romney men don't go to war. mitt romney's father didn't, mitt romney didn't, and his sons didn't. in august of 2007 in a defensive response as to why his sons did not serve in the military in the iraq war, mitt romney said one of the ways my sons are showing support for our nation is helping me get elected. he actually said that. romney men support war. they support wars that other people have to fight. mitt romney's father was in favor of the vietnam war before he was against it, after having claimed famously to have been brainwashed by generals on vietnam. mitt romney has never come close to telling the truth about his relationship to the vietnam war. this is the lie that mitt romney told the last time he was running for president in 2007. i really don't recall thinking about the political positions when i was knocking at the door in france. there were anti-vietnam war protests in france while mitt romney was there. the french fought the vietnam war before we did. we took over from the french. the vietnam war was covered by the french news media every single day that mitt romney

rewrites mitt romney. this time on the choices he made during the vietnam war. and one of those choices was the same choice muhammad ali made. mitt romney and muhammad ali are in tonight's rewrite. that's coming up. joe comes in a paper cup at the drive-thru. johan comes in a porcelain vessel, crafted with care by a talented blonde from sweden. ♪ smooth, rich, never bitter, gevalia. do you have any idea where you're going ? wherever the wind takes me. this is so off course. nature can surprise you sometimes... next time, you drive. next time, signal your turn. ...that's why we got a subaru. love wherever the road takes you. do you read in bed? do you read out loud or in your head? do you need a lamp to see? and does it leave your bedmate be? don't you wish there was a light that wouldn't keep them up all night? if so, you'll be happy to know, our newest nook now comes with glow. introducing nook simple touch with glowlight, the only e-reader made for bedtime reading. find your nook at your neighborhood b

mitt romney the double talker, mitt romney the rewriter of mitt romney, is a very deliberate politician, a politician who's determined to say at every moment of his career exactly what his voters want him to say in that moment. as a result, romney has left the longest self-contradictory paper trail and quote trail of anyone who has ever run for president. and republicans who attacked john kerry because john kerry said he was for a bill before he was against it, now support a candidate who was once for everything that he is now against. tonight's case in point is stimulus. in 2008, when the economy fell off the cliff in the months after the presidential election, mitt romney thought something had to be done right then. and though we had a lame duck president, george w. bush, and a lame duck congress, mitt romney thought our economic situation was so dire, so severe, that we needed action from washington immediately. on december 19, 2008, he wrote this breathless exhortation in the national review. what is washington waiting for? the inauguration is less than five weeks away. at the rate

the mitt romney of 2000 -- the mitt romney who used to be pro-choice and so forth. so you could play this game the other way, seeing how recently mitt romney's positions were absolutely impossible to clear in a republican presidential -- >> well, keep in mind, in 1994, ronald reagan was too conservative for mitt romney. he famously said he didn't want to go back to reagan/bush. but, obviously, there's been an evolution since then. you know, the way mitt romney governed in the context of this conversation was somewhat similar to what we're discussing about reagan. i mean, he did use tax increases. they were called fees in massachusetts to help close the budget loophole. that is,, you know -- and that's caused him a lot of problems with his conservative base and it's something he's generally shied away from talking about, because like every other republican on the stage, he's said he wouldn't vote for a debt ceiling increase that was 10 to one spending cuts versus tax hikes. yes, the evolution has happened. it's not been since '94 to now, it's been since 2000 to now.

