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The Ed Show for Tuesday, Oct. 5th, 2010

Read the transcript to the Tuesday show

Guests: Jared Polis, Alan Grayson, Joan Walsh, Jim McDermott, Karen Hunter,

John Feehery, Hilary Shelton, Stephanie Miller

ED SCHULTZ, MSNBC ANCHOR:  Good evening, Americans, and welcome to THE ED SHOW tonight from New York.

These stories on the table and hitting “My Hot Buttons” at this hour.

Senator Jim DeMint, the Tea Party king, is also the king of discrimination.  Let‘s see now.  He thinks that gay people and sexually active women should be banned from teaching. 

I think this is flat-out evil.  My commentary, and the first openly gay congressman ever to be elected as a freshman responds in just a moment. 

And the right-wing Chamber of Commerce is reportedly gearing up to spend a whopping $75 million to defeat Democrats.  Think Progress dropped this bomb today: some of the money is illegally coming from foreign countries. 

This is a complete disgrace, and I ask you conservatives tonight, do you like foreign money in your elections? 

And it‘s just a good sign—never a good sign when the campaign commercial starts with the line, “I‘m not a witch.”  Stephanie Miller will take Christine O‘Donnell‘s latest gem and do something with it tonight. 

And the cultural question tonight is, how far do we want to go in this country when it comes to oppressing women?  That‘s right, oppressing women and, of course, gays and lesbians. 

This is what the righties are all about, and that‘s why this is the story that also me fired up tonight. 

The forces of evil—and that‘s what they are, forces of evil to think about this about other people—forces of evil in the Republican Party, I think they are just flat-out at it again.  Now, I‘m taking a lot of heat for some of the things I said on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.  This in particular.  Here it is. 

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ:  We, as one nation, must stand together, must fight the forces of evil, the conservatives in this country, across the board.  They don‘t want it for the people. 

They talk about the Constitution but they don‘t want to live by it.  They talk about our forefathers but they want discrimination.  They want to change this country.

And we, as one nation, stand up this day and say we will be there on November 2nd.  We will not give up. 

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ:  Now, that was on Saturday.  The next day, this story pops. 

Let me take you to Exhibit A.  Bigot, homophobe Senator Jim DeMint is trying to socially engineer public education in America.  Now, if the godfather of the Tea Party has his way, your kids will be indoctrinated with anti-women, anti-gay, anti-American ideas when it comes to education, according to the Spartanburg, South Carolina, “Herald-Journal.” 

DeMint said, “If someone is openly homosexual, they shouldn‘t be teaching in the classrooms.”  And he holds the same position on “an unmarried women who is sleeping with her boyfriend.  She shouldn‘t be in the classroom.”

Wow.  This is 2010.  And I think that is singly the most radical, stupid thing that any elected official has said in this country in a long time. 

If you follow Senator DeMint‘s logic, his warped logic, every 22-year-old woman who graduates from college and gets a teaching degree, and then gets a teaching job, would have to take, I guess, a vow of celibacy before she enters into the classroom?  Does DeMint want them to get stoned in public as well, in the public square? 

I mean, folks, wake up.  This is who wants to run the country. 

If anyone is trying to push Sharia law in the United States, it appears to me, in my opinion, to be Jim DeMint.  And guess what?  I think that‘s evil.  Real evil and mean on people. 

Republican senators also love to openly discriminate against gay people, and they claim that, you know, hey, we‘re taking the moral high ground here.  Let‘s see, they don‘t want gay people to get married.  They don‘t want them to serve in the military.  And now, well, the leader to of the Tea Party here, you‘ve got Jim DeMint.  He doesn‘t want them to teach in public schools. 

There is only one word to describe all of that and it‘s called discrimination.  There is a real possibility that in the not-too-distant future, Republicans could have a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate.  DeMint is doing his best to make sure that the Tea Party will be calling the shots.

According to opensecrets.org and Think Progress, DeMint‘s PACs, they have poured in over $2 million to 15 different GOP candidates, including Tea Party favorites like Florida Senate candidate Marco Rubio; former Nevada teacher Sharron Angle; mountain man Joe Miller; Delaware brain wizard Christine O‘Donnell; and “Mr. Racial Diversity” himself, Rand Paul, down in Kentucky.  That‘s who‘s getting DeMint‘s money. 

Unless Democrats stand up to this—and I call it evil—these will be the people who will be deciding how your child gets educated and who is doing it.  DeMint and the right-wing governors like Chris Christie are on a mission to reshape education by, number one, destroying unions—they‘re evil—and discriminating against tax-paying American teachers.  They want to privatize public schools and make education a race to the bottom line. 

Now, this is not the country that I grew up.  And we get into this conversation oftentimes in this political season.  Well, you know, we just have to much us versus them. 

Well, let me ask you the cultural question tonight, folks.  Whose side do you stand on? 

Do you really think that gay people shouldn‘t be able to teach in public schools?  Does Jim DeMint know for sure that he didn‘t have a gay teacher? 

Where are we going with this crowd?  This is not the Republican Party of—let‘s see, pick a name of the past—Bob Dole.  Bob Dole, does he subscribe to this kind of stuff?  He ran against Clinton in ‘96. 

Is this where the Republican Party is now?  Must be.  This is who they are filtering money to, the people that subscribe to this kind of garbage. 

