it's very frustrating to watch the presidential debates and feel the debate we all want is not happening. but it is empowering to know that we have the privilege of a free press in this country and an incredibly-connected universe to talk to each other about these things. as ron paul once told me, politicians simply go whichever way the wind blows. it's our job to change the direction of the wind. thank you for being with us today. and thank you to everyone here. who could complain. we'll see you tomorrow at 4:00. let's play "hardball." good evening. i'm chris matthews in washington. leading off tonight, running scared. liberals are exnews yastic about the idea of newt gingrich as the

go nominee for president. the right is turning against gingrich, afraid he would wind up as the nominee and take the party down. former colleague tom delay called him erratic. newt has a long record of bashing ronald reagan and perhaps most damming, ann culter said the best way to reelect barack obama is to elect gingrich. his appeal is with the tea party crowd. the ones with the pitch forks and torches. while romney attracts the educated types. it's become t-shirts versus tattersal. whoever wins florida will have the inside track to take on president obama. that's a fight that looks increasingly good for the democrats.

the president is gaining strength in the new nbc news wall street journal poll. his approval rating is the highest since june. americans are feeling better about the economy itself. the big question. is this a temporary uptick or the start of something good for the country and the white house? catch this picture of arizona governor jan brewer sticking a finger in president obama's face on the tarmac in phoenix. why does the nasty right feel it's okay to disrespect this president so much? let me finish with the joy, and i mean joy, this newt versus mitt romney fight is giving yours truly. dana milbank is joining us. let me start -- first of all, it's not dana milbank. i think we had a change in direction here. let me start with ron christy.

since you were always on the menu here. what do you make of the fact that all of a sudden, people have been rooting for newt gingrich on the republican side for years. he's been the speaker of the house. he was a hero. a ramrod for them in getting things done. now everybody, all the big shots in the party, are saying there's something fundamentally wrong with this guy. what happened to newt that they didn't notice before? >> good evening, chris. first of all, i don't know whether i would call ann culter danty. i think there are two newt gingrichs. the good newt and the bad newt. the one who is the speaker of the house and led republicans to a house majority for the first time in over 40 years and stuck to the principles. the bad newt is the one who came out earlier today and said he wants to have his moon base.

he was talking about global climate change. he's the one who, i think,s a lot of republicans believe should he get the nomination, the republican party would have 0 chance of beating president obama. the bad newt is out now. >> so the bad newt, as you guys see it, is the one who believes in science. >> the bad newt is the one -- >> there's no man-made influence on climate change. is that your belief? >> let me enen you. global climate change is the biggest fraud in this country. the scientific evidence isn't there. this is something that al gore has made millions of dollars of perpetuating a myth. that's what i think. >> how are you standing on evolution these days? >> i'm feeling pretty good in evolution. >> do you believe in it? >> god it our creator and we all

fall from the good lord. >> what is the party that used to believe in those? >> it's true. >> let's go back to the life on this planet here. the new poll out has numbers tonight that explain why liberals would be excited by a newt gingrich candidacy. let's take a look at the numbers. in the poll people were asked whether they had positive or negative feelings towards the candidates for president. obama, half the people polled said they viewed him the president positively. 39% said negatively. mitt romney did worse. for newt gingrich, only 26% viewed him positively. half the people had a negative view of thim. so whatever reason, the voters have a problem with this guy. that's why the establishment is

scared on the republican side. >> they are scared because they understand that a newt gingrich nomination would mean a defeat for the republicans in the fall at the white house level. they are also worried it means they lose the house and wouldn't be able to make the gains in the senate. it's the prospect for republicans of a three-way sweep. the white house and both houses of congress. they are worried. i'm not sure, though, they are going to be able to stop him. this is florida coming up. everybody says florida is not south carolina. that's true. but there was a guy just like mitt romney who was a moderate and everybody around washington thought he was perhaps going to be a national candidate some wayday. his name was chris christie. he ran for the senate and was defeated by marco rubio. this is a good sign for newt gingrich. >> what kind of republican party is in florida? is it more conservative than it used to be? based on what steve said, it has

