strokes vision about his tax plan. then the question becomes, how do you pay for it? you re going to cut taxes for everybody. it s going to be deficit neutral. you say you re going to close loopholes, deal with deductions, so let s talk about those deductions. you know, home mortgage deduction, charitable giving deduction, health care deduction. are you willing to tell the middle class tax deduction. are you willing to tell the middle class some of these are off the table? if you are, how do you pay for it? he s not going to. he has bucket, 17 grand. is that not good enough for you? that s the problem. if he starts getting specific like that, what the right wants to hear is not what 80% of the country wants to hear. that s the fundamental problem he has. the bar is pretty low for mr. romney. how does he get through the 90 minutes without any further problems? very quickly. i ve been a big fan of the fact that mitt romney is the gift that keeps on giving. listen, if mitt r
that optics could trump policy. the slightest sigh, the quickest glance at a watch or, heaven forbid, the smallest bead of sweat, could prove the moment that undoes everything. jonathan capehart is an msnbc contributor and opinion writer for the washington post and he joins us now. hi, martin. 90 minutes for lighting and cameras, everything counts tonight. which way is it going to go? look, i think what we re in for is a great performance. not a pejorative sense, but in the sense we ll see these two men side by side for the first time, in their first debate. we re going to see whether the zinger-wielding mitt romney shows up or if a more sober, substantive, specifics-wielding mitt romney shows up. we re going to see if a more concise president shows up in his answers and who also brings specifics to the table in terms of what he where he wants to take the country for the next four years, if he s re-elected.
they can help, but recent research shows. .nothing transforms schools like investing in advanced teacher education. let s build a strong foundation. let s invest in our teachers so they can inspire our students. let s solve this. we are a few hours from the start of the presidential debate here in denver, colorado. and you can feel the famous rocky mountain air as a special electrical charge this afternoon. particularly behind me. this is one of the most fiercely contested states in the presidential election with the president and mitt romney running neck and neck. all of that could change tonight in the blink of an eye. stay with us as much more to come. plus, the day s top lines are just ahead.
creamy spinach artichoke dip, crispy garlic chicken spring rolls. they re this season s must-have accessory. lean cuisine. be culinary chic. like a pair of well-prepared athletes, both the president and his challenger have arrived here at the university of denver to walk through the arena before suiting up for the big battle ahead. in terms of the battleground states, the president and mr. romney are close in florida and virginia according to the latest nbc news/wall street journal poll. in ohio romney seems stuck, trailing the president 51% to 43%. we re joined by a pair of well-prepared athletes themselves, perry bacon jr., an msnbc contributor, and political editor at the grio.com, thank you for coming in. so to you first, perry, here s
touch. this 47% video resonated to a greater degree than john mccain not remembering how many homes he owned. so, if you have failed at this point to explain who you are, if you have another version of that story out there, you cannot undo it in one debate. you can try and engage with people directly to camera, but mitt romney is also going to want to land some punches. that s going to take time away from his job, number one, which should be telling people, for once, who he really is. i think that may be intentional. john, this is how romney s running mate paul ryan addressed the 47% comment captured in that secret video yesterday. take a listen. is there any way possible that this 47% can pay a nominal fee or something so they feel that they have small ownership in the government and maybe they won t take all the handouts so