Murkowski’s defeat marks major tea party win

>> president’s speech in a moment. charlie, i want to ask you about the midterms you are writing this day saying the calvary doesn’t appear to be coming from the democrats.

>> they needed so many things to happen. they needed unemployment to come down, attitudes towards health care reform to change, they needed to sort of seize control of the agenda and stabilize things in washington . none of those things have happened in times getting short.

>> and let’s ask you specifically about the race up in alaska where lisa murkowski finally conceded last night. a lot of people did not see this coming. a lot of people did not see joe miller coming as early as the night before.

>> there were no warning signs. and nobody ever hit the panic button . we are hearing afterwards people within her campaign tried to kind of shake it loose, but the panic button never got it. willie, a funny story, i was walking — sarah palin had an uninstrumental role in murkowsky’s defeat. the night sarah palin got the nomination, i was walking through the lobby center in st. paul, and senator murkowski says, look, i want to tell you what a great choice sarah palin is and she will do a great job for the ticket. she is really terrific. and i am thinking, sarah palin beat your father. wow, you are taking one for the team big time now. and now palin does in the daughter. i thought, no good deed goes unpunished.

>> she did tweet in addition to her other tweets, sarah palin , thank for your service, senator murkowski , now back to november.

>> lisa murkowski stated she will not run on a third party ticket, et cetera . there was a usa today gallop poll that states on seven to nine key issues, the americans trust the republicans more than democrats. terrorism, 39 republicans. job creation , 46 to 31. the democrats are having a bad september.

>> the number mark halperin has been throwing around is 60 in the house. numbers like that, maybe not to 60 but close?

>> when we do the race by race, we call it the first district of alabama and end up in wyoming, we are not quite to 40 yet. but when you begin factoring in turnout when you speak about independents swinging over in the last it gallop poll by 17-point margins that favor republicans, that is how you get up into the 50s where 60 is not crazy.

>> joe, here is the question. you indicated that the murkowski campaign did not see this coming until it was too late. martha cokely running for ted kennedy ’s seat never saw scott brown coming until three or four days were left in the campaign. how did people in politics miss this volatile cocktail that is out there?

>> i can explain alaska way easier than massachusetts where there is not a lot of polling, there is not — the press corps is not as vigilant in massachusetts with the globe and the harold and all of that. so that if something is going to bite everybody on the rear end and surprise us, it can happen in alaska more than any other state of the union . but i think if you do not want to see something coming, then you do not see it coming.

>> we’ve got some live photos — are these live photos of the ceremony? they are live. vice president joe biden is there, also secretary gates is there handing over control to the iraqis. norah o’donnell in washington , we have been speaking about the president’s address last night looking to turn a page away from this iraq war .

>> yeah, there is no doubt, and i think not only does the president want to turn the page , he wants to do that so he can begin a new chapter when it comes to speaking about the economy here at home. i mean, this all goes to the democrats here in washington . they recognize their outlook is very, very bleak. the president wanted to turn the page and wanted to state this is a campaign promise i fulfilled and i think the white house has struggled the past six months. and not by their own design, but by all the news of the bp oil spill or what has happened overseas with the economy to try to stay on message and try to speak about jobs. the recovery summer, which we have been speaking about, did not turn out to be much of a recovery summer. so the white house is trying to struggle to pivot to speak about the issues that voters care about. jobs and the economy, that will come because congress now has to tackle the expiration of the tax cuts, so get ready for what will be a heated debate on that.

>> norah, you speak about pivoting in the economy, charlie cook and i were just speaking about apparently a large republican year in november. is the white house prepared to deal with the government going forward with the republican house where all the money bills start, medicaid, social security , power of subpoena in the house with republicans, are they prepared for this?

>> you know, i think that they are prepared but you cannot expect what is going to go on. and i think one of the great fear factors is that republicans will have subpoena power. darrell isa is going to be head oaf oaf the oversight committee and will investigate, investigate, investigate. that can cause the white house a lot of problems because they have to turn over a lot of documents, be called to testify, it can create a lot of news, especially in the new 24/7 media culture. that is a problem. the white house for them has been an issue of focus, and i do not mean to put the blame on the white house team, but communicating a sense of focus just because of all the challenges that a white house has. so when you have a republican-led house investigating you, it makes it all the more difficult to try to communicate a message, especially on the economy and jobs.

>> i want to look back on the live photos here of the ceremony taking place in iraq because it is a remarkable moment from march 19th 2002 , here we are september 1st , 2010 , as a man who was there in the oval office when decisions were made, what are your thoughts this morning?

>> i’m glad it is happening. america never wants to commit forces to war, and when we do, we want to win and go home. it is appropriate to be marked. the military deserves the high praise that the president gave in his speech last night. and we want them to come home. so i am enjoying seeing this. it is the right thing for america.

>> there’s you in happen per happier times.

>> i had a lot more hair.

>> i would not state a lot.

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Submited at Wednesday, September 1st, 2010 at 7:00 pm on Politics by steve
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