mitt romney. >>> a couple of new polls out. the new nbc news "wall street journal" poll -- >> polls -- >> polls indicate -- >> we've got months of this. >> this is the first full week of the full-on campaign. round one of the general election. >> i'm probably going to need a helmet between now and november. what do you think? >> a poll out today shows the president up. >> 42% of registered voters have a favorable view of the president -- >> this is a snapshot in time. >> does 29% see romney in a favorable light? >> president obama leads by ten points in the enthusiasm gap. >> the likability factor is part of all of this. >> and the trustworthy thing. >> romney has a lot more baggage than the president. >> i wasn't born with a silver spoon in my mouth. >> i know the president likes to attack fellow americans, particularly those successful like my dad. >> the "new york times" poll shows the candidate lost in a dead heat. >> i'll use my energy to help the american people go to work. >> everywhere he

the president or mitt romney? if that's the paradigm, if that's the question people ask themselves, i'm pretty confident he'll prevail on election day. >> thank you. >>> next my all-star political panel join me to talk the big win and santorum's refusal to bark. nature valley trail mix bars are made with real ingredients you can see. like whole roasted nuts, chewy granola, and real fruit. nature valley trail mix bars. 100% natural. 100% delicious. >>> another big night for mitt romney. i'm going to bring in amy holmes, dana lash and carol roth. what an exotic lineup, with incredible titles as always. let me start with you, carol. you've always been a romney girl. are you feeling like the wedding's on its way here? >> well, i've always seen this as almost like a prizefight, piers. there are certain fighters who go over the knockout purge, and there are certain ones that do a really good job every round. you go to the cards, it's a little more battered and bloodied in the latter scenario, i think that that's mitt ro

they project that mitt romney will win. romney leading santorum in maryland with double digits again with gingrich and ron paul far behind. in washington, d.c. where rick santorum is not even on the ball ballot, nbc news easily projects mitt romney will win that primary beating newt gingrich and ron paul. joining me now is chuck todd, nbc news political director, chief white house correspond he not of host of the daily rundown. what did we learn about mitt romney's strengths tonight and the future of rick santorum? >> i think not only do we know that demographics are destiny one again, and wisconsin we told you is a little closer to being more like somewhere between an illinois primary electorate or michigan republican primary electorate. worse for santorum is we start to see some of his core support groups that we've been identifying tluts this primary season, most notably non-college graduates, white evangelicals and folks that make less than $100,000. they start to move towards romney. dead even among basically middle in

what is mitt romney's position on this bill? what is mitt romney's position on north carolina's anti-gay constitutional amendment? we don't know. which is a little bit weird, because the barack obama re-election campaign has taken a stand on it. the obama campaign says it is against the anti-gay marriage amendment in north carolina and usually when a campaign takes an overt stance like that, that's the kind of thing that calls for a response from the other side. but so far, nothing from the romney camp. our own campaign embed, garrett hake, confirms to us tonight that mr. romney, even though he is in north carolina tonight, the night before voting starts, even though mr. obama has taken a side on this issue, mr. romney has not taken any position on it. we have not heard beep from the romney campaign about this. which, again, is a little bit weird. because in the context of trying to win the republican nomination for president this year, mr. romney has not been shy at all about matters like this. he gave the rabidly anti-gay nati

it's not what mitt romney said at all tonight. i think him coming out and saying i'm the food stamps guy, if you're on food stamps and you never thought you would be, then i'm your guy, i think it's amazing for him to also be the paul ryan budget guy. >> i think what he is talking about is how we grow the economy and create opportunity. he began to outline the contours of that economic message. it's obvious we have disagreements on it. i think there's big vision about how to create prosperity and economic opportunity. i think he outlined that speech tonight. >> you're hearing it, but he's not saying it. it's great to have you. steve schmidt. senior strategist for the mccain-palin 2008. nbc news is projecting that mitt romney wins the gop primary in the great state of new york. shocking. i know. lots more to come including latest primary election results. richard clark is here. stick around. [ kate ] many women may not be properly absorbing the calcium they take because they don't take it with food. switch to citracal maximum plus

