that they have compared newt gingrich to don draper of "mad men." it's not a casting i would have thought of. and he described him as having a broken zipper. so the lid is off in iowa. >> i think a pop culture reference that might fly over the heads of many evangelicals in iowa. if it's way too early what time is it? >> it's time for morning joe but now it's time for chuck todd and "the daily rundown." newt gingrich takes a beating and all those negative ads running against him in iowa and he's taking a stand, lashing out at mitt romney that he says mitt romney is lying about his relationship with his super pacs. this morning our live interview with governor romney on those ads, his competition and his closing arguments in the final stretch before voting begins. who blinks first, president obama and house republicans in a test of wills over the payroll

tax extension with the clock running out. 160 million americans have a thousand dollar stake in this fight. eric cantor will join us with his reasons for standing firm. and chaos in egypt. women march in cairo outraged over the beating of women by soldiers last week. a million person march is planned for the end of this week. it's wednesday, december 21st, 2011, and this is a special edition of "the daily rundown." i'm chuck todd coming to you from the stage here in keene, new hampshire. folks can clap around here, it's good, we're at a rally. thanks very much. let's get right to my first read of the morning. gridlock still the word of the day on capitol hill where it's standoff between the house and senate on the payroll tax has escalated with the president and speaker boehner now exchanging charges. house republicans voted 229-193 to reject the senate's bill. in effect voting down the two-month extension of the payroll tax holiday and unemployment benefits, saying it's one year or nothing.

now, with a january 1st deadline approaching. speaker boehner lined up members of the republican conference behind him and called on president obama to get more involved. >> i think president obama needs to call on senate democrats to go back into session, move to go to conference and to sit down and resolve this bill as quickly as possible. >> now, with house members already fleeing town for their districts, president obama urged house republicans to stick around and pass the senate's bill. >> let's be clear, right now the bipartisan compromise that was reached on saturday is the only viable way to prevent a tax hike on january 1st. it's the only one. >> now, with no prospect of a deal in sight, house republicans, they risk being accused of standing in the way of a tax cut and even their own members warn the standoff is harming the republicans. here's what senator john mccain said yesterday.

>> it is harming the republican party. it is harming the view, if it's possible any more of the american people about congress, and we've got to get this thing resolved with the realization that the payroll tax cut must remain in effect. >> and in a scathing editorial this morning, the conservative "wall street journal," editorial page mocked what they call the gop's payroll tax fiasco writing given how mcconnell and john boehner have handled the payroll tax debate, we wonder if they might end up reelecting the president before the 2012 campaign even begins in earnest. what's been interesting, folks, is the white house is not fully sure what to do on this. now, in a few hours yesterday on tuesday, president obama did hold an impromptu news conference to sharply criticize them. the house floor exploded with partisan derigs and many members headed for the airports not knowing how the legislative

battle would end. this preholiday clash over the payroll tax was as tense as any, ripe with the potential political repercussions in the first days of an election year. the republicans, many of whom said they did not want an extension of this tax holiday at all, have now pivoted in the opposite direction saying they would accept a one-year deal or nothing at all, citing the uncertainty of the stopgap plan. mr. boehner called on president obama to summon the senate back despite the approach of the holidays. meanwhile the presidential race is just as heated. newt gingrich's rivals fanned out in iowa and new hampshire today, continue to hammer him on his record. though he's still even with romney in some national polls. that said, we saw yesterday newt gingrich got very upset about some comments that mitt romney made on "morning joe" yesterday. here's that exchange. >> if you see one of these candidates who's running negative ads, ask them to stop

it. just look them in the eye and say it's unworthy of iowa and it's unworthy of america. >> now, most of those negative ads are being run by a super pac supporting mitt romney and together romney and his super pac have outspent gingrich in iowa more than eight to one running ads like this one. >> do you know what makes barack obama happy? newt gingrich's baggage. newt has more baggage than the airlines. freddie mac helped cause the economic collapse, but gingrich cashed in. freddie mac paid newt $30,000 an hour. as speaker, gingrich even supported taxpayer funding of some abortions. >> and here's what governor romney said yesterday on "morning joe" about his relationship with the romney super pac called restore our future. >> super pacs have to be entirely separate from a campaign and a candidate. i'm not allowed to communicate with a super pac in any way, shape or form. >> so you're not coordinating it in any way whatsoever.

