home. >> a new gallup poll shows the president has a two to one margin over mitt romney, does that matter or will it be with economy and jobs. clinton was more likeable than his opponent, dole. and bush more than kerry. >> it helps when the president has someone like michelle obama to drop in the mix. likeability is a part of that. the president is sitting in a room, and he will make a decision for their families, and he can trust what that will be. bush beat kerry because people were not sure what kerry would do. we're seeing that right now with our current republican nominee because people don't have a abide on this guy. >> do you think the beer test is really over estimated in terms of how voters will react teresa, is it about trust, or the economy and job. >> i think it's likeability. you want to pass the beer test. and i say that because when you start talking about presidents and whether pop culture matters at all, you also want a president that understands your values. when george senior went into a super market and didn't know what a scanner was. that meant he didn't understand basic issues that voters were encountering. the more president obama can play into the accessibility, and mitt keeps up his guard, it's a win for obama. i would get them to continue playing up mitt romney as a tycoon out of touch and use his words against him. right now mitt is having a hard time identifying with everyday folks. >> let's go to the next topic. the god father makes an endorsement that mitt romney can't refuse. we know him for his sipging and other notable phrases during the campaign. >> imagine there's to pizza. >> when they ask me who is the president of -- i'm going to say i don't know. >> first of all, 9- 9-9. >> 9-9-9. >> now today, cain attended a conference and finally publicly joined mitt romney. >> today i want to formally endorse governor mitt romney for president of the united states of america. my endorsement evolved. >> and it sure has evolved. back in jan, cain made his first endorsement throwing his support to "the people." a week later he endorsed newt gingrich. now he settled on mitt romney. i wish he would sing. maria, is this what party unity looks like. >> we have moon colonies, herman cain, i don't know if he wants these endorsement in the first place. it shows that mitt romney is the presidential nominee because they rejected everybody else. how does he coalesce. because the tea party will vie for a voice at the convention, he might unify the republican party way too late for him and that's a danger he definitely has. >> is the message unity, because i don't know if any of these guys bring a lot of votes with them at this point. >> the message has to be unity, and i know i'm going to my glass re union this weekend, i have to be careful because we probably will see mr. herman cane there this weekend, but his endorsement has about as much weight as a thin crust pizza, i don't think it matters much as all. >> for the last topic, let's go to space now. let's go to our last topic in outer space, what about the aliens, that's what will smith's son asked the president this last week. he talked about it. >> the night before jaden said to me, dad, i have to ask the president about the aliens. i was like, dude, it's not cool. and he was like, excuse me, mr. president, and barack obama says don't tell me, he stopped and looked at jaden and said, the aliens, right? and he said i cannot confirm or deny extaliens, but if there we it would have taken place in this room. >> if you were a little kid, would you ask the president about aliens? >> absolutely, what over chance do you have to ask him one of the most burning questions that americans want to know, are there aliens. >> the real answer is how did the president know what he was going to ask. maybe aliens talked to the president and he didn't deny it? >> i think the aliens, kids, and he is attuned to what kids want to know. maybe he had so much fun, it's kind of like there might be it or not, but he doesn't ruin the dream, but just keeping that window of a cloud over the issue, i think that makes it fun. >> that's why i like having fun, you go back to where we started, likeability. thank you both for your time tonight. >> thank you, reverend. >> ahead, sarah palin's been a little quiet recently. what she has been doing behind the scenes has her party on alert, that's next. 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[ male announcer ] try the new 360 investing dashboard at e-trade. still ahead he marched for justice with dr. king, and more than 50 years later he is still on the front lines of the civil rights movement, my conversation with reverend dr. joseph laury, ahead. today is gonna be an important day for us. you ready? we wanna be our brother's keeper. what's number two we wanna do? bring it up to 90 decatherms. how bout ya, joe? let's go ahead and bring it online. attention on site, attention on site. now starting unit nine. some of the world's cleanest gas turbines are now powering some of america's biggest cities. siemens. answers. . we're back on "politicsnation" with a simple question. who actually runs the republican party? this is a serious question. i know that mitt romney will be the nominee, and i know that john boehner is the speaker, but who actually has the power? could it be the mama grizzly. last night her pick for the nebraska primary beat gop candidated backed by rick santorum, mike huckabee, and jim demint. a last minute flood of outside money gave a win to a dark horse candidate, and it's not her only win this season. her pick in indiana won against others that were backed by other republicans. palin may not be running for president, but she is still picking winners and losers. it is exactly what she said she would do when she decided not to run. >> i believe ki be an effective voice in a real decisive role in helping get true public servants elected to office, not just in the president seat, but we have 33 senate seats coming up. you don't need a title to make a difference in this country. >> so she's wielding power by avoiding responsibilities. maybe what she wanted all along. joining mu now is dana millbank. is sarah palin a force to be reckoned with in the republican party? >> she is a forth to be reckoned with in the tea party that has taken over the republican party, so i think that's fair to say. particularly in states like nebraska. you have to realize you're dealing with a very small slice of the elector rate in these republican primaries. she saw this candidate rising, came in there at the last minute, pushed her over the top, and now she is getting -- >> recognition, i'm a little more careful with my josanas. you're right about the tea party angle, her endorsement skewed towards anti-establishment types. she backed 4 republicans but only 23 establishment. so they have to be concerned with her, but at the same time, as a power player, she is very unpopular nationally. charts show she started out with a decent faif rablt number, a big drop leading up to a 2008 election, and steadily watched her unfaif rabvoritunfavoritivo. >> we still talk about republican establishment here in washington. basically the tea party hijacked the establishment. the three candidates were all tea party candidates even ones who stayed office holders. really the establishment