>> dana: what are you reading? >> greg: about the ad. 50% off on bottles. >> did you hear about the business that is going on with the "50 shades of gray"? >> bob: we have to do a topic on that. >> dana: i'm moving this. see you tomorrow. bye. >> bret: a cancer death ad, welfare reform battle. unemployment. and contraception. just some of day 90 on the presidentm campaign trail. from new york. this is "special report." ♪ ♪ >> bret: good evening. i'm bret baier at fox news headquarters in new york. in a campaign season that has already unleashed an unrelenting stream of negativ negativity, a new ad by a super pac supporting the president paints mitt romney perhaps the most unfavorable

light yet. that is saying something. chief washington correspondent ed henry is traveling with the president in colorado. >> mr. romney. you're not going to be the candidate we choose. >> president obama rolled out a new surrogate. sandra fluke. the former law student at center of contraception flap earlier in year. a new poll suggesting in colorado he has an essential among female voters but republican mitt romney may be gaining. the president leads romney here among women 51 to 43%. the "new york times"/cbs poll found romney up among men by a wider margin. 56% to 3%. >> when it comes to a woman's right to make her healthcare choices they want to take us back to the policy suited to the 1950s. >> reporter: that pitch overshadowed by a story about another woman. the late wife of steelworker joe soptic featured in an ad by the superpac priorities

usa. >> she passed away in 22 days. i do not think mitt romney realize what is he has done to anyone. >> the romney camp is furious the president allies are blaming the candidate for soptic's wife dying of cancer after bain capital closed the steel plant. >> launching personal attacks at governor romney and blaming him for things, in a disgusting way. >> the second straight day, the white house would not condemn the ad despite promises of a positive campaign. >> sometimes politics can seem small. the choice you face, couldn't bigger. >> the top advisors claim to know nothing about soptic's story. >> this is an ad by an entity not controlled by the campaign. >> reporter: the obama campaign itself used soptic in a web video bashing bain in may, where he appears to wear the same shirt as the super pac ad. >> they made as much money as they could.

>> reporter: also in may, obama campaign hosted conference call with soptic telling the cancer story. >> i was lucky to find another job at local school district. they gave me health insurance i couldn't afford it for my wife. later she was diagnosed with lung cancer. >> reporter: it turns out, though, soptic's wife initially had her own health insurance even after he lost his job and she died in 2006. that is five years after the husband's company went bankrupt. after romney left bain capital. >> bret: ed thank you. from healthcare to another highly emotional coppic. welfare. governor romney accuses the president of seeking to turn back the clock on reforms. championed by his democratic predecessor. chief political correspondent carl cameron on that story again tonight. >> reporter: in iowa, escalated attacks for gutting clinton era welfare reform.

>> removed the requirement of work from welfare. it's wrong to make any change to make america nation of government depensy. we'll restore work in welfare. >> reporter: a new romney video slams the president for opposing work fair program that the top democratic allies fought for. >> it's an important change. people ought to work. it introduced concept in 1986. >> i was not a huge supporter of the federal plan in 1996. >> president clinton defended obama, saying the work requirements have been waived. saying, "that is not true. the administration has taken important steps to make sure the work requirement is retained and waivers are granted only if the state demonstrates more people will be moved to work under the new approach." obama teams say the state may request waiver for the requirement but none has been granted. the counter attack ad entitled dunous goes after romney's --

dubious goes after romney's character. >> romney asked for more flexibility when he was governor. romney flexible on welfare and the truth. >> romney says he blocked democratic attempts to end work requirements. >> when i was serving as governor the legislature passed a bill to take out some of the work requirements and i vetoed it. >> president obama campaigned in colorado. rob portman held five counter events as a romney sir gait. he may deliver the home state of ohio which no republican ever lost and then gone on to win the white house. >> tim pawlenty hit the trail in michigan. paul ryan of wisconsin have buzz and chemistry with romney but no, ma'am worry it could become referendum on the ryan house budget and medicare reforms. then there is florida u.s. senator marco rubio who is latino and could help romney with hispanics across the country and in florida, a key swing state. tonight and tomorrow, romney is raising money in new jersey.