>> my goodness, if we coordinate in any way whatsoever we go to the big house. we need to let campaigns raise the money they need and get rid of these super pacs. >> gingrich did not like that answer. here's what he said in response. >> i don't object to being outspent, i object to lies. i object to negative smear campaigns and things the candidate himself refuses to support. his comments today are palpably misleading, clearly false and are politics in its worst form. >> well, mitt romney is here with me now. governor romney, so, newt gingrich not happy with the super pac ads. let me get you to respond. he says that he doesn't believe your explanation about the coordination. >> well, you're not allowed to coordinate with these independent committees, these super pacs. it's a strange part of american law. i don't like the way the law was written. i think a campaign ought to have

all the funds and run its own ads as opposed to these independent expenditure committees being set up. we can't coordinate that. at the same time, i know the speaker thinks that all negative ads should end, but this is, after all, a campaign, and campaigns do point out differences between candidates, draw out those distinctions. it's important they be accurate, tell the truth. but, you know, i've been the subject of some pretty tough attacks that have come both from the speaker but also president obama's super pac. we have to make sure what's going to fight what comes from him. >> you can't coordinate, but you have appeared at some events for restore our future. you spoke to some donors a few months ago. a former associate of yours is involved with restore our future. i know your not violating the letter of the law, but doesn't that not violate the spirit of it? >> new york city you -- no, you actually -- there was what you can do. they can help in terms of fund-raising but cannot in any

way communicate a course of advertising, suggest when ads run, where they run, what's in the content of the ads. those are things that are prohibited so we're being very careful in that regard. i know that the speaker would like to say, look, we shouldn't have any negativity. look, if you can't handle the heat in this little kitchen, the heat that's going to come from obama's kitchen will be a heck of a lot hotter. we need to show that we can stand up to the barrage that's going to come from the obama world. >> do you think the decision by the supreme court which essentially created this landscape was a bad decision? >> well, i think the supreme court's decision was following their interpretation of the campaign finance laws that were written by congress. my own view is now we tried a lot of efforts to try and restrict what can be given to campaigns, we'd be a lot wiser to say you can give what you'd like to a campaign. they must report it immediately and the creation of these independent expenditure committees that have to be

separate from the candidate, that's just a bad idea. >> bad decision, though, or no, the supreme court? >> i'm not going to criticize the supreme court, i'm going to criticize congress for passing a law that limits what campaigns can receive and opens the door to these super pacs and to pacs which have now been around for a while. this is where i think the most damaging allegations arise. >> if you ever thought restore our future went over the line, would you publicly tell them not to do it? >> i'd have to check with what the law tells me. >> you can publicly critique them. >> what i am allowed to say and not allowed to say. but obviously the key to me is making sure people tell the truth. >> what we're seeing going on in washington right now, this is what your senator, scott brown, he called what the house republicans are doing with the payroll tax holiday irresponsible and wrong. charlie bass is going to be on your bus trip. he voted against the republican bill that essentially killed the senate compromise.

what say you in this? >> well, we're deep in the weeds. should it be a two-month extension, one-year extension, which element should be involved. i hope that both the house and the senate, republicans and democrats, are able to get this resolved as soon as possible. i'd like to see the payroll tax cut extended. two months is not very long. >> nobody seems to want the two months but if this is all you can get done, do you want to see it done? >> you'd like to get as much done as possible. you'd like to see it go a full year. you'd like to recognize at the same time that this is not going to turn the economy around. it's a very helpful feature for a number of families and that's why we don't want to raise taxes on people, particularly in the middle of an obama economy. but let's hope that these guys are able to get the job done. >> so you don't agree with senator brown's irresponsible and wrong comments? >> look, come together. i'm not going to throw gasoline on what is already a fire. what we really need is a president that's a leader that can stand in with the members of both parties and work together on finding a common solution.