moved to the right. >> i think it has. it's more center right than anything else. certainly, marco rubio was elected based not only on conservative support but by independents. i do agree that should gingrich win in florida, it would cause heartburn for the republicans. but if you look at the latest poll, governor romney is up. he has the organization and momentum to win in florida. that would position him very well for the remaining contests. >> is the party moving to the right down there enough to win it for newt? if the party has moved that right, what do they have to tell them to vote for? it's perhaps not surprising that many republican leaders are panicked about a potential newt candidacy. today politico said it this way. it's as if the media decided gingrich is for real and needed to come clean before it's too

late. saying newt had insulted ronald reagan. it linked to a devastating article in the national review. ann culter who said she supports mitt romney wrote "the best way for republicans to help the president get a second term would be to nominate newt gingrich." let's listen to what she said. >> having a candidate who goes out and calls obama a ken yan colonialist or a socialist, that's not what you need. at the same time, with newt gingrich, you get the name calling for the president. very popular with the tea party crowd in south carolina. not so popular with independents. but he won't put a fence on the border. but he took money from freddie mac. with newt gingrich, you e throw out the baby and keep the bath water. >> here's elliot iowa brams.

e he wrote "mr. gingrich often spewed insulting rhetoric at reagan and his policies to defeat communism. such was gingrich's faith in president reagan he called the meeting with the the soviet leader the most dangerous summit from the west since hitler met with chamberlain." this stuff is being dug up. ann is very smart but radical. all these people are really afraid. >> this reminds me of, do you remember delaware when mike castle was supposed to cruise to the nomination. everyone was throwing rose pe talls at him. then the tea party candidate named o'donnell jumped in the race and suddenly up ended the whole had thing. the establishment figured out six days before she was coasting for victory. they brought out aum all the guns. she got normminatenominated.

it's what happened with rick scott and mccollum. this train is rolling down the tracks. the establishment is trying to stop it. they may be too late. >> ron christy, i thought you were more of a moderate republican. i'm amazed you don't believe in evolution. i thought those were established facts. it seems your party wants to have the wild people with the pitch forks help them win a majority in the congress. they love tea party support. the more demonstrations the better. the crazier the believes, fine. as long as they vote republican and give you control of the house. but when it comes to deciding who should be the nominee, you disdain them. don't you know you wild people you might be putting the wrong candidate up there? do you just want their votes and don't respect their votes? >> these wild people you insult,

these are patriots and american citizens who said we are -- these people are honest americans who are tire d. i want them to pick a candidate. >> you want them to pick your candidate. >> i don't want newt gingrich to be president of the united states. >> he won't be. >> it's fun to laugh at people who are tired about washington being arrogant -- >> you don't respect their votes. >> of course, we respect their vote. >> you don't want them picking a candidate. >> we want a conservative americans picking a candidate on the republican side. we want a conservative. people have recognized newt gingrich might not be the right candidate. but to suggest that we disrespect the tea party. i stand with them because they are sick and tired of this government the way it's run. >> what's going on now, the establishment of the party. i include ron christy, all running around scared to death. we have trouble in river city. they are afraid that the people they loved to have vote for them are picking somebody they don't like. >> that's right. it happens all the time in the primaries where the base rises

up. newt gingrich has two things going for him. number one, he projects strength. you can disagree with everything he says, but he's strong. mitt seems timid. the second thing is what drives independents away. you can see it in the numbers tonight in the new poll. that is he channels this anger and this rage at president obama that makes the tea party folks stand up and applaud. it makes -- >> come on, steve. wait a minute. >> candidate running for united states to disrespect the president. >> the rude thing here -- >> just a minute. >> the occupy wall street people have been raping people and robbing people. >> they are not running for president. >> when you and chris disparage the tea party. >> we're not disparaging them. >> i think newt gingrich will