is the tea party in places like this. that's where sarah palin is strong, and that's why she is smart to say rather than run for public office, she will not win on the national level with numbers like that, she can influence the party and shape it to her liking, and she has credits built up with people in the senate, house, governors, and she can wield this power in a quiet way without, you know, having to rely on the majority support of the country. >> doesn't she have a point though. she is picking winners and people come out for her and she is helping with turnout, so you can't dismiss her. >> no, you would be crazy to dismiss her. she is not plausible national candidate. but she is able to do what she wants, give speeches, be a commentator, and have the trappings of power without having to answer for it. it's pretty good work if you can get it. >> do you think she will work for romney? at cpac this year she talked about how the republican nominee needed to be instinctively conservative in nature. watch this. >> our nominee must be ready, strong, fortified, passionate, a fighter for american ideals. our candidate must be someone who can instinctively turn right to constitutional conservative principals. it's too late in the game to teach it or to spin it at this point. it's either there or it isn't. >> she listed a lot of qualities, and then she got willard. will she go for romney? and is she a plus or minus for him if she does. >> i wonder what candidate she was talking about there. i don't think you can expect the full roar from sarah palin for romney, but want doesn't want to look like she's dooming his candidacy. she also wants to say i told you so, we need more conservative next time. i don't think you will hear that outride opposition. >> dana milbank, thanks for your time. coming up, 50 years after mar offing with dr. king, he's still on the front lines. [ female announcer ] it figures...on your busiest day you see the gray. try root touch-up by nice 'n easy. just brush our permanent color matching creme right where you need it. then rinse. in ten minutes zap those grays and get on with your day. nice 'n easy root touch-up. that's good morning, veggie style. hmmm. for half the calories plus veggie nutrition. could've had a v8. we ask you to help, when black are. >> lesley: not be asked to get in back. when browne can stick around. when yellow will be mellow. when the red man can get ahead, man. and when white will embrace what is right. let all of those who do justice and love mercy say amen. >> that's the reverend dr. joseph lowery giving the benediction at the historic inauguration of president obama. he is known as the dean of the civil rights movement, a founding member of the southern leadership conference with dr. t martin luther. the march on washington, freedom rides challenging laws across the jim crowe south, and the 1965 march for voting rights. at 90 years old, he is still making an impact. he joined us when we kicked off his rally. this year, aimed at new voter suppression. >> one of the things we cannot ever been in this crowd, and not understand, is holy ground. and we are here understanding that we are sent on a holy mission. >> and just this week, he and i joined other civil rights leaders in supporting brother obama's stand on same sex marriage with other brothers and sisters into the movement. 60 years into the struggle, he is still fighting for the rights of the powerless. standing not for one, but for all. joining me now, reverend dr. joseph lowery, it's an honor to have you with us. >> it's my honor, i'm happy to be here with you. >> why do you take a position supporting the president on this issue of same-sex marriage? certainly you have every honor one can have, and you still step out in the forefront with issues that you know will raise controversy and questions. >> frankly, i couldn't imagine myself denying a right to my neighbor, my fellow citizen, they enjoy myself. so i don't think you can say we believe in equal rights for some people, but not for others. i think that's a what they call on oxy moron. if you believe in equal rights, you help grant them to all of the people. i could not imagine myself saying to someone, i have a right, butly not permit you to enjoy. i have to give it to everybody if i give it to anybody. that's what dr. king meant when he said, injustice breeds injustice ever where. >> you know some church leaders have taken a different position in this, but you see this as a civil rights issue. >> i do. i think basically it's a civil rights issue. it's under the law that we have the right to affect a union, a covenant, a relationship, a marriage if you will. between two consenting people. >> now, we also are dealing with the threat of voter rights with the voter id laws. every year you convene us at the bridge where you led the original 65 march. this year, voter id, we left and reenacted as you did many times thewalk from selma to montgomery around voter id and voter suppression. as one of those that walked shoulder to shoulder and shared the board for sclce, how do you view it in 2012. >> they became popular, these id laws and regulations under the republican administrations. and they insist on that raising the question about fraud, voter fraud, and i guess their suggesting that people vote twice, or vote more than once. i tell you, i wish i could find some african-americans who are guilty of voting twice. we have a devil of a time every election getting them to vote once, let alone twice. so i think the issue of voter fraud is a smoke screen to give the people who are in power increased opportunity to remain there. >> you walked hand in hand with dr. martin luther king, did the inaugural benediction for president barack obama. you got the highest citizen's award in this country, just celebrated your 90th birthday, what is your proudest moment? >> you mean other than my family, i guess joining barack obama on the stage there in january of '09. it has to rate way up there with everything that happened to me, inspite of the fact that i can go back through the voting right marches, and the same when my wife was shot into the car when we were trying to defend a young retarted man who could not ride a bike and they accused him of committing a rape and stealing and driving a car. a young man came up to me and said you don't know me, but said i'm in law school because of you and something you did. those are precious moments, but i think i have to say it's hardly anything that could surpass standing on the capital steps and looking across the mall and seeing the lincoln memorial, and washington monument and being reminded that i was there to celebrate the inauguration of the first african-american president. i just -- it just seems like yesterday it was 1965 and martin asked me to take the demands of the selma to montgomery march. we were saying we demand our right to vote, and then we raise a question. will we ever see a black president? and most of us said there will be one, but we probably won't see it. there i was on the steps not only witnesses the inauguration of the first african-american president, but participating in the process. so that it would be hard to top that. hard to top that. >> well, we thank you for your time tonight. and god knows we thank you for your services down through