friday he goes to boston to reunite with his wife ann who has been at the olympics for the last week. saturday, romney kicks off a big bus tour sure to be filled with at least speculation if not an actual announcement to who his runningmate will be. bret? >> bret: all right, carl. we're waiting. thank you. we are expecting any day now a choice from governor romney on the running mate. this week, we are taking another look at four of the top contenders in the running with romney series. one of those carl mentioned is letting others do the talking for him. florida senator marco rubio seems to be pretty popular on the stump. now being on romney's short list -- >> rubio for vice president. [ cheering ] >> bret: -- adds a new element of support. rubio like all the short listers adamantly refuses to come close to addressing the v.p. talk. >> i don't discuss it in any way. >> you want to talk about indirectly. >> no, i don't.

>> here is one thing everyone should know. governor romney will make a great choice. >> in recent weeks he stepped up the rhetoric against president obama. sounding like the attack dog many vice presidential nominees become. >> he believes if you are success to feel build a business, it's not because you were successful but you got lucky and you owe it to the government and you need to share your success. >> after the unusual move of mitt romney personally shooting down a news story, claiming that rubio was not being vetted -- >> marco rubio is being thoroughly vetted as part of the process. >> the chatter about rubio being on the ticket went to overdrive. >> it should be marco rubio. the only vice presidential pick is hispanic and rubio. >> we can't win without florida. >> he could energize the country. >> from sitting commissioner to florida state house of representatives to youngest

speaker of the florida house. to a long shot candidate backed by tea party. >> the debate should be about the future of america. >> to the american front runner one of the most watched senate races of 2010. >> the u.s. senator in the spotlight. now to something else. >> now you are on a short list whether you say or not to vice president. do you ever pinch yourself and say holy cow? how am i here? >> i pinch myself because of the understanding that i have been blessed with a rare opportunity that few americans get to serve the government and people at this level. it doesn't eskate me that less than half a decade ago my family lived in different circumstances. my dad was a bartender, my mom was a maid. it was unimaginable that anybody in the next generation would be able to attain. this is what other people did. not people that came from where they came from. those things strike me. >> rubio's resume shows a politician on the move and one

that credits his success to hardworking parents who came to the frust cuba. >> that is a tribute to them. no doubt about it. a greater tribute to america. one of the few societies in history a story like that is possible. >> he is the father of four young children. also he says a driving force in his life. >> i want them to be proud of my service and what i've been able to do here. >> on the campaign trail, rubio hits home a message of fiscal discipline and limited government. >> what we need most from government is create an environment that encourages people to go out and start businesses and grow existing businesses. >> as a member of the senate foreign relations committee and the select committee on intelligence, senator rubio says the biggest foreign policy issue is the american leadership in the world. >> only america can put together the international coalition it takes to con everything from human trafficking to the issues involving iran and syria. >> analysts say answers like that show why rubio is a rising star. >> a strong, philosophical

conservative with an ability to communicate the message in a way that attracts people. across the political spectrum. but young. >> others say rubio's appeal especially with latino voters will be hard for the romney camp to ignore. >> someone like marco rubio that helps you with hispanic and closes the gap in the west and deliver florida is pretty compelling case. political case for rubio on the ticket. >> rubio points to out latinos don't vote as a bloc. something that unites hispanics is a desire for economic empowerment. they want to give the kids every chance and opportunity they didn't have. the question which one of the two gentlemen have the best idea for them? it's romney at the end of the day. >> bret: before barack obama announced the executive order to stop the deportation of hundred of thousands of young illegal immigrants, rubio was working on a republican alternative to the dream act.