Whose side are you on?  You have to ask yourself that question in this election.  What do you really believe in? 

Now, there‘s another story that is popping down in Florida.  Alan Grayson is going to join us in a moment.  Just what kind of view does his opponent have when it comes to women being oppressed? 

Tell me what you think in our telephone survey tonight, folks.  The number to dial is 1-877-ED-MSNBC. 

My question tonight is: Do you agree with Senator DeMint that gay people or sexually active single women shouldn‘t be teachers?  Press 1 for yes, press 2 for no, and we‘ll bring you the results later on in the program tonight on that number. 

Now, joining me now Colorado Democrat Jared Polis.  He is the first openly gay congressman to ever be elected as a freshman.  He is also a fierce advocate of education and is a member of the House Committee on Education and Labor. 

Mr. Polis, good to have you with us tonight. 

What is your reaction to this story?  I mean, this is—with some conservatives‘ conventional wisdom right now, what‘s your response? 

REP. JARED POLIS (D), COLORADO:  Well, it‘s bizarre, Ed.  And it shows how bizarre many of these newfangled Tea Party Republicans are. 

I mean, they have utterly displanted the “regular Republicans,” who, by the way, were bad enough, with this new breed of Republicans that thinks a school district should investigate the personal lives of all their teachers, find out who their single women teachers are sleeping with?  I mean, what is this about? 

This isn‘t America that you and I believe in.  This is contrary to our values as Americans. 

SCHULTZ:  Well, we have to, I think, take the leap here, saying that if they had a filibuster-proof Senate, that Jim DeMint would bring this kind of stuff forward.  Elections have consequences.  I mean, this is how they think.  This is the idea that he is purporting. 

But what kind of threat would it be to gay teachers possibly being hired in a public school system?  Your thoughts? 

POLIS:  I would say this would be a huge threat to public education.  I mean, to go through the ranks of teachers and to scare teachers who are single women, who are gay, who are lesbian, with this kind of investigation and firing, I mean, this would devastate public education.  I mean, it would destroy many of our public schools. 

I mean, even the teachers that aren‘t gay, who are married, to see their

colleagues brought up on these charges in a witch hunt, I mean, if you want

and maybe his real agenda is to destroy public education.  I mean, if you look at where the agenda goes, gutting schools, vouchers, I mean, they are looking at destroying public education, and this is part of it. 

SCHULTZ:  Do you believe that?  You are on the education committee.  Do you believe that the Republicans are trying to privatize education in this country across the board? 

POLIS:  Many of them are, not all.  And Jim DeMint absolutely is.  And the scary things is, is that his candidates are the ones that are winning these Republican primaries all over the country and why it‘s super important for Democrats to win, and why we all need to vote this November. 

SCHULTZ:  Congressman, good to have you with us tonight.  I appreciate your time on THE ED SHOW.  

POLIS:  Always a pleasure. 

SCHULTZ:  For more, let‘s bring in Florida Congressman Alan Grayson.

Congressman, good to have you with us tonight.

I want to show our audience tonight your to new commercial, because your opponent, in my opinion, has got some really radical ideas when it comes to women.  Here is it. 

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. ALAN GRAYSON (D), FLORIDA (voice-over):  I‘m Congressman Alan Grayson and I approved this message. 

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE:  Daniel Webster‘s Washington backers are attacking Alan Grayson on women‘s issues. 

The facts on Webster record.

Fact: Webster sponsored a bill to create a form of marriage that would trap women in abusive relationships. 

Fact: Webster is an advocate for a group that teaches that mothers should not work outside the home. 

Fact: Webster would force victims of rape and incest to bear their attacker‘s child. 

Those are the facts.  Don‘t let Daniel Webster make the laws we will have to live with. 

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ:  So this is down in Florida, where Mr. Webster has voted on some of these and written laws and proposed them on his own.  Just go right on up the coast to South Carolina, you‘ve got Jim DeMint talking some more “Psycho Talk,” which we just covered. 

Congressman, some think that this ad is over the top.  Your response to this? 

GRAYSON:  It‘s the truth.  And you know, the truth hurts. 

There‘s only one person in central Florida who I can think of who would insist and demand that a raped woman bear the attacker‘s child, and his name is Dan Webster.  There‘s only one person in central Florida who actually introduced a bill that would forbid divorce except in the case of adultery.  And if both parties committed adultery, they‘d be stuck with each other forever.  That person is Dan Webster.

It‘s about time we held these people responsible for their wacko beliefs.

SCHULTZ:  Does he really believe that women should not be working outside the home? 

GRAYSON:  Yes.  He is an advocate for an organization—well, specifically mothers, that mothers should not be working outside the home, as if you lose your rights as a human being when you give birth. 

He belongs to an organization and has advocated for an organization and taught at an organization called the Institute for Basic Life Principles.  He spent $4,000 of taxpayer money to promote that organization by sending out 35 flyers to his constituents.  And this is an organization that wants to create a second-class citizenship in the United States called being a woman. 

SCHULTZ:  Now, you took a lot of heat for your “Taliban Dan” ad.  Is this a rebuttal to that, but just maybe a softer edge to it?  What was your mission here? 

