MSNBC - Election Night 2006 - 8:20 p.m. (E)

Channel: malgent

Transcript

Language: English (original, YouTube automatic captions)

[0:00] chairman come next January. We've seen

[0:02] this in Vietnam where a debate can be

[0:03] held once you have that subpoena power,

[0:05] once you have the ability to call

[0:06] hearings, not just the Baker Commission

[0:09] coming along with Lee Hamilton as his

[0:10] co-artner. But do you think if the

[0:12] Senate goes Democrat tonight, that that

[0:15] would augur a big national debate on

[0:17] Iraq that we wouldn't have otherwise?

[0:20] >> Well, I think we've got a pretty big

[0:21] national debate going now uh outside of

[0:23] the halls of Congress. uh whether it

[0:25] will be formalized uh with people who

[0:28] will be summoned before the foreign

[0:29] relations committee. That's hard to

[0:31] know. I know that the Democrats and the

[0:32] leadership positions are having uh lots

[0:35] of conversations with each other about

[0:37] how careful they have to play it over

[0:38] the course of the next two years because

[0:40] they don't want to give the impression

[0:42] that they are trying to win the White

[0:44] House on the backs of the young men and

[0:46] women who are serving over there. uh you

[0:49] can hate the war but honor the warrior

[0:51] as many of them are saying and they have

[0:52] to be a little bit careful that they

[0:54] don't charge into Washington if they win

[0:57] this looking vindictive looking like uh

[1:00] their principal motivation is revenge.

[1:04] So you'll hear a lot more about

[1:05] breadandbut issues I think like minimum

[1:07] wage and social security and

[1:09] prescription drugs than you will about

[1:11] hearings about Iraq. Tim, what do you

[1:13] think? Well, I'll tell you, Tom, if the

[1:15] Democrats win either the House or the

[1:17] Senate, the oversight will be very

[1:19] robust and very vigorous, particularly

[1:20] on the war and the hearings with

[1:22] Secretary Rumsfeld and military generals

[1:25] will take a much different tone. I also

[1:27] think that a lot of Republicans will see

[1:30] what happened in this election and begin

[1:33] to calibrate their own views on Iraq and

[1:36] the pressure will build on the Bush

[1:38] White House to retool their position if

[1:41] the Democrats succeed tonight. If they

[1:42] don't, you heard Vice President Cheney

[1:44] full speed ahead.

[1:46] >> Is it possible to disagregate the

[1:48] support for the war in the Republican

[1:50] party and the opposition to it in the

[1:52] Democratic party from party loyalty? Are

[1:54] people independently saying who are

[1:57] Democrats, I don't like this war? Are

[1:58] they simply taking an opposition view?

[2:00] Are people in the Republican party, the

[2:02] business conservatives, if you will, not

[2:04] the ideologues, are they supporting this

[2:06] war simply because it's their president?

[2:08] Uh Brian,

[2:09] >> well, as you know, I don't do opinions.

[2:12] Uh but what this will be fun to see uh

[2:14] as far as the exit polls uh uh tonight,

[2:17] Chris, uh who crossed um and who left a

[2:22] traditional voting role, my president,

[2:25] my party, right or wrong. Uh some of the

[2:27] people who have crossed tonight, we we

[2:30] know it to be true, are going to end up

[2:32] uh uh surprising us. But all of this is

[2:35] so so early. We've got major races in in

[2:38] states with closed polls where we can't

[2:41] call them yet. It is so early in the

[2:44] evening. I'm just going to air on the

[2:45] side of caution and uh defer to my

[2:47] friend Tim Russer.

[2:49] >> Well, what we do know from the exit poll

[2:50] that we can talk about because it does

[2:52] not involve a specific candidate, Chris,

[2:53] is that the party base, the Republican

[2:56] base held in terms of their support of

[2:58] the president and support of the war.

[3:00] The Democrats are just vehemently

[3:02] against it. and the independents who the

[3:05] president had with him uh in the last

[3:08] presidential election and in the leadup

[3:10] to the war have now marketkedly turned

[3:13] against this war and against this

[3:15] president. And it's so clear in the exit

[3:17] polls that we're looking at and how they

[3:19] actually voted in the races, we do not

[3:21] know yet. But if there's any indication

[3:23] about their attitude towards this

[3:24] administration, the war, uh the White

[3:26] House is bracing it for for a storm

[3:29] tonight.

[3:29] >> Interesting. is that they didn't even

[3:31] though they did support the war, they

[3:32] didn't put that first on their agenda

[3:34] when they were running. They were

[3:36] talking about taxes and about Nancy

[3:37] Pelosi and they were trying to go after

[3:39] the Democrats much more than they were

[3:41] saying, "I stand beside the president

[3:43] full speed ahead. I know he has a plan

[3:45] and we have to see it through." You

[3:46] heard very little of that from the

[3:47] Republican candidate. We also heard Mike

[3:49] Dwine, the Republican candidate in Ohio,

[3:50] Michael Steele, the Republican candidate

[3:52] in Maryland, uh Annne Northrup,

[3:55] Republican candidate in the Congress in

[3:56] Kentucky, all calling for Donald

[3:58] Rumsfeld's resignation in the last few

[4:00] weeks.

[4:01] >> So, what is an independent now? It used

[4:02] to be a code for a former Republican

[4:04] back in the 50s and 60s. Are

[4:06] independents people who are truly

[4:07] independent? Are they ex Democrats, ex-

[4:09] Republicans? Who are they largely?

[4:10] >> Uh, they are former uh Republicans whose

[4:13] parents were former Democrats.

[4:16] >> You mean that? I do.

[4:18] >> Okay. Cuz I think they are suburbanites.

[4:20] They tend to be commuters. I think the

[4:22] commuter class, if you will, are going

[4:25] Democrat this time. Thank you very much,

[4:26] Brian, Tim, and Tom in whatever order of

[4:29] age appropriate. We'll check back with

[4:30] you throughout the night.

[4:33] >> Give those we'll give those exit poll

[4:35] numbers again pursuant to the point you

[4:37] just raised about the support for the

[4:38] war in Iraq. One in 10 Democrats, 12%

[4:42] support the war according to the exit

[4:44] polling. threearters of Republicans,

[4:45] more than that, 79% of Republicans in

[4:47] the independents, 33% approval of the

[4:49] war in Iraq.

[4:52] >> And when we return, we'll check in with

[4:54] some of the races where the polls are

[4:55] now closed. We're hoping to get some

[4:56] real solid results in some of those

[4:58] nailbiters. You're watching MSNBC's live

[5:00] coverage of Decision 2006.

[5:11] MSNBC's coverage of Decision 2006 is

[5:14] brought to you by Liberty Mutual.

[5:30] We know responsibility is a

[5:32] roundthe-clock job, but if your home is

[5:34] ever damaged by fire, we have help

[5:36] standing by 24 hours a day.

[5:39] Responsibility. What's your policy?

[5:43] Liberty Mutual.

[5:46] >> Kids are just better with technology

[5:48] than their parents. Like by the time I

[5:50] graduate from college, we'll be building

[5:52] clean coal power plants that are

[5:53] pollution free, and that includes

[5:55] greenhouse gases. Go here. They'll

[5:57] explain it.

[6:01] >> Technology has made your morning easier.

[6:03] Why not your shave? The Philips Nurelco

[6:05] Smart Touch XL is designed to shave more

[6:07] with three shaving rings in each shaving

[6:09] head, and it stays on your neck, so even

[6:11] tricky hairs are cut. Simplicity is

[6:13] making every stroke count.

[6:16] >> No more secrets. Where are we going for

[6:18] a honeymoon?

[6:19] >> A romantic island in the south.

[6:21] >> Jamaica.

[6:22] >> Uh, credit card miles are blacked out. A

[6:23] little more south.

[6:24] >> Antigua.

[6:25] >> Uh, blacked out. Further south.

