>> everybody knows war on drugs has failed. it's a public health problem. we'll get into it later this week. this is a great example of honorable use of power. >> absolutely. >> thank you for coming on today. >> my pleasure. >> "hardball" is up next. obama votes. let's play "hardball." good evening. i'm chris matthews in washington. leading off tonight, an oo moment for mitt. what happens to a candidate when he says i'm not concerned about the poor when he accepts the endorsement of donald trump? when he tries to poo poo another strong jobs report. what happens is you find yourself six points behind president obama. a new poll just out, the

president says he deserves a second term. mitt isn't going to get help from newt gingrich, however, who is pledging to go all the way to the convention. leave it to his former colleague in the house, dick army to say he's taking a second-rate campaign and turning it into a first-rate vendetta. plus tom brokaw says politics is subject to ufos. this year's wild card may be in the middle east where syria, iran, and egypt have the potential to scramble the election in ways we can't predict. if you thought that clint eastwood halftime in america ad looked like a pro-obama ad, you're not alone. >> this country can't be knocked out in one punch. we get back up again. yeah. it's halftime america. our second half is about to begin. >> credibility. chrysler saying thank you for

the bailout. carl rove says he was offended by the ad. and it's not going to be about who he is running against. it's how he's doing. we start with president obama saying he deserves a second term. he's voted. david corn is the washington bureau chief and an msnbc political analyst. bob shrum, that new poll is president impressive. the president is at 50% approval. 46% disapprove. how do you as a skilled reader of such numbers view that number? 50% for the president. back up to basically a high point for him. back up to when he killed osama bin laden. and pretty much high for him. what do you think? what's that tell you? >> what counts here is the direction. the direction is moving up for him. i think, you know, his toughest opponent has been the economy.

that's turning. and if it continues to turn, he's going to be in much stronger shape. he also has the right tone in talking about it. he's optimistic, but not triumpha triumphant. he's not making the mistake made years ago by bush. like ronald reagan in 1984, he's drawing a dividing line. he's saying i stand for fairness. i'm going to fight for prosperity and the middle class and ordinary americans. that's my cause. and quite frankly, that's a great pushoff against mitt romney. >> what do you make of 50%? half the country says they approve of the guy. >> with unemployment still high, even though it's ticked down, unemployment is still high. people have given up looking for work. 50% is pretty good given the status of the economy. we have been talking about this since his jobs speech in september. the white house came up with a campaign on what they could do to convince americans that the

president cared about the number one issue, and that is jobs. he was willing to fight for it and take it to the republicans. he's done all those three. and over that time period, his numbers have crept up pretty slowly, but in the right direction. while as you said about mitt romney, his numbers have come down because he's being compared not just against the economy, but president obama. >> what's changed, it's not that the numbers have changed, but it's why the numbers have changed. this president has changed gears. since september, and it was a great piece about it in the paper this weekend, he's focused on jobs. not trying to compete with republicans on debt reduction. but focused on something they don't want to talk about, jobs. and as he began to talk about jobs, magically it seems, the job numbers have gotten better. is it the fact of all three? he's improved morale, the reality is getting better, and

he's focused on the right topic, which is jobs, for a democrat. and not competing with republicans. >> i think you're right. i think there's no question that saying jobs, jobs, jobs, saying it over and over has helped him, but it's helped him because the jobs situation is actually getting better. he's also created a narrative. the nairtive is that he's the guy trying to stand up for people out of work. he's trying to stand up for hard-working americans. when he got the recovery numbers the other day, he went out and struck that kind of optimistic, but tempered tone. then he said, don't let congress muck it up. he has a narrative that's powerful. at the same time, that mitt romney is running out of narrative. if you listen to mitt romney's victory speech, he sounded pessimistic. that doesn't work in american politics. >> especially running against

the numbers. let's look at the number here. it's reflected in a matchup numbers. also just to be fair, here it is with mitt. six-point spread for the president. let's talk about the front runner now. >> barack obama is making gains amongst blue-collar workers. and so michigan, wisconsin, ohio. if you look at the recent polls, he's creeping up again going in the right direction. that's where a lot of this pickup is. it's directly attributed in part to how mitt romney is coming across as donald trump's side kick. that's what he's been this past week. >> that's the price he pays for standing next to him. >> so mitt romney is saying he doesn't care about the poor and he's hanging out with trump. the contrast is getting stark.

