Guests: Ed Buck, Bill Press, John Nichols, Scott Paul, Jonathan Alter,
Karen Hunter, Heidi Harris, Holland Cooke, Stephanie Miller
ED SCHULTZ, MSNBC ANCHOR: Good evening, Americans, and welcome to THE ED SHOW tonight, live from Minneapolis.
These stories on the table and hitting “My Hot Buttons” at this hour.
How about this? Glenn Beck‘s got a crush on Republican Governor Chris Christie. When Christie‘s not bullying teachers, he‘s trying to bully voters. I‘ll talk to a voter who sparred with Christie in just a moment.
And speaking of Beck, he‘s the one saying violence is going to be coming from the left? Well, a male Sharron Angle supporter, a Tea Partier, reportedly punched a female Harry Reid supporter during a candidate forum last night. Oh, yes. Radio talk show host Heidi Harris was there, and we‘ll get that story and get some “Rapid Fire Response.”
And Tea Partier Christine O‘Donnell, Ben Quayle and demon sheep have one thing in common. Details coming up in the “Playbook” tonight.
And the Congress has just done something really big in dealing with manipulation of currency with China. We‘ll have that story for you tonight as well.
But this is the story that has me fired up tonight. Republican Governor of New Jersey Chris Christie, I mean, this guy is nothing but a big bully. He‘s thrown his weight around again, this time in California.
Christie was out stumping for billionaire gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman in Hollywood when he talked down a man in the audience who was just trying to get Whitman to answer a question.
Here it is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. CHRIS CHRISTIE ®, NEW JERSEY: Hey, hey, listen. Hey, listen. Hey, listen, you know what? You want to yell, yell at me, but don‘t give her a hard time.
We‘re here. We‘re here talking about the future of the state of California and the future of our country. And you know what?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Tell us the truth!
CHRISTIE: And you know what? Let me tell you—let me tell you this. You know what? It‘s people who raise their voices and yell and scream like you that are dividing this country. We‘re here to bring this country together, not to divide it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: What did he say about raising voices? Christie loves to claim the moral high ground at town hall meetings. He‘s got a habit of that. Take a look at how he treated a school teacher in his own state earlier this month.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Because of the budget cuts that you have implemented, I‘m going to have a hard time paying my bills this year.
CHRISTIE: Well, a few things. First of all, I have not lambasted the public school system in the state of New Jersey.
What I have lambasted—well, listen, let‘s start with this. I sat here—stood here and very respectfully listened to you. If what you want to do is put on a show and giggle every time I talk, well, then I have no interest in answering your question.
So if you‘d like to—if you‘d like to conduct a respectful conversation, I‘m happy do it. If you don‘t, please go and sit down and I‘ll answer the next question.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: Oh, this is so typical of the righties. Christie is the golden boy for conservative talkers in this country all of a sudden. They love this guy because he hates unions, hates teachers, and because he‘s just Bush on steroids when it comes to tax cuts for the super rich.
This morning, when, of course, Glenn Beck saw Christie bullying this guy, he instantly thought Christie should be president of the United States. Beck‘s sick fascination with Governor Christie, I think, is disgusting. He loves the New Jersey governor so much, he‘s devoted a daily segment on his radio show.
Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GLENN BECK, RADIO TALK SHOW: You know what? I demand on this program a Chris Christie moment every day. Some sort of a commonsense—I‘m sorry, I‘m not into porn, but I want a little Chris Christie porn—commonsense porn every day on this program.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: Oh, Christie porn. It‘s just a family show, isn‘t it, Glenn?
Now if Governor Christie wants Democrats to calm down and be respectful, he might want to start with his old buddy Beck himself.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
BECK: Kathy (ph), get off my phone! Get off my phone, you little pinhead!
I don‘t care. You people don‘t care about the trillions. Get off of the phone!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: Oh, yes. Conservative talk show host and heavy-handed politicians like Christie just love to tell liberals to calm down and stop their screaming. Christie doesn‘t—you see, he doesn‘t want to take the tough questions from anybody other than somebody on his side. He hides behind his buddies in the conservative media and tells his own constituents to sit down and shut up.
Now, Republicans have no moral high ground authority when it comes to political speech in this country. For the last two years, Tea Party nut-jobs have been screaming down Democrats at town hall meetings. Now the shoe seems to be on the other foot.
Christie has no business telling people to be respectful when he‘s disrespected almost every wage earner in the state of New Jersey. He‘s nothing more than a really out-of-touch, smug bully.
I‘m a liberal and I‘m not going to stop screaming about helping the unemployed in this country, or education, or job creation, or racially equality that we need to reach in this country. And, of course, the social justice, which Beck loves so much, right?
Here‘s the bottom line. What we‘re seeing out of this governor of New Jersey is just go to the money, cut whoever you have to cut. There is no ramification for any of this because he‘s a cold-hearted fat slob anyway.
The bottom line is, is that when he doesn‘t like what he hears, he accuses the other side of shouting. It‘s a typical, typical right-wing approach to the competition. And that‘s how they view their constituents when they don‘t agree them. They view them as competition.