[6:27] >> Aruba.

[6:28] >> Getting warmer.

[6:30] >> Isn't this great? Did you notice no

[6:32] bugs?

[6:33] >> WE GOT TO SWITCH to Capital One.

[6:37] >> Get Capital 1's no hassle rewards with

[6:39] no blackout dates, no earn caps, and no

[6:41] miles expiration.

[6:42] >> HEY, IT'S WALRUS BAITING SEASON.

[6:44] >> WHAT'S in your wallet? Ward around the

[6:46] water and holes at wheels h itching on

[6:48] down to the big D

[6:49] >> and they done brung the whole kitten

[6:51] kaboodleoodle.

[6:51] >> We're just bouncing like jack rabbits on

[6:52] an El Paso parking lot.

[6:54] >> It's big fun in the Big D all week on

[6:56] Wheel.

[6:57] >> Tonight at 7:30 on K2, the spirit of the

[6:59] Northwest.

[7:00] >> What good are you as a police officer if

[7:02] you can't write tickets?

[7:03] >> We investigate police officers who carry

[7:05] a badge and a gun and a paycheck but do

[7:09] very little police work. Why are these

[7:11] cops still on the job? Thursday night at

[7:13] 6:30 only on K2 News.

[7:20] >> IT'S A WHOLE LOT of fun.

[7:36] Cars are fun.

[7:40] >> Shopping for them should be, too.

[7:42] vhick.com. Just click autos on

[7:45] comcast.net.

[7:49] Ohio, the state that won President Bush

[7:52] the presidency in 2004, where incumbent

[7:55] Republican Senator Mike DeWine is

[7:57] battling Democratic challenger Sherid

[7:59] Brown, where the Republican has already

[8:01] lost to the Democrat. At least the

[8:02] projection is thus in the gubanatorial

[8:05] race. Our correspondent Ron Mott is at

[8:07] Senator Dwine's headquarters in

[8:09] Columbus, Ohio. Ron, good evening again.

[8:12] >> Hi there, Keith. Good evening to you.

[8:14] It's uh about 40 minutes left in some

[8:16] voting in the Cleveland area. As you

[8:18] know, a judge ordered, a federal judge

[8:20] ordered polling stations to remain open

[8:23] there until 9:00 p.m. Eastern. This is

[8:25] 90 minutes after the original closing

[8:27] time. Democrats filed a motion asking

[8:30] the judge to do that because they said

[8:31] there were some voting problems today

[8:32] that put Democratic voters at a

[8:34] disadvantage. Well, to counter that, the

[8:36] state's attorney general filed a motion

[8:39] with the US Court of Appeals to to ask

[8:41] that that motion be denied. It was not

[8:43] successful as we understand it, but Ken

[8:45] Blackwell, who is the Republican

[8:47] gubanatorial candidate here, his office

[8:49] said that they would order Cajol ask the

[8:52] boards of elections around the state to

[8:54] withhold releasing uh early uh results

[8:57] from their races until 9:00 until all

[8:59] the polls call. So, we could be delayed

[9:01] in starting to see a trend and pattern

[9:03] of uh polling results. One thing that we

[9:06] want to add is an anecdotal story here

[9:07] that is of interest here regarding Ken

[9:09] Blackwell. As I mentioned, he is the

[9:11] Secretary of State here who appears to

[9:13] have lost his bid for the governor's

[9:15] race tonight. He presided over the

[9:18] election here in 2004, the presidential

[9:21] election. A lot of African-Americans,

[9:23] Ken Blackwell is African-American. A lot

[9:25] of African-Americans here were very

[9:26] turned off, they say, by his handling of

[9:29] that election that gave the president

[9:31] his second term in the White House. One

[9:34] of the hotel workers here told me as she

[9:36] left work today, she was going to go to

[9:37] the polling station to vote. She said

[9:40] that she stood in line for 4 hours in

[9:42] 2004. She said there was a 350%

[9:45] increase in the number of voter

[9:47] registrations in her precinct. And yet

[9:49] the Secretary of State's office and the

[9:51] Board of Elections office here in

[9:52] Franklin County saw fit to keep just two

[9:55] stations, two machines open in her

[9:57] precinct. And that's why the lines were

[9:59] so long. She said she was expecting to

[10:01] see some of those kind some of those

[10:04] kinds of things happening today. I

[10:06] haven't seen her again since she left uh

[10:07] work today, but she was going to go pull

[10:09] for the Democrat Ted Strickland who

[10:12] appears to have been uh successful in

[10:14] his bid for the state's highest office.

[10:16] Keith, back to you.

[10:17] >> Ron M at Senator Dwine's headquarters in

[10:19] Columbus, Ohio. And again, as Ron

[10:20] mentioned, NBC News projecting that when

[10:22] the gubanatorial votes are counted, it

[10:24] will be Ted Strickland, the Democrat,

[10:25] defeating Secretary of State Blackwell

[10:27] in Ohio for the governor's race. in

[10:29] Pennsylvania, one of the states where

[10:30] Democrats hope to be able to pick up a

[10:31] Senate seat as well. NBC's Lisa Daniels

[10:34] is at Rick Santorm's headquarters in

[10:36] Pittsburgh. Lisa,

[10:38] >> hi Keith. Well, already the Republican

[10:40] State Party has filed this an official

[10:42] complaint with the state saying that the

[10:44] voting machines failed across the state

[10:46] and in the complaint they say that

[10:48] hundreds of centurum votes were either

[10:50] miscast or not counted and that they're

[10:52] seeking immediate action. So far, we

[10:54] haven't seen much action. Uh, as for

[10:57] Casey's response, his people say it's a

[10:59] joke. Quote, "Absolutely no evidence

[11:01] supporting that claim, and they claim

[11:03] that it's really an early attempt on

[11:06] behalf of Santorm's people, to explain

[11:08] away the ultimate Casey victory. They

[11:11] say that voter turnout for the Democrats

[11:13] has been especially good, including

[11:15] those Philly suburbs, a key area for the

[11:18] Democrats and Casey in particular. And

[11:20] they say that those double-digit leads

[11:22] that we saw in many of the polls will

[11:24] translate tonight." Now Santorum aids

[11:27] say do not dismiss Santorm that he's the

[11:29] ultimate closer. He's the comeback hit.

[11:32] He knows how to pull in the votes when

[11:33] it truly does count. And Santorm said

[11:36] that his secret weapon are these people.

[11:38] Not so much the media actually, but the

[11:40] people behind them, the volunteers who

[11:42] have been manning the phones day in and

[11:44] day out. They say that he's known as the

[11:46] comeback kid for a reason and that

[11:48] you're going to see an upset tonight.

[11:50] That's what they say. Casey's people

[11:52] say, as I told you, Keith, that is

[11:54] laughable. Back to you,

[11:55] >> Lisa Daniels at Santorm headquarters in

[11:57] Pittsburgh. And again, those numbers on

[11:59] which that optimism is based is from the

[12:01] Casey camp, not from NBC News. We do not

[12:03] have a projection on the Senate race in

[12:05] Pennsylvania yet. Now to Tennessee where

[12:07] we saw some extraordinary ads targeting

[12:10] the Congressman Harold Ford in his

[12:11] Senate race against Chattanooga Mayor

[12:13] Bob Corker. Both of them hoping to

[12:15] replace Bill Frist who is out there.

[12:17] NBC's Tom Costello at Ford headquarters

[12:19] in Memphis once again for us now. Tom,

[12:23] >> Keith, good evening to you. a senior

[12:24] Ford campaign uh member of the campaign

[12:27] has just told me they believe that this

[12:29] particular race will have been decided

[12:31] in the last 2 hours or so of the voting.

[12:34] They believe it is that tight. They also

[12:36] believe that early voting played a very

[12:38] important role here and the

[12:39] African-American turnout played a very

[12:41] important role and frankly the weather.

