David Gergen

The Romney people hope over time that they can run a double barreled campaign on jobs and on health care.

This was, after all, one of their founding issues.

This was after all one of their founding issues.

They do intend to use the reconciliation process if Mitt Romney is elected and if they have a majority in the Senate not only to get health care repealed but they intend to use reconciliation in order to extend the Bush tax cuts and to…

People oppose something until they're in charge and then it's great. And Dana is absolutely right. They do intend to use the reconciliation process, if Mitt Romney is elected and if they have majority in the Senate, not only to get health…

The Tea Partiers were getting a little complacent. This will get them out there.

I do think that the Republicans are right in believing this mobilizes their base.

This is the issue that ignited those town halls. So I think it will definitely give a lift on the Republican side.

Mitt Romney cannot win with simply the Tea Party as a -- in that part of the base. He needs to bring in some of those people from the middle.

This galvanizes the right. In talking to conservatives who were in state legislatures who got elected by the Tea Party folks, they say, look, this is what's going to bring the Tea Party out.

This election was centrally about the power of public employee unions. Scott Walker tried to cut -- curtail those unions, and in the name of trying to balance a budget.

I was out in Wisconsin, spent a couple of days out there a couple of weeks ago, John. And I can tell you a lot of people, small business people in particular, were talking about that these unions are costing too much money.

If you're sitting there in Obama's chair and you're running his campaign, you have to believe now that you are going to have to spend some money in Wisconsin to protect yourself.

I think he can certainly give voice to a lot of the restlessness and resentments and that sort of thing that are stirring against some of the excesses in labor unions, but what I hope he does not do is declare war on public employee…

It's very, very important. Yes, money counts. Yes, ground game counts. Both Paul and Gloria are right about that. But so do fundamental ideas. They matter in politics.

The attack on Bain Capital is the beginning of a longer narrative that the Obama campaign is trying to paint Mitt Romney as someone who's rich, who all he cares about is enhancing his rich friends.

The Bain Capital is the beginning of a longer narrative that the Obama campaign is trying to paint Mitt Romney as someone who's rich, who only cares about -- is enhancing his rich friends.

There are too many distractions in this campaign. We need both candidates to face the hard issues about spending, about taxes, about how we create jobs in this country, immigration.

It's fair game to go and talk about whether Bain had a private equity firm is good background to be a president or not.

It's certainly a surprise, Anderson, because the president enters this fray with a lot of evidence that shows that Bain is a respected company.

But to make it a centerpiece of his campaign is a big surprise.

The message that many are taking away from the president's campaign right now is not just about Bain Capital; it's about people who are in private sector.

Well, with all due respect, President Obama had a democratic Congress when he arrived in Washington. He passed a stimulus bill which is a bill he and Nancy Pelosi and the Democrats agreed on. And they promised that unemployment would not…

I hope there might be agreement on this point. The Congress, and the president, the president signed off on this, agreed that there would be serious big spending cuts on the social side, and the defense, starting January 1, unless there's…

This jobs report is unadulterated bad news for American workers.