GRAYSON:  My mission is to make sure that we don‘t exalt form over substance.  Too many people were thinking too much about the word “Taliban” and not thinking about the fact that there are certain people in this country who want to create a theocracy in America, who want us to be ruled by their own principles, their own ideas about how the rest of us should live. 

And that‘s one of the real issues in my case in central Florida.  My opponent quite bluntly tells people that if you are the victim of incest, you must bear the child.  And he has tried to create laws that actually require that. 

SCHULTZ:  What kind of—

GRAYSON:  That is one of the key issues in the race this year. 

SCHULTZ:  Now, Mr. Grayson, a Republican held this district for some 25 --

20-plus years before you were elected as a Democrat.  What kind of response are you getting to this? 

GRAYSON:  I think some people understand the importance of this issue.  Other people, frankly, are turned off by any discussion of any social issues given the economic pressures that we all face.  And I understand that. 

SCHULTZ:  Do you think the—

GRAYSON:  But the fact is—

SCHULTZ:  Do you think that this is the new Republican Party?  Do you think that there is a real clear edge when it comes to oppressing women and discriminating against gays and lesbians? 

GRAYSON:  Yes, Ed, without any question.  My opponent has said over and over again, he wants to take back America.  So many of these Teabaggers have said over and over again they want to take back America, and it‘s true.  They want to take back America to the 18th century. 

SCHULTZ:  Gutsy political move, Congressman.  You‘re telling it like it is. 

GRAYSON:  Thank you, Ed. 

SCHULTZ:  I appreciate your time tonight.  Thanks so much. 

The real—the new Republican Party.  I mean, it doesn‘t seem like there‘s any moderates left heading down the stretch into this election. 

Coming up, Christine O‘Donnell wants everyone to know that she‘s not a witch, that she‘s just like you.  I guess everyone lies about going to Oxford and thinks mice have human brains, just like you. 

Stephanie Miller sounds off, coming up on THE ED SHOW.

And Professor Beck, I tell you what, this guy needs to take a little time away from scaring people to do a little extra work on his math.  I‘ll break out the lesson plan in the “Playbook.”

And, of course, we‘ve got Linda McMahon hammering Richard Blumenthal‘s record.  How about this?  Joe Miller‘s wife—he says that unemployment benefits are unconstitutional, but his wife just happened to take unemployment.  How about that? 

And my good old buddy Bill O‘Reilly spins his way into the “Zone.” 

You‘re watching THE ED SHOW on MSNBC.  Stay with us. 

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCHULTZ:  Welcome back to THE ED SHOW and thanks for watching tonight. 

Democrats are under attack from a slew of right-wing organizations.  They‘re piling up the money.  And the United States Chamber of Commerce is pretty much leading the charge. 

The chamber is planning to spend $75 million on attack ads targeting Democratic candidates this year.  And that money may not be coming from the United States. 

Think Progress reports the chamber‘s political contributions may be funded by foreign sources which would violate campaign finance law.  The chamber issued a vague statement saying that they have a system in place to prevent foreign funds from going into American political campaigns. 

But the bottom line is, we still have a month left of these heavily-funded attack ads, and if the Chamber of Commerce gets the Republican Congress they are paying for, it‘s over.  They will never pass a law denying the power of big business to buy elections. 

For more, let‘s bring in Joan Walsh, editor-in-chief, Salon.com. 

Joan, we should point out that Tita Freeman, who is the vice president of communications for the Chamber of Commerce, says that these accusations by the liberal think tank Think Progress is completely erroneous.  Two things.  They are admitting that these—this ad money is coming out of the general fund.  And the Chamber of Commerce solicits foreign money into the general fund. 

How do we differentiate?  How do we know this isn‘t happening? 

JOAN WALSH, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, SALON.COM:  I don‘t know.  I mean, also, they didn‘t really deny it at first.  Now they‘re being very, very vociferous about it, Ed.   

You know, I think we know a couple of things.  I think we know that they are raising—they are bragging about raising a ton of money overseas.  And it enables them to do a lot of things to advance their pro-business, anti-Democrat agenda, regardless of whether it‘s being spent in specific race. 

They are very proud of their international outreach.  They are very proud in their outreach at trashing Democrats who want to put in any kind of controls eliminating tax breaks, for example, for companies that offshore jobs. 

So it‘s clear what their agenda is.  It‘s clear they‘re looking for foreign support for their agenda.  And now they‘re saying no, the story isn‘t true. 

Move On is now asking the Department of Justice investigate this.  We‘ll see where it goes. 

But, you know, I don‘t want to get what they are doing totally lost in this question of foreign funding.  Foreign funding would be illegal, it would be terrible.  But even without the foreign money, let‘s say they do have controls in place.  What they are doing is really questionable for American business. 

So, first of all, you want to elect people who drove our economy into a ditch from the entire 2000 to 2008?  That‘s what you want back?  Is that good for American business?  I don‘t think so.

You want to elect people who will not pass a small business tax cut.  Is that really good for business? 

It‘s a really right-wing, big corporate agenda, not small business agenda, not business agenda.  It‘s corporate.  And I think that needs to be gotten across. 

SCHULTZ:  Well, I think that every fair-minded American in this election cycle should be asking his or herself the question, is it right to have foreign money in our elections?  I mean, it‘s all set up for the back scratch here. 

