she spoke to sean hannity. sean asked about a tweet from sarah palin that told o'donnell on delaware voters. >> she is right governor palin is right that's a great piece of advice that's what we are doing. i had business in new york today, so thank you for having me on. our focus is kell wear i'm going back to delaware we've got a luncheon. i fell behind my mortgage i had a pro bono client that was very important. it was 18 hours a day. a disabled woman who the courts ruled to remove her feeding tube. it was a life or death case. her father said i can't pay you, but will you help me save her life? you can't say no i worked several months for free. i fell behind in my mortgage. then i had this opportunity to become the nominee 2008 to run against joe biden. i had to make a difficult decision. either take on another client and get caught in my bills. instead, because i thought it was important that someone oppose joe biden and what he wanted to do in the u.s. senate. i sold my house to make all my bills right. pa

she needs the tea ball, that only sean hannity can serve up. she probably gets to write her own questions, for god's sakes. here's the weird thing though that i find it interesting, she picked hannity, ed, because both you and i listen to his radio show and that's kind of three hours of masturbation there. so that's a little surprising. >> i don't make a habit of it myself. california gubernatorial race is going on and meg whitman brought in new jersey governor chris christie who got more than arrogant with ed buck who is a multimillionaire who was on this program earlier tonight. and really talked him down, speak to the arrogance, stephanie, what's this big, fat guy all about? >> wow, ed, it is getting good out here in california. as you may or may not know, meg whitman actually was accused of shoving an employee in the ebay boardroom and then this thing looked like a scene out of "sopranos." i thought that someone was going to get a lead pipe in the head in a minute and i must say the heckler that stood up though said to christine whitman --

more hannity, straight ahead. >> sean: in the state of washington, senator murray is fighting for her political life. unfortunately for her, skeletons are coming out of the closet that i'm sure she would rather forget. something the senator said about osama bin laden in the wake of the 9/11 attacks. we played the clip on hannity & colmes in three, take a look. >> he's been out of this country for decades, building schools, roads, intrastructure, health care facilities and the people are grateful he made their lives better. we have not done that. >> sean: comments like that can perhaps explain why murray's lead has slipped to one point in her race with challenger rossi. the latest poll has murray with 48%, rossi with 47. that is within the margin of error. joining me with reaction to this, and ann coulter. -- >> i did comments before coming here with people pointing out that was unfair she is the stupidest person on the planet. >> sean: not just in america. >> the skeleton -- a skeleton has a higher i.q.. i never want to hear about christine o'donnell not being smart enough or sarah pa

but people like karl rove went after her and sean hannity a few weeks ago, they savaged her the night she won. i've said all along the republicans aren't going to win the senate, she's probably not going to win delaware. the republican establishment turned on her so viciously because she dared to beat their precious mike castle. they're eating their own. the humor here and the irony is the media and republicans are so focused on christine o'donnell they're not focusing on sharron angle, linda mcmahon, all of these candidates breathing a sigh of relief. >> i think the o'donnell story compounds that narrative about sharron age skpl adds fuel to that fire. the reason there was conservative concern about her winning from magazines like "the weekly standard," "reason" called her a crack pot, they knew mike castle could win joe biden's seat and that would move them towards winning the senate. they knew this would be a disaster coming down the pike. >> we've got to take a break. appreciate you guys being on. thank you. >>> just ahead, the watchdog group christine o'do notal is n threatening

i would point out, had a republican done that, you would not just be seeing this ad on sean hannity, i think you ran it in its entirety last night. i saw somewhere. but, you know had that been a republican that would have run that ad, there shouldn't be room for that in politics period. it blatantly misleading, blatantly deceptive. you know, my mother would send me to bed with no dinner if i did something like that. >> sean: i think i would get a lot worse. i think you are right. as they go extraordinarily negative, because they are not going to run on stimulus, health care, budget, debt, cap and tax. so they got to go negative. if you are saying eight, nine point leads aren't going to be enough because it is going to be that nasty out there. what do you suggest candidates do to fight back in this environment? >> well, there's an old saying that i used to hear my dad say, if you can't get 'em with a lie get 'em with the truth. i think you have to continue stating what the facts are. i think there is an intensity, as i said earlier. there's an intensity that i would much rather have a