>> in an interview with matt lau ir last night before the super bowl, president obama made this case for reelection while addressing the budget concern. the biggest concern for voters is the economy. >> i deserve a second term, but we're not done. when you and i sat down, we were losing 750,000 jobs a month. in fact, we found out just a few days before we sat down we lost that month 750,000 jobs. now we're creating 250,000. we have made progress. the key now is to make sure we don't start turning in a new direction to throw that progress off. >> you know, i'm looking at the polling numbers. they are positive. i want you to get deeper on this. it looks to me like the president is hedging the bet here. he reads the numbers. they basically say unless congress gets their act together and keeps the cut going in the payroll tax, make some

adjustment, don't cancel those. plays ball with him a little bit, they can screw it up themselves. congress can muck things up. he has to have a plan b. if the unemployment rate goes down to 8%, he's going to get reelected. if it goes the other direction, does he need to have a hedge? >> he has a plan b. that is to say, don't muck it up. put them in a difficult position. if they seem to be blocking the renewal, if they are seen to be blocking the renewal of compensation, if they are rooting for recession and downturn, which by the way is almost how romney sounded the other night, they are going to pay a price. >> how did he do that? you think he was rooting for the economy to go down? >> the first good jobs numbers come in a long time. it had very few things in them you could coral with, and he

talks about the underemployed. obviously we have a problem of underemployed people. he used to get people out of full-time jobs and into part-time jobs. so he knows about that. >> you never miss a chance to put the fork in. i love this question. how damaging the republican race has been so far. 52% said the more they hear and have heard about mitt romney, the less they like him. 60% said the same thing about his traveling partner, gingrich. they don't like this debate that's been going on. >> politics is einsteinian. if he was running, he probably would lose given the economy. but these guys, mitt romney and newt gingrich, the more people see of them, parody. >> what is happening in this campaign? we watch it every night.

we cover the caucuses and primaries here relentlessly. what have you seen that the average voter open to this election has not liked about romney. >> i think he's not been able to talk about his own money and taxes. you watch the speeches, the speeches he gave in florida after winning that big victory, he didn't one idea or policy about moving the country forward. people are seeing perhaps a bit of an empty suit. a rich guy out of touch like the cliche g icalcliche goes. that's what's been stunning. newt just looks mean. >> we have a couple things to clash now. i'm going to talk about this at the end of the show. i see problems down the road. they have to do with the economy. bob shrum, the president gets 44% of handling the economy. 43% on jobs. those remain his vulnerabilities. >> sure they remain his vulnerabilities. but they are coming up. those numbers are coming up too.

the real problem that romney has is he comes across as cold and callous and indifferent. he's a gaffe machine. he provides a new incident that makes him the guy that's not going to fight for ordinary people on the economy. he's not going to fight for jobs. i think when you look at this whole picture, it's emerging in a good shake for the president. in a way that a lot of us wouldn't have predicted necessarily. first, the economy may get better. it may be getting better. we're not going to change horses in the middle of a recovery. and secondly, in terms of the contrast with the republicans and romney, the president, i think, is in a good place. he's defined a narrative that fits romney and you can use to push off against romney and against the congress. >> i like the fact he said the longer you're president, you get better at it. he has to make that case. >> the payroll tax fight, which is coming up, it's going to be really important. you saw it in december. the president was able to isolate john boehner from other republicans. the republican party still has

this conflict inside that's going to come out again. give obama the chance. >> he's on the high ground because he's talking jobs and ways to create jobs. not fighting over the debt issue with the republicans. they have an advantage. >> they have lost that advantage too. >> jobs are still number one for democrats. thank you david corn and bob shrum. interesting questions out there. newt gingrich is vowing to stay in the race until the bitter end. but is this about winning the nomination or a vendetta against romney? could this guy be obama's best friend from here to tampa. you're watching "hardball" on msnbc. sweet, nutty crunchy nut. [ sighs ] i can't wait till morning. wait! it's morning in china! ♪ [ male announcer ] it's sweet, it's nutty... it's absolutely delicious. kellogg's crunchy nut. it's morning somewhere. i go to e-trade and tap into the power

