i'm practicing. me and you, newt. you do your job and i'll do mine. thanks for watching. i'm al sharpton. "hardball" starts right now. so is the newt scoop moot? let's play "hardball." good evening. i'm chris matthews down in beautiful orlando, florida, for a gathering of nbc universal people. leading off tonight, here comes newt. when newt gingrich is debating, he's winning. right now, newt is looking more and more like a winner. today the head of the gallup poll said the lead over gingrich

is collapsing. and even mitt conceded it could be a long race he's facing now. now throw in it all came together for newt last night. an opening to bash the elite media, a support of raucous crowd and a chance to show moral indignation in a question about marital infidelity he knew was coming. last night's debate audience certainly gave newt a pass. but will this claim by his second wife asking for an open marriage change votes? and then there's romney. as prepared as newt was to zing moderator john king last night, that's how unprepared mitt romney was for that inevitable, will you release your tax returns question? not only was romney tongue tied saying maybe, he raised my old rule. if it better than it looks, they will tell you. plus, stephen colbert says if you think what he's doing is a joke then this whole campaign finance system is a joke.

let me finish with a perfect pitch for conservative contempt. we start with another comeback of newt gingrich. howard fineman and eugene robinson are joining us. both are msnbc political analysts. howard, it's been a dramatic day for mitt romney's campaign. gallup's editor in chief said romney's national lead was collapsing. take a look at the latest numbers. at the beginning of this week, romney led newt gingrich by 23 points. in the latest poll out today, that lead is down to 10. mitt romney conceded south carolina was going to be a very close contest. and this could turn out to be a long race for the nomination. let's watch. >> we have a long process ahead of us. 1,150 delegates to get. i sure would like to win south carolina, but i know if those polls were right, regardless of who gets the final number, we're both going to get a lot of delegates.

i want as many delegates as i can get. i want the most delegates coming out of south carolina, but i don't know what the numbers will be. i'm confident. cautiously optimistic. >> one of those polls that romney mentioned is the clemson palmetto poll just released its latest results that show gingrich ahead of romney by six points now. the pollsters predict gingrich will win tomorrow. let's go to howard on this. what an amazing turn around week it's been for the top contenders. all of a sudden, gingrich is back. he's back from a terrible beating he took. terrible beating in iowa. the defeat way back in the pack he took in new hampshire to now leading the polls in south carolina, a state we all thought was going to be a cinch to cinch the nomination really for romney. >> well, i didn't think it was going to be a cinch, chris. and i just came from a newt gingrich event in orangesburg.

george robinson's hometown. it was an overflow crowd. 1,200 people. these are your salt of the earth conservative crowd. they were all there. newt gingrich was singing their song and speaking their language. and it's because of the debates. by my count, newt gingrich has now come back three times from the dead. and the way he did it here in south carolina is by using the debates to show that he's the kind of conservative combatant. tough, nasty, in your face, that south carolina conservatives definitely want. and the national numbers are affected by what goes on state by state. national republicans are looking at south carolina. it's not definitive. south carolina won't be definitive either. but judging by that crowd today, chris, and i've seen surges in the past, newt was surging and was on the move. newt said again today that he was going to win the south carolina primary tomorrow.

>> wow. he's actually promising a victory. >> he said he would win. >> let me get this to gene. tell us about your home state. what is it he's been doing, newt, that has gotten to the funny bone, the erogenous zone, whatever you want to call it the heart of the south carolina conservative voter? >> well, first of all, a crowd of 1,200 people in orangeburg is a huge crowd. that's amazing. >> it was big. >> the nerve he touches, and he touched it monday night and he did it again last night, is anger. is this sort of seething feeling that some republican primary voters, and i think a lot of republican primary voters have here. he's shown that he will get in barack obama's face. and i think that's what republicans here are looking for. someone who is that combative.

the way he went after the elite media was just brilliant, frankly. and he's reaping the rewards. >> here's that moment. the moment of the debate that happened right at the start. the moderator for cnn, john king, asked newt about his wife's new interview. let's watch newt's very effective answer. right away he turned it into a charge against the media. let's watch. >> she says you asked her, sir, to enter into an open marriage. would you like to take some time to respond to that? >> no, but i will. [ applause ] i think the destructive, vicious, negative nature of much of the news media makes it harder to govern this country, harder to attract decent people to run for public office, and i'm appalled you would begin a presidential debate on a topic like that.

