writer for president george w. bush and margie omero, a democratic pollster. okay, margie, you are sitting here in the hot seat. tell me from your point of view how mitt romney did. just with connecting with those swing voters. those independent voters last night. not as a partisan but just looking at that time how a swing voter might see him after that speech. >> i think he did a good job. his speech, he got through it. he didn't make a mistake. he had some touching moments in it i think people will have a positive reaction. it's important to remember he is the net unfavorable since january. i mean, that's months and months of being more unfavorable than favor views toward him. that's going to take more than a speech to turn around. i mean, a lot of those voters are going to be deciding late and they are going to want to hear more policy as you noted which they didn't really get that much last night. >> mark, as far as convention speeches go, it really falls in line with most of the ones that we remember previously, right? reagan in 84 and 80. i don't believe got into a lot of pol

this race. you remember how condi rice worked like crazy for george bush with the secretary of state in this race. >> she is in pakistan where she should be. she is doing her job. look, i don't think that barack obama wants' hillary clinton around campaigning but i could be wrong on that that. >> of course he does. >> you think he wants hillary clinton on the campaign trail. >> absolutely. absolutely. i think there is a personal thing. >> there she is about 20 points above him in popularity. >> i know that but it's a personal thing. it's a personal thing. all right. i could being wrong on that. >> that's for hillary not for him. of course he wants. she is not doing it vital trips. >> 30 seconds. >> interviewed bill clinton a few months ago. you know, the guy he was honest. i think that's what happens. he sits for the interviews and you ask him a question about bush tax cuts he tells you the truth. he doesn't think about the political ramifications. last word, 20 seconds, bill. >> bill, he thinks about the political ramifications about as afternoon as our bosses at fox news think of rati

. all the polls say that and just like george w. bush. they like the president. they being the majority of voters. >> bill: it's the job, it's the economy. >> of course it is. >> bill: there are a few people who even at this late date don't know what they are going to do. most of them are in saloons and they have to pull them out. all right? but they just don't know what they're going to do. when it comes down to likability in this race. obama defeats mitt romney on likability. >> favorabilities are now even according to gallup. the same. romney was out of this thing before the first debate. the question for people is last minute people you are talking about. what are they going to vote on? and the problem for the president what makes this different in 2004 is the economy. this isn't margin of corruption. >> bill: you don't make this prediction. >> i say this election is margin of corruption could go either way. i do think probably the last day or so it has started to kick back to romney. >> bill: that's what krauthammer believes. if there is one state that romney could pick of

that mitt romney's policies look almost exactly like george w. bush's policies. by using clinton in ad it's a tip of the hat to, look, bill clinton and obama have very similar visions for the economy. >> i don't think that that's true. i think that there is a huge schism in the democratic committee. maybe doug, you can answer this. between the bill clinton wing which is moderate, mainstream pragmatic democrats versus the obama wing of the democratic party which is purely i'd lodge coagulate. very very far to the left. does the comparison work? >> let me offer a practical distinction and then perhaps address the larger question. bill clinton worked for a balanced budget. he did negotiations with the republicans in the oval office during the campaign and we had as our highest goal on the election getting an agreement which ultimately did produce a balanced budget. the obama campaign and obama presidency have obviously taken a different approach using class warfare and deal and haven't pursued anything since the failure of the grabbed bargain. that being said, with bill clinton's appro

candidates running for re-election, including ronald reagan, george bush, and others, that's the way they counted the jobs. >> bill: first two years of the president's term shouldn't count because he was dealing with this recession that happened under mr. bush's tenure. okay. now, going forward, this is what i think is most important to everybody watching this evening,. going forward you have a program under president obama which says stay the course. pretty much government is going to get you out of this. we're going to continue to doing what we're doing. unemployment particulars up ticks up slightly. the polls show that half the country at this point, half, staying with president obama, willing to state course. does that surprise you? >> oh, the president is very popular. his policies are not. so if you like inside that polling and ask the question, you know, did the stimulus bill work? no. was it a good idea to do an enormous healthcare reform? no. was it a good idea to have enormous expansion of the. no again and again american voters have rejected the policies of the past four years.

