>> i deserve a second term but we're not done. >> new poll numbers show the american people agree with that statement. e.j. dionne and joan walsh. racism rears its head in a republican super bowl ad. the candidate behind the ad isn't backing down. >> the economy get very weak. ours get very good. we take your jobs, thank you debbie spend it now. good to have you with us. thanks for watching, we come to you from minnesota where the caucus is tomorrow, this is the big story tonight. it basically is the ad the entire country is talking about, for a good reason. the chrysler commercial with clint eastwood i think speaks for itself. >> it's halftime. both teams are in their locker room discussing what they can do to win the game in the second half. it's halftime in america, too. people are out of work and they are hurting, and all wondering what they will do to make a comeback. we're all scared because this isn't the game. >> the first 30 seconds of that ad so powerful, i mean did you notice it was shock on film for effect? the voice, clint eastwood, mr. true grit, tough guy, dirt ysh harry, in the city talking about detroit and the way american can come back. it captivated the audience i was with yesterday. it is a tribute to the american worker and a success story. yeah, it's a locker room pep talk, which is cool, but also recognized the people in the country who are are going through a lot of hurt right now. >> people of detroit know a little something about this. they almost lost everything. but we all pulled together, now motor city is fighting again. >> we all pulled together, the rebirth of the american automobile industry, certainly a story worth celebrating. but let's not get carried away with saying we all came together. this was an extremely heavy lift for some in washington. a majority of the american people opposed giving loans to chrysler and general motors. top republican officials were against the loans, including the current front-runner for the republican nomination. >> no question but that if you just write a check that you will see the companies go out of business ultimate lichlt don't just give them a check, and expect them to spend it the way they have been spending the last few years. >> the american taxpayers saw it differently. loaning the automobile industry money was unpopular. a lot of americans didn't want it. majority didn't want it but the right thing to do, the moral thing to do. the capital markets, they were not in a position to rescue the automobile industry with any loan or capital. wall street was in a meltdown, what did president obama do? he threw the hail mary pass and ended up on super bowl sunday. his administration turned to an advisor ron bloom, who had been down the road before about reorganizing and turned to him and said i good plan we can turn it around. the auto loans saved, saved more than a million jobs in 2010 and prevented nearly 97 billion dollars in personal income losses. the weak economy would have been further damaged by the losssif we had not have done this. this commercial, my friends, was the right message, it was at the right time, it was perfect for america, and i bet it caught the attention of everybody in every living room in the country. the super bowl was the best possible place for it. wait a minute, karl rove i don't know at the like the outcome, he and his friends did not like it a bit. because it turned into a political football. >> i was frankly offended by it. i'm a huge fan of clint eastwood, extremely well-done ad, a sign of what happens when you have chicago-style politics and the best wishes of the management which is benefited by getting a bunch of our money they will never pay back. >> a bunch of middle classers in that ad, the firefighters in there, the school teachers, those are the kind of folks the conservatives don't care about. chrysler has already paid back the loan and general motors is on schedule. if karl rove wants to be offended let him be offended. rove is offended by a great american success story? clint eastwood is right, this is not a game it's serious business to a lot of americans turning it around. the ceo of chrysler couldn't be more clear about the intention of the ad. he said the message is sufficiently universal and neutral. that it should be appealing to everybody in this country and i sincerely hope that it doesn't get utilized as a political fodder in a debate. you know what, it is, that is the way it is. conservatives believe the auto loan was the wrong thing to do. they are on the wrong side of history. and their only hope politicize like the talk last friday when the job numbers came out. but the message of this ad is just too strong. >> come from behind, how do we come together, and how do we win? detroit is showing us it can be done. and what is true about them is true about all of us. this country can't be knocked out in one punch, we get back up again and when we do the world will hear the roar of our engines. yeah, it's halftime, america. our second half's about to begin. >> yeah, the big question is how do we come together? this ad was about the the strength of the of american spirit. but it also a love letter to the people who stood behind american workers to make this rescue possible. the american taxpayer. was the people that made this possible. the questions that were in that commercial are so profound, where do we go from here, how do we come together, isn't that what we're asking washington? so what if there is a pliical under-tone to the ad? it cuts right to every kitchen table in the country that was affected by what