[ applause ] >> howard, you notice how he turns a question about his behavior into a criticism of the media. it's an old tactic. attack from a defensive position. there you go again. watch a bit more. your thoughts on what we just saw. howard? >> well, that was to be expected. cnn had been talking about that open marriage quote all afternoon. newt was loaded for bear. he knew what was going to happen. newt has been attacking the media all through this. for a republican crowd in a conservative state, that's just cat nip. they tlof because they view the national media, virtually all of it, not all of it, but most of it as a tribune of the enemy. they viewed it that way for a generation or more. it's a way to deflect attention away from himself. all sorts of tactics thrown into it, but none of them involved answering the question. it was pure gold because what the voters here want is somebody

who wants to attack. i keep mentioning the fact they used to have cock fighting here in south carolina. they've transferred it from the chickens to the people, and that's what they like. this is not iowa. it's not even new hampshire. they want the colors bold and they want them bright. >> that's the first cockfighting reference we have had on "hardball" in the history of the program. so we're moving it. gene, i want you to respond. here's newt going on the attack against cnn in this case. going after the media. here he is. >> every person in here has had someone close to them go through painful things. to take an ex-wife and make it two days before the primary a significant question in a presidential campaign is as

close to despicable as anything i can imagine. >> you know, gene, he's loaded up. despicable, negative, vicious, destructive. he has pounded this. you know what it reminds me of? the way george herbert walker bush, i think with the advice of counsel at the time, pitched up a fight with dan rather, remember? in the beginning of the '88 campaign to go after dukakis. it really worked for him and it may work for newt. what do you think? >> well, it's certainly going to work for him in south carolina. contrast that, chris, with mitt romney's episode from yesterday when he confronted the occupy protesters. and i thought tried to have that sort of moment to put them in their place and put them down. it was awkward. it didn't work that way. gingrich is good at this sort of thing. romney isn't. and that contrast was pretty stark. >> you know, howard, this

morning i thought that joe scarborough had it nailed. he said he speaks with the grievance of the republican party. not just anger but grievance. a set of particulars. he began to do this back in the '80s with tip o'neill. he began to complain. we have been pushed around too long under bob michael. we have been screwed in the rules in the house. we have been abused. it's time to fight back. even people in those days, moderate republicans like lynn martin got behind him under the argument. it's been playing softball too long. it's time to get vicious with the media. the democrats. everyone who is not with you. >> and he listed all of those. let me say first in the answer newt gave, he also managed to turn himself into the object of pity. he said people have felt pain. rather than answering the pain he inflicted on others, he made it that he was the one who was pained. he went from judas to jesus in one sentence there.

but on the topic of grievance for sure. listening to him in orangeburg a few minutes ago, it was the judges. it was the radical judges. it was the unseen power of the judges. it was the academic journalists. it was the academicians. it was all those them. all those big people. all those them who are trying to control your life. that's always what newt gingrich has been. he's been this anti-establishment guy who wants power. he wants power by complaining that the people don't have power. in that audience today, those are middle class people there. they are working people. it's kind of an agricultural area. it's small business. small-town life. gene knows it much better than i. those are people who feel under assault somehow, and they are looking to newt to send a message. there's a little trace of george

wallace's populism in this. newt gingrich, who has a ph.d. who is really originally from pennsylvania, learned in georgia how to speak the language of southern populism, and he does it with perfect pitch. that's why he's rocketing to the top here. gene makes a good point. will it carry elsewhere? i don't know. but don't forget the modern republican party is a southern-based party. it began with strom thurmond and the dixiecrats here in '48. out of that, the modern republican party has grown. >> do you think they are sending a message? are they picking this guy for president in this poll or simply sticking it in the eye of the establishment? >> well, you know, it's a genuine vote for him, but it's a message vote. just a ways out that way is ft.

