we're live from treasure island, overlooking the bay bridge, home of the largest public works project in state history and the site of the scandal that is the supposedly cheap and expedient chinese steel used to build it that came in late and cost a bit too much. not to mention the jobs that were lost and the money that left our nation. this the story of 30 million jobs lost in this country. "hardball" with chris matthews starts right now. let's play "hardball." good evening. i'm chris matthews. tonight in philadelphia, leading off tonight, the final 48 hours. what an incredible second to last day before the south carolina primary. let's run through the news.

rick perry dropped out today and endorsed newt gingrich. a recount in iowa showed rick santorum got more votes than mitt romney. newt's second ex-wife said abc news he asked for an open marriage. newt unleashed an ad calling mitt desperate and dishonest, and newt has passed mitt in several polls in south carolina. we'll put it all together at the top of the show. plus has mitt's air gotten thin? rick perry supporters are likely to go to newt. his shares at bain capital pay hurt him. . he can't get out of his own way when talking about taxes. look at it this way president bu bush. if mitt didn't win iowa and doesn't win south carolina, he will not be 3-0, but 1-2. also a new poll shows how much trouble president obama may have with independent voters who

aren't sold on the republicans either. that may explain why the president is up with his first ad of the campaign. and we mentioned that newt gingrich's second wife said he wanted an open marriage. the ex-wife of mark sanford joins us tonight live. she says she's lived this story and it will count politically. finally, an unples reminder while mitt romney may be headed for 1-3 that newt gingrich is already in the clubhouse with his 1-3 in the marital arena. we start with the final 48 hours. with me is mark halburn and john homen. both are msnbc political analysts. let's look at numbers. newt gingrich has a fighting chance to carry south carolina. new numbers from the poll show republicans have mitt romney ahead of the pack. but the two-day poll show a rise

for newt gingrich following his debate monday night. before the debate on monday, romney lead by 15 points. but after the debate on tuesday, that lead shrank to just 5 points. in addition to those results, four other polls considered to be somewhat less reliable show newt gingrich leading in south carolina. let's start with mark. how do you read the situation that's beginning to move right now? >> this primary is up for grabs. either romney or gingrich could win it. gingrich was way up in the state. he whiplashed back and forth. he has a lot of moving parts to be seen. romney has to figure out what he didn't know in the last south carolina debate, which is crowd matters in south carolina. they don't sit on their hands or hold applause. if romney has a weak debate, i

think gingrich has a very good chance to win this primary and shake the race up. >> let's talk about the performance values tonight. john, i have had a hard time watching the debates to see any candidate put in a consistent streak on performance. is newt going to do it again? this is the first time somebody does it again. will he be intimidated out of being just as tough? >> i don't think he will be intimidated. there's not a lot that intimidates newt gingrich. the greater risk is overreach. that debate for him on myrtle beach on monday night was as big a success as any republican candidate has had so far. gingrich was perfectly well suited to the crowd. romney had one of the worst debates. lst no question newt gingrich knows he must have a big night again. the pressure is on him. as with a lot of athletes, when

the pressure is on, a lot of them sometimes going for the big hit, going for throwing the long ball, they overreach and make mistakes because they actually try too hard and their adrenaline is too high. that's obviously totally speculative. the pressure is going to be intensely on romney because he knows he has to do better than last time. both guys are going to get a chance to show in the most high-stakes debate we have seen so far what they are made of. >> rick perry making news today. dropping out of the race and endorsing newt. let's watch this big double header. >> i believe newt is a conservative who can transform our country. we have had our differences, which campaigns will inevitably have. and newt is not perfect, but who among us is? the fact is, there is forgiveness for those who seek

god. and i believe in the power of redemption, for it is a central tenant of my christian faith. i have no question that newt gingrich has the heart of a conservative reformer. the ability to rally and captivate the conservative movement, the courage to tell those washington interests to take a hike if that's what's in the best interest of our country. >> mark, he seemed more convincing there than he's been as a candidate for himself in that endorsement. >> he's a pretty good endorser. it's going to be interesting to see, he didn't have a lot of support here, but does he turn his money people over to gingrich? gingrich is rising. we haven't mentioned santorum. he got the endorsement last weekend from the conservative christian leaders. they have done nothing to take advantage of that. gingrich gets the backing of sarah palin. the endorsement of rick perry. that's going to be more in the

