so, what is obama stream? what motivates obama? one-way device that is obama's during the american dream? is that martin luther's dream or is it something else? is it the american dream? no. that seems odd to say because obama is an embodiment of the american dream. during the presidential campaign he said my story is only possible in america. and that since you think america is unique. and yet in a press conference when obama was in europe, he was asked, do you believe america is unique? actually he was asked, do you believe in american exceptionalism? american exceptionalism is the academic word for american uniqueness. america is exceptional. it's not like any other place. the founders certainly believed america was unique. they called america a new order for the ages. so obama was asked, do you believe in american exceptionalism? and obama said, no, i don't believe america is in a more exceptional than greece or britain or anyplace else. so in a sense, obama was rejecting at least this idea of american uniqueness that the found

obama? richard call-in a columnist for the "washington post" and supporter had a column a few weeks ago titled who is barack obama? it is very clear he has a set of policies. we know about those. but what is missing is a description of what is underneath that were behind that were the ideology that is driving those policies and what motivates obama's? and interestingly the last couple years we had a bunch of series about what motivates her obama in response to the fact that obama does things people don't know why so people think he must be this or that but did my view they don't hold up or make that much, sen spreads on the left and the right you have these explanations it on the right it is commonly said the obama is not the american citizen or board in this country over obama is a muslim a closet follower of islam that explains why he came out in favor of the ground zero mosque or obama is a progressive. a left liberal picking up ideologies o or obama is a socialist european-style that is

obama that he had a. clinton not that the interesting thing is you look at the team that obama surrounded himself with, and i hate to say this, but i think it starts with his ex-chief of staff rahm emanuel which is if you only surround yourself with the insiders, it starts to take a toll. which is bad to say that he didn't need some people like rahm in his white house, and i think in some ways they can start taking it over. it didn't make a similar space for the grassroots part of it. you need to mix and i think obama in some over learn the lessons of the clinton years, which is the clinton people came in and they told congress this is the what is going to be done and they came in with a lot of smart, brash, kind of insurgent types, and other people from arkansas that weren't that well regarded by the traditional washington players in the capital. and it backfired on clinton. so i think they said okay we need to pitch on a washington capital insiders. we need to put it in our administration and we will ma

>> obama: i do get discouraged. i mean, there are times where i thought the economy would've gotten better by now. one of the things i think you understand as president is, you're held responsible for everything. but you don't always have control of everything, especially an economy this big. there are limited tools to encourage the kind of job growth that we need. i am constantly reminded that we have been through worse times than these, and we've always come out on top. and i'm positive that the same thing is going to happen this time. >> kroft: you spent nearly a trillion dollars on the stimulus package. you've got short... short-term interest rates are zero, practically zero, and still the unemployment rate is 9.6%. what can you do to create jobs that hasn't already been done? >> obama: some of this is going to be just a matter of the economy healing. there are some things we can do to accelerate growth. we still... we've got a couple of trillion dollars' worth of infrastructure improvements that need to be made

barack obama took responsibility. pledging to work with the newly empowered republicans. >> president obama faced the media after the american people delivered their devastating verdict on his policies. >> yesterday's vote confirmed what i have heard from folks all across america. people are frustrated. they are deeply frustrated with the pace of our economic recovery and the opportunities that they hope for their children and their grandchildren. they want jobs to come back faster. they want paychecks to go further, and they want the ability to give their children the same chances and opportunities that they have had in life. >> obama says the only way forward lays an honest debate and bipartisan cooperation. the man expected to become the next speaker of the house signaled his readiness to work with the president. but john boehner made clear that the republicans intend to roll back a key obama policies, including al refm. >> i believe the health-care bill that was enacted by the current congress would kill jobs in a