but this president has been intent on attacking, and attack mode is not the way a leader tries to get people to work together. >> i want to talk about newt gingrich for a minute. you've used some tough words about him, zany, unreliable, inconsistent, loose cannon, you believe he might be tearing up the constitution about this idea about judges. just this morning i got my usual daily e-mail now with the headline on gingrich called unreliable leader. do you think he's fit to be president? >> of course i think speaker gingrich has the qualifications to become president. i've said before that i think anybody on the stage would be a better president than the one we have. i happen to think that i'd be better than speaker gingrich. if not, i wouldn't be running. i think he has proven that when the big issues of the last decade or so came to the fore, the cap and trade issue he sat down with nancy pelosi on a sofa to argue about it. when medicare was brought

forward by paul ryan, he larkd out and said this was right wing social engineering. he has been unreliable in his support of conservative initiatives, such as those. pointing out distinctions and differences in a campaign is not something which is unusual or something i'm afraid of. the speaker, by the way, has been pretty critical of me and has laid a whole series of attacks on me. that's the nature of a campaign, point out those differences. the american people are pretty good at sorting out what's real and not real and they'll come to know us based on the things we say about ourselves and the things others say about us. >> does he possess the qualities that you would look for in a vice president? >> i haven't thought about the vice presidential nominee. if i'm lucky enough to get the nomination myself, i'll give that a lot of thought. for me is this a person who could be seen as a person that could take over if necessary. >> i assume you wouldn't want somebody that was a loose cannon. >> i'm not going to characterize anybody's qualifications for vice president.

obviously if i think the people on the stage could currently do better than the current president, i sure as heck they could do a lot better than the current vice president. >> after the break i want to get into some issues, some foreign policy, some domestic pal see. we'll have much more with governor mitt romney after the break. he's sticking with us here at keene, new hampshire. you're looking at a shot outside the restaurant here. more of my live interview with governor romney ahead next. first a look at the president's schedule. he thought he would be in hawaii. you're watching "the daily rundown" only on msnbc. just one phillips' colon health probiotic cap a day helps defends against occasional constipation, diarrhea, gas and bloating. with three strains of good bacteria to help balance your colon. you had me at "probiotic." [ female announcer ] phillips' colon health. [ cat yodeling ]

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and we're back here in keene, new hampshire, where we've joined former governor mitt romney on the campaign trail. he starts a three-day bus tour today. governor romney, let's talk policy. you said something interesting to chris wallace about the bin laden decision by the president. you said any president would have made that decision. what did you mean by just any president. it seemed a little whimsical. maybe you didn't mean it to sound that way. >> i just mean that -- and i went on to say but i give credit to this president for actually having made the decision. i don't think it's unusual on the part of this president to have finally taken out osama bin laden. after all, we had been looking for him for some time. intelligence finally gave him a good indication of where he was. he gave the order. i do think prior presidents would have done the same thing had they been in the same position. >> are you comfortable with a policy of this sort of unilateral -- you know, four years ago this became a debate an issue.

do you act unilaterally in pakistan. are you comfortably to act unilaterally without maybe telling an ally like pakistan that you might be firing drones in their country? >> i think in a setting like this one where osama bin laden was identified to be hiding in pakistan, that it was entirely appropriate for this president to move in and to take him out. i have no compunction about that at all. that was the right course for him to take. i supported that at the time and do now. in a similar circumstance, i think other presidents and other candidates like myself would do exactly the same thing. >> let's talk about iraq. you wouldn't -- you wouldn't answer the hindsight question, and i understand that. you don't have all the information at the time. but the way you answered the question about whether if you knew everything then that you know now, that maybe the war would have gone differently or maybe history will judge this war badly. is that your sense on this? >> well, if we knew at the time of our entry into iraq that

