might. a new poll puts barrett even with scott walker. another poll puts barrett behind. john nichols has the latest. mitt romney joins donald trump and blows the birther dog whistle. >> in addition to the angge of e president and the citizenship of the president, i would like it to also say that the president has to spend at least three years working in business before the president can become the president of the united states. and even fox defenders are saying fox news is rotten to the core. >> instead of concentrating on job creation, president obama has concentrated on growing government. >> you will not believe the new fox and friends attack on the president. good to have you with us tonight, folks. thanks for watching. it's been less than 24 hours since mitt romney secured the republican nomination for president. now we know how he plans to win the white house. politico published a report today showing the record amount of money republican groups will spend to get romney elected into the oval office. according to sources within the groups, republican super pacs and other outside groups plan to spend roughly $1 billion on november's elections to win the white house and get control of the congress. now, to put this in perspective, in 2008, john mccain raised $370 million, barack obama set records by raising $750 million. the money being spent by the koch brothers is going to be $400 million, more than mccain's entire presidential campaign. the two koch brothers will write checks equal to or double the amount raised by organized labor. we always hear about organized labor writing all the checks. really? add it up this year. it will be a fraction of what these folks do. this is serious money and president obama warned about the consequences when he called out the supreme court's citizens united decision in 2010. >> with all due deference to separation of powers, last week the supreme court reversed a century of law that i believe will open the floodgates for special interests, including foreign corporations, to spend without limit in our elections. >> i think the key there is "century of law," but all of a sudden that's not good. sam alito, yeah, he was sitting there shaking his head no, but president obama was exactly right. billionaire texan harold simmons told "the wall street journal," "i have lots of money and can give it legally now. just never to democrats." he's willing to give his money to the network of pacs run by karl rove, the kochs, the u.s. chamber of commerce, and so many more. rove says, of course, his group is supporting the underdog. >> we expect to have a large war chest next april and may when the president is certainly going to come after the republican nominee, whoever he or she says, and the republican nominee will be out of cash and out of gas and we'll be there to defend him. >> oh, poor karl, but the truth is the exact opposite today. these groups represent the elite, and mitt romney, he's their guy. he supports their interests, that's the key. here's what mitt romney will do about wall street regulations. >> burdensome regulations serve only to restrict freedom and imperil enterprise. and the victims of the regulation are not nameless, faceless banks. they're employees, business openers, and customers who rely on banks who ultimately lose out. >> and when it come to corporate business interests, romney is on the same page as the billionaires. >> phase one, get the corporate tax rate competitive with the rates in europe and the rest of the world, get it down to 25%. >> the top 1% has it great under president obama when it comes to taxes. actually, everybody does. the average income tax rate for a family of four under ronald reagan was more than 11%. it was more than 9% under bill clinton. under president obama, it's about 4.5%. and as we know, mitt romney will give millionaires a tax rate of nearly 5%. those making less than $30,000 a year will actually see a tax increase. how far is that? but billionaires don't care about the people making 30 grand a year or less. they want a guy who will look out for them. >> we have to return to free market, free individual capitalism that builds a stronger economy. i will lower taxes for employers. i will eliminate the burden of regulations on our economy. >> do we really know where we're going in this country? make no mistake about it, if romney and his crowd get control of the government, it will end the middle class in america. no kidding. they don't have the interests of the rest of the country in mind. it's all about them and the top 1%. i mean, look, it is so clear-cut. the new "rolling stone" article out, which identifies 16 -- there's only 16 of them, think about that -- 16 millionaires and billionaires who are trying to get romney into the white house. they are going to want something in return for their money, don't you think? here's the list of their demands. pollution deregulation. see ya, clean water, clean air, and all that good stuff. limiting awards for jury settlements. they want to protect corporations from being sued for wrongdoing and running over consumers. how about those defense contracts? oh, can't touch the pentagon spending budget. corporate welfare, plenty of government subsidies for corporations and more, probably. tax cuts for the wealthiest americans. now, we've been through that, haven't we? have we seen the job creation because of the bush tax cuts? no, we haven't. wall street-deemed regulation. forget that, there's not going to be anymore dodd/frank if these people get ahold of it. and more oil drilling. even though we are drilling more now than ever before on american soil. all of these policies are supported by mitt romney, all of them. it is a blueprint for making sure that this chart