I hope that Christie wants to be president of the United States. This is exactly what Democrats need, because he represents everything the old Bush thinkers have been putting in front of the American people for a long time. And it won‘t work. We‘ve got it figured out.
Get your cell phones out, folks. I want to know what you think about all of this tonight.
Tonight‘s text survey question is: Do you think Governor Christie and Glenn Beck are dividing this country? Text “A” for yes, text “B” for no 622639. We‘ll bring you the results later on in this show.
Now, that piece of videotape that we showed you, the gentleman that stood up and wanted an answer from the gubernatorial candidate out of California is with us tonight.
Ed Buck is his name. Mr. Buck, the California voter who sparred with Governor Christie last night.
Mr. Buck, good to have you with us tonight.
ED BUCK, CALIFORNIA VOTER WHO SPARRED WITH GOVERNOR CHRISTIE: Thanks, Ed.
SCHULTZ: Did you feel—you bet. Did you feel that you were out of character, out of hand, or somewhat uncontrollable last night at this town hall meeting? Tell us how you viewed this whole thing.
BUCK: Well, actually, I was quite surprised that Governor Christie would insult Meg Whitman to the point of thinking she couldn‘t defend herself and had to inject him into—inject himself into the whole issue. I respectfully sat in my chair and asked Meg Whitman, “Meg, are you going to take any questions? Where are your supporters? Why won‘t you take questions after two hours?”
Governor Christie felt like Meg Whitman could not defend herself, and I think insulted all women, but certainly insulted Meg Whitman by being the bully and forgetting about traditional American values like free speech and public discourse, shouted me down. And he did it with a microphone that I didn‘t have.
SCHULTZ: Were you rude to him in any way? Here‘s the videotape we‘re showing right now. Were you rude to him in any way or overbearing?
BUCK: Absolutely not. You can see that I kept a respectful distance.
He approached me. I didn‘t approach him.
I stood at my chair. He was actually up on the (INAUDIBLE) speaking down to me.
I tried to say to him, “This isn‘t about you.” We‘re in California.
This is about the state of California and Meg Whitman‘s race.
I‘m a retired multimillionaire, former Republican, who was looking for someone to vote for in this election. And you can be sure it‘s not going to be Meg Whitman as a result of what Chris Christie did.
SCHULTZ: Mr. Buck, what was your reaction when Mr. Christie, the governor of New Jersey, told you that you were the problem in this country? People that stand up—and paraphrasing now—that‘s pretty much what he said to you, isn‘t it?
BUCK: Well, yes. You know, it‘s very hypocritical of a man who wants to espouse this whole free speech, and that to say that we need to have a dialogue, but not have it with me, as soon as he doesn‘t agree with my speech here, he cuts me off. As long as I‘m saying apple pie and waving the American flag, he‘s OK with that. But if I begin to ask a critical question, Chris Christie becomes a schoolyard bully.
SCHULTZ: Did you feel like he was bullying you in any way?
BUCK: Oh, well, absolutely. Absolutely.
I mean, think about it. This massive man comes off the stage as I‘m seated in a chair four feet below him. If anybody was the intimidator and the rude person, it was Chris Christie. Look at this.
SCHULTZ: Did you think that he was doing this just in an effort to get the crowd on his side?
BUCK: Well, I mean, as I say, I think it was insulting that I was trying to engage a dialogue with the candidate, Meg Whitman. And he was interjecting himself into that and running interference. Clearly, he is afraid of free speech.
SCHULTZ: Mr. Buck, what question did you want to have answered? You might as well ask it on national television tonight and maybe Meg Whitman will—maybe her press office that she‘s spending millions of dollars to get herself elected as governor. Who knows? Maybe they‘re watching and they‘ll send you a fax or something and let you know.
What did you want answered?
BUCK: Well, more, I wanted to say to her who I was—we met on the way in—and say to her, you know, I stand with Warren Buffett and with Bill Gates. We don‘t need a tax cut. We need roads we can drive on without hitting a pothole every 20 feet. We need an education system that is going to provide for people to take care of me when I‘m in my old age.
So, you know, my message was I wanted to begin a dialogue with her. And I couldn‘t even begin to talk because Chris Christie decided to bully me.
SCHULTZ: Mr. Buck, I want to say something to you. I did not know that you were a successful man. I didn‘t know that you were a gentleman of wealth. And I want to compliment you for going, first of all, going to a town hall meeting, because a lot of wealthy people in this country, in my opinion, give up. And you haven‘t given up.
And I commend you. You are an American. You‘ve had your success and you‘re there looking out for others. God bless you and keep fighting, my man. I appreciate your time tonight.
BUCK: Thank you, Ed.
SCHULTZ: You bet.
For more, let‘s bring in Bill Press, nationally syndicated radio talk show host and former California Democratic Party chairman.
Holy smokes, Bill. Did it get that ruckus kind of going when you were Party chair out there in California? What do you make of this Chris Christie? What do you make of this whole thing?
