i've said it before this will be one hot convention in late august, mitt romney is not the right guy to be standing up there. with his neat hair and life so together. they, the republican red hots, want someone to match their madness and newt in some mad way, is just what the doctor ordered. that is "hardball" for now, thanks for being with us. "the ed show" with ed schultz starts right now. welcome to "the ed show" from new york, breaking news, this is the contract that mitt romney's all uptight about. newt gingrich just released it, we'll go through it. the freddie mac deal. kind of a sweet deal. sheldon sheldon adelson cut a check. mitt romney is sinking in the polls, not only florida but nationally. guess what the republican party is doing? i think they are drinking tonight. this is "the ed show," let's get to work. >> he was a failed leader. he had to resign in disgrace.

>> we moved from romney's baloney to desperate baloney. he will open up a delli. the fight for florida is exploding on the campaign trial. newt gingrich is now in front. >> i did not think i had lived a good enough life to be rewarded by newt gingrich being the republican nominee. >> tonight, massachusetts congressman barney frank and "hardball'"''s" chris matthews l bedate. >> we do our laundry, we will be on the road for 30 days, who else will do the laundry? >> we're hanging mitt's gla glamorous life out to dry with martin bashir, joan walsh. >> if that is what the president will talk about tuesday night it's pathetic. >> john boehner is giving his opinion on tomorrow night's state of the union. tonight, i'll give mine.

jonathan alter is here to preview the big speech. good to have you with us. folks, don't you get the feeling washington is just thunderstruck that newt gingrich is where he is right now? mitt romney wants to stop gingrich's momentum but florida will be a little trickier state to put an end to the surge from the guy from georgia. there are three voting blocs in the sunshine state if you want to break it down. first the panhandle and northern part of florida. a large population of evangelical christian voters up there. newt gingrich and rick santorum looking pretty good in that part of the state we're told. then there is the central part of the state, which is the home of actually a lot of people that aren't from florida, trans plants that live down there. i spoke with alan grayson today, friend of mine, former congressman, he said 85% of the people in his district, in the middle of the state are from out of state, grayson thinks that region is probably going to romney.

probably solidly, too. finally, you have the southern part of florida, and down in the southern part of the florida, you of of course have a lot of diversity, you have voting blocs made up of cuban republicans, and of course jewish republicans. mitt romney did not farewell four years ago, mccain took the cuban vote down there and of course the jewish vote, many people think will be locked up by newt gingrich. so you have a very diverse state, but also a state that has been very fickle, subject to change. rick perry, he was the top of the quinnipiac poll in september. a month later mitt romney was in the lead. a month later here comes newt, leading by 13 points and romney was back in the lead by 12 points at the beginning of january. just a few weeks ago. an insider advantage poll today shows that newt gingrich back in the lead by 8 points. there has been a lot of political moving down there and attitudes changing and don't forget the early voting.

gingrich also closed the gap nationally. i tell you this is really what is making the republicans nervous. the daily poll shows romney is what? one point ahead of newt gingrich who has this terrible electability factor going against him? romney is going in the wrong direction, there is no question about that. which is why he's out there blasting newt gingrich in florida today. >> he said in a debate, actually, people who profited from the failed model of freddie mac and fannie mae ought to give back their money. speaker made $1.7 million in his enterprises from providing services to freddie mac he ought to give it back. he has records which could represent an october surprise. we could see an october surprise a day from newt gingrich. saying newt gingrich is a lobbyist is just a matter of fact. >> did we just hear one of the wealthiest guys in the history of the country ever to seek the nomination say that somebody

ought to give their money back? come on, mitt! you don't give money away. pretty strong talk from romney. sounds a lot different than he did four days ago, don't you think? >> i guess also go back and take every moment i spent talking about one of the guys on the stage, and spent that time talking about barack obama. >> okay, romney is trying to work on his attack dog skills. that is who he is? he just hired michele bachmann's debate coach and campaign released a television ad in florida attacking gingrich's electability. >> while florida families lost everything in the housing crisis, newt gingrich cashed in. gingrich was paid over $1.6 million by the agency that kretd the crisis. >> i offer advice, my advice is a historian. >> a historian, really? sanctioned for ethics violation, he resigned from congress in disgrace, then cashed in as a dc insider. if newt wins, this guy would be