stays the same, exactly the way it is right now. they don't want any change. they like it the way it's going right here. the redliners will keep making all the money. the blueliners, you know where they're going to be? stay right down there where they've been for the last 30 years, because that's just the way they like it. a rising tide does not lift all of the boats, not in their world. meanwhile, productivity, where's productivity going to go? well, hell, they're going to get rid of unions and make sure that workers just do a hell of a lot more and give up more. this country right now is at a crossroads. and i'm not trying to oversell this. all i do is listen to their policies and listen to what they say. so far, mitt romney and his crowd have nothing on the table for the middle class. the majority of wage earners in this country, the bulk of who we are as a country, they have nothing for them. all of the breaks are going to go right here. they're trying to destroy everything. there's no plan for health care with these folks. it's the private sector. they want to destroy every wage earner in america when it comes to retirement. they want raiding companies and pengs is okay. they want to destroy collective bargaining. they're going after the fabric of this country, they're trying to concentrate the wealth. so when i say that the middle class is under attack, and this is it, i mean, i'll tell you, i can't believe that i have a radio show and a cable show and all of this stuff is happening in this country. i cannot believe that this is happening on my watch. and on your watch. and i sit here thinking, well, i better say something! i have to say something. we are obligated as americans to say something. we are going to go through an election cycle where we are going to see gobs of money like we have never seen before. look at wisconsin. 25 to 1 in the ratio. that is a microcosm of what we're going to see in every state in this country. and when they're done with obama, if they beat obama and they're done with him, where do you think they're going to go next? they're going to fight like hell to get every gubernatorial chair in this country controlled by a republican and a corporatist, who is going to favor what they want. so, gosh, it's doom and gloom, eddy. no, it's not! no, it's not. because you can make a difference. you're a middle classer, you're a wage earner. just remember one thing. they can't take your vote. you can sit this out and get discouraged, maybe even next tuesday, i doubt it, or you can get involved in this process and have the character, the pride, and the dignity to know that no one bought your vote. that you took the time to find out exactly what the hell these people are all about and where they want to take this country, and you're going to do something about it. you're going to do your share, your part and make it happen. that's how the middle class is going to be saved. because this crowd right here, they got nothing for you. nothing. i want the next reporter that comes in contact with mitt romney to ask him, what is your plan for the middle class? because a lot of those factories and companies you shut down where jobs went overseas, aren't these the wage earners you're concerned about? no. get your cell phones out. i want to know what you think. tonight's question, would the middle class survive a mitt romney presidency? text "a" for yes, text "b" for no to 622639. you can always go to our blog at ed.msnbc.com. we'll bring you the results a little later on in the show. i'm joined tonight by robert greenwald, founder and president of brave new films and the director of the koch brothers film, "exposed," and former congressman, tom perriello. gentleman, great to have you with us tonight. robert, you first. are republicans, are they just setting up a system to make sure that, hell, we're never going to have another democratic president! i mean, this is it. this is the template for making sure that a democrat never goes to the white house again. or is that too extreme for my part? >> well, maybe not extreme, but maybe too pessimistic, ed. what they are trying to do, they're trying to use the billionaires who are behind them to buy the election. fortunately, the election is not for sale. and as you said, there's lots that each and every one of us can do and must do. but i also think it's important to understand exactly what they're doing and exactly why they're doing it, because it is, in fact, legalized bribery. these billionaires are paying for policies so they can make more billion dollars. so that there are no restrict n restrictions of any kind, so that they get greater tax breaks, so that they can further pollute or further destroy the country in whatever ways, increase their profitability. it's not off the charts, is a reason for it. they put money into candidates and they take things out. >> tom, is outspending by republicans the the going to be the main challenge in virtually every race in this election? >> well, i think the combination of the attack on voting rights and the sale of our democracy to the highest bidder is really a one-two punch, right to the gut of the middle class. and as was noted earlier, this isn't some ideological battle. this is a return on investment, where we're talking about a yacht full of billionaires who are going to get 40 to 1, 100 to 1 in special tax rates to themselves. and who picks up the tab for that? it's the middle class. it's the american worker. and so we already have an economy that's rigged against the middle class. they are now trying to lock that into a political system that's rigged against the middle class. >> so, tom, how do you fight it? you've got to go right to the heart of the people, because you're not going to