make sure you write sean hannity and tell him he should be

. >> i think that the misrepresentations of the lies of sean hannity the ball's in the air where another very significant part of all of this. how they ever count to the theory that i'd ever impeach george bush i'll never know. >> cassel is right on the money. what's these guys do. pass this stuff up. folks like sharron angle and sarah palin have figured it out. stay away from any media and anybody that gets in the waive fox that would screw up the message. here's palin's advice to brand-new tea party darling o'donnell. >> she's going to have to learn very quickly to dismiss what some her handlers want. she's going to have to learn that, yeah, very quickly. she's going to have to dismiss that go with her gut, get out there, speak to the american people, speak through fox news. >> speak through fox news. that gives you a lot of reason to watch, doesn't it? this is a tea party plan. shut your mouth, scrub your website of all of your crazy positions and let the conservative talkers hammer home all of the lies they can. joining me now is eric boller, senior fellow at media matters for americ

i want chuck to jump in here, karl rove and sean hannity on fox last night with one point of view. let's listen. >> it does conservatives little good to support candidates who at the end of the day, while they may be conservative in their public statements, do not evince the characteristics of rectitude and truthfulness and sincerity and character that the voters looking for. there's just a lot of nutty things she's been saying. sounds like you don't support them, but i will tell you -- >> i'm for the republican, but i got to tell you, we were looking at eight to nine seats in the senate, we are now looking at seven to eight in my opinion. this is not a race we are going to be able to win. >> one point of view, a bad night for republicans, the winger won. here is another point of view, chuck, respond to this here is limbaugh today reacting to karl rove, let's listen. >> why not fight for it? castle is okay as the 51st vote but this woman isn't, with her character problems, her rectitude? the democrats, for crying out loud, what do we hear about the character of ted kennedy? what do

hannity tonight on fox. she says she's going to spend time with delaware voters and because that's what counts. well, we got a lot to talk about in this hour ahead as we focus on it, gary tuchman has been reporting on the o'donnell campaign since last week trying to get her to answer those specific questions. what jumped out at you in the interview tonight? >> reporter: it is a delicious irony she went on national media to say she didn't want to talk to the national media. but we did watch and listen, and we did not hear a lot when it came to her elaborating the stuff we checked out the past week, for example, what about the claim that you've spend $20,000 in campaign funding for personal expenditures she said she did not. it was just left at that. but opponents of hers and opponents are mostly republicans talking to us, not democrats, she kept stressing they were democratic owe poen e7b9s. republicans have been talking to us about this. they stress they believe she's lived on campaign contributions over the

greta: which is why i said i will do it with sean hannity. >> sean: are you asking know dance? >> greta: no. >> more with our great american panel, straight ahead. e the same, consider this: a tornado hits, air life denver takes of.. their night-vision goggles keeping the rescue mission safe... and poring those goggles-- the only battery ir life trusts: duracell. trusted everywhere. how's it work? ok, she's gas. he's constipation... and our special fiber helps our prootics so that you can show those symptoms who's in charge. this isn't even my floor. [ elevator bell dings ] ♪ [ male announcer ] every siness day, bank of america lends billions of dollars, to individuals, institutions, schools, organizations and businesses. ♪ working to set opportunity in motion. bank of america. oh. about what? uh, they don't really think you're an exchange student. what? they think you're a businessman, using our house to meet new clients in china. for reals, player? [ woman saks chinese ] they overheard a phone call. speaks chinese ] something about shipping with fedex to shanghai. and the

just by coincidence. >> sean: sean hannity just like me by coincidence. >> what happens is when you are senate majority leader and we saw this with tom daschle. we saw it with miller tidings in 1952, when the electorate turns it is a referendum on. >> sean: 14.4% unemployment. 1 in 7 americans now are in poverty in america. foreclosures are up 25 . we have three trillion dollars in obama debt and he's only been there 21 months now. >> that's why you hear and see attacks on o'donnell, sarah palin and all the rest of it. they can't talk about the issues. they won't. that's what the campaign going to be marginalize, marginalize tea party folks because we don't want to be held accountable. >> sean: it was in the "new york times" they were going to try to go after the tea party movement as owning the republican party. they tried to do this to me and talk radio and rush and mark and fox news. they actually went out there and demonized tea party and town hall attendees. >> i think couple months ago harry reid was dead in the water trailing everyone in the polls. he started to claw back. now it

