good evening. i'm chris matthews in washington. leading off tonight, the final three. what just happened? has the door just closed on the gop field? bachmann's a winner. perry's in, pawlenty out. the others, do they really matter? no. we're down to the eastern conference champion mitt romney and the western conference contenders perry and michele bachmann. while some republicans are looking for chris christie, it looks like a three-person contest. the cake looks baked. who is this rick perry? this year's bobby kennedy, shaking up the race and threatening to take all, or the latest version of fred thompson or wes clark? flameouts whose first day is their best? a tea party taker of the gop by bachmann or perry may just be what president obama needs. he comes off his worst week of his presidency in the tracking poll now at 41%.

in fact, yesterday it went down to 39%. an obama low. hits minnesota ending up in iowa. will the president keep trying to compromise with republicans or is he ready to offer the public something they will buy, but the republicans can't. and raise my taxes, please. that's what warren buffett wrote in today's "new york times" in a piece entitled "stop coddling the super rich." time for the wealthy to sacrifice for the good of country and stop being coddled by congress. funny. what president obama's been saying all along. and let me finish with what has become of the republican party. a tea party with a perry on top. we start with the republican field as it is. howard feinman, couldn't ask for a better guy. msnbc political analyst and huffington post media director and political analyst jennifer donohue is back. you're in the campaign season. the eisenhower institute. a proposition i'm going to end with tonight and start with it.

rick perry in iowa today taking a swipe at president obama. this guy throws haymakers. let's listen. >> today i'm asking the president of the united states to do something. he's coming into iowa here in the little bit. i'm asking him to do something. he said he's on a listening tour. so i'm going to talk to him. and here's what i'm going to say to him. mr. president, you need to free up the employers of this country to create jobs. >> what is that? post-traumatic bush disorder? what are we looking at howard? i'm hearing those genes disappearing over the horizon. the good, old southern draw. healthy, western, windswept. he's got bails of hay there. >> i just came back from iowa and can tell you that rick perry is made for the ultra retail politics of a place like iowa. his organization skills remain to be seen, but in the retail politician --

>> explain that word to the public. >> retail politician means -- person-to-person, eye-to-eye. he doesn't say, i'm going to tell them he says, i'm gonna tell 'em something and that's going to translate. very approachable and emotional. firm handshake, look in the eye. michele bachmann i can tell you, superb organizer with a lot of women, by the way, running her organization. women who come out of the traditional family values thing, but perry is a tremendous guy on the stump. he really is. >> and i have no idea what my friend is going to say. i'm going to ask you a wide open question. is this cake baked? in other words, are we looking at the field right now ask we're not sitting here saying, will chris christie come in the field, jeb bush come riding in? haley barbour? we're past the preseason. these three, with the hot guy on the road, the cowpoke. rick perry looking pretty good right now. michele bachmann having the only w next to her name.

actually won one now. the straw poll this weekend. and mitt romney, of course, the old republican party, perhaps tired old republican party? is that the big three or the only three? >> i think the big three and the only three, chris. you have perry coming in so strong it's his to lose. romney a very, very beleaguered front-runner who's had months of a wide open campaign to prove he can do a what howard just described, agents bit of handshaking and a little bit of eye contact, and romney showing that he's about as robotic at al gore was. i think michele bachmann is also a very good retail campaigner. also very organized, but i talked to a republican strategist and very big donor today who is a porting perry. while we were talking for about an hour, his phone didn't stop ringing. it was pawlenty supporters, it was bachmann supporters. it was romney supporter, and it was money coming in. he can match romney dollar for dollar no matter how much money

romney spends. it is over for mitt romney. >> okay. looking down the road. i love your projection. howard, a poll production. you're doing the regular street corner, what's it called? shoe leather reporting, can't go that far yet. you'd be running the entire year. let me ask you about that speculation as a projection. could it be obama's the luckiest politician in history? luckiest. instead of having to defend himself from the middle he goes against a hard righter? a hard righter. >> what annoys me about you, you always say what i'm thinking before i write it. exactly. >> i'm here. >> president obama is unlucky in the economic circumstances that he's facing. >> right. >> although that's what helped get him elected. economically unlucky. politically lucky. because, as i see it here, jennifer, i'm not sure -- >> lucky at cards, unlucky at love. >> i'm not sure i would make the bold prediction jennifer is making about mitt romney. he has smart people and staying power, perhaps, but rick perry is in exactly the right place. go to the right with tea party