very happy. >> i'm mitt romney, i approve this message. >> do you really think that people in florida care about that, mr. romney? i have to ask you that tonight. as we go from georgia down to florida, newt gingrich is carrying baggage with him but that doesn't matter, this guy has all the confidence in the world right now. he wins south carolina, he's leading in florida, and the pro-gingrich super pac wrote him another $5 million check, that is coming from adelson family. gingrich you know what he's looking like? like a winner right now. the way he talks, the way he walks, the way he acts. confidence is pouring off newt gingrich right now. on top of that he's making romney look pretty weak. >> i have been told by a variety of people that governor romney has been saying unkind things. i prefer personally not to believe it. but on the other hand, if you have been campaigning for six

years and you begin to see it slip away, you get desperate. such baloney. used to be pious baloney now it's desperate baloney, that is the success se shun of the ca campai campaign. >> why is newt gingrich connecting with these conservative voters? is it because he's got a better tax plan? is it because what he wants to do with health care? is it because he's got a better idea for the economy? come on. newt gingrich just does a better job of selling his -- hate is a really tough word. he does a better job of selling how upset we should be with president obama. and how we're just heading in the wrong direction. he's selling hard, isn't he? gingrich is forcing mitt romney to go really against his own nature. mitt is not an attack dog, never

has been, never will be. the difference what we have here now is a guy who really wants to win and a guy who says "i deserve it." where i come from you call that fire in the belly. gingrich has it right now. mitt romney doesn't. right now mitt romney is somewhere in florida, and his gps political tracking system isn't working very good right now. i guess you could say maybe he's down in the ever gaglades in th political wilderness. if gingrich surges like this, it will be music to the democratic ears of america. some democrats like barney frank absolutely amazed it's happening. >> i did not think i had lived a good enough life to be rewarded by newt gingrich being the republican nominee. it still is unlikely but i have hopes. >> and we have that congressman with us tonight. barney frank. congressman, good to have you with us here on the program. i have to ask you, are you convinced you've lived a good

enough life to see newt gingrich as the possible nominee of the republican party? how do you feel about that? >> well i'll have to divide the question as you can do in a parliamentary situation. leaving my life aside, yeah, i think a very real chance he will be the nominee, i think an analogy odd as it may seem to the 1972 democratic race. mitt romney is looking like ed muskie, a very responsible guy, he was somewhat thoughtful, he was much more substantive, i don't mean to dishonor him by comparing him. there is an anger, gingrich has made himself the em bodiment of the anger. they are not persuaded by the electability issue. i have seen when you have people angry, committed, they believe that they represent the majority. and they will tell thank you in fact there are, as we know, millions of people who don't vote.

and what happens is the most passionate committed often claim the non-voter as their supporters. i guarantee you there are people there the tea party people and others who believe that if they can nominate newt gingrich and get this unvarnished absolutely angry conservatism that will come out and vote and i guess this is going to be a test because a republican establishment will try to stop him just as democrats tried to stop george mcgovern. this is a question whether the angry people in the republican party have the courage. i think they are wrong and the country will not welcome them, but let's have that test. let's take that unvarnished conservatism, not just conservatism, angry white wing radicalism and put it out there. >> seems like newt gingrich is capitalizing on this angry emotion that we're seeing coming from republicans, especially in

the south who just cannot stand the president of the united states. let's talk about if we can the gentleman you mentioned, mr. mus kif kie, is it in mitt romney's character to be a political attack dog? it seems to me newt gingrich has got mitt romney out of his wheel house right now. >> he will do it, but i will say this about mitt romney, ed muskie was a thoughtful, creative man. it demeans him, romney does have one great advantage in the race. he's totally uncoupkuncumbered political principle. if do you that to the extreme, it's a disadvantage. romney will do anything to be president, he has been running for office, made enough money, been living off that money for 20 years and running for president for 20 years.

