these two words, and know your families agree -- "welcome home." welcome home. welcome home. >> plus time magazine unveils its person or people of the year right here. and good day i'm andrea mitchell live in washington. in the daily fix today the two leading republicans both have electability problems. mitt romney with conservatives in his own party. according to a new poll while 70% of republican voters call themselves conservative only 29% believe that romney is a conservative among them compared to 57% who describe newt gingrich that way. but gingrich has his own problems. only 24% of the public views him

missou positively. we have two reporters for our gail daily fix. john you have looked a it the numbers. can republican voters end up choosing ideology or choose pragmatism? >> well they've got electability problems with either of these nominees. that's one of the things we saw in the poll, andrea. mitt romney is also under water in terms of his favorability. not as badly as newt gingrich is. he has problems the party has image problems. on the primary choice, pragmatism is a weak reed to count on in primary elections where people vote with their heart especially the republican party which is much more ideologically energetic and charged radio it now. >> is romney so desperate that he is trotting out christine o'donnell? what was that endorsement trum itted by the romney folks last

night and by christine o'donnell. >> that o'donnell decided to wade into the race is not terribly surprising. she wants to remain relevant and sell a few more books. the thing i was struck by was that the romney campaign put out a release. they had a quote about how she is a leader among conservatives. there are marginal benefits to having christine o'donnell. she does have a donor list. she is seen among some people within the tea party as one of their leaders. but those are offset that she is a punch line more than a politician since her 2010 senate run. and i don't think there is one endorsement that makes mitt romney credible. >> i don't know, maybe sharon engle would do it. >> but for the romney people saying she has been a conservative leader for many years. that is a stretch.

it seems to smack of a little bit of desperation. i want to go to the general election match-ups with president obama. clearly the race is a lot tougher for president against mitt romney. they have been pla planning on running against him. they would prefer newt gingrich. it would be 47-45 against mitt romney but against newt gingrich, president obama would have a far easier time. 51-47. >> that is why the obama campaign is focused on mitt romney going after christine o'donnell, ridiculing that on twitter. they know that mitt romney if he is able to make it through this process has a more competitive chance of running toward the middle in the general. but you know, this is going to be a close race no matter what. i think newt gingrich has big flaws but newt gingrich has shown that he can't be

underestimated. the obama team would rather have the election be against newt gingrich. >> and hillary clinton has weighed into the controversy. she was asked by jim leher of pbs. she said it was clear that newt gingrich realizes that himself because of backing off of it. is this the unexpected thing that gingrich will always do in any campaign and why you cannot predict an outcome of one of his races? >> it is a key in the debates. mitt romney tried to use the comments to paint newt gingrich as basically unhelpful, putting dploe diplomacy in the political contest. newt gingrich refused to back down saying i will call it what

it is. i'm not worried about people who think i'm over the line here. i think they would rather not have someone who is timid and cautious. that is a great primary message. it is far less beneficial in a general election when you have a 50/50 chance of being the president of the united states. mitt romney won't say the things that get conservatives excited but that preserves him best for a general election but he may not get there. >> and the comment about the palestinians was made on the jewish channel but it could be looking at the evangelical voters. is it a primary strategy. thanks very much. thanks to john and chris, boast of you. and chris matthews is the host of msnbc's "hardball" and on the best seller list. it's great to see you back. >> i'm fighting it out with glenn beck on that best seller.

i think is it golden gate questions. primary voters as one of the two commentators just said they vote with their heart. but even they have to be asked a question. do you give someone who you acknowledge as bomb thrower a nuclear weapon? do you make him commander-in-chief? we worry about the i rainians having nuclear weapons imagine newt gingrich having them. a man whose temperament who is tuned to the primary voters. but we are talking about picking a president and the republicans who want to defeat this president have to confront the question themselves do you want newt in the white house? that is a big question to answer. >> republicans have voted him in as speaker and third in line or second in line. >> is it a knew week office where uniquely place the power of the military in the hands of an elected official, the