and evangelical christians because of background you talked about. >> it's real. >> also, talk about being a governor, a decision-maker, a job creator, more in mitt romney's face. so romney's the wan one -- excuse me. perry's the one in the middle strategically, which is the place to be. we do retail, jennifer said, raking in money. get a lot of the people who endorsed tim pawlenty in iowa. tim pawlenty did it the traditional way. collecting endorsements from mayors and republican state committee men and so on. most of those people i think won't go to romney because they could have before. now they're likely to go, most of them to perry, only a few to bachmann. >> and rick perry this weekend making clear he's very much anti-washington. i've never heard anybody talk quite like this. let's listen. >> america is not broken. washington, d.c. is broken.

>> i promise you this -- i'll work every day to try to make washington, d.c. as inconsequential in your life as i can. >> well, that is -- sounded like the era of government is over. jennifer, this is strong stuff. if he can go as far right as saying get rid of the government, get rid of washington basically. if he can hug that right wing corner, nobody to his right, including bachmann. that means the republican party is safe for the tea party. does this mean, take a minute, has the tea party taken over the republican party and romney's not in the party? >> i believe the tea party has taken over the republican party. we saw evidence of that in 2010 when the tea party took over the republican party in washington. what perry is failing to talk about is that the tea party is right where the electorate is subpoena has you're likely to have, viewers are alluding to, a

really weak candidate romney who probably cannot beat obama anyway, but a too far right candidate in perry and not quite as far right at bachmann in this rhetoric and the republican strategists i talked to today said there have been assurances up and down the line that perry will not do what bachmann is doing. he's not going to talk about abortion, god and guns. he's going to talk about jobs and the economy, and he's going to stay away from what they called the crazy talk. but i think, still, in the general election, you have -- >> hasn't he already been there? hasn't he already lost his virginity in that area by talking about secession from the union? that's on the record. >> they're going to love that in new hampshire. people here want to secede. i this perry, on that message i think he's talking to libertarians, taking ron paul's 10%. he's taking some of bachmann's 10%, 15%. i think he's taking some of that libertarian perspective and

pulling it right in. and i don't think that's so far from where the republican party is right now. >> i think -- jennifer, i think a great running mate. you'd be. you look perfect for new hampshire. >> you know new hampshire as well as anybody. can rick perry beat barack obama in the general election in new hampshire? >> yes. i think people here are so frustrated, and unemployment is not as lie in new hampshire as in the rest of country, but people here are so anxious about the economy. working two jobs. unemployed. under employed. that i think barack obama is in very, very serious danger. even in a state like new hampshire, which he carried easily last time. >> let's look at michele bachmann who did win the iowa straw poll saying the political tide is turning in her direction. let's listen. >> people feel it now. the fire. they've recognized that obama can be beat. >> people saw, there's a movement.

she's speaking for me. she's fighting for me. i can trust this woman. she's not a politician. that's the difference. because, you see, i'm a real person. >> this is how far right the republican be party's going. as always, howard, jennifer responded, and howard, republican party's got new command. mr. decalogue again. thou shall not raise any taxes. thou shalt pass the constitutional amendment to making abortion illegal, and defining marriage at the union of a man and a woman. thou shalt repeal obamacare. thou shalt repeal the dodd-frank banking regulation act. they say they like the founding fathers but don't like anything they wrote. how much do they want to amend? they certainly want to start with obama. is this a track you want to veer to the right, safest place to be? >> the only place left, chris. i think the republican party overcorrected when they nominated mccain.