news than anything santorum has done. and it can galvanize what we said could happen, which is the anybody but romney vote could easily go to gingrich in a way that could allow him to win this primary. perry was eloquent and there's a lot of message that gingrich people will pick up. >> as you say, here's newt gingrich putting his money where his mouth is in a campaign ad that goes after romney. let's watch. >> why is mitt romney attacking newt gingrich? ask john mccain. >> the best indicator i'm doing very well is when you're attacked by romney. >> mitt romney has a history of negative campaigning. ask mike huckabee. >> mitt romney is running a desperate and dishonest campaign. >> mitt romney will do and say anything to become president. anything. maybe that explains all his flip-flops. >> i don't know how to respond to some of it because his

position may change tomorrow. >> let me ask you, john about the question of whether this stops romney one way or the other. it's hard to believe come saturday night in south carolina that a couple votes are going to decide who the nominee is. if romney's in a tight fight on saturday night, if he barely squeaks in south carolina, will he still be in trouble if he technically wins? >> i don't think he'll be in much trouble at all. the iowa thing is a little bit of a setback for him. santorum having been determined to have won iowa. if mitt romney wins new hampshire, and then wins south carolina, even if he wins it close, he goes into florida with enormous advantages. there's no one thinks that romney will lose florida. romney has so much money and so much organization. in florida, it's a big state with a lot of media markets. romney is well positioned to win

florida. in that case, winning south carolina and florida, he's still then on a glide path to the nomination. if he loses on saturday, if gingrich wins on saturday, it not only sets up a dog fight in florida, where gingrich might get a lot of money that floods in and allows him to take the fight down there, but also it instills a lot of doubt in the republican establishment. they look at romney and say he's 1-2 and also in the course of the last week, he's committed so many unforced errors on the question of his money, on taxes, on net worth, the cayman islands, all that stuff. people are starting to wonder, is this really a guy we want to have as our guy going forward who is going to be this damaged? can he take the fight to barack obama in the fall? >> i wonder if that will be the question. even it comes out in romney's

favor, isn't the republican party a tea party party now? aren't most republicans pretty conservative and don't most republicans see romney as basically at heart a moderate? >> well, i love john, but i disagree with two of the things he said. if gingrich spins it correctly, a close second could be enough. and i think if he does win here, or even spins a close second, i think santorum could win florida. in part because it is a tea party now. there is -- the reason romney has something is because the party has shifted in a way where the establishment doesn't control absolutely the tea party matters. the florida contest is going to be a lot of conservative republicans voting, and gingrich is well known there. and again, just a few weeks ago, gingrich had an overwhelming lead in florida. there are a lot of people who were willing to say they were for newt gingrich.

they could be for him again. >> let's look at the new development. it brings up questions about for-gingri for-gingrich. an incredible interview with abc news. his second wife reveals that newt said their marriage -- let's her speak for herself. let's mary ann gingrich, the second ex-wife of newt gingrich. >> you want me all to yourself, colista doesn't care what i do. >> what was he saying? >> he was asking to have an open marriage, and i refused. >> he wanted an open marriage? >> yeah. that i accept the fact that he has somebody else in his life. >> and you said? >> no. no. that is not a marriage. >> well, webster's dictionary describes an open marriage where both partners agree to let each other have sexual partners

outside a marriage. open marriage in the '60s, here's newt gingrich according to to his ex-wife asking for such an arrangement among his wife and his misstress at the time. is this going to matter to voters? should it, john? >> the cheap jokey thing to say is that all newt gingrich's marriages have been open in some way. in terms of south carolina voters, newt gingrich has been in a battle with rick santorum for evangelical voters. the polling shows that santorum on the basis of his strong and stable and conventional family life appealed better to women while gingrich has had a weakness with women. gingrich has done better among men. the question is, given that a lot of gingrich's marital problems have been factored in, there's some number of voters who are not going to vote for

him for that reason, does this new revolution or accusation, does that move any votes? are there any people who were considering voting for gingrich where this will be the final straw? it doesn't help him, but does it change that many minds? i'm dubious about that. >> i wouldn't be surprised if a lot of voters blame the media for this. they won't blame anybody but the people who ask the questions. we'll see. it's a strange world. thank you, mark. coming up, a funny thing happened. mitt romney is having his worst week in his life. this fight may not be ending any time soon. that's ahead. you're watching "hardball" on msnbc. [ male announcer ] you are a business pro. premier of the packed bag.