commander-in-chief, the president. does this man pass the test? conservatives say he makes erratic statements and says things like the palestinians are an invented people. wey used the that in the middle east and discount it oftentimes. but imagine an american president talking like that. the words themselves can fuel hostility on the other side. imagine in the united states of total them that you are an invented people. someone cooked up the name. you are not a country and you might get a slice of something. you won't get the west bank. a president talks like that, war. >> the fact is that it isn't israel's policy os american policy. >> certainly not. >> when hes about he was a historian. >> churchill did that -- >> i think we have to have a conversation on both right,

left, and center on who would be a good president. eventually it has to get to that. not who takes -- clicks in with your anger zone but who should be president. it's a good question, by the way. >> it's a very big question. it is the critical question in a year according to our poll, as you looked at the numbers, this is what -- the queen -- what queen elizabeth called the annis horriblus. these numbers are one of the worst. people who say 76% of those questions in the poll say that this was below average or one of the worst years they can remember. it's not just the economics. i think the critical point was the august debate over the debt ceiling. they see no action and failure by all institutions. there is no institution with credibility. >> i have been working on a book

on john f. kennedy. we watch programs like "madmen" and "pan am" that period was a period in the early '60s before it was fuelled by long hair and dope but it was a positive period in our lives. >> assassinations. >> before that. up until dallas when everything went dark on us there was a sense we could do anything. the "wall street journal" polls they asked can the federal government do what it sets out the do? 70% said yes. the american people are not -- this is disillusioning. you used to be able to disagree but it would be effective. now you see people going i don't care who gets elected they are incompetent. that is a real difference. >> and the two party system another big test in the poll.

only 12% of those questions feel that it works well. 51% say that the system has real problems. 34 percent want a third party and speaking of third party here's the donald dangling as -- >> that's a joke. >> as he got out of that debate. >> there are -- >> okay. >> because of the fact that the republicans are upset and because of the fact that i refuse to give up the possibility of running as an independent candidate i've decided to cancel the debate. >> that's not the reason he gave up. it's because no one was showing up. >> but ron paul could be a real factor. >> i called up immediatery and said congratulations david. that was a good bit of news there. if ron paul runs he starts at 15 or so. he is a libertarian with a

consistent, constant argument. too much government, too much involvement in foreign policy. dovish in a sense. appealing to people in their 20s and 30s who want less government. i can see having a real ameal. but he would have more if it were obama, romney and him. if newt runs as the nominee he might be able to stretch from center right to right because he is nimble and able to grab the territory. he catches the angry people. he is 10 to 15 points to start with and i think he hurts the republicans. and mike bloomberg would hurt obama. >> there will be a third party because we have the america votes thing. there is an constitution. >> the online ballot. >> you have heard petraeus thrown around. i don't -- >> don't believe that. >> you know that better than i.

i think there is a on opening -- i think a colleague here in the morning, scarborough. >> you are making trouble. >> for our management. >> chris matthews thank you very much. and of course the book is "jack kennedy elusive hero." >> it has been top five for five weeks. people want a good story for christmas. >> reminds us of times that were better and the greatest tragedy of our lives. and "hardball" with crist matthews at 5:00 and 7:00 p.m. only on msnbc. and the war is over. what next for iraq? joining us stephen hadley. and have a question you want me to answer join me on monday for a live web chat online at andrea.msnbc.com. this is "andrea mitchell reports" only on msnbc. [ male announcer ] wouldn't it be cool

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vice president joe bide up has made news by telling rachel maddow in an interview that even if iraq has agreed to keep 20,000 american troops the white house would not have gone for it. >> i don't think we would have responded positively to that. had they said we need troops to train us in country that we would have considered but the idea of keeping 20,000 troops there, no. >> stephen hadley is with the u.s. substitute for peace and was national security visor under george w. bush. there were reports that we

wanted 20,000 and couldn't negotiate that with the government in iraq. what is your take on this? >> i think vice president biden's quote made it clear that the administration was not interested in having 10, 20,000 troops there. that's a decision they made. others included myself would have made a different decision. but we have to look going forward. i think it is good they are focusing on the strategic framework agreement for an ongoing relationship between iraq and the united states with political, economic and security dimensions. and i hope they are exploiting that agreement and laying out a framework for a relationship going forward that includes a vehicle for helping to continue to train iraqi security forces and help them incorporate into their force structure the new hardware that they're doing and