Send your jobs, America, to our country.  We‘ll filter some money back to you through the Chamber of Commerce so we can fight this labor thing.  I mean, it‘s just amazing to me. 

So, how could conservatives—now, this is where the money is going.  You‘ve got the Chamber of Commerce now going to be sending some money to run against Joe Sestak.  And the conservatives say that they love the troops. 

Excuse me?  Mr. Sestak is the highest ranking military officer ever elected to the Congress.  He is running for the Senate, and he‘s got foreign money, allegedly, working against him. 

How can the conservatives say that, hey, we support the troops? 

WALSH:  Well, they can‘t.  You know, they‘ve always been—these are the people who try to convince us that they have our interests—they are looking out for our interests.  And they‘re not.

They are the people who are trying to convince us that Democrats are not patriotic when we‘ve got people like Joe Sestak serving.  They‘ve really run a con game on us for a long time, Ed—and you know and I both know this—to try to identify the interests of big, big, big business, corporate America, global corporations, with the little person. 

SCHULTZ:  Yes.  Well, I hope the Justice Department does get in the middle of this. 

WALSH:  I hope so, too. 

SCHULTZ:  I think you‘ve got to have—and of course this is a word that conservatives hate, and that is “oversight.” 

WALSH:  Oversight. 

SCHULTZ:  Republicans say they can‘t take this oversight thing.  They like the shifting in accounting. 

WALSH:  Right. 

SCHULTZ:  You  know, and look, I think Americans should be at a point where full disclosure about the money is certainly important in our elections. 

Joan Walsh—

WALSH:  But we‘re going in the other direction.

SCHULTZ:  We are.

WALSH:  And you and I both know that, sadly. 

SCHULTZ:  We are.

Joan, good to have you with us.  Thanks so much. 

WALSH:  Thanks, Ed. 

SCHULTZ:  Coming up, O‘Reilly is spinning the truth and showing his true colors again.  He managed to discount the entire African-American vote.  You know where I‘m throwing “Pinhead” next, right into the “Zone.” 

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCHULTZ:  And in “Psycho Talk” tonight, Bill O‘Reilly‘s racially insensitivity rears its ugly head again tonight in the “Zone.”

Now, back in April, if you remember, at Reverend Sharpton‘s National Action Network Conference, Bill showed just how out of touch he really is. 

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILL O‘REILLY, HOST, “THE O‘REILLY FACTOR”:  It‘s a much more interesting country, America, if we stop with the race business, I think.  I mean, I‘m not black, so I don‘t know your struggle.  And you don‘t know my struggle, all right, because you‘re not white. 

After 9/11, we pretty much dropped that race stuff, did we not?  We pretty much were all Americans there, right? 

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ:  All right.  Now he‘s spinning a new poll and discounting the entire African-American vote. 

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

O‘REILLY:  According to a new Gallup poll, President Obama averaged a 45 percent job approval rating in September, but 91 percent of African-Americans continue to like the job he‘s doing.  And 75 percent of those who describe themselves as liberal also approve of the president.  By the way, just 55 percent of Hispanics now support President Obama. 

So, if you take out the African-American/liberal component, Mr. Obama has very little support in the rest of the country. 

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ:  No kidding, O‘Reilly?  The same thing would happen with your Tea Party candidates if you discounted Tea Partiers. 

And Bill leaves out a whole lot of information. 

Also in that poll, 79 percent of Democrats support the president of the United States.  Fifty-seven percent of 18-to-29-year-olds support President Obama.  And a majority of moderates also support the president. 

So, really, it‘s just old, conservative white people who drag down his approval rating.  And where do old white conservatives get their news?  Hmm, let me remind you. 

Less than one half of one percent of Fox News‘ audience is black.  So, O‘Reilly doesn‘t have to worry about alienating a whole lot of viewers when he discounts all African-Americans.  But still, it really is skewed “Psycho Talk.”   

Coming up, the delusional “Newtster” thinks people actually want to hear his advice.  He is telling the righties to make Democrats the party of food stamps.  Well, we‘ll make him eat his words in a moment. 

Congressman Jim McDermott sounds off in the “Battleground” segment just ahead.

And “Mr. Tan Man,” John Boehner, pulled a fast one on the president with his buddy Hannity last night.  I‘ll get “Rapid Fire Response” on that. 

And, of course, we‘ve got Joe Miller.  His wife took unemployment.  How about that? 

Linda McMahon body-slams Richard Blumenthal.  How‘s that race going?

And “The Beckster.”  I think he needs some flashcards. 

You‘re watching THE ED SHOW on MSNBC.  Stay with us. 

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ED SCHULTZ, HOST “THE ED SHOW”:  Welcome back to THE ED SHOW.  The Battleground story tonight, Newt Gingrich‘s psychomemos.  Newtster thinks the midterms come down to more food stamps or more paychecks.  As usual, no one asked for his advice but he is planning to send a memo to republican candidates outlining what he thinks the GOP‘s closing argument should be.  Now, here is a portion of the letter. 

“In January 2007, when Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid took over the Congress, unemployment was 4.6 percent and food stamp usage was around 26.5 million Americans.  Today, the unemployment rate is 9.6 percent and over 40 million Americans are on food stamps.  Which futures do I want, more food stamps or more paychecks?  This is the choice we want to drive home again and again to voters from now until Election Day, your friend, Newt.” 