deeming with children of illegal immigrants serving in the military or get four-year degree. >> it's wrong to play with hopes and dreams and make unrealistic promises to the hispanic community. i hope to find bipartisan way to deal with the compelling story and give them a chance. through the existing legal immigration system. to do right what the parents did wrong. >> bret: there are possible negatives. charges in rubio's campaign speaker of the florida house he used a state republican party credit card for personal expenses are believed to be reed and behind him. >> the republican party of florida never paid my personal expenses. never. >> but his close relationship with david riverra amid allegations that rivera misused offices and campaign for personal gain raised eyebrows in washington and reportedly in boston. rubio doesn't seem to mind. >> look, maybe it's the way things work in washington. i don't feel like we should turn your back on friends because they are going through

a difficult time. >> bret: whether those issues are enough to keep rubio off romney ticket we'll know in coming days. all analysts agree that the florida junior center has one thing. buzz. he also has a relationship with romney who campaigned for rubio in 2010. and now rubio is returning the favor. >> he will be a successful period. here is why. he makes great decisions. he is grounded in who he is and his principles are solidly grounded in things to make america different and better. >> bret: tomorrow we examine the prospect of ohio senator rob portman. could he provide a few points even to romney in the crucial swing state of ohio? "running with romney" continues tomorrow night. that brings us to tonight's text to vote ke request. which of the four contenders is most likely to be romney's pick? text sr1 to 36288 for tim pawlenty. sr2 for ohio senator rob

portman. sr3 for florida senator marco rubio. and sr4 for wisconsin congressman house budget committee chairman paul ryan. results a little later. up next, startling revelation about national security leaks. [ kimi ] atti d i had always called oregon home.

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>> bret: white house counterterrorism advisor john brennan says claims that white house staffers leaked national security secrets for political purposes are unfounded and highly irresponsible. brennan told the council on foreign relations the incidents have had an effect. >> there have been some devastating leaks. i'm not going to point to any of them so i don't want to validate any of the things out there. it's unconscionable what has gone on. >> bret: house homeland

security committee chairman pete king responded the logical explanation is that it was done for political purposes. no matter what the purpose it was wrong and disgraceful. retaliation for an attack on egyptians seasonals tops world headlines this evening. helicopters carried out missile strikes in the sinai peninsula last night for the first time since 1973. egypt says its offensive aims to restore control to territory. 16 soldiers died in the surprise attack by militants earlier this week. syria says its troops fully regained control of the main rebel stronghold in aleppo. activists insist the opposition is fighting back. correspondent leland vittert is following the action from jerusalem tonight. >> reporter: flying low over a residential area, syrian air force jet fired off one of the missiles. rebels could only respond from fire from old air guns mounted

op back of pickups. in the battle for the key stronghold. unconfirmed video shows troop loyal to bashar assad continuing to pound away with heavy artillery. "this is the result of the shelling" says a narrator outside of an aapartment buildinbuilding in the city. satellite video show the scale of the destruction on a macro level. each yellow dot represents an artillery crater. on the ground, rebels say they will give their lives in the fight for aleppo. but blame the international community for not protecting them. they only sit, says this commander in the free syrian army. "they don't do anything here." in washington, u.s. officials appear reticent. >> the situation is tragic. what we don't want to do is do anything that would unintentionally in fact lead to greater bloodshed in the country. >> rebel funeral today. more bloodshed is what has

happened. as mourners cried out prayers for dead. large artillery shell landed nearby. rebel and government fighters both claim victory in today's struggle for aleppo. clearly, president assad forces have the fire power to destroy entire neighborhoods. what is less apparent is if they have the will or the skill to engage in the street to street fighting necessary to win this decisive battle. >> bret: leland vittert in the middle east newsroom. thank you. justice department has a new position to help protect whistle blowers in the wake of the operation fast and furious scandal. one of the first whistle blowers in fast and furious yesterday resolved his case of aed retaliation. details were not released. still ahead a new way to fight crime in gotham. first, fact checking the charge. is president obama trying to take the work out of welfare?