shake up your party. >> can i get a word in here. >> go ahead, ron. >> my point is the tea party have been respectful and cordial in their demonstrations. you haven't seen anything out of the tea party. i find it disgraceful that the media doesn't pay attention to that. >> okay. >> the way they were saying racial things. >> name one. come on. >> let's go. >> there's never been a proven instance where there's been racial slurs against this president. >> african-american members of congress, ron. >> i was actually at that rally at capitol hill. that's not true. >> people have seen the posters all over the tea party meetings. they have seen them. they don't need to be told what

they saw. thank you. >> president obama got his groove back. our new poll has some pretty good news for the president. he's back on track. you're watching "hardball" on msnbc. you name it. i've tried it. but nothing helped me beat my back pain. then i tried salonpas. it's powerful relief that works at the site of pain and lasts up to 12 hours. salonpas. when we were determined to see it through.

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when asked about the familiar republican argument that taxing the wealthy would create jobs, gates didn't buy it. there's no correlation between jobs and taxes. according to forbes magazine, gates is the second richest person in the world, while buffett is number three. what a crew. we'll be right back. [ male announcer ] feeling like a shadow of your former self? c'mon, michael! get in the game! [ male announcer ] don't have the hops for hoops with your buddies? lost your appetite for romance? and your mood is on its way down. you might not just be getting older. you might have a treatable condition called low testosterone or low t. millions of men, forty-five or older, may have low t. so talk to your doctor about low t. hey, michael! [ male announcer ] and step out of the shadows. hi! how are you? [ male announcer ] learn more at isitlowt.com. [ laughs ] hey!

hello, nevada. it is great to be back in las vegas. i love you back. >> welcome back. president obama is on day two of his post state of the union tour. today nevada and colorado. and the new nbc poll has encouraging numbers for the president. first, americans are feeling better about the direction of the country. this is an important indicator. 30% say e we're headed in the

right direction. that right direction number is up eight points in a mop. americans are also feeling more optimistic about the future projecting five years from now. this is important. 53% say things in the u.s. will be getting better. that's a huge improvement from 2010 when 37% thought things would be getting better five years out. this looks like the encouraging news may be starting to sink in. dana milbank and cynthia tucker join us. i just want to dwell on those numbers. you know, it's not a great time. nobody is jumping up and down with noise makers. it's not time to celebrate, but people are a little more optimistic than they were. especially about the long-term outlook. the numbers when people say it's going to be better five years from now, they are basically saying we have been in a cycle that went down. it's coming up.

awhile back, people thought we're in a trend line going down thinking things were going to be worse. a big change, i think. >> it is a big change. it's good news for president obama if it's sustained because it's happening just at the right time. if you look back through the history of presidential races of the last 30 or 40 years, what mattered was the direction of the economy at the time of the election. and unemployment may still be high and may still be over 8% in november, but if the trend continues in this direction, it's very good news for the president. and you know, he seems to be feeling more confident. he looks more confident. he looks like he's having a good time out on the campaign trail. >> we were with him for the briefing. he seems to be pretty confident right now.

>> yeah. it's just a matter of time. the president -- >> what's that mean? >> it's happy talk. this president likes to be back in campaign mode. certainly, these numbers haven't come a moment too soon for him. arguably, won't do him a lot of good. but i was over at the federal reserve yesterday when they were coming out with the economic consens consensus. . >> you're saying it won't do much good that the economy is looking good now? >> of course, some good. but the forecast is still we're going to have 8.2% unemployment in november. that's lousy, but the fact that consumer sentiment is up, and that's what you're seeing in the right direction. that's the crucial number for the president. and it has turned around. now if things get messed up in europe, there's a bunch of different things that could bring this apart in a matter of weeks. but as this trend is going, the president is looking a lot