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two primaries held now. we have won one. with a big win today in iowa that's finally been certified, we feel very, very good about what this win will mean. it says that we can win elections. we can organize. we can put together an effort to

pull the resources together to be able to be successful. it being the person that can defeat mitt romney, because we defeated mitt romney in iowa. >> welcome back to "hardball." the iowa republican party gave the caucuses to rick santorum. the party certified that santorum finished ahead by just 34 votes. because votes from eight precincts are missing, nbc news will not declare an actual winner as it's impossible to know the results. romney called santorum to congratulate him on the blated numbers. how would the results have changed the momentum if we had this information before? and how will it change the race now? johnathan martin and dana milbank joins us. let's start with the nomination

momentum that looked like it was going to be three for three. as republicans like to say whose turn it is, it's romney's gnu turn. now that iowa went for santorum. this that rick perry is out of the race. and he's endorsing. and sarah palin is endorsing newt gingrich. how does this change everything? >> chris, to g from romney being 3-0 to romney being potentially 1-2 after saturday night is quite a jolt. i think this may be one of the most consequential days we have had yet on the campaign trail. the santorum news from iowa is one more piece of bad news for romney in a difficult last couple of days. i think the bigger news here is the surge of newt gingrich here in south carolina. moving into, if not a tie, something close to a tie with romney here before saturday's

primary. if newt has a solid debate tonight and can answer questions about his former wife, i think he's going to be in strong shape on saturday. and that can really make florida a heck of a race on january 31st. >> dana, you and i know about mood of the voters. we have been talking about it on this show for years now. the angry mood of the the voters. the screw-you attitude towards not just obama, but the government. the anger and sense of contempt. newt, despite the fact he's an old-time politician, seems to invoke that mood better than anything right now. is that why -- you saw the debate the other night. he almost looks like a voter. >> more than that, it's angry and it's antiwashington, which is the most extraordinary irony. rick perry is getting out of the

race. the guy who wants to destroy washington. i have more faith in republican voters than this. i don't think they will give president obama the gift of running against newt gingrich. but you have to acknowledge that he's played this absolutely brilliantly. >> but romney doesn't seem to have that anger about life and democrats and obama, does he? >> and why should he? because he's had this privileged existence. you hear a piece about mitt romney. he's like morphing into gordon gekko. >> the mood they saw monday night that brought them to their feet at one point with his denunciation of juan williams, is, i think, you're right. that's why newt has his third moment here.

it's rationemarkable. his second life politically overall. and he's captured the anger of a lot of republicans in this state towards president obama. but towards washington, i think, overall. and that's why if you look at the tea party, newt is doing much better than what romney is doing. and if you look at income, newt is doing better among those folks who are working class and middle income than mitt does among the rich. newt tapped into the populous fury at washington and president obama. >> romney took on a man in a crowd who challenged romney about being part of that elite 1%. >> what will you do to support the 99s were seeing as you are part of the 1s were? >> america is a great nation because we're united. and those who try to divide the

nation, are hurting this country seriously. the right course for america is not to divide america, it's to come together as a nation. if you have a better model, if you think china is better or russia is better or north korea is better, i'm glad to hear all about it. you're wrong. >> according to the tax policy center, mitt romney's tax plan will help the rich more than the poor. although the base is low, it's going up 60. the middle class get an average tax cut of 2.2%. those with incomes over a million will had see a tax cut of 15%. the romney tax plan would explode the deficit adding $600 billion to the deficit in just one year. last summer's debt ceiling agreement, they agreed to cut the deficit over ten years.

romney's plan would add that amount in just two years. this angry screamer who argued back has a point that romney wants to make an unfair tax system more fair. you can certainly argue. >> and i think if romney is the nominee, that's going to be the center piece of democrat attacks against him. personally, he exudes this gordon gekko persona and his policies. but it's interesting, chris, that romney is trying to have a moment. if you watch that confrontation, you can see romney trying to have his reagan, mr. green moment. he's trying to show toughness and conservative voters that he too is angry and is going to tell it like it is. the problem is he doesn't do it as naturally as newt does it. >> let me go over to dana.

that great moment for reagan is when he wanted all the candidates to speak. not just him and bush. this isn't a populous move by romney. it's we're rich, we're going to get richer. >> the man has become this walking cliche. the problem is on the personal side, now we hear he has all this money invested in the cayman islands and comes up with this clintonian answer. he has all these things on the one side. the extraordinary wealth, the 15% tax rate, the refusal to release his returns, coupled with the policy to make people like him wealthier. he's written the democratic ads for president obama. if he survives the primaries, as i think is still likely, he's

almost wounded from the things that have happened. >> he wants to discuss tax policy. in a quiet room. thank you, john heilemann. bill clinton is doing what he does best. he's saying newt gingrich and mitt romney have more in common than you might think. that's on the side show. you're watching "hardball" on msnbc.