[12:43] It has been raining cats and dogs in

[12:45] eastern Tennessee today. Eastern

[12:47] Tennessee is heavily Republican area.

[12:49] Western Tennessee, Memphis, the western

[12:51] part of the state leans more to the

[12:53] Democratic side and so for that reason

[12:55] they believe that this may be positive

[12:57] for them. There is also this we would

[12:59] tell you uh the National Journal has

[13:01] today put out a blog a note on their

[13:04] website which purports to be from the

[13:06] Republican National Committee. Again,

[13:09] this is on the National Journal's

[13:10] website and they say the Republicans say

[13:13] according to this blog that turnout

[13:15] appears to be against us in Tennessee.

[13:17] This is all, as you would imagine, very

[13:19] premature. The Ford campaign taking

[13:22] great heart from that. But I must tell

[13:23] you, the Corker campaign also was

[13:25] believing early on that they were up

[13:27] anywhere from 3 to 12 points going into

[13:29] tonight. So, there is still a lot to be

[13:31] decided upon here. And the Ford campaign

[13:32] believes very uh very fervently that

[13:35] this is going to go down to the wire.

[13:38] >> All right, Tom Costello at Ford

[13:39] headquarters in Memphis, Tennessee. And

[13:41] the same caution on those numbers. Those

[13:42] are out of the campaigns, not ours.

[13:44] There's no projection on the Tennessee

[13:45] race yet from NBC News.

[13:47] >> Up next, we're going to get back to our

[13:48] experts and find out where we're headed

[13:49] tonight when we continue to watch this

[13:51] fight for control of Congress. This is

[13:53] MSNBC's live coverage of Decision 2006.

[14:02] >> MSNBC's coverage of Decision 2006 is

[14:04] brought to you by Norfolk Southern.

[14:11] Last year, Norfolk Southern ended

[14:13] shipping partners took hundreds of

[14:14] thousands of freight loads off the

[14:16] highway.

[14:21] In fact, they've invested millions to

[14:24] convert even more traffic in the coming

[14:26] years. So, it's easy to see how the

[14:28] economy won't be the only thing that

[14:30] benefits.

[14:32] Norfuck Southern, the future of

[14:34] transportation.

[15:00] Your risks can change quickly. Make sure

[15:03] your insurance stays in sync. Travelers,

[15:07] >> if you purchased or refinanced your home

[15:09] a couple of years ago and you got one of

[15:11] those adjustable teaser rates to

[15:13] qualify, well, you may be facing an

[15:15] increase that could raise your monthly

[15:16] payment by hundreds of dollars. What can

[15:19] you do? Well, just call or log on to

[15:21] ditec.com and refinance to a low fixed

[15:24] rate. With DC, you can feel confident

[15:27] that you're being taken care of every

[15:29] step of the way. Call 180071fixed or log

[15:33] on to ditec.com, a GAC company.

[15:40] Leading companies from more than 45

[15:42] countries around the globe turn to the

[15:45] New York Stock Exchange for the

[15:47] opportunity,

[15:48] growth, and worldwide visibility they

[15:51] need to stay on track for success.

[15:58] What are you in the market for?

[16:01] The New York Stock Exchange. One market,

[16:04] infinite possibilities.

[16:06] >> When you're smiling,

[16:08] >> printers and copy are so advanced,

[16:09] they're simple.

[16:12] >> That's are easy to smile with Kia Sera.

[16:14] >> The whole world smiles with you.

[16:18] >> Awardwinning performance.

[16:20] Another reason to smile. Brilliant

[16:22] color. Low cost of ownership. And not

[16:25] just reliable, network reliable. New

[16:28] reasons everywhere you look. That's the

[16:30] power of people friendly. Only from

[16:33] >> Kiosera.

[16:39] Well, we have a projected result in that

[16:41] Pennsylvania Senate race as you're

[16:42] looking at the big card. Projected

[16:44] winner, state treasurer Bobby Casey Jr.

[16:48] defeating uh apparently according to our

[16:50] our numbers right now. NBC projects when

[16:52] all the votes are counted, Casey will

[16:54] beat Santorm, a man who is rising to the

[16:57] top of the Republican leadership headed

[16:59] towards the White House. Many people

[17:00] thought that's the early count there

[17:02] 126,000 uh to 90,000 about 58% there for

[17:06] Bob Casey who uh the um NBC is now

[17:10] projected to win when all the votes are

[17:11] count. Let's go to our panel. Andrew

[17:13] Mitchell, you covered Pennsylvania for

[17:15] years for an old KYW days. I remember

[17:17] from the good old days. And um there you

[17:20] have Bob Casey Jr. not a strong

[17:23] political figure in his own right.

[17:26] Famous father defeating a man very

[17:28] strong in his own political right. U

[17:30] Rick Santorum amazing stuff

[17:32] >> and a culturally conservative Democrat

[17:35] which is a trend this year. uh the party

[17:37] got together and there was a primary and

[17:39] uh I know a lot of people in

[17:40] Pennsylvania, a lot of liberals, a lot

[17:42] of women who weren't happy with the fact

[17:44] that he is against abortion rights as

[17:46] was his father memorably. If you recall

[17:48] the uh that campaign, that convention

[17:52] where the Bill Clinton people did not

[17:54] let Bob Casey, then the very popular

[17:56] governor, speak at the convention, even

[17:59] though he was the head of the

[17:59] delegation, the Pennsylvania delegation,

[18:01] but they nominated him. They supported

[18:04] him. They worked very hard for Casey

[18:06] because they were so eager to recapture

[18:09] that that seat and take it back. And

[18:12] they thought that that could be one big

[18:14] stepping stone toward recapturing the

[18:16] Senate. So Casey is a big victory and as

[18:18] you say not a great campaigner certainly

[18:21] Santorm ran a much better race

[18:22] >> much tougher a big victory of course for

[18:24] Chuck Schumer the man who ran the

[18:26] Democratic Senate campaign let's go to

[18:27] Pittsburgh Howard Feman right now Howard

[18:30] you're from that state you grew up there

[18:32] out in Pittsburgh what's it mean to have

[18:33] your own Pittsburgh's uh Rick Santorm

[18:35] who so many people thought especially

[18:37] him that he was going right to the top

[18:39] of American politics

[18:41] >> uh it's a remarkable rise and an equally

[18:43] remarkable fall Chris uh you Santorm is

[18:47] a thinker uh actually proposing

[18:49] interesting ideas about the central role

[18:51] of family and you would think that would

[18:53] work in Pennsylvania which as James

[18:55] Carville famously said is Pittsburgh and

[18:58] Philadelphia with Alabama in between. Uh

[19:01] but it's not working out that way and

[19:02] Pennsylvania is a Democratic state and

[19:04] it's a deep deep deep red state right

[19:07] now. You had N Redell winning by a huge

[19:09] margin. You have Casey winning by a

[19:11] surprisingly large margin. I would

[19:13] venture to say it's quite likely that at

[19:14] least three, if not all four of those

[19:16] Republican House seats in Eastern

[19:18] Pennsylvania are in danger. Now, this is

[19:20] the red getting deep red. And I would

[19:22] also point out,

[19:24] >> you mean blue?

[19:24] >> I mean, excuse me, I apologize. Blue,

[19:26] deep blue. And we've been so used to

[19:29] thinking red, now we got to think the

[19:30] other way. And the governorships I find

[19:32] also interesting. you all throughout the

[19:34] Northeast, you have in in in in New

[19:37] Hampshire, in Massachusetts, in

[19:40] Pennsylvania, in Ohio, uh, and and, uh,

[19:43] elsewhere, you have Dem in New York

[19:45] State, you have Democratic gubanatorial

[19:48] candidates or governors winning election

[19:50] or re-election by an average of about 25

[19:53] points. I'm not exaggerating. An average

[19:55] of about 25 points. I think that's

[19:57] interesting in a way. It exaggerates the

[19:59] geographical divides in America. But the

[20:02] blue, if I can get it right.