began by running for the senate, governor, very wise republican moderate of the old school in massachusetts when asked about romney said when he was governor how did he behave? some people when they become a governor of a state get potomac fever. he had poteau mackteae potomac . >> i have the contract newt gingrich had with freddie mac. i read through it, really favorable to gingrich in the fact he could be retained at any time without him not even knowing it. they could extend the deal, it's got a nice rollover clause. very strict disclosure language. did you know gingrich was kind of tied at the hip for 25 grand a month to freddie? >> i did not. that is an important point. i get attacked, we stopped the regulation of fannie and

freddie, the republican party controlled the house of representatives from 1995 through 2006. it was during that period when no bill regulating fannie and freddie became law. they had the senate -- it wasn't -- i was originally wrong on that but changed my opinion on the facts. in 2007 when the democrats took over, that is when fannie an freddie got regulated. if you look at that contract i bet they stopped paying him when the democrats came in power and paid him while the republicans were in power, let's look at the facts. he is getting paid by freddie mac, zero happens that fannie and freddie don't want. >> this contract started on the first day of january, 2006. it was the year that mid-terms obviously before the democrats took over the house in the mid-terms. whether that means anything or not, i don't know. >> when did they stop paying him? i thought they only paid him for

brief period. >> the commercial that romney has taken out right now is saying it paid him $1.7 million, so if you go 25 grand a month, my math is telling me a little over six years. isn't it? >> that couldn't work because -- i think that goes -- i think the contract was before that. i'm pretty sure from what i read the contract was during the period of republican control. gingrich is forced out of the house by his -- unsuccessful speaker. >> is this a problem for gingrich, in your opinion? >> it would be by any normal standard and will be, i think, in november. but gingrich has got behind them people who are so angry, that all they want is that you be angry, and some ways more outrageous the conduct the better they feel because that shows that your anger what is counts. and i believe these people, you tell them he can't be elect and romney can be, and they will say no, if we -- the right wingers said that about barry goldwater.

some said it about george mcgovern. this is a test whether or not the people have the courage of their convictions. they honestly believe in their rejection of serious public governing, they are the majority. and if they believe that, they will nominate gingrich. >> congressman barney frank, gate to have you with us. >> thank you, ed. >> get your cell phones out. tonight's question about the congressman has barney frank lived a good enough life to see newt gingrich be the gop nominee? text a for yes, b for no, to 622639, and go to the blog at ed.msnbc.com. the stakes couldn't be higher. what can we expect from tonight's nbc news republican debate in florida? christ chris matthews will join us. how much will romney and gingrich teach each other

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coming up mitt romney slipped in the polls after two pour debate performances. can he recover tonight in came pa? how crucial is this debate. chris matthews and i will debate. >> chris christie claims mitt romney created middle class jobs at stapl everys and sports authority. jonathan alter will preview the state of the union address, a big one on the economy. share your thoughts on twitter, using #edshow, we're right back.

welcome back to "the ed show." minutes away from the nbc news republican debate live in tampa, florida. if debates really are important, in this race, the latest from the gallup, romney and gingrich in a dead heat, not just with florida voters but nationwide. what can we expect out of tonight? to help answer that, let's go to my colleague, friend, sometimes i call him big brother, the encyclopedia of politics, chris matthews. good to have you with us tonight. i look at newt gingrich. he has had two great debates. how does he keep it going? what does he do tonight? what is his demeanor tonight? he has been aggressive, he has fire in the belly, he looks like the guy that wants to play the super bowl with barack obama. what do you make of that in. >> well, looks to me like his whole game tonight is lure romney in an attack. romney makes an attack, he does

the counter punch, he wins. romney has to idea how to do the third attack, come back to the counter punch. he's a man of limited spontanei spontaneity. newt can hear the other guy's attack and respond to the very words in real time. the other guy is a character out of the mechanical people. mitt romney can't think on his feet. newt can. so interesting what newt has to be careful is to wait for the best punch thrown at him by romney tonight, on any issue, and punch him back for all he's got and he can win the election. >> you think he can be the nominee? you think that newt gingrich after what he did in south carolina and the way it's trending in florida this might be the tip of the iceberg for the moformer speaker? >> progressives are uncertain what is going on, i know they are. the right is angry, they have a very clearly motion. the anger is contempt, anger against the president, the