back to "hardball." now to the side show. first up, clinton weighs in. in an interview, bill clinton let lose on the battle between newt gingrich and mitt romney. the two have more in common that you think. "with someone like newt gingrich, it's a different kettle of fish. because as a private citizen, he was for certain important health care reforms and believed in

climate change and believed there had to be a strong reaction to it. now he's like romney. neither can say what t get nominad. mney is still trying to figure out what he did as governor and appeal to the energy out there." mitt romney pretends to speak their language. jimmy carter participated in a joint interview that aired last night. their 65-year marriage has been mostly free of rough patches. but there was one project that caused turmoil. >> we tried to write a book together. >> that was a disaster. >> she would give me the chapter she wrote and it would be like god had given her this text and brought it down to present it to

me in stone. >> and you've never written a book again together? >> and never will. >> somehow, i doubt that all those 65 years of decisions were unanimous. up next, president obama is up with his first ad of the 2012 campaign. right away, he's on defense. and i'll be joining new jersey to talk about my new book on president kennedy. we're expecting a huge crowd to hear about our hero. you're watching "hardball" on msnbc. ol 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. ♪ isn't that cool? and that's pretty cool. ♪

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i'm brian sullivan with your cnbc market wrap. another strong day for the markets. the dow up again. the s&p up 6.

there was a lot of economic data to run through. on the jobs front, applications for first-time claims fell by 50,000 to 352,000. inflation subdued. prices were flat for december. today's data showed homes were a darker picture. housing drops 4% last month. google reported earnings falling short of expectations. that stock taking a hit. microsoft profits higher than some estimates thanks to their online services units. shares are higher now. intel reporting an upside. 8 cents better than analysts were expecting. that's it from cnbc. now back to "hardball."

tourism is the number one service that we export. number one. and that means jobs. more money spent by tourists means businesses can hire more workers. it's a pretty simple formula. >> that was president obama speaking this afternoon about boosting tourism in the u.s. to create jobs. he was at disney world. it turned out he may need the good will, because the 2012 race is shaping to be a negative one. today his campaign debuted their first ads of the season defending his record on energy and ethics. he has his work cut out for him. a new poll shows independent voters are unhappy with the job he's doing. in five days, the president will give his last state of the union address. what does he need to say? debbi wasserman is the chair of the democratic national committee. congresswoman, i'm looking at

the ads the president is putting on the air. for his sake, they are defensive. he's defending himself against the huge spending by the coke brothers blasting solyndra, that energy company. is this going to be a defensive campaign? >> well, on the contrary. i think what president obama is doing is making it very clear that there's a dramatic contrast in the way president obama has handled his presidency. in terms of ethics, he has made sure we have the most stringent ethics policy in the administration that there really has been. when it comes to money in politics, we want to make sure the grass roots activists have an opportunity to influence and participate in campaigns as opposed to special interests and lobbyists and federal pacs. and then when it comes to this economy, and the kind of economy we want to have, we want one

that's going to promote green jobs. we want to make sure we tout his record on promoting green jobs and transitioning our economy when it comes to energy from one that's dependent on foreign oil as the primary source of our energy needs to alternative energy sources that don't rely on fossil fuels, which we know are finite. we're touting his remarkable record. >> here's the president's ad advertising his policies. >> secret oil billionaires attacking president obama with ads fact checkers say are not tethered to the facts. independent watchdogs call this president's record on ethics unprecedent unprecedented. america's clean energy 2.7 million jobs. for the first time in 13 years, our dependence on foreign oil is below 50%. president obama, kept his promise to toughen ethics rules and strengthen america's energy

economy. >> congresswoman, this is a tough challenge for your party and your points of view on energy and ethics. you have the president putting money into an ad campaign up against a $6 million campaign run by the coke brothers blasting him on this issue. >> while the republicans are engaged in their circular firing squad and embracing extremism, president obama and our team are in the process of standing up the most dynamic, robust grass roots campaign in history. we're also at the same time not going to take lying down false accusations, mixed characterizations and distortions of the record. i can tell you as the florida primary, i know that florida's pristine environment that is so dependent on that tourism industry that president obama helped boost today with his we