be able to match the money. >> i think people are rising up and realizing just how rigged the system is. and they realize that people power is right response to this. to go and get informed, find out who these people are that are funneling, and the agenda they want. and you see time and again that working and middle class folks feel like they've been sold a bill of goods by the republicans. and they want to stand up and say, hey, what's in this for us? what's something that actually starts to bring good jobs back and the competitive advantage of america back. and i think they're seeing that now in a good progressive agenda. >> you know what amazes me, robert, you know, why aren't there a lot of big-money donors supporting obama like they did in 2008. they must know what the landscape looks like right now. are they that disenchanted with the president? >> i think some are disenchanted, ed, but i also think it's a lot easier psychologically to put $1 million in knowing that you're going to get $10 million or $15 million or $100 million out in return. progressive donors are actually working against their own narrow economic self-interests, but they're working for the betterment of the country, because they believe that, in fact, the country needs to be strong, everyone needs to prosper, there needs to be jobs, and all those kinds of good things so i think you're seeing some of that. but ultimately, everyone knows, ed, we can't outspend them. which is why, again, it's important that the policy that has money in politics, the attack, whether it's the constitutional amendment or it's the laws of disclosure. we have to go at the source and say we cannot allow ourselves to have a system where billions and billions can be put in with no consequences. >> and tom, if romney ends up being a weak candidate down the stretch, what will these pacs do with all the money? i mean, it will be just an onslaught on president obama. >> well, you saw mitt romney as a weak candidate in the primary and you saw what happened. it was the independent expenditures that came in and outspent four to one, seven to one, eight to one, and he still only eked out these primaries by three or four points in a lot of the key midwestern states, because working middle class voters looked at him and his agenda and said, this isn't for us. so the so-called independent groups had to come in and bail him out and i think you'll see that again. you're also going to see that down ticket in some of these house and senate races that are going to play out this way. and i think, unfortunately, that amount of money really can have a huge effect on the flow of information, but voters are smart and decent and i think they'll overcome this. >> this will be the year of displaying heart by progressives, just how bad do you want it? robert greenwald, tom perriello, thanks for being with us. and share your thoughts on twitter @edshow. scott walker is raising loads in wisconsin. "the nation's" john nichols with the latest on the recall next. and donald trump isn't backing off the birther nonsense and mitt romney is just fine with all of it. krystal ball, john errol, and abby lewis will weigh in on all of that in the big panel tonight. i have evidence that proves my dad's a space alien. he speaks a weird language. [ gargling ] [ gargling ] he drinks green stuff. he says he's from albuquerque. i'm not buying it. i mean, just look at him. and one more thing -- he has a spaceship. [ whirring ] the evidence doesn't lie. my dad's an alien. [ male announcer ] the highly advanced audi a6. named to car and driver's 10 best. ♪ coming up, it was another huge day of news in wisconsin. john nichols of "the nation" is breaking down the poll numbers, the john doe investigation, and the latest on the big-name democrats helping tom barrett defeat with scott walker. and republicans are subverting democracy. some say it's worse than wisconsin. radio and talk show host tom hartman will have the latest with me later in the show. share your thoughts on twitter using the #edshow. we're coming right back. in the first place. and why you still feel the same. but your erectile dysfunction -- that could be a question of blood flow. cialis for daily use helps you be ready anytime the moment's right. you can be more confident in your ability to be ready. and the same cialis is the only daily ed tablet approved to treat ed and symptoms of bph, like needing to go frequently or urgently. tell your doctor about all your medical conditions and medications, and ask if your heart is healthy enough for sexual activity. do not take cialis if you take nitrates for chest pain, as this may cause an unsafe drop in blood pressure. do not drink alcohol in excess with cialis. side effects may include headache, upset stomach, delayed backache or muscle ache. to avoid long term injury, seek immediate medical help for an erection lasting more than four hours. if you have any sudden decrease or loss in hearing or vision, or if you have any allergic reactions such as rash, hives, swelling of the lips, tongue or throat, or difficulty breathing or swallowing, stop taking cialis and get medical help right away. ask your doctor about cialis for daily use and a 30-tablet free trial. welcome back to "the ed show." we're six days away from wisconsin's recall election and new poll numbers are out. a marquette poll released today seven points. but new numbers from democratic pollster celinda lake show walker and barrett in a dead heat at 49 to 49. and it's a miracle governor walker isn't polling through the roof considering all the money that he has raised and the commercials that are running. walker's campaign raked in at least $6 million in the last five weeks. it puts his total fund-raising at over $30 