must know give the black man a head start or hold the white man back to even that race. i don t buy that. how much do you think he needs to explain that statement today and where he has been on the past on issues like that? well, i look forward, john, to the opportunity to defend what was joe biden s strong record of public service of leadership in the senate of the united states. but i don t expect him as a candidate to be spending his time relitigating things that were said or might have been said three or four or even five decades ago. obviously the united states is in a very different place today. race relations are different, the challenges we face are different. i grew up in delaware, busing was very challenging, very divisive, but ultimately in the state of delaware we ve made enormous progress. and joe biden was someone who in his entire career in the senate was a tireless advocate for civil rights. i could cite you chapter and verse the bills he led, that he cosponsored, tha
joe biden said the other day that middle class is in the midst of a recovery. president obama said that the private sector is doing just fine. this is the obama imaginary recovery. well, despite their efforts to focus squarely on jobs in the economy todd akin of missouri forced republicans into a national conversation about the hot button social issues of abortion and rape. yesterday paul ryan said he would follow mitt romney s lead on the issue of abortion. proud of my record, mitt romney is going to be the president. the president sets policy. his policy is exceptions for rape, incest, life of the mother. i m comfortable with it because it s a good step in the right direction. congressman ryan was pressed to explain the meaning behind the term forcible rape which appeared in legislation that he cosponsored. with a group of other republicans. you sponsored legislation that has the language forcible rape. what is forcible rape? rape is rape. rape is rape period, end of
entitlements. he is a conservative at the same time and he s not backing off of his beliefs. he wants to get there maybe in a different direction. he is backing off from his beliefs when he changes from a bill he cosponsored and now says this is romney s lead, he could be the president, god for bid were to happen top governor romney if he were elected. so his thoughts, beliefs cannot be pushed to the side as if they don t count. michael? a candidate who is pro-life like paul ryan can be elected. however, if the american people recognize he s a candidate who doesn t want to recognize exceptions for rape, a woman who is raped and is told you must carry that pregnancy to term, that is a stone cold loser. yes, it s been in the platform in the past but it hasn t gotten to the surface of the conversation the way that it will now. that s the issue for paul ryan. and what about the issue we often hear conservatives say,
congress men and opponents and i for got that but i had him on and he raised that issue about nancy pelosi and he could never vote for her as a speaker or a leader. he has expressed that view before, though, that he has never been a tight buddy with her. that is not too shocking. guest: he has voted for her all four times that he had the opportunity to vote for someone other than nancy pelosi and he has supported her each time and he voted to raise the national debt limit to $14 trillion, he cosponsored and voted for the card check to give the unions more control of our economy, and he voted for the stimulus bill, $787 billion, and to put that in perspective . neil: how does he keep getting elected? guest: i don t know that he will pull it off. we have several days to go before the votes are counted.
the political atmosphere, obviously, has been toxic and it s very clear that some of the votes that i have cast have added to the toxic environment. i offer my congratulations, as i say, to whoever wins. but i assure him, he will not have anymore loyal, dedicated or efficient staff than i have had. david brooks, a reliable conservative for 18 years, yet he proposed an alternative on health care and he voted for the bank bailout. it is an outrage, to be honest. this is a guy who was a very good senator and he was a good senator for a a good conservative, but a good conservative who was trying to get thing done. the wyden/bennett bill that he cosponsored, it was a substantiative, serious bill, a bipartisan bill, but with strong conservative and some liberal support. so he did something sort of brave by working with democrats, which more senators should do, and now they ve been sending a big message, don t do that. the second thing is the t.a.r.p. nobody liked the t.a.r.p., but