mitt romney. if he wins, we lose. oh. if mitt romney is painted as kind of the 1%, if he wins, we lose, if they're able to say it's about fairness -- it's not about who says you're going to raise your taxes or loose your conversation, if they can change the conversation or tweak it, the mainstream video gets. questioning romney himself on this very. >> now that they're. we don't divideç at well 'is. we're nation. . these are the times when people of different backgrounds and different experiences need to come together. >> the fairness concern about envy? >> i think it's unfair this president has been in office 3.5 years and 93% of the people who have lost their jobs has been women. >> the statistics don't quite hold up for me near. that was the best way out in the end. you should have got into that earlier. but the obama campaign may be thinking of little. that brings the narrative of who mitt romney is who is a rich guy and not paying much taxes. what they may be missing is it's not a great idea for any democrat, even

let's get behind mitt romney. the damage that is being caused now could be certainly detrimental in the general election. i can talk even specifically, rick santorum taking on mitt romney regarding health care and basically saying that there is no difference between what mitt romney, passed and signed as governor of massachusetts, and what right now is before the supreme court of this country. and he made for those conservatives out there, i think, a very easy argument as to why they should not get behind mitt romney. especially those, andrea, who are hell-bent on repealing what they refer to agency obamacare. >> how many times, a good point you make. how many times have we heard rick santorum on the stump saying that the whole health care issue would be denied to the republican party with mitt romney as the nominee because he could not make the argument effectively against the president's health care plan. he's going to have to take back a whole lot and that makes the very awkward to see what kind of announcement

., nbc news declares mitt romney the winner in wisconsin. mitt romney leads rick santorum with newt gingrich and ron paul trailing far behind. the maryland republican primary, nbc news projects mitt romney will win. romney leads santorum in maryland with gingrich and fall far behind and in washington, d.c., where rick santorum is not on the ballot, nbc news projects mitt romney will win that primary beating newt gingrich and ron paul. >>> joining me now is chuck todd, nbc news political director, chief white house correspondent and host of msnbc's "the daily rundown." chuck, wisconsin is where everybody's looking tonight. what do we learn about mitt romney's strengths tonight? and the future of rick santorum? >> well, i think not only to we know the demographics are destiny once again. wisconsin told you was going to be a little bit closer to being more like somewhere in between an illinois republican primary electorate or michigan primary electorate. worse for santorum we're starting to see his core sport groups that we've been identifying

it's not what mitt romney said at all tonight. i think him coming out and saying i'm the food stamps guy, if you're on food stamps and you nevering thought you would be, i'm your guy. i think it's for him to be the paul ryan guy. >> i think what he is talking about is how we grow the economy and create opportunity. he outlines the countie contourt economic line. we have disagreements. i think there's big vision about how to create prosperity and economic opportunity. i think he outlined that speech tonight. >> you're hearing it, but he's not saying. it's great to have you. steve schmidt. we have news. nbc news is projecting that mitt romney wins the gop primary in the great state of new york. shocking. i know. lots more to come including latest primary election results. richard clark is here. stick around. [ male announcer ] imagine facing the day with less chronic osteoarthritis pain. imagine living your life with less chronic low back pain. imagine you, with less pain. cymbalta can help. cymbalta is fda-approved to manage chroni

mitt romney does this all the time. in the speech that he gave last night when he won wisconsin and in a speech that he gave today, he used this tactic like a dozen times. it's kind of his only trick. all of his weaknesses as a candidate, he now just says are the weaknesses of barack obama as a candidate. so mitt romney lived in france instead of going to vietnam. he spent years and years in europe. so now mitt romney says that is barack obama's problem. he's the european! mitt romney signed on to the paul ryan kill-medicare plan, so now mitt romney says wanting to kill medicare, that's barack obama's problem. >> he has taken a series of steps that end medicare as we know it. >> mitt romney was 47th out of 50th in job creation when he served as governor of massachusetts and his record in private industry at bain capital is littered with all of these horror stories about shutting down factories and firing american workers. getting rid of american jobs for his own personal profit. so mitt romney opened his speech last nig

mitt romney knows that. so mitt romney has delegated the crisis management of his nugent problem to ted nugent. who today, tried to explain himself to friendly interviewers. >> if it wasn't for the federal government, my life would be perfect. bottom line is, glenn, i've never threatened anybody's life in my life. i don't threaten. i don't waste breath threatening. i just conduct myself as a dedicated we the people activist. i'm a nonviolent guy. i don't threaten. i wouldn't waste my time threatening. i've never threatened anybody's life in my life. i certainly wouldn't threaten the life of the president or anybody in public office or anybody anywhere. >> i'm a black jew in a nazi clan rally. >> that guy knows something about damage control. and the only thing about ted nugent that seems to bother the romney campaign is nugent's claim that romney solicited nugent's endorsement. ted nugent announced his endorsement on twitter after a long heart and soul conversation with mitt romney today, i concluded this go