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>> bret: a report for the treasury inspection of toxin speckor reveals fraud related to the individual taxpayers identification number program, which is generally used by nonresident workers. it says the i.r.s. discouraged the pleas from reviewing applications for those numbers. the i.r.s. says it's trying to fix the problems. worker productivity was up 1.6% in the second quarter. employers may need to hire more if demand picks up. the dow finished ahead 7 today. the s&p 500 was up 1. nasdaq lost five. we told you earlier welfare is the latest ground zero in the scorched earth presidential

campaign. tonight, chief national correspondent jim angle looks at the facts and the fiction surrounding proposals to fix it. >> they are preventing them to use waivers to reduce requirement in welfare reform law clin top signed in 1996. >> just to say they'll waive the work rule a large part of what made the 1996 bill a success, that is not right. >> it's also not legal says a former h.h.s. secretary who argues the administration doesn't have the authority to, i waivers. >> there is no opportunity to waive it. i think somebody is going to bring a lawsuit. somebody else isn't, i will. >> what started this is jul july 12 memorandum that h.h.s. says it had the "authority" to waive compliance and allow other methods including definition of work activities. the memo went on to say h.h.s.

would only approve waivers that led to more people going to work but conservative lawmakers are extremely skeptical in part because they see the president and h.h.s. trying to grab powers resevened for congress. >> there is a disturbing pattern of who things that occurred. increased dependency on the federal government and increase in power of the president of the central government. >> recent dispute over the advertising food stamps increased skepticism over dependency. jay carney says it was a response to request from governors! last year, state esled by democrat and republican including nevada and utah called for the waiver. >> utah's request for a waiver was limited to flexibility on the reporting requirement not the work mandate itself and letter from governor herbert questioned whether h.h.s. could act on its own. saying, "utah understood that h.h.s. did not have waiver authority." the reauthorization of the welfare reform law is two

years overdue, so many lawmakers say if flexibility is needed congress is the place to go. >> the president wants to make changes or the administration has better ideas on how to administrate this area. this program. they are welcome to come through congress. >> secretary sebelius wrote congress saying she wouldn't accept any changes that undercut the work requirement. lawmakers say if that's true why did the department argue in the first place it could waive work requirements? bret? >> bret: all right. jim. more on this with the panel. thank you. the f.b.i. says the shooter in sunday's sikh temple massacre in wisconsin killed himself. the bureau says wade michael paige died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head after he was shot by police. last night, hundreds gathered in oak creek to remember the six worshipers who were killed there. next up in the grapevine did the obama administration let occupy wall street protesters break the law on purpose? don't forget to participate in tonight's text to vote poll. who is most likely to be

romney's v.p. pick among these folks? text one wing to 36288 for former minnesota governor tim pawlenty. sr2 for ohio senator rob portman. sr3 for florida senator marco rubio. sr4 for wisconsin congressman paul ryan. results in a bit. ♪

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>> bret: now some fresh pickings from the political grapevine. records obtained by group judicial watch shows the obama

administration instructed law enforcement officials in portland in the to arrest occupy wall street protesters who broke curfew laws. last november, homeland security department employee caitlin duringovich e-mailed robert peck of the general services administration, gsa, saying, "our federal protected service commanderrer in portland say they are standing down and following gsa's request to only intervene if there is a threat to public safety." peck responds, "yes, that is our position. it's been vetted with our administrator. we have communicated with the white house, which has afforded us the discretion to fashion our approach to occupy issues." the white house did not return our request for comment. but gsa tells fox, "fps and local law enforcement had the best understanding of the situation on the ground. and determined the necessary action." former wisconsin governor and senate candidate tommy thompson takes the fitness seriously and is happy to

prove it. the 70-year-old claims he does 100 push-ups a day. so the "milwaukee journal sentinel" put him up to the test. at a recent meeting with the editorial board, thompson managed 50 push-ups in legislation thalessthan a minut. president obama and romney will have more competition in november. rosanne bar is the official candidate of the peace and freedom party. the comedian and activist says, "people should have a socialist choice. it should at least be included in the conversation since it's the thing that saved this country after the last time wall street blanked us. " barr and running mate cindy sheehan will appear on the ballot in 14 states. new york city is trying something new to tract down criminals and terrorists. we have the story of today's show and tell. >> what looked like a hollywood set for tv show, new york city officials unveiled the latest high-tech tool to combat crime and terrorism. there we're not your mom and