and obama may need them. now, the white house is right, they're not talking about it now because they are worried about the november elections coming up. but after that when they get into presidential election mode, is, we know in politics people will do anything that is legitimate to win. and sometimes things that are illegitimate. >> host: one of the things we will do during this program is show some clips if we can from prior books. but before we get to that and to our calls this is the list in front of the current book, "obama's wars." you seem fascinated, using regulate to go back to the concept of presidents and pentagon as the leadership around the war position. why does that aspect interest you? gets back because it's so important to give you travel abroad you discover we're defined by our wars in many ways. i think the country is defined to itself by its wars. it is a serious moral choice always. people lose their lives. people are named. is the defining undertaking for a nationstate, and if you can

of the opposite of obama in a lot of ways. it was an immediate indication that this white house was not going to be about "kumbaya" and getting along and trying to do everything they could to win republican votes. they were going to try and win. >> narrator: emanuel told obama to win, he needed to move fast. >> he recognized that the moment obama was going to be at his strongest was the beginning. >> narrator: in the end, the president decided to go for health care right away to make a larger point. >> we were sitting in the oval office, and we were sort of having a debate around health care at one point, and the president said, "it's about health care, but it's not really about health care. it's also about proving whether we can still solve big problems in this country." and this was going to be the test case for that. ( sirens ) >> narrator: in his first address to congress, the president wasted no time putting health care on the nation's agenda. >> let there be no doubt: health care reform cannot wait, it must not wait, and

> i don't want to see obama cry either. i want to come back to monica's point. boehner is going to discover the same thing nancy pelosi did. they are going to get things done and they will be dead on arrival in the u.s. senate. two years from now, the american people are going to hit the clicker and say where are the jobs? where is the progress on this? where's the progress on that? he didn't get anything done. >> john -- >> change the language talking about cutting spending. i didn't hear anything about cutting the deficit. he is going to adjust to reality because he's going to have a hard time fulfilling the pledges. >> he'll have a bigger problem with the deficit. it is the public debt, which is $13 trillion, is it not? >> bill has a good point. the country -- if they gave obama a mandate, i'm not sure they did in 2008, there's a new mandate. the country said we don't want to go qover here, we want to go over there. how do you compromise? >> let's get into that. tuesday's election. >> republicans gained 60 plus seats in

chris: contrast that to what barack obama told you, bob, in your new book, "obama's wars. quote, we'll do everything we can to prevent it but even 9/11, we absorbed it and we are stronger. a potential game changer would be a weapon of mass destruction in a major american city, because that's one area where you cannot afford any mistakes. is there a difference between these fellas in terms of what to do after 9/11, what obama would have done, what we're doing now? >> certainly obama would not have gone into iraq and, of course, you know bush is right, they didn't hit us again. chris: is there a connection? >> no, there's not, unfortunately. as we know, there was no al qaeda in iraq until we invaded. and then they came. >> but the sort of political extraordinariness of the bush administration was cheney imagined to convince 70% of the american people that iraq was, saddam hussein was directly behind iraq. chris: you're right, it's in the polling. >> the other piece of it was everyone in that inner circle, in the foreign policy team and at the cia, they felt that it was compl

we haven't seen that in presiden obama and die-hard obama supporters are getting nervous, does he have it in him to take a stand and take it to them? >> he may get his mojo back if he has an opponent. sarah palin has a new book and is talkingo t the "new york times." kelly, will she be part of the opposition to the white house that gives the president back his mojo? >> whas interesting to me on capitol hill is one name i almost never hear is sarah palin. in the political world we're covering, she is a forceful presence, but among sentors and members of the house, remarkably, if you say tea party, they say jim demint or michelle bachman. her world within that establishment office holders is strangely quiet. >> but they have a show on tlc. >> n they don't. >> it shows how out of touch they are. you go to anywhere else in america and you'll hear someone mention sarah palin's name. only on capitol hill is it a name that's not mentioned. andou said something earlier, norah, that if sarah palin plans to run -- listen, she's running. >> she's not just selling books? >> i do not think so. >> s

