election to be about trivia because they don t want a referendum on the president. what romney s got to do is break through all that. we do need to adjust the tone of politics on both sides. i m a liberal in the republican party. i m for the path forward. the more we debate these side issues the more we not only take attention away from stuff i think we re better at we take attention away from people screaming every poll. the voters are not confused. this is a jobs election. that s the election they want. that s what they want to hear about. and i think the traditional kickoff of the campaign, not for junkies like us, is now, the convention. and i think that s what mitt romney s going to do. i would just say that i think the president s trying to turn this into a values election, and there s some people that argue, and i think mike might be one of those, that every election is a values election on who wins the values argument. the idea of who connects more, who is more representative
i think it is still half-baked. this is the real starter gun, the convention. let this thing keep going. it is a close race. in the states it is a little less close but it can get closer. voters want a jobs election. let s give it to them. akin, long-term damage? everybody but eisenhower s come out on this guy, only because ike s not with us. i think it is a local thing and it is a local problem. it is great news for harry reid. maybe akin will get out. but he says he won t. we ll see. i don t think it plays nationally. the big gender gap issue? i m very concerned about the gender gap. akin, the way romney and others handled it in the party, putting as much distance time to change the channels. mike murphy, if you would produce these conventions for us, it might be more interesting. there would be ratings, i don t know if the party would do well. can i do a charlie crist prediction on the way out? i think he s going to run as a democrat and lose the primary.
no, look, here s the republican platform, nobody reads it. i ve been in this business 28 years. i ve never read the platform. i did read the democratic platform last night because we ve been talking about platforms. it promised to close guantanamo bay, comprehensive immigration reform in the first year in office and a lot of other stuff they haven t achieved. ban assault weapons. it s not about achievements, it s about what you re committing to. committed to and failed to deliver. there are republicans in congress who the democrats want the election to be about trivia because they don t want a referendum on the president. what romney s got to do is break through all that. i object. we do need to adjust the tone of politics on both sides. i m a liberal in the republican party. the more we debate these side issues the more we not only take attention away from stuff i think we re better at we take attention away from people screaming every poll. the voters are not confused. th
so yeah, you ll still have a race every year, you and that other guy you always raced against, but every year from here on out, your car will have wheels and his will not. so you will win every year. the well blockade in that analogy is a very good informsment for you. investment for you. that s why that shows who is giving money. who doesn t factor into this at all or makes no splash whatsoever in money or politics? you. and by you, i mean you, my fellow individual human. in an average midterm election, so like at the time corporations and unions and organizations are fighting it out to fund their favorite side of the election in 2010, in the average midterm election, that s midterms, 2010, the proportion of human beings, individual americans choosing to give money to a political campaign is roughly 1%. that s it.
this is a big development. there s a reason that every republican boldface name has been in wisconsin taking scott walker s side. they want to use the scott walker template around the country to destroy unionization in this country and run the table in every election that they can. you put the spotlight on that for democrats more than anybody in the country. i know you ll be there in the next few days doing intensive coverage. thanks for staying up late. appreciate it. thank you. you ve been on it as well. i think this is vitally important for the country. a real turning point. thank you. thank you. you can catch a full hour of ed right before this show. 8:00 eastern on msnbc. as we head toward the recall election on tuesday night, ed will be doing live shows in wisconsin, including big shows that are open to the public. you want to check out the ed website which we have linked to our blog tonight. there s not going to be anymore