there were no weapons of mass destruction, if somehow we had been given that information, obviously we would not have gone in. >> you don't think we would have gone in? >> of course not. the president went in based upon intelligence that they had weapons of mass destruction. had he known that that was not the case, the u.n. would not have put forward resolutions authorizing this type of action. the president would not have been pursuing that course. but we did not know that. based upon what we knew at the time, we were very much under the depressiimpression as a nat they had weapons of mass destruction, that saddam hussein was intent on potentially using those weapons, and so he took action based upon what he knew. but to go back and say, well, knowing what we know now would we have gone in. well, knowing what we know now, they did not have weapons of mass destruction, there would have been no effort on the part of our president or others to take military action. let's talk about syria. given the role the u.s. and nato

played in protect civilians, do you think at some point nato or the united states and some coalition of the willing is going to have to go in there and protect civilians in syria? >> you know, i don't want to speculate as to what the conditions might be and raise alarm bells. i am, after all -- i'm not a president, but i'm looking for that job. i do believe that we should act very aggressively to try and encourage the dissidence within syria, to remove assad and to bring a more representative form of government. >> support them militarily if that's what's necessary? >> certainly support them covertly. we should support turkey and saudi arabia as they're putting pressure on syria. i won't rule out military support of some kind but i don't want to describe exactly what we might do paubecause the circumstances can change. but syria is very different than libya. it is the only key ally for iran, its route to the sea. a key satellite to iran.

its link also with lebanon. so syria plays a key role for iran. any action we might take will certainly be met with an opposite reaction from iran. and iran at the current time is almost assuredly involved in syria trying to protect the status quo. >> all right, on health care, it's ground that's been plowed a lot with you, i understand that. do you still believe in the idea of a mandate as a conservative idea? one of the defenses you've made of this is saying, hey, this was a conservative idea in 1993, that the heritage foundation and then speaker newt gingrich -- or actually he was not yet speaker, were touting as a conservative alternative to what then the clinton administration. do you still believe a mandate is a conservative idea, the idea of the personal responsibility aspect? >> we, there were two options in my state. one was to continue to allow people without insurance to go to the hospital and get free care paid for by government, paid for by the taxpayers. and so that is a government-dominated,

government-provided free service. the alternative that we had as an option in our state is people who can afford to buy insurance themselves should do so rather than relying on government. given those two options, the option that we chose was a more conservative approach. at least that's my view. personal responsibility is more conservative in my view than something being given out free by government. >> is there another conservative idea out there that you think can cover 30 million americans? >> well, the best -- >> for people that can afford it? >> the best idea is to let each state craft their own solution because that's the heart of conservatism is to follow the constitution, the tenth amendment of the constitution gives this responsibility to states. now, states could look at what we did and maybe improve on it. i noted in my book, for instance, that one way to encourage people to get insurance who can afford it is to give a break to people, a tax break to people who do have insurance. mathematically that creates the same incentive as a penalty. i think republicans tend to be inclined to giving breaks to people who have insurance.

>> are you concerned, though, that that could create, and i know this is an awkward term to use, sanctuary states, where some states are going to just cover more people than other states? massachusetts versus a mississippi, say? >> well, that's something that would be worth looking at for any state to consider. people have to look at massachusetts and to see what the record has been of its experience. but my own understanding is that under federal law, people are able to get covered. virtually in any state in america, someone that is seriously ill can go to the hospital and get treated even if they can't pay for it. in my opinion that's a big government solution. >> so how do we stop that? that's how the mandate came in, right? >> that's how it arose, how do we get individuals to take responsibility for their own care. there are a lot of different models. one is to have clinics where people are treated at low cost or no cost. the other is to do as i suggest, which is to have, if you will, tax breaks given to people who have insurance. there are a number of ways of encouraging personal responsibility. >> speaking of taxes, that's something i want to tackle when

