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The Hardball Briefing On MSNBC
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First up: a closing window of opportunity?
The NBC News Political Unit's map shows just how rough the terrain is for John
McCain. Barack Obama is leading in the 21 states won by John Kerry in 2004 and
by Al Gore in 2000, which means McCain must play defense and win virtually all
of the red states.
One of these states is Florida, where McCain started his so-called "Joe the
Plumber" tour today.
For more on McCain's Florida tour:
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/campaign-2008/story/737908.html.
So, what's the one big blue state where McCain has decided to play offense?
Pennsylvania. Why? Can he pull it off? We'll ask the state's current Governor,
Ed Rendell (D), and former Governor, Tom Ridge (R).
Plus, what is happening within the Republican party? In today's Washington
Times, McCain criticized Pres. Bush for the mounting debt, failing to pay for
expanded Medicare coverage and for abusing executive power. That led a senior
Republican strategist to slam McCain for going after his own party instead of
his opponent.
Is the GOP dividing? Can they get it back together in time? MSNBC Political
Analyst Pat Buchanan and New York Times columnist, Bob Herbert will discuss.
For the McCain interview:
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2008/oct/23/mccain-lambastes-bush-years/.
Today, former Minnesota Gov. Arne Carlson endorsed (R) Obama, in part, he says,
because of Rep. Bachmann (R-MN)'s comments on "Hardball" last week about
anti-American views among politicians. We'll talk about that race and the
potentially hostile political landscape for Republicans in general with the
Hardball Strategists.
And we may have the best Hardball Big Number ever: What's worth more, Joe the
Plumber's house or Sarah Palin's wardbrobe? Find out on the Hardball Sideshow!
Plus, MSNBC Political Analyst Howard Fineman and Ed Gordon, host of "Our World
with Black Enterprise," will be on in the Politics Fix.
For the latest on all of today's political news, go to the best political
website www.politics.msnbc.com, powered by NBC News and the National Journal.
And, don't forget to check out NBC's "First Read" at
http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/ and MSNBC.com's Hardblogger at
http://hardblogger.msnbc.msn.com/.
Casey Lee wrote the "Hardball Briefing" from Washington, D.C.
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