[20:04] >> You did.

[20:04] >> The blue is getting bluer. Very, very

[20:06] deep blue right now.

[20:07] >> Joe Scarberry, do you accept the fact

[20:09] that though Pennsylvania has been a blue

[20:10] state in presidential politics, but it's

[20:12] also deer hunter country? It's tough on

[20:14] values. It's a culturally conservative

[20:16] state, as Howard put it, it's not your

[20:18] New York, it's not New York City by any

[20:20] means. Is this going to give hope to

[20:22] somebody like Hillary Clinton that she

[20:23] can move westward through Pennsylvania?

[20:25] I think she'd be making a mistake if she

[20:27] made that decision. I I was going to say

[20:29] there's a big difference between Bob

[20:30] Casey and Hillary Clinton. You know, Bob

[20:32] Casey really is, and I think this is the

[20:35] headline, Bob Casey is the new breed of

[20:37] Democrat. And you look back to 1992

[20:39] again when the Democratic Party famously

[20:42] didn't let his father speak at the

[20:43] convention because they just didn't

[20:45] accept people that were pro-life in the

[20:47] Democratic party. Now, look across the

[20:49] country tonight. We've got a possibility

[20:51] of a pro-life Harold Ford winning in

[20:53] Tennessee. We've got the possibility, of

[20:55] course, of other prolife, you know,

[20:58] fairly moderate Democratic candidates

[21:00] winning in Montana, uh, also in

[21:03] Missouri. It is a new Democratic party.

[21:05] And, you know, like I've said for some

[21:07] time, Democrats used to be so easy to

[21:09] pick off in the southeast and even in

[21:11] states like Pennsylvania because they

[21:13] would get these people who were

[21:14] ideologically aligned with Hillary

[21:16] Clinton and the the far-left wing of the

[21:18] Democratic party.

[21:19] >> That's not the case this year. And

[21:21] you've got to give a lot of credit to

[21:22] Chuck Schumer who understood it wasn't

[21:25] what Chuck Schumer believed that was

[21:27] important. It's what voters in those

[21:29] individual states believed was

[21:30] important. He made the right calls by

[21:32] standing by people like Bob Casey who,

[21:34] let's face it, really didn't say

[21:36] anything this campaign other than I'm a

[21:39] pretty moderate guy. And Rick Santorum,

[21:41] he's too far to the right.

[21:43] >> I think you're right. I think there's

[21:44] another case in Virginia where Schumer

[21:46] picked up a strong candidate military

[21:48] guy who wasn't too friendly to the to

[21:50] the Clinton administration. Let's go.

[21:51] >> The guy the guy's practically a

[21:53] Republican. He's he's going to act that

[21:55] way. He was a Republican.

[21:56] >> Let's say he's a John Glenn Democrat.

[21:58] We're joined right now by a man who

[21:59] deserves perhaps some credit, the

[22:01] chairman of the Democratic National

[22:02] Committee, Howard Dean. You don't look

[22:04] too happy. Are we giving too much credit

[22:05] to Chuck Schumer and not you here, Mr.

[22:07] Chairman?

[22:08] >> I would No. My uh my concern was was

[22:10] calling Hillary Clinton a member of the

[22:12] far left. I don't know who's making

[22:13] those comments, but he certainly isn't

[22:15] anywhere as close to neutral. I mean,

[22:17] the fact of the matter is

[22:20] >> Go ahead. You're not either, so let's go

[22:22] on here.

[22:22] >> Yeah, that's true. The the truth is the

[22:24] Democratic Party is a centrist party

[22:27] despite all the Republican propaganda to

[22:29] the other side. And uh you know, we're

[22:31] going to balance the budget. You haven't

[22:32] seen balanced budget out of Republican

[22:34] presidents for 40 years. Uh, and we're

[22:36] going to do things for ordinary people

[22:37] who've been left behind by the

[22:39] Republican uh, elitist elitism that

[22:42] catered to the top 20% of the country

[22:45] and forgot about the rest of us. And and

[22:47] so, you know, I I think uh, this this

[22:49] phenomenon is not about culturally

[22:51] conservative. I think it's about

[22:52] standing up for ordinary Americans

[22:54] who've been left behind by by the

[22:55] Republicans. The Republicans have

[22:57] forgotten them.

[22:57] >> Okay. What good is it having Bobby Casey

[22:59] Jr. elected to the Senate in terms of

[23:01] his values about abortion? What good can

[23:03] he do for the pro-life cause in a

[23:05] Democratic caucus that's totally utterly

[23:08] defiantly pro-choice?

[23:10] >> I think we've got to stop this

[23:11] polarizing of issues. And you know, I

[23:13] blame the Republicans for doing it, but

[23:14] you're doing it, too. Bob Casey's claim

[23:17] to fame is not that he's pro-life. He's

[23:19] a good guy, a decent person who who's

[23:21] done a lot for Pennsylvania workers. Uh,

[23:24] you responsible financial officer of the

[23:27] state of Pennsylvania. I mean, all this

[23:29] I think much too much is made of

[23:31] pro-life, pro-choice, and all that kind

[23:33] of stuff. This is a decent guy who will

[23:35] represent Pennsylvania well. And Rick

[23:37] Santorm was certainly bright and and all

[23:39] that, but he was a fire brand, scorch

[23:41] practiced scorched earth politics, said

[23:43] terrible things about people who

[23:44] disagreed with him. And I'm I think

[23:46] people really want to bring America

[23:47] together again. The genius of Chuck

[23:50] Schumer and finding candidates like Bob

[23:51] Casey was not that Bob Casey was

[23:53] pro-life. It's that he was a great foil

[23:56] uh for Rick Santorm because he stood for

[23:58] everything that Rick Santorm didn't.

[24:00] >> Governor D, let's break here just a

[24:01] second. We'll be back to you. Here's

[24:02] some announcements. We got a projected

[24:03] winner in that Senate race in New

[24:05] Jersey. The appointed senator appointed

[24:07] by John Cororsine when he went to the

[24:09] governorship. Bob Mendez of upstate New

[24:11] Jersey is the projected winner according

[24:14] to NBC. When all the votes are counted,

[24:15] he will be the next senator from uh New

[24:18] Jersey. Look at these numbers. about 51%

[24:21] of the counted vote, 26,000 to 25,000.

[24:24] It's close in the counted vote, but the

[24:26] projected vote, I assume, is going to be

[24:28] much broader than that. And this is a

[24:29] race that the Republicans thought they

[24:31] had found the right candidate for, Tom

[24:33] Kaine Jr. against Mob Menendez. Bob

[24:36] Menendez, now the projected winner in

[24:38] New Jersey. That's a one for the

[24:40] Democrats. They've held that seat. They

[24:42] held it before the election. They still

[24:43] got it. Let's go back to Howard Dean,

[24:45] the chairman of the of the Democratic

[24:46] National Committee.

[24:47] >> Now, do I look happier, Chris?

[24:48] >> Now you look happier. Are are are you

[24:50] mad at me when I say the obvious?

[24:53] >> What depends what?

[24:54] >> Oh, I just said the obvious. You got

[24:56] Bobby Casey in that race. He's a

[24:57] prolifer to his soul and his role will

[25:00] be what? In terms of votes for future

[25:02] judges of the Supreme Court, issues like

[25:04] partial birth, abortion, awaiting

[25:06] periods, the Pennsylvania law, for

[25:08] example, with reflective consent. If he

[25:10] were to try to bring the law of

[25:11] Pennsylvania his father got passed into

[25:13] the Senate, would you support it?

[25:15] >> Look, look, Bob Casey's going to do what

[25:17] Bob Casey thinks is right. He ran as a

[25:19] person who had a variety of positions on

[25:21] a variety of issues and he was upfront

[25:23] about it and I think he'll follow

[25:25] whatever his conscience says in those

[25:26] positions. I think that's great.