BILL PRESS, NATIONAL SYNDICATED RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: Yes. Well, first of all, Ed, I‘ve got to say, we need more Americans like Ed Buck. I mean, God, what a great guy. He‘s really interested, loves his country, loves his state, interested enough to go out there and try to get a question asked. I mean, I just—I‘m excited when I see people that interested in politics.
Look, let me tell you something, Ed, you‘ve got him so right. I mean, Chris Christie is nothing but a big bully. He‘s called “Governor Bully” in New Jersey. And that act may work in New Jersey, it doesn‘t work in California.
I mean, Ed Buck said it. In California, we expect a candidate for governor to be able to answer a question.
Meg Whitman has spent $119 million. She will not answer one question from any reporter or any voter.
And I‘ll tell you something else, Ed. If somebody‘s running for governor, man or woman, we expect them to be able to answer for themselves. And I‘ll tell you, Dianne Feinstein or Barbara Boxer wouldn‘t need some bully to jump in and help them out, if you know what I mean. So it doesn‘t play well in California.
SCHULTZ: What do you make of the arrogant approach of the governor of New Jersey? And also, the fact that the candidate, Meg Whitman, was silent? I mean, doesn‘t that kind of speak to her character and her history of being a CEO and manipulating people in the workplace?
PRESS: Oh, no, absolutely. And it also speaks to her total lack of qualifications for taking the job of governor of California.
Ed, she has spent $119 million. As I said, she will not answer one question. It‘s obscene.
She‘s trying to buy this election. And here‘s what‘s interesting. She‘s been up on the air running spots for a year, right? Jerry Brown has spent about $12.39. And the two of them are tied in the polls.
So nobody is buying this. I mean, you cannot buy the governorship of California.
I‘ll tell you, the other thing, Ed, is the fact that Glenn Beck likes Chris Christie, of course he does. He‘s a bully too.
You‘ve got people every night on this show that disagree with you, and you have a good dialogue. Have you ever heard anybody or seen anybody who disagrees on Glenn Beck or Bill O‘Reilly or Rush Limbaugh or Sean Hannity? No.
They‘re all bullies, they‘re all cowards, they‘re all alike. That‘s why they like Christie.
SCHULTZ: Bill Press, great to have you with us tonight. Thank you, my friend.
PRESS: All right. Thanks, Ed.
SCHULTZ: Coming up, Glenn Beck says violence is coming from the left.
Wrong again, Fraudster.
A male Tea Partier reportedly punched a woman supporting Harry Reid in Nevada last night. Just despicable. I‘m going to get live reaction from Las Vegas in a moment.
And Vice President Joe Biden thinks Tea Party nut-jobs like Christine O‘Donnell and Rand Paul will actually help the Democrats in a month.
All that, plus people behind Carly Fiorina‘s infamous sheep commercial are now working for Christine O‘Donnell. What a nice fraternity.
And Stephanie Miller weighs in on Boehner‘s “Tan Man” activity in “Club Ed.”
You‘re watching THE ED SHOW on MSNBC. Stay with us. We‘re right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SCHULTZ: Welcome back to THE ED SHOW and thanks for watching tonight.
Vice President Joe Biden thinks the Tea Party may be the best thing to happen to the Democrats this year. Biden told Democrats at a fund-raiser last night that he thinks the Tea Party will motivate progressives and shake them out of their lethargy. Well, they have been kind of lethargic, but I think that this is turning a little bit.
He also made a bold prediction despite the polls. The vice president said, “I guarantee you we‘re going to have a majority in the House and a majority in the Senate. I absolutely believe that. Democrats have a heck of a record, a heck of a positive record to run on.”
Joining me now is John Nichols, Washington correspondent of “The Nation.”
John, good to have you with us tonight.
I spoke with a couple of lawmakers today who specifically told me that the rhetoric that‘s taken place in the sound chamber of America doesn‘t match what they ran into when they went home to work on vacation and dealing with all of the town halls. There is more of an air of confidence among the Democrats right now.
Do you sense that, and do you think that it‘s real?
JOHN NICHOLS, WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT, “THE NATION”: Well, I think it‘s—I think that we‘re in a real fight. And that‘s the significant thing about this moment.
Everybody in Washington seems to want to write the story of 2010 at the end of September, the start of October. Election Day is November 2nd. And when you start to take a look at how this is playing, I think Biden‘s very close to the mark.
Remember, he‘s a political pro. He‘s been around for a very long time. And what he‘s looking at is a situation where the Republicans have nominated some very, very weak candidates in a number of states.
In addition, they have a real divide. Remember, this pledge they just put out yesterday has been roundly condemned by the Tea Party movement. So there‘s a lot of room there for Democrats to maneuver. I don‘t think that they‘re in perfect position, but they‘ve certainly got room to complete year.
SCHULTZ: OK. So there is, in your opinion, certainly some room for more confidence on the part of the Democrats. We‘ve seen “Psycho Talkers” end up getting primary victories --
NICHOLS: Oh, yes.
