>> what do you think of when you see a tree? as a treatment for cancer? alternative fuel for our cars? do you think of hope for the environment, a food, clothing, shelter? we do. weyerhaeuser, growing ideas. >> it is clear that there is a political rebellion going on in america. >> this week on "inside washington," incumbents beware. the voters are out for blood, your blood. >> the political atmosphere has been toxic. >> it is my hope that the

administration doesn't think the ideal supreme court nominee will rubber-stamp its policies. >> elena kagan runs the gauntlet on capitol hill. >> date responsibility for the safety and drilling operations. >> playing the blame game as millions of gallons of crude oil bubble into the gulf of mexico. and making nice with the president of afghanistan. tensions? what tensions? >> with respect to perceive it tensions between the u.s. government and afghan government, let me begin by saying a lot of them were simply overstated. captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org-- >> well, at the polls have been telling us for months that voters were angry. you thought only democrats were in trouble? look what happened in your top over the weekend republicans

gave the boot to senator bob bennett, a true blue conservative and mitch mcconnell's right-hand man. if he is not safe there, who is, mark? >> the only ones i can think of off the top of mine are joe biden and barack obama, because they are not on the ballot until 2012. everybody in 2010 to -- who has an opponent not in the talks, they had a sleepless night. >> charles? >> i don't think it is so much anti-incumbent as it is anti-big government and anti-tarp. >> the only once since there aren't joseph smith, a founder of the mormon church, and his -- are joseph smith, a founder of the mormon church, and his successor, brigham young. everyone else is in trouble. >> nina?

>> the danger here is that we have a poisonous combination. people don't understand that tarp saved us from going over the cliff, in all likelihood. and they see all these wall streeters with billions and billions of dollars that they don't think it can be touched. and it looks like there is a know-nothing congress. that in a dangerous time is very scary. >> in pennsylvania, congressman joe sestak is closing in on senator arlen specter, who is currently a democrat, more less. at a recent state dinner, he thanked the county republicans for their support. >> i am joe sestak, the democrat. i authorized this message. >> my change in party will enable me to be reelected. >> for 45 years, arlen specter has been a republican politician. >> arlen specter is the right man for the united states

senate. he is a firm ally. >> my change in party will enable me to be reelected. >> arlen specter switched parties to save one job -- his, not yours. >> you cannot beat that ad, that is corp -- that is for sure. >> it is a great ad, because it is factual and goes right to the core of arlen specter's problem. arlen specter was a democrat who became a republican to run for district attorney and get elected united states senator but now he has come back to the democrats because he had to be re-nominated and he could not win in the republican party and as an independent. the primary is closed. only democrats can vote in the democratic primary. but don't count him out, because the philadelphia machine can turn out the vote. they are backing him, the

organization is, the president, the vice president, the governor are all backing sestak -- specter, excuse me. we will find out what their muscle is. >> it reminds me of a line in a graham greene novel where his protagonist says, "i prefer to tell the truth that is easier to memorize." in arlen specter's case, he has to do a lot of memorizing, and sometimes he forgets. >> switching to the democratic party doesn't work -- how about becoming an independent, as in charlie crist's case? >> it was the only way charlie crist could do it. he could not win the republican primary in florida. he is already an established officeholder. there was no question that marco rubio was going to win that one. for charlie crist to have any hope at all was to run as an independent. >> arlen specter cannot switch

again. this switching days are over. >> on tuesday, the special election to replace jack murtha, who had been in congress for 36 years. republican -- democrat mark critz and republican tim burns. is this a bellwether? >> interest groups on both sides have thrown a lot of money into this race. they have a lot running on this. >> john murtha that held that seat for more than two decades. it is a basically republican- leaning district, a very tight race. i am not sure it is a bellwether so much as it is all of these incumbents getting swept out of office. >> republicans would like to make it a bellwether, because when jack murtha was elected in 1974 as the first vietnam veteran to be elected to congress, he won a special election in a district that had been republican and he held it for 36 years. it signaled that you're a

democratic surge. republicans would like to have this indicate a republican surge district that is 2-1 democratic by reddish liberation -- registration. >> the kentucky senate primary -- rand paul, the tea party candidate. what does that tell us? >> he is an interesting character because he is a libertarian like his father. he is not quite as extreme on foreign affairs. he does not want to pull out of nato, that he does not want to, domestically, abolished the fed. he is not not. but he is far as i'm the -- but he is far outside the mainstream of republicanism in the sense that he is more libertarian and more isolationist but he could win. >> if he were to win the election, and he is not nearly as a deterrent as his father -- for example, -- not nearly as

libertarian as is bother -- for example, on the question of abortion -- but he is supported by jim demint. jim demint is sort of an alternative power center to mitch mcconnell in the senate. we think of mitch mcconnell as very conservative. jim demint is even more conservative. he could make a challenge to mcconnell, then. that could be interesting to watch. >> it is almost a referendum on mcconnell himself. he has got to be watching this, because you have grant and paul as the opponent -- rand paul as the pond, and the person really supporting mcconnell is the opponent. >> mark, i want to ask you about the nbc news-"wall street journal" poll. are democrats still seen as the party of the little guy? >> no, i think the most interesting question in the entire paul was on the matter of