obama's real religion. his favorite team, the chicago bulls, who just happen to play in the same division as the milwaukee bucks whose arena just happened to be known as the mecca. coincidence? the wall street shuffle. big business's latest fix. avoiding taxes on the big bonuses. my special guest michael moore. including his response to shots taken at him by president bush in his new autobiography. bush versus reality. waterboarding? >> if it's legal, president bush, and if an american is taken into custody in a foreign country, not necessarily in uniform. >> i'm not going to debate the issue, matt. >> the tea party rallies against michelle backman. ron paul endorses her opponent. plus -- >> backman is a loud mouth. >> so how was your weekend? >> msnbc has a hard and fast rule that political donations represent bias in journalism unless you ask first. >> all the news and commentary now on "countdown." >> ready? here we go. >>> good evening from new york. this is tuesday, november 9. 728 days before the 2012

barack obama took responsibility. pledging to work with the newly empowered republicans. >> president obama faced the media after the american people delivered their devastating verdict on his policies. >> yesterday's vote confirmed what i have heard from folks all across america. people are frustrated. they are deeply frustrated with the pace of our economic recovery and the opportunities that they hope for their children and their grandchildren. they want jobs to come back faster. they want paychecks to go further, and they want the ability to give their children the same chances and opportunities that they have had in life. >> obama says the only way forward lays an honest debate and bipartisan cooperation. the man expected to become the next speaker of the house signaled his readiness to work with the president. but john boehner made clear that the republicans intend to roll back a key obama policies, including health reform. >> i believe the health-care bill that was enacted by the current congress would kill job

immolating the movement that this polarization has taken place on the barack obama's presidency shows how strong the americans feel about the direction their country takes the russian public opinion research center all citizens to gauge they add to the polls they have noted states fifty nine percent of the respondents said they have a positive attitude twenty seven percent expressed more negative feelings yet two years ago statistics were biased versa with sixty five percent negative towards the united states the question remains if midterm results will bring about another ship to beat. i gem another kind of shift gears here phil there's a lot of criticism of the tea party movement because of its backers who is funding it a lot of people say the koch brothers are there over one hundred million dollars been poured into various groups we have murdoch is there in his entire empire. i think it's fair to say promoting the tea party movement i mean again you know they give you the sense that you know they were told this is a spontaneous populist movement but it others will say it's a very h

thank you look this is about an election obama got elected in two thousand and eight because americans didn't like what they had which was george bush and arguably fit fiscal irresponsibility among other things you have to remember there was an unpopular war and some other things too this year americans are unhappy about the economy now fairly or unfairly they're beginning to blame barack obama for so that the notion of fiscal responsibility is the coin of the realm in two thousand and ten whether will continue to be the case or not we don't know what we do know is that the democrats and president obama certainly had an incredible opportunity in two thousand and nine to form a lasting coalition it is not lasted two years later by all accounts our polls everybody else's polls this can be a very republican year now what happens after this we can't tell on wednesday morning the two thousand and twelve presidential campaign starts it will get very hot it will get very heavy and the environment that is for it on will determine what happens if the economy gets better mr obama will be in much

romney narrowly edges out president obama, 45-42. too close to call. obama leads huckabee. obama leads mitch daniels largely unknown, 45-36, but he's an unknown guy and obama gets closest to 50% against palin. he doesn't get 50 against her. very interesting. we'll be right back. kitchen.com. kitchen.com. campbell's.® it's amazing what soup can do.™ my professor at berkeley asked me if i wanted to change the world. i said "sure." "well, let's grow some algae." and that's what started it. exxonmobil and synthetic genomics have built a new facility to identify the most productive strains of algae. algae are amazing little critters. they secrete oil, which we could turn into biofuels. they also absorb co2. we're hoping to supplement the fuels that we use in our vehicles, and to do this at a large enough scale to someday help meet the world's energy demands. [ gobble, gobble ] [ female announcer ] great wine, great price, gobble it up. [ gobble, gobble ] >>> i understand people's frustrations and what i've said to the tsa is that you have to constantly refine and measure whet