establishment, against everything. this guy newt is an opportunist, a man who can adapt to circumstances better than anybody i ever met. knows the tone, perfect pitch, it's contempt, rage. he knows exactly how to fine tune it. the other guy, mitt romney, may be able to memorize lines that stew stevens rights for him. can mention kardashians or lucille ball or big foot, but he doesn't know the tone. this guy newt, a good philadelphia accent. atty-tude, he has it perfectly. >> mitt romney, how does he get back on his game if he's got one? i think he's in the political wilderness, his gps tracking system ain't working right now. he comes out and today he seems to out of character, saying that

newt gingrich is sperratic and will have an october surprise and he does his own wash. >> who was that british boxer, bayonne bleeder, a jersey guy, chuck webner? i think he's the bayonne bleeder. he doesn't have any moves, and any fluency with the language, he will be stuck on his feet and i think mitt will get beaten tonight i think. i may be wrong it's not about values, it's ability right now. in terms of the issues, i think mitt still hopes he can find the american middle, which means people who know these are not good times, would like to make a adjustments. the image he projects is a middle of the roader. and whereas newt is not playing for the middle of the road he's going for the hard right.

the florida is democrats need not apply, independents need not apply. one thing that bothered me personally as an american, you talked about it and al sharpton, food stamps is code and to use that the night he won here, saturday night, coming in the panhandle of florida, playing with the southern people for the southern tradition, white people, trying to play them like a banjo, that is what he's up to and i couldn't believe coming instead of being magnanomous, a third of the vote in this state is southern, meaning for the northern part of the state, and for the panhandle, he's heading for that territory. it's not nice to watch, not good at all. >> enormous show down tonight for both candidates. i get a feeling washington dc, though, is thunderstruck by where newt gingrich is right

now. chris, great to have you with us, thank you so much. >> as always, ed, thank you. >> next in "psycho talk" i'll take down chris christie's delusional view of the american middle class. newt gingrich is appealing to voters who really can't stand this president. we'll tell you how he's taking advantage of it.

in "psycho talk" tonight, new jersey governor chris christie is trying to get mitt romney's campaign back on track

after their disasterous loss in south carolina, so he goes on offensive. christie is ignoring the thousands of jobs mitt romney destroyed as head of bain capital and instead pretending mitt romney created just a bunch of middle class jobs. >> this is a guy who has shown the american free enterprise system can work, can work to create jobs across america. you look at places like staples and sports authority, everybody who works at those places today has mitt romney to thank. that is hi contribution to show the free enterprise system under attack by the obama administration, does work for real people, middle class people, because let me tell you the people working at sports authority and staples, david, those are middle class americans using those jobs to put food on the table and a roof over their heads and send a kid to college. >> did he say they are middle class americans when it comes to the economy? chris christie, top surrogate

for mitt romney passing off jobs as staples and sports authority as middle class jobs. folks, we need to talk about this. these are hard working americans, but if this is your only income, let's face it, it's barely a living wage. many people who work at either of these stores are hourly employees. check out workers, folks who stock shelves, warehouse workers, making $8, $9, $10 an hour, less than $20,000 a year. a good chunk of the jobs are part-time with limited benefits, if benefits at all. this is i guess you could say the republican view of the middle class. these are people living paycheck-to-paycheck, working a couple jobs to put food on the table and keep a roof over their head. they are one sick kid or broken down car away from a real financial problem. forget about saving for college and retirement. yes, these are jobs. but many of them are not careers and they are not middle class. yet this is chris christie's

idea of a middle class america? for governor christie to say mitt romney created a bunch of middle class jobs i think is economic "psycho talk." we do our laundry at least once a week, we will be on the road for 30 straight days. who else do you think will do our laundry? >> coming up, political panel on middle class mitt's glamorous life. the gingrich-romney slug fest. >> he has been working as a lobbyist. >> i was not a lobbyist, i was never a lobbyist, i never did lobbying. >> john boehner is given his take on the state of the union and lying through his teeth. >> it's the president's policies that have made our economy worse. >> jonathan alter is h here to preview tomorrow night's big speech.

