these outsiders than we ve had before. let me ask you about the issue of reproductive rights. sure. not only do most democrats not want to run overtly on the issue. no matter what their position is on it. most even don t want to say the word abortion in an election year. democrats haven t liked to campaign on this for a long time. but in this election with this crop of republican candidates and their extreme positions on this issue, it seems to me like democrats don t have a choice. and actually that s happening. we see it in colorado where michael bennett has run not one but two ads that deal with reproductive health. we re seeing a governor s races in illinois against bill brady the republican and in indiana i mean in michigan. we re seeing it in a number of the races, let s see, in harry reid, of course, is using that in an ad. so we re going to see that more and more, i believe, as we get closer. this is a killer issue. not just the issue of abortion,
versus local messaging. because obviously any democrat running against one of those republicans who is that extreme on on abortion issues has that out there as a very soft target provided for the pro-choice democrat who is running. but there s also this broader issue, right? that any democrat running anywhere in the country could use that issue by saying, listen, is this the republican party that you want to empower? you want a republican majority? you re going to vote for x republican candidate? if so, you re electing christine o donnell. you re electing these incredibly radical republicans that you might have heard about nationwide. that s a national campaign strategy. and as far as i understand it, democrats have decided not to do that kind of nationalizing thing. well, certainly on social security that you re not right about that. that you re going to see all over. and again, i think you will see increasingly, you know what? emily s list found in a poll that 62% of rather unint
government shutdown in 1995 was at least theoretically about something. about republicans wanting president clinton to cut medicare and medicaid and education. this time around, mr. demint is not even bothering to make a case that it is about anything. it s not that jim demint wants some legislative thing he s not getting. like remember when that alabama republican senator put a blanket hold on all of the president s judicial nominees because he wanted some pork for his district? this is not that. this is not i m trying to get this one earmark, this one policy thing changed and if i don t get it i m going to shut down the government. this is just, i m going to shut down the government. this is just i can and so i shall. this is shutting down the government for the pure ideological joy of shutting down the government. it is the fetishization of the government shutdown, the full fruition of the idea that governing itself is bad. if you campaign for generations on the idea that government
president by nancy pelosi during the campaign and is now up with an advertisement in which he touts his work against president obama and nancy pelosi herself. with people like russ feingold, i don t think there s any meaningful distance trying to create there. a vigorous democratic party would punish that sort of thing instead of rewarding it by catering to it, but then we wouldn t have jobs. sam stein, thanks so much. thanks, rachel. take care. so senator james warren demint of south carolina is threatening all by himself without even apparently the approval of his fellow republicans. he s threatening all by himself to shut down the legislature of the united states. at least to shut down the united states senate. if i use that senator s middle name when i talk about this, does that bring home just how scary this prospect is? senator james warren hussein demint? i am willing to do that if i need to. i m willing to pull out all the
year. it s a fantastic ad. but the good news is, rachel, that you re wrong that it s not being done around the country. we are doing campaigns and ads about social security privatization, hands off our social security, all over the country. that includes even more conservative democrats who are running and, i believe, going to win on that issue. so it is being used. it s one of the major national messages along with our make it in america, stop outsourcing our jobs that are being shown all over the country. is the reason it seems fresh to me because democrats are being outspent by republicans and in particular republican outside groups by a margin of 5 or 6 to 1? that could be. but democrats have been conserving money, i think that gap s going to diminish closer to the campaign. this is the moment the democrats have been saving their money for. so you re going to see that we have a much greater presence as compared to the republicans and