sumter. we all know what happened there. so this state has a history of sending a message. that's number one. but number two, will it play elsewhere? well, when he said despicable in that way, i'm sorry, but i had to think of daffy duck. >> he didn't have a lisp, though, did he? >> well, but it reminds me that there's this sort of unstable, zany side of newt gingrich that we are likely to see at some point in the campaign. so when that comes out is that going to work elsewhere? i just don't know. >> do you think he knew how bored we were with mitt romney? and even as bad as newt can be, he's a more interesting topic? i think he knew it. thank you howard and gene. we'll see you tomorrow night for the coverage of the results in south carolina. what a night it's going to be. coming up, as prepared as newt gingrich was for the question about his ex-wife, mitt romney was flat footed when he was asked about releasing his tax

returns. his nonanswer of maybe suggests there's something there. something that could hurt his campaign. because when in doubt, you put it out. you're watching "hardball" on msnbc. ♪ there's a place i dream about ♪ ♪ where the sun never goes out ♪ ♪ and the sky is deep and blue ♪ ♪ won't you take me american flight 280 to miami is now ready for boarding. ♪ there with you fly without putting your life on pause. be yourself. nonstop. american airlines. set out to create a different kind of cold remedy using powerful medicine

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another great story. welcome back to "hardball." the drum beat of calls for mitt romney to release tax returns is getting much louder and louder. when it came time for the cnn debate last night, you'd think he would have an answer ready to go. instead of a clean reply, romney waffled. here's his response when john king asked romney when we'd see his tax returns. >> when my tax returns are complete for this year, and i know if i'm the nominee, the president is going to want to insist that i show what my income was this last year. when they are completed in april, i'll release it. >> why not before this election see last year's return? >> because i want to make sure i beat president obama. every time we release things drip by drip, the democrats go

out with another array of attacks. as has been done in the past, if i'm the nominee, i will put these out at one time so we have one discussion of all of this. >> well, does romney have something to hide? a good question. or would he prefer to discuss his returns, as he once said on tax policy, in a quiet room. chris cillizza is managing editor of the post politics.com and david corn from mother jones. both are political analysts. chris, you first. this game of cat and mouse that this guy has created here, because it's never been created before. everyone assumes you have to show your tax returns. it shows you have done your tax returns. everybody has them. you can't be a legal citizen in this country without tax returns. we know he has them. we know they exist. he refuses to show them. there's only reason reason he doesn't want to show them. he doesn't want to. why? >> chris, i agree with you.

i mean, i've been baffled. you showed the bit from cnn last night, but on monday night, romney was asked the same thing and he again fumbled. which is odd to me. this is a guy who is quite good as a debater. he had to know it was coming. if he didn't know it was coming monday, he definitely knew it was coming last night. and yet, he still kind of struggled with it. i think it has to do with him being uncomfortable in some way about his wealth, although we know he's rich. what it makes it look like, chris, and you know perception is often reality in politics, what it makes it look like is he's hiding something. i don't know that he is. maybe he's not. but the way he talks about it makes it look as though he is uncomfortable. he's awkward with it. that he just doesn't feel good about talking about it. it doesn't need to be a big issue. mitt romney has turned it into an issue at the moment because of his answers in the debate monday night and last night.

>> remember, chris -- >> yes. >> remember back in december when he was first asked about this, he said he probably wouldn't release his tax returns. at that point when it wasn't as much focus, it was clearly his inclination to try to get away without doing this. he says he pays about 15%. maybe he pays 10%. 9%. there are ways -- even if you are paying the low capital gains rates, there are ways of crediting losses against gains to really lower your taxes a lot. i'm sure he pays accountants a lot. he has money in the cayman islands. his campaign says there's no tax benefit to doing it. then the obvious question is, why is it there? why not put it in good old american financial institutions? and so all this, his inability to answer the question confidently last night, when he knew it was coming indicates that something is wrong with his taxes, something is wrong with his campaign or something is wrong with the candidate.

