Senior Obama campaign strategist Robert Gibbs defended his boss this morning from attacks on the president's economic policies. Gibbs claimed the Romney campaign's only message is: "You didn't clean up our mess fast enough."
In addition to the economy, foreign policy played a big part in the discussion as the one year anniversary of the raid that killed Osama bin Laden approaches. President Obama's campaign released an ad this week featuring former President Bill Clinton that questions whether or not Romney would have made the call to approve the raid. Romney strategist Ed Gillespie accused the president of politicizing the event.
"He took something that was a unifying event for all Americans... and he's managed to turn it into a divisive, partisan, political attack."
Plus our roundtable examined The Deciders in the upcoming election, specifically the impact that women voters will have. We were joined by the Democratic strategist Hilary Rosen; Vice Chair of the House Republican Conference Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA); MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow; and Republican strategist Alex Castellanos.
You can watch the entire program on our website including our special PRESS Pass conversation featuring a general election preview with SNL stars Jason Sudeikis (Mitt Romney) and Fred Armisen (President Obama).
We'll be back next week. If it's Sunday, it's Meet the Press.
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Regarding the Economy the "dodge" was very apparent by the intellectualism on 4/29/12 Meet the Press on 2 levels (1) the TOXIC mortgage loans and no one has been prosecuted to date and (2) the solvency of Social Security system... the $$$$ keep on flowing into the General Fund to wash all of the Congressional dirty laundry
Great twitter post from The Daily Edge: It's Atrocious How #Obama Is Politicizing Death of Bin Laden By Flaunting a "Mission Accomplished" Banner & Wearing a Ridiculous Flightsuit
Hey he gave the order.........................better than a banner blazing all over the front of a ship and it was a big lie....................
Sunny, I agree with you. It's a joke about W. :)
I'd like to have Alex Castallanos' attack on Rachel Maddow fact checked. What a distortion of the facts! He is the personification of Republican misinformation.
never saw such a badly conducted round table. the one side did all the blabbering and the other side was left trying to get a word in edgewise. I signed off from watching Meet the Press because of this but tuned in this time because Racheal was going to be on. I won't bother the next time , It is overwhelmed with Dumb butt Repugs and Iam not to sure of the the commentator.
Obviously Alex Castellanos' mission for this show was to make sure the viewing audience did not hear anything Rachel had to say. They must really be afraid of her, and rightfully so. She is very clear in both her perception and articulation. I wish David did a better job of making sure everyone had their say. Republicans like to win their arguments by yelling the loudest and they're pretty good at it.
Gregory has his own agenda. Don't forget who he was dancing with during the bush administration. I've stopped watching MTP except when Maddow is on.Not sure why her and Rosen were even invited,except to garner viewers w/Rosen's first appearance since her HONEST comment regarding Antoinette Romney.If only he'd grill the GOP liars the way he tried to take her on today.
As the moderator does Gregory have any obligation to 1) hold the guest to facts or his job to let them just say what they choose?2) Alex was wrong on the facts.
Rachel Maddow is smart and accurate and articulate. Not only was Alex wrong but he was rude.
Unlike Tim David is clearly out for ratings and not to be credible and/or truthful. He kept trying to bait Hillary Rosen. I am not sure why. In the context of waht Hillary was saying on CNN..Ann Romney has never worked a day in her life.
I agree. How can you expect to be considered an effective news and policy program when David Gregory cannot maintain any control over the round table discussion? There was no attempt whatsoever to reign in regularly regurgitated talking points that are clearly misrepresentations at best and outright lies at worst. Where can one go now to see a show that does NOT allow the tripe to be passed around as the truth. It is Gregory's job to to control the situation. If it was done, then these guys would straighten up. This was very disappointing.
Gillespie is a pitiful partisan. I pity him b/c his job is to make ridiculous claims and attempt to make them stick. And he's not the only one who does this job. Sad thing is nothing sticks.