we go on the bus trip. but one final question, is there something about you that you think the public doesn't know yet, that you wish they did? >> well, my guess is they're going to come to know me on a more personal basis as time goes on. so far most people have only seen me in debates. debates are fine but they're a series of 60-second answers. as you get to run a campaign and people really focus on what you're doing and you get chances to speak with people like you, they see you in a setting where you're not confined to 30-second or 60-second answers but you can instead speak on a more extensive basis, so i think people get an understanding of why i'm running for president. very fundamentally, i want to restore the greatness of america. i'm concerned this president has put us on a path of decline and is making us more like europe. and that's a choice america faces. and i believe that my experience and background will help america become stronger again, creating good jobs and good incomes for the american people. >> well, that debate is going to be ongoing and we will continue

to talk later on the bus tour. governor romney, thanks for doing this. thanks everybody here, very nice hosts. i'm hitting the campaign trail in a few minutes, getting on the bus. by the way, we have a great trivia question about this bus but i'm handing the reins over to chris back in the studio. chris, it is all yours. >> chuck, thank you. have a great day in the great state of new hampshire. could we get a santa claus rally on wall street? the market rundown is next. but first, as chuck mentioned, we've got a photo challenge trivia question today. this is the bus that chuck and, oh, yeah, mitt romney will be riding around new hampshire today. it's made by vermeer transportation. for today's trivia, tell us the name of this bus model. i wonder if it's the 40th model to roll off the line? just for the record, i knew even before that giant hint. tweet us the answ

answer@dailyrundown. the answer and more coming up on "the daily rundown." amy burnett opened the next step broadway dance studio in jersey city with children's dance classes and expansion in mind. she added space, added adult classes, a performance summer camp and partnering with another group. for more watch "your business" sunday mornings at 7:30 on msnbc. [ male announcer ] it's simple physics...

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we're less than a minute away from the opening bell so it's time for the market rundown. becky quick is here. good morning, becky. >> reporter: good morning. i heard you asking if we were going to get a santa claus rally. well, not today. it looks like the dow will open down 12 to 15 points. this comes after we looked like we'd open up but europe is driving things. the ecb loaning out money to banks there and it was oversubscribed or much more subscribed than had been expected. they took in 489 billion euros. that's how much they loaned out in these three-year loans. that was good news at first people thought. like great, they're loaning out

money. then they said wait a minute, that means they need a lot of money and things very quickly turned around. as you see right now, they're down by about 12 or 15 points. the other news we got overnight was from oracle. oracle missed earnings expectations for the first time in about a decade. that shook people up an we've been watching the nasdaq today. it does look like the nasdaq will trade a little lower as well. this comes to -- cuoracle addin voice to many we've heard from technology. intel, texas instruments all worried about how businesses are spending on technology. that's the very quick look, but it's been very volatile so you've got to watch all the way to the end to see how things will trade. right now it looks like we will open down by 15 points. >> you know, i have a 3-year-old so i still believe in santa claus and santa claus rallies. >> yesterday we were up 330 points. you've got to watch all the way to the end of the day. >> thank you. another one bites the dust. we'll tell you which republican presidential candidate is throwing in the towel. plus, your paycheck being

held hostage by a gridlocked congress. why can't they get a payroll tax deal done? house majority leader eric cantor will be here next. you're watching "the il rundown." it's only on msnbc. just one phillips' colon health probiotic cap a day helps defends against occasional constipation, diarrhea, gas and bloating. with three strains of good bacteria to help balance your colon. you had me at "probiotic." [ female announcer ] phillips' colon health. you know the good folks have asked yours truly you had me at "probiotic." to teach you about treating frequent heartburn. 'cause i know a thing or two about eatin'. if you're one of those folks who gets heartburn and then treats day after day... well that's like checking on your burgers after they're burnt! [ male announcer ] treat your frequent heartburn by blocking the acid with prilosec otc. and don't get heartburn in the first place!