romney once again rewrites mitt romney. this time on the choices he made during the vietnam war. and one of those choices was the same choice muhammad ali made. mitt romney and muhammad ali are in tonight's rewrite. that's coming up. >>> it's interesting to me, you as first lady, you have an approval rating of 85, 90%. >> it's not that high. ♪ spread a little love today ♪ ♪ spread a little love my way ♪ ♪ spread a little something to remember ♪ [ female announcer ] fresh milk and real cream makes philadelphia and the moment a little richer. i'd like to thank eating right, whole grain, multigrain cheerios! mom, are those my jeans? [ female announcer ] people who choose more whole grain tend to weigh less than those who don't. multigrain cheerios of how a shipping giant can befriend a forest may seem like the stuff of fairy tales. but if you take away the faces on the trees... take away the pixie dust. take away the singing animals, and the storybook narrator... [ man ] you're left with more electric trucks. more

romney rewrites mitt romney. this time mitt romney renounces republican conservatism and becomes a communiscommunist. >> a stimulus approach has not worked. the idea of item by item, looking for a quick solution, throwing a little gasoline on the fire, that hasn't worked. the first stimulus of almost $800 billion didn't create private sector jobs. the president needs to put aside these stimulus plans and instead to restructure the foundation of america's economy. >> so mitt romney wants the president, quote, to restructure the foundation of america's economy. that is a purely communist idea. that was exactly what the soviet union's dictators were trying to do every day. and of course they failed to do it because totalitarian communism of the sort mitt romney is suggesting simply does not work. but romney doesn't even know he just proposed a communist idea because romney doesn't even listen to what he's saying when he spews that kind of nonsense. he actually thinks he's delivering nice sounding rhetoric. but his w

that's a fundamental difference between him and mitt romney and the reason why mitt romney's going to be elected. because mitt romney believes that businesses create johns. let me give you a small example. we've got a tral and a half dollars sitting overseas. double the stimulus package. all we have to do is bring that money home, these companies that are hodding that money promise to invest and hire, and we could have a stimulus to our economy. why is it that the obama administration won't bring that money home? it's because they want to tax them. the highest corporate tax rate in the world is in the united states of america. this is a kind of no-brainer stuff that because of his view of government, that it keeps us from doing these things. >> but there is another similarity when it comes to how to deal with, and how to evaluate mitt romney's business record at bain but also his experience of being governor of massachusetts. this has been the subject of an attack by president obama against mitt romney, because mitt romney says, look, i understand how to create jobs, i was in the priv

what did mitt romney think? in his four years as governor, mitt romney never stepped one foot in the city of north adams. in fairness to governor romney, he did visit one other city. he visited pitsfield on two occasions. in his opening remark, he said, it was great to be in the city of springfield. three other times during that speech he peted, it was great to be in the city of springfield. with the loss of hundreds of jobs while he was talking about improving the state's economy, he didn't even know what city he was in. like he all promised a better economy, he also promised there would be no taxes. i guess like beauty it's in the eye of the beholder. look closely and you'll see as governor, romney increased taxes by $1200. he increased fees for hospitals and nursing homes and motor vehicles to buying a house. the people hit hardest were the middle class. children of middle class parents went to state colleges where they could receive a quality education at an affordable price. during mitt romney's time as gov

romney and mitt romney's ever changing mind and that's the problem of the republicans face going into november mitt romney has to really come down and figure out what. positions are on the issues he's for it before he's against it and then when he's not against it he's now for it this is hold this is their strategy and they told you what their strategy was he's an edge a sketch it's going to shake them up they can disappear and he's going home with a whole new platform and a whole new strategy and i think what democrats have to do going into november is just continue to show who the real mitt romney is the real mitt romney is somebody had forty seven the food the main message is forty seventh in job growth in this country the mill real mitt romney is somebody who basically extorted poor people middle class and middle class folks under bain capital that's a real mitt romney the republicans don't want him they don't think he's a leader of the party they'd rather have jeb bush as you clearly stated so i mean it just shows who what the room around me is. characterized as. the bottom line

