just quoted from john s piece there. whether they use it or not, there s another aspect of the massachusetts record that speaks directly to it. one of the reasons why romney left massachusetts and so unpopular is because he quit on the job half way through. he was elected in 2002. he was out the door by the end of 2004. he was using the office as a springboard. sarah palin had the integrity, if we can call it that, to at least leave the building and give up the the paycheck. john heliemann and steve kornacki, thank you both for joining me tonight. thank you, lawrence. coming up, 50 shades of mitt. karen finney and judith grey on how republicans are trying to win over republican voters. and 25 years ago today barney frank made history. he ll tell us what it was like to be america s first openly gay member of congress. and in the rewrite, newt gingrich pretends there s nothing ray cyst about the lies
his credibility on economic incompetence. it s critical for the obama campaign that they do that. again, in this climate the tendency for swing voters, i really think is, don t ask questions. just vote the indumb bent out. the obama campaign really needs for there to be context. john, in your piece, your sources say the obama campaign, in addition to going after his public record in massachusetts, they believe they have an issue of character to go after here. you write it will the campaign will drive home the idea that romney is a skillful but self serving plutocrat who has never cared about bettering the lives of ordinary people. one tag line the campaign is considering using, he s never been in it for you. yes, and that s a very strong line. and now that it s been in this magazine piece, i don t know if they re going to feel comfortable using it or not. it does what steve kornacki was just talking about. it ties up everything.
about that, that meaning the money, as i am about the question of what the economy is going to do over the next three or four months. joining me now is new york magazine national affairs editor john heliemann and steve kornacki. it sounds like he s got a calculator out there. it worries him almost as much as the economy. yeah, lawrence, it s true. and it s one of the big takeaways from, more or less, month i spent between chicago and the white house talking to all the senior people running the obama election effort. they are convinced, as are most republicans, that the president is going to get outspent, when you take all the money together. what the president raises, what the dnc raises, what the super pacs raise, what the labor unions raise and spend. then you take all the republican money. again, the super pacs, the
27,000 workers. i like being able to fire people. not as much as meg whitman. a new politico report describes just how much money mitt romney and the outside groups supporting his candidacy plan to spend in addition in addition to the $800 million the romney campaign and the republican national committee intend to spend. republican super pacs and other outside groups shaped by a loose network of prominent conservatives, including karl rove plan to spend roughly $1 billion on november s elections for the white house and control of congress, according to officials familiar with the group s internal operations. john s latest report in new york magazine. he quotes, white house political adviser david plouffe saying, quote, from a political standpoint i m almost worried