maybe all three. >> you know, it's totally fair game. particularly not only for him because all candidates have had to do this over the years. here's a guy who has bragged every campaign speech he goes. the focus of his speech is look at how successful i was in the private sector making money. not doing things, but making money. bragging about how much money he's made. how successful he's been. again last night saying i'm not apologetic about how much money i made. here's john king noting that romney's own father released a dozen years -- 12 years worth of tax returns when he was a candidate because he didn't want to show that one year was a fluke. and then he was asked whether he'd follow in his own father's footsteps. and here was mitt's response. >> maybe. i don't know how many years i will release. i will look at what our documents are. and i'll release multiple years.

i don't know how many years, but i'd be happy to do that. let me tell you. i know there are some who are anxious to see if they can't make it more difficult for a campaign to be successful. the democrats want to go after the fact i've been successful. i'm not going to apologize for being successful. [ applause ] i went off on my own. i didn't inherit money from my parents. what i have, i earned. i worked hard the american way. >> let me start with david on this. who is he arguing with then? i never heard anybody have a problem with him making a lot of money. i've never heard anyone say that about anyone in history. from roosevelt's family or kennedy's family, anybody who had a ton of money, nobody held it against him. arnold schwarzenegger. no one said you made a lot of money. who is he arguing with? i would say the straw man. he made up this fictitious character who doesn't like he's made a lot of money. what they want to know is, have you paid a fair tax? i think that's a legitimate

question. >> chris, you know when a politician changes the subject, it's for a reason. he think he's has a better argument with that false argument. but i'll take a slight issue with you. mitt romney, you know, in the year of occupy wall street, four years now after the wall street crash, he is mr. 1%. the whole issue of income inequality has become a more populist and popular issue. even the republicans have been talking about it. so the taxes will show to what degree he's in the 1% and to what degree he takes advantages of the rules that are really there for the top 1%. so i think there's a tremendous sensitivity here from a political point of view which is probably justified on his part. >> chris, where are you on this? i think it's the tax rate. the effective rate he paid is going to hound them if it's too low. >> i think that's the issue,

chris. because here's my thing with romney that i honestly don't understand. it is no secret to anyone who has paid even passing attention to this race that he's wealthy. and as you point out, lots of people who run for office are quite wealthy. george w. bush, john kerry, barack obama. now, there are differing levels of wealth. mitt romney is on the higher end of that. but he's oddly uncomfortable with being wealthy, which is a fact everyone knows. it would be as if i would say, oh, no, ties? i don't know anything about ties. i have a tie on. it is a fact. it's unchangeable. he needs to frame it in a way, that he did a little bit, chris. the whole, i'm not going to apologize. do that, but i do think the underlying issue, which you are right about, is not his wealth. it's the tax rate. because if it comes out he paid 15% or less, he's paying a lot less taxes than people who made a lot less money than him and

that's not a good political issue. >> he might just look like a guy who benefits from an unfair tax system. >> own your resume. own your wealth because you'll not be able to run away from it. >> i think this story and the newt story, i would say this is going to last longer than the newt story. chris cillizza and david corn, thanks for joining us. tomorrow night, join us at 6:00 eastern for our live coverage of the south carolina primary. the polls close at 7:00. i'm not sure when we'll have results, but we'll give them as they come in. as fast as anybody or faster, hopefully. up next, mitt romney gave what may have been the unbelievable line of the night when he referred to his background as being on the streets. he's kind of a street corner guy, isn't he? street living guy. that's next in the side show. you're watching "hardball" on msnbc.

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back to "hardball." off to the side show. herman cain has teased that he'd be making an endorsement in the presidential race. and in true cain style, it was pure hype. >> here is my unconventional endorsement. not a candidate seeking the nomination. not someone that's not running. my unconventional endorsement is the people. we the people of this nation are still in charge. >> as opposed to? more on cain with stephen colbert later in the show. next, they decried gingrich as just another washington politician and offered himself up as a regular american