can't wait announcement on tourism that it can't rely on the dependence that we have on fossil fuels, on drilling more oil. we saw what happened with the bp oil spill. devastating the panhandle's economy. we can't allow that to happen again. that's what the entire republican field would have us do. >> here's andrea sullivan writing a strong defense. he points to triumphs. the auto industry bailout was successful, the iraq war ended, bin laden is dead, a pair of liberal appointments to the supreme court. the question i have to ask is why doesn't the white house use these successes more? you have andrew sullivan out there, you saw the big cover piece in "newsweek." what a great case he makes for the president. is your party doing as good a

job selling his record as this independent voice did? >> you know, there's always room for improvement. i think we need to continue to make sure that people understand that there is a dramatic contrast between the two directions we could go. the direction that president obama is taking us including the affordable care act, which made sure millions of americans will remain on their parent's insurance. 2.5 million young people are insured who weren't before. seniors in my state and across the country have the prescription wage gap closed and beginning to close so they don't have to choose between medicine and meals. there are countless examples we'll be talking about as opposed to the direction the republicans would take us, which is to keep the wind at the backs of the people who are doing quite well. >> thank you so much. debbi wasserman, thank you. let's go to ron reagan. it's great to have you on.

it seems like the independent voice out there, andrew sullivan, has done a great job of pointing out the historic advances of this president in a way that even the white house hasn't been able to do. >> yeah. it's true. they need to do a better job of that. i was struck things for people on the left and things on the right. so it's a broad list of accomplishments there. but back to the $6 million that the coke brothers are going to drop on the president. accusing him of running a pay to play government. let's forget the irony of the coke brothers being angry at somebody for subsidizing energy. the government has been subsidizing them for a long time. here's my question. if this is true of president obama, if he's running a pay to play government, why are yo spending all this money on ads? why don't you just pay him?

i guess it doesn't quite work that well. >> the concern i have, and this is as a citizen and somebody who cares about policies, if you could drop millions and millions of dollars in an anonymous ad, and destroy somebody on one particular thing he may be completely innocent on, but you have picked it out, and there's no limit. you can saturate the country with these ads. >> that's right. we're in the post citizens united era here. millions and millions of dollars will be dumped on obama and other people. obama has to respond to this. i think he has to do it proactively and not just be responding to negative ads. >> how do you respond to people shooting at you from every direction? you defend yourself on one front, and they hit another front. how much money can the president raise is the question? can he raise enough to offset to play defense? >> he raised an awful lot last

time. he's doing pretty well in the money race. he has to start countering this stuff. >> it's a bitter war going on right now. >> it's going to get ugly. >> coming up, two days before south carolina, jenny sanford, the former first lady of that state is coming here next. she has thoughts about how the interview went with newt gingrich's second wife. this is "hardball" on msnbc. [ male announcer ] wouldn't it be cool if you took the top down on a crossover? if there were buttons for this? wouldn't it be cool if your car could handle the kids... ♪ ...and the nurburgring?

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take control by opening a new account or rolling over an old 401(k) today, and we'll throw in up to $600. how's that for common sense? we're back. two days to go before the south carolina primary. today newt gingrich's second wife mary ann broke her 13-year silence about their marriage revealing that newt gingrich asked her for an open marriage arrangement so he could see other women. joining me is someone who lived through a similar situation and has firsthand knowledge about south carolina politics. jenny sanford, the former first lady. she was the author of the book

"staying true." thank you for joining us tonight. i guess i have to use you as a political pun dent. how do you see the race going down there on saturday? >> i think it's going to come down to the wire. it's a crazy race actually. there's a lot of undecided people i talked to. a lot of accusations. big changes today in the race. it's going to be a fascinating race. romney still has a solid footing here, if you will, but santorum is nipping at his heels. >> let's take a look at something the other day. here's mary ann gingrich talking to abc about what happened with them, with her and her then husband. let's look at the tape and i'll get your response. >> you want me all to yourself. colista doesn't care what i do. >> what was he saying?