welcome bank to "the ed show." the carnival continues mitt romney's son tweeted this picture of dad and mom doing the

laundry. the day of the south carolina primary. there he is, pouring laundry detergent in the washing machine. well, here's the aftermath. oh, it's the political season we're having fun with it here. but look, the romney campaign made a choice. they decided to send out a picture of the candidate doing his own laundry. romney says he does it every week. take a look at the picture again. i guess it's supposed to portray him as a regular guy, middle classer just like you. romney is a vulture capitalist millionaire who was hiding his tax returns until he ran in this buzzsaw, this place called south carolina. do you think that picture lends him in a common touch? kind of manner?

let's bring in martin bashir host of the martin basrih show, joan walsh and msnbc political analyst richard wolffe. it seems to me mitt romney is doing everything he possibly can to tell america, you know i got a lot of money but i'm like you. is it working? >> when you live on the real streets as he does, you know how to use those little coin-operated things that give you the small boxes of detergent. but if you did your laundry every week you might have a bigger box of powder, i don't find the photo convincing. maybe it was extraordinary that the son tweeted it. it's a nice try, funny, but his efforts to be middle class just like everyone else, they seem hollow. >> here is romney on the economy, let's listen. >> how do you answer the president's argument that the economy is getting better in a general election campaign if you yourself are saying it's getting better?

>> of course it's getting better. the economy always gets better after a recession, there is always a recovery the question is has it recovered by virtue by something the president has done or has he made it more painful? the president p's policies have made it deeper. >> is that a stark enough contrast. >> have you got a better one, laura, this happens to be the truth. >> joan walsh, kind of twisting in the wind, isn't he? >> i mean i'm not a big laura fan but that was a little bit snippy, how dare you challenge on this, laura. the laundry picture, both things are similar, every time he tries to do something normal, he looks like a robot imitating a human being. so it's not working. i think the other thing he doesn't get, ed, we don't expect him to do his laundry. we don't begrudge him his wealth, it's about both fairness

and justice and the fact that he's participated in the hollowing out of the middle class and that is why he's having a problem. it's not he's wealthy. we had lot of wealthy politic n politicia politicians, as long as they work for the people we're fine with it. >> martin, how will the debate performance tonight compare with south carolina? >> if you think how he performed last week, i think he was a bit like a door-to-door salesman working for avon. he would go door-to-door to try to sell you cosmetics. newt gingrich turns up and he's a mobster, running a racquet. he comes and tells you if you don't pay him he will take your house. so what he does is tells you the country will be taken from you, the united states will bb become a socialist europe, the problem for romney, he has to go from being a door-to-door salesman, a nice man, to being someone as nasty and as virulent and nefarious as newt and that is the challenge for tonight.

>> what do you make of it, richard? it seems to me that romney is out of his game right now. he's in the political wilderness, he's doing things in a very uncharacteristic manner and i think it difficult -- diminishes him a little bit. >> he has been able to hide the attacks behind other people, super pac out there, he has stayed positive. now he's having to do it himself and the problem for him is that he's going after something that republicans don't care about he's trying to say newt is bad because he is a lobbyist. the republican voters voted dan coates, who was a lobbyist and haley barbour who ran his lobbying shop was one -- i think he's on the wrong thing. if he's testing character where he stumbled on tax returns if he's asking if newt can take the pressure, newt can take the pressure. >> joan, does it matter if newt

gingrich was a lobbyist or not, he had a personal services considered with freddie mac, standard stuff, he was a consultant. >> well, you know, it should matter, it does matter to us, it should matter to other people but richard is right, it seems not to matter. now, i guess he could hit him harder or someone could hit him harder on the fact that he's basically lying about what he did but again, it seems not to be resonating with a very angry republican base who desperately want someone to stick to it president obama and demonnize president obama further. i don't think it's working. >> he's selling fear what is he's doing. martin bashir, joan walsh, richard wolffe. newt gingrich is better at romney at hating president obama, that is what it's coming down to. we'll talk about his dog whistle politics, next. ♪ let's go ♪ ♪ cruise like a norwegian