It was one man's decision to take out of Bin Laden that morning almost a year ago. He wasn't a Republican.
Maybe you missed it but Gibbs is a pitiful partisan too. The nonsense that no one in the Republican party would have not given the order is stupid.
Talks about partisan. Look in the mirror.
W gave up looking for Bin Laden. Romney said it wasn't worth it. It's not whether or not they would have made the decision to kill him, the point is that they wouldn't have found him in the first place.
W had OBL pinned down in Tora Bora in early 2002 and told the military to stand down. Because of that, Obama had to make that call in 2012. Had W done his job, we would have been out of Afghanistan by 2005 and never have had the need to enter Iraq... You don't think that is why he let OBL go, do you?
Rachel Maddow vs. Alex Castellanos: was very rude to Maddow...do you feel your roll as moderator should also promote discussion fairness and civility...I find the R discussion points rather "fact-challenged"...how can you stay independent but also promote fact-based discussions...Thanks!
The concepts projected by the Romney campaign is one that has been tried in this country every republican president over the past 30 plus years and each time we end up in the same place. Slow income growth for those working for a living wage each day. The idea that the American Dream is dead is because of the policies employed by this president and democrats is a term the republicans try to use to plant seed of fear to gain some sought of political advantage is one of the primary causes of our slow rebound. Take a look at the two year experiment of austerity measures used in Europe and Great Britain, they are now in a double dip recession. Our unemployment rate is still high not because the private sector is not hiring, but because we are still bleeding public sector jobs at a rate the private sector cannot and will not ever absorb, they don't build our infrastructure, schools, nor do they police our streets, fight fires, teach our children. The idea of a free for all deregulation stance push by republicans and Romney will unleash the greed machine that helped to sink our economy, the unabashed push for tax cuts and tax deductions that will only benefit the high income brackets, fighting two wars, creating an unfunded drug plan are key tactics advocated and employed over a decade long period, also helped to place our economy on sinking-sand foundation, because we did not have a means to pay for these boondoggles. Now they are saying this President with no help from their side of the isle should have fixed their mess in just three years when they took ten to dig us in. It is hard to believe anyone that has experienced the last 12 years would want to go back and use the practices and policies employed from 2001 to 2009.
I can't believe Hillary Rosen didn't catch the ironic statement by Alex Castellanos when he stated that "men work 44 hours a week to women's 41 hrs/wk". We all know he was referring to "paid" hours, not the extra hours of housework, raising kids, etc. But this is exactly what Hillary Rosen meant when she said Ann Romney hadn't worked a day in her life and was villified for that statement by Republicans and the press. We all knew that and we have all referred to the hours we work at our jobs the same way. Rachel and Hillary should have been all over Alex for this double-standard.
the idiots including the commentator did not give them much chance to say anything.............. it was a waste of time
Great point about the irony. Unfortunately it was more important to advertise other shows than to provide adequate time for discussion.
Mr. Castellanos does little to distance himself and party from the so called "war on women" when he patronizes Rachel Madow on this mornings edition of M.T.P. Week after week this man continually talks over female guests in a completely chauvinistic manner. Is this the best the republicans can do to besmirch a so called trumped up "war on women"?
I am becoming less and less a fan of Meet the Press, and in particular, David Gregory's lack of moderation. Castellanos' incredibly rude behavior was but one small example of a moment in which Gregory should have stepped in. Those moments seem to be happening more and more.
Ironically, Castellanos behavior, attitude and twisting of the facts, gave perfect illustration to the Republican condescension towards women that is at the root of Maddow's larger point. By allowing it to slide, Gregory illustrated how it lives on.
I saw the interview and it was typical Madow attempting to talk over the top of anyone who disagrees with her opinion. She never stops to think that there actually might be women who don't agree with her views and if there are they are terribly misinformed and unintelligent. Her smug, dishonest behavior is ridiculous. I have not idea why she is allowed back on the show.
You've gotten it backwards. It was Castellanos who was interrupting Maddow.