SCHULTZ: -- with questionable backgrounds. We now have this “Plague on America” is what I call it. It‘s the same old garbage we had before.
So if Biden is saying this, what is he saying to Democrats, get off your butts and get out there and fight for health care? What do you think?
NICHOLS: Well, I don‘t just think it‘s just health care. Look, I think that you always have to be aware of what the political moment is telling you.
What this political moment is telling us is coming both from the Tea Party movement and from the D.C. Republican insiders. And that is, that the only way that they begin to balance the budget while maintaining those tax cuts for the rich is by going straight after Social Security.
They‘re effectively handing Democrats the best issue they can not only to motivate a lot of swing voters, but also to get their base out there. If you fight a fight about maintaining Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, also talk about expanding health care, and then add on a jobs program that‘s serious, don‘t be cautious about talking infrastructure, and also, don‘t be cautious about saying that trade policy has to change, you do that, that‘s a winning platform.
SCHULTZ: OK. John Nichols, I‘ve got switch gears on you a little bit, but it does parallel what Vice President Biden is talking about.
You‘re the Washington correspondent of “The Nation,” Your back yard is Wisconsin. What‘s happening with Russ Feingold, in your opinion? Is he really behind by double digits, and what do you think he‘s got do to turn around after listening to what the vice president says?
NICHOLS: Look, I did a cover story for “The Nation” on this, this week, and spent a lot of time out on the ground talking to people. There‘s no way he‘s down by double digits, but he is taking an incredible battering.
His opponent is very, very wealthy, and is spending—expected to spend roughly $15 million in attack ads. Additionally, there‘s a lot of out-of-state Republican money coming in.
So Feingold‘s got a real fight on his hands, but he‘s also got this message. And I have to tell you, Ed, if you wanted to go to one state and watch a campaign that would warm your heart, come out to Wisconsin and see Russ Feingold.
He has taken a genuinely aggressive populist campaign on the road, going out to every small county in the state, going straight into Republican county fairs and talking to them about the Constitution and his defense of it. It‘s great stuff. And I think at the end of the day, Feingold will pull this thing out, but it is a real fight, and at the core of it is Republican money.
SCHULTZ: Yes.
John Nichols of “The Nation.”
Always a pleasure. Good to see you, buddy. Thanks so much.
NICHOLS: Great to see you, Ed.
SCHULTZ: Coming up, the “Plague on America” fights for the top two percent. A trust fund righty running for Senate in West Virginia just took a step farther. He inherits my wrath in the “Zone” next.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SCHULTZ: And in “Psycho Talk” tonight, West Virginia Republican Senate nominee John Raese takes his first trip into the “Zone.”
He‘s in a tight race with Governor Joe Manchin for Robert Byrd‘s old Senate seat, but Raese is even more disconnected from reality than the average Republican. On a righty talk show yesterday, he showed how hopelessly out of touch he really is.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Tell us just a little bit about you and your business experience and how you got here.
JOHN RAESE ®, U.S. SENATE CANDIDATE, WEST VIRGINIA: Well, I made my money the old-fashioned way. I inherited it. And I think it‘s a great thing to do, and I hope more people in this country have that opportunity as soon as we abolish inheritance tax in this country, which is a key part of my program.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: What? Try to tell that to the West Virginia coal miners who were making money the actual old-fashioned way. They‘re working hard.
Now, the estate tax that he‘s talking about affects people who inherit more than $3.5 million, which only is 2.5 percent of all Americans. The median household income in West Virginia is $37,528 a year, and 8.8 percent of West Virginians are unemployed.
So, once again, we have a Republican candidate who doesn‘t give a damn about the middle class. How interesting. And saying that you‘re going to focus on cutting taxes for the very rich when almost nine percent of your state is unemployed is old-fashioned “Psycho Talk.”
Coming up, chaos in Nevada. A male, a guy, Sharron Angle supporter, reportedly punches a woman, a female supporting Harry Reid, right in the face. Absolutely disgusting. Heidi Harris, radio talk show host, was there. She was there and she‘ll tell us what went down.
And President Obama is a man on a mission for the middle class. He just stepped up and told China he‘s the boss.
All that, plus the “Pledge to America” is really the pledge to old, rich white people. And Stephanie Miller takes on “The Tan Man” in “Club Ed” tonight.
You‘re watching THE ED SHOW on MSNBC. Stay with us. We‘re right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SCHULTZ: Welcome back to THE ED SHOW. The “Battleground” story tonight, President Obama is talking tough and fighting harder than ever before for the American workers. He went behind closed doors with China‘s prime minister and hammered him about currency manipulation that‘s making it impossible for American manufacturers to compete. The Democrats in Congress, well, they got us back. Today, a big move. The House Ways and Means Committee said that if we can‘t convince China to change its ways, we‘ll punish them for not playing fair. Now how is this going to come down? The committee voted to allow the Commerce Department to impose tariffs on cheating countries. And it is a big, important first step to level the playing field for American workers.