taxpayers did to help an industry turn around. the capital markets couldn't do it, there was nobody stepping up to write a check to do it, there were republicans out there who were saying that this is a deadend, this is the wrong road to follow. richard shelby of alabama, i have the tape, you shouldn't have said that you were wrong. so where do we go from here? we'll le just use this as a template if we believe in american workers, if we believe in hollywood, like clint eastwood believes in the american worker, eastwood's comment together, he's not in the obama crowd, you don't have to be in the obama crowd to be for the american worker. you don't have to be in the republican crowd or the democratic crowd to be for the american worker. plays to our best instincts as americans to give somebody a life line to do better as a worker and compete and that what is story is all about. it was great stuff. get your cell phones out i want to know what you think. tonight's question, will voters hold republicans accountable for trying to kill the american auto industry? text a for yes, b for no to 622639. go to our blog at ed.msnbc.com. we'll bring you results later. i'm joined by bob king, the president of the united auto workers and also congressman gary peters of michigan where chrysler is in his district. gentlemen, great to have you both with us tonight i know you have been on the ground floor with this story all along. bob, i got to ask you when you saw the ad, what were your emotions? >> i felt great, fantastic ad. >> go ahead. >> it really honored our membership. it made a lot of sacrifices we worked with management, a great example of management, labor, community and government working together. >> here's clint eastwood's statement about the ad, i'm not politically affiliated with mr. obama, it was meant to be a message about job growth and the spirit of america. i think all politicians will agree with it. congressman i'm not sure about. that i respect clint eastwood, i remember the days there was people saying this wasn't going to work. what is it about conservatives and karl rove's message, what is your response to that? >> any response is that the ad is very simple, it just is a factual ad about what actually happens in detroit and with the auto manufacturers that the investment in american workers has been successful, it's a great turn around, mr. rove apparently just doesn't like facts, he's not a guy that ever lets facts get in the way of hits opinion and we're seeing that his opinion is trumping the facts of the situation. president obama made an unpopular decision around the country but was right for american workers not just in michigan but across the country. >> congressman, do you think it was the right thing to take that ad out and do that by chrysler, do you think it was the right thing to do? >> it is absolutely the right thing to do. the american public needs to understand that when you bet on american worker you will win every time. we had a situation as you mentioned at the top of the program because of the greed on wall street that brought our economy to its knees we had a situation we almost lost make or manufacturing industry in our country, had we lost the auto industry, would have lost middle class americans, would have found their livelihood in danger. that is what the american auto industry is, a manufacturer, we need to stand up for manufacturing and make sure middle class families have the opportunity to earn a decent livelihood. >> bob king the united auto workers took a haircut. you caved in on things you had to help out, and now there is employees getting bonuses. take us down that road, how tough was that to do? >> it was a huge sacrifice for our membership, but they wanted to support the company, they wanted to save jobs in america, in this last set of bargaining, they put the priority on more investment, more product to get neighbors hired, couldn't be prouder of our membership, they are making the highest quality and most productive plants. it was a huge victory and again, president obama gary is right, without his leadership it would not have happened. >> i went to my phone after the commercial was anxious to see how the twitter world would respond. it was overwhelmingly positive, fun to read just to see how people were responding to this. congressman, karl rove says the taxpayers are still on the hook for the auto loan. take us down that road. >> well, he's wrong once again, not going to let facts get in the way of his opinion. there is still a ways to go but the chrysler loans are being paid back with interest, certainly all the loans that were made by president obama have been paid back with interest. money from the general motors investment is also being paid back, shares have been sold to the public, there is still some government money involved but now with the success of general motors, which as you reported on your program has been very successful, in fact they are looking at perhaps a multi billion dollar profit at general motors, that is a big turn around from where they were and as a result of that, the remaining investment the taxpayerers have in general motors will be paid back, hopefully most of it but whatever is not paid back, it won't be that much, you have to put that in comparison as to what would have happened if you let the companies disappear. as you mentioned, a million jobs are impacted. folks who have jobs now, work hog are paying taxes, who are able to provide for their families and pursue that american dream, that would have washed away if it wasn't for the investment in american