Boy you really don't like her do you..you must like the lady with the car elevator
Ken, I take it you didn't even notice that it was rachel's turn to talk and the minute she opened her mouth Castellanos started shouting over her, interrupting and not giving her a chance to make her point? Therein lies the problem. You didn't even notice.
I noticed but your in the tank with this War on Women nonsense that you can't see this is a total red herring. And NBC is playing into this foolishness. The economy is tanking. Come out here to California to see what this is doing to small business. There are so many store fronts for lease it is crazy and all the Obama clones what to talk about is the War on Women. As for Madow she has no points to make. It's totally partisan nonsense. Wake Up!!
The War On Women according to you is a "red herring"? How dismissive you are of an issue you likely know nothing about.Sounds as though you have problems with smart informative women and like the rest of the GOP would like nothing more than to control your shrinking environment. I'd suggest you do your homework before posting such nonsense.
Calling something "nonsense", within commentary that is nonsensical, is shooting yourself in the foot.
Castellanos undermined himself in a similar way. His smirking and eye-rolling came off as chauvinistic and patronizing. Completely ironic, considering the gist of Maddow's point.
It is really disappointing that Gregory didn't take it to the next level. This has become the norm for MTP. Granted, it is hard to fill Russert's shoes (sigh....).
You are exactly right. David Gregory was disappointing. I too am about to leave MTP. He should/could have at least required Alex to allow Rachel to finish. Rachel is a Stanford grad, and a Rhodes scholar. Alex...who knows? but its clear he could not debate on facts.
David (& Producers),
I believe you cowardly ran from the awesome debate happening in your roundtable to show Saturday Night Live bull@!$%#! Tim Russert would have moderated and ran with the discussion Rachel and Alex were having, instead you cut to commercial and then never came back. Shame you for avoiding controversy. Your behavior is not "Meet The Press", it's more like "Extra"!!! Shame!
The republicans look ridiculous trying to debate Hilary Rosen and Rachel Maddow. They have FACTS and logic on their side. The two republicans, only bluster and phony talking points.
Thank you for having some serious thinkers on your show who are there to actually debate seriously. Castellanos btw was so condescending.
Kudos to David for finally having a balanced guest list and for inviting a real Democrat like Rachel Maddow rather than a phony Democrat like Harold Ford. Too bad the last 15 minutes of the show were spent advertising other NBC shows instead of discussing issues.
So why did you not challenge that idiot who said that women make as much money as men? I hope that video goes viral - it helps show that the GOP has a war on women - but you should have followed up, David. It was bad form not to.
Castellanos is a jerk and a liar. What republicans do in the states will impact women economically. I thought we retired the 'barefoot and pregnant' proponents decades ago. Romney will help take us back there.
Alex Castellano is a rude, condescending blowhard who should not be allowed back on this show. Period. He made me want to punch my television screen! And David you should fact check him, since everything he was saying sounded very suspect.
There was a women on the show that disagreed with the concept of "A War on Women". But most of the people here discount her because she is a Republican and must be totally misinformed.
This war is a strawman (strawwoman) argument to distract everyone from the failed economic policies of Obama.
Obama's policies are improving the economy. Romney would go back to the polices that nearly put us in a depression. Simple choice.
McMorris Rodgers is a typical Republican hypocrite who feigns austerity in wanting to cut Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid but turns around and supports subsidies for her big Ag constituents in Eastern Washington State.
As far as Obama not wanting to run on his foreign policy? That's absurd. He promised to end one of the most unnecessary wars of all time and did so. How about his handling of Lybia? (Yes Mr. Cain, there is such a place) Not one American life lost. No occupation. Remember how badly he was criticized for "leading from behind?" Where are the nay sayers now? I surely don't recall an apology.
This president should be admired for his sound reasoning and reluctance to put yet more strain on our military and endanger more servicemen and women. Where would we be right now had we put war ships in the straight as Mitt Romney suggested or intervened in Syria as John McCain suggested or made preemptive strikes against Iran as Newt Gingrich had suggested? More turmoil, and more speculation.