very close aide to obama. the interesting roll that he played was that he was one the people that was nudged aside by larry summers. who at the beginning of the administration, obama was waxes about him. larry summer was the guy that was going to saying. goolsbee was one member. now summers is leaveing. goolsbee has come back as the chairman of the economic advisers. in the current interim before summers replacement has been named, he's the most prominent voice. he's a centrist economist who i think has been more with the volcker types, those who wanted to see a deeper fix, but is also very cautious, i think in his advise. i don't expect to see a huge amount of change coming out of his new asen -- asen dent si. >> caller: hi, how are you doing? >> host: good thanks. >> caller: here are one the things. i have a landscaping company that i shut down last year. actually, the problem is not the housing crisis that started all of this. the problem starts way back with jobs. and the bottom line is, you know, i'm a de

snubs obama. congressional republicans said they were too busy to accept the invitation to a bipartisanship leadership meeting thursday of last week. the meeting would mark the first time president obama meets with new leaders since the midterm elections. the white house postponed the meeting until november 30 to accommodate the g.o.p. schedule. question, was president obama trying to lure the g.o.p. into a snare? and did they dodge the trap? >> no, i don't think he was trying to lure them. i think the president is genuine, talking about bipartisanship, compromise. i think he's being followish in a way to say this so openly that he's ready to compromise. where is the leverage going to come when the meeting actually happens? >> right. senator mcconnell was complaining that he never really met with the president, hadn't gotten any phone calls, and now we've gotten two phone calls, as though they were welcoming this. they are intimidated by the tea party that doesn't want them to do any engagement ac

prospects looked worse than obama's do now. i think in our hyperventilating commentarriat tend to exaggerate what's happening this week, and as significant as the election was, it was a typical correction that we associate with all bi-elections, and the last three elections have been swing elections. so it may well be that we're going to see this kind of back-and-forth now for some period of time. and i don't see it as necessarily an indication that 2012 is going to deliver either the house or the senate or the white house to the republican party. >> rose: reminds me of mrs. churchill who said to winston churchill after his defeat in 1946, it may be a blessing in disguise. and mr. churchill said it's a hell of a disguise. >> i wouldn't describe it as a pleasing in disguise, but i wouldn't say the presidenciy is dead on arrival at this point. >> rose: so who has influenced barack obama's mind? >> that's a very difficult question to answer in short order. i think he is seriously influenced by social christianity, by the gospels--

> i don't want to see obama cry either. i want to come back to monica's point. boehner is going to discover the same thing nancy pelosi did. they are going to get things done and they will be dead on arrival in the u.s. senate. two years from now, the american people are going to hit the clicker and say where are the jobs? where is the progress on this? where's the progress on that? he didn't get anything done. >> john -- >> change the language talking about cutting spending. i didn't hear anything about cutting the deficit. he is going to adjust to reality because he's going to have a hard time fulfilling the pledges. >> he'll have a bigger problem with the deficit. it is the public debt, which is $13 trillion, is it not? >> bill has a good point. the country -- if they gave obama a mandate, i'm not sure they did in 2008, there's a new mandate. the country said we don't want to go over here, we want to go over there. how do you compromise? >> let's get into that. tuesday's election. >> republicans gained 60 plus seats in t

i think he'll give obama a tough run but obama will ultimately win. >> larry: who do you think? >> if it were not for mass obama care i would like mitt romney. i think michelle bachman would be a great jolt of energy to conservatives, to women, to the party. i think she's a really smart lady. >> sarah palin -- >> larry: are you kidding or do you mean that? >> what kind of question is that, larry? of course, i mean it. >> if she's the nominee obama needs to start -- >> michelle bachman is a pale comparison. >> she's a woman to admire. she's very smart and she's done great things for her state and conservatives love her. >> okay. i'm all for it. michelle bachman. i was going to say go, sarah, go but now i'm all for backman. >> so am i. >> you guys are terrible. >> please, please! >> listen, i think. >> larry: i think ari would complain, too. >> larry, barack obama is the most popular democrat in the country. -- the most popular politician in the country, still, in every poll. sarah palin is actually the most popular republican politician in the country. so, you know, there it goes