pop plim anymore. we are in the next century, leading the pack. >> new york city mayor michael bloomberg talking about the do main awareness system which allows the new york city police to monitor thousands of surveillance cameras and in real time collect and analyze information from relevant data bases. police commissioner ray kelly says the system is versatile. >> the system allows us to connect the dots and tap in detail of crime records, 911 calls videotape foot and more. >> although the system was introduced to the media today it's been in use for six months. in one instance, authorities responded to 911 call about a suspicious package. used the system to learn more. >> with the click of one button, i can call up all cameras within 500 feet of that job. >> investigators, then used the system to view video

recorded earlier. to learn about who might have left the packa pack package beh. allca feeds are saved for 30 days before erased. not everyone thinks the system developed by software giant microsoft and nypd is such a good idea. privacy advocates worry it can be abused. >> even if you think it's a perfectly legitimate law enforcement system, there is no oversight whatsoever. the only people who have control over there this are people inside the police department. that's one thing when you talk about information op criminals and different thing when you talk about the general public. >> plans are in the work for microsoft to sell the domain awareness city to other cities and u.s. allies. because it was developed with the help of the police department, the city will receive 30% of all sales. bret? >> bret: david, thank you. the mars curiosity rover is sending back more images from the red planet. this is the latest image from

nasa. it shows the martian horizon. curiosity is on a two-year mission to determine if the landing site could have ever supported life. it's getting nasty out there on the campaign trail. we'll talk about some of the harshest rhetoric so far and the latest ads. when a special edition of fox all-stars joins me after the break. [ male announcer ] when he was only 4 years old,

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keep you moving. ♪ feeling free. ♪ when mitt romney and bain closed the plant i lost my healthcare. short time after that, my wife became ill. >> this is an ad by an entity that is not controlled by campaign. >> i certainly don't know the specifics of this man's case. >> i don't know the facts of when joe soptic's wife got sick or when she died. as i said before, i do know the facts of what mitt romney did with gs steel and how joe sop tabic lost his job and

lost his healthcare. >> much more from someone who says he likes to fire people. with no con season about what their -- concern about what their family really means. now i turn the call back over to stephanie. >> thank you, joe. we really appreciate you and david sharing your experienc experiences. >> bret: well, it's an interesting day talking about a specific ad. ad run by the democratic super pac priorities usa and features that man, joe soptic, who was let go of steel factory. once run by bain capital. the obama campaign spent a lot of the day today explaining how they didn't really know anything about the cancer story. as you heard there, joe was on a conference call with stephanie cutter of the obama campaign. what about this and the rest of the day's political news? bring in the panel. in new york, paul gigot, editorial page editor for the "wall street journal." melissa francis host of "money with melissa francis" on the fox business network.

and jim rutenberg, national political correspondent for the "new york times." thank you for being here. what about this story? it seemed like as the they progressed we learned more and more about this person. >> well, i think that the facts are so strange in the sense they are really not connected to the reality of the accusation the campaign is trying to make against romney. she got sick in 2006. right? romney had left bain in 1999. five years later is the accusation. it's so preposterous it hurts their credibility. >> when you look at the world cup, took the ad apart. they gave it four pinocchios not a good score. even when the husband was let go from the company. afterwards she still had insurance at her job. i think when we watch the political campaigns, there is always a low point in the

campaign with an ad that really stands out, the least tasteful. i hope this is it. >> bret: jim, you cover ads for political races. we know that there is a line between the campaign supposedly and the super pac run by the former deputy press secretary bill burton. but when you see the obama campaign coming out and saying we didn't know the cancer story. and then you listen to the conference call, they weren't listening. >> it's a messy day. we have been waiting for moments all year. we'll see more of them. the outside groups walk the campaigns, you know, through the door that has a bucket ready to fall on their heads. or it's more cynical than that. in terms of just not being coordinated, they can't predict what the outside groups will do. they get caught off-guard. >> bret: talk about the latest polls. it's run by quinnipiac, cbs news and the "new york times." three swing states. interesting numbers. colorado, where you see mitt romney has a lead there. of five points. there is the plus or nigh us