[25:29] >> So times have changed. Now you would let

[25:31] a Bob Casey speak at a Democratic

[25:32] convention.

[25:34] >> I I actually personally plan to invite

[25:36] Bob Casey to speak at the Democratic

[25:37] National Convention.

[25:38] >> What's changed you?

[25:41] >> What's that?

[25:42] >> What's changed? Before back, you know,

[25:43] back in '92, the Democrats didn't have a

[25:46] home for this guy. He wasn't allowed to

[25:48] speak at the convention that picked

[25:49] Clinton. He was told to go home.

[25:52] >> Well, you know, that was a very

[25:53] complicated, difficult situation. I I

[25:55] had the benefit of knowing Bob Casey's

[25:57] dad because we served together as

[25:59] governor. Uh but I think that uh uh you

[26:02] know, there's a lot of mythology around

[26:04] what happened. But the fact of the

[26:05] matter is that I will personally invite

[26:08] Senator Bob Casey to speak at the 2008

[26:10] Democratic National Convention.

[26:11] >> I know why you didn't invite him.

[26:12] Actually, I know more than I pretend to

[26:14] know. The Democrats did not invite Bob

[26:16] Casey senior despite the mythology

[26:18] because he refused to endorse the

[26:20] Democratic candidate for president as a

[26:22] condition for speaking. I do study my

[26:24] little manuals now and then. Governor

[26:27] Dean, here's Keith Keith Oman to talk to

[26:29] you.

[26:29] >> Governor, one question going back to uh

[26:31] to uh your your first statement you said

[26:34] and I I'll just use the first three

[26:35] words. We're going to

[26:38] >> What are you going to do? And uh how are

[26:39] you going to do it with what is this

[26:41] night looking like for the numbers?

[26:43] First of all, assum if if we get the

[26:45] majority in the House and the Senate,

[26:46] and that's certainly by no means

[26:47] determined yet. Uh the the I think the

[26:50] agenda has been very clear. I think uh

[26:53] uh Nancy Pelosi, should she become

[26:54] speaker, has made it clear what we're

[26:56] going to do. We are going to pass the

[26:57] minimum wage bill right off the bat.

[26:59] We're going to pass real ethics

[27:00] legislation to clean up the corruption

[27:02] that's been brought to Washington by

[27:03] these folks. Uh, and then we're going to

[27:05] move on to middle class tax fairness

[27:07] because the middle class folks in this

[27:09] country are getting the stuffing kicked

[27:11] out of them by the Republicans. Cutting

[27:12] the Pell grants, increasing interest

[27:14] rates for student loans. You can't talk

[27:15] about upward mobility and then make it

[27:17] harder to get to college for working

[27:19] people in this country. And the last

[27:20] thing that I'm very hopeful that we're

[27:22] going to do is make a down payment and

[27:23] move towards some kind of universal

[27:25] healthcare. We clearly won't be able to

[27:26] do that in two years. If we did, the

[27:29] president would veto it anyway. But we

[27:31] ought to find move move towards ensuring

[27:33] all kids. And it's not hard to do. We

[27:35] did it in my state. It's not expensive.

[27:37] We won't have to raise taxes. Now that

[27:39] uh you know the election is underway and

[27:41] and the voters are uh are out there

[27:44] voting. I can just categorically say

[27:45] there is no intention to raise taxes on

[27:47] the middle on middle class Americans.

[27:49] There has never been and that was just

[27:51] more Republican propaganda. We do not

[27:53] intend to do that.

[27:53] >> Governor, let's talk about an issue dear

[27:55] to you and to me and to most Americans,

[27:57] Iraq. uh if the uh voting goes

[28:00] dramatically prodemocrat tonight and

[28:01] people go to the trouble of voting in

[28:03] this midterm election, what will they

[28:05] get out of it in terms of Iraq?

[28:07] >> Well, I just gave a list of of things

[28:09] that they'll get out of it domestically.

[28:11] Iraq is complicated. The president will

[28:12] still be in charge of foreign policy and

[28:14] the military as he is today, but I think

[28:16] you'll see a consensus in Congress that

[28:18] says we ought not to be in Iraq. It was

[28:20] a mistake to get in there. We were

[28:22] misled uh when we did get in there and

[28:25] Iraq is now a mess. Now the question is

[28:28] uh how fast can we get out? And the

[28:29] answer is no. We will not do what the

[28:31] president and the Republicans kept

[28:32] accusing us of doing. We're not going to

[28:34] cut and run, but we are going to come up

[28:37] with our view of what we should do to

[28:39] get out. We cannot stay the course. We

[28:42] cannot make a permanent commitment to a

[28:44] failed strategy. Iraq and the Middle

[28:46] East are in chaos. That's a lot of that

[28:48] is the president's doing. Uh we need to

[28:50] get out of Iraq, but we need to do it

[28:52] carefully and thoughtfully. Many people

[28:54] believe, and I'm one of them, that we

[28:55] need to keep a special operations task

[28:58] force, strike force in a friendly

[29:00] country in the Middle East.

[29:01] >> We're used to talking to moderates about

[29:03] this and trying to sell the Democratic

[29:04] parties, the party, the center. But let

[29:06] me ask you a question. Coming from the

[29:08] left, how can you, governor, a man who's

[29:11] opposed this war from the beginning,

[29:12] justify the loss of another American

[29:14] life or another Iraqi life in a mission

[29:17] that doesn't seem to make any sense at

[29:19] this point? Why stay in Iraq just to

[29:20] make it look good so you look like a

[29:22] centrist party?

[29:24] >> I don't that's, you know, I don't think

[29:25] anybody's talking about that, Chris. I

[29:27] think you got

[29:27] >> What's a good reason for staying in

[29:28] Iraq? Let me hear one.

[29:30] >> Because if you pull if you pull your

[29:31] troops out immediately, you do get

[29:32] chaos. Look, the president's made a

[29:34] terrible mistake. What do we have now?

[29:35] >> Uh he

[29:37] there is an opportunity to do some

[29:40] stabilization in Iraq and we should take

[29:42] that opportunity. Look, I was one of the

[29:44] few people early on who said this was a

[29:45] mistake. I still believe it was a

[29:47] mistake and I don't think the president

[29:48] was truthful to the American people when

[29:50] he got us in there and I don't think he

[29:52] served our brave troops well by sending

[29:54] them over there without listening to the

[29:55] military first. Having said that and

[29:57] establishing that I think I probably

[29:58] have as much credibility on this issue

[30:00] as anybody uh in the country. I

[30:02] personally believe that you have to be

[30:04] responful responsible and thoughtful as

[30:06] you get out. It's not the issue is not

[30:08] do we want one more American troop

[30:09] that's not necessary to die. Of course

[30:11] we don't want that. There is a mission.

[30:14] The mission is not to stay the course as

[30:15] the president said. The mission is to

[30:17] figure out how to get us out of a very

[30:18] bad situation that the president has

[30:20] created without making it worse.

[30:21] >> Would you be saying that if you weren't

[30:23] chairman of the party? If you were just

[30:24] former saying that's what I believed.

[30:26] >> You believe we should stay in Iraq.

[30:28] Howard Dean believes we should stay in

[30:29] Iraq.

[30:30] >> No, Chris, let's not be putting words in

[30:32] my mouth. My I believe we ought to get

[30:33] out of Iraq, but we have to do it very

[30:35] carefully and thoughtfully.

[30:36] >> Okay. A year from now, two years from

[30:37] now, give me an outside. How long would

[30:39] you keep us in on the outside?

[30:40] >> No, I'm not I'm not going to play that

[30:42] game. It's certainly not going to play

[30:44] with youction. We don't even have a

[30:45] majority.