For more on this, let‘s bring in Scott Paul, executive director for the Alliance for American Manufacturing. Scott, this really is the move you‘ve been looking for and many organizations in the country looking out for workers. How big a step is this?
SCOTT PAUL, DIRECTOR, ALLIANCE FOR AMERICAN MANUFACTURING: You bet. I think this has been the best week we‘ve had for American manufacturing in a long time. Because, as you mentioned, we‘ve seen the president really step up to the plate, put this at the top of the U.S./China agenda. We‘ve seen aggressive action in the House of Representatives. We know there‘s going to be a floor vote next week. And we‘ve also seen, I think, Republicans want to run away from this issue. I mean, they know that they don‘t want to stand with the communist government in Beijing and with the outsourcers because that‘s not where Republican voters are, it‘s not where independent voters are and it‘s certainly not going to help them on Election Day.
SCHULTZ: This is the most aggressive move that any president has taken against China, correct?
PAUL: Without a doubt. I mean, we have about a ten-year history of intense competition with China. And to be fair, Ed, I think, you know, President Clinton certainly didn‘t step up to the plate on China. President Bush did not do that. President Obama said some good things about getting tough with China during the campaign. I‘ll be candid, I think that they‘ve been slow to get started but once they‘ve gotten started, it‘s now there. And I think that they‘ve made it very clear to the Chinese that the currency needs to be revalued. That you‘ve got to stop this tax on U.S. Exports that essentially serves as about a 40 percent tax on U.S. products going into China. You‘ve got to create a level playing field for America‘s workers and businesses, and we need to play by the rules. And I think that message has been delivered loud and clear, finally.
SCHULTZ: Now, Scott, it‘s not just the Chinese, but China is the biggest culprit. They cheat in so many different ways, I‘m told, from a number of different labor leaders. What is their reaction going to be? What‘s your anticipation? What are they going to come back with? Will they budge at all when it comes to re-evaluating their currency?
PAUL: Well, it‘s interesting, Ed, because some people will say, well, this is going to spark a trade war. The truth is, it‘s not going to spark a trade war because China depends on access for the U.S. market. And anything that they do would be the equivalent of mutually assured destruction. The other piece of this is that people say China doesn‘t respond to public pressure. Well, it‘s pretty clear to me. Because in the last two weeks, they‘ve raised the value of the currency by about a percent, which is not a lot, but they basically flat lined it for the last couple of months. And what it shows me is that their currency called the yuan has plagued the political pressure. So, we have to keep it up, we have to ratchet up the pressure, now is not the time to step down.
SCHULTZ: It‘s going to be a big fight in the Congress next week, a big discussion. I understand that the majority party is also going to be going after outsourcing. Scott Paul, good to have you with us tonight. I appreciate your time.
PAUL: Thank you, Ed.
SCHULTZ: You bet. Let‘s bring in Jonathan Alter, national affairs columnist for “Newsweek” and an MSNBC political analyst. Jonathan, good to have you with us.
JONATHAN ALTER, MSNBC POLITICAL ANALYST: How are you?
SCHULTZ: Good, good. Maybe I‘m going on a bridge too far on this but Larry Summers‘ out, he was a free trader, and all of a sudden the president gets as tough as he‘s ever been on China. What do you make of this?
ALTER: You know, I really don‘t think that there is a causal connection. There could be more indirect kind of sense on the part of the president that he wants to start to move in a different direction. But I don‘t think there‘s a cause and effect here. One of the things that people don‘t understand about Barack Obama is, he‘s in charge. He‘s not dancing on somebody else‘s strings. So there‘s all of this attention in the press to the aides and who‘s got this job or that job inside the administration. It‘s all interesting. It gives us all something to talk about. But if you‘re—if you‘re in interviews with this president or you know if you‘re not a journalist, if you‘re in meetings with him, one of the things that you get right away is he‘s making the call. He‘s extraordinarily well in point.
SCHULTZ: So this is—I think that‘s an important point that you‘re making, Jonathan, because over on the other side, they‘re saying, well, this is political grandstanding just before the election.
ALTER: There might be some of that.
SCHULTZ: It‘s a play for the union—well, what do you think about that? Is it a play to the unions, is it a play to the middle class vote, what do you think?
ALTER: I think he is trying to make a play for the Democratic base, you know, because he needs them to turn out on Election Day. And he needs to explain to people that if the Republicans take control, we‘re not talking about your father‘s Republican Party. These folks are very extreme. So, for instance, there‘s an ad against—on these trade issues they‘re very much on the other side. So, there‘s an ad now the California right now that Barbara Boxer‘s running against Carly Fiorina where it talks about all of the jobs that she exported at Hewlett-Packard when she was the CEO there. And you know, there‘s just a big difference between the parties on a lot of these issues even though the Democrats have been in recent years more on the free trade side. He‘s reminding folks, trying to remind folks that even though there has been that shift over the last 20 years, that the Democratic Party is still the party of standing up for unions and manufacturing.