cnn can now project that mitt romney, mitt romney is the winner in the state of maryland based on the exit poll information. we've been taking it throughout the day. voters coming out. we do project mitt romney will be the winner in maryland. we'll give you the exact numbers shortly. we are not able to make a projection in the district of columbia simply because we did not have exit poll information data in the district of columbia, but real numbers will be coming in shortly in the district of columbia. we'll share those numbers with you shortly. let's put up on the screen right now the exit poll information for maryland. here is why we could make this projection that mitt romney is the winner in maryland. take a look at this. based on the exit polls, what people were telling us as they left the polling booths throughout the day, 49% in maryland said they were voting -- they already had voted in fact for mitt romney, 28% for rick santorum, 11% for newt gingrich, 10% for ron paul. based on those exit poll numbers, we are able to make the projection that mitt romney, the former governor

he believes mitt romney agrees with him. >> mitt romney is a great american. mitt romney believes in the first amendment. mitt romney knows what i'm saying is true. he puts it into words for him. i put it into words for me. >> i'm joined by eugene robinson. great to have you with us. it's about rhetoric at this point, no doubt. the romney campaign jumped over hilary rosens comments even though she's not part of the campaign. why isn't mitt romney con deemed these comments and do he need to do this? >> this is no comparison between that and this. this is different not just in degree but in kind because there's not just criticism, there's not just political incorrectness or whatever in what he was saying, there's menace there. it's no surprise that the secret service has decided to at least look into this because he sounds delusional and it's delusional people you need to watch out for historically. this is completely different. add to that the fact that mitt romney went out of his way to try to get ted nugent's endorsement. >> that's the story right there. this

romney contradicts mitt romney. and in our side show, we took a look back at the hits that newt gingrich leveled at mitt romney. take a look at this one, for example. >> there is something so grotesquely hypocritical. will team obama use biting comments like that to slam mitt romney in the general election? newt seemed less than concerned. >> when somebody wins this nomination, can those of you who have been running stand together and honestly say, i support the endorsement? >> absolutely. it doesn't matter, we just make stuff up, anyway. >> once the obama campaign gets ahold of newt's own statements about mitt romney, they lose any shred of truth. up next, republican senator oren hatch says the obama campaign will play against mitt romney. who says obama is a mormon? by the way, you can twitter me at smerconish. >>> welcome back to "hardball." our hardball strategists are back tonight to discuss two trending topics on the campaign trail this week. number one, rick santorum met with conservatives today to try to bri

. >> mitt romney needs ann romney what karen santorum did, have fun. >> when is the last time mitt romney had fun? really. think about, what does he do for fun if he goes home and counts his car elevators? he's not a guy who you think -- >> doesn't play with his dog. >> no. i don't want to see him let his hair down. there's an intangible thing, particularly for general elections, right? an an inc. table thing, it gets overanalyzed but it's do you want to have a beer with me thing? >> true. >> it doesn't matter if you drink beer. >> or not. >> george w. bush didn't drink beer. >> right. >> it doesn't matter if you fit the way that we talk about it. but there is something about whether or not people want to see this person on their television 15 times a day for the next 4 to 8 years, whether or not they want to think of this person as embodying our nation and values on the world stage. it's intangible thing. there's no way to make a candidate more appealing than a beer department. >> is this person who can understand me? do i want to have a beer with this person? do i want to see them on th

the real issue here is that mitt romney, what we're forgetting, is that mitt romney, in that lordly way he has, says, my wife reports to me that women say this and women care about the economy. it's mitt romney's foot and mouth disease that brought us to this position, and that is what hilary rosen was talking about, that he uses his wife as this everywoman who reports to him, like what, he's the ceo and he's deferred the women question to her? i have advice for mitt romney. i'm not a romney campaign adviser. don't talk about your wife as your campaign surrogate or your adviser on women. talk about the experiences of women. as michael steele says, men can have empathy, men can learn about what matters to women. that's the point she was trying to make. >> will you accept that, that governor romney put this into play by identifying his wife into the way he sort of gets insight into female voters? >> no, i don't. he's relaying personal conversations. she's not a paid staffer. every candidate who has ever run for whatever office has made that connection with family or voters. i listen to wh