financial markets, do you think that republicans and democrats in congress represent the interests of the average american or of large corporations? not surprisingly, at 71-20% think republicans in congress represent large corporations. but in a turnaround for eight years ago, the last time this question was asked, now a plurality believe that the democrats in congress -- a majority, excuse me -- believe democrats in congress represent large corporations rather than the average american. if the democrats lose the identity, up from jackson to truman to roosevelt, as a party who stands up for the little guy against concentrated interests, they are in deep doo-doo to quote george w. bush -- george h.w. bush. >> i think it as a consequence of being the party in power. if you are in economic crisis and you need functioning banks,

you have to support the bailout, and then you are tagged as the party of the big guy and wall street. >> one interesting finding in the poll was where president obama seems to be standing, still 50% approval rating, and more than, when you get to likability, he is in 64, 65% of likability. >> i want to ask you about arkansas and a blank -- the blanche lincoln race. >> she is being challenged by bill halter, lieutenant governor, former rhodes scholar. he has run considerably left, with large backing from major national unions and liberal groups. she, as a consequence, moved to the left in the senate on the banking bill. she got very tough on the banks in the derivatives law it and became a born-again populist, and it has put her in good shape in the arkansas primary. the irony is that blanche

lincoln may have been saved by a primary challenge on her liberal side. >> the trajectory for blanche lincoln at this point in internal point -- internal polling is going up, not down, but she still was a very tough race. >> and arkansas has the 50% rule. if you don't get 50%, the top two run off. can she get 50% on tuesday, may 18? >> you had a mirror image in west virginia where you had a house member who was defeated in our primary by a democrat on his right, who basically opposed him largely on the congressman's support of health care reform. you have an interesting challenge, left in arkansas, like in bridgette -- right in virginia. democrats are basically caught. they have an ambitious presidential agenda, and they had to declare themselves over

the last year and that is why they are swinging in the wind. the president right height because he is likable and he won on health care and he has sort of held us together economically. that is what he is up there. but if you are a member of congress, you are in a lot of trouble. >> but he had a record -- it was almost inevitable that he was going to get taken down at some point. >> bob bennett could argue that 18 years seniority -- that falls on deaf ears -- -- >> the other thing about bob bennett is that he got felled in a cockamamie system where unless you get 40% of the delegates -- it was a multi-candidate field -- he clearly would have won the primary and clearly would have won reelection b.

>> let me ask about hawaii, a place where the president brought up. they could use a democratic seat in the house? -- lose a democratic seat in the house? >> you'll abercrombie is resigning his seat to run for governor. the republicans came up with one candidate and the democrats of two serious candidates, one of whom formerly served in the house, one of whom is the president of the city council in honolulu. inouy is very mad at the former congressman, so there is no -- sen. inouye is very mad at the former congressman, so there is no supporting him to the democratic national committee pulled out their spending and they may elect the republican house member. >> i did not know republicans were allowed in hawai.

>> their governor is a republican. >> the lack of judicial experience is a problem, but it helps with confirmation because there is the lack of a paper trail. >> if you aspire to the supreme court, the less we know about you, the better. what do we know about elena kagan? >> she was a spectacularly successful dean at harvard law school, the first female dean, and she got the place moving again. she knocked heads on the faculty to get hiring done. she was a spectacularly successful policy bureaucrat in the clinton white house. what you see now is a spectacular demonstration of hypocrisy, where republicans who loved the fact that harriet miers did not have judicial experience because that was needed on the supreme court now think it is a series deficit,

and democrats who wanted to know about ideology think it is improper to ask. >> i think patrick leahy said he is happy that the president went outside what he called the judicial monastery, somebody who was not a judge. but then again, he left the monastery and went right into an ivory tower and pluck her out of that. her experience is not exactly everyman's. she has lived in rarified atmosphere of elite universities, east coast, especially, and that is a legacy. the thing about her is that it is going to be hard for people on the right to mount a real assault on her. she has a fairly mainstream liberal history, and it is a liberal administration and the president ought to be given deference. i think that is going to be the accepted consensus argument on at the right. >> any chance she could be an earl warren of the right? >> there was concern expressed

by liberal interest groups of is she really one of oz? there were memos written when she was in the clinton white house on partial birth abortion, that she was cautioning a moderate, middle- of-the-road, political, pragmatic course. but there was one quotation, going to the back and forth on what senators say, when a person was nominated to the court without judicial experience -- "we have yet to know her views on many of the critical constitutional issues facing our country doctors that was senator barack obama on -- facing our country." that was senator barack obama on harriet miers. >> when she was at harvard, she was criticized because her hiring showed little consideration of african- americans. but a professor at harvard, also

african-american, said she had little control over the hiring of people. this will be sorted out over the hearings. i think she will probably make it, because as charles says, she is right in the zone of acceptability. >> what about the recruiter issue? >> it is about discrimination and don't ask don't tell, that they should not be allowed to come on campus. but that was more of an institutional position shared by several law schools and universities. and there is no indication that she is anti-military. >> it would be good, though, to have our real national debate on the military on campus. rotc is barred from the elite schools from which these justices come -- >> sam alito was rotc.