i said i will do it with sean hannity. >> sean: are you asking know dance? >> greta: no. >> more with our great american panel, straight it's drive to places with views that'll leave you awestruck...month. fit every stick, pad, helmet and puck month. easily conquer pavement, dirt, rocks and muck month. and get it all while keeping a few bucks month. great deals on the complete family of chevy trucks all backed for a hundred thousand miles. it's truck month qualified lessees now get a low mileage lea on this 2011 traverse for around $299 a nth. call for details. see your local chevrolet dealer. >> sean: we continue with our great american panel many you are wrong on everything else. you have been right and somewhat critical as a democrat of the anointed one as president. bill clinton got into the act. said to obama, you gotta suck it up, take it like a man. he said i think it mate be good he got this criticism at this town hall when this woman confronted him. another guy said it is end of the american dream. he said i would tell him to embrace people's anger,

. >> when i said it on sean hannity's television show, we made $40,000 before we even got out of the studio in new york. >> the revelation that fox news is one giant fund-raising and publicity gift in kind to the republican party. i know, you're shocked. >> i'm shocked, shocked to find that gambling is going on in here. >> your winnings, sir. >>> all the news and commentary now on "countdown." >> i had some business in new york today, so thank you for having me on. >>> good evening from new york. with the final session of congress before election day coming down to the wire now, democrats are still torn between whether to force republicans to vote now in defense of tax cuts for the rich or to duck a vote on extending the bush tax cuts and let republicans campaign against them for letting all taxes rise. if it seems like a no-brainer, our fifth story tonight should remove all doubt. a "countdown" special report, the reality behind the republican argument made by house republican leader john boehner and others that tax cuts for the rich are simply tax cuts for small businesses whose ow

. >> greta: did you hear the examine -- exchange between karl rove and sean hannity about this upset in delaware? that's the candidate that governor sarah palin endorsed is that right? >> yes. there are a lot of republicans who are very concerned about the race in delaware tonight. yes, you are right. sarah palin backed christine o'donnell so did south carolina senator jim demint. she had the backing of the tea party express they spent $250,000 on that race against mike castle the congressman who voted for cap and trade among other votes that many people, conservatives were upset about. the tea party express says, look at the race in nevada, where sharron angle is according to some polls up by a point or two, or down by a point or two, she was written off when she won the race in nevada in that gop's senate primary back there. they say they hope that christine o'donnell could do the same. you listen to people like karl rove, they have serious doubts. >> greta: brett, that you. more political news any minute, bret will be back as soon as more news breaks. we are live in florida. hours

i said i will do it with sean hannity. >> sean: are you asking know dance? >> greta: no. >> more with our great american panel, straight american panel, straight hey, lawrence, my parents want to talk to you. oh. about what? uh, they don't really think you're an exchange student. what? they think you're a businessman, using our house to meet new clients in china. for reals, player? [ woman saks chinese ] they overheard a phone call. speaks chinese ] something about shipping with fedex to shanghai. and then you opened a bottle of champagne. that was for a science project. [ man and woman speaking chinese ] i'm late for..occer... rehearsal. [ man speaks chinese ] you and i are cool? i'll be home by curfew. [ male announcer ] we understand.® you need a partner who can help you go global. fedex. it was a real shock. i remember being at the hospital thinking, "i should have done more to take care of myself." you should've. that's why i'm exercising more now. eating healthier. and i also trust my heart to lipitor. [ male announcer ] when diet and exercise are not

she won with the backing of sarah palin and the south carolina governor and rush limbaugh and sean hannity. how do you feel three days later? >> all buckley always said to support the most right-wing candidate that is a delectable. i think they broke that rule and it could cost republicans control of the senate. >> it looks like we have this anger we have been talking about and this looks like a temper tantrum that ran amok. there have been some tea party candidates that have been nominated and have sent a message and made a statement and can win and compete in the fall. in this case, she was going to have to run against the democratic party and much of the republican party as well. >> in addition to the buckley rule, ronald reagan also had an 11th commandment which is not talk badly of another republican in public. they have a lot to say about christine o'donnell. the republicans south carolina senator said he has been in races with republicans who have no principles. >> ronald reagan had a 80% rule which someone who is with us 80% of the time is our friend and ally. that seems to be the