This is absolutely shameless.  Gingrich is trying to drive the conservative base to come out and vote against helping people who are poor and need help.  We know Republicans don‘t have a solution to get those 40 million Americans off food stamps and get them good-paying jobs and Newt‘s trying to convince the American people Nancy Pelosi drove the economy into a recession and not President Bush. 

For more, let‘s bring in Washington Congressman Jim McDermott.  He is the chairman of the house subcommittee on income security and family support.  Would—congressman, good to have you with us tonight. 

REP. JIM MCDERMOTT (D), WASHINGTON:  Good to be here. 

SCHULTZ:  I would think that you would welcome this strategy by the Republicans.  What do you think?

MCDERMOTT:  Well, this is nothing but Newt Gingrich starting his presidential campaign for 2012.  He wants to put this letter out and then if the Republicans win, he will say, I‘m the one that led them out of the wilderness, just like I did in ‘94.  He will be on his way.  It is nonsense, what he says.  Without food stamps and without unemployment insurance, this country would be in a terrible mess today.  You have to give people temporary support, so they can get to their next job, and that is what those programs have been about, the Republicans have voted against it, the Republicans voted against the program recently in the Senate that would keep 250,000 jobs that even Haley Barbour, that great liberal from Mississippi said was a great program.  The Republicans simply don‘t care about ordinary people. 

SCHULTZ:  Well, correct me if I am wrong, congressman, the food stamp program is in the farm bill which is already allocated dollars, is that correct?

MCDERMOTT:  Absolutely.  It‘s the farmers put it together.  The Republicans have always thought it was a good idea because it‘s how we got rid of our surpluses.  It is simply nonsense for them to be attacking the food stamp program, it keeps grocery stores and 7-11s and a lot of grocery outlets open because people have a way to go and get food for their family.  What they are saying is we don‘t care if people can‘t feed their children. 

SCHULTZ:  Congressman, what do you—how do you feel now with inside a month to the midterms? Are the Democrats picking up some steam?  Is this starting to swing or do you think that the Republicans are still pretty much flexing their muscles, thinking that they are going to take over the House?  Where do you stand on all this?

MCDERMOTT:  The American people are now very serious, Ed about this election. 

SCHULTZ:  They are paying attention?

MCDERMOTT:  Yes.  They are paying attention and what they hear from the republican candidates is nonsense, witchcraft and all kinds of crazy stuff and they simply know they want to stay with President Obama and keep moving forward.  Nobody thinks we are going as fast as we want to, but certainly, we don‘t want to go back to the guys who put us $3 trillion in debt and want to extend the tax cuts for billionaires, so that we can put another $4 trillion of taxes on our children.  That simply is not where Americans want to go and I don‘t think they are going to come out and vote for Republicans who say that‘s what we are going to do.  We are going to repeal everything.  We are going to go backwards. 

SCHULTZ:  Congressman, good to have you with us tonight.  Thanks a lot much.  Appreciate your time. 

MCDERMOTT:  You‘re welcome.  

SCHULTZ:  Now, let‘s get some rapid-fire response from our panel on these stories.  The gloves are off in the Connecticut Senate race.  Republican Linda McMahon‘s 11th hour commercial just hammers Democrat Richard Blumenthal with the accusations that he lied about his military service.  

Alaska Tea Partier Joe Miller has said, unemployment benefits are unconstitutional but today, he admitted his wife was on unemployment at a few years ago. 

And the tan man paints himself as Mr. Bipartisanship on Hannity Show.  He talks about joking with the president of the United States before claiming the president goes blank when he brings up the problems real Americans are facing. 

With us tonight, Karen Hunter, journalist and publisher and John Feehery, republican strategist.   Welcome to both of you, to the program tonight.  Let‘s talk about the situation over in Connecticut.  Blumenthal and his military record.  Here is the McMahon commercial on that issue. 

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER:  Would you lie about serving in a war?

RICHARD BLUMENTHAL (D), SENATE CANDIDATE:  We have learned something very important since the days that I served in Vietnam.  I served. 

ANNOUNCER:  Dick Blumenthal did, again and again. 

BLUMENTHAL:  When we returned, we saw nothing of this gratitude. 

ANNOUNCER:  He covered one lie with another. 

BLUMENTHAL:  Since the days that I‘ve served in Vietnam. 

ANNOUNCER:  If he lied about Vietnam, what else is he lying about?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ:  Karen Hunter, Blumenthal had a double-digit lead and now it has been narrowed.  How does he get around this one?  And there is a story that‘s been out there for a long time but it‘s been regurgitated?  What do you think?

KAREN HUNTER, JOURNALIST:  No, well, the ads are superb, and I don‘t think that he does get around it.  Because this is exactly what people are tired of on both sides of the aisle, people who are dishonest, people who are politicking all the time instead of really putting out a platform that is going to serve America.   He didn‘t have to tell that lie, it was a lie, it wasn‘t a slip of the tongue or he forgot that he didn‘t serve that he was in the National Reserve and actually in the Nixon White House or wherever he was during the time, he forgot?  No, he told a lie and I think people are tired of it and it‘s going to come back to haunt him. 

SCHULTZ:  John Feehery, if you‘re running her campaign, is this the commercial?