president obama said yesterday in the news conference that i had the privilege of attending that we had to act fast and furious to get out of the ditch ok for you aren't you in your folks the republicans certainly weren't satisfied and you probably very quickly fell with your victory what's going to be different this time what's the difference you know a lot of what a little a little sore doesn't finish my question a little supercharged tea party stuff and who knows where that's going to lead to i mean if we just heard here bob just said that the president was punished for doing too much what he thinks. well i would say that the president's agenda was polished but i'm not exactly sure this was a vote of confidence for republicans either the bottom line is we were not the victors yesterday we were the beneficiaries of voter anger a lot of people are going to put this on the tea party and say particularly the us media these are a bunch of crazies they're not really crazies or average americans are concerned about the fiscal plight of this country yes we are going to have gridlock but

so, the bell were in hiroshima and obama was in yokahama at the same time. >> did president obama owe hiroshima a visit? >> i think it would have been nice but frankly if the president would have done this, we wouldn't be sitting here talking about what a great trip he had to india. monica and pat would be saying enough with the apology tour. so, i think this is not an invitation that has been head lined and i don't think there were any expectations of this president. he has been gone for ten days. it's time for him to come home. >> this is a historical wasps nest he didn't want to polk. he sent the u.s. ambassador to japan to the memorial in august on the actual anniversary of the dropping of the bomb. so, there was no need for him to go. you don't want to suggest moral he quiff vow lens in the role of the united states in world war ii and imperial japan in world war ii. the dropping of those weapons brought an end to the war. it was a last resort. truman didn't want to do it. but at the risk of having a full ground invasion of japan to end the war, it was the right moral decision. >

which is a lot like the obama health care plan. and every other republican that i've talked to is planning to attack mitt romney on that basis. chris: he knows that. >> he does know that. chris: he's a politician and should be able to deal with it. >> he will have to deal with it. the way david axelrod, top guy at the white house for obama who is looking at all this describes it, is a little differently. he says -- the way he views politics there's a wine candidate and a beer candidate. so that's the white house thinking. the wine candidate will be a manager type and the beer candidate will be somebody who does appeal on a gut level to the people in iowa. >> but in iowa, it's going to be good for mitt romney, i believe, if sarah palin runs. and does well in iowa. ok. because then people are going to say oh oh, she can't get elected even though she's doing really well. and who do we look at? chris: and one or thing. sarah palin, everybody in the press, we're all watching her. everybody is watching television is watching her. and the

obama visited indonesia. margaret warner chronicles the president's stop in the world's most populous muslim nation. >> lehrer: then, some perspective on george w. bush's and other presidential memoirs from historians julian zelizer and michael beschloss. >> ifill: from flood-ravaged pakistan, special correspondent saima mohsin follows a team from doctors without borders still working to save lives. >> we have mostly skin diseases. we have upper respiratory tract infek shuns and we have about 6 to 8 malaria cases. >> lehrer: we look at the power shift in state capitals after the midterm elections with reporters from minnesota, ohio, wisconsin and maine. >> ifill: plus, ray suarez has the story of neighbors and classmates who remember barack obama's childhood days in indonesia. >> lehrer: that's all ahead on tonight's newshour. major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: and with the ongoing support of these institutions and foundations. and... this program was made possible by the corporation for

and obama win a unpaid live looks good. -- and obama winning looks good for obama. it may be the only thing that saves the obama administration, maybe someone that is able to center the party. >> aha what you will see over the next three years is not bill clinton -- i think you will see harry trumam. in failing to understand that america had been transformed by the new deal. >> i will make a prediction. obama will put hillary clinton on his eyes president. joe biden will go on and be secretary of state. you are dealing with an obama /clinton. it would be historic. the republicans are putting pailin or wrongly. obama/clinton could be hard to be, particularly of unemployment drops down at 8.9% in chile but mint. >> it is interesting that use a sarah palin and it wrongly in the same breath. iand mit romney in the same breath. >> a lot of people would view that almost an act of desperation. is it necessary to boohoo is pale it -- if they live is the republicans -- if palin is the republican candidates. >> hillary clinton deserves it. she has done a great job of secretar