better. >> he's also trying to benefit for the comparison with who is going to be his rival. mitt romney. president obama today simultaneously challenged mitt romney and made his case to americans. let's watch the matchup. >> this has nothing to do with envy. it has everything to do with man. it's what i talked about earlier. we have to make choices. americans understand if i get a tax break i don't need, and a tax break the country can't afford, one of two things are going to happen. it's going to add to our deficit. right? or somebody else is going to have to make up the difference. seniors are going to have to pay more for medicare. or students pay more for student loans. or a family will have to do with less. that's not right. that's not who we are. >> cynthia, he's not just saying

fair taxes are good, but if people at the top get away scot-free, that means a bigger debt or right now we're going to have to trade off e needed services like medicare and medicaid. >> he makes a much better case for understanding the situation that the average american is in than mitt romney does. you know, when he talks about paying for college costs, mitt romney is certainly a decent man, but everybody knows how robotic he is on the campaign trail. and his big problem is he doesn't seem to understand how much people are struggling out there. mitt romney says things such as "i earned a little bit of extra income from speaking engagements." that was $379,000. that's not, you know, not very much. that's a whole heck of a lot of money. that is more than three year's

salary for most americans. so what the president is doing is drawing a stark contrast to the needs he sees out there and the way his administration would help ordinary people deal with those needs compared to mitt romney. mitt romney is helping the president make that case. >> actually, i did the math. it's about seven times the average medium income for a family. it's an incredible advantage. compared to the money he's pulling in a year. but he ought to be thinking, since he wants to be president of the united states, about the united states. not about him. >> that would be helpful when running for president of the united states. i think what we're finding out here is that the president is looking a lot better in the watchups, but it it has little to do with him. he's being more comfortable getting his point across, but he's benefitting from what might be called the gingrich bounce. newt gingrich has succeeded in

trashing romney. >> he's doing a great job. >> far better than david axelrod. obama is back up into the 50s. these are related things. gingrich succeeded in making romney unpopular. >> he said a guy who makes more in a day than most make in a year. he's not aware of life on this planet. thank you. up next, a slip of the tongue. are the democrats already subbing out warren buffett for mitt romney? stick around for the side show. [ male announcer ] how can power consumption in china,

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back to "hardball." now for the sideshow.

slip of the tongue. the day of the state of the union address, both sides answering the question. what did you think? it was chuck schumer's chance, he made a point about the buffett rule. if you make more than $1 million a year, you should not pay less than 30% in taxes. let's hear senator schumer. >> we agree with the president. it makes no sense that a millionaire should pay a lower tax rate than a secretary. so it's a priority for us to act on some kind of romney-i mean buffett rule this year. >> some coincidence. romney paid about 14% in taxes in recent years. it looks like the buffett rule has a new poster boy. the clown show lives on next. here's ed ren dell weighing in

on the gop race today. >> the republican race for president so far has resembled a clown show. the clowns arrive in the car and keep getting out of the car. there's one clown after another. we have seen clowns run for president totally unqualified. have one bizarre idea after another. if i was an independent voter and looked at this, i would say, oh my god. is this what the republican party has to offer? gingrich and romney keep making one mistake after another. seem to be tone deaf to what people are interested in and are deeply flawed. >> by the way, he says this is a god send for the obama campaign. there's been no shortage of people weighing in on the state of the union. how about from someone less

political? a body language expert. according to a piece in forbes magazine, three things were going for the president that night. one, his smile. according to the piece, a smile like that is an invi nation. a sign of welcome. it says i'm friendly and approachab approachable. two, his fluid motions. in the article, he walked with ease and stood erect but not stiffly so. and his gestures were fluid and flowing. lastly, verbal and nonverbal alignment. apparently, the president's body language matched perfectly with the speech itself. "president obama has a model of congruent communication. his body language totally supported his message." in all matters, not exactly. how could he not beat mr. smooth mitt romney? take a look at this picture of jan brewer. jamming a finger in president

obama's face. that's how you treat a visiting president. it's the latest example of the nastiness towards the president. you're watching "hardball" on msnbc.

