that mark mckenyon. joan walsh, your thinking? is it along those lines? yes it is very much so, chris. he s been called a perfectly lubricated weather vein by our friend john huntman. his friend. but i think it goes further than that. i think it is very cowardly not to distance himself from donald trump. i think it is a sign he want it leave no wing nut behind. he doesn t feel that the base loves him enough, that he can just count on turning them out in november. they ve been a little bit tepid. so he want it rely on the trump magic and trump name. and i think, you know, after yesterday, i will never forget the sight of mitt romney decomplaining next to the big trump sign behind him. like a wholly owned sub sudden areary. so it is cowardly but also brings this this birther nonsense, no matter what they try it say, he validate trump s birther nonsense and keeps it part of the conversation. trump is loving every minute of it. and romney needs it stand up to
might sling it at him? there is a growing group of republicans showing that romney shows independence from trump and leave trump to sit in his playpen blowing noise makers alone. joan is here to tell us what it could mean. is donald on the short list of the bp? is there something to his birther stuff? will he be if his kitchen cabinet if he is elected? what? let s bring in joan walsh. first of all, fellas, watch this thing. republican strategist mark mckenyon told the new york times today quote and he said it so well, i think who romney stand with says a lot about what he will stand for. associating with trump sees to only reinforce the narrative on romney that team romney want to what team obama want it push which is that romney is an out of touch rich guy without any real core. which means he will associate with anyone if he thinks it will further his ambition.
of this debate. mark mckenyon is next. and later, why lady gaga was at the white house today. and pokemon is in the rewrite tonight thanks to herman cain. this is droid razr by motorola. the droid that proves thin is no longer frail.
adviser to the bush and clinton campaigns, co-founder of no labels and vice chair of strategies. hi, how are you. thank you. how are you. you were one of the wisemen who counselled against any participation in the trump crazy debate here. how you are feeling? two acceptances, three rejections and then michele bachmann and rick perry trying to make up their minds. i m encouraged, lawrence. and i m glad it see romney sort of stand up and i m glad to see jon huntsman really stand up and stiffen some spine. they are doing what they ought to do. it turned into a carnival, a cirque with us pt barnham donald trump leading in center ring. it is diminishing the brand of the republican candidates in the party. there is recent poll be showing that all of this is doing is diminishing numbers for republicans, particularly among independents.
of the united states of america as opposed to manipulating the process from the outside. romney dropped out of debate but he did it in pure romney style. he apologized to donald trump in the process, claiming he had a scheduling conflict. no, i m not participating this that. i spoke with donald trump earlier today. i indicated we just can t make this debate. we are going to focus on the other two we ve got and on some campaigning. and what did he say? he understood my perspective and wished me well. this is how much trump understood the romney perspective. it would seem logical to me that if i was substantially behind in the polls, especially in iowa south carolina and florida, i would be participating in the debate. but i can also understand why governor romney decided not to do it. joining me now is mark mckenyon,