million since january 2011. and it's a good thing walker is raising all that money. he needs to pad his legal defense fund. new campaign finance reports show that walker has transferred $100,000 into his legal defense fund since may 3rd. he now as $160,000 sitting in the account. meanwhile, national democrats are finally showing up to the badger state. dnc chair debbie wasserman schultz stumped for barrett in milwaukee and racine, wisconsin, today. chair of the democratic governor's association, martin o'malley, will campaign for barrett in wisconsin tomorrow. and reports surfaced that bill clinton is sorting out his schedule for a possible visit to the badger state. it certainly can't hurt. but there is one high-profile democrat who is planning not to go and show up in wisconsin. president obama's deputy campaign manager stephanie cutter downplayed the importance of a visit to wisconsin earlier today. if you think that the secret weapon here is sending president obama, then i'm pleased that you believe that. it has nothing to do with president obama at the top of the ticket. there may be some that will, you know, predict that it means doom for us in wisconsin in the fall elections, but i think they'll be proven wrong. >> there is no doubt that there is a huge political calculation being made right now by the obama team not to send the president to wisconsin. i think he needs to get there. he needs to fire up the troops even more. this is about the middle class. this is absolutely, really, there's no downside when president obama shows up. how could there be a downside? it would be all upside. this is ground zero in the 30-year war against the middle class by the conservatives. it's the first true test and measurement against citizens united. and it would be a big boost for this country's confidence when it comes to the vote. if walker wins this, republican governors will have more power than ever before to carry out their attacks on the middle class. i hear it on the radio all the time. they'd love to see president obama there. he goes to newton, iowa. he's going to be in minneapolis on friday. his campaign office in chicago. it's all around, but it is in? yes, i know the resources are there. obama for america and the dnc, but the main man they want to see is president obama. they want him on that line, because he talked about being on that line with them back in 2007. and now it's all on the line for people who had done it for him and delivered that state back when he needed it. this is about winning. maybe i'm just too much of a jock strap. maybe i like the fight too much. i'm not the perfect political calculator here, but i do listen to the people. and the job of a leader is to motivate, motivate, motivate. it's like business. when you're a manager, what's your job? your job is to get people to do somethings they might not want to do. there might be a few folks out there in wisconsin who aren't sure seeing all of this money being spent on tv, but if president obama shows up and if president obama says, i need you to do this, because this is just the tip of the iceberg, with i'm there for the middle class, i'm there for you, i think it will have a huge impact. and if walker wins, it's just a greater signal about how much we have to do in november. it's all positive. mr. president, please go to wisconsin. let's turn to john nichols, washington correspondent for "the nation" magazine and author of the book "uprising." well, john, newton, iowa, minneapolis, chicago, not very far from wisconsin. what would a president obama visit do to this race, if anything? >> as you say, ed, it would all be to the positive. governor walker has poured money into mobilization on his side. he has also brought in a lot of republican governors and conservative leaders, former presidential candidates, so he's fully mobilized his side. democrats could use these visits from a bill clinton, from a b p barack obama. the energy is strong on the democratic side. and obviously as you can see from the polling, there's a lot of evidence that things are going well. but the bottom line is this -- there are no undecided voters in wisconsin. the question is, which side of this fight successfully mobilizes its base and there's no doubt that bringing president obama in helps the democrats to mobilize their base. >> what would a visit by bill clinton do to this? >> it's very, very helpful. clinton was popular in wisconsin. he won the state easily in 1992 and 1996. and he's especially popular in the milwaukee area, racine, kenosha, the eastern shore communities as well as along the mississippi, over in towns like la crosse. if he were to do a couple stops in wisconsin, i can tell you, the crowds would be huge. and again, that energizing is important. i can tell you, labor's put its troops on the ground. there is a real basic effort across this state. it can go, it's ready to go, but can you imagine, ed, what if tom barrett lost by a few thousand votes and you realized that if only they had sent in a little bit more of the heavy lifters, a little bit more of the big names. that's what i -- i think a lot of people fear. >> you know, you can't fear the loss. you've got to go like hell. and you've got to go to the firewall. and you can't think about the negative. you've got to do what you've got to do to get it done. and that's what really, i think, the attitude is going to put the democrats over the top. now, what about the poll numbers? break them down for us. >> yeah. well, we've had two polls come out today and they both suggest -- they stick with patterns that we've seen. the marquette poll that came out and has walker a bit ahead, that poll has tended toward a more conservative result. so it's not overly surprising. tom