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i'm tyler mathisen with your cnbc market wrap. the dow shed 22. nasdaq off 13. new home sales were not so hot in december. they fell 2.2% making 2011 the worst year ever for newly-constructed home sales dating back nearly 50 years. the report sent home builders lower today. on the jobs front, applications for first-time jobless benefits rose last week. but still below the key 400,000 level. durable goods orders were strong

last month. products expected to last three years or longer rose 3% as demand jumped. that kind of demand is what boosted profits at kather pilla -- kath pillar. along with the better-than expected report, guidance was up eight. that's from cnbc. now back to "hardball." we're back. we're talking about body language. here's a picture that tells a thousand words. the photo captured last night of republican arizona governor jane brewer pointing her finger in president obama's face. it's an image that doesn't ka note respect, does it? a white house official said the

president gave a letter. he thought she mischaracterized her book a meeting from two years ago. here's the governor's response last night. >> i wanted to be there to welcome him to come and see firsthand what arizona has done in regards to our economic recovery. he wanted to talk about the book. and i thought he was very fenced in. >> wow. but as this image capturing something else, the disdain among conservatives for this president. trent franks is is a newt gingrich supporter. and jim davis is a florida democrat. gentlemen, let's go over the rules of etiquette in talking to another politician or anyone in private and then describing that meeting. i am stunned that people today seem to think when you have a private conversation with another politician you have the freedom to describe it any way you want to the detriment of the other person. wasn't there an etiquette not

too long ago, the private conversations were not to be exploited later for political gain? >> i'm not sure i understand the question, chris. try again. >> what's complicated about it? >> i'm not sure. you said something about meeting something? >> when you have a conversation with someone on the house floor that's not on the record, just chatting with someone, can you say i just talked to him and he said this or that? >> i think a person should respect confidentiality. if ast open discussion between policymakers, they have the right to express their per spiskt. but we should respect confidentiali confidentiality. i have known jan brewer for almost 30 years. ever since she was a little girl. and i will tell you that she's always animated and talking with

her hands. but i don't know -- >> has she ever wagged her finger at you? >> i don't know of a more decent respectful person in politics. she's used her hands this way, but she's as kind as anybody could ever be. if you knew her, you would agree with me. >> i'm going by the picture. here's what she wrote in her book about the meeting with the president. it was as though the president thought he could lecture me and i would learn at his knee. he thinks he can humor me and get rid of me. congressman davis, your view of that meeting where you get to put the game in your terms? >> it's very important, chris, that a governor of any state or party have a relationship of trust and discretion. who knows. there could be a disaster there in the next few months or so, and the president and governor need to work together.

this was an unfortunate incident. she lost her cool. you treat the president and presidency with respect. there's plenty of room to disagree within that context. that did not happen here. >> let's look at newt gingrich running hard in florida. a lot of us are rooting for him to shake things up. he laid out the choices he sees or wants to see it between him and the president in raw terms. let's listen. >> if you're for paychecks, you're with us. if you're with food stamps, you're with barack obama. if you're for american exceptionalism, you're with us. if you are, in fact, in favor of a strong america in a dangerous world, you're with us. if you're for a weak america that tries to appease enemies, you're with obama. >> i understand a lot of that, but a part of it gets me. there's some signaling going on there. congressman franks, why would

you keep saying a president of the united states associated with a guy named sal olinski? >> the average person is not even familiar with sal in some of his community organizational tactics. i have to say to you, i think it's pretty esoteric and most people it goes over their head. >> why does he keep doing it? >> because i think he's correct. e he wants us to think about how this president became president and how the american people really never knew where this president was on anything before we elected him. not to any real degree. now we do. >> your thoughts on that, congressman davis? if it's not food stamps, it's sal. he was no hard left. he was no communist. but i know why the name is used.