and they were trying so hard to get away from bush, and anything that bush represented. they picked someone who couldn't get the momentum and couldn't get the enthusiasm. it was like bob dole all over again. when bob dole was sort of given the nomination because he was the last man standing, people were familiar with him, but he had no chance in '96. and i think if you were to give it to romney, he'd have a tough time getting the enthusiasm behind him. when you're a republican base candidate, you've got a much better chance at getting the kind of mow meant up and the kind of crowds out that you need. >> chris, when you talk to -- >> jennifer, you are so strong. never heard you soy brilliant. you're either brilliantly wrong or brilliantly something. no one's going to doubt what you said tonight. rick perry's to lose. he's going to win it. romney's yesterday. bachmann can't keep up with this guy. it's all about the right. no more pretending, the conservative tea party. that's the way it stands.

it's going to stand that way next november. did i get you right ask. >> you got plea right. howard, your response? >> all i can say, as far as romney's concerned, when you dock to their people, they give you all kind of tactical reasons why romneys in a good decision. he's behind all the other car, going to crash and not talking why he's so grated and why he'll but through. >> he's not the guy to shoot the moon? >> you know what i'm saying? >> yeah. now that you're so hot, and built you up jennifer, on the top of the game here, who based upon any reporting you've had your hands on does the white house fear of this trio? >> they fear perry the most, because bachmann doesn't have experience. she has the same knock on her obama himself had. she has no executive experience. that's a problem in a general election. she's a very formidable candidate, though, but it's perry's to lose. >> who do they fear most? can you report? >> here's what i will say. rick perry on paper is perfect for this republican party.

as jennifer's been describing it. >> how about for next november? >> but we don't know what his record's going to look like after it's closely examined and re-examined by his "opponents, the national press core and democrats. he may have a lot of explaining to do. if he can go what he looks like on paper to defending it -- >> anybody could write anything about rick perry will be in the front page in the paper tomorrow. one hot story. good tonight, jennifer. thank you for joining us. we need you back here. coming up, much more on what kind of candidate rick perry will do. i want to get to the inside of this guy. what's the story on rick perry? can he get the republican nomination? or fizzle out like poor fred thompson. he's a good guy, but he's gone. that's next on "hardball." we'll be right back.

chance to win the republican nomination against the field. mitt romney down to 31%. below him, michele bachmann just under 7%. looks like those two guy, in the lead. we'll be right back.

welcome back to "hardball." texas governor rick perry, the hottest guy around, announced he's running for president adding a jolt to the republican appeal, i'd say. the campaign's first video. people say it's great. here it is from his website. >> record debt and the president's refusal to control spending led to our nation's credit rating being downgraded for the first time in history. but hope is on the horizon. not the empty rhetoric of hope, but a record that gives us hope. that leader, rick perry. america's jobs governor.

rick perry learned the values of hard work and patriotism, faith in god and the son of farmers in paint creek, texas, he wore the uniform of our country as an air force captain. piloting c-130 aircraft around the globe before returning to the family farm, marrying his high school sweetheart anita and starting a family. >> hard to beat that one. rick perry appealing nationally and is he now the candidate to beat? for that we're joined by politico -- one of the smartest guys around. i'm building you up. we just had our friend jennifer, she thinks he can not only win iowa beating bachmann but go to new hampshire and beat the local guy, mitt romney and begin to take this thing away fast. your assessment whether the hot, young track house in this business? >> well, governor perry and michele bachmann, spent time, all this morning with governor perry at the state fair.

must-dos for any gop hopeful, any white house hopefuls, and he has got remarkable retail skills. this is money who does not need to be taught how to do campaigning iowa-style. he exudes texas in a way that would almost put george w. bush to shame. i actually asked governor perry toes, chris, what's the biggest contrast between you and president bush? he said, he went to yale. i went to a&m. i'll tell you that showed in his thumping today. talking to folks about, you know, pigs in texas, and about farming a ranch in texas. talking about college football. he's got the skills that are necessary to campaign here in iowa. the question to me is, can he take the scrutiny? we know he can do the retail side, chris, but what happens when he's got to do the, you know, the debates? one of the first waves of tough stories comes out? he's never been on the national stage before.