in 2.6. virginia, president obama with a 4-point lead over romney. then wisconsin, and the president a lead there. what did you find interesting in the poll numbers today? >> for starter with the horse race numbers, colorado was surprising. romney is looking surprisingly strong there. however it's within the margin of error of the poll. what we thought was most interesting was for the attacks on romney and the working class, he has a great working class support. for all the attacks trying to put a when between obama and women -- wedge between obama and women, he has great women support. >> bret: we talk about the polls and how they're taking differently. one look at this poll will suggest there was a little bit of plus democratic sampling. dis that factor in -- does it factor? >> that's why we have the plus or minuses in the poll. i'm the guy that writes them out but we have plus or minus.

>> the striking thing to me about the polls, they are all similar. the president is under 50% in most states with a three to four-point lead in most of them. romney sometimes two points. it shows that the ad campaign of june and july, which is the obama administration hit romney hard on many things. it hasn't helped the president much and it has hurt romney. it hasn't moved the president's numbers much. that suggests to me that romney still has an opportunity to break through with his convention speech, his v.p. pick. and going to the fall. >> bret: melissa, let's take a thereon another ad. romney campaign on welfare and reaction ad from the obama campaign. >> i believe it's an important change. yes, people ought to work. i introduced a concept of work fair in 1986.

i remember being pillarried by the colleagues on the democratic side. >> i was not a huge supporter of the federal plan that was signed in 1996. >> the "washington post" says the obama administration is not removing the bill's work requirement at all. states have to increase the number of people moving from welfare to work. in fact, romney asked for more flexibility when he was governor. romney. flexible on welfare. and the truth. >> bret: how do you think is playing? >> i don't know. you know, it seems like the truth of the ad is that there was a change in the definition of what work was. but all of the ads do the same thing. painting the president as someone who is, you know, very liberal, even a socialist who wants everyone on the go government dole. paint mitt romney as vulture capitalist, living off the blood of the working class. none of this is news. we get it. that is the message out there. i'm not sure it resonates after a while when you hamer

the two themes over and over. >> bret: jim, what about where the truth is? the administration says health and human services sebelius sent out a letter saying that the states could have flexibility. if they increased the work force by 20%. however, it was reauthorization that was two years overdue. some people are saying it was strange the way the whole thing was handled. >> yeah. there is a debate to be had about the let they're went out from the health and human services and the definition of work. administration says letting the states find new ways to find work. here is the thing, though. the campaign can defend the ads and tell you how they arrived at the conclusions but the explanation they offer is not what the ad says. it says he was gutting it. >> bret: does the ads have an effect is the question? >> i don't neif it will break through or not. really, with the economy being on most people's minds. evening hangs on the reality here whether it's -- what is the definition of work? there is some cause for skepticism here, because some of the states that have

requested these are liberal states that may want to broaden the definition to allow more people to go through. that is the doubt romney administration trying to break in the public mind; particularly, among the working class voters who do work hard. they don't have they haven't had increases in incomes much. they are trying to say look, i'm on your side. romney saying. the president is on the people who are on the dole on their side. >> bret: wrap up this segment where we began. just in from the obama campaign, the ad with joe soptic saying, "as you know, we can't coordinate with superer pacs and didn't produce the priorities ad. joe soptic suffered when he lost his job and the arve math of the gst steel plant closing. no one is denying that he discussed that when he appeared in the campaign advertisement on a conference call. the important point here is that mitt romney's campaign is based solely on his experience as a corporate buy-out

specialist." again, said it on a conference call. >> yeah, i mean we go back to the same two themes. at the same time we talk about the polls earlier. they show overwhelmingly the number one issue for people out there is the economy. that is what they're worried about. 49%. the next closest thing is healthcare. 19%. i mean, these are the issues that i think people are focused on as opposed to the nuances, within the ads of what is true and what is not. >> bret: it's a good thing we are going to talk about the economy next with our panel from new york. and how it plays in the election.

