So how did the GOP get to this point?
That's one of the questions we'll pose to former Florida Governor Charlie Crist today, the Republican-turned-Independent-turned-Obama supporter who made waves by appearing at the Democratic National Convention earlier this month. This morning, the new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll shows the DNC may have contributed to a growing swell of support benefiting President Obama. Nationally, the President is leading former Governor Mitt Romney by 5 points. The incumbent is also enjoying a job-approval rating of 50 percent, the first time the number has crossed the midpoint since March.
New York Magazine National Affairs Editor John Heilemann cautioned yesterday on NOW that unless Governor Romney brings President Obama "physically to his knees at the first debate," most of the Republican party will concede defeat in the Presidential race and turn its attention to competitive Congressional races across the country. Still, NBC News/WSJ pollster Bill McInturff warns that the latest poll numbers still mirror those between Senator John Kerry and President George W. Bush in 2004. “If you look at ’04 as a model, ’04 was really close," McInturff explains. "And that’s how we should continue to think about the campaign.”
PANEL
Jonathan Chait, New York Magazine (@jonathanchait)
Kasie Hunt, The Associated Press (@kasie)
Margaret Carlson, Bloomberg News (@carlsonmargaret)
Mark Leibovich, The New York Times (@markleibovich)
GUESTS
Fmr. Gov. Charlie Crist (I-FL)
Thomas Mann & Norm Ornstein, Authors, “It’s Even Worse Than It Looks”
Ezra Klein, The Washington Post/msnbc Policy Analyst (@ezraklein)