♪ i just saved a ton of money at staples. great job, dave. suck-up. [ male announcer ] in a small business, it's all you. that's why you have us. at staples, we have low prices on everything your small business needs. staples. that was easy. coming up next, newt gingrich gets called out for his dog whistle politics.

john boehner tried talking points don't match up with the facts about the economy. jonathan alter helps me preview tomorrow's state of the union. don't forget to t

welcome back to "the ed show." let's face it one of the reason gingrich won saturday was because he's better than mitt romney at vilifying president obama. >> president obama has been historically the most effective food stamp president in american history. >> congressman james clybo rrn talked about the coded language gingrich is using. >> newt gingrich is throwing red meat to the base, saying little words and phrases that we are very familiar here in the south. i'm saying he's appealing to an element in this party that will

see president obama as different from all other presidents that we have had. >> gingrich responded to the criticism shortly after. >> it's unfor national liberal leaders, whatever their ethnic background can't have an honest open debate about policies that fail. the fact is far more whites than blacks are on food stamps and liberals shouldn't get away with hiding the consequence of their bad policies by yelling racism. >> i'm joined by msnbc host martin bashir, joan walsh, and msnbc analyst richard wolffe. martin, does that fly? >> it's interesting, gingrich lies repeatedly. first of all, we know today that more people were collecting food stamps under george w. bush than are under president obama. so that is the first, something like a difference of half a million people. but the second point that he

makes in this kind of beautiful newt gingrich way, i couldn't possibly be using this language, he's an expert at use thing this language. we traced back an editorial from the new york times in 1994 where they accused him of using coded language in exactly the same way. he's doing exactly the same thing, almost 20 years, he's the expert at this. he barely conceals a nasty, virulent racism and points it at both the president and also at those who are picking up food stamps who need them. >> joan, does the republican base just gravitate to this kind of visceral attitude toward the president? is this what the republican party is going to come up with as far as a nominee? >> i really hope not. i desperately hope not. but it looks like for now it's working. i mean, we have a really interesting case study in the republican party in these two candidates because mitt is the candidate, a vulture capitalist

that hollowed out the middle class and represented and enriched the top 1%. newt is the face of the politics of resentment and rage that let guys like mitt do that to the economy. they work hand-in-hand. we have seen it for 30 or 40 years, ed, it's working for now. i hope people wake up. it seems a republican habit when someone says something about president obama everybody seems to just get quiet and let the words be spoken and not challenge. here is an example. santorum. >> an avowed muslim, my question is why isn't something being done to get him out of the government? he has no legal right to be calling himself president. >> well, i'm doing my best to get him out of the government. >> richard, notice the candidate

made no effort to correct the woman and allowed that to go out there, and there may be people consuming it, believing it. >> and compare that to john mccain in 2008 who when confronted with this kind of thing said actually you're wrong. there is -- there is something they are condoning implicitly, rick santorum may feel he hasn't got enough support that he can turn away any voters at all, but what this speaks to is the sort of underlying judgment that the president is some interloper, doesn't look like the kind of people they associate with the residency -- presidency. there is a conspiracconspiracy. that is why gingrich is so good. i don't think he does dog whistle politics. the point is that he is channelling not just resentment but victimhood. that there is something pushing them down, and that thing that is pushing them down is embodied

by the alien president who doesn't deserve to be there. >> martin, they keep saying that president obama wants to make us a socialist country an wants to be the european model. >> this is the most wonderful irony at all, simply for this reason. boehner, cantor, gingrich, romney, describe the president as wanting to transform or translate american life into a socialized european state. guess what? do you know what they are doing in europe? they are doing austerity. they are doing the very thing that cantor, bay -- that they want. in the united kingdom in the second double dip recession, italy is on the border of recession. it's the most beautiful irony, these people acuts president obama of wanting to create a european socialized state and yet the very strategies, policies they want are being deployed in europe to disasterous effect. >> at least the president has

got mitt romney admitting that the economy is getting better. that is pretty good. martin bashir, joan walsh, richard wolffe, great to have you with us. house speaker john boehner is using bonus talking points to rip in the president ahead tomorrow night's state of the union speech. jonathan alter will help me set him straight next.