barrett moved up one point from the last poll, scott walker moved up two points. the pollster, charles franklin, said today that he thinks it's very, very important to recognize, this is a close race. he thinks his poll says this is a close race. celinda lake's poll, which came out around the same time, was actually done later than the marquette poll. it was in the field a couple days later. it show s a much closer race an i think it's an important poll. and i actually give charles franklin from a marquette a point on this one, for he cited the celinda lake poll and noted it was a slightly more recent poll. >> john nichols, thanks so much. next up, mitt romney officially clinches the gop nomination in the shadow of donald trump and trump isn't going away. fox news is an arm of the republican party, though doubt about it. even conservative writers agree after seeing what they did this morning. fair and balanced? big question mark. 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[ male announcer ] it's a network of possibilities -- helping you do what you do... even better. ♪ democrats put out a web video on this yesterday. they can talk about donald trump all they want. you know, we're focused on jobs and the economy, how many mitt romney's going to get people back to work. and i think that's what voters care about. >> that was romney campaign spokeswoman andrea sal claiming it's the m thes who want to bring up the birther issue. however, here's mitt romney yesterday, hours before his multi-million dollar fund-raiser with donald trump in las vegas. >> i was speaking with one of these business owners who owns a couple of restaurants in town. and he said, you know, i'd like to change the constitution. i'm not sure i can do it, he said, but i'd like to have a provision in the constitution that in addition to the age of the president and the citizenship of the president and the birthplace of the president being set by the constitution, i'd like it also to say that the president has to spend at least three years working in business before he can become president of the united states. >> i think he said "citizenship," didn't he? even more stunning than romney's wink-wink, nudge-nudge to the birther crowd, surrogate donald trump won't stop with the birther talk. here he is calling in to the mother ship, fox news. >> i can tell you that this is not an issue, despite what he says, that president obama likes. this is hitting very close to home. >> but see, i think, though, that the campaign, that the president obama campaign actually enjoys that this issue gets up and gets pinned to you. >> i totally disagree with you. >> well, i'll tell you why -- >> well, i disagree -- >> well, i'll tell you why. because they released a statement, stephanie cutter, who is the deputy campaign manager, just released a very strong statement referring to you as a -- talking about disgraceful conspiracy theories, demonstrating your lack of moral leadership, calling you a charlatan, and pinning that to governor romney. >> i totally disagree. i think they hate it. i think they don't like it at all. and what they're doing is saying we love it. and frankly, i think they hate the subject. and you know, i actually sort of semi -know for a fact that they hate the subject. >> "semi-know." is that fully knowing or kind of knowing? former congressman peter hoekstra of michigan is just the latest to do so so. hoekstra now running for the united states senate seat, there's going to be a primary in michigan, is no stranger to race baiting. he put out this ad in january featuring an asian actress speaking broken english. hoekstra now wants to create a new federal office to examine the birth certificates of presidential candidates. here's hoekstra explaining his vision of a tea party group. >> i'd like to establish a three-person office in washington, d.c., so that in any future election, right? that someone would have to walk into that office and prove that they meet the minimum qualifications to be president of the united states. >> hoekstra is now defending his proposal to grow the size of government and claims it has nothing to do with president obama. >> i'm not talking about barack obama. i'm just saying, you know, this is a -- in the united states of america, this is a debate we should not be having. >> but we are having this debate, because the extremists in the republican party want us to have this debate. republicans say they want to talk about the issues, but the only issue that matters to them is defeating this president. and they are willing to do anything, say anything, and stand next to anyone until they achieve their goal. and that anyone is donald trump. there's a lot more coming up in the next half hour of "the ed show." keep it tuned right here. >> there's a lot of questions as to the authenticity of the birth certificate. so you can believe it or you don't have to believe it. >> donald trump is a disaster for republicans, and they're using bill maher to try to stop the bleeding. >> i think it's an equivalent with an issue of bill maher, who gave $1 million to president obama. >> the big panel with abby huntsman, krystal ball, and errol lewis are next. even conservatives are complaining about the fox and friends attack ad on the president. we will report and let you decide. and the assault on democracy in michigan is even worse than wisconsin. you will not believe the trick michigan republicans are using to save their emergency manager law. author and talk radio host tom hartman will join me for the latest. 