mitt romney finishes third. the republican establishment goes to work and romney walks away with the delegates, the majority of the delegates. i understand the rick santorum camp is pretty hot about this process. isn't this ignoring the will of the people when they caucus? what do you make of this? >> this isn't a general election. it's a caucus process in the republican party. the romney campaign is ready for prime time. they followed the rules. they got the delegates. another example of rick santorum's campaign not being ready to play at this level and that's why his campaign is all but over as we come to tonight and mitt romney is on the edge of being the nominee. >> romney did have some of his attorneys to that campaign this weekend. they must have done some pretty fast talking. romney looks like he's going to be get it, we might as well go with him? what about that? >> it's very powerful. the idea of being the insurgent is that you can steal momentum and build on it. we have seen a number try to get it and

mitt romney is no longer running against republicans. >> mitt romney has already pivoted to the general election campaign. that whether rick santorum stays in or not is now basically irrelevant. gwen: and president obama, like all incumbents, is defending his own policies. >> under president obama, domestic oil production is at an eight-year high. so why is big oil attacking him? because he's fighting to end their tax breaks. gwen: the economy, the voter, the supreme court, the candidates, all caught up in one big political stew. covering the week, jackie calmes of "the new york times." john dickerson of "slate" magazine and cbs news. karen tumulty of "the washington post." and david wessel of "the wall street journal." >> award winning reporting and analysis. covering history as it happens. from our nation's capital, this is "washington week with gwen ifill." produced in association with "national journal." corporate funding for "washington week" is provided by -- >> we know why we're here. >> to chart a greener path in the air and in our factories. >> to find cleaner, more efficient w

for anyone but mitt romney. i'll explain what they were hoping to find in their search for anyone but mitt. it wasn't someone with better policy positions. it was something more important than that. and that's in the re-write. >>> and the team of lawyers now defending george zimmerman in the killing of trayvon martin went shopping for easy tv interviews last night. and they found one on one of the other news networks. okay. here's a hint. the show was hosted by a white man -- well, okay, that's pretty much every cable news show. all right. another hint, the show was at 9:00 p.m. in fact, both of the shows they did were at 9:00 p.m. [ fabric flapping in wind ] ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ [ flapping continues ] ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] at nissan, our ideal is innovation. 5 all-new models over the next 15 months, including a completely reimagined altima. welcome to our most innovative year ever. nissan. innovation for all. ♪ >>> so republicans and the noise machine at fox news think it's perfectly okay to say this.

it's not what mitt romney said at all tonight. i think him coming out and sayi i know. lots more to come including latest primary election results. richard clark is here. stick around. >>> i don't want this to be a country where a shrinking number of americans are doing real well but a growing number of people but a growing number of people are struggling to get by. that's not my idea of america. i want this to be a country where everybody get a fair shot and everybody is doing their fair share and everybody is playing by the same set of rules. this country has always made a commitment to put a good education within the reach of all who are willing to work for it. pit. that's what makes us special. that's what made us an economic super power. that's what kept us at the hugely important for democrats in 2012. and for this president in particular. when then senator obama beat senator john mccain there in 2008, that was the first time a democrat carried north carolina in a presidential election since jimmy carter back in 1976. the ob

romney tonight, going 3 for 3 in >>> a big, big night for mitt romney tonight, going 3 for 3 in today's presidential primaries. mr. romney is projected to win in wisconsin and in maryland and in washington, d.c. so three months to the day after voting began in iowa, governor romney has had the type of night after which republican voters should kind of be expected to rally around the nominee, right? i mean, that's the conventional wisdom. there's even a saying about that. democratic voters fall in love. republican voters fall in line. so is now the time that we can expect republican voters to start falling in line behind mitt romney? maybe? look at this. this is from the exit polls that nbc news conducted in wisconsin tonight. i think this is really interesting. if mitt romney is the eventual nominee of your party, will you, republican primary voter in wisconsin, be satisfied with that result, or will you be dissatisfied with that result? these are the overall numbers for people who voted in the wisconsin primary. 66% say they'd be satisfied. 32% say they would be dissatisfied if mitt ro