SCHULTZ: No doubt. Jonathan Alter, good to have you with us tonight.
Thanks so much.
ALTER: Thanks, Ed.
SCHULTZ: You bet. Now let‘s get some rapid fire response from our panel on these stories tonight.
The Nevada Senate race, I tell you, it‘s getting crazier with these candidates and the voters. At a candidate forum last night, was full of jeers and heckles. And finally, erupted into violence when a male Angle supporter punched a female Harry Reid supporter.
I‘ve been looking through the GOP‘s glossy “Pledge to America” brochure that they‘ve put out. According to the pictures, anyway, America is old and white. They are also almost no minorities visible at the town hall meetings that they held.
And Alaska Tea Party nominee, Joe Miller wants to get rid of Social Security as we know it. Either privatize it or put under state control. Heard that before?
With us tonight Karen Hunter, journalist and publisher and also Heidi Harris, radio talk show host from Las Vegas joining us tonight. All right, let‘s talk about the big scram. I guess who head it—did they sell tickets to this fight, Heidi? You were there. What happened on this deal?
HEIDI HARRIS, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: Well, here‘s the thing. I was in the very front row and when the ruckus broke out, I turned around and I saw kind of the aftermath and they were still kind of slugging it out. The big problem was, the Reid supporters were incredibly rude. What happened was, they had a forum where Harry Reid did, it was video. So, they had a videotape of Harry Reid being asked these questions. They played that first and of course, the moderator said, nobody make any noises at all, any kind, until it‘s over with out of respect for the candidates. And for the most part, the Angle supporters were very, very quiet during the Harry Reid thing and of course his supporters had a few screams, and yells, and hollers on his behalf.
Then, when Sharron came out in person, at least she has the guts to show in person, Harry did not. Sharron shows up in person. They start the noises and cad calls and the boos and just being rude little pigs and they were in the back the room. So, then the moderators who did not have the guts that you and I would have, Ed, to control the situation, said, oh well, if you guys make noise, it just takes more time away from Sharron Angle. So, what did they do? They made more noise, all the Harry Reid supporters. It was completely ridiculous. And I‘ve seen the pictures of how the brawl supposedly started. And what happened was, at the very end when Sharron was still speaking, still speaking, a hundreds of people tried to walk out from Harry Reid‘s camp, once again being rude and pushing their way past Sharron Angle supporters.
One woman who was way too big to try to push her way passed another guy who was also pretty big, she‘s trying to shove her way passed, she got in his face. I don‘t know who do the punch first but I‘ve seen photos of her leaning over him in his face, rudely trying to push past him, to get out of the event and that‘s what started the whole thing. If they‘ve sat there for five more minutes, all of those Harry Reid people and been respectful, none of this would have ever happened.
SCHULTZ: Well, let me just say this, that there have been Tea Party rallies all over the country. I know a lot of lawmakers personally who have told me they have felt uneasy because there‘s been heckling going on all year long. But I think it‘s been taken to a new level when you‘ve got a broadcaster with millions of listeners and viewers in Glenn Beck, saying stuff like this that violence is coming from the left. Here it is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GLENN BECK, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: Violence is coming and it is coming from the left. And so America must have a clear choice. You really are, you really are the people that are peaceful, that believe in the free market system, that believe in small government, that don‘t believe in corruption, that don‘t believe in special interests and earmarks in it. That‘s who really are.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: Glenn Beck thinks that violence is coming from the left, but we have well documented in town hall meetings across the country, Karen, that the intimidation has been coming from the Tea Partiers. What do you make of all of this?
KAREN HUNTER, JOURNALIST: Well, also, I think I saw Heidi‘s foot in one of those pictures tripping someone. But I think that—I think, you know, this kind of language and even calling them rude little pigs, Heidi, really doesn‘t help us. At the end of the day, you know, you hope you come a rally to get some understanding, to get some questions answered, and the kind of energy that‘s in this country right now on both sides, I don‘t think it services us as a country. This is not what we‘re made of as Americans. And for that man, I don‘t care how rude people were, for him to throw a punch at a woman, I don‘t know who raised him, but he looked old enough to know better that he should never put his hands on any woman and for you even to condone that on any level, I don‘t care whether the woman was too big to get by him or not, just underscores what I‘m talking about right now. We have unsettled unrest in this country.
HARRIS: I‘m not defending that. I don‘t know what happened. If he hit her, he‘s completely out of line. There‘s no reason to ever hit a woman. But I don‘t know what you‘re talking about with the rally. This was not a rally. This was a candidate forum where manners, were supposed to be the order of the day. When we had our Tea Party out in search like, estimate of 20,000 people out there, there was not one arrest. There was not one fight.
HUNTER: So you‘re saying, Heidi that this—are you agreeing with Glenn Beck? Are you saying that all of this violence and vitriolic behavior is coming only from the left?
HARRIS: I‘m going to tell you, at the Searchlight event, the only people who are violent were the Harry Reid supporters throwing—except the Tea Party—that‘s the only thing that‘s happened.
