i think that s what wisconsin shows. look, wisconsin got the government they elected. those people didn t get put in by some sort of coo, they were elected to those positions, but when they saw what it was, as you point out, lit up the base. lit up the base not just in a way that made them angry about what the republicans were doing, which has succeeded the national level in terms of a democratic agenda, but made them start cheering for their democrats and wanting more of them. it s tough and they are going to have to do that with more than rhetoric. i remember during the campaign senator clinton said you campaign in poetry but you govern in pros, the question we regain the poetry along with the difficulty of the pros. melissa harris-perry, professor at tulane, msnbc contributor, thank you for coming back so soon. you did a great jobs. fans of the ed show, get excited, want to know who their guest is? want to know who it is? bill maher, it s true. dictators, say what you will a
doing identifiable thing, we saw in 2010 a large number of republican voters rushing to the polls and electing republican candidates and democrats sitting on their hands. how does the white house keep democrats from sitting on your hands? when you re running you want a good enemy and somebody you can get behind. that s what 2008 was. what i liked best about 2008 was it assumed that american voters would respond to argument, they were adults, you could make a case to them, and that even if the so-called median voter didn t agree with you today, if you could make the right kind of case you d be able to win the median voter. they have not governed that way, they campaigned that way in 08, they have not governed that way, so i think they are going to have to decide whether or not they think americans are adults who can hear an argument. i think that s what wisconsin shows. look, wisconsin got the government they elected. those people didn t get put in
democratic voters going out and doing identifiable thing, we saw in 2010 a large number of republican voters rushing to the polls and electing republican candidates and democrats sitting on their hands. how does the white house keep democrats from sitting on your hands? when you re running you want a good enemy and somebody you can get behind. that s what 2008 was. what i liked best about 2008 was it assumed that american voters would respond to argument, they were adults, you could make a case to them, and that even if the so-called median voter didn t agree with you today, if you could make the right kind of case you d be able to win the median voter. they have not governed that way, they campaigned that way in 08, they have not governed that way, so i think they are going to have to decide whether or not they think americans are adults who can hear an argument. i think that s what wisconsin shows. look, wisconsin got the government they elected.