These republicans need to just relax and let someone who know's what he's doing make the big boy desisions. Untill then, don't run with scissors and, just let the dog ride up front. A little dog hair never hurt anybody...
Small business is taking in the chin thanks to Obama policies. The liberal progressives are chasing away anyone who is starting. It is pathetic to insist things are getting better.
As I would also, expect a liberal makes personal swips instead of sticking with the facts. You don't have any.
Ken-3873018, I'd like to share a few links with you in order to 'stick with the facts.'
http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2012/04/pay_gap_infographic.html
www.iwpr.org/publications/pubs/the-gender-wage-gap-by-occupation-1/at_download/file
http://www.addictinginfo.org/2012/04/16/916-anti-women-bills-introduced-by-the-gop-since-march-2011/
http://www.guttmacher.org/statecenter/updates/2011/statetrends12011.html
http://www.addictinginfo.org/2012/04/21/tennessee-conservative-backed-bill-could-criminalize-natural-miscarriages/
Nice try. But these are liberal web sites that have selectively taken issues out of context to attempt to make a thought.
Your facts don't add up. Perhaps you should get out of the echo chamber I found that most posters on here are in and find out the real issues.
If you don't think you're taxed now, wait until he gets a second chance.
Is there any website/news outlet that you would trust?
Did you even consider reading anything other than what you already believe?
For instance, I believe an institute that does the following is credible:
Derivation and Limitations
Through this Web site, the Guttmacher Institute strives to provide the most current and accurate data on a range of issues related to sexual and reproductive health, behavior and public policy. To the extent possible, scientific information posted here
• is from published print materials produced and distributed by the Guttmacher Institute or from database material collected and maintained by the Guttmacher Institute;
• has undergone extensive review, including blind peer review in the case of Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health (formerly, Family Planning Perspectives) and International Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health (formerly, International Family Planning Perspectives);
• appears with the most recent publication date; and
• contains references and citations for primary source materials.
In most cases, full methodology accompanies research findings provided. However, if you have any questions regarding research methods or findings or would like clarification, contact info@guttmacher.org.
Do you not?
Alex from VA
Did Gillespie see Mitt when he said it was a waste of money going after one person (Ben Laden).He can say Obama is the weakest president in years and Ameica is the unsafe with Obama.Gillepie made seveal false statements and said Obama is deviding the country. I never saw the rest of the show my neighbor called and said turn to ABC,because it was a much better control and trueful program.Did you ever show "THE Donald" part of the rogram? You ran and reran evrerything else.
I was really looking forward to today's Meet the Press roundtable. How disappointing to have to suffer through Alex Castallanos' rude and condescending behavior. I expect more from guests on Meet the Press and am surprised that David Gregory was unable -- or unwilling -- to check Castallano's lack of civility and respect for a colleague (Ms. Maddow) who most certainly deserves it. Surely, Castallano could have made his points when it was his turn to speak, and surely he might have exhibited more self-control and refrained from smirking for the camera while Ms. Maddow was speaking. If he isn't capable of as much, he doesn't deserve a seat at the roundtable and should not be invited back.
Just once, I would like to see Alex Castellanos NOT constantly interrupt everytime Rachael Maddow speaks!
The republicans you had on the show today were lying out there A**es, we all know it is their plan to repeat the same line about a made up war on women, which is there policy anytime attention is brought to something they know they are doing, as if it makes what they are repeating true! How rude and condescending can you get Mr. Gillespie? Wow, men work more hours then women? I wish I would have known that cuz I would not have wasted my time working 82 hours a week! You were so rude and so condescending to Rachel, I was half hoping she would get up off her chair and slap the pee out of you, and that republican congresswoman, she should be ashamed of herself! And you as a moderator? Fox should hire you! You apparently are as fair and balanced as they are, wow, thought i was watching the five, the most disgusting and partisan "news" show on television, in my book!