HUNTER: Right.
(CROSSTALK)
HARRIS: No, this was not a rally.
HUNTER: They‘re calm and they‘re very civil. Is that what you‘re saying? All of the tea baggers that come to these events and to these forums and to these rallies, they come and their peaceful and they‘re just wonderful and polite and they‘re raised well, give me a break, Heidi.
HARRIS: No, but here‘s the difference, no, no, here‘s the difference, Karen. They were town hall meetings and they have there for the last year where politicians were held to the fire by people on the right who were ticked off and tired of being screwed over. They have every right to say that. That‘s not civil disobedience. That‘s them challenging the people who work for them in Congress, and saying, they‘re unhappy. How is that violence? That‘s not violence. That‘s just dialogue.
HUNTER: But what we saw yesterday, you‘re saying that.
HARRIS: No, no, I‘m not—I‘m not defending this guy last night.
HUNTER: OK.
HARRIS: I‘m not defending him for one single second but my point is, the Harry Reid supporters should have shut their mouths. Sat there for five more minutes and not tried to rudely push past anybody.
HUNTER: And no one deserves to get punched in the mouth, no one deserves to get punch in the mouth for not doing that, they were rude, you are right, they‘re rude on both sides.
HARRIS: Well, some people do deserve to get punch—well, no man should ever hit a woman. I didn‘t see what happened. I don‘t know. I‘ve seen pictures of her with her face and his on her hand and his face, with her finger in his face, yelling at him. She started the altercation. I‘m not defending it if he hit her. I don‘t know who hit her first.
HUNTER: Can we agree, can we agree that it is getting a little out of hand? Can we agree that this is not servicing America at all for this on any side, for this, for Glenn Beck to say what he‘s saying, for you to call people rude little pigs. All of this does not lead to what we need to get out of this, which is our jobs, you know, we need to turn it the economy around. We need to get our education systems. We have so much work to do.
SCHULTZ: Karen Hunter and Heidi Harris, we have to leave it there.
Good to have you with us tonight.
HUNTER: Thank you, Ed.
SCHULTZ: A good discussion and I think it‘s irresponsible for any broadcaster to predict that violence might be coming from anywhere.
SCHULTZ: Coming up, from dates with the devil to softball from Slanthead Hannity. Christine O‘Donnell‘s dominated headlines all week. I‘m breaking down her future plans in my “Playbook.” Stay with us, that‘s next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SCHULTZ: And it‘s not too late to let us know what you think. Tonight‘s text survey question is, do you think Governor Christie and Glenn Beck are dividing this country? Text A for yes, text B for no to 622639. Results coming up. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SCHULTZ: And in my “Playbook” tonight, Christine O‘Donnell‘s coming-out-party were short-lived and confined to FOX News. Revelations of witchcraft, prompted the brand new Tea Party star to cancel Sunday show appearances. Then she followed in Sarah Palin‘s footsteps and direction and went on Slanthead show where she announced that she was going to duck the national media and stay local but O‘Donnell is taking advantage of some national talent to craft up her TV message. She just signed a contract with the guy responsible for Carly Fiorina‘s demon sheep commercial. And Ben Quayle commercial where he threatened to go to Washington and knock the hell out of the place.
For more on Christine O‘Donnell‘s media strategy. Let‘s bring in radio talk show host and consultant, Holland Cooke, media extraordinaire commentator.
(LAUGHTER)
Holland, are we seeing the higher-ups maybe in the conservative movement telling Christine O‘Donnell, keep it local, baby, you are a psycho talker. What do you think?
HOLLAND COOKE, TALK RADIO CONSULTANT: Ed, I speak to you tonight from Rhode Island. The only state in the USA that is smaller than Delaware. And here too, we have a bunch of candidates scampering around running for statewide office and they‘re walking the walk that was Christine O‘Donnell‘s cover story. Her excuse for stiffing “Face the Nation” on short notice and why she‘s too shy to go on “Meet the Press” or take any straight national interviews. In a small state like Delaware or here in Rhode Island, you can run for statewide office with your feet on the ground. It‘s not like being in Ohio or Florida or California. So her time is well invested in retail politics if the goal is to get elected.
What we found out a week ago in the tell-all from her ex-staffers is that there‘s been a second agenda all along and the serial candidacies of Christine O‘Donnell were all about nailing a TV gig. For all we know, she may have already inked a deal with FOX News and she‘s just going through the steps in the mean time. And the big difference between Christine O‘Donnell and Ed Schultz is that you were honest with the voters. I have spent enough time in North Dakota to know how much the Dems there would love to have Big Eddie on the ballot for Senator Dorgan‘s open seat, but you told them you were committed to your TV show. She has not been as straight with the folks back home in Delaware.
SCHULTZ: Well, it‘s a lousy environment, too. I appreciate you bringing that up, Holland. But taking a look at the way she is playing the media right now in Delaware. Could the right wing talkers with their penetration and the number of ears that they reach and there is no liberal talk other than NPR in Delaware, could they bring her over the top and erase this deficit? What do you think?