that's the obama warning. >> greta: president obama says the tsa has told him the new procedures are necessary to fight terrorism. the president and his team will continue to evaluate whether the new measures are necessary. >> did the new tsa techniques have you blushing? a man has a new invention. introducing scanner-proof underwear. yes the underwear uses a special metal to block sensitive areas from view while not setting off detectors. strategicly placed fig leaf on the male while the female uses clasped hands. >> not everybody is excited about the upcoming royal wedding. a bishop in london is not optimistic about the couple. the ladies at the view are not happy. >> it has been a week since prince william has announced his engagement. the backlash has already begun. a london bishop fired off a facebook rant saying i give the marriage seven here's. he's a bone head. >> he is william just rescued a guy on a mountain somewhere. to go off on him personally, this guy is a bishop. funny, national flim-flam. >> leave them alone. >> greta: the bishop has apologized for his comments. >> g

that is barack obama's early legacy! >> i would have had a little bit different fiscal path particularly with the stimulus way back when we should have combined that with longer term -- in fairness he did inherit a deficit that was growing. the previous administration inherited a surplus, that changed. >> sean: listen, the republicans punished in 2006 and in 2008. in part, i will tell you because conservatives were angry with the republican party. i'm looking at for example what you support. earmark moratorium until the deficit eliminated. establish spending targets. freeze spending until deficit is eliminated. line-item veto. all these things. the problem is. i don't know any other democrats that supports 'em. >> there are a few. sean who? >> hopefully the results of the last election will help people to take a different tact going forward. probably the governor in me coming out. we had to cut spending. we didn't raise taxes. that's what you have to do sometimes. some people who have been legislators their entire career

the money obama spent its money that had to be spent in an emergency. it is not the onslaught of socialism. >> here is a poll -- the vast majority of retirees feel they were given the opportunity to achieve the american dream but forecast a grim outlook for their offspring. 89.2% believed it will be more difficult for their children to live the american dream, and only 1.9% see their grandchildren having an easier time than they did. that is all connected with what we're talking about. >> but i don't see that, and i have grandchildren. i expect my grandchildren to do as well or better. >> look, we are undermining our economy, as we heard from the commission, to the point where we will not be able to function or educate or invest, if we don't fix the debt problem. it is not as it is rocket science. it is eminently flexible. the one success we have had over the last 30 years is the tax reform of 1986, reagan, bradley, tip o'neill, where they took a hatchet to all of the loopholes and deductions in the tax code. they wiped them out and radically lower rate

i think the anti-obama is mitch daniels, governor of indiana. i mean, you don't get drier than the former omb director under bush. he's a number cruncher. what he's done in indiana, bret, he privatized the interstate, and everybody held after he did it, but turns out to be a genius move. he's taken budget deficits and turned them into budget surpluses. created thousands of jobs. the guy is dry, but very, very likely. i think he has a very good chance of challenging barack obama from a very crucial state. >> kirsten? >> i think that's sort of the johnson and mitch daniels fit into what charles is talking about if it turns out into the year of the dull as he said it would be, those are the type of people, but when you go through the list it always leads you back to sarah palin. the reason is because most of these people are kind of -- yes, they're great on paper, they're kind of like the bill frist. remember bill frist? great on paper, but when it comes to connecting with voters doesn't really work. the only one that really jumps out me as a great

>> obama just needed to communicate better -- i don't think that's as it. polls show that the country is still right of center, slightly, but it is right of center. the democrats haveost partularly working peoe who do not believe in government. >> mark, your take? >> democrats lost the middle of the country and the electorate and most importantly, white middle-class voters. for the press time in the middle of an economic catastrophe, they -- the first time in the middle of an economic catastrophe, they voted republican. i think the republicans won because they were not democrats. there is no doubt as a republican idea that comes out of the selt --here is no galvanizing republican idea that comes out of this election. >> for the record, in addition to taking over the house and never win the majority in the senate, republicans -- narrowing the majority in the senate, republicans now control many state legislatures. >> the change in the state legislatures is historic. in the watergate year, the democrcric sweep was 630 could there waa galvanizing idea in this