they vote to re-elect president obama, they have a good idea what is coming. it will be chronic high levels of unemployment.

as far as the eye can see. stagnant wage growth. and the potential for economic calamity given the massive debt and unfunded liabilities that this country has. now i have a very different view of where america can go. >> we have to keep building an economy where no matter what you look like, or where you come from, you can make it here if you try. [ applause ] and you can leave something behind for the next generation. that's what is at stake right now, colorado. >> bret: president obama and romney on the stump today talking about the panel. back with the panel. melissa, as you look at the economy now and how it plays politically, what is your sense of things? >> it's stalling. no way to deny that. gdp, we stalled to 1.5. unemployment is up. white house tried to spin it saying it's really 8

8.525-4389%, whatever it was, saying your pain is my rounding error. i don't think it's playing well. it's getting worse. >> bret: so is president obama hitting a chord, paul, with the fairness. stastatements in the wake of numbers that don't line up -- >> he is raising doubts about mitt romney with them. i don't think there is any question about them. particularly the bain attacks. not so much his wealth but bain and the outsourcing. if you talk to the romney campaign they say some of it has hurt. it hurt perception of romney's empathy and his image as a job creator. some of that has hurt. however, the problem with the president he can't do anything about the underlying fundamentalfundamentals that mea mentioned. that is what defining the race importantly for him. he can't overcome that. he has to change the subject. that's what he is trying to do with romney. romney's channel is not so much to sell the american public that the economy is ba bad. people got that. it's what am i going to be

able to do with it or make your life better. >> the obama campaign bet is they can show some progress that i'm on the right track. if you look at the right track/wrong track numbers and it's upside down. >> yeah. in the meantime, they have been telling us for a year they are going to keep the subject not about the economy now but economy in the future. it's the choice is the referendum. they pulled it off in july. it's hard. high wire act. >> like alternative universe of what the economy will be like. if he can pull it off it will be greatest conjure trick in politics. >> bret: melissa, there aren't a lot of errors. february the fed gets engaged there is not a lot of people out there who think the economy will move dramatically. >> no. when you talk to ceos they say there isn't confidence out there.

they don't want to hire another new person. they don't know what kind of taxes they have to pay on the salary. they don't know what the healthcare is going to cost. they don't know what the economy looks like. even companies that are sitting on money don't want to deploy resources. when you ask them time an again what would change that? they say i don't know. maybe we need a new administration and direction. we hear it from democrats all the time. no confidence out there. >> that is an important point. the strategy is i'll raise taxes on the wealthy, small businesses. it created more uncertainty and made people who he talks to i'm not going to invest. >> hang on to everything i have. >> bret: jim, i was just in ohio. unemployment rate there has gone down to # .2%. the key battleground states the economy there factors in the equation. >> a lot of states. iowa as well.

once you get on the wrong track no, question. a bad number for the president. when you look at the policy questions, some lean romney's way. he is more trusted on the economy in the polls. some lean obama way on the populist tax argument resonate with majorities sometimes. a lot of confusion out there. >> bret: unemployment is, quickly, melissa, are we expecting the numbers in the months leading up november to tick up? up? >> we know no one has been re-elected with unemployment numbers like this. month after month we watch it sit at this level. you have a sense they're trying to bring it down. stay tuned for continued speculation for choices for vice president. [ male announcer ] it's a golden opportunity...

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>> bret: all right. tonight's text-to-vote question asks, who is most likely to be mitt romney's v.p. pick? 2 percent said former minnesota governor tim pawlenty. 8 percent said rob portman. 68 percent said senator marco rubio and 22 percent said wisconsin congressman paul ryan. we had more than 10,000 votes tonight during the show. finally, wikipedia has reportedly locked the pages for some mitt romney's potential running mates with a message that pops up that's either fully or partially protected due to vandalism. one late night show has an interesting take on the role of wikipedia in the playing of the selection process. >> so, the number of times a wikipedia page has been edited predicts the chances for the v.p. slot. folks, that means we could be looking at