alternative. >> what you've listened to in my review and the speaker's rendition of washington is a perfect example of why we need to send to washington someone who has not lived in washington. but someone who has lived in the real streets of america, working in the private sector, who has led a business, who started a business, who helped lead the olympics, who helped lead a state. >> he's lived in the real streets of america. let's get it straight. romney is the son of the ceo of american motors. the son of a three-time governor and presidential candidate. romney himself attended boarding school, went to both harvard law and harvard business school. he's worth, some say, $250 million and we're supposed to believe he's lived his life on the american street? last epresident obama and his thanks to big name attendees at a fund-raiser last night had this special shout-out to singer

al green. >> and then to know that reverend al green was here. ♪ i'm so in love with you those guys didn't think i would do it. i told you i was going to do it. the sandman did not come out. >> my hunch is that romney and gingrich isn't going to try to match obama's singing. up next, the audience at last night's debate definitely took newt's side when asked about his second ex-wife's charge that he asked her for what she called an open marriage. what will south carolina voters think? will the people in charleston and elsewhere think much of it? you're watching "hardball" on msnbc.

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i'm milissa rehberger. firefighters in reno, nevada, are working to hold the line against a massive brush fire tearing through that area. 26 homes have been destroyed. thousands have been evacuated. the blaze is about 50% contained. rescue workers in italy had to suspend their work on the shipwrecked "costa concordia" today. the ship moved again in choppy waters. raising fears about the stability of that vessel. 11 people are confirmed dead. 21 others are still missing, including an american couple. the u.s. is weighing whether to close its embassy in damascus, syria, because security conditions there are deteriorating. thousands have been killed in

that unrest. a host of international leaders have called been the syrian government to step aside, including the u.s. france is considering pulling its troops out of afghanistan. an afghan soldier turned his gun onh fourg and wounding 15 thers. w back to "hardball." welcome back to "hardball." newt gingrich deflected the question about his second ex-wife marianne's allegations that he asked her for what she called an open marriage. well, the crowd was with him last night, certainly, but will the voters be with him tomorrow when they vote in south carolina? joining susjames grimaldi with "the washington post" who interviewed marianne gingrich about her allegations just yesterday and erin mcpike with real clear politics. thank you for joining us.

here's marianne gingrich last night on "nightline" which is on late at night, describing how she found out about newt's conduct. >> i found out during our conversations that it was occurring in my bedroom in our apartment in washington. and he always called me at night. he always ended with i love you. she was there listening. >> right next to him? >> in my home. >> well, i guess -- i'm not here to judge immoral behavior, but i want to ask james about her conduct with you. her reason for coming forth with this just on the eve of this big vote in south carolina. is she out to have an impact or simply being responsive to reporters' questions? grudgingly? how would you describe her participation? >> i would say it would be the latter. i was one of a lot of reporters trying to get her to talk about this. she hasn't talked about it since

an "esquire" interview a couple of years ago. and she knew it was inevitable and unavoidable she'd have to do it as newt gingrich continued to rise. and his resurgence in the polls. she agreed. she was in negotiations with two networks. she inevitably went with abc news and brian ross. she thought last week that the interview was going to run after the election. that's what they told her. but during the course of the interview, she gave a call to the other networks. cbs and a producer over there. and within an hour it was on drudge and abc felt they were kind of boxed into doing it as soon as they did. some of this is played out in some of the media reports. but they ended up putting it online. i saw the drudge wednesday night. i called marianne thursday morning and persuaded her.

i said, hey, you need to talk about this. i think she was doing it partly out of a sense of patriotism. she was married to a politician for 18 years. she was a political wife. she understood that the public had some right to know about what happened. and finally, she also is a political wife, knows the first rule of politics. define yourself before the other guy does. in this case, because she was estranged from newt gingrich, she was worried she was going to be slimed during the campaign. and in fact, she'd even heard a radio call to a conservative talk show where some of that negative against her had come out. she just decided i better get my story out there. it's going to come out so that people know my point of view. >> let me go to erin on this. do you have anything to add to this in terms of reporting? everybody knows the story now. it's out there. it's going to have people