help them the counterterrorism operations they need to do so iran cannot destabilize the position in iraq. >> ted coppell on "rock center" showed just how exposed our new consulate is in basra and how much security is being built in and as you know very well we have 17,000 american kivlians, contractors, diplomats, cia and other personnel at outposts in iraq. how vulnerable are we and how much can we rely on the government? >> the iraqis have made it clear that they are iraqis first and shia second. and we knelt the end that iraqi nationalism will trump shiaism. i think that is true. i think he showed that he is an

iraqi first. that is very important. but we never tried to do what we're doing in iraq now through a strictly state department mission. that's another reason many people think if we left 10 to 20,000 american troops there it would make it easier to ensure security so our state department people can do what they need to do in this situation going forward to help strengthen ties between the united states and iraq. >> are we throwing enough at iran to slow down their nuclear program? >> i don't know. but i sure hope so. that is the opportunity. people say there are a lot of faux arguments and faux discussions and one is there is no military options. there is a broad away of things we can do overtly and covertly between sanctions and short of a large scale military operations. i hope the administration is exploiting these things. you want to push back the date

when iran is able to move to a nuclear weapon and bring forward the day when the iranian people make another shot at freeing themselves from this regime. we should hope that the arab awakening in fact comes once again to the i rainian people and if it does that we are more supportive of their efforts than in 2009. >> should we have bombed the drone even though it was on i rainian territory? >> i think, you know, given all the things iran is doing in terms of supporting folks that have killed americans in iraq and the support for terror they're doing, the support for syrians we would have been well advised to just ensure that that drone was destroyed on the ground. it is not attacking iran.

i think we should have removed the temptation from them to try to -- >> would we have been starting a war? >> i don't think so. there are ways to do it that are stealthy. >> steve hadley, thank you very much for being with us. up next, boehner on gingrich. we're kind of a quiet couple. yes. but lately we've been using k-y® intense™. it stimulates arousal so the big moment is... (announcer) k-y® brand intense™ - intensifies female satisfaction. [ female announcer ] we never forget the nearly 12 million cancer survivors in america today... and the countless lives lost. we owe it to them to protect funding for cancer research, prevention and access to care. congress, make cancer a priority and give millions of americans what they need most.

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at a politico breakfast this morning, john boehner praised newt gingrich for his intelligence and out of the box thinking. boehner responded to questions about whether he was part of the movement that removed gingrich as speaker 13 years ago. >> i never parted in an attempt to overthrow the speaker of the house. >> jake sherman is here and was at this session with the speaker

today. he acknowledged he overheard the plotters. this sounds very much like sort of julius caesar and -- >> it's an interesting bit of history. >> going after the king. what was your take away? >> that speaker boehner doesn't like answering these questions. we asked about his role in the alleged coup that almost happened and he said that it's an incorrect rumor that he was a part of any of that. that elicited sneers around the woman. today he addressed it head on. he said he heard conversations but was not part of conversations and never tried to overthrow the speaker of the house. he talked about newt more than ever since newt launched his presidential campaign. >> i don't think any of the people who worked and served with newt gingrich have endorsed

him so far. but he was more forward leaning today his strength and the fact he could be the nominee could have some something to do with this. >> they have both been around here for a long time. boehner's chief of staff was chose on the run the contract with america communications operation out of the rnc, i believe. they're close and remain friends. boehner gave gingrich advice on his campaign which gingrich took. the one interesting thing he said that i got from this morning is that boehner said that gingrich is not as conservative as some people might think. that is incredibly interesting. >> jake sherman. quite a session you had today. thank you for briefing us today. coming up next, mitt woo consec jim clyburn here on the payroll tax showdown. and website website is

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what's in your wallet? sorry i'll clean this up. shouldn't have made it rain. eric holder says there are indications that minorities are being kept out of the political process. mentioning the redistricting in texas. >> the most recent sen susz data indicated that texas gained 4 million new residents. the vast majority are hispanic and it allows for four new congressional seats. but the state will add zero additional seats. >> pete williams is the justice correspondent. this issue is bubbling and we really haven't seen it addressed from the white house. now the attorney general is jumping into it.