karl rove promptly savaged her on fox while sean hannity's head spun a full 360 degrees. the half governor has just tweeted pleading for conservative focus. i thought ms. o'donnell didn't like that. gop cannibalism next. nationwide insurance, hit me. i love for an insurance company to be there for me before i actually need them. you mean be proactive. yeah, i guess. check your left pocket. [chuckles] nationwide insurance offers proactive insurance services because they want to be there for you before you need them. proactive, like magic. >>> karl rove will not go gently into the tea party night. the man they all worship is studly on the s list. rove versus o'donnell again, and palin's pleading tweet. the democrats are largely sitting back and watching, but not the president. he has today attacked the republicans for blocking his tax cuts. times are tough, but these two men are willing to stick out their necks to protect the poor and downtrodden of our nation. you know, their fellow pasty white guys and the suffering tea party that protects them. >>> fire then fired. and f

she won with the backing of sarah palin and south carolina senator and rush limbaugh and sean hannity. how do you feel three days later? >> bill buckley had a roll, always support the most right- wing candidate who was elected i think the republicans broke that rule. it could cost republicans control of the senate. >> it looks like we have this anger we have been talking about. this looks like a temper tantrum that ran amok. there has been some tea party candidates who have been nominated and sent a message, made a statement, and can win and compete in the fall. in this case, she was going to have to run against the democratic party in delaware but much of the republican party as well. >> in addition to the book will, there was the ronald reagan 11th commandment, about shalt not speak ill of another republican in public. this was not only colored by what karl rove said had to say about this but what jim demint. said. he said he has been in the majority with the republicans to do not have principles. what bigger shock can you take a? >> ronald reagan had an 80% rule. somebody is what i

. >> a lot of hot issues, here is christine o'donnell on fox news with sean hannity. bring in cole to newcastle. let's listen. >> not going to do any more national media because this is my focus, delaware is my focus and the local media is my focus and it's frustrating because i've let the local media know they're my priority, but our phones are ringing off of the hook that they can't get to me. so it's actually become an interference with the campaign. >> a confusion here, joan. i'm stuttering with confusion. says she doesn't like the national media and telling it to sean hannity. what's he? is he mr. local yokel now all of a sudden? >> listen it is insulting to delaware reporters, not going to like delaware media any better. sharron angle tried the strategy, doesn't like local nevada media better. people are going to ask questions, she is an embarrassment. i don't think anybody has to worry about that. all watching our friend bill maher say he is going to be releasing more of this great stuff from the '80s. you know, chris, i don't regret the '80s, she regrets the '

karl rove promptly savaged her on fox while sean hannity's head spun a full 360 degrees. the half governor has just tweeted pleading for conservative focus. i thought ms. o'donnell didn't like that. gop cannibalism next. everyone knows a fee is a tax. you raised some taxes during that period, particularly the property tax as well as a lot of fee increases. as you know, there's a big difference between fees and taxes. but...they're the same. it's a tax. it's a tax. it's a tax. it's a tax. there's a big difference between fees and taxes. fees and taxes are one in the same. if it comes out of my pocket, it's a tax. now he says it isn't true. we didn't raise taxes. what? still doing the same thing, paying out more money. typical politician. definitely. >>> karl rove will not go gently into the tea party night. the man they all worship is studly on the s list. rove versus o'donnell again, and palin's pleading tweet. the democrats are largely sitting back and watching, but not the president. he has today attacked the republicans for blocking his tax cuts. times are tough, but t

. >> sean: it might work. >> i'm all over that >> sean: when do you think sean hannity is going to quote the daily beast and gail shehee? >> never thought you would do that. but go ahead. >> sean: i'm not making fun. gail shehee reports the president is in town. big u.n. conference. the president has a fundraiser at the roosevelt hotel. they offer cheap tickets $100, discounted in some cases to $50. the room holds 650 not a big room for a political event especially for the president. they can't sell it out. 450 people in a room for 650. four e-mails two phone calls later to her alone to try and get her through there. >> i think it is one of the reasons why he went to church because therowd feels obligated to stay. this president is having a problem. i don't know if he understands or not there's not a democrat running for congress that is embracing either him or his policies. because they know it is the kiss of death for their elections. >> sean: that's key. none of them running on their records. health care, stimulus, debt, deficit. the only thing they've got left is what? smear, attack,