listen to it and judging it. my sense is that the stakes are pretty high here. the president of the united states in an electorate where they don't really like the president. they want to change the presidency. they want somebody new there. it's like picking a boxer. do you really ask a boxer what his marital conduct is? you want somebody to go in there and fight the opponent with all he or she's got. do you really focus on marital conduct in this context? that's what i'm asking. >> i talked to a lot of voters, chris, who say they are over it. it happened a long time ago. they don't think his personal life should affect him on the job. rick santorum said just today it is an issue of character. we do talk a lot about character in a presidential election. but you raise another thing you talked about tonight, which is that newt had a lot of fight in him last night when he was taking on john king. that's what a lot of these voters wanted to see. a candidate with conviction who could fight. i talked to kevin kellems, a

senior strategist for the gingrich campaign today. he thought newt answered the question last night, which is why he cancelled gingrich's daughters this morning for morning interviews. they said it was yesterday's news. they're over it. i'll tell you something else, chris. this campaign has been preparing for this for the past year. that's why newt gingrich and calista gingrich have been out campaigning together, showing movies from their documentary company they have been out promoting, and books of both of theirs. they are trying to show he's in a happy marriage now. his character issues have been worked out. he's a family man with these grandchildren. trying to say this is a nonissue for them and it's well in the past. >> you know, there's very little comic nature to divorce. and these kind of situations. they are sad all around. but i was just wondering, james are you familiar with the fact that newt said that his patriotic spirit in his case was

what caused him to have the affair that ended that second marriage, which a lot of us thought was a ludicrous cover story. >> he seemed to have almost mitt romney-like answers. mitt romney has not been able to answer this tax question at all. and earlier on, gingrich had really poor answers to this question. he did address it head on. he attacked the media, which is an old standby. he used the question just like judo, and he handed john king his head on the platter. and he got the standing ovation. it probably won him a lot of votes in simply the way he handled it. so there was a transformation. they were certainly ready for it. he came back after it really hard and denied it. the one thing that's interesting to me, just listening to him on the campaign trail and going back and reading and listening to the transcript of a speech he

gave on traditional values and religious values the day after he asked his wife for a divorce, i have noticed that he has not really brought that card to the table this year. and of course, this is an economic election. it's not a values election. i don't think he needs to. >> you're dead right. our table is filled with what we worry about as a voter. voters are so caught up in the economy and their anger against this president. on the republican side. they've got no time to think about somebody's marital history. what would you expect her to say? can't stop loving this man? the fact is these divorces are always sad. they are always based on acri acrimony. almost always based on bad behavior. i think a lot of people think what erin reported is old news. thank you erin. thank you, james. next, what's stephen colbert really up to? that's ahead. tomorrow i'll be in tampa, florida. at the tampa tribune, not far from here at the auditorium of

the tampa tribune newspaper talking about my new book with a big crowd. "jack kennedy." the event is open to the public this time. it's free. come on over. this is "hardball" on msnbc. [ male announcer ] you are a business pro. premier of the packed bag. you know organization is key... and so is having a trusted assistant. and you...rent from national. because only national lets you choose any car in the aisle...and go. you can even take a full-size or above and still pay the mid-size price.

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for a positive campaign so i'm not going to go after this man's opponents. i won't be saying things like the only difference between mitt romney and a statue of mitt romney is that the statue never changes its position. that's not positive. not even to the statue. and i am not going to answer the gotcha question, am i interested in an open marriage? though i am flattered that newt gingrich asked me. >> welcome back to "hardball." stephen colbert rolled into south carolina, his home state, where he held a pretty big rally. some say a huge rally with herman cain there. police estimate the crowd was attended by 4,000 people, which is a big number down here. that's more than the actual candidates see at a rally. and he continues to explore a run for president down there in south carolina. what effect will colbert have on this election?