>> joy, mitt romney's father, george romney, advised him to get rich before he ran for president, so he wouldn't have to worry about money, so he could afford to run for president. that was the father-to-son advice when mitt was a young man. well, he got rich, but it looks like he got rich in the worst way. >> yeah. i mean the problem for mitt romney, right, is that he's got to try to capture a larger share of the white vote. he's got to maximize that vote. so to do that, he's got to do well with white working class voters. but the problem is his whole persona, his whole background, his wealth, while it is appealing to general in republicans, and even in this poll, when they were asked stream of consciousness questions, the word cloud part of the poll, what is good about mitt romney, him being a businessman polls good with republicans. but the problem is, in those swing states, the image of an outsourcing, of a guy who's not looking out for the middle class, not looking out for the working man, that's a problem for romney and it's a problem for his bottom-line strategy, getting as ma

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look what mitt romney saved the mantra, repeal and replace. i don't think now that is going to be their issue. i think you will see them quickly move on, as chuck was suggesting, going to be jobs, jobs, jobs. >> is that what you see here happening, chris? >> clearly, i think the candidate romney wants to be jobs because jobs are his unique selling point. he can't just go across the board on ideologically -- house members on the republican side would love to make health care the issue, that is their baby, they fought it and want to destroy it legislatively. that is their ambition. but you got to understand there is a particular advantage that romney brings into this, every time people talk about bain or his role in private sector, anything else, they are basically reminding the country, this is a business person who made a quarter billion dollars in the private sector. he knows money. that is his selling point. he doesn't want to be talking about health care. he passed a health care bill in massachusetts. how could he run against that? how can

mitt romney. so remember that in the context of this election, mitt romney has a very fine line to watch in terms of keeping that far right wing tea party base with him and still appealing to the mor moderate independents in this country. >> but ari, to your point, is karl rove respecting the constitution by running ads like that? setting aside the most distasteful nature of the con. tent. >> well, i don't think he's breaking any rules. the fact that so much of this stuff gets so dirty and sometimes in his case, we can trace it back. in many cases, we can't find out who the donors are. the other point that i think is important is all of this is sort of, all of the arguments about the law are sort of bookended here by this really redick louse ridiculous vote we had in the house about holding the attorney general in contempt. something that has never been done before and was timed in a really odd, suspicious way. >> people would say deliberate. >> well, i'm being as fair as possible. the only point

not mitt romney. he has never created more than 35 jobs. the people that he hired out of harvard business school. >> what did you think of the american cross roads ad which is going after the president in this extremely negative way, suggesting that hope has been in some way transformed into fear on fire? >> well, you know that their tactics are going to be about fear in some ways. this is how they sort of attempt and pander to certain areas within their base. fear mongering in politics is nothing new and certainly is nothing new from the right. it seems to me that it is a little bit early for this. that this is kind of a last-ditch effort you might see later on in the campaign. i'm not surprised by it. my sense, or my hope is that we kind of rise above this. fear mongering has no place in the political discourse will. >> yet, everything we hear from romney, his wife, mitch mckonld, paul rib, all of these individuals are creating this climb of fear. almost for boding. when actually, there are some signs that things are getting better. >> lo

i talk to mitt romney about jobs. >> is mitt romney a democrat? is he an obama supporter? >> when i speak to mitt romney about is jobs, what i speak to mitt romney about is china because he's got a great view on china and how they're trying to destroy our country by taking our jobs and making our product and manipulating their currency so that it makes it almost impossible for our companies to compete. what i speak to him about is opec. i don't speak to him about this. you bring it up because you feel it's probably going to get a few more people watching your station, which unfortunately they're not doing. >> here what's romney's spokeswoman said to the, not yesterday, not six months ago, governor romney has said repeatedly that he believes president obama was born in the united states. he's not a democrat, he's not an obama supporter, he's governor romney, the presidential nominee. he says you're wrong. >> you know what? everybody's entitled to their opinion. you know my opinion, you know his opinion and that's fine. we're entitled as he said yesterday in the airplane, we