texas campaigning is no walk in the park, but nothing can quite prep you for the scrutiny that comes, chris, on the national stage. so i think the next 30 days will be crucial for him. no question, he's off to a fantastic start here in iowa. >> part of the governor's message this weekend has been about his record, of course, down in texas on job growth. that's all he talks about. he's the jobs governor. let's watch rick perry today as you described him in iowa. let's watch it on tape. >> 40% of all the jobs created in america from june of 2009 until the present were created in texas. i know how to create jobs. you let the private sector free them up from over taxation, free them up from over regulation, free them up from over litigation. and government, get out of the way! let the private sector do what the private sector knows how to do. >> critics are already going after his record in texas, in the "new york times" today, paul krugman called it a myth. what texas shows a state

offering cheap labor and less important weak regulation can attract jobs from other states. i believe that the appropriate response is well, duh. the point is that arguing from this experience that depressing wages and dismantling regulation in america as a whole, what is the argument that makes sense, but what do you make of it? >> it's not going to dent him in a gop primary, chris. this is the message eye going to hear from mitt romney again, from rick perry. we're starting to hear it already in the last 24 hours. the first part of it is, rick perry does not have the private sector job creating experience that i have, and the second part of it is, this is somebody that's a career politician. a little lifer at time when the public is sort of maximum state of antipathy towards the political class. you heard romney today in new hampshire, sounding that note. now, i asked perry about it today walking around the state

fair, and he said, that's not the case. he got out of the air force, he came back to his family's cotton farm and helped run the cotton farm. and he said, just because i didn't work at bayne capital doesn't mean i don't have private sector experience. so, chris, this race is taking off in a hurry out here in iowa. >> by the way, couldn't at some point perry make the point, from me to you, john, that the reason you're in the private sector is because you didn't have a chance in hell getting reelected governor of massachusetts and everybody in the state knows it? that's why you went into the private sector again. just a thought. thank you, great reporting. >> thank you, chris. >> from iowa. with him all day. for more on perry's record in texas, we all want to know what you know, congressman. how did a pal is this guy? >> chris, she is a fellow who is a little big for his boots. an pretty inflated view of himself. more inflated after hearing your show this afternoon.

he is a very strong politician. i've known him since 1984 when he first ran, but his claim that he can perform miracles here in the economy in texas is something that doesn't hold up to careful scrutiny. >> so what have i said that's toot nice about him? >> you haven't said anything too nice about him. his ability to leapfrog michele bachmann or anyone else to the right, he'll move at far right, as disagreeable as possible to win those republican primary voters. rime hoping we have a strategy for the fall, because i don't think those extreme views will appeal to suburban voters, even to some republicans. >> how tough do you think he can be against obama? he land add real haymaker his week about the military. made it seem there's something wrong essentially and personally with the president. take a listen to this.

from this weekend, a comment this weekend that raised some eyebrows. watch this now. a video of the governor in waterloo iowa last night taking a very strong swipe at the president's role as commander in chief. let's watch. >> one of the reasons, one of the powerful reasons, that i'm running for the presidency of the united states is to make sure that every young man and woman who puts on the uniform of this country respects highly the president of the united states. >> now, what's that about? >> well, chris, it's about the fact that republicans, especially primary voters, have never accepted president obama. they have -- we probably have never had a president whose had less respect than this president. after all, he is the president who did away with osama bin laden. he didn't just talk about it. he acted. rick perry is just promoting the disrespect for our president. i don't agree with the president myself on every single issue,

but the suggestion that he is not serving at a very effective commander in chief with the respect of all the people in our armed services is outrageous. >> but it really strikes me as cutting very close to the awful tribalism, birtherism, if you will, there's something ethnically wrong. you don't know it's exactly what he's saying, but darn it, it comes across as. that he's illegitimate. >> just a new phase. not accepting a president who has worked from day one to try to bring people together, but every time he reaches out across the aisle with people that were elected to be disagreeable, he just gets kicked. that's why a lot of us are saying, keep reaching out but stand firm for these principles that are so important like medicare and social security that rick perry suggested are just a crumbling example of the new deal, and would reject. >> the most right wing guy i've seen around.

thank you for your expertise from texas. up next, it's clear michele bachmann is looking over her shoulder now at governor perry. who wouldn't? she's tweaked her campaign message over it's weekend and now is a job creator. she's trying to be him now. always a mistake. bachmann in her own words coming up in the "sideshow." you're watching "hardball," only on msnbc. at is that?

