himself to the primary electora electorate. what was clever about what bush did was he said he was a conservative, but a compassionate conservative. it made him sound like a different kind of conservative. that s how he came across to the electric rat. when they use the term mainstream conservative they want to say he s conservative, but that s there to also position him as someone who can win. when they turn the obama stuff against him and say he was obama s ambassador to china, he probably will say, no, i was america s ambassador to china, and then he ll use that credential to critique the obama policy. i wouldn t write him off. i don t know whether mark s right or mark s hope will come true that a republican primary electorate can accept someone like this this year. mark, let s stay with that point. he thinks giving a big old bear
the republican primary electora electorate? that is the question he somehow has to figure out how to answer. the president actually joked about that when ambassador huntsman was here for the china state visit saying i m not sure how much it is going to help ambassador huntsman he worked in my administration. the real problem he will china. china is unpopular in the populace wings of both the democratic party and republican party because there is this fear china is taking all of our jobs. how does he explain that to the average tea party activist in south carolina and iowa? i don t know it is going to be interesting. i see the general election argument for him. getting there is a whole different ball game. it is interesting. we will get back to our breaking news now. hundreds of thousands of egyptians flooded into the heart of cairo shouting and chanting in tahrir square, the most massive call yet for an end to president mubarak s 30-year reign. hundreds of thousands of people
mean a gain of 50 seats, which would be enough to give republicans control of the house. what do you think? well, i think it s very tough. and what it really comes down to is, do you try to persuade the middle or turn around and try to expand te elect rat? to me, as i look at the democrats hopes, i think they ll have to expand the electora electorate. and that means a lot of people who don t usually vote in an off year to actually decide to go out and vote. that s the key. and any glimmer of hope in these poll numbers for either the president or the democratic party? well, the real glimmer of hope is that while they re unhappy with the current conditions, they don t like the republicans. their numbers are even worse than the democrats, in terms of the feelings about the two party. and when you test a republican message against a democratic message, neither is popular. and i think what people are saying is, we re going to hold our nose and vote this year, but i think both parties
presidency. when you re in a situation like this, and this is not a good situation, you try everything. i m glad to see he s willing to help, and sure you ll try it, and whether it turns the whole thing around, i doubt it. mary, how do you view it in the sense that some democrats see double star power, others say privately it s proof the current president isn t popular in some parts of the country? well, that s right. the problem for president clinton, when he s running on his issues, he s good. when he s trying to help on obama issues, he s not going to be able to change hi sentiment. this isn t a matter of personal preference. it s about the policies. clinton in the sent, facing an electora electorate, walking up to the 4, he cuts taxes, he was a free trader.
supporting congressional democrats. that s powerful stuff, chuck. this one is really something here, perhaps the toughest number in the poll, if you re an obama supporter. 40% of the people are confident that this president, president obama, hats right set of goals. 59% are not so confident. in other words, 3/5 of the american people polled by nbc and the wall street journal poll are not confident barack obama is doing or trying to do the right things. that is to me damning. well, it is. think about those numbers, 40% to 59% in that respect. 49, that is the default democratic position. 40% of this country basically always polls the lever for the democrat or for a democratic idea so that means he s losing almost all of that, quote, middle, all of the, quote, moderate or independent vote, the true sort of independent vote which is 15% to 20% of this electora electorate. all of them right now do not see the president as somebody that