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Proves he was a negotiator on the court and he was able to bring people together. you have a strong conservative case with justice alito and justice thomas and the new justice roberts. what will the president of the united states want now? when you know the court still in a democratic administration has a strong conservative base, who do you pick to get into that mix? who do you pick that you think might be a good negotiator, someone who can bring someone to the other, not just what happens in senate confirmation, but what kind of a person does he want on the court? do you pick a judge that's ...

Whether or not that's true, we'll hear in a little bit. but bart stupak is actually not one of the typical democrats that the tea party and republicans felt that they really could topple. legitimately topple this year. he's not been historically vulnerable. he has won big, big here. 65 and close to 70% of the vote here in this district. that is why there is concern politically in terms of the numbers of democrats in the house that they could lose this seat along with bart stupak. >> i got more questions for you but i know you've got to go and take your seat. appreciate it. dana bash for us. ...

And jump back to frank in just a second. bart stupak is known for a long time, this is the other big story we're following out of washington, michigan, today. and that the vote on health care reform would be a controversial vote, difficult vote, a vote that could cost him his job. he knows the demographics in his district better than anyone. what do you think was the deciding factor in this decision not to run for re-election? >> you know, tony, i think we'll probably put a lot of weight on the fact that he was very much involved in the health care debate that he was getting it both from the l...

The moment at which he was appointed and who appointed him. 1975. social issues were not on the agenda the way they were now. you know, he was the first justice appointed after rowe v. wade was divided in 1973. he was appointed in 1975. the controversy over abortion had not become as big as it would later become. gerald ford picked him because, after he had pardoned richard nixon, he wanted someone who would not create controversy. and john paul stevens was confirmed by a vote of 98-0. and that was the success of his nomination. so he was always known a centrist. he was never known as someone ...

It with your comments there and we have no way of knowing this, but i wonder to what extent it really was the heat that he encountered over this decision. if you listen to dana's reporting, what you're saying is he came to washington to essentially pass health care reform and in some respects he feels like his work is over. do you think that it is the vitriol that he has felt in the aftermath of that vote? any idea whether he had the war chest to fight to move through another campaign and whether he felt he owed it to himself and the vote he had cast to fight for it, to make the case and let t...