[30:46] >> It's a policy question. I think the

[30:47] American people want to hear from the

[30:48] Democrats some sense of your party's

[30:51] position on this war. Besides, we're not

[30:53] going to bug out. We're not going to cut

[30:54] and run. What will you do?

[30:55] >> I think Chris, I think they'll be

[30:57] hearing from us uh as soon as we uh get

[30:59] the majority, but we don't have that

[31:01] majority yet. And I don't believe I'm

[31:02] going to do a lot of policy questions.

[31:04] Please come on this show as soon as you

[31:05] can tell us the Democratic Party

[31:06] position on Iraq because 100 million

[31:08] people voted today to try to have some

[31:10] influence on policy. We still don't hear

[31:13] from you was on Iraq and the Democratic

[31:15] position is we shouldn't be there and we

[31:17] need to find a way out. That's the

[31:18] Democratic position.

[31:18] >> Okay, we need to find a way out as soon

[31:20] as possible. As soon we got some news to

[31:21] announce. You also like Governor Desight

[31:23] my despite my hard ball tactic right

[31:25] there. Sherid Brown. NBC News Now

[31:28] projects that when all the votes are

[31:29] counted in Ohio, Sherid Brown, the

[31:32] Democratic challenger, will have

[31:33] defeated uh Mike DeWine, the incumbent

[31:35] senator. There the votes are right now,

[31:37] 57% so far, 43% for DeWine. This is, of

[31:42] course, a projected uh uh victory for

[31:44] Sherid Brown. Those numbers uh are

[31:47] current. So, we have two big victories

[31:49] for the Democrats among the contested

[31:51] races. The hot seven we've been looking

[31:52] at, Ohio now, Pennsylvania now still to

[31:55] be decided. Virginia, Missouri,

[31:58] Tennessee, Rhode Island, and Montana.

[32:01] Those are the states that will decide

[32:03] whether uh the US Senate is run by the

[32:06] Republicans or by the Democrats come

[32:08] January.

[32:15] Let's go right now to the panel right

[32:17] now. I want to bring in uh of course I

[32:19] see Tucker Carlson. Tucker, I didn't

[32:21] give you a chance last time. Tucker,

[32:22] your sense of what's happening tonight

[32:24] so far? Oh, it's a wave obviously. Uh

[32:27] it's, you know, never in American

[32:29] history have uh has one political party

[32:31] taken the House and not taken the

[32:32] Senate. So, I mean that that gives you

[32:34] some indication of what I think is going

[32:35] to happen tonight. I am struck by the

[32:37] changes that clearly have taken place in

[32:39] the Democratic party. Some of them are

[32:40] cosmetic. Some of them aren't though.

[32:42] And it seems to me like you've got some

[32:44] deep structural realignment going on

[32:46] here. The candidates who are winning

[32:48] counter to expectations, winning in

[32:50] states that they might have lost in, who

[32:52] are doing better than they should be

[32:54] doing, are candidates who essentially

[32:56] are repudiating Clintonism. They tend to

[32:58] be far more conservative on the social

[32:59] issues, but they tend to be

[33:01] anti-globalization, which I think

[33:03] history will show is the signature issue

[33:04] of the Clinton years. They tend to be

[33:06] more restrictive on trade. They tend to

[33:09] be, you know, focusing on uh sort of

[33:12] issues that would in another time be

[33:13] called nationalist issues. And I bet you

[33:16] some of them will shape up to be tougher

[33:18] on immigration than Democrats have been

[33:20] uh over the past 20 years. It's

[33:22] interesting they but they are not at all

[33:23] candidates in the mold of Bill Clinton

[33:25] who still even now at least as up until

[33:27] tonight really is the spiritual leader

[33:29] of the Democratic party. But something

[33:30] Democrats are changing and and it's not

[33:32] just PR.

[33:33] >> I think the people as a as a country are

[33:35] much more nationalistic than the

[33:37] interest group driven politicians. I

[33:39] think that's been a pattern and it's why

[33:41] people some reasons why one of the big

[33:42] reasons why people are disgusted with

[33:44] politicians they don't seem to follow

[33:45] the popular nationalistic will they

[33:47] follow the interest of the pressure

[33:48] points the pressure groups u we're going

[33:50] to bring in right now who we're going to

[33:52] bring in right now Bill Fris the senator

[33:54] from the lame duck senator from uh from

[33:57] uh Tennessee you know I use that word

[33:59] lame duck it's such a nasty word but you

[34:01] know Tom Delay just referred to a lame

[34:04] duck majority says even though the

[34:06] Democrats get control of the house

[34:07] they're they're lame duck I mean, he's

[34:09] already putting together a looks to me

[34:11] like a scorched earth policy to destroy

[34:14] anything they might try to do as a

[34:15] majority.

[34:17] >> Yeah, Chris, uh, first of all, good to

[34:19] be with you and let's see how it goes

[34:21] tonight. Right here in Tennessee, things

[34:22] are going very, very well for our

[34:24] Republican candidate, lower taxes,

[34:25] strong on jobs, strong on national

[34:27] security. Bob Corker is going to win and

[34:29] I think he's going to win decidedly

[34:30] tonight. Do

[34:31] >> you think you lucked out by getting Cork

[34:33] Corker as the nominee, a moderate former

[34:35] mayor of Chattanooga rather than the

[34:36] more conservative Van Hillary?

[34:40] U no I don't think so Chris I think

[34:42] right now the voters when they went into

[34:43] the booth today here in Tennessee they

[34:44] had a clear-cut contrast a lot of the

[34:47] national issues people tried to inject

[34:49] race in it people tried to inject just

[34:51] Iraq into it but really the Tennessee

[34:53] voter went in we had one candidate lower

[34:55] taxes the other higher taxes we had one

[34:57] who's a homegrown Tennesseean real

[34:59] Tennessian American dream Bob Corker

[35:02] versus somebody who is a career

[35:03] politician Harold Ford so the contrast

[35:05] was clear here and the voters had a

[35:07] choice It it clearly was not a

[35:09] referendum and with that Tennessian are

[35:11] speaking loud and clear.

[35:12] >> Andrew Mitchell noticed and others have

[35:14] noticed that the the big success of

[35:16] Corker against Harold Ford Jr. when he

[35:18] really started to separate in the polls

[35:20] was simultaneous with the running of

[35:22] that I think racist dad, the one that

[35:25] showed the cutie pie blonde after the

[35:27] commercial had finished and after the

[35:29] disclaimer by the Republican National

[35:30] Committee that they agreed with the

[35:32] content saying, "I'll I'll call you

[35:33] tonight, Harold." What could that

[35:35] possibly mean except a white woman is

[35:37] cutting a deal to meet with a black guy

[35:39] later at night?

[35:40] >> Chris, I've heard you say that again and

[35:42] again. I really do think honestly you've

[35:43] missed it. You really have missed it

[35:45] here. Right now, the Corker did have a

[35:47] major change about oh, a week before

[35:49] that ad a week and a half. They had

[35:50] nothing to do with that ad. A new media

[35:52] team came in. A new campaign manager

[35:55] came in that freed up Corker to be the

[35:57] candidate that he is being able to point

[35:59] out that choice. And I really do think

[36:00] you've overplayed that ad and calling it

[36:02] racist traveling across this state. When

[36:04] you talk to reporters here, you talk to

[36:06] people here, race just has not been a

[36:08] big issue here in Tennessee, even though

[36:10] a lot of people like yourself have tried

[36:11] to inject.

[36:12] >> I I don't think I injected it. I looked

[36:14] at it I looked at an ad like I've never

[36:16] seen before where at the end of the ad

[36:18] when it's over, a woman acting like

[36:20] she's the actress and friend of or want

[36:22] to be friend says that little peekaboo

[36:24] thing. How else do you describe?

[36:26] >> I'm not defending the ad. I'm not

[36:27] defending the ad. That was one of 32 ads

[36:29] here.

