0 some some things. i haven't really been able to get online much to do. i was in the classroom all day. >> i appreciate your time tonight. thank you for what you do as a profession. i know your students count on you. thank you for going to the governor face to face on that. we will follow up to find out if the governor is going to spend a week in her classroom. go do her job for a week, governor. that's "the ed show." i'm ed shultz. "politicsnation" with reverend al sharpton begins now. good evening, rev. >> good evening, ed. thanks for tuning in. tonight's lead, the gop agony of repeat. republicans keep running to the right and they keep losing the fight. exactly one year ago today just two days before the election, mitt romney was in the great state of virginia telling voters he was going to win. >> thanks so much, you guys. virginia is the best. >> virginia is the best. and it's also the state barack obama won. one year later after a gop autopsy and a vow to rebrand, they haven't learned anything. any moment dozens of senate republicans are expected to vote against a gay rights law that would ban discrimination against gay and lesbian employees in the workplace. that's 39 republicans who didn't get the memo. why? because they haven't learned anything. what about women's rights? republican senator lindsey graham is now launching a new fight against a woman's right to choose. calling for a 20-week abortion ban. >> i've been a pro-life member of congress since day one. i'm proud to lead this charge. >> todd akin was once proud to lead this charge. how'd that work out? again, they haven't learned anything. and this extreme ideology is particularly bad. look at virginia. the republican candidate for governor ken cuccinelli is as far right as they come. he thinks same-sex relationships are immoral, wants to ban abortions with no exception, and once said it's possible the president was born in kenya. and he's plunging in the polls. 12 points behind. so why is that? president obama was in virginia over the weekend with the answer. >> you've seen on extreme faction of the republican party that has shown again and again and again that they're willing to hijack the economy and the country and grind to a halt if they don't get 100% of what they want. now -- >> the extremists are hijacking the entire party and one year later they haven't learned anything. joining me now are joan walsh and cynthia tucker. thanks for joining me. >> good to be here, reverend. >> joan, the president talked about hijacking the country. a year later, they did not learn anything. >> it's been a lost year for the republican party. and we're really feeling it as we sit and watch what's going on in virginia. they've nominated somebody who is just a total extremist. they're blocking action on immigration reform, so they're doing nothing to appeal to latinos. they've really -- cuccinelli continues to insist that this is a referendum on obama care and rollout problems aside and we know we've seen those, we know that women love obama care. so not just abortion, not just all this rhetoric and action if he got elected on abortion is problematic for women, but obama care as well. obama care has really helped women by making sure that women are no longer paying more than men for the simple fact of bringing the next generation into the world. and republicans hate this. but women love it. so they've really -- they spent a year in the wilderness and they're not getting out any time soon. >> you know, cynthia, in line with that, the house speaker john boehner today said he's opposing the non-discrimination act. his spokesperson issued this statement, quote, the speaker believes this legislation will increase frivolous litigation and cost american jobs. >> it's stunning, reverend al. it is absolutely stunning to see the republican party running away. this is a party that's embracing every right wing nostrum that they can think of. the vast majority of americans support gay rights. certainly they support people to have jobs, not to be discriminated against in the workplace. the vast majority of americans support a diverse america. and even with the problems that obama care is having, most americans believe people ought to be able to get affordable health care. so, you know, in 30 years of covering politics, i have never seen a political party that time and time again embraces the things that most people do not want. it's a surefire losing strategy. >> over and over and over again, it seems they are doing that. in virginia, president obama talked about how voters remember actions of the extreme, joan. listen to this. >> if you embrace the very politics that led to this shutdown, then i guarantee it's not in the rearview mirror of voters in virginia. they remember. they understand that that is not how you govern or move america forward. >> voters are going to remember, particularly virginia with so many government workers, but all over the country voters will remember tomorrow the shutdown that we just got over within the last 30 days. >> well, and ken cuccinelli, maybe he doesn't even want to win, reverend al. because, you know, he knows that the shutdown hurt his chances. he knows it was very, very unpopular in virginia. so what does he do? he brings in rand paul and marco rubio who both voted to continue they're base voters. and the party can't run away from them. the establishment thought that they would just be able to use their votes and control the tea party's energy, but they cannot. >> reaping the whirlwind. >> exactly. they're reaping the whirlwind. >> you know, joan, when you look at that fact that about a year ago when we had the election almost a year ago exactly in a couple of days, if you looked at 2012, in the ratings, the opinion polls, the ratings of october 2012 a month before, the republican party was doing 26% in approval. after all the talk of change, what has happened? they're now down to 22%. the lowest on record. it's an unbelievable slide for a party that pledged to rebrand and have an autopsy. election. now these far right billionaires have a new scheme. and a mom says this is a family tradition. her son in a klan costume. plus, live from new york, it was saturday night. and i made a surprise appearance. i'll tell you why. and friend or foe, i want to know. reply al is ahead. 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