not to add mitt romney's record. everything he said about what a wonderful job he would do because of his experience as an executive he said in massachusetts. the fact of the matter is it didn't happen in massachusetts. >> that was a point that came up in the debate between the governors. similar circumstances and romney did not deliver as governor, did he. >> governor romney came into office there was a deficit in massachusetts. he wiped away that deficit. we were as governor kasich alluded to before 51st in job creation and advanced the state to 30th. he advanced it 20 places. 40,000 net jobs created. i think what he did was he came in and changed the culture of the way massachusetts was not working. and everything that governor romney has done whether olympics or private sector as a businessman has helped turn around malfunctioning organizations. nothing is as big a malfunctioning organization right now as washington, d.c. we have to change the way our outlook is and get back to a more optimistic outlook to creati

a vote for mitt romney is a vote for offshoring more jobs. mitt romney hasn't made that yet. he hasn't -- he doesn't want to have this discussion, but it's going to have to happen. >> the president was quick to react to "the post" story. he was in tampa this afternoon. let's take a look. >> today was reported in the "washington post" that the companies his firm owned were pioneers in the outsourcing of american jobs to places like china and india. pioneers. let me tell you, we do not need an outsourcing pioneer in the oval office. we need a president who will fight for american jobs and fight for american manufacturing. that's what my plan will do. >> and romney's camp responded quickly to "the post" story. according to politico romney's spokesperson said, quote, this is fundamentally flawed story that does not differentiate between domestic outsourcing versus offshoring, nor versus work done overseas to support u.s. exports. as president, he will implement policies that make it easier and more attractive for companies to create jobs here at home. joan walsh, that's a lot to

now mitt romney is opposed to the dream act. barack obama wants to let them stay as part of the american family. and that's the choice for the latino voters who will help decide this election. president bowl, a yes has deported more undocumented mexicans than any other president. he has sent national guard troops to the border, and is, yes, he's a us excused of promoting amnesty with the dream act. and my friends the dream act is not amnesty. you are thinking about what ronald reagan did back in the 80 deads. thank you so much for joining us here in the war room, and remember, someone is always in our war room. we have a great show for you tomorrow. mark shriver, brother of maria has a new by on the ground rear biography of his dad. and we'll lighten things

mitt romney doesn't. his corporate tax plan protects the loopholes that have been sending jobs overseas for decades and creates new incentives for jobs overseas by not tax anything foreign income of u.s. companies. so, you know, that is not a prescription of how we can grow the american economy here and create american jobs. and i think the american people are waking up to that. you know, we saw over the weekend actually on friday a story in the "washington post" about mitt romney and his partners being pioneers in outsourcing. and i think that for people in ohio and virginia and north carolina, who have been watching as outsourcing has destroyed their local economies and their local communities, that's really startling when this person who wants to be the president of the united states actually created the practice of outsourcing american jobs overseas to places like chine and india, and that's a problem. and the problem not only because that's his record but it's a problem because he's protecting those

and they do not like mitt romney. and they do not trust him either to get the economy back on track. and that's sort of the fundamental decision that your average voter feels like they're making in this election. >> steve, one of the distinctions about this poll is that it is likely voters. a lot of the polls, in fact, most of the polls that i've been seeing so far have not been likely voters. and we tend not to start polling likely voters until they're promised that they're going to be likely voters is more real, like now, now that we're getting closer to the election. and so likely voters is the only thing you want to poll in this election. and we're going to the see different numbers when you deal with likely voters. >> we are, but i do think it's a little early, and i think it's still, we're at the point where there's so much data out there that the best thing you can do is sort of average it all together. so if you look at this poll, it finds the approval rating at 53%. that's really about five points higher than

let's run a response ad for mitt romney which his campaign put up late this week. >> mitt romney, on day one, the difference is strong leadership. as governor of massachusetts, mitt romney had the best jobs record in a decade. romney reduced unemployment to 4.7%, balanced every budget without raising taxes, he did it by bringing parties together to cut through gridlock. from day one as president, mitt romney's strong leadership will make all the difference on jobs. >> kim, fascinating that they felt obliged to respond to this massachusetts ad in a way they didn't to the bain capital attack previously. why the do you think romney felt they had to reply? >> i think they do it for two reasons, one is that he has made, obviously, his management of massachusetts a key part of his campaign. he's lent a lot on biology and this is his argument, i've run a stated and run it well. two, i think the other problem, there was a lot of misinformation in that obama attack ad that came out and they want to set the record straight on. you know, the goal here for mitt romney needs to be to make the com