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back to "hardball" now. the "sideshow." first up, this one's a real whopper. a new voter i.d. bill set to take affect in texas, specific identification to cast their ballot on election day next november. on the list for appropriate forms of i.d., of course, driver's licenses, passports, citizenship papers and, yes, concealed handgun licenses. well, how about veterans affairs i.d. cards?

here's what the state's director of the secretary of state election division had to say about earlier this month. here's what he had to say. >> now, several folks asked yesterday would a veterans card work? so somebody who's been in the military and has been issued a v.a. card has a photo would that work? the answer is, no. >> wow. really? these are people who have spent a portion of their lives at least dedicated to protecting and serving the country, perhaps even risking their lives and they could be turned away when they show up to vote on friday? on friday, rather, i spoke with the secretary of state finally responded to the inevitable backlash saying, right now our office has not issued a final determination on that. looks like a real slow back pedal there. up next, what did michele bachmann, mitt romney, rick perry and jon huntsman all have in common? before you say not a lot, listen to what tom brokaw summed up as similarities. >> i will say this about the three people who now seem to be

the front-runners at a very, very early stage of the process. they all have good hair. that is the best republican hair i have seen in a long time. when you think about that, mitt romney, rick perry and michele bachmann, and then if you throw in jon huntsman, i mean, you've got a quartet of hair -- >> i do like they're hair. >> anchormen and presidential candidate. do then have the same job requirements? for the big number. michele bachmann made the rounds sunday morning television, of course, this week at talking points in hand. over the course of five, count them, five morning interviews bachmann positioned herself as a successful business own are and a new one a job creator. suffice to say the eschew came up more than once. >> my husband and i started and own a successful company. >> my husband and i started a successful company. >> my husband and i started a successful company. >> my husband and i also started our own company. we have a successful company. >> my husband and i create add company. >> as a job creator.

>> we're jacques job creators. >> job creators. >> well, how many times did michele bachmann call attention to her status as a business owner and job creator? in the course of one sunday morning, nine times. what does bachmann say she deserves the new title of job creator because "she understand how high taxes destroy jobs." gotcha. a powerful statements. and up next, president obama kicks off his president's campaign with a bus tour through the midwest, but with a gallup approval rating hovering around 40% and no plan out there to put americans to work, doesn't he need to have something more in his pocket? you're watching "hardball," only on msnbc. let me tell you about a very important phone call i made. when i got my medicare card, i realized i needed an aarp... medicare supplement insurance card, too. medicare is one of the great things about turning 65, but it doesn't cover everything. in fact, it only pays up to 80% of your part b expenses.

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now that tim pawlenty's out of the republican race, they want him to run for the senate next year. another chance in 2014 run against al franken had his term's up. the governorship is also up, if he wants his old job back. probably thinking more about franken. what he doesn't want, vice president. he says that because he probably wants it. if you say you want it, you're

he wants his old job back.

sell, but i think it's better -- he's going to have to come up with something for the fall, and they said repeatedly they will. if he don't, that would be a big disappointment. given he doesn't have a policy now and no incentive to get anything done, to go out, communicate with people is better than doing nothing. >> rachel maddow, my successful colleague. talking about use a little jujitsu. go to the republican records. check the records of any job proposal they recommended in their district. fund it. take their stuff.