[36:31] >> On that one ad,

[36:32] >> Senator,

[36:33] >> we agree you're not defending that ad.

[36:35] Thank you very much, Senator Bill Frist,

[36:37] who may well run for president in the

[36:39] next time around. Back to you, Keith.

[36:41] >> You're calling me a lame duck already.

[36:43] >> No, Tom Delay used that word tonight.

[36:45] Tom Delay. Blame him.

[36:47] >> Lame duck majority. And whether or not

[36:49] that's going to happen in the Senate, so

[36:50] far, we've called two races in which

[36:52] changes appear to be imminent in Ohio

[36:55] and in Pennsylvania. And in what may be

[36:57] the defeat, at least the projected

[36:59] defeat of Rick Santorm by Bob Casey Jr.

[37:01] in Pennsylvania, the Republicans lose

[37:04] their third ranking Republican in the

[37:06] Senate to Bob Casey. Again, the votes

[37:08] have not been counted. It's a projected

[37:09] winner. Anything can happen, but that's

[37:11] what we're sticking with based on the

[37:12] exit polling and a very complex formula

[37:15] to ascertain that. At the White House,

[37:18] NBC's David Gregory is standing by on

[37:20] this particular issue of the ouster, the

[37:22] apparent ouster, the projected ouster of

[37:24] Senator Santorm. David.

[37:27] >> Right. And Keith, again, significant.

[37:29] Here is Senator Santorm, who's from

[37:31] Pennsylvania, a state where the

[37:32] president is not popular, where the

[37:34] president really didn't campaign for him

[37:36] because Santorm didn't want him there.

[37:38] And yet, Santorum is stalward in his

[37:40] defense of the Iraq war, and he's very

[37:42] close to Bush on the Iraq policy. He may

[37:45] have paid a very steep price for that in

[37:48] being the projected loser. Uh you then

[37:51] look at Ohio with Dwine being projected

[37:54] now as a loser there. Shared brown

[37:56] winner. So there's two apparent

[37:58] Democratic pickups there in the Senate.

[38:01] The White House, people I've been

[38:02] talking to in recent weeks expected

[38:05] that. Uh these again are states that the

[38:08] president is not very popular in right

[38:10] now. Talk about Ohio. It's not just

[38:12] Iraq. They've got corruption

[38:13] difficulties in the state scandal as

[38:16] well as a suffering economy with some of

[38:18] the presidents out there talking about

[38:19] how well the economy is doing

[38:20] nationally. He's not talking about Ohio

[38:23] because they've got larger unemployment

[38:25] than the national average, almost um a

[38:27] full point higher. Uh so you see some of

[38:30] the results of that. Here's a bottom

[38:31] line test though for Democrats tonight.

[38:34] How many of these states that the

[38:35] president won for reelection, like Ohio,

[38:38] can they bring back into the fold? the

[38:41] the subtext of this race, the real theme

[38:43] of this campaign is that Democrats have

[38:45] been pushing Republicans on their turf.

[38:48] They are on the offensive, Republicans

[38:49] are on the defensive. How many red

[38:52] states can they compete and win on?

[38:54] We're seeing apparently a Democratic

[38:56] pickup in Ohio and one in Pennsylvania,

[38:58] but that of course being a blue state in

[39:01] presidential years. Keith, David, if uh

[39:04] if you had said again to go back and

[39:05] look at at past projections, the the New

[39:08] York Times had reported that the the

[39:09] Republican National Committee had gotten

[39:10] out of Ohio and redirected the money

[39:12] away from Mike DeWine weeks ago. That

[39:14] that whereas that may be a turnover, it

[39:17] certainly is not an extraordinary

[39:18] surprise. You wouldn't say even how the

[39:20] polls were in Pennsylvania that the

[39:22] Santorum projected loss would be an

[39:23] extraordinary surprise. That opportunity

[39:25] in New Jersey was an opportunity, but I

[39:28] don't know that the polls suggested that

[39:29] Tom Kaine Jr. is going to defeat uh

[39:31] Senator Mendez. At what point, which of

[39:34] those red states is the thing the White

[39:36] House is concerned about as as their as

[39:38] their litmus test for boy, we're in

[39:40] trouble.

[39:42] Well, you got to look at Montana, you

[39:44] have to look at Missouri, and you have

[39:46] to look at Virginia. That's the

[39:49] firewall. Now, the firewall moves a

[39:50] little bit because Tennessee was in that

[39:52] picture, and now it appears that it's

[39:53] gotten away from the Democrats. We'll

[39:56] see. But Montana is a race where they

[39:58] thought Conrad Burns. Uh this Montana of

[40:00] course a red state, a state that the

[40:02] president won. He could still go back

[40:04] and campaign there as he did in the

[40:06] final stretch of this campaign because

[40:08] he's more popular out in the west than

[40:09] he is in a lot of the eastern states.

[40:11] Conrad Burns talking about taxes and

[40:14] other issues made that a tighter race.

[40:16] So that's important. And again, we talk

[40:18] about Missouri, which has been

[40:19] deadlocked, and Virginia and their hopes

[40:22] being pinned on Senator Allen. So, those

[40:24] are the states that the White House

[40:26] really has their eye on and that they

[40:28] remain pretty confident about in

[40:30] addition to the fact that they're they

[40:32] believe they've got a game in Maryland

[40:34] uh that they didn't have before with

[40:36] Lieutenant Governor Michael Steele

[40:37] running tight with Congressman Ben

[40:39] Carden. So, while Republicans spent a

[40:41] lot of money in New Jersey toward the

[40:42] end, they've been disappointed by New

[40:44] Jersey quite a lot uh in the past. Uh

[40:47] now, they're looking at Maryland as well

[40:48] as trying to hold those those three that

[40:50] we just mentioned. Our senior White

[40:52] House correspondent, David Gregory, with

[40:53] the reaction from there to the early

[40:54] developments. David, thanks again.

[40:55] >> So, the Democrats are the projected

[40:57] winners in the first two hot races we're

[40:59] watching in Pennsylvania and Ohio.

[41:02] >> And at the top of the hour, the polls

[41:03] will be closing in a few more key

[41:05] states: Rhode Island, Minnesota,

[41:07] Arizona, and New York. You are watching

[41:10] MSNBC's live coverage of Decision 2006.

[41:20] MSNBC's coverage of Decision 2006 is

[41:23] brought to you by Liberty Mutual.

[41:25] >> How about this spot?

[41:28] >> Too small.

[41:29] >> How about that one?

[41:32] >> Oil slick.

[41:33] >> We know responsibility sometimes means

[41:35] going a little out of your way.

[41:37] >> No.

[41:38] >> And that one

[41:40] >> didn't. That's why if you're ever in an

[41:42] accident,

[41:44] we'll give you a rental car for as long

[41:45] as you need it.

[41:48] Responsibility. What's your policy?

[41:50] >> It's a rental.

[41:52] >> Liberty Mutual.

[41:55] >> Some people say that dreams are like

[41:57] delicate little flowers. Wrong. Dreams

[42:00] are powerful. Dreams are what make you

[42:02] say, "When I'm 64, I want to start a new

[42:04] business. I want to make my own movie."

[42:06] But powerful dreams need more than just

[42:09] a little weekend gardening.

[42:11] >> Start with your dreams and your America

[42:13] prize financial adviser through a unique

[42:15] approach to financial planning called

[42:17] dream plan track will work with you to

[42:19] help make your dreams realities.

[42:22] >> Flower power was then.

[42:23] >> Your dreams are now.

[42:25] >> Some women travel great lengths to

[42:27] recover.

[42:32] >> I'd rather reactivate.

[42:34] Olay Regenerist reactivates with twice

[42:37] the power.

[42:39] It makes tired skin look beautifully

[42:42] regenerated.

[42:44] >> So why recover when you can reactivate?

[42:49] >> Olay Regenerous.

[42:51] Love the skin you're in.