I closely follow most political discussions, but I had to turn this show off today. I am so tired of the lies, spin, distortions and hypocrisy. I know that it is part of every race and party, but the hypocrisy of Gillespie was over the top today. They wouldn't have used the killing of Bin Laden to their advantage if Bush had done it, who was he kidding? When guests state facts, they should be required to reference them to a reliable data source like Pew Research and not PACs or party affiliated groups. If they are stating an opinion, they should be required to state that they have no facts to support it. Maybe we could actually get some truth out of political talking heads.
Who are the Republicans kidding? Bush flaunted when we won the war remember? The banner and the all...when the war wasnt nearly over. Obama did what the couldnt or wouldnt do. As for McCain he should simply shut up. He ran and he lost and arguably had the least informed VP in US history.
Castellano shows very clearly what the men of the Republican side of the Senate, House, and Romney campaign think. What is that? 1) That women are not as intellectually astute as men and need to be corrected because they speak with passion but not facts. 2) That it is OK to interrupt women because they have less worth than men when it comes to making political comment 3) That they actually do feel that women make more than men although the facts are very different 4) that men work in more demanding employment like engineering and that men work more hours than women.
I wish they could hear my mother speak of this. She worked for AT&T in a job where she made 50% after 40 years of what the young men doing the same job were paid that she trained. Women of the country could give you hundreds of millions more examples.
Castellano is dismissive of women that is for sure and he is reflecting the views of the Romney campaign and for that matter of the Republican men in the Senate and House as well as all of the State Legislatures that think that women are so dumb that they need to get the direction on their healthcare from their male employers.
This is 2012 and not 1932 but Republicans still behave like it is. Next for Republicans bring back the birka!
Ed Gillespie and Alex Castellanos, like many conservatives, seems to have the view "it's ok for us to do somethine but NOT ok for you" mentality. They talk about their feelings that the War on Women isn't real and back their statement with phoney facts while declaring a Wars on Christmas and Religion. Each time Rachel tried to frame why women felt their was a war with some of the GOP bills on the table, the conservatives at the table switched the subject and refused to address it.........or just made up their own facts.
Hey, wait a minute. Why is Hilary Rosen required to apologize? For what? Her comments re: Ann Romney emphasize Romney's disconnect with the American public, especially women? Ann Romney is a member of the 1% and reflects it just as Mitt Romney does. How is she qualified to speak for the 99%? My guess is she is an employer--of the cook, the nanny, the gardener.
In additon, as a moderator, David Gregory is unqualified and biased. Alex Castellano is a gasbag and needs to be taught how to participate in a discussion. He interrupted Rachel Maddow again and again and before she could speak 20 words, corrected her, took over and dominated her time. His smirk was disgusting. Even the camera personnel focused on his face rather than her as she attempted to respond the Gregory's question and when she attempted to re-gain the floor.
Did Gregory do his job as a moderater? He did not! Both Castellano and the R women found it necessary to insert their comments rather than listen to Maddow and Rosen when they tried to use their alloted time. I thought he might correct them during the break. Nope! They never again had the opportunity to participate fully.
The Republicans on the panel made one unsubstantiated claim after another without being held responsible to support them.
It was a set-up!
Forget MTP and the "moderator"!
What permanently irritates me about the Gregory Meet the Press is he allows his guests to go on and on, with blatent political statements without ever interrupting them at any point to pin them down on the accuracy of a just made comment. Russet never did that, and the show was better because of his interruptions. This week he let the pundit segment fly off the rails, particularly Maddow and Castelonas. (Forgive the bad spelling, if any). He let Rosen's longwinded apology/political statment go unremarked, and the Republican Congresswomen get short shrift. I doubt I would agree with much of what she said or might have said, she said, but I would have liked her to have a longer shot. That segment is too often an ego trip for the panel; this week was especially so. And Brian William's lug for his upcoming Obama segment were wasted minutes.