so i think mitt romney is is doing exactly what's right for mitt romney. and peggy noonan just better lay off him. >> that's a shocking analysis. jared, i have to come to you. i want to play you something the president said in atlanta today. explaining how republicans will pay for a planned additional five trillion dollar tax cut. you're an economist. listen to this. >> essentially, you, your family, your friends, middle class people all across the country, would end up seeing higher tacks to pay for tax cuts for mr. romney and me. it ain't right. >> jared, isn't this part of mitt's invisible strategy? promise a big tax cut, but never, ever talk about how he's going to pay for it? >> right and in this case, he's been actually conspicuously visible because he went out and said that hey, i endorse paul ryan's budget. i think the bush tax cuts should be extended forever and i'd like to double down and add on $5 trillion over ten years worth of my own. how you going to pay for it? to be discussed later. so, you know, so actually, here is a case where and there

that's what mitt romney just said. she's the athlete. so what will the athlete in the family be doing in the olympics? >> so she's quite thrilled and i'm sure she'll be watching. i have a campaign to attend to, so i won't be able to see it perform. but i'm very pleased for her. >> that's right. the romney family definition of an olympic athlete is a person who participates in the purchase of an olympic athlete, in this case, a horse that the romneys own. now, mitt romney has always told the story of the family's entry into the breathtakingly expensive so-called support of dressage as a therapeutic option for ann romney's multiple sclerosis. >> dressage. >> yes, the sport of dressage. not many people are familiar with, but something for which she has a passion, and frankly, her getting back on a horse after she was diagnosed with ms was able, she's convinced, to help her regenerate her strength and renew that vigor. >> now, this is not in any way to make light of ann romney's difficulty with ms, it's obviously a very difficult thing to be

mitt romney appear eed beside t aspirin between your knee guy, the fake christian scandal guy, mitt romney appeared alongside the discrased failed presidential campaign and the 999 economic plan that seems to be majorized by the sim city video game, and this guy, with the pimp suit, and this guy, governor forced vaginal probe, ultrasound, depending on who you ask, and this guy who wept from the stage this weekend. he now has a pay per view internet show on the internet. he used his speech to talk about how "glee" is destroying america and how he's going to create right-wing version of "glee" to save america by destroying liberals. >> we have given enough. we have given enough. we're going to lose. a year ago, i was watching the show "glee" with my wife, and we watched it like this. it's horrifying, some of the things they're teaching high schoolers. but it's brilliantly done. it's brilliantly done. it's produced brilliantly. it's music brilliant, acting brilliant. cinematography, brilliant, all of it, and i said to her at the end of this, a year, a year and a half ago. we lose, there's no

that's what mitt romney did this weekend. we watched "glee" and that's what mitt romney did this weekend as he was hosted by the forced abortion dog the man on dog guy, the can u beck, beck, beck is is stan guy and what did he give a speech on evils of contraception and he multitasked. while he was doing that his campaign was paying for a campaign sfeech at a for a good time call the first lady outhouse event. that's what mitt romney did as the republican party's nominee for president. with him dragging this stuff behind him as he runs for president, why aren't the democrats making sure the cans tied to his bumper make some noise? why aren't they making him answer for that? if the democrats held them kth accountable for the right wing of his own party which he courts in every way, would the beltway explode from the democrats being so audacious as to press what really ought to be their obvious advantage here? joining us is frankch latest ar "nuke'em. why negative ads are essential and sometimes even artistic. good to be with y