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welcome back to "hardball." after a big win for mitt romney in nevada, newt gingrich took to the stage to announce he's in the fight for the long haul. all the way to the convention. he also used the opportunity to knock his chief rival. let's watch. >> i am a candidate for president of the united states. i will be a candidate for united states. we will go to tampa. i also believe that the vast majority of republicans across the country are going to want an alternative to a massachusetts moderate who has been pro-abortion, pro-gun control, pro-tax increase and ranks third from the bottom in creating

jobs. >> his campaign about winning the nomination or tearing mitt romney down? perhaps both. the executive editor for politico and michael scherer is joining us. nobody wants to admit they are made. one shot is to win. something could happen to mitt. the other is he could do damage to make sure he's never going to be president. give me other thinkings going on here. >> if romney gets the nomination, we can't nominate a moderate. if they take it to the convention, that means a lot more headlines for newt gingrich. he's running for a tie. >> no cost in staying in. he's not going to be vice president. >> he's a historian running for his place in history.

he's not getting a cabinet position. >> is that fair to start off on the negative? did newt gingrich, who is going to get nothing from romney if he quit now and said he's the greatest thing since sliced bread, no friendship. >> romney wouldn't want him. i can't imagine you'd want gingrich, who is such a free lancer in your white house. he's in it because he believes in his mind he has a plausible chance of win ining. if you look at the numbers, he does have a plausible chance. it's just hard to see the mechanics of how he would orchestrate a victory. short of conservatives all of a sudden deciding he's our guy and everybody from sarah palin to the conservative media outlets all blessing him as the alternative to mitt romney. if that is hasn't happened yet, why would it happen a month fro from now? >> why are they giving up?

the conservatives? >> i don't know what happened. >> what happened to the anger and excitement that they want a real winger? >> i would agree with newt. you can't say they have given up because of nevada, which is a peculiar caucus state. a quarter of all people who don't support mitt romney say the reason they are supporting somebody else are they don't like mitt romney. if you have a quarter of the non-romney vote who is against mitt romney. we are going to have other rounds later this week. if you look at the polls, these things bounce around. and jim is right. there hasn't been that unity yet. what we know is this does tend to happen. the unity does come at the end. mitt romney, at this point last cycle in 2008, he was the conservatives conservative. there's a real chance that that

could happen to newt. >> there's no organizational structure for anti-establishment conservatives. there's not one or two leaders who can rally the troops or have that kind of stature. sarah palin has a niche following. through there isn't one figure who can rally the anti-establishment conservatives. so the fact you have santorum in there who polls from social conservatives makes it impossible for newt gingrich to do that. a lot of the anti-establishments have serious questions about his viability as a general election candidate. >> they are good at being negative. rush limbaugh is excellent at forcing elected politicians to come and kiss his knee whenever they say something he doesn't like. here's newt defending his attacks as a result of the onslaught he faced in iowa but not ending there.

