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very tight race against mitch mcconnell. >> mitch mcconnell has a tea party challenger in the republican primary going against him. what are the prospects there looking like? >> i spoke actually this morning with one of mcconnell's top advisers, and while they are taking that primary race very seriously, they are not as worried about it as they were before. as you may remember. the big driver behind the tea party were the bank bailouts of 2008, and she has made that big issue in this campaign. but in recent weeks, it's come out, at the time, he supported those bank bailouts, so because of that, he's lost some allure in this state. so it's really the general election that the mccain campaign is a little bit more worried about. >> let's assume he wins that republican primary, and polls indicate he probably will, although by no means the definite. what would grimes' main strategy be to defeat mcconnell in november? >> reporter: wolf, we're looking
>> all right. chuck coughlin, a political adviser to the governor of arizona, she has got a tough decision to make. we'll see what she decides to do. thanks very much, chuck, for joining us. >> thanks, wolf, for having me on. three arizona lawmakers who originally voted for the law now say they want the governor to veto it. they say the law was supposed to protect religious rights, but that opponents have now made the state look bad. joining us now from philadelphia is our political commentator, michael smerconish. thanks very much. she is expected to veto the bill. was this the only decision she could come to, fwicgiven the ses threats of economic boy costs to the state of arizona? >> well, i'm shocked that she hasn't already vetoed it. as a matter of fact, i predicted, wolf, on radio today that i expect by -- this is just a prediction. that by the close of business today, she will veto this. because the longer that it festers, it's not only a black eye for arizona, and for governor brewer, but it's also negative publicity, i think, for
vetoed it last year are relevant today. >> so still presumably she'll go ahead and make that same decision. she is under pressure from both arizona senators, john mccain, jeff lake, both suggesting this is not the right thing to do, to sign this legislation into law. they're deeply concerned about the economic impact on the state, because presumably tourism, which is so important, as you well know in arizona could be impacted if this legislation became the law in arizona. is that right? >> yeah. the -- i mean, again, first time the state has been in this position. i had the opportunity to be one of the people who is running the first martin luther king campaign out here. eventually, arizona became the only state in the nation to actually vote on a martin luther king holiday and pass it by popular vote. and so we're used to these -- i'm fondled of saying we're the 48th state admitted to the union. sometimes we act like that or act like the adolescent child, which is sometimes pretty good. we get very vigorous debates out
there's a whole statutory framework for that currently. my personal concern on this one is it's just written in -- if you look at all of the other statutory makeups, it's much too broad. and it could be construed in very unusual or different ways and cause havoc on the system here in the state. i was fortunate as a young kid to have my father -- in front of the supreme court in 1971, reverse of a first amendment case about a 7th day adventist who reused to work on a religious holiday or have anybody else work in his place. that was an interesting case, was a kid at the time. but we still debate these types offish news our country. and at the epicenter of the debate right now, and i'm sure she'll take a thoughtful approach with her staff and team. and as i said, i believe she'll make up her mind sometime thursday at the latest on friday.
office in '09 dealing with very difficult issues with one of the worst budget deficits in the country to the immigration discussion in '09 and '10 that continued on to today. and so this is familiar territory with her. she will -- she will take her time. she has been in the nation's capital with some governors' meetings, back to the state today. i presume she will meet with supporters of the bill to hear their cause, meet with people who are -- expressed their views in opposition. and also meet with legislators who have subsequently changed their mind after the vote. and so i would expect her to make a decision sometime thursday or friday, and -- which will be very deliberative in decision. she vetoed a very similar bill, not nearly identical last year. depending how much attention this one has gotten since she took that similar -- took that stance last year. and all of those reasons why she
time, because so much of politics is dominated by mass media and big money, that what works in an election is exactly the reverse of what works when the election is over. here's what i want you to know. you know, since i left office, i worked all over america and all over the world. and i've, blessed to do the work i've done and we've created a lot of jobs, we've saved a lot of lives. >> let's go to kentucky. our erin mcpike is standing by in louisville. erin, how significant is president clinton's appearance in this race? >> reporter: well, wolf, bill clinton won this state in 1992 and 1996. he obviously has those southern roots and appeals to working class voters that allison grimes is going to need if she can possibly pull off this race in a
plan. plan. we'll explain why. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com hello, i'm wolf blitzer reporting from washington. we start with the clock ticking for the arizona governor, jan brewer. she has until the end of the week to decide whether to sign or veto the state's controversial religious beliefs law, which many say is blatantly anti gay. the law allows businesses to refuse service to anyone if they believe it violates their religious beliefs. but brewer is expected to veto the bill. joining us now on the phone to talk about the upcoming decision is chuck hoflin, key political adviser. what's your advice to the governor? we know she has got some time to make this decision. >> first, wolf, thanks for having me on. it's a pleasure to be here. the governor has always been very deliberative when faced with very difficult policy decisions. she has had a history of -- in
>> let me ask you a question, michael. something you tweeted out yourself this morning. you said, doesn't holder's encouragement of state attorneys general to not defend laws run the risk of creating 50 new judges? what's the answer? >> well, i think it does. and as an attorney, i'm troubled by this. i want to get to the same place where eric holder wants to take us on the issue. but i question the way in which he's going about it. because i think he's advocating a usurping of the court's function. you know, if, in fact, those bans need to go, then courts should find them unconstitutional, or a legislature should decide that it wants to revoke the ban that they have implemented. but when you empower 50 different attorneys general across the state, i think you're setting a dangerous precedent and putting far too much discretion into the hands of those individuals. now, wolf, when i said that on the radio today, many people who identified themselves as attorneys called and said michael, you're wrong.
issues. but as a practice political matter, i think it's a stone cold loser for the gop. >> and both senators now want her to go ahead and veto it. john mccain, jeff blake. i don't know if either one is a libertarian, but they both see the economic impact on the state of arizona. michael, stay with us for a moment. because there is another subject i want to discuss with you, the -- even though arizona looks like that legislation will be vetoed in that state, it might not have been enforced anyway. that's because the attorney general, eric holder, is telling state attorneys general that they don't necessarily have to defend laws they feel discriminate against their citizens. and that includes laws banning same-sex marriage. here's holder from this morning. >> i believe we must be suspicious of legal classifications based solely on sexual orientation. and we must endeavor in all of our efforts to uphold and advance the values that once led our forebearers to declare unequivocally that all are created equal and entitled to kwa opportunity.
part of the map? that was arizona. arizona was the 48th state. it was not admitted to the union until 1912. it just has not been a state for very long, which is maybe why it sometimes feels like arizona is still working out the kinks. but it also means that all of the oldest things about the state as a state just aren't very old at all. the first governor of the state of arizona was in office starting in 1912. only 100 years ago, right? and if you are a schoolchild in arizona, and you are treated to a school field trip to the arizona capitol museum, one of the things you'll be treated to on that field trip is the sight of the state's first governor. george w.p. hunt, as a life-sized wax figurine, right down to the life-sized white shoes. see? under the desk right there. he is wax. he is seated at his desk. if you are freaked out by the life-sized wax figure of the first governor of arizona and