Positive changes under Obama causing chaos for GOP

>>> just eight days into his second term, the president is pushing his agenda hard. he's proposing immigration reform . charging ahead on gun control . and today more signs of the economy ready to take off. on wall street the dow is closing in on 14,000. up more than 5,600 points from when he took office. corporate profits are up 171%. that's twice as high as they were under gop hero ronald reagan . and on main street , jobless claims are at a five-year low. this is positive change, but you better believe it's causing chaos in the gop . let's bring in krystal ball and abbey huntsman. thank you both for being here tonight.

>> thanks, reverend.

>> i can't hear.

>> somebody has to fix abby 's mic while we talk to you krystal . krystal , how does a growing economy impact the president's second term agenda? give me the politics of this.

>> well, i think the very fact we're able to look at things like immigration reform and climate change is a sign it is getting better. considering how we came in and were falling off a cliff economically, there was little room for the public to embrace anything that they could see tangibly. the fact we now have space in our conversation to talk about things that are also critical and at their core are also economic issues. but it shows that we have come a long way in terms of economic impacts. and of course the other obvious thing here is republicans spent such a long time railing against the economy blaming the president for the economy. now we see that his policies have actually worked but they are moving us forward, that we are coming out of this slump. so it takes away a lot of that ammunition as well.

>> now, abby , we see that even a gallup poll says americans are feeling more positive about the economy, more positive than they have since january of 2008 . yet the gop came out from the beginning slamming the president's handling of the economy. listen to this.

>> this president tried, but he didn't understand what it takes to make our economy work.

>> we have a president who believes in a european socialist model.

>> we got a president living at 1600 pennsylvania avenue that just doesn't understand our economy.

>> this might be the last election to turn the nation around before we go down the road to socialism. president obama and his socialist policies must be stopped.

>> so the gop 's slamming the president hard. they were supposed to be the gop fix-it party on the economy. your father was ridiculed by the far right for saying he could work along with the president. now that the economy's coming back from wall street and even signs on main street and areas that have been deprived, have the gop ruined their chance of coming back here?

>> this is a very big deal for republicans . let's say, let's look four years ahead and say the economy continues to improve. the american people are honestly going to see the democrats and say we trust them on the economy and that we have some numbers to show for it. so the republicans have become very vulnerable of losing on the economy. what are the bread and butter issues of the republican party ? that's limited freedom and the free market system. and those are two things, their key messaging that they are really losing control of which is so important to -- which is the reason they need to get back as quickly as possible. and the only way to do that is to really come up with their own messaging. i don't know how they remain relevant if the economy continues to improve. what is their messaging at that point? four years from now they're going to have little to come back with.

>> not only four years from now but what about the midterm elections ? and the fact you're talking about next year, the midterm elections . and if the economy continues to grow and unemployment starts going down, they have a real problem on this, krystal . and one sign that they don't know what to do is they literally seem to be cracking up. i mean, losing it. look at what glenn beck did yesterday.

>> okay.

>> this is one of those things you can't explain, you must show it.

>> it's tough. hello, america. we got a man down here. happened shortly before we we want on the air. he's gone. but here's what the media and the president still don't understand. we're celebrating the death of the establishment gop right along with them. they are refusing to confront the cancer within the party . like some cake? we had this made for us. we're happy that they're dead. progressive light republicans who care about winning more than really anything else.

>> he has on the white jacket and he's in the morgue and that's the republican establishment dead. i'm concerned about glenn.

>> to be fair, i think glenn has been cracking up for some time now. so i don't think that is a new development. but after 2008 , there was this argument that republicans lost because john mccain was not conservative enough. and there was a movement to the right in response to that. the big question after mitt romney lost this time around is that is would republicans learn that same lesson that he hadn't been conservative enough despite the fact that on every issue he raised his hand and said no i wouldn't take the 16-1 deal spending cuts to revenue increases. i'm for self-deportation. he was as far to the right as you possibly could be. the idea he wasn't conservative enough is sort of bizarre. but that's apparently where glenn beck has taken this.

>> but abby with all the side becking going on, pun intended, david brooks on a more serious side says gop should just completely start over. in his column in "new york times" today he says people almost never change their unyielding narratives or unconscious frameworks. it's probably futile to try to change current b republicans . it's smarter to build a new wing of the republican party .

>> i really like this idea. i'm glad you brought up this article. i was about to do that. because i think this could be exactly what the republican party needs. the harsh reality here is the fact republicans have not won the popular vote more than once in 2004 since 1988 . i mean, these are the stats. this is what we're faced with as a party . so i think this idea of forming a second party , one that is a balanced party , one that can actually travel to the biggest cities around the country and talk about the need for government. yeah, as a republican you can still talk about why we do need government as a country. and you can appeal to people in different demographics that we're not reaching out to today. i don't remember romney traveling to chicago, philadelphia, or new york for example. i think we need to visit those cities just like ronald reagan did and have these frank conversations. i think this idea is exactly what we might need. the tea party took it over a few years ago. i say we take it back over. the part of the party that i think are more appealing to your average american .

>> but he did come to new york . he came to see donald trump . don't forget.

>> that's right. and i have to say. it's easy and there's a lot of shot as a democrat watching the democrat in civil war . but -- by a good party that is competing in the battlefield of ideas. that forces us to be better and make sure we have good ideas as well. so the country is better as a whole if you do have a smart and thoughtful republican party ultimately.

>> that's exactly right. rev, i think we can agree the country is at its best. a democrat is not made to be easy. but the country's at its best when both parties are strong and you can have a healthy conversation right now. we all know it's one sided. the republican party is not bringing much to the table. so we could hope the republican party begins to rebuild itself so that it's better for the country and americans.

>> the country is better when you have healthy debate with some very reasonable and achievable goals and policies. but this madness doesn't help the country. it only furthers the madness.

>> there are some that exist somewhere.

>> krystal and abby , i'm going to have to leave it there. thanks for your time this evening. be sure to catch krystal on "the cycle" here on msnbc.

>> coming up, who better to talk gun control than the guy who once shot a friend in the face. yes, dick cheney on camera.

>>> and paul ryan has some competition in his love for philosopher ayn rand . rand is his love. this is "politicsnation."

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