less than 51 minutes after that advice was issued, she was kissing sean hannity's ring. >> christine, congratulations on last night. thanks for being on the program. >> thank you. thank you very much, sean. and thank you to you and all of your viewers for helping make this happen. >> hannity later playing a portion of his election night interview of karl rove to ms. o'donnell. asked to respond, o'donnell punted. >> we did answer them on our website with christine with boxing gloves. i'm hoping it's the fog of war that hasn't cleared yet. at this hour, o'donnell's website remains stripped of any information on the candidate. the only thing you can do is donate money. there is a report a million dollars has poured in since tuesday. karl rove returned to fox news for his fourth interview since the election. >> i don't have to tell you that a lot of folks have been screaming and yelling, saying your comments in not backing her could cost the majority in the senate. that what they want is to make sure they get that majority in the senate. they're afraid you're shooting them -- >> my job as

. >> i think the misrepresentations of the lies of sean hannity and rush limbaugh on air were another significant part of all of this. i think some of the misrepresentations in my opponents race were a part of it as well. how they came up with the theory that i voted to impeach george bush, i will never know that was the news for a couple days around the election time. i think by mr. limbaugh. but, there's the kinds of things that make politics very difficult. >> sean: he voted for cap and tax. he voted for tarp. didn't he say in the campaign he wouldn't vote to repeal health care? isn't that his record? >> absolutely. >> sean: he sounds like a liberal, blaming other people. >> you guys brought his voting record to the public, so i thank you, i kind of agree with him. i would call it credit. you were the leader of the band in saying we have got to stand on our principles. we cannot sell-out any more. selling out on our principles is what has brought our country to the brink of bankruptcy. we need to start focusing on solutions that create jobs, based on the private sector. so you put

. >> sean: you yell, you are mean to them. >> sean hannity, i'm speechless. >> sean: one at a time, raise your hand. i've watched new action. i was intimidated. >> you are never intimidated. >> sean: that's true. they call themselves the young guns. they say they have the ideas that will propel the gop to victory in november. they say the antidote for the republican party is conservatism. when we compact, kong mention cantor, ryan, mccarthy are here and the architect karl rove all coming up. [ manager ] you know... i've been looking at the numbers, and i think our campus is spending too much money on printing. i'd like to put you in charge of cutting costs. calm down. i know that it is not your job. what i'm saying... excuse me? alright, fine. no, you don't have to do it. ok? [ male announcer ] notre dame knows it's better for xerox to control its printing costs. so they can focus on winning on and off the field. [ manager ] are you sure i can't talk -- ok, no, i get it. [ male announcer ] with xerox, you're ready for real business. to local hospitals or, like windstream communications, y

. >> bill, this happens to you all the time in the hallways with john gibson and sean hannity walking by. how do you handle it? >> i look to the floor and realize, no, they are talking to the interns, not me. >> he is in a desperate mode, and he is a stiff. he realizes there is a real chance he could lose, so he is doing the i'm a loose guy and i can loosen up. it is like the old guy at a party that has had too much scotch. things come out of his mouth. he knows he will regret it, but he won't stop. that's him at this . in this campaign. >> that's also you right now. >> exactly. i'm here by myself. i am not offending anyone. >> but the real victim here is senator diane fine dye -- dianne feinstein. she puts on a nice outfit and thinks she looks okay. oh, senator gilibrand. >> i think it was directed at pelosi as well. >> i won't play the whole she deserves it card, but the tube top she wore, inappropriate for that kind of office. >>> well, was david duke just misunderstood? anna gilligan will explain her schoolgirl crush. first, what is the latest on lyndsay lohan? if if you check her

e mail sean hannity. o'reilly factor is next. good night from washington. closed captioning services, inc a reason. i am not going to teach the class today. you will understand in a second. the president pledges to spend billions in foreign aid and we are near disaster at home. why not spend the money here? common sense, right? why is the president capping our wells in the gulf of mexico but loaning mexico billions of dollars to drill for oil in the gulf of mexico? the seem place where it is too dangerous. that doesn't make any sense. until you can explain the most veation behind the president's moves, until you can explain why enacting policies harmful to america is good, seemingly for the president or the administration, people continue to have individual stories and say, no big deal and they will ask this question, they say why are they collapsing the system? what is the nottive? what would his motive be? how do they possibly gain? what a great question! by the end of tonight's program, i believe you will have that answer. and you will have the answer on