>> he was asking to have an open marriage and i refused. that i accept the fact that he has somebody else in his life. >> and you said? >> no. no. that is not a marriage. >> what an unusual network. abc did it. is it going to have network. it's coming in so late. do you think it's going to have an impact on saturday's voting? >> you know, i think it will have an impact for some people. i don't know how much of an impact because people for the most part already knew that gingrich was on his third wife. but i think that actually seeing one of his wives speak about him in an unflattering manner has got have an impact in some respect. does call into question his character on the personal side and as a voter, i encourage people to look at both sides. the personal side and if you're going to overcome somebody's moral failings or infidelities, look at where they stand ideologically and how much does their rhetoric match their reality. in my mind, gingrich falls short

on both fronts so he wouldn't get my vote. >> who is left for you? >> well, i think there's four people in the race. that leaves three more i'm looking at down to the wire. >> you haven't decided? >> i am going to watch the debate tonight very carefully. i'm on my way there in a minute with you youngest son blake and second son landon and i'm going to watch the race very carefully. i think this race has been very long on rhetoric and sensation and short on substance. and we have some good candidates running. i think all of them could beat obama easily. i think the debate in our country is mostly surrounding the fiscal issues. and i'm looking forward to hearing what they have to say tonight. >> why do you think people like newt gingrich bring up issues like food stamps. i haven't heard that phrase in years and all of a sudden it's all over the place with newt talking about president obama being the best food stamp president in the history and how people are going to -- let's take a look at this tape from a newt gingrich event yesterday. i want to get your thoughts on whether race is a factor the way

gingrich is talking in south carolina. let's take a listen. >> i would like to thank you, mr. speaker, for put playing juan williams in his place the other night. his supposed question was totally ludicrous and we support you. >> thank you very much. >> why do you think the voters of south carolina, at least those there were cheering this comment by this woman, this regular woman that juan williams of fox news should be put in his place? >> you know, i think that politicians can be known to pander to certain audiences or segments on certain issues. but so can pundits. and i think that the press likes to make issues sometimes about things where there are no issues. i for one live on the coast. my congressman is an

african-american named tim scott. a republican of whom i'm very proud and my governor is an indian-american woman named nicky hailey of whom i'm also very proud. so for both people that were elected by the electorate here in south carolina. so the notion we have a racial electorate here in south carolina is absurd and nonsense and frankly just stirred up by people in the press. and i think that that's, you know, i think that people in general are sick of politics as usual and part of that is they are sick of the press stirring thing ups with an angle. i think that woman is right. people should be cheering. >> who in the press do you know has ever brought up the issue of food stamps, ever brought up the issue, how as rick perry said in the debate on monday that south carolina is at war with the federal government as is texas, bringing up these old states' rights issues. the press doesn't bring them up, the candidates do. >> i think this race in particular is one that's long on rhetoric and short on substance. long on the sensational if you will. so, you know, we have 24/7 news

these days. where we have just a proliferation of channels. each one seeking to find things that they can sensational eyes. if you look hard enough at all these candidates, you can find all sorts of things to sensational eyes. >> do you think there's any way in which newt gingrich's behavior in his marriage will be reflected in his policies or behavior if he's elected as president. >> i think anybody's behavior in their personal life does have to impact what they do in their professional life because i think it comes down to the simple question of character. and i think character matters. matters in your family. it matters in your business and everything you do each day of your life. so does that mean we can't overcome failings on one side? absolutely not. i think the american people are actually fairly forgiving. but there has to be -- there has to be some notion, i think if there are serious failings on one side there has to be a serious notion there's a strong stance on the other side for me to overcome that. >> please come back on this show when you want to. we'd like to hear from you. strong voice out of south

carolina. jenny sanford, the first lady of the palmetto state. let me finish with newt and mitt. newt is 1 for 3 in the marriage department. romney may be head forward 1 for 3 in the political arena. you're watching "hardball" only on msnbc. frowned upon in this establishment! luckily though, ya know, i conceal this bad boy underneath my blanket just so i can get on e-trade. check my investment portfolio, research stocks... wait, why are you taking... oh, i see...solitary. just a man and his thoughts. and a smartphone... with an e-trade app. ♪ nobody knows... [ male announcer ] e-trade. investing unleashed.

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let me finish tonight with this. a couple of things are happening in south carolina. both could be headlines the chickens have come home to

roost. one is the house of cards on which mitt romney has built his inevitablity. the big lead in south carolina and now built on the big victory he had in new hampshire which was itself built on the foundation of his having won that victory in the iowa caucuses. had he lost those caucuses, does anyone think he'd have gotten that big boost up in new hampshire? does anyone think he'd have had that big lead in south carolina? he didn't win in iowa. santorum got the most votes in a count that was so messed up there are whole precincts that never got reported that are, we're told, lost permanently. suppose the chaos had been the headline the next morning in iowa instead of that headline being that mitt romney turned out to be the winner. again, do you think mitt would have come rooting tooting into new hampshire? here we are the thursday before the saturday they vote in south carolina, the state that likes to pick the nominee. do you think they are ready to rally around mitt? but wait, those other chickens have come home to roost. those for newt