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welcome back to "the daily rundown." here are some other stories making headlines this morning. former new mexico governor gary johnson is dropping his republican bid for president and will seek the libertarian party's nomination instead. johnson barely registered in republican polls and said he's grown frustrated with the lack of attention. reuters is reporting that north korea will adopt an unusual power-sharing arrangement in the wake of kim jong-il's death. his son, kim jong-un, will share power with his uncle in conjunction with the north korean military. in cairo, thousands of women

took to the streets to protect the egyptian military in the largest female demonstration in that country's modern history. the rare display of anger erupted in response to images of soldiers stripping and beating female protesters. another showdown on capitol hill with republicans in the house refusing to sign off on a two-month extension of the payroll tax cut, backed by the white house and a bipartisan vote in the senate, 89 votes in the senate. democrats are demanding that republicans get on board before taxes go up on 160 million americans on january 1st. republican house leaders are also catching heat from their gop colleagues in the senate. so, how can this get wrapped with just days to go? joining me now hopefully with all the answers, republican majority leader eric cantor. mr. leader, thank you for joining me. let's start with a "wall street journal" opinion piece and i

want to read just a portion of it. this is a conservative opinion page. at this stage, republicans would do best to cut their losses and find a way to extend the payroll holiday quickly. the alternative is more chaotic retreat and the return of all-democratic rule. what say you to that? >> what say i to that, chris, is we're here in washington, speaker boehner is here, we have members here in washington ready to go to work. and the dispute boils down to this. do we want to extend tax breaks and relief for the working people in this country for a year or do you want to do it for 60 days and be embroiled in this kind of dispute ongoing. and i think certainly the logical position is to take the former. and president obama is still in town. i hope he's not going to go on vacation, leaving the american people in a lurch, and that he can join with us in trying to tell harry reid to come back to town so we can assure the

american people that their taxes are not going to go up for a year. i mean it's -- that's the only difference that is at stake right now, is it going to be a year or 60 days. it doesn't make any sense for us to do something that no one wants. no one on either side of the aisle or either side of the capitol. >> now, mr. can tor, a lot of people would suggest some privately, some publicly, that it doesn't make much sense to do what you're doing because everyone acknowledges at some point in the near future. we will extend the tax cut because no one wants taxes to go up on middle class families. so why then -- if the ultimate result is that we are going to extend this one way or another, why drag out a fight when congress is already at historical lows in terms of popularity? >> well, again, i think where people are frustrated is because they don't see washington getting anything done. and by saying you just want to extend the tax relief 60 days,

who can plan like that? how is it that we expect the american people to try and budget their expenses when they don't know what their tax liability is going to be and when you have folks who are in the industry, those companies that actually administer payrolls, saying that the plan that harry reid passed in the senate doesn't even work. so if you've got that and you have us here ready, willing to work and we're just a little ways away from the white house where the president sits, why isn't he calling us in? why doesn't he come join us here to try and make this happen? i mean the differences are not very great. as you know, chris, the so-called pay fors is where the differences are. that's the only thing we're talking about here is how do we budget for the added impact to the federal budget of a year-long tax relief for working people. surely we can see our way clear to finding common ground and that's why we republicans are here in town, ready to go to

work, ready to forge a compromise so that the american people and the working families can have some certainty. >> let me ask you one thing. if the options -- i know in a perfect world you would like a year-long extension of the payroll tax cut. obviously congress does not exist in a perfect world. if the options are if we get to december 28th, december 29th and the options are a two-month extension or a failure to extend at all, which as you and i both know would raise taxes between $1,000 -- far more than a thousand but certainly $1,000 or more on people starting january 1st, are you and the republican conference prepared to go that route? >> chris, i don't even think that is an appropriate question because right now we can solve all of this and make sure the american people get what they deserve, which is some certainty and a year-long resolution to say their taxes aren't going to go up. you know, you think about why people are frustrated in washington? it's because we're here, the president is down the street at the white house. he's seemingly unwilling to come

and join us to say let's get this thing done. i've heard him say, well, the only thing that's doable is a 60-day extension. how is that? the only reason why he can say that is because harry reid said he's not coming back to town. so we're here. we want to work together. we want to provide for the working people and families of the middle class some certainty to say your taxes aren't going to go up. we've got time before the end of the year. let's do our work like the american people are having to do. >> house majority leader eric cantor of virginia, thanks for taking the time. >> thank you. coming up in our next hour, congressman charlie rangel of new york and former wyoming senator alan simpson will discuss the battle which we've been talking about over the payroll tax cut. i always like to quote chuck. our hump day political panel will be here next. we'll have more on the payroll tax fight. plus we've got a new poll that shows ron paul, yes, that's dr. ron paul, in the lead in iowa. but first, the white house soup