. just bashed george w. bush up and down and people in 2004, despite iraq still felt some residual loiltd to george w. bush for keeping us together after 9/11. >> bill: i was waiting for mccain to say you see? i could have been in here and we developed avoided a lot of this. he didn't do that i expect next week in charlotte, roshts, it's going to be a more negative tone toward the opposing party. romney is trying to establish himself as a good guy, ann romney with that speech. >> trying not to turn off independent voters as well. >> and women. >> some negativity but mostly positive. in charlotte, i think they are really going to go after romney and ryan. these are the worst guys in the world. >> what's he been trying to do for the last couple of months. did it effectively in the month of july not so much in the month of august was to define mitt romney as this cold, uncaring, finance guy who all he wants to do is make money. they are trying to change that narrative this weaning. the obama campaign made a lot of inroads in july. particularly because romney wasn't fighting back. watch for t

reminded of george bush, standing on the aircraft carrier with a big thing mission accomplished. i was thinking of lyndon johnson with light at the end of the tunnel every other week not going to back vietnam. when the president says something like a new day is dawning, the tide has turned, is he really going out there and making himself a hostagealin has another week like they did three or four weeks ago where they go around and bomb everything in sight, including right there in the green zone, i think that he is going to have some problems. so, i think that it was a good week, but i think he overreached and it could come back to haunt him. by the way i don't agree with you about afghanistan. >> bill: do you or you don't? >> i don't. i believe that you have -- and write about this in "screwed" i believe you have to bifurcate between nation building and counter terrorism. karzai is hopelessly corrupted. hopelessly mired in the drug trade. you wouldn't support him if you lived in afghanistan. >> bill: no, i wouldn't. >> but we don't need to have afghanistan as a nice, peaceful, wonderfu

christie or jon kyl. >> those are two of my favs. i think the template is more george bush picking cheney. someone who can step in that office. kyl has strong foreign policy experience. >> bill: who is kyl going to get you. >> other than dick cheney. republic never loses wyoming. cheney could step into the office. kyl is very appealing. he is not scary on tv. fourth most conservative senator. there is chris christie which could possibly put new jersey in play. >> bill: i say that christie is being considered but christie is going to punch somebody out. he might be in jail. >> that's fantastic. >> you would want the vice president to be in prison. come on, christie could do anything at any time. and he has very liberal social views on some things. >> he does not. that's a lie. he is the first pro-life governor new jersey has ever had and his wife is pro-life unlike either of the bush clan. >> bill: he believes in global warming. >> no he doesn't. he sweats a lot and he is hot. >> first he vetoed some silly cap and trade bill. he vetoed the next bill but in the process of vetoing t he claim

ryan's decision comes on the same week that marco rubio and former president george h.w. bush also support romney. >> time to hold them and time to fold 'em. i think it's time for people to get behind this good man. i'd say that about some of his opponents. but we are so convinced mainly because we have known mitt romney for a long time that he's the man to do this job and get on and win the presidency. >> sean: joining me the first time together on national television since this morning's big endorsement. mitt romney and house budget chairman chairman, paul ryan. wisconsin's become very important. did you think, congressman ryan that, wisconsin would be as important as iowa, new hampshire, florida and nevada? >> no, i didn't. we haven't had an important republican primary since 1980. it's kind of a surprise to us here that we are relevant. we moved it up a little bit. we are really excited here. i am hoping that we deliver wisconsin to mitt romney on tuesday. >> sean: we did change the rules, proportional rules and delegates. some people like it, some people didn't like it. they w

. killing taliban leaders with hell fire missiles. some americans believe that if george bush and dick cheney had conducted the war like that, the american left would have gone nuts there is largely silence from liberals on mr. obama's drone strategy. charles krauthammer wrote a syndicated column on this subject. not only the united states but around the world you don't hear bush cowboy and doing all this stuff and unilateral the drone program is unilateral and the guy deciding is president obama. nobody else. so, the silence is deafening all over the world. >> and it's across the boorld. it's just about on every comparable issue. think of guantanamo. for years denial upending all that america holds dear. obama himself opposed it, railed against it. when he was president he went around the world on his first apology tour think talking about what a stain it was. you hear nothing. remember the patriot act eavesdropping wiretaps. preventative detention. indefinite detention. rendition of prisoners. all of these were the bush administration tearing up the constitution. every single one is