manufacturing. the cost would have been catastrophic to think we would allow a major manufacturing sector in our economy to disappear, to me is completely irresponsible from any elected official. we have obligations to the people back home, hard working people playing by the rules each day, all they want is a decent shot at a decent wage, decent health care and an opportunity to retire with dignity. that what is manufacturing jobs do and that is what the investment returned to us. >> gary peters, bob king, great to have you with us tonight, appreciate your time on the story. answer the question and share thoughts on twitter @edshow. >> mitt romney says president obama is in over his head, the president is smoking romney with american voters in the polls. e.j. dionne and john walsh will talk about minnesota. republicans sabotaged an faa bill with an anti-union rules and democrats in the senate let them get away with it. you won't want to miss this story, affects a lot of of workers in this country. we're right back. was thought up and built and run to save people money? 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>> i think he made the turn, ed. i think that turn is part of why his numbers are going up. i think there are several things going on, we do see unemployment coming down, not as fast as we would like, stale problem. but coming down the numbers are going in the right direction. and the president's own rhetoric has been more feisty, much more populist, he's competent, we are on the right track i think that in turn is shoring up his base and also attracting independents. then of course the third thing, we talked about the republicans are scaring people. >> e.j., does he stay the course? does he keep the tone, this is the winning strategy, do you think? >> it sure much more winning than what he was pursuing six months ago. i think what you're seeing two short term things, two long term things. the long term things are as joan suggested, starting in september, he abandoned seeking bipartisanship with people who didn't want to pursue bipartisan shin and started making an argument about fairness and shared prosperity. i think occupy wall street deserves a hat tip here, because they really changed the nation's conversation. we are talking a lot more about economic inequality than we were six months or a year ago, that is not good for conservatives. short term, i think romney has suffered more than he's gained in these primaries, particularly it seems when he talks about money and lastly, i think what is significant is not just that the economy has improved, because it started doing that a while ago, but americans are starting to believe that it's improving, they are sensing that this time it made be for real. now some things could go wrong in europe or in iran, but for now, i think americans think we may have finally turned the corner and that makes a huge difference. i don't see why the president would abandon what he started in september, and he keeps doubling up on it. >> joan, why would one of the leading right wing hacks out there, karl rove, come out and talk about a super bowl ad? this really must have gotten under their skin. what do you think of the backlash of the clint eastwood ad? >> i think it's fascinating ed. it tells us alot about american politics. karl rove was -- has a hissy fit over nothing. clint eastwood has been a conservative but what that told me, ed, is they are starting to understand that they've destroyed their brand. their brand, ronald reagan's brand was optimism. they were the ones with faith in the country, they were the ones who believed our brightest days were ahead. and they managed to pick democrats off in this kind of nervous nellies and critical of the country and not great believers in the spirit. what i think you have seen now is karl rove is terrified, when he hears that language it sounds like barack obama. it wasn't about barack obama, but it sounds like it. that is not good news for republicans and it shows how far that we've turned a corner where the republicans are the negative, nasty pessimistic ones and the democrats are the ones with the optimism. >> i find it amazing, you think back in the days, e.j., karl rove running the political machine for george bush, must be a low day for him to have to come out and comment on a super bowl ad that talks about creating jobs, where's the pro growth agenda here, big guy? i find it amazing. >> you know he's a commentator, he has to talk about all trending items everywhere, that may have had something to do with it but i do think the republicans as joan suggested, have put themselves in a box. fdr cornered optimism in his day. ronald reagan stole it back, from the democrats. the democrats kind of played along and they were kind of grumpy and worried about the direction of the country. i think clinton stole it back from reagan, but now what you have is the republican completely abandoning optimistic talk and in a way they have to because their political base really believes the country is fundamentally on the wrong direction, so they have to keep saying these negative things. but i think the chrysler ad really played much more to where americans are. we are optimistic and hopeful people. >> the voice, the sternness of clint eastwood, just taking you right down to the streets where the people are who want a job and are going to turn it around, how can you give up, we can't get knocked down by a punch, all the things that president obama has been believing in since the day he went in the office. stick with the american worker and you never will go wrong