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with congress at a standoff over the payroll tax, emotions are running very high. >> what is happening here today is shameful, it is an utter disgrace, it is unreal, it is unbelievable. >> it is harming the republican party. it is harming the view, if it's possible any more, of the american people about congress. and we've got to get this thing resolved. >> a lot to talk about so let's bring in our panel. politico's joe williams, salinda

lake and john feery. >> you heard eric cantor essentially saying we're just waiting for the president to do something but the thing i keep coming back to is the republican party or the democratic party is not going to let taxes go up on folks by at least a thousand dollars starting january 1st. what is this about, then? is this a fight that you didn't need to pick? >> well, you know, first of all, as a former house guy -- >> right. >> the house hates to get jammed by the senate and the senate -- you see mccain doing this. i've seen this before where mccain gets up and credit sideses the house republicans for being radical. >> i think most people think of it as democratic/republican, but there's also house/senate. >> there's nothing worse than being a house republican and getting jammed by the senate republicans. i think eventually they will get there, but john boehner and eric

cantor are saying we have a process here and our members need to be heard. and one practical point, the two-month extension actually doesn't work. you need a full year extension for the guys who actually do all the payroll stuff to make it work effectively. so it screws up things not to get extended for a full year. the big problem is how do you pay for it and that's where the big fight it and that's what eric is talking about and that is where the big fight is. >> now, i want to talk numbers. nbc/wall street journal. this is before this whole big fight. approve of democrats in congress, 31% approve. approve of republicans in congress, 26% approve. we know we've got record low numbers. this does not help, correct? >> yeah, you're right. we're down to 11% approval for congress overall. if you test, though, democrats versus republicaninsrepublicans seeing democrats soar. >> which is remarkable given the historical advantage republicans have had.

>> obama has a double-digit advantage on being for the middle class. keep this process going, john. it couldn't be better for us. >> process fights -- the problem, i think, is that you've got barack obama and democrats can say 89 votes in the senate. that's always the problem they'll come back to. joe, i know you covered the white house. president obama came out yesterday to say essentially this isn't a game, you need to pass it. he says that pretty much any time there's not a deal in congress. but the white house has to feel like they have got a nice high ground here in this fight. fair or unfair? >> i think it's fair. number one, you see a slight uptick in his poll numbers. he's up slightly above water, 49%, 50%. 49% give or take. it's rising. he's taken this fight on the road over the jobs act. he's been sounding populous themes and now you have a republican congress that is in spasms about whether or not to do the right thing by the middle

class. >> i think you're right. the thing i keep coming back to, the washington post/abc poll, who do you trust more to help the middle class. 50% obama. in his speech in kansas, he said middle class 18 times, not my accident. >> not by accident, totally by design. you had a great piece yesterday about the fact that he's playing advantage of the middle class that he has. he's talking middle class themes. it's starting to resonate and i think that's happening with the poll numbers starting to rise. so i think he's got an advantage in this fight. >> we'll be back and, john, we'll get you on newt versus romney. by the way, joe, a sure way to get asked back to the panel, complimenting stories that i right. trivia time, we asked you to name the model of the bus that chuck todd and a didn'tguy name romney are riding across new hampshire today. the answer, it's the reagan model. no joke, no joke. it is the reagan model. thanks to garrett hake for that

little tidbit and the picture. well done, garrett. we'll be right back. you're watching "the daily rundown" only on msnbc. total access - to everything. from idea to research to trade. including financials, indicators and real-time streaming quotes. whether you check your investments every day or every minute, our app can take them from thought to trade. at scottrade, seven-dollar trades are just the start. try our powerful mobile app. it's another reason more investors are saying... i'm with scottrade. my high school science teacher made me what i am today. our science teacher helped us build it. ♪ now i'm a geologist at chevron, and i get to help science teachers. it has four servo motors and a wireless microcontroller. over the last three years we've put nearly 100 million dollars into american education. that's thousands of kids learning to love science. ♪