take their stuff and -- michele bachmann wanted 3,000 jobs for bridge building. well, give her her bridge. your party wouldn't say no, would it? >> they wouldn't say no. >> they've been -- it's kind of -- >> that's the point. everybody has skin in this game to some degree. he's not playing at that level. he's still on the thinking, convince with a good speech, good talking point and america's like, show me some papers, show me what you're going to do. i think the president's made a big miss stack, with perry coming into the race. he better get his game on. perry will not sit down and wait for him to bring out a plan. >> perry is taking his case to the president. blaming the president in his montage. let's watch. >> mr. president, you need to free up the employers of this country to create jobs. get rid of the regulations that

are stifling jobs in america. >> obviously, president obama's policies are failing the economy. we took the biggest punch to the gut this week that we have seen in our economy. >> he seems to be more intent on trying to save his job than to try to create jobs for the american people. >> well, that's a great sort of character study. isn't it? you got him going, acting like a country boy dropping his jeans and then bachmann, that passion and then romney. anyway -- the campaign for re-election of the president is beginning now. coming into labor day. looks like we're ahead of schedule. for a campaign slow to start, it looks like this battle, increasingly the front-runner, rick perry against the president. >> those donors on the sideline, particularly those who can bundle the cash, beginning to filter into the perry lineup. you're going to have sigh think a step-up in the game by mitt romney. he knows there's a lot more pressure on his heels and

bachmann, still the x factor, is not going to back away. all three of them, looking to be president. >> not running against each other. they're all running against obama. a very difficult position for the president. a constant barrage of attack. usually the president gets to skirt along for a while -- right, while the wannabes focus on each other. not this time. >> and perry doesn't -- >> that will take care of itself, but trust me, there's going to be enough incoming obama between now and when that happens that they can afford to take that time. >> i'd rather talk about jobs what i care about, but can't avoid politics. has your party increasingly come under the control of the tea party? three possible candidates right now. perry, rick perry, governor of texas, hot guy now. michele bachmann just won the first campaign event. the ames straw poll, and, of course, romney, front-runner in

all the polls. one of the see there not a tea party person? >> there's a great influence by the tea party. remember, the tea party disaffected republicans, folks outside the party going back to the last days of bush. so now they've come back in with a strong message. the party's adopted that message. everyone wants to say they're one in the same. they are not. remember, these are the same folk whose would take out a republican in a primary assume -- >> i'm not reading it clearly. can romney still claim to be a tea party person? >> i think he can. in his romney-esque way, yeah. >> a position he's taken on in the tea party, he hasn't. >> we went through the neck decalogue, the ten commandments they believed in. he signed on to pretty much all of them. >> yes, exactly. of course. >> and tea party, lose his job, anyway, thank you. up next, warren buffett says tax the rich. he's tired of being coddled by congress and that the wealthy like him can afford to pay their

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for a 30-tablet free trial offer, go to cialis.com. now that tim pawlenty's out of the republican race, they want him to run for the senate next year. another chance in 2014 run against al franken had his term's up. the governorship is also up, if he wants his old job back. probably thinking more about franken. what he doesn't want, vice president. he says that because he probably wants it. if you say you want it, you're not likely to get it. we'll be right back.

we're back. billionaire, warren buffet, one of the richest men in history and certainly in america, says the taxes he paid last year isn't enough. he wrote a column today entitled, stop coddling the super rich. it says in part, our leaders ask for shared sacrifice. but when they did the asking, they spared me. i checked with my mega rich friends to see what pain they were having, they too were untouched. my friends and i have been cod elled enough by congress. it is time for them to get serious about like what barack obama has been saying, but can he get it done with a tea party? columnist for the washington post, also an msnbc political analyst. gene, what do you react to this, a guy who has a godly level of

money saying tax me more. >> well, i think people say yes, okay, sure, warren buffet should pay more and bill gates should pay more and larry elson should pay more. >> i don't have to pay more? >> and so should -- this is the point, the hedge fund guys, for example, who pay 15% instead of a higher income tax rate you and i pay, they pay essentially 15% on what they earn, a lower percentage. >> this has been true awhile. doing this thing on kennedy, working on my book, there it is, all this money kennedy was talking about, saying it's an issue here, and can you get to it in the next term? tragically, he didn't get another term, but the idea the super rich, super tax concessions, super deals. let's take a look at pat buchanan here.