he must be a far left dangerous alien that the president is associated with. why would the speaker keep using this name? as the congressman just said, nobody knows who this guy is. he doesn't say he was a community organizer who has been instructed to the tea party. he's a tactician. he's not some far crazy left winger. but the president is being charged with hanging around with radicals is what's going on here again. >> which is a pretty easy to prove charge. >> folks don't know who this fellow is. i didn't know much either. it's simply an attempt to paint him as a radical, which he is not. newt gingrich who is fighting for his life in florida is railing against anybody who represents the establishment. president obama, mitt romney, the republican establishment. here today, chris, it looks like the general election, you have

every major republican in the country down here railing on newt gingrich. he's fighting back against the establishment including the president. >> what were the radical proposals of sal olinski? >> it was some of the tactics that hes a pouzed. you move into the community and you pump people up with false statements and -- >> false statements? >> with false ideals. false information. >> give me an example. >> like the class warfare that this president uses. talk about about separating the country and dividing the country trying to split the 1%. i think people ought to go to newt.org and they will see what mr. gingrich is talking about. i think if the left thought mr. gingrich was going to be so easy to beat, that they would be more quiet about it. >> well, i'm not quiet about it.

i've been talking on newt gingrich for weeks. he puts on the best show in town. >> he will mismantle romney. >> i like mitt romney. i think he's a good man. i just think speaker gingrich will dismantle the president and be able to show the world all the fallacies in the rhetoric. >> by calling him the food stamp president? >> he's saying that we have gone from about 14 million more food stamp recipients under this president than before. and this president was supposed to solve the problem with poverty. but people have gotten more and more poverty. >> i think the unemployment rate is lower now than what he inherited from president bush. >> we have nearly half of all the people in this country are either poor or low income. it's never been that way in my lifetime. >> the bush administration was a

dandy operation. >> i would suggest this president said he would create 2.5 million jobs. we have lost that much. and i have to quickly go back to jan brewer. she has -- she came in the same time barack obama did. the state in arizona was among the worst hit with the housing crisis. we were 47th in job creation. and now she's balanced the budget, even though it was the highest per capita budget deficit in the country. she's balanced it. we have a surplus. if the president would do that for america, maybe he'd have a right to beat up on jan brewer. >> thank you very much. thank you for comining on. next, a fault line in the republican party. it's t-shirts versus tatter sal.

i'll be in palm beach tomorrow. we're having a breakfast discussing my book. tomorrow night i'll be signing books at the barns and noble. this is "hardball" on msnbc. icae in charge of their own future. how they'll live tomorrow. for more than 116 years, ameriprise financial has worked for their clients' futures. helping millions of americans retire on their terms. when they want. where they want. doing what they want. ameriprise. the strength of a leader in retirement planning. the heart of 10,000 advisors working with you one-to-one. together for your future. ♪ to help protect your eye health as you age... would you take it? well, there is. [ male announcer ] it's called ocuvite. a vitamin totally dedicated to your eyes, from the eye-care experts at bausch + lomb. as you age, eyes can lose vital nutrients. ocuvite helps replenish key eye nutrients.

[ male announcer ] ocuvite has a unique formula not found in your multivitamin to help protect your eye health. now, that's a pill worth taking. [ male announcer ] ocuvite. help protect your eye health. what a fight we just had had. there's another one coming between the shirts and skins in the republican party. the cocktail party versus the tea party. that's ahead. [ female announcer ] this is not a prescription. this is mary. who has a million things to pick up each month on top of her prescriptions. thankfully, her walgreens pharmacist recommended a 3-month supply.

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for president has revealed a sharp division in the party. politico frames it it's fanny packs versus plaid, monster trucks versus the kentucky derby. look at these photos, by the way, from the politico article today. more crowds show up to support romney crowds are more educated gingrich. what a great story. tea party versus cocktail party. nia-malika henderson trying to keep up with this. you start, jonathan. i am stunned by this here. the first guy to ever notice this. i remember watching a crowd in texas in 2000. i could tell all the pinks and limes were with w. i said this crowd is too rich. no state has that many rich people. but you've sized it up in terms of class if you will. >> right.