mitt romney. >> the question is, if i were elected and congress were to pass the dream act, would i veto it? and the answer is yes. the answer is self-deportation is people decide they could do better by going home because they can't find work here because they don't have legal documentation to allow them to work here. i think you see a model here in arizona. >> tonight, romney strategists are staring at what may be a latino lock on the electoral college. a democratic source outlined this scenario to politico. "assuming that obama wins all the states that have been won by every democrat for the last 20 years, luing both gore and kerry, and romney wins all the states that mccain won in 2008, that leaves 10 states. with those ten states, there are 1,024 possible combinations. out of those 1,024 scenarios, obama wins 939 of them, and romney wins 85 of them. all 85 scenarios require mitt romney to win florida." a new robo poll of florida registered voters shows president obama leading mitt romney in f

ohio has mitt romney down by six. now this is a dramatic swing from 2010 when the recommendation did very well winning the. gubernatorial seat there. what is he going to do in ohio where the committee beginning to come back a little bit the automotive industry is coming back. what is mitt romney going to say in ohio? >> look, i think you're going to continue making the case are we having some job growth? yeah, but it's not enough to keep up with what we need to do to get out of the hole. i think he's going to continue to make the case. he's a guy who has had success in the private sector and's better suited to manage the current economy than the current occupant in the white house. >> joe, you said that moment could redefine him. if you were mitt romney and ohio were the battleground, who would you pick? >> that's a tough question. the name that is on a lot of people's names is rob portman. very low-key guy. solid, he has got the fiscal record. that's the ohioan that a lot of people are saying should be number two on

with mitt romney. and i think we just saw a real contrast here. do you think the obama team is hoping that mitt goes out and does more of that stuff? >> well, he's going to have to try, because he has to find some way to connect with people. but he's very bad when he's spontaneous. you know, i watched that segment and he looked like a man who was visiting another planet. one where there was no general motors, which there wouldn't have been if he'd had his way. he couldn't even empathize with those people, let alone give them answer. someone would say, the arts budget is being cut in school, and he'd say, yeah, and scratch his arm or scratch his face. he just doesn't relate to people. you look at the president, he's in his groove, he's out there campaigning, he knows what he wants to say. he knows what his fundamental message is. who's going to stand up and fight for you and who's on the other side? >> what's that story about fdr when he was, you know, going around after he had passed away and they had

mitt romney was asked about his religion. the questioner was a ron paul supporter our producers on the ground tell us. listen to this exchange. >> in the mormon book it says there were all the children of canaan -- >> i'm sorry. we're just not going to have a discussion about religion, in my view, but if you have a question, i'd be happy to answer your question. >> do you believe it is a sin for a white man to marry and procreate with a black -- >> no. next question. >> eugene, i think he's been missing an opportunity here. when contraception and religion became an issue in the presidential race, it was the perfect opportunity for mitt romney to say this is not a theocracy, it's a democracy. religion and litmus tests should play no role in americans electing a president. frankly, it would have been a double knockout for him. instead he punted and toed the party line. >> i think the question he faced was how do you say that in a republican primary and not alienate t evangelicals. he's walking a fine line. i think what's happen

the same is true for mitt romney. you've heard about battle ground states that swing these elections. there is a good baker's dozen of them. >> they're in every region. there is new hampshire in the northeast and florida in the south. >> there is 16 states widely seen, none are in the south. >> will you help me become the next president of the united states? >> analysts placed 22 states in the romney column, including some, like indiana that the obama biden ticket carried in 2008. >> republicans have to recapture three states have that been republican. indiana and virginia. and north carolina which voted for democrat in 1976. 39 electoral college votes shifted 78 in the electoral college. >> in three battle ground states mr. obama won, iowa, new mexico and wisconsin again go his way. it's is meaning a gain of 21 electoral votes. let's suppose romney picks up north carolina. ask that he reclaims virginia for the g.o.p. where it's been for all but one of the last 12 elections, let's suppose romney takes nevada where une

romney before he endorses mitt romney. that's coming up. energy in ame. we've got to protect the environment. the economists make some good points. we need safer energy. [announcer:] who's right? they all are. visit powerincooperation.com. [ male announcer ] you plant. you mow. you grow. you dream. meet the new definition of durability: the john deere select series. with endless possibilities, what will you create? ♪ learn more about the new select series x310 with power steering at johndeere.com/x310. that's good morning, veggie style. hmmm. for half the calories plus veggie nutrition. could've had a v8. >>> rick santorum said today that he's not done fighting, but he is done campaigning. the man who drove santorum out of the race before a possible humiliating defeat in santorum's home state of pennsylvania tried not to gloat. >> this has been a good day for me. senator santorum has decided not to proceed with his campaign and i had the chance to speak with him this morning. we exchanged our thoughts about going forward