. >> sean: hannity first. >> i don't know if i would recollection machine that. >> sean: i would highly recollection -- recommend that. >> sean: i would highly recommend that. the fact congress going to leave washington go into an election and not let people know ha their tax rates are going to be january 1st? >> that is incredible. >> sean: 37 democrats said they would vote to extend the bush tax cuts. >> there will be no vote before the election because the democrats are split. they've had two years with a majority in the house and senate and cannot tell us what our tax rate is going to be january 1st, of this year. >> it is such a confusing strategy. they decided to play an issue where the republicans are always on offense, which is on tax cuts. >> sean: guys good to see you. thank you both. we break down the five new polls that could signal a republican take over in the senate. later south dakota senator thune reacts to what many are calling the ugliest political ad in history that comes courtesy of alan greyson. first it is text vote tuesday. we want to know what issue is impacting

hey sean. >> sean: thanks for being with us. huckabee, hannity. first of all, it was very interesting to watch coons' spokesman come out today, chris is not anyone's pet. >> the worst thing that can happen this year is to be associated with harry reid. only thing worst is to be officered as harry reid's pet. harry reid has a long -- harry reid has a long history of saying ridiculous things and getting an way with them. if you are on the receiving end of you a big wet kiss from harry reid it has to be the worst moment you can in this political year. >> sean: this is u.s.a. today tea party wins, fuel a civil war within the gop and they got christine o'donnell face on the cover this is today's edition of the paper. if there is any civil war going on we were touching on the surface. democrats don't want to be seen with harry reid or barack obama. he comes to town they . sorry. that's the only day i can't make it. they are running away all these ads we were showing last night. >> beam in the democratic party scheduling visits to combat zones so they do

. >> by the way, that's what karl rove said last night on sean hannity's show. he said we republicans have now lost the senate seat and it's going to make it next to impossible -- >> we shouldn't say the tea party movement is dangerous or evil or nutty. if they nominate people who can't win general elections, it's going to hurt the republican party. >> how do you ignore them, take paladino, for example, he goes to the party convention and gets 8% of the vote and this guy win it is nomination, what message does that send to the establishment? >> it is a state-by-state race. my example is sort of parallel to this example. when we had debates in '94, there were like 150 people in my home county that were part of the party. they all got together. they said, okay, let's get representatives from all five camps to figure out who is going to -- what the rules are for the debate. they had to suspend it because out of the 150 top republican leaders in my home county, not one of them supported me. so sometimes some years running against the party is the best thing to do in

sean hannity fourth, 35% positive. 25% negative. and jon stewart fifth. 34% positive, 22% negative. what does all this mean? clearly the fox news channel has become the most important media outlet in the country. i don't think there is any question about that secondly, our cable competition doesn't even show up. third, network news does remain a force but no longer leads. fourth, the republican race in 2012 wide open. and, fifth, president obama has an enormous problems to overcome. and that's the memo. a bit later on, bernie goldberg will analyze the media component of the poll. but, for now, our top story reaction, joining us from washington fnc political analyst brit hume. good news for us and always -- and what was the most surprising thing you saw in the poll. >> the poll was arrangely in line with the other polling we have seen. the only real stunner is that 49% of the public believe that you are having a positive impact on the debate in america. and only 32% thought negative. you know, they need to rerun those numbers. >> bill: you think so? maybe the question wasn't worded p

she talks to sean hannity about the witchcraft comment. >> here's the best of the rest. christine o'donnell fights back. the nation's buzzing about senate republican candidate. minutes ago, she spoke to sean hannitiy, who asked her about a tweet from sarah palin that told her to focus on delaware voters. >> she's absolutely right. governor palin is right. that's a great piece of advice. that's exactly what we are doing. hisome business in new york today, so thank you for having me on, but our focus joys on delaware. we have a pact scheduled tomorrow and attending a ladies luncheon. i fell behind in my mortgage, hia pro bono client. i worked 18 hours a day. it was a disabled woman, who the courts ruled to remove her feeding tube. it was a life-or-death case. her father came to me and said, i can't pay you, but will you help me save her life? you can't say no to that. i worked several months for free and i fell behind on my mortgage and i got the opportunity to run in 2008. i had a decision -- take on a client and get caught up on my bills. but instead, because i thought i