JOHN FEEHERY, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST:  Karen‘s absolutely right.  Blumenthal is a terrible candidate.  McMahon is closing fast.  She is with the people.  She is outside—she is not a typical politician.   She has got a really successful story herself and this is the one thing that drives people crazy. 

SCHULTZ:  Why is he a terrible candidate, John?

FEEHERY:  Well, first of all, he lied.  If you ask any democratic strategist, they will tell you he has run a bad campaign but this is part of the reason.  He is just not truthful on some of these issues and this is where it catches up to him and he‘s going to be in big trouble.  It‘s closing fast. 

SCHULTZ:  I thought he came clean on this, I thought he came out and, you know, said he made a mistake, misspoke and clear them all out. 

HUNTER:  Yes.  But Ed, this commercial just reinforces the very thing that makes people‘s eyes roll.   But I will say this, if people like you, you pretty much could get away with anything.  So if he has a very strong likeability, you know, a whole bunch of people like him in Connecticut, they may be willing to go to the, you know, election booth that day and vote for him anyway. 

SCHULTZ:  John, what do you make of the story out of Alaska, where, here‘s Joe Miller, he‘s been just ripping on unemployment benefits, saying they are unconstitutional, yet he certainly as a spouse, he had to know that his wife was taking unemployment benefits, this a problem for him?

FEEHERY:  Well, I think it is a little bit of a problem.  You know, you have to be consistent on this stuff.  You know, there‘s a lot of people hurting out there and I think that feeds some of this Tea Party anger.  I think that Tea Party candidates have to be consistent though on how they put this stuff forward.  That being said, I think he is still got a really good shot to win this election.  He is up in the polls.  And I think he—he is an outsider and outsiders and the democratic candidate has raised no money has really not much of a factor in the race. 

HUNTER:  But he is not a bad candidate.  He is not a bad candidate?

SCHULTZ:  OK.  Well, Joe Miller, I mean, here he is out of both sides of his mouth.  I mean, here essaying that unemployment benefits are unconstitutional yet his wife has taken them.  I mean, Karen, how does he get around that?  I mean, that just serve it is up, doesn‘t it?

HUNTER:  It‘s once again, political pandering and I think that you know, if people are paying attention, and I hope they are, because this is a very important election, they are going to hold him to the same standard that we just held Blumenthal to.  We have to not allow these folks to lie to us, to mislead us and to use political pandering as a means to get into office.  We have had enough of that. 

SCHULTZ:  All right.  I want to talk about the Chamber of Commerce for a moment and foreign money.  John Feehery, how do we know that the Chamber of Commerce has got good accounting practices because the money that they raise from foreign countries and foreign companies goes into their general fund and that‘s exactly where this money is coming from to run commercials against candidates.  What do you think about this?

FEEHERY:  Listen, the Chamber of Commerce knows exactly what it is doing, it has a lot of very smart people on its staff, very smart accountants.  They know that if they cross the line, they‘re going to be trouble with the Justice Department.  So they know how to play by the rules and they are playing by the rules.  I guarantee you that if Eric Holder and the Justice Department investigates, they he won‘t find anything illegal here.  

SCHULTZ:  What do you think, Karen, should they investigate?

HUNTER:  Yes, they should always investigate.  I mean, the rule of thumb is, what, follow the money? So, you know, I like to agree with John, but I just don‘t have the confidence that he does.  

SCHULTZ:  Well, I would think that Americans would want some answers here. 

HUNTER:  Right. 

SCHULTZ:  I mean, we are talking about some huge money here and don‘t you think, John that Americans want to know if there is for foreign money influencing our elections?

FEEHERY:  I think they do want to know but I‘m very certain—I know a lot of folks that work at the chamber.  I know they do not want to do anything that goes afoul of the law, and I know for their own personal security.  So I guarantee you—and they don‘t want to have the Chinese influence this election.  I mean, that would not be in America‘s business interests.  So, I don‘t think that is going to be a problem in this case. 

SCHULTZ:  Wow.  OK.  Here is John Boehner talking about his relationship with the president last night.  

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEAN HANNITY, HOST, “THE SEAN HANNITY SHOW”:  What is your relationship with the president like?

REP. JOHN BOEHNER ®, OHIO:  We get along fine.  You know. 

HANNITY:  Smoke cigarettes together?

BOEHNER:  No we don‘t.  But first thing that happens, I come in and he will say, oh, Boehner, you are almost as dark as me. 

HANNITY:  That what he says to you?

BOEHNER:  Listen, we talk about golf.  We will talk about our—together.  We have a nice relationship.  The problem we have is that when we talk to each other, there‘s no connection.  You know, I—I‘ve got 11 brothers and sisters.  My dad owned a bar.  I was a small business guy long before I got into this business.  And when I talk about the real world, it doesn‘t seem to register. 

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ:  I think that‘s pretty slick on Boehner‘s part, coming across as, oh, you know, I‘m really trying to work with a guy.  Karen what do you think?

HUNTER:  I‘m actually, you know, disheartened that he would—he would juxtapose himself to the  president that he doesn‘t understand what real world things like, this is a man who put himself through college,  just paying off his student loans when he got elected, raised by a single mother, as many of us are in this country.  You know, if he doesn‘t know what the real world is like, the president of the United States, I don‘t know who does.  I just think it‘s dangerous what he is doing.  But you know, it is part of the course for the Republican Party. 