it seems mitt romney hasn't come up with a plan. he can't answer the direct question, if he would stay with or rescind the program. >> it's not that he can 0, it's that he won't answer. one of his advisers has said that he would rescind the decision the president put in place. and here's the other thing, consider the disrespect of going in front of naleo, one of the largest and most prominent latino groups in the country and not explaining yourself, not explaining self deportation and say that in a primary and have a totally different message in a general election. >> what about that? >> you can micromanage these debates, you can try to find one issue, but in the end of the day when a hispanic voterory any voter walkinize to the voting boolths, are things going to get better in america? is it going to be better for my family? who knows how to manage an economy? that's what people want to know. that's the issue. >> what do you think? >> if he could, as we have seen from mitt romney, what he would try to do is change the subject. he c

exactly. >> that is what mitt romney, we see mitt romney in utah, what he is doing is what we euphemistically call donor maintenance. this is something that the obama team has really abhorde as sort of a relic of the clinton age and bush age, this sum educatpp of donors. now they're waking up and realizing hey they need that money too and some of the attacks they continue to level are making it harder to raise that. >> very quickly, karen. >> the biggest difference is not a single democrat is trying to suggest that what they do at bain is job creation. that's the big difference here. >> and that is the big difference. our thanks to chris hayes, karen finney, with the big difference, and ken vogel. and of course chris's show is on saturday and sunday. don't miss it. a programming note. starting next week our broadcast moves one hour later to 4:00 p.m. eastern so be sure to join us at our new time. on monday we welcome a new show at 3:00 p.m. called "the cycle" and it features four friends of in very broadcast. do stay with us at 3:00 and 4:00. stay with us now. much more ahead. >> you know, i'

and plus, mitt romney's massachusetts record. the obama campaign calls it one of the worst in the country. is it? and how does it compare to the president? all that and the truth behind the male-female wage gap and democratic attempts to exploit it. tonight, we tell wisconsin, we tell our country and tell people all across the globe that voters really do want leaders who stand up and make the tough decisions. >> welcome to the journal editorial report. i'm paul gigot. that was republican governor scott walker of wisconsin on tuesday night after surviving a union backed recall challenge. his 7 point win over milwaukee mayor tom barrett was more than the election that he won two years ago and it wasn't big labor's only's loss of the night. voters in san diego, . and joining us assistant and editorial page editor, james freeman, jason riley and washington columnist kim strassel. jason, what does it tell us, this election, about the mood of the voters? >> it tells that the voters are realists, paul. the government are facing serious

mitt romney is that guy right now. as we await the supreme court ruling on the papers please law, which romney says should be a model for the nation, mr. romney today spoke before a latino political group about what it is like to run for president as the son of mexican immigrants. >> throughout my campaign i've often had the chance to speak about my dad, and how proud i am of him. he was born to parents, american parents living in mexico. when he was 5 they left everything behind and started over in the united states. his dad, my grandfather, was a builder, and he went bust more than once. my grandfather didn't make much money. there were times in my dad's life when he lived in poverty. but my grandfather had big hopes for my dad and tried to help him as best he could. my dad didn't finish college, but he believed in the country where the circumstances of one's birth were not a barrier to achievement. >> by these circumstances of one's birth, what mitt romney means, at least whether he speaks to a latino audience, is h

mitt romney is never going to be as likable. he is never comfortable talking about the things that animate him as a person. the romney campaign isn't going to try to fix that problem. they're staying focused on the president's economic stewardship. they think they can within that argument. the rest melts away. chris: we're looking at the numbers that came on friday. the unemployment rate that rose. we had 69,000 new jobs. and new numbers tells the last couple months have been much worse than we thought. will the people say darn it, i may not like this guy or know him very well, i'm going to take a chance? >> i think it's possible. these numbers are so unremittingly bad there is no silver lining in the jobs reports at all. companies are afraid to hire. they're looking to europe. they're seeing contagion potentially spread from greece. chris: are we looking at another recession before the election? >> i'm not sure that's possible. that would be actually be able to be quantified before the next election. it takes time for them to b