what do they do about mitt romney? >> i think you have to be careful to make the -- not to make the candidate into something they're not. we saw this with john kerry in 2004, where they tried to portray him as going out hunting, and it came out to voters as very awkward and artificial. they have to be careful, sort of humanizing mitt romney, if you will, putting him out there with ann romney, with his family, is, i think, very, very helpful to him as the campaign is starting to realize. in terms of moving on to the general election, mitt romney wants to do that. you see him basically ignoring his other gop contenders at this point and focusing all of his fire power back on president obama, trying to pit it as a race between him and the president and just basically ignoring the other candidates. >> and you're seeing the democrats, and you're seeing the obama campaign doing the same thing. let me play for you a little bit of what david axelrod had to say. >> i think it's going to be the concern of the american people. he

the arguments today are over how far and how fast to expand the gun owner rights, and mitt romney towed the line today at the nra calling gun control an assault on freedom. and now the state attorney decided to pursue charges against george zimmerman and now after weeks of publicity, is it fair for george zimmerman to get a fair trial? and habits of insulting stay-at-home moms in election years. and it distracted us from mitt romney's gender problem which will not go away by trying to make the case that it is president obama waging a war against women. the obama campaign is trying to paint romney as rich and out of touch. so today the president and the vice president released their tax returns, daring romney to do the same. and let me fin wish the battle of the 2008 campaign which is not finished barack obama versus bill clinton. we begin with gun, and former governor ed rendell is a political analyst and jeff gottlieb who is joining us from the nra convention in st. louis. gentlemen, speaking at the nra convention this afternoon mitt romney decried what he called the president's assaul

it is mitt romney-barack obama. gingrich and ron paul are pretty trivial factors in the race now. >> to what extent has what we have seen over the last few months damage the republicans' chances of winning the election? >> the primaries were quite damaging to the republican party, yes. on issues like immigration, they have a lot of work to do with hispanic voters. mitt romney's numbers with women are not good right now. on the other hand, there are some warning signs in the economy. there are new concerns about europe, at the american stock market. if no one wishes -- no one wishes for a bad economy, but if you are mitt romney, that could be set the plainfield's very quickly. the more we have economic -- could set the plainfield very quickly. >> now they have a candidate is it right this assumption that mitt romney is the most likely of the bonds to be able to defeat barack obama? given that so many conservatives do not like what they see. >> i would go back and back to the state of the economy. the worst the econom

remember, kris kobach is mitt romney's immigration adviser, and this is what mitt romney says should be a model for the nation. what is motivating these guys? why are they writing these laws? what do they think they are doing with these laws that mitt romney says should be a model for the nation? "immigration is on track to change the demographic makeup of the entire country. you know, what they call minority majority, says hethmon. how many countries have gone through a transition like that, peacefully, carefully? it's theoretically possible, but we don't have any examples." wait, that's why we need anti-immigration bills like the ones you guys wrote, that mitt romney says are a model for the nation. to make sure that america stays white enough. to keep the number of non-white people in america low? that's why we need immigration reform. that's what's motivating these bills. you know, what they call minority/majority. how many nations have gone through a transition like that, peacefully or carefully? it's theoretically possible, but we don't have any examples. if that kind of reason

when mitt romney gets this nomination, what case can he make to those voters? that he hasn't already been able to make to them? what can he tell them that has not persuaded them already? or does he just have to count on them falling in line? it's going to be fascinating to watch. stay tuned. that does it for us tonight. we will see you again tomorrow night. now it's time for "the last word with lawrence o'donnell." have great night. >>> after two quickly calle

let's touch on mitt romney for a moment. howard, why is romney not willing to admit which programs and agencies that he plans to cut but he can sure go right to the wealthy and go right to the military and give them anything they want? >> because the wealthy want to know how it pencils. the wealthy want to know what the bottom line is. they are used to looking at balance sheets and he had to give them something for them to try to believe them. he gave them massive cuts in housing and education. hud isn't just a bureau. it's place that oversees the distribution of housing for people who need it in subsidized housing for people that need it. the department of education is a place that handles pell grants for college students who need it and lots of other aid that's made the rise of the middle class possible in this country. the rich donors that he was talking to wanted to know specifics of how he was going to cut if they were going to believe in him as a conservative. don't forget, his whole challenge this whole time to get su