COOKE: Well, the big buzz in Delaware right now is the possibility that Congressman Mike Castle, whom Christine O‘Donnell defeated in the primary, he‘s considering a write-in candidacy. He‘s got until September 30th to file either way. I predict he will not do so for two reasons. Number one, he‘s not that kind of guy. The candidates who win in write-in elections are more outspoken, more flamboyant, their caricatures. And Mike Castle‘s biggest problem in the primary was the 2010 is open season on reasonable Republicans and the second reason I don‘t think that he‘s going to run, speaks to your point, it‘s the sheer math of it. If there are two candidates in election, the winner needs 50 percent, plus one vote. If there are three candidates in an election, Christine O‘Donnell could scare off as little as 30-something percent of the vote and win.
SCHULTZ: Yes.
COOKE: And as you know, witches can be very scary.
(LAUGHTER)
SCHULTZ: Holland Cooke, great to have you with us tonight. I appreciate your time. Thanks so much.
COOKE: You bet.
SCHULTZ: One final page on the playbook tonight, a lake is swallowing up towns in northern North Dakota. Devil‘s lake, that‘s the name, has already wiped churches ferry North Dakota off the map. And now is threatening the small town of Minnewaukan, North Dakota. The lake used to be about eight miles from the small town with a population of only 318 and now the waters are just lapping at the doorsteps.
COOKE: Up next, Mr. Tan man John Boehner says, he never used a tanning bed or a tanning product? You be the judge. Stephanie Miller will be the judge when she comes back in “Club Ed.” Stay with us. You‘re watching THE ED SHOW.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SCHULTZ: Welcome back. If it‘s Friday, it‘s time for “Club Ed” with nationally syndicated radio talk show host Stephanie Miller. Stephanie, great to have you with us tonight. The tan man, we affectionately call John Boehner that. He is now revealing tanning secrets, Stephanie, that he is never been to a tanning bed and he‘s never used any product. Is he telling the truth, what do you think?
STEPHANIE MILLER, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: Ah, yes, sure, that‘s probably right, Ed. You know I think they should have called that Republican pledge, orange pledge. Don‘t you think? I think I literally saw orange around the edges of it from his fingers. I think it was what about 30 percent of Ohio voters, Ed, say that he spends too much time in the tanning bed and I think that the other 70 percent says, he spends too much time in bed with lobbyists.
(LAUGHTER)
SCHULTZ: Christine O‘Donnell, the psycho-talking candidate from Delaware, went into the softball zone with “Sean Hannity” and now she‘s saying that she‘s not going to do anymore national media. What about her strategy?
MILLER: Yes, how about that? She can‘t even take softballs, Ed, from other FOX reporters. She needs the tea ball that only Sean Hannity can serve up. She probably gets to write her own questions, for God‘s sakes. Here‘s the weird thing though that I find it interesting, she picked Hannity, Ed, because you and I both listen to his radio show and that‘s kind of three hours of masturbation there. So that‘s a little surprising.
SCHULTZ: I don‘t make a habit of it myself. All right. California gubernatorial race is going on and Meg Whitman brought in New Jersey Governor Chris Christie who got more than arrogant with Ed Buck who is a multimillionaire who was on this program earlier tonight. And really talked him down, speak to the arrogance, Stephanie, what‘s this big fat guy all about?
MILLER: Wow, Ed, it is getting good out here in California. As you may or may not know, Meg Whitman actually was accused of shoving an employee in the eBay boardroom and then this thing looked like a scene out of “Sopranos.” I thought someone was going to get a lead pipe in the head in a minute and I must say, the heckler that stood up though said to Christine Whitman—or Meg Whitman, he said, you know, what are you afraid of? You look like Schwarzenegger in a dress out here. What are you afraid of? And that‘s really not fair to Arnold Schwarzenegger. He‘s worn a dress in a couple of his movies and he looks much better than Meg Whitman in my opinion.
SCHULTZ: Stephanie Miller, always a pleasure. Good to have you with us tonight. Thanks so much.
MILLER: Thanks, Ed.
SCHULTZ: Tonight in our text survey I asked you, do you think Governor Chris Christie and Glenn Beck are dividing this country? Eight nine percent of you said yes, 11 percent of you said no.
That‘s THE ED SHOW. I‘m Ed Schultz. And I want to tell you, next week, of course, I‘m going to have an interesting interview with Alan Page and we‘ll also have the One Nation March coming up for on jobs on October 2nd. For more information on that, you can go to wegoted.com. The One Nation March for Jobs October 2nd in Washington, D.C. And of course, we are celebrating education on NBC and MSNBC for the next few days. And Alan Page of Minnesota State Supreme Court Justice, his life‘s focus has been on education in helping children. He‘ll he on my program next week right here on THE ED SHOW. Have a great weekend.
“HARDBALL” with Chris Matthews starts right now.
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