>> but i am talking about if you want to enroll in rotc at yale, you have to go to university of connecticut for clothing. >> that is because of liberal opposition on campus on the basis of the policy on gays. it is not conservatives who opposed it. >> speaking of gays, why is it necessary for her for me to say elena kagan is not a lesbian -- for her former roommate to say that elena kagan is not a lesbian? >> i think the question of sexual orientation is absolutely irrelevant. it cannot have any standing on this discussion of her fitness to be on the court. >> elena kagan is very clear with her friends that she is not gay. i don't know why should be an issue. who cares? >> the question in and of itself

is offensive. >> it is. >> the picture up on the front page of "the wall street journal" where it showed her taking a swing at a softball game, where she showed super form, and women to play softball, and he was swinging the bat better than the president throwing the first -- >> to even say she is not gay -- it is almost like the 1950's -- are you now or have you ever been a member of the communist party? being gay does not represent anything that is negative -- is not to represent anything that is negative. >> let me address the political reality, that there are organized gay groups who want to make this the issue, who won this out so that they have -- >> legitimacy. >> don't give it to them by

addressing the question. >> the bp oil spill. who takes the rap? >> after the failure of the containment dome, we hear of plans to stop the blood out with a mixture of golf balls, old tires, and other top. when we heard that the best minds were on the case, we expected mit, not the pga. >> that is congressman ed markey of massachusetts. an investigation revealed that the plot that led to the oil spill had a number of problem -- the blow out that led to the oil spill had a number of problems, and the result is a continuing environmental disaster of epic proportions anybody watching these guys? >> it was disgusting watching these guys on the hill this week pointing fingers at each other. that was one of the worst display of corporate behavior i have seen. you would think that it would at least, not get their stories

together, but at least acknowledge that all of them have responsibility for this problem instead of pointing fingers at each other. >> it was unbelievable. they almost literally were going like this. >> according to your organization, it is worse than we thought. according to npr. >> they asked independent scientists if ticket estimate how much oil was leaking out, according to this video. the estimates were 15,000-80,000 gallons a day, not 5000. >> bp, at transocean, halliburton executive on the hearings -- looking for responsibility and leadership from them is like putting out the landing lights for a million earhardt. -- amelia earhart. >> how can i top that?

the leak is ongoing. if you want to lay out blame, there will be 10 years of cleanup in which you can do it. this is not helping. if we had a hearing with the best scientists on how to cap it, that would have been useful. all this stuff is -- just grandstanding -- >> we have an energy bill in the senate. >> we have had an energy problem for years. what we have now is eight the problem. -- >a leak problem. >> congress is fulfilling its basic responsibility, holding investigative hearings. the public is well served -- how else would you know -- >> you would go on capitol hill -- >> we are not will readers.

>> president karzai comes to town. we are all pals now. no problems. >> president karzai agrees with me that we cannot win through military strategy alone, that we have to make sure we have effective governance, capacity- building, economic development, in order for us to succeed. >> here is the good news -- while he was in washington, president karzai of afghanistan did not renew his pledged to join the taliban. this is progress. and he left his brother, the reputed drug dealer, at home. >> i think what he demonstrated with all the slobbering over him at the state department and the white house, after the insults in march, is that he is a wily veteran and he is up against a rookie, obama. obama thought he could pressure the sky, and he says, i might

-- thought he could pressure this guy, and he says, i might join at the other side. he played his cards well and we have no alternative and he knows it, and that is why there was all this backslapping approval of him and raise -- and praised, 90% of which was completely disingenuous. >> how do you win with a guy like him on the top? >> you do not win with him. you have problems out there. you have these poppy fields that keep the taliban and others going. you have non-government outside of kabul. you have the maniacs running the show over there. it is not a matter of karzai meeting a rookie. it is a matter of the hand we have been dealt with. maybe he will be replaced at

some point. >> general mcchrystal says that the troops have stopped the momentum of the taliban but nobody is winning the war over there, nina. >> yeah. >> so what we do over there? is it working? >> the problem is that we did not kill off the taliban when we first went in. now we are in this limbo situation where we can make it so that we do not lose but it does not look like we can really win it. >> the british, the russians, and now the americans. is this history repeating itself? >> the conventional army loses if it does not win, but the insurgents win if they do not lose. general mcchrystal's standard, which i think is accurate -- we are not winning and they are not losing. that becomes, over a period of time, and an acceptable

position, not only in loss of lives but for the and and -- an unacceptable position. >> the other side as momentum, it is now estimate, and we may be on a trajectory in which we can reverse -- it is now a stalemate, and we may be on a project in which we can reverse it. but to do it by july of next year is difficult, especially if you are in kandahar and you have a peasant depending on you and knows he will be gone and the bad guys will be there, and he may not be an ally and friend. >> see you next week. for a transcript of this broadcast, log on to insidewashington.tv.

'm very sorry, sir.

gwen: the selling