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[ doctor ] enbrel, the number one biolog medicine prescribed by rheumatologists. mitt romney clinched the republican nomination last night, but he was upstaged by a carnival barker of sorts. yet romney won't disavow donald trump's birther talk. as byron york of the "washington examiner" reports, the romney campaign has no intention of distancing itself from trump. team romney believes repudiating trump would distract voters from romney's economic message. according to york, the campaign believes that sticking by trump and his race baiting will be seen as a sign of strength. meanwhile, romney's surrogates and right-wingers are trying to equate trump's racially charged antics with bill maher's stand-up act. >> i think it's as equivalent an issue as bill maher, who gave $1 million to president obama, talking with such a foul mouth about women. >> bill maher gave $1 million to a super pac on behalf of barack obama. >> the obama campaign refuses to denounce bill maher when he said extremely hateful things. so you're going to see things on both sides of the aisle. >> well, here is the difference. bill maher made a one-time donation to president obama's super pac. he doesn't campaign for obama on his weekly hbo show. donald trump, on the other hand, has held press conferences to officially endorse mitt romney. he actively is campaigning on tv for mitt romney. he's hosting fund-raisers for mitt romney. he's robo calling voters for mitt romney. the list goes on and on. and yet romney won't stand up to the guy and show true leadership because he believes it's a sign of weakness. i'm joined tonight by msnbc political analyst krystal ball, new york one host errol lewis, and political commentator, abby huntsman. great to have you with us tonight. let's talking with krystal, about this bill maher/donald trump. is this a false equivalentsy? >> of course it is. and it's the same thing that they tried to pull when larush limbaugh came out and calmed sandra fluke a prostitute, they said, what about bill maher? as you pointed out, there is no comparison. and one thing you didn't mention is the difference between intentional comedy and unintentional comedy. donald trump is hilarious, but he doesn't mean to be. that's another important distinction there. >> abby, it sure seems like it's part of the talking point for the republicans. >> this is all strategical. i mean, honestly, romney is not saying anything because he can't. he has to win nevada. that's the bigger issue here. the biggest voting group is casinos, mormons, and donald trump is a big part of that. no matter what donald trump says, romney can't say anything. >> but that's ridiculous. at some point, if he's going to demonstrate he can be president of the united states, he has to be able to stand up to a loser like donald trump. what is he going to do if he's in the white house and he can't stand up to donald trump? with what's that going to look like? >> the super pac conundrum. you can tell a billionaire, but you can't tell them much. to go to druonald trump and say this isn't helping us, this isn't our strategy, this isn't the talking point of the day, he isn't going to listen to any of that. and the same is true for a lot of these other big backers. politics has changed this time around. >> at the same time they were saying the democrats with were the ones bringing up the birther, it was romney out there saying "citizenship." what about that? >> to your point, i think it's sad. i think that donald trump could actually be asset, as crazy as that sounds, if he were to talk about jobs or the economy, and say romney is the right guy for this, he has a huge following. instead, he's being a huge distraction. but he does have the ability to be an asset. >> but the reason he has a huge following, let's not forget, because he rode this ridiculous race baiting conspiracy theory to the top of the gop polls a year ago. that's where his following comes from. >> and here's an example that was pointed out by byron york. you've got john mccain standing up to radio talk show host bill cunningham when he repeatedly used obama's full name. >> at some point the media will quit taking sides in this thing and maybe start covering barack hussein obama. >> mccain disavowed cunningham's racial antics and the romney campaign believes that that made mccain look weak. errol? >> well, look, the reality is if mccain had been, let's say it was mid-october and he was maybe three or four points behind, we're not sure what he would have done when it comes to a lot of this stuff. it's easy to take the high road when you're sort of fading in the polls and there's not really a chance of turning it around. i'm not sure if mccain was ever fully put to the test. on the other hand, romney, i don't know if he's getting the kind of feedback you're talking about. the notion that some of this is racially coated, the notion that this is going to destroy your reputation and so forth. i don't think that's romney's main concern now. his main concern is raising money, his main concern is talking to the base by whatever means he can, and seeing if he can get away with this. and i think we're going to find out over the next few days. >> and we are seeing a theme of that. whether it's ted nugent or his gay adviser, romney's not willing to stand up on these issues when it comes to the base. they're not going anywhere. >> but that doesn't seem to be bothering republicans right now. >> it doesn't. that's my point. they're not going anywhere. >> here's the thing. the republican party has made a choice. i mean, they could have gone in the direction of trying to open up the party to appeal to minorities, to appeal to latinos. they have obviously decided to double down on a strategy of appealing to people who are disenchanted with the democratic party after civil rights. and that includes the voter suppression laws, what's going on in florida. they've