independents, want change. and, again, republicans are in the minority. anyone else see a problem here? this is what americans want yet republicans refuse to come pro-might. today, republican senator susan collins of maine said, quote, i think my party needs to meet president obama halfway. how about that for a concept? meeting president obama halfway and former senator olympia snowe was more blunt. she said, they don t tolerate dissent within the party. that s why they find themselves in trouble. yes, they are in trouble all right and if they don t change they might become extinct. joining me now are clarence page and e.j. dionne. thank you both for being with me tonight. glad to be with you, reverend. clarence, a majority of americans want reform.
that because hillary clinton did speak about working for women s rights in a speech last night. listen to this. our unwavering faith in the potential, the untapped potential of women and girls is at the heart of the work we ve done together. when i became secretary of state, i was determined to weave this perspective into the fabric of american policies so our diplomats and policy makers would see a map of opportunities as well as challenges. we did put women on the agenda and made it a centerpiece of all that we did. so she s speaking directly about the women issues that tricia raised. if, patricia, she runs for president, do you think this will be the cause she champions? i think you will see her
barack obama got elected, door to door, person to earn approximat and changed the politics. it won t be easy but it s essential. now, president obama has a clear thing for this term. let me play this to you, jim. for we, the people, understand that our country cannot succeed with a shrinking few do really well and the most barely make it. we, the people, still believe that every citizen deserves a basic measure of dignity and security. the election four years ago wasn t about me. it was about you. my fellow citizens, you were the change. it seems clear that a theme the president hit all the way through the campaign and after was to try and galvanize people,
you want and what you believe, anything is possible. joining me is jim messina, chair of organizing for action. hi, reverend. how are you? good. let me ask you directly, how does the organization work to get the key piece of legislation through congress? well, look, reverend, we understand that the grassroots is the only way we re going to get this done. the president took a lot of grief during the campaign saying he can t change washington from the inside. right. we really believe that. we believe the only way to change the issues is to change what the grassroots is doing and saying. last week we had over 130 events across this country talking about the president s commonsense gun proposals. we ve had over 1.5 million people in just the first few
talking about the issues and he won elections that people say he couldn t win and that s exactly the kind of commitment and the kind of organizing we have to do around these legislative issues. they are going to spend all of the money in the world and we re going to encounter it with fax and people and i like our chances. well, i think you laid out a real strategy and it s interesting when you were talking about he won elections people didn t think he could win, i was looking at a quote from you where you talked about doing health care five different times during the health care we went in and told the president it was dead and five different times he put it together and passed a bill that has made millions of americans live better and that s why he s the leader who i believe in. and i think that s an interesting statement, jim. it gives a lot of hope on the policies we re dealing with now if that s the way the president is going to succeed. thanks for being on the show