that's a big deal. >> he meant zero additional seats where hispanics would have a majority voting opportunity. so here you have an attorney general who is given the toughest line yet from the obama administration on the state changes in voting. you mentioned photo i.d. laws. they are the hot thing right now. and the advocates say it is necessary to prevent in person voter fraud at the polls. opponents say that voter fraud is not that big of a problem. then you have restrictions on early voting and registration at the polls. and the attorney general said this is an attorney general who made civil rights a big priority speaking at the lbj library. it's a dramatic setting to lay down this marker and he said by the way, the justice department because of its role in clearing changes in voting in states with a history of discrimination we

are watching to see whether the changes violate the voting rights act. the attorney general is certainly right to say it'shearted to find a lot of cases of in person voting fraud. a problem for the opponent of these laws it's equally hard to find proof that the new laws suppress minority turnout. >> but is this a brush back pitch in the sense that telling states we're watching or is he going to take them to court? >> he didn't say whether he would take them to court. he said we'll look and see whether it violates the voting rights act. if so we'll act if not they'll be fine. >> pete williams, thank you very much sir. the battle over the payroll tax is in the senate. senate republican leader mitch mcconnell is demanding that the senate vote on a spending bill

before it takes up the house bill on the payroll tax cut. harry reid blasted the republicans who have supporting the house version. >> keep this in mind, the house has passed a bill that i have said and non-democrats have said is a dead duck. d.o.a., dead on arrival. >> if the majority leader is convinced that it is d.o.a. talk about crafting a bill that can pass the republican house and a democratic senate. >> james clyburn, the assistant minority leader is with us now. our new poll tells us that congress is at historic lows. we have never seen numbers like this before in terms of people just fed up with the -- the inability to get anything done. yet that doesn't seem to motivate compromise on the payroll tax bill. >> thank you so much for having

me, andrea. look, if i were asked the question i would be very upset with the congress. i am upset with the house of representatives and i might add the filibustering that is taking place in the senate. the fact of the matter is there is not an inability to do what needs to be done. all of us have the ability to do it. there is an unwillingness on the side of my republican friends to stay away from partisanship and let's do what is in the best interest of the country. the president told us all before the vote that if we were to send him this bill he is going to veto is. the leader in the senate told the house before the vote that they would not take up the bill in the form that we were discussing it. yet, they loaded it up with these partisan pills and put stuff in there they knew would be offensive to the white house and to a majority of the senate

and passed it anyway. i might add, 14 republicans voted with us who oppose this bill. i know there are 10 democrats that voted for it. but there is a bigger bipartisan vote in opposition to it than in support of it. >> congressman, are you willing to support the pipeline if that ends up being in this compromise? the pipeline is one of the things added by the republican advocates of the pipeline from canada down to mexico. >> i'm very much for the pipeline. no question about that. but the pipeline is important enough to stand alone. it ought not be in this built. >> but should the president veto the payroll tax extension if it has the pipeline in it? >> i think so. but not just because of the pipeline they are lopping off 40 weeks of unemployment insurance.

even without the pipeline i would vote against this bill and advise the president not to be for it. >> jim clyburn. thank you so much. >> thank you for having me. in our latest poll, newt gingrich is widening his gap over mitt romney 40% to 23%. and romney is having trouble selling himself as a conservative to republican primary voters. our poll found that only 29% believe that romney is a true conservative. 57% believe that gingrich is in fact a real conservative. thank you so much, gayle. great to see you. >> thank you for having me. >> how do you combat the issue of romney not being conservative enough? do you try to make him appear more conservative or just try to expand the rest of the electorate which is not easy to do in iowa? >> governor romney has good conservative credentials.