SCHULTZ:  John?

FEEHERY:  Listen, I think that John Boehner and Barack Obama are going to—when John Boehner becomes speaker, they‘re going to have a contentious relationship, they‘re going to have competing ideas. 

(CROSSTALK)

FEEHERY:  But they‘re going to be able to negotiate things out.  And frankly, I think, it‘s going to be the better of the country if the republican parties control the Congress, President Obama and they will find common solutions and I think that Boehner and Obama will be able to do that.  

HUNTER:  John, that only happen if we have about of amnesia as a country and we forget that John Boehner was there when they drove this country into the abyss and Barack Obama in the last two years has been trying to take us out of that, so I don‘t know. 

SCHULTZ:  John Boehner, I tell you what, this guy is a sales man.  Here he is telling the American people, oh, we get along just fine.  Yet, he has said absolutely no to everything, he‘s dissed him at every opportunity he possibly could.  John Feehery, Karen Hunter, great to have you with us tonight. 

HUNTER:  Thank you, Ed.

FEEHERY:  Thank you.

SCHULTZ:  Coming up, Democrats are being outspent big time this year.  The unions can‘t compete with the corporations.  Minorities need to stand together and fight the money to win this thing.  No doubt about it.  Hilary Shelton is the vice president of the NAACP.  He sounds off ahead.  And if you go to Beck, you, you know, you got to get a refund now.  I‘m teaching him something in the Playbook.  Stay with us. 

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCHULTZ:  And it‘s not too late to let us know what you think, the number to dial is 1-877-ed-msnbc.  Tonight‘s telephone survey question is, do you agree with Senator DeMint that gay people or sexually active single women shouldn‘t be teachers?  Press the number one for yes, press the number two for no.  Again, the number to dial is 1-877-ed-msnbc.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCHULTZ:  And in my playbook tonight, it‘s the numbers.  Democrats are being outgunned big time this election season.  According to a “Washington Post” analysis, democratic groups are being outspent by conservative groups seven to one.  And today, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka has said, he expects corporations to outspend labor unions 20 to one.  With those lopsided numbers, the only thing left for minority voices is basically the vote, their heart, their soul, their passion.  A new poll shows President Obama is still very popular with the base.  Ninety one percent of African-Americans still support the president along with 75 percent of liberals, and 55 percent of Hispanics.  If these people aren‘t engaged in this election cycle, I mean it could be game over for the Democrats.  

Joining me now is Hilary Shelton, senior vice president of Policy for Advocacy of the NAACP.  Mr. Shelton, always good to have you with us.  It was great to see you Saturday at the rally, which was a total success and I appreciate your involvement in that. 

HILARY SHELTON, VICE PRESIDENT, NAACP:  Thank you.  You‘re welcome. 

SCHULTZ:  All right.  The minorities, the people of color in this country obviously can swing this election.  That‘s the only thing you‘re going to have to fight back against all of this money.  Democrats are just getting hammered financially.  What‘s the answer here, Hilary?

SHELTON:  Well, there has to be some balance, because what‘s in the wake is quite frankly the truth.  People have to be able to make decisions on how they are going to vote, who they are going to vote for and why based on information.  But if we have the kind of skewing, we are seeing so far, where information coming is based on how much money you have to spend, we are going to have a problem.  Seven to one, as we talking about groups actually promoting their agenda, 20 to one, as talking about the workers versus their owners.  We have got a real problem in how people are going to be able to make and informed decision in this particular election. 

SCHULTZ:  The GOP pledge to America, according to Congressman Clyburn, would do this, “eliminate an additional million jobs, cut 8 million Pell Grants, 2,000 students from head start would be cut, allow insurance denial for pre-existing conditions and not fix the immigration system.”  This is quite a list here.   Do you think voters are going to be motivated?  Do you think the people that supported President Obama are going to be there when it‘s time?

SHELTON:  Well, if they can really hear what is going on through all the noise, one of the problems that they are going to have is when you‘ve got that kind of money, that level of resources, you can actually say turn the volume way up on whatever your side of the story is, not allowing balanced information to come through.  So, it means that even as people are trying to make the right decisions for their communities, pick the right people to lead them, to provide the leadership for them on Capitol Hill and other places throughout their communities, their states and our nation, they are going to have major problems.  We have got to do something to make sure that there is balanced and information so people, again, can make a very informed decision as we move this election process.  

SCHULTZ:  All of these things that I just mentioned would really hurt minorities, would they not?

SHELTON:  Absolutely.  If you‘re not talking about really creating jobs, you are not looking at the disparities either.  As you know, for white Americans, there is a little less than nine percent unemployment, for African-Americans, over 16 percent unemployment.  But if you don‘t know where the problems is are and  where the focus needs to be, you are not going to know that it is a good idea to actually push the past things like the Miller bill to add a million new public sector living wage jobs to our economy.  You are not going to know that very well, if you‘re not supporting certain programs, you are going to lose certain protections in the areas of employment, in the areas of finance and other places.  Indeed, is we‘re not informed on these issues, if we don‘t have the balance of information coming our wake, the wrong decision is going to be made and quite frankly,  people are going to be confused throughout the process.  

SCHULTZ:  Yes.  It‘s the turnout, if minorities turnout, if the Latino vote is there, the African-American vote is there, the Democrats would have a chance, is that a fair statement in your opinion?