steve kornacki is a real reporter for salon. today on "morning joe," colbert took on the question of open marriage. god knows what he said, but here it is. let's listen. >> what, sir, is your position on open marriages? >> i just can't believe that a journalist of your stature -- journalist of your stature would lead with such garbage like that. i don't care to answer that question. i don't care to answer that question i don't think the people in this room want me to answer that question. >> standing ovation. >> i'm all for it, but you need two people to make that go. >> later colbert defended gingrich for his honesty. let's listen. >> you know, honesty is the best policy. here is the thing i don't think

newt gingrich gets credit for. a lot of politicians screw around on their wives but he asked permission first. that is a southern gentleman. >> that is what robert e. lee would have done. >> that is what robert e. lee would have done. car kna kornacki, what is this guy going to do, his campaign he's running under the name of herman cain, saying if you vote for him, whose name is still on the ballot, you're voting for me or what? talk about sending a message, what is it? >> i am not sure myself although part of me wonders, we saw rick perry get out of the race yesterday and obviously he wanted to help gingrich, but you also wonder with stephen colbert making the push for herman cain if rick perry was worried about finishing behind herman cain/stephen colbert. the entire pose, it's a

commendary on that blurring of the line between celebrity politician, presidential candidate. in a way herman cain typified that. was he interested in running a campaign or saying he's running for president to get exposure to get in the debates, here we have stephen colbert who doesn't want to be president but will sort of flirt with the idea and look what it gets for him. >> well somebody ran for mayor of new york, jimmy bresin, if elected he will demand a recount. he will get three or four votes, the question is will this send any good message? because people, i am convinced, this is a side commentary, i don't know if you agree or not. regular people don't give money to candidates, couple hundred bucks, most people when they see

millions of dollars like the coke brothers, they can't get it in their hand. how a guy deals with his wife, issues like the economy, they can understand. do you think people focus on campaign finance when they go to vote? >> no, i have never thought so, i always thought the power of campaign finance messages is what it says about the candidates character. what i'm talking about there is example that comes to mind is john mccain, when he ran for president way back in 2000, when he was the straight talk express. >> he looked good. >> nobody cared about the specifics of what he was calling for but it was him against the system and that looked good to people. >> the system beat him. today in south carolina the rally colbert addressed questions about whether his campaign is for real or not. let's listen. >> the pundits have asked is this all some joke? we all heard it, haven't we? i say if they are calling being

allowed to form a super pac and collected unlimited, untraceable amounts of money from individuals, unions and corporations and spend that money on political ads and personal enrichment and surrender that super pac to one of my closest friends while i explore a run for office, if that is a joke, then they are saying our entire campaign finance system is a joke and i don't know about you, but i have been paid to be offended by that. >> okay, herman cain gets five point tomorrow night when we reporting, 11:00 at night, what will people report, will they say it's i am important, or it won't make a paragraph? what will be the report if colbert succeeds on the herman cain ticket? >> i guess it's humiliating if any candidate for any candidate who finishes below him, if that happens. some people will say about campaign finance reform, i think the prevailing interpretation

will end up being if he does well will be this is how bad and how unimpressive this field was to the voters of south carolina. >> okay, steve kornacki. bill buck said i'll demand a recount. breslin ran in another race. the dogs aren't eating newt gingrich's dog food, you're watching "hardball" only on mooes. msnbc. ♪ feel the power my young friend. mmm! [ male announcer ] for unsurpassed fruit and veggie nutrition... v8 v-fusion. could've had a v8. ttd#: 1-800-345-2550 let's talk about the cookie-cutter retirement advice ttd#: 1-800-345-2550 you get at some places. ttd#: 1-800-345-2550 they say you have to do this, have that, invest here ttd#: 1-800-345-2550 ttd#: 1-800-345-2550 you know what? ttd#: 1-800-345-2550 you can't create a retirement plan based on ttd#: 1-800-345-2550 a predetermined script. ttd#: 1-800-345-2550 to understand you and your goals...

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. let me finish tonight with this, the reported collapse of mitt romney's poll numbers reminds me of the old story about the well advertised dog food. the campaign to sell that dog food was great, came in a brightly colored can. the owner thought the best possible food to be serving his pet. no matter what after all the great advertising and great response by the owner, the dog wouldn't eat it. he kept looking at his bowl. this is the republican party today, the reason is clear. romney's not what they want. especially this year. the republican right is angry this year and romney isn't. he wants the job all right, wants to beat obama to get it he's not out to beat obama the way red-hot republican