if you look at how he governed as governor of massachusetts he was conservative when it comes to cutting spending and a strong record on creating jobs. what we are going to do is go to the early states and the number one issue on the minds of voters if they are conservative, liberal or independent is jobs and governor romney put forth his vision and plan and we've had a very good response to that. >> how do you respond to the tape that emerges yesterday of governor romney when he was describing himself as a progressive in 2002 and not a partisan republican? doesn't that counter act the conservative argument? >> i would disagree with that. if you take a look at what he did as governor he was a pro-growth governor in the state of massachusetts especially when they were facing hardships when it comes to employment at the time. he created tens of thousands of

jobs. anybody who looks at his record can see what he did and he governed from a conservative pro-growth approach. >> i know you need conservatives in iowa. but a lot of people are questioning why the romney campaign call christine o'donnell a long-time conservative leader. she doesn't have a lot of credibility. >> well i would say this that we need conservatives -- or we need republicans of all stripes. we need very conservative republicans and very moderate republicans and that's what we have to win the nomination. we are going to continue to go to iowa and we're going to continue to talk about our message. >> and also wanted to give you a chance to respond to newt gingrich. i know governor romney responded during the debate, newt gingrich's comment that the palestinians are an invented people. this is what hillary clinton had to say about it today.

>> what newt gingrich said about the invented people of palestine helpful? >> no. no. and i think he recognized that from what i read. i think he realized that was, you know, one of those innovative moments that happens in politics. >> and you're response to that? i know it just happened too. >> it came up in the debate in iowa the other day too. and i think that it was a real moment of strength for governor romney to put forth how he would deal with sensitive situations like in the middle east. his approach would be to stand with our allies in the middle east and not to speak for them. it was a real difference in approach. one approach is measured and to stand with our allies and while speaker gingrich's approach was more boorish i guess i would

say. >> is it the first time you have been on our show. we welcome you and look forward a a long campaign. >> thank you. and coming up next, people power times richard stengle. we know a place where tossing and turning have given way to sleeping. where sleepless nights yield to restful sleep. and lunesta can help you get there, like it has for so many people before. when taking lunesta, don't drive or operate machinery until you feel fully awake. walking, eating, driving, or engaging in other activities while asleep, without remembering it the next day, have been reported. abnormal behaviors may include aggressiveness, agitation, hallucinations or confusion. in depressed patients, worsening of depression,

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align can help. only align has bifantis, a pantented probiotic that naturally helps maintain your digestive balance. ♪ ooh baby, (what) can i do for you today? ♪ try align today. coming up on news nation, eric holder warns new voter i.d. laws could hurt minority voters. he promises a review of the new

laws and calling on lawmakers to reevaluate our election system. we will talk about. where the best jobs to work next year, 2012? a new list ranks employee salaries, benefits, the ceo and a lot more. we'll tell you the companies on that list when news nation gets started in about 15 minutes. "time magazine"'s person of the year is the protester. the choice reflects the stunning nature of the grass roots revolutions in egypt and libya and challenged governments in greece and moscow. in summing up the past 12 months "time" suggests it shows the community at a tipping point. why the protester? let's talk more about why you see this as an historic moment

around the globe here and overseas. >> i think it is a historic moment because these young men and women starting in the middle east and spreading like a virus to europe and america and russia are changing the way we look at democracy. they are bringing a fresh view of democracy. they are threatening power and are trying to lib list democracy. we are at a historical moment. it's not just looking back but looking ahead. they will continue to inspire people in the year ahead as well. >> i was talking to middle east experts about the arab awakening, the arab spring or winter or whatever you want to call it. one of the notable things about what happened in egypt is that these were not political

protests per se. the people who are protesting are not the people coming into governments. >> no. in fact i was just in egypt and tunisia a couple of weeks ago. the spirit was people who are fed up and frustrated. they didn't know what they were for but they knew what they were against. like so many of the protests in the middle east and the west these were educated and young people who wanted a change. and they got part of the change that they wanted in toppling mubarack. but what they have not gotten is what succeeds that. they are better at protesting than they are about governing. we'll see what happens. >> the other thing is what is happening at home, the occupy movement and tea party movement. we are seeing anger in our institutions. could this lead to another 1968? could this lead to a summer of protests at our conventions? >> i definitely think that's

possible. our great cover story speculates that you have to go back to a period like 1968 here in america to see that same spirit of protest of people taking to the street, of people so frustrated that they feel like they have to actually get out there. and now that the occupy movement is kind of in hibernation and by all accounts and reporting they are planning for 2012, which of course is a presidential election year. and in 1968 the demonstrations were at the democratic convention, not really the republican convention. i wouldn't be surprised if something like that happens again this year. let's talk about the runners up and they are all major players. but let's talk first of all about the person who came in second, admiral william mccraven. not well known, the leader of the seal team that got osama bin laden. >> right.