decided, rather than trying to broaden their appeal, they're going to restrict the people who can vote. >> abby, your father spoke out against druonald trump -- >> i was surprised he wasn't invited to the event, by the way. >> here he is attacking trump at an event. here it is. >> i'm not going to kiss his ring or any other part of his anatomy. >> this is not about ratings for donald trump, this is about jobs for the american people. i don't like to see the dumbing down of american politics. >> so the question is, abby, is there room for moderates in the republican party these days? >> that's the question. i think we need to see what the independents think of all of this, just nonsense. are they looking at this as a positive for romney right now, that he's not standing up for trump, or the they see it as -- >> but here's the most important thing. as of yesterday, as of the day that he gets all of the delegates that he needs, he is basically going to be the head of the republican party. so whatever is going to happen between the base and the independents and the moderates, he's got to figure out how they all work together and not off to a promising start. >> that's right. and to that point, everything that romney has done in his campaign has been a short-term, politically expedient move. every single item. and that does not add up to victory. it may add up to a win that week in pandering to particular demographic, but it does not add up to leadership and it does not add up to -- >> at the end of the day, it's all going to be about the economy, what the numbers are. no matter what calculated move he makes right now, election day is going to be -- >> then why isn't he talking about the economy? >> he should be. >> he should be. and that's -- >> and i think he is. i think this is more about taking a bold stand when it comes to ted nugent, when it comes to donald trump, when it comes to his advisers. >> but on the economy, people are going to want someone who is a leader. and he -- you know, all these little things, they eat away at people's ability to -- >> but at the end of the day, though -- >> and they cheapen him. >> at the end of the day, though, it's people in their house saying, is my life going to be better in the next four years. and if they tell themselves under an obama presidency, no, no matter what he does, he could -- >> one huge explosion he has right now, just over a year ago, when the birther madness was cresting, that was right around the time that the killing of osama bin laden showed how false and hollow that whole conversation was. that's what the romney people should be worried about, that they're going to get upstaged again. >> krystal ball, errol louis, abby huntsman, thanks for joining us. fox and friends, they let it rip with an all-out attack ad against president obama. that's coming up next. ♪ the one and only, cheerios as a culinary manager i make sure our guests have an over the top experience. being hands on is key! i make sure every plate looks just right. 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[ reza ] it's so much food for such a good value. i'm reza, culinary manager. and i sea food differently. that's good morning, veggie style. hmmm. for half the calories plus veggie nutrition. could've had a v8. up next, fox's latest hit job on the president is soare c. we'll show you that with commentary, stay tuned. it's getting away ! where is it ? it's gone. we'll find it. any day can be an adventure. that's why we got a subaru. love wherever the road takes you. wow, there it is. ♪ what started as a whisper every day, millions of people choose to do the right thing. there's an insurance company that does that, too. liberty mutual insurance. responsibility. what's your policy? welcome back to "the ed show." if there was ever any doubt fox news is an arm of the republican party, it ended today when fox and friends presented a retrospective of president obama's first term. here's how they set it up. >> it is still about change. >> but what sort of change have we really seen over the past four years of the obama administration? >> so, let's take a look back. >> the package lasted nearly four minutes. here's part of it. and keep in mind, it starts with a graphic reading "fox & friends presents --" >> it is time to stand for change. >> when you decide it's time for change to happen, guess what? change happens. hope has been the guiding force behind the most improbable changes this country has ever made. we cannot wait for good jobs and living wages and pensions. >> instead of concentrating on job creation, president obama has concentrated on growing government. >> we are making progress. >> people have been put on food stamps by barack obama than any president in american history. >> the high gas prices. >> you've seen how quickly the price of gas is going up. >> the gang then thanked the producer for his work. >> chris white, great job putting that together. >> no kidding. he remembered everything everybody said over the last 3 1/2, 4 years. >> took a tremendous amount of research. good job, chris. >> it was obviously a political attack ad and it clearly contained inaccuracies. they aired it twice, which was worth about $96,000 in free advertising for the republican party, according to media matters. fox executives are trying to distance themselves from all of this. "the package that aired on fox & friends was created by an associate producer and was not authorized at the senior executive level of the network. this has been addressed with the show's producers." a spokeswoman for fox news says that "roger ailes was not aware of the video." the attack ad was so bad, even conservative commentators criticized it. "if anyone wanted to look for evidence that fox news intends to campaign against president obama rather than cover the campaign, this video would be difficult to refute." the president of fox news, roger ailes, is a career political strategist. career political strategist. he's done it a long, long time. fox news gives him a platform the to run a 24-hour, 24/7 political operation. this attack ad is just the latest blatant example. now show me the balance. show me the fairness. it isn't going to happen. tonight in our survey, i asked, would the middle class survive a mitt romney presidency? 