------------------------------------------------------ The Hardball Briefing On MSNBC ------------------------------------------------------
First up - mind the gap. There were tens of thousands at Glenn Beck's rally this weekend but when was the last time liberals got 100,000 people on the mall. President Obama's Inauguration? Why don't we see progressive creating events like this? It's this enthusiasm gap that has some smart people predicting that the Democrats could lose up to 60 House seats in November. MSNBC Political Analysts Richard Wolffe and Howard Fineman will tell us what Democrats can do to close the gap. And how did Presiden Obama lose control of his own narrative? He's been painted as a foreign-born, Muslim, socialist warmonger who coddles terrorists and is an enemy of American business. The Washington Post's Eugene Robinson and Mother Jones' David Corn will explain just how this narrative has taken hold and what the White House needs to do to change it. Plus, another anti-Muslim incident occurred over the weekend at an Islamic Center construction site in Tennessee. After 9/11, President Bush was quick to speak out against any Muslim backlash and say Islam was a religion of peace. But are there any responsible Republicans willing to defend Islam today? The Southern Poverty Law Center's Mark Potok and the Islamic Center of Murfressboro's Dr. Essam Faphy will try answer that question. Also, how's this for an interesting political twist: the 2010 political season that's been dubbed the "year of the woman" may actually result in a drop in the number of women serving in Congress for the first time in a generation. Bloomberg's Margaret Carlson and Politico's Jeane Cummings will give you their analysis. And finally, we'll end the program with a few thoughts on Glenn Beck's rally. ========================================= This e-mail is never sent unsolicited. You have received this The Hardball Briefing Newsletter newsletter because you subscribed to it or, someone forwarded it to you. To remove yourself from the list (or to add yourself to the list if this message was forwarded to you) simply go to http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25810860, select unsubscribe, enter the email address receiving this message, and click the Go button. Microsoft Corporation - One Microsoft Way - Redmond, WA 98052 MSN PRIVACY STATEMENT http://privacy.msn.com <http://privacy.msn.com/>