[42:57] The Philips HD flat TV with Ambulite is

[43:01] the only flat TV with the power to

[43:04] transform a mood

[43:06] at the touch of a button.

[43:17] Simplicity is a button that transforms

[43:19] television.

[43:25] When you're smiling,

[43:26] >> printers and copy are so advanced,

[43:28] they're simple.

[43:30] >> Bads are easy to smile with Kia Sera.

[43:33] >> The whole world smiles with you.

[43:36] >> Awardwinning performance.

[43:39] Another reason to smile. Brilliant

[43:41] color, low cost of ownership. And not

[43:44] just reliable, network reliable. New

[43:47] reasons everywhere you look. That's the

[43:49] power of people friendly. Only from

[43:52] Kiosera.

[44:01] Welcome back to MSNBC's live coverage of

[44:02] Decision 2006. Key races now around the

[44:05] country are still too close to call, too

[44:08] early to call. Let's take a look at the

[44:09] latest returns right now. Let's bring in

[44:11] our panel after that. In the Senate race

[44:13] in Pennsylvania, Bob Casey Jr. is the

[44:15] projected winner. According to the NBC

[44:18] analysts, it looks like he's going to

[44:19] win, and we say he will win when all the

[44:22] votes are counted. in Ohio. Another win

[44:24] for the Democrats in one of the top

[44:25] seven races we're all watching. Looks

[44:27] like Sherid Brown is going to defeat the

[44:29] incumbent Mike DeWine when all the votes

[44:31] are counted. That's the NBC call right

[44:33] now. And in New Jersey, another call a

[44:37] seat held by a Democrat and an appointed

[44:39] Democratic Senator Bob Mendez. What a

[44:42] brutal campaign that's been in New

[44:43] Jersey. He's the projected winner when

[44:45] all the votes are counted. That's three

[44:47] Senate seats, holding on to uh one for

[44:49] the Democrats and picking up two. Too

[44:51] early to call in another hot race in

[44:53] Tennessee. Only 6% of the vote in right

[44:55] now. Only 40ome,000 votes separating the

[44:57] two candidates. Way too early there. And

[45:00] of course, the same situation with a

[45:01] much earlier count going here. Way too

[45:03] early to call in Missouri. That's going

[45:05] to be a hot one to watch tonight.

[45:07] Tennessee, Missouri, and also in

[45:09] Maryland. Another race we're going to be

[45:10] watching all night. Too early to call in

[45:12] Maryland with the Lieutenant Governor

[45:14] Michael Steele taking on the Baltimore

[45:16] Congressman Ben Cardon. Another too

[45:18] early to call with 61% in. However, a

[45:21] lot of votes in there almost 700,000

[45:24] votes in additional in either side about

[45:26] a million and a half votes counted

[45:28] already with only 14,000 votes

[45:30] separating the two candidates. That's of

[45:32] course George Allowen the incumbent

[45:33] Republican being challenged by Jim Webb

[45:36] the Democrat. Too early to call in those

[45:39] races right now. Let's go to our panel.

[45:41] Let's start with Joe Scarbor. Joe, it

[45:43] seems like the evening is following a

[45:45] pattern long predicted easier victories

[45:48] in Pennsylvania and in Ohio for the

[45:50] Democrats, more questionable results in

[45:52] the other five states.

[45:53] >> Yeah, no doubt about it, Chris.

[45:55] Obviously, uh we just The question is

[45:57] how big of a wave is it going to be this

[46:00] year? And it looks right now like it's

[46:02] going to at least be a wave that's going

[46:04] to give the Democrats a nice nice

[46:06] victory in the House, not so in the

[46:08] Senate. I do have to say something just

[46:09] a point of personal privilege as would

[46:11] say in the House. Howard Dean accused me

[46:13] of not being fair and down the middle.

[46:15] You agreed with Howard Dean. Just want

[46:17] to say, Chris, I have spent the past two

[46:20] years uh trying my best to be very

[46:23] critical of my party. And in fact, if

[46:25] you look at my transcripts, you will see

[46:26] that I've been bashing my party more

[46:28] than the Democratic party because I want

[46:30] to make sure that I'm fair and down the

[46:31] middle. If you look at an op-ed I wrote

[46:34] for the Washington Post, I actually said

[46:36] that George Bush should not be followed.

[46:39] If you look at column I wrote for the

[46:41] Washington Monthly, I actually said that

[46:44] the Republican party did not deserve to

[46:47] regain control of the United States

[46:48] Congress because they've done such a

[46:50] miserable job. Look at my transcripts

[46:53] night after night and you will see that

[46:55] I go after my own party more than the

[46:57] Democratic Party. That's all I wanted to

[46:59] say. Now, one correction I do have to

[47:01] say, uh, I actually did identify Hillary

[47:04] Clinton with the far left of the

[47:05] Democratic party. Actually, Howard Dean

[47:07] was correct. I was wrong on that point.

[47:09] I was playing more to image to her

[47:11] voting record. She's been a centrist.

[47:13] And that's something else I've said time

[47:15] and time again on my program that

[47:16] Hillary Clinton has been an excellent

[47:18] United States senator. I misspoke. I

[47:20] should have said Barbara Boxer. Again, a

[47:23] person that it's not an insult to say

[47:25] somebody is liberal. I like Barbara

[47:27] Boxer very much. Also, we agree on some

[47:30] things. We don't agree on others, but

[47:32] the terminology that I affixed to

[47:35] Hillary Clinton is not an accurate uh

[47:37] accurate term. And even though you play

[47:40] hard ball, Chris, sometimes you throw

[47:42] the ball a little bit outside. In that

[47:44] time, I think you did.

[47:46] >> Okay, Joe, I'll put your uniform on. It

[47:48] will be an umpire's uniform from now on.

[47:51] >> I think it'll get quite boring, but

[47:52] we'll put that uniform on you. I agree

[47:54] with that assessment of my coverage of

[47:56] your coverage as uh confirming uh Howard

[48:00] Dean's coverage of your coverage. I'll

[48:02] try to keep it straight next time.

[48:03] >> Back to the election in progress.

[48:05] >> Fair enough on that point. I think I was

[48:08] responding to your reference to Hillary

[48:09] Clinton as far left and I thought that

[48:11] might be an interpretive assessment of

[48:13] her ideology rather than a generally

[48:15] accepted one. However, most people would

[48:18] accept your interpretation of her

[48:19] ideology. So I stand corrected

[48:22] >> and most people who watch my show would

[48:23] say that I do my best to be true.

[48:25] >> You are definitely no maverick. Joe

[48:27] Scarbor. Thank you Chris.

[48:28] >> You have always been such and should be

[48:30] regarded in the highest in the highest

[48:32] way. Thank you sir. I'm running out of

[48:34] positive objectives here. Let's find a

[48:36] let's go to find who can we find that's

[48:38] not partisan on the board. Of course

[48:40] Andrew Mitchell. Let me go to Andrew

[48:41] Mitch. Do you want to break that tie?

[48:42] Would you say that Joe Scarra is

[48:44] generally a maverick but in this case

[48:46] was wrong as I was reviewing it was

[48:49] wrong in this case to call Hillary

[48:50] Clinton very what do you call far left

[48:53] of the party in this case

[48:54] >> I think I think Joe has been too

[48:56] prodemocrat myself

[48:57] >> okay

[48:59] >> so have all my Republican friends

[49:01] >> peace gentlemen peace uh what what we

[49:04] are seeing tonight though is possibly a

[49:06] realignment certainly in the house we

[49:08] don't know yet about the Senate but what

[49:10] we are seeing is that there are more

[49:12] moderate Democrats. And as my colleagues

[49:15] here have said tonight, uh Tucker's

[49:17] pointed out that they are more

[49:18] nationalistic on trade issues. They're

[49:21] not the party of Bill Clinton, the NAFTA

[49:23] party. And as Joe is kind