he said he had this to say about buffet on "morning joe" today, let's listen to patrick. >> i'm a little fed up with these people, why doesn't he set an example and send a check for $5 billion to the federal government? he's got about $40 billion. i talked in boston where the super rich could contribute an extra amount, it was something like 1/10 of 1% did it. all these noise from these big rich folks, let them set an example instead of writing op ads. >> reasonable proposal, put your money where your mouth is. >> also keep in mind warren buffet has given away billions and billions of dollars, essentially giving away his fortune. >> here's columnist steve pearlstein, he wrote this letter to corporate ceos, what started as a reasonable attempt at political rebalances turned into

a jihad against all regulation, all taxes, and all government waged by right-wing zealots who want to privatize public schools, cut back on basic research in which your products are based, shut down regulatory agencies, and, of course, privatize the public infrastructure that supports your supplies and finished goods for them. this isn't a tactic to brush back government, it's a holy war to destroy it and one that's now out of your control. i agree. all my life have been surrounded by rms and democrats that don't like taxes, few people do. but this guy, rick perry, is out there selling it like religion. >> exactly, this is new. you saw the debate last night where all the republican candidates, and this is before perry got in, but i'm sure he would have been there too. >> there's the picture. >> all raised their hands. they wouldn't accept a ten to one deal, budget cuts to new

revenue. i've never heard of such a thing and it's hard to imagine how you get to a balanced budget or fiscal sanity. >> as much as i'm impressed i won't wait for them to take pat's advice and the united states treasury, washington, d.c. sure they'll be accepted. your thought about perry, is this guy really the perry on top of this cake right now? >> i think it's a formidable politician, he's got experience, he's off like gang busters. he immediately becomes a top tier candidate, and i think at the white house they are having to do some recalibration today and to think about gee, maybe we'll run against perry instead of romney. >> top editor at the post, you think the nation's big newspapers and big news organizations are now going to send every nickel they have to go investigate this guy?

>> absolutely. absolutely. >> tremendous amount of investigation, this guy. he better be clean as a whistle, time's coming, he's arrived. the march of time has become. >> it's hot in here, you know? >> don't like the heat, stay out of the kitchen, governor. when we return, let me finish with a tea party cake with a perry on top. you're watching "hardball." ugh, my feet are killin' me. well, we're here to get you custom orthotic inserts. we can't afford that. yes, we can. dr. scholl's custom fit orthotic center. foot-care scientists are behind it. ( man ) you have flat feet... no way... way. orthotic 440 is recommended. it recommends the custom-fit orthotic insert that's best for your feet. you'll get all-day relief. for your tired, achy feet. and you could save a couple hundred bucks. sweet. this is great. dr. scholl's custom fit orthotic center. thank you... who are you talking to ? for locations, see drscholls.com.

let me finish tonight with the joy of watching a cake get baked. this weekend the republican party baked its cake. that cake is now out there on display in the national window for all to see. two layers, bachmann and romney and a perry on top. all the fixens are off the table, santorum is not going to be the nominee or newt or the others, pawlenty took himself out, clean. now the cake is baked, perry, look at him up there and realize wow, what just happened? this weekend it went from a party with the wrong ingredients or not enough to the right ones to hey, look at that cake with a perry on top, that doesn't look good. here's the story that cake is telling us. the republican party is now two-thirds tea.

the only winner in anything so far and perry looking every inch the winner. romney is the only one that doesn't belong in this new political confection that hates anything to do with health care, climate change, or has room for somebody who once backed abortion rights. from here on out, it's the battle of the months, it's from here back to iowa, then to new hampshire and south carolina. we've got three in this thing and nobody being called to come in. something's changed this weekend. the cake got baked and it's all about romney and bachmann and that perry on top. that's "hardball" for now, thanks for being with us, "the last word with lawrence o'donnell" starts right now. the third wealthiest man on the planet says president obama is right about taxes. rick perry says obama's wrong about that and everything else, and penn jillette is here with why rick perry is wrong about god.