and the president is going to say tonight, he s for fairness. mitt romney stands there in this republican campaign liberally as the embodiment of unfairness. this is one of the great political questions. the president is going to debate romney if he s the nominee. he may get bumped up by newt, but if they get in that debate, would you think it s smart of the president to look right at mitt and say, i know why you don t want to change the tax system. i saw your returns. he may well. i doubt he will get that personal. it doesn t seem instinctively with how the president is. bob worked on a campaign against mitt romney. everyone who studied him on the democratic side believes he s going to be an easy mark because he can t bring humor and warmth and folksiness to tough situations. for people supporting newt gingrich, and saying he s more electable, there is is growing sentiment in the party that says romney simply can t handle these issues in a way that matches up
bob strum and mark hal prin are joining us. let s focus on the fairness issue. we know bob and mark that we face a deficit for years to come. we have a debt problem which grows in towers. the question is, who is going to close the gap in our deficit over time so we can deal with the debt burden over time fairly? obviously, our system is based on the ability to pay. here s a guy who is fully able to work, but doesn t have to work because he s wealthy with cash. he makes money off of money. he makes a lot of money and draws out the kind of income he feels like drawing. he can probably reinvest everything. 14 to 15% in taxes compared to most people who work hard who pay 35% and above. my question is, will there be a
establishment wants to bring him down because he s too unconventional. and the media distorts the facts again and again. it s the media, it s the democrats, it s the establishment. everyone seems to think his campaign, by the way, except him, is over. many conservatives say it s time for him to throw in the towel. the christian science monitorรง today likened his candidacy to a zombie. he s still moving forward, but there s not much vitality left in his campaign. that s pretty tough. so is he going to call it quits? and if not, what s that mean for the rest of the field? contamination factor here, i d say. michael steele is a former rnc committee chair, and bob strum is a strategist. michael steele, you re close to these guys, you re a republican. and i just wonder, from a personal sense, it seems to me there s absolutely no gain to this fellow, that i like. if he throws in the towel now, he is basically saying, for the history books, you got me. i cheated on my wife, i m not a
we ll talk to an army sergeant who was outed and may now re-enlist. and author joe mcginniss joins us tonight to talk about his new book on sarah palin. it s called the rogue. we re going to ask him about what he learned about palin. and let me finish tonight with the line in the sand that obama just draw, the line that could decide 2012. we started with the launch of the obama campaign yesterday and it has started. jennifer granholm is a former governor of michigan, now an msnbc contributor, and the author of a brand-new book a governor s story, a fight for jobs in america s future. and bob strum is an economic strategist. i want you to listen to this. clinton strategist mark penn who worked for the clintons said, obama s new tone won t work. he writes in the huffington post, quote, barack obama is careening down the wrong path towards re-election. he should be claiming the vital center, not abandoning it. he should be holding down taxes rather than raising them. he should be
of the past, as of today. in the past 20 years, americans attitudes towards gay people have changed faster than any other social issue. and let s be glad for that. we ll talk to an army sergeant who was outed and may now reenlist. and author joe mcginniss joins us tonight to talk about his new book on sarah palin. it s called the rogue. we re going to ask him about what he learned about palin. and let me finish tonight with the line in the sand that obama just drew, that line that could decide 2012. we start with the launch of the obama campaign yesterday, and it has standarted. jennifer granholm is a former governor of michigan, now an msnbc contributor, and the author of a brand-new book a governor s story. and bob strum is an economic strategist. i want you to listen to this. clinton strategist mark penn who worked for the clintons said, obama s new tone won t work. he writes, barack obama is