The Gaggle: Political roundup

>>> panel here. patty solis doyle , michelle bernard. sorry about that. the good news is, it was new york's fault. it's not us. we're happy about that. so i was going to the sort of the messaging of the republicans here, and we were talking about that. i guess whyproact tivly more saying this is what we were brought here to do, we don't like the way sequester is going, but you give us no choice. why don't they go with that message than what boehner did? that's made a lot of conservatives scratch their heads.

>> the answer is we have absolutely no idea. it's happening now. maybe they will watch you today and say, you know what? we've got to get our messages straight. it makes no sense.

>> you saw this, in the byron york column, patty, that basically said, what are you doing? you're agreeing with the president's words? that these are drastic, this is too much, this isn't the right way to do it?

>> you know, i'm with you. i don't get it. there seems to be a lot of blame going around. frankly, there is a lot of blame to go around, but we are where we are. i'm going to quote my favorite secretary of state, what difference does it make? we are here. what are we going to do about it? i want to switch topics, calf rove defending himself on this whole what he's up to. i'm told we don't have it. he was sort of trying to answer his critics, who were saying enough of karl rove . we do have a problem on the right, too many organizations run by consultants more concerned with their fees and profits than advancing their cause. rove has been defending himself saying i don't make money on this. that is true, he is not making money on american crossroads, but he is becoming the point person for the right to be up on.

>> he's gotten so much criticism from rush limbaugh , which underscores how divided the party is. i know we're going to talk about cpac, and all folks who will speak, but there's a division, a struggle to get on message.

>> michelle, the center of gravity has quickly shifted away?

>> it's shifted away, but --

>> cpac is the new establishment?

>> it is the new establishment, but it is a problem for the republican party . if you listen to the words that karl rove is giving us, it makes sense. if you're just an average person watching this on television, i would say that most of those people are -- agree with karl rove . they have to get their act together.

>> they know they do, but they're afraid of alienating --

>> who wants rush limbaugh yelling about you for three hours?

>> i've not known how to do this story, but as a political junkie, it's a story i have not been able to finish reading about. senator domenici released the statement -- i fathered a child outside my marriage. i deeply regret this and am sorry he kept the secret because the mother of the child, a republican strategist asked him not to do so. at the time her father was also a u.s. senator from the state of nevada. his son is today an attorney in las vegas . it's sort of proof nothing should surprise us anymore in politics.

>> nothing does me, anyway. but i think the domenici has been out of office for a decade. it's a private matter, and my heart and prayers go out to the family. i hope they survive it.

>> i feel for the son here.

>> yeah.

>> more than anybody else. i'm not saying -- look, everybody else makes mistakes and the human flesh, in this town in particular. so many people -- and somebody jokes it's like they're all sexually deprived when they hit washington.

>> and how tough it is to keep secrets.

>> well, it was 30 years.