now it's the obama bailout. they haven't made a job good making it clear that that policy that hurt him is a policy that has con newity that goes back into the other party and it's the previous administration. >> charlie: he should be wary of changing his policies of changing his direction because truth be known he is essentially a centrist and as john just said it's a question of the public catching up to him. >> he has to be more assertive than he has been. he said at a photo opportunity with his cabinet, he has to be part of what gets down now. he can't be part of it he must lead it. he's identified very well the challenges the country must deal with. deficit reduction, afghanistan, education, jobs first and foremost and immigration. i think he's picked all the right energy. he's picked all the right things. he must, this is a mathematical reality he accepts, he must find ways to cooperate with republicans without abandoning his principles. >> charlie: these republicans and democrats cooperate over the next t

michelle obama is not a child. i agree with sarah palin. you shouldn't go after the kids but look at how they're still going after bristol palin and america's basically given the finger to her for over "dancing with the stars" which i love. 5 million people tuned in to watch sarah palin's show last night. everyone loves the palins. you guys on the left can't stand it how much america loves the palins. >> 39% of the country support -- approves of sarah palin. 50% was country disapproves of sarah palin. >> it doesn't matter because they all watch her. everything that she says makes news. >> are you calling that program -- are you calling in and voting for her. >> she's got all of her listeners calling in. >> i love bristol palin. i think that she's a tough girl and that it's great. i haven't vote for her because can't do it. haven't figured out that texting. >> i think that she's voting, todd. >> all the republican of the ho transportation committee says that we can fix these problems at the airport. that we won't ha

>> obama just needed to communicate better -- i don't think that's as it. polls show that the country is still right of center, slightly, but it is right of center. the democrats have lost particularly working people who do not believe in government. >> mark, your take? >> democrats lost the middle of the country and the electorate and most importantly, white middle-class voters. for the press time in the middle of an economic catastrophe, they -- the first time in the middle of an economic catastrophe, they voted republican. i think the republicans won because they were not democrats. there is no doubt as a republican idea that comes out of the select -- there is no galvanizing republican idea that comes out of this election. >> for the record, in addition to taking over the house and never win the majority in the senate, republicans -- narrowing the majority in the senate, republicans now control many state legislatures. >> the change in the state legislatures is historic. in the watergate year, the democratic sweep was 630 could there was a galvanizing i

obama really wasn't. every once in a while he'd appear in a factory or workplace or talk about green jobs. >> rose: and that was later rather than earlier. >> yes. he didn't really talk about it. joe biden was given that role, didn't really do it much. and then he'd have to send out people like summers and geithner who would appear on shows like this on sunday and say, you know, joblessness is a lagging indicator and we're seeing some green shoots. it's ridiculous. i mean, it wasn't even... >> he didn't have anybody speaking to the workers. he didn't have anybody speaking to business. i mean, you don't have a central person in the administration who talks a language of business so you get a jack welch as you did earlier in the show feeling like they don't talk my language and you didn't have peel who really felt like they were talking to the average guy losing a job. >> i would argue he accelerated the narrative. the president was brought in because people wanted change. in many ways the change they wante

let's start with democrats unhappy with president obama. senator sherrod brown is a democrat from ohio. thank you for joining us. i want to show you some of the reportings from politico today about what went on in the caucus meeting you attended last night and bill nelson's frustration at the president. it was reported -- is that an accurate report? can you paint the picture of what went on behind closed doors? >> i don't want to talk about a meeting not open to the public, but i will say that of course the president's controversial, but among senate democrats, we want to president to stand strong. we want him to sharpen the differences. republicans want to block unemployment maintaining unemployment benefits for the millions of unemployed workers that are going to see those benefits run out. at the same time, the republicans want to do tax cuts for the wealthiest in the country. we want the president to make those distinctions sharply because that will clearly win the message and help us governor the way we ought to govern. >> to what exte