"the ed show" survey i asked has barney frank lived a good enough life to see newt gingrich be the gop nominee? 81% said yes, 19% said no. coming up we'll preview the president's state of the union with msnbc political analyst jonathan alter. n. imagine living your life with less chronic low back pain. imagine you, with less pain. cymbalta can help. cymbalta is fda-approved to manage chronic musculoskeletal pain. one non-narcotic pill a day, every day, can help reduce this pain. tell your doctor right away if your mood worsens,

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four courses for only $15. offer ends soon. i'm jody gonzalez, red lobster manager and i sea food differently. red it sounds to me like the same old policies that we've seen. more spending, higher taxes, more regulations. the same policies that haven't helped our economy, they have made it worse. if that is what the president will talk about tuesday night, i think it's pathetic. >> house speaker john boehner, playing dirty ahead of the president's state of the union speech tomorrow night. in addition to calling the president's policies pathetic, he came out with a scary movie trailer previewing the president's speech.

♪ >> well, of course the facts show boehner is completely wrong. the economy has improved, which president obama pointed out in his state of the union preview. >> an economy that was shrinking is now growing again. we've created more than a million jobs over the last year. the stock market is back up, and corporate profits are healthy again. we've still got a lot more work to do. my number one focus is going to be making sure that we are competitive, that we are growing and we are creating jobs, not just now, but well in the future. and that's what is going to be the main topic of the state of the union.

>> let's turn to jonathan alter, political analyst and columnist for bloomberg view. 22 months of private sector job growth. fewest unemployment claims since april of 2008. general motors back as the world's largest automaker. the president is bashful about the stock market which has everybody's retirement or 401 k, and i think it was over 6,000 in march of 2009 and over 12,000 now. how can you argue with that success, what does he have to do tomorrow night? >> think he has to layout some of where we were and where we've come to in order to put the lie to this lie, i hate to be so blunt about it, ed, but if you say as the speaker of the house just did, that the economy has gotten worse, that's a lie. if he said we've had anemic disappointing growth, we need to

do much better, president should be fired for not doing well, that would all be fair political comment. but he actually says something that is factually untrue. so the president has to layout a story that explains the things have gotten better, this is tremendous misderstanding about his accomplishmens. people don't understand that the recovery act the stimulus worked. they don't understand the auto bail outs worked. there is some educating that he needs to do and after that, he needs to pivot to a second term agenda. he's not going to get reelected if he doesn't tell the voters what to expect in the second obama term. >> should he hit on 25 or 30 things or focus on three or four and get detailed? most state of the union speeches are very broad and whatnot. we're at a critical point right now. this speech tomorrow night, probably the convention are the two big platforms the president will have in terms of millions of people listening to what he's

saying. so how he uses it tomorrow night is pretty important. >> it. he needs to draw a road map for the middle class for the survival of the middle class, for the hopes of those below the middle class to get in the middle class, that means talk about education. about closing the skills gap, so we train the workforce of the 21st century, and he needs to tell a story and he's good at that when he focuses on it but he hasn't done enough of that, as president so far. he needs to bring the people along in what is called a narrative. >> the president two years ago called out the supreme court on citizens united. took a lot of heat for it, people said it was political. does he in the speech tomorrow night say look, i've had to put up with a record number of filibusters, we're moving the economy in spite of of you guys sitting over here that haven't partaked in moving the country forward? >> he has to be careful about seeming to whine. >> it a fact. >> he has a lot of facts to

cover. the smarter thing would be to be positive and to start to build a movement for a constitutional amendment to say that money is not speech, and even if we're not agreeing going to get that for a few years, that is how change happens, if a president comes out for a big reform in the state of the union you can build support for it overtime. i don't expect him to do that but i think he should. of course what about income and equality, he had a discussion, does he hit on that, the middle class? >> he does have to talk about that, how that is getting worse and all he's asking is for the wealthy to pay their fair share, nothing more, it's not right. he'll talk about the buffet rule it's not right for warren buffet to pay a lower tax rate than his secretary. you can expect him to hit that point. >> this is the stage where the president performs well. this is not training camp time. he knows how