SHELTON:  It is definitely a fair statement.  As a matter of fact, one of the things we are most concerned about is what happens, people are given misinformation throughout this process.  

SCHULTZ:  Yes.

SHELTON:  We have seen it happen before, they have told people everything from misunderstandings about who is supporting which candidates to which polls to go to on Election Day.  And of course, it is too late, once the Election Day is over.  

SCHULTZ:  Mr. Shelton, good to have you with us.  Thanks for your time tonight.  

A couple final pages in the Playbook tonight, nutty Professor Glenn Beck, well, he had some trouble last night when he was trying to do a little simple Math.  Let‘s take a look at this one. 

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GLENN BECK, FOX NEWS ANCHOR:  There are less people but it doesn‘t matter.  I mean it is not like there are less people or you know, less people that are Democrats in America.  We are pretty evenly divided.  We are about 35 percent independents now, 33 percent republican, 33 percent democrat. 

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ:  Did he learn that at Beck you?  Nice try, Glenn.  Now, if you weren‘t trying to get to that 100 percent, your Math is pretty bad.  Thirty five plus 33 plus 33 is 101.  Better luck next time, big guy.  

And New Jersey Governor Chris Christie was stumping for Terry Branstad in Iowa last night but he managed to make it all about him, touting his tough talk and telling the crowd, it‘s put up or shut up time.  He also praised President Reagan, but don‘t worry, he said he is not about to follow in the Gipper‘s footsteps, quote, “I‘m governor of New Jersey, I‘m not going to run for national office.  You have to want it more than anyone else in the world.  I don‘t.  And you have to be ready for it and I‘m not.”  You know what, that‘s the best thing I‘ve ever heard come out of that guy‘s mouth. 

And the White House is going green.  They are installing solar panels on the roof.  The panels will be up around this spring.  They will heat water and supply some of the first family‘s electricity.  

Coming up, Christine O‘Donnell, well, she wants us all to know that she is just like us.  Last I checked, I never had any satanic dates back in high school.  Radio talk show host, nationally syndicated talent, Stephanie Miller, breaks down O‘Donnell‘s new commercial, next THE ED SHOW.  Stay with us.    

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCHULTZ:  And finally tonight, never a good sign when your campaign commercial starts with the line “I‘m not a witch,” Tea Partier Christine O‘Donnell wants every one to know that she is just like you and me.  

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRISTINE O‘DONNELL, DELAWARE SENATE NOMINEE:  I‘m not a witch.  I‘m nothing you‘ve heard.  I‘m you.  None of us are perfect, but none of us can be happy with what we see all around us, politicians who think spending, trading favors and back room deals are the ways to stay in office.  I will go to Washington and do what you do.  I‘m Christine O‘Donnell and I approve this message.  I‘m you. 

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ:  Joining me now is nationally syndicated radio talk show host Stephanie Miller.  OK.  We are on the tee box.  You can hit the fair way on this one, can‘t you?  

STEPHANIE MILLER, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST:  Hi, Ed, I‘m Stephanie Miller and by the way, I‘m not a mermaid.  What—have we reached—this is like our “Wizard of Oz” moment.  Are you a good witch or a bad witch?  Well, I‘m not a witch at all, Ed.  If she only had a brain.  And first of all, I don‘t want someone just like me in office, Ed, I want someone smarter.  And the other thing is what do you mean, I‘m just like you?  Unless you‘re unemployed, under-educated, non-masturbating idiot who has been living off your campaign cash for seven failed campaigns, she is not just like anyone I know, Ed.  Is she like anybody you know?

SCHULTZ:  For a radio talker, don‘t we want to make sure that she runs again, no matter how this turns out?

MILLER:  Oh, she is—she is comedy gold. 

SCHULTZ:  How war your audience responding to her?

MILLER:  Well, first of all, I got to until, these tea baggers, they keep saying if they want the president to prove he is not from Kenya, they want to see his birth certificate.  I think that we should throw her in a dunk tank and make sure she doesn‘t float?  Don‘t you think, her next commercial, she should throw herself in a lake and prove she is not a witch, Ed.  I want her to prove it.  

(LAUGHTER)

SCHULTZ:  She is going to do another debate coming up on October 16th on one of the stations there in Delaware.  Does she have a chance?  Do you think that she has a chance to do any—any good for the Tea Partiers and maybe possibly win?

MILLER:  Well, she will need to have a fully functioning human brain by then and I don‘t think that‘s likely.  But I mean, what is her latest thing, Ed that the Chinese have a takeover plan and she is privy to classified information about that?  This is after she said she heard the audible voice of God during the primary season and I think you and I both know that God doesn‘t get involved in the primaries.  He only pays attention in the actual midterms, like the rest of us.  

SCHULTZ:  Stephanie Miller, great to have you with us tonight.  Thanks so much.  Tonight in our telephone survey, I asked you, do you agree with Senator Jim DeMint that gay people or sexually active single women shouldn‘t be teachers?  Five percent of you said yes, 95 percent of you said no. 

That is THE ED SHOW.  I‘m Ed Schultz.  Chris Matthews starts it off now in the prime time coverage with “HARDBALL,” right here on MSNBC.  We will see you here tomorrow night. 

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

END   

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