and, chris, this is something a lot of republicans don't like talking about because they have a party, frankly, like democrats do, too, that has a very odd coalition. they've got the auto mechanics and they have the bond traders. and everything in between. so this is an awkward topic. but it's come to life here in the last few weeks. starting in south carolina and on display in south carolina. you go to romney event and you see folks that represent upper middle class and upper class america. that is who is really into romney. it's revealed in the exit polls. look at the states where romney does the best. it's among the highest income folks and those with the most education. conversely you go to other events and you are seeing folks wearing jeans, big american flag t-shirts who are carrying tea party flags who are sporting fanny packs at times. where you see this oftentimes in democratic primaries.

as you know, hillary and obama, gary hart, walter mondale, bradley and gore. we've seen it in the past in democrat primaries. i don't recall a republican primary where it's been on vivid display as this year. >> it is the republican party. nixon used to call it or we used to call it the time in those days, the mink coat party and the cloth coat party. >> that's exactly right. being at some of these rallies for newt gingrich, not only in south carolina but also in florida. these are folks in tattoos, they are chanting usa, usa. >> they are the newt people? >> exactly. i think he's running the same argument against romney that he is against obama to say that both of these folks -- >> what's his solution to the fact? what's his populism about, newt's? >> i think about romney and obama are not one of us. they are not regular americans. they don't get the sort of experiences that newt gingrich, frankly, experienced when he was -- >> i don't want to argue the politics here but doesn't newt support the same tax breaks for

the rich that romney does? >> he does, but i think the benefit to him is that romney embodies that tax bracket much more so than -- >> what do they want that's different between these class groups if you will, jonathan? >> well, chris, there are no real substantive differences. it's rhetorical. it's newt who knows how to play the conservative base like a piano because he's been doing it for years. it's very reminiscent of pat buchanan talking about new york and washington. >> ruth bader ginsburg. i remember those speeches. >> yeah, goldman sachs, you know, he knows all of the notes to play. and the fact he lives in maclaine, virginia, like pat buchanan did, not exactly the hot bed of populism is irrelevant because it's the message that folks are focused on and not necessarily the messenger who the romney folks have been reminding us now every day is a flawed messenger.

but the message connects with a lot of working class folks, chris, in south carolina and florida. >> every time he says food stamps or the name saul alinsky which i'm convinced if you ask 99% of those people with their fanny packs who -- they think trotski, some communistic -- >> a guy who was a communist, reads karl marx all day. he knows how to play to this crowd quite well. but i tell you -- >> i envy you guys. it's fun out there. jonathan martin and nia-malika henderson. let me finish with the joy i'm getting watching this fight from here between newt and mitt. you're watching "hardball." c'mon, michael! get in the game! [ male announcer ] don't have the hops for hoops with your buddies? lost your appetite for romance? and your mood is on its way down. you might not just be getting older. you might have a treatable condition called low testosterone or low t. millions of men, forty-five or older, may have low t. so talk to your doctor about low t.

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let me finish tonight with this. how can you not love this battle in florida. here we have two candidates. one the prince of the establishment. the other charging with his battering ram. one bereft of spontaneity. the other speaking from the gut of every ticked off voter watching him from the sidewalk. what a display of personal opposites. both fighting to the political death to represent the same political party. to be the champion of the same partisan demands. look. i think this is going to be a close election this november. real close. the tough economy almost dictates it. we americans are a demanding bunch and we don't like economic failure, refuse to accept economic decline and we're always looking for options, especially when things aren't so

great. but this demolition derby that's going on before our eyes climaxing with another ringside event tonight is just too good to be true if you are barack obama. too wildly luck fe you are watching the spectacle. how can a political party put on such a show of clowns followed by this spectacle. how can it think this is what the american people want to see. i don't know if newt has the mojo to keep this going, whether he can land some loud punches. i do know the man from georgia is raising issues that the democrats will find more than handy this fall. the most important being that mitt romney has benefited from the unfairness in the american tax system. what the democrats need to add to this charge is that not only is he a beneficiary of this unfair system. he wants to make it more unfair. he wants to give further breaks to the guy, him, who makes more in a day without working than the average american does in a