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they are misleading. clearly false and are politics in its worst form. these are his people running his ads, doing his dirty work, while he pretends to be above it. >> i know the speaker would like to say we shouldn't have any negativity. look if you can't handle the heat from the kitchen, the heat from obama's hell's kitchen is going to be a lot hotter. >> let's bring back our panel. okay, john, you're in the mix here. they're the talk of the town. it seems to me that complaining about negative ads like newt gingrich is doing is the last resort of a candidate that doesn't have any options.

he's being drastically outspent by mitt romney and the superpac. isn't newt gingrich done? >> he's being carpet bombed. it's going to knock him out of the race. >> you think it will be disqualifying? the spending -- >> i think the romney campaign has decided and ron paul campaign decided that he's a threat to them. they're going to knock them out. ron paul is going to end up winning iowa and rick santorum is going to come to second. >> joe, tell me, i can only imagine the brain trust of obama's campaign just warming their hands at the prospect of ron paul winning iowa. throwing this thing into further chaos. is this all good news for them,

or is there the opposite of the silver lining? >> the opposite of the silver lining, yes, anytime you have somebody like ron paul and the resolving series of candidate it's a good thing for the white house. the threat is you have predicability. this is a white house that likes to know what's coming down the pike. there's a threat that they will have to prepare for and that might raise some concerns that they don't expect. >> i want to -- you've been in a lot of campaign. i want to play a little bit of the ad that newt gingrich is running. he's being blasted on every conceivable thing at one point $1.6 million from fre dee mac. this is the ad he's currently running in iowa. >> is there anything more inspiring than american towns and neighborhoods brightly lit for the holidays. >> we take it as a skin of great optimism. it reminds us of the fire of

freedom that burns bright in the america we love. and the prayer that the goodness of our nation will be rewarded with peace and brotherhood. >> from our family to yours, merry christmas and happy new year. >> so a nice message, but again compared to what's being thrown at him, is this any chance this breaks through? >> absolutely not. he's trying to redeem character and i think his character's gone. there's too many questions about newt. he's looking over his shoulder at rick santorum who just got a born again christian endorsement. >> santorum spent lots of time in the state. >> shameless plug. >> i have a thrilling defense of mr. potter. it is epic. >> my shameless plug is for dash, the district alliance for safe housing. helps homeless women who have been the subject of violence.

>> you go to politico for all things political. >> that's why they named it that. thanks for joining me. that is it for this edition of "the daily rundown." we'll see you right back here tomorrow. coming up next on msnbc, it's chris jansing and company with congressman charlie rain el and former wyoming senator alan simpson. then at 1:00 don't miss "andrea then at 1:00 don't miss "andrea mitchell reports."ed to director? so 12 seconds ago. we should get him a present. thanks for the gift basket. you're welcome. you're welcome. did you see hr just sent out new... ...office rules? cause you're currently in violation of 6 of them. oh yeah, baby? ...and 7. did you guys hear that fred is leaving? so 30 seconds ago. [ noisemakers blow ] [ both ] we'll miss you! oh, facecake! there's some leftover cake. [ male announcer ] the new htc vivid. stay a step ahead with at&t 4g lte, with speeds up to 10x faster than 3g. ♪ helps defends against occasional constipation, diarrhea,

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good morning i'm richard lui in for chris jansing on this wednesday. a very good day to you. who will blink first? 160 million americans are asking right now what's going to happen to their tax cut as they watch congress play politics. democrats and republicans are not budging. john boehner and republican negotiators was about to discuss a one-year tax cut extension. there's no one on the other side to have bargaining