it's a terrific story. and you learn stuff about him that you didn't know before. but he really is the secret master of special ops and so much of the way american warfare is fought in the 21st century. he is a pivotal figure in everything thwe do. he was the commander of seal team six and he set it up for the president to make the decision and go ahead and capture or kill osama bin laden. >> one of the most interesting quotes from this piece was that he told the president one of the things we made clear to the president and the national leadership was this is what we do. we do raids. we fly in by helicopters. we assault compounds, we, you know, we grab the bad guy. >> i mean, he was essentially saying to president obama, we do this all the time. this is our job. it just happens the target in

this case is a little bit more profile than who we are usually getting. >> you mentioned paul ryan. why paul ryan in this context and the others who came in second, third and fourth place? >> i think representative ryan in many ways has set the tone for the entire presidential campaign, certainly the campaign in the republican party this year by basically focusing early on before other people had done it on the problem of debt, the property of deficits and basically setting up -- this is the standard by which you all are going to be judged by which we will all be judged. when the president did not have a plan, ryan came up with a plan. and i think that characterized the entire debate this whole year and will do that in the year to come. >> and our thanks to you, rick stengel. thank you for being with us to talk about the person of the

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which political story will make headlines in the next 24 hours? msnbc contributor and managing editor of post politics.com, chris cillizza joins us. what are you at tomorrow? >> it is the end, at least for this year of debates. >> well, the beginning of the end. >> yeah. the 14th debate of this year will happen in sioux city, iowa, tomorrow night. an interesting thing to think about. this is the last debate, the last chance eye wants will see. they're all on a stage together before that january 3rd iowa caucus vote. we have the christmas and hannukkah coming up. the campaign may go a little dormant. you want to use your "a" best material out there. i would assume it will be very

combative with a lot of focus on gingrich. >> and there are some potential sleeper candidates here. because ron paul is turning out big crowds. >> oh, yeah. >> he has a very good organization. you have the hope, at least from the perry-bachmann-santorum groups that they c groups. it is still too early to tell. >> yeah. the changeability of the electorate has been remarkable in the past six months. i totally agree. but i would watch two people. one is rick perry because he is spending lots and lots of money as is the super pack supporting him in iowa. as you mentioned, ron paul. we don't talk about much about him. everyone i talk to in iowa, smart political operatives who are unaffiliated, they say one of two people. the obvious one is night

gingrich. the less obvious one is ron paul. i would not be stunned, i would be surprised but not stunned if we were talking about ron paul iowa caucus winner. >> and it depends on whether the college students decide to stay over the new years break and turn out the vote for them. thank you very much. see you tomorrow. that does it for us. for this edition of andrea mitchell reports. thank you for joining us. follow the show online. and tamron? >> bobby will join me live to talk about this cover. time has selected the protester as the person of the year from the arab world to the united states. how will the protests we all witness affect next year's policies. plus, president obama and the first lady spoke at ft. bragg a couple of hours ago. the president called it an extraordinary achievement that troops are leaving iraq a stable

nation. nbc's chief foreign correspondent richard engel will join me live. i'll also talk with general barry mccaffrey.

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get 200 free trades today and explore your next investing idea. right now, power to the people. "time" magazine names the protester as its person of the year. the magazine says protests this year share, or protesters share belief that the economies have grown dysfunctional and corrupt. "time" magazine's bobby will join us live. >> welcome home. welcome home. >> the president and the first lady at ft. bragg today marking the end of the war in iraq. the president saying u.s. troops, nearly nine years in iraq. it is ending, quote, not a final battle but with a final march toward home. newt gingrich acts as a member of his team for calling mormonism a cult.