7% of you say, yes, 93% of you say no. the fight for representative democracy in michigan could come down to the, believe it or not, font size of the petition. tom hartman joins me next. stay tuned. t there. t there. - one serving of cheese is the size of four dice. one serving of cereal, a baseball. and one serving of fruit, a tennis ball. - you know, both parties agree. our kids can be healthier... the more you know. of how a shipping giant can befriend a forest may seem like the stuff of fairy tales. but if you take away the faces on the trees... take away the pixie dust. take away the singing animals, and the storybook narrator... 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[ male announcer ] it's a network of possibilities -- helping you do what you do... even better. ♪ and in the big finish tonight, dictatorial power in michigan is being challenged by actual people power. but the challenge has run into a ridiculous technicality. the issue is governor rick snyder's public act 4, the emergency manager law. it gives the governor power to swoop in and appoint emergency managers to take over cities and school districts that are financially in trouble. cities like flint, pontiac, and benton harbor, michigan, have already been saddled with it. labor says this is more extreme than anything in wisconsin. that's because the law busts up collective bargaining agreements. its anti-democratic. it's another template for radical governors everywhere to follow. but citizens collected more than 200,000 signatures for a referendum to be put on the ballot in november. they got 40,000 more than what they needed to get on the ballot. but the state board ruled the petition invalid because it did not use the correct font size. petitioners say that they used the right font size and that they say that the decision to vote against certification was politically motivated. the michigan court of appeals will soon rule on this issue. a valid petition would immediately stop the implementation of public act 4 until the november vote. and there are a number of cities that are on the list to be taken over very soon. let's turn to tom hartman, my friend, author, and radio talk show host extraordinariary and journalist. great to have you with me tonight. >> how are you? >> this is mind boggling that this is happening in our lifetime, but this throws out representative government. what strikes you about this story, tom? >> a guy named jeff timer, absolutely, is the guy that really gets me. there are two republicans and two democrats on the board of canvassers. and the two republicans voted to, you know, not allow the ballots to go through because they said the font was the wrong size, which it's not. and one of those two guys is a guy by the name of jeff timer who also works for sterling corporation, which is a republican consulting firm, which is the address for a group called citizens for fiscal responsibility, which is the group that challenged this law, saying that the font was the wrong size. >> so what we have here is a template being played out for radical governors to follow, that they can just come in and knock out collective bargaining greepts, knock out any kind of agreement, because the city might be in trouble. this is a takeover of representative government, isn't it? >> it is. there's been a lot of talk over the last couple of decades, really since the reagan area, about the rise of oligarchy in america, about the democracy, small "d" democracy doesn't do well with very, very rich individuals and corporations running the show. jefferson talked about that. and i think this is the ultimate of it. you nailed it exactly right, ed. >> detroit's naacp president said, "we have the right as americans to have dually electe leadership work out these issues. we should not be subject to ending democracy in our city and state simply because of an economic downturn." they are taking the attitude that while they may be in the red right now and they're never going to get in the black, so we've got to go in and take them over. your thoughts? >> here's what's particularly ironic about this. mitt romney, when he was confronted with an auto industry that was in trouble, said, let them go bankrupt, right? new york city went bankrupt. if you really believe in that philosophy, that republican philosophy of let them go bankrupt, then why not let these cities go bankrupt? why, instead, send a little dictator in to take their commons, their public parks and things and sell them off to fat cat corporations? i don't get it. >> why would anybody go vote in a local election if this is the way it's going to be? it's a disincentive. i think it also has an element of suppressing the vote. what do you think? >> absolutely. this is not only un-american, this is anti-american. this is anti-democratic. you know, i don't want to say it's the end of democracy, but it really is for these cities. these are people who are elected as city council members and mayors and things and now they're told, sorry, rick snyder's crony gets to come in here and run the place for you. >> thom hartmann, great to have you with us. that's "the ed show." i'm ed schultz. 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