let's watch. >> you can't disarm in a world where someone is willing to be as aggressive. i stated positive in iowa, and i lost 22 points. but unfortunately, it's a fact. . if you're not willing to fight, you have to get out of the race. >> let's look at the places where newt gingrich hopes to win. he's talking about winning in georgia and tennessee on super tuesday and alabama and mississippi. then missouri when they have the caucus. then louisiana. he's red hot. if you look at where he did in the panhandle in florida where that old southern part of the state, confederacy part of the state, if he can replicate that in the south, he will have a heck of a number of delegates. >> let's take a moment to cherish newt gingrich. he's the man who brought nasty politics in the 1990s how he wishes we could be more polite. he's going to do well in the south. it's proportional voting in the

south. but the numbers to get to 1144 is going to take awhile. there's no way he can get out of the race now. he's running for a tie now. if he can get to the convention close to what mitt romney has, he can make the case this was the front runner who wasn't able to close the deal and that's why you have to nominate me. >> cnn yesterday former house majority, dick army, criticized gingrich and his campaign. listen to this sarcasm coming here. >> i think he's digressed into a state of taking a second-rate campaign and turning it into a first-race vendetta. >> that's the kind of well-crafted shot that the other guy knows you thought about before you delivered it. taking a second-rate campaign. and then the first-rate vendetta. whatever bad blood is between these two guys, the former leaders of the house in the '90s, it's getting spilled now.

>> the reason that republicans in washington get so unnerved when gingrich starts to surge is it's hard to find anybody who served under him in the house of representatives, certainly served at that leadership table, that thinks he should be president of the united states. it's hard to find people who have worked for him at think tanks or people who worked in his campaign six months ago who think he should be president of the united states. these are the people who worked most closely with him. these people are conservatives. these people want to win and want conservatism to prevail. th if they are frightened of the thought of newt gingrich being president, they are worried by that prospect. >> the trouble is he's like an old polaroid film. thank you. i always root for the underdog in every fight. i want a fight. this country deserves a good fight. jim vandehei, thank you. and thank you, michael scherer.

you know this was coming. a spoof making fun of building a colony on the moon. next on our sideshow, the moon colony. you're watch iing "hardball" on msnbc. in america, we believe in a future

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[ cheering ] i wanna see that again. ♪ back to "hardball." now for the sideshow. first up, taking it all in stride. the nevada caucuses didn't bring good news for newt gingrich. sunday morning rolled around, and he faced another topic. what did you think of ""saturday night live." let's watch. >> the year 2014 is a time of turmoil for america. comfortably serving his second term, barack obama no longer hides his agenda.

the unemployment rate skyrockets and foreign armies gather their forces for an attack. cayhouse reigns, but a visionary emerges and leads a group of pioneers to pursue a better future in space. he is newt gingrich, moon president. >> you think he enjoyed the attention? gingrich was shown the clip during his appearance on "meet the press" yesterday morning. does the idea take away from the seriousness of his campaign? let's see how he responded. >> i proposed a fundamental reform of nasa to engage the private sector. this was not some slip. this was a deliberate effort to start a conversation. >> he's done that. even among opponents, the moon colony talk has been an opportunity to get laughs than a heated debate. today gingrich said he can

hardly complain about getting attention from snl. next up, getting late in the game, but religious conservatives have yet to coalesce around a candidate for 2012. according to the leader, tony perkins, there's still a long road ahead. let's hear what he said on cnn yesterday. >> we're not looking for a candidate who can walk on water, we're looking for a candidate who doesn't sink under their own baggage. we may go to the convention before we have solid support behind a nominee. >> how's that? vote for me, i won't sink under my own baggage. the base is slowly warming up for mitt romney. republicans fall in line. how does president obama view the fight? in last night's interview, matt lauer asked the president to

size up how the race will affect the general election this november. matt had this visual aid to help him. >> he's the cover of the new yorker. it has the picture of you watching the big game on tv. there you are sitting there. on the screen, it's not the pate yolts and the giants, it's mitt romney and newt gingrich. look at the smile on your face there. is art imitating life here? >> i've been through the primaries. they are tough. i think ultimately, this will be forgotten by the time they make a decision by the time they decide the nominee. the american people will decide on my platform and where you want to take the country and where the republican does. >> i think that smile of his is worth five to ten points. his campaign strategists might feel differently. the u.s. is closing its embassy in syria after another violent weekend there. tensions are rising with more talk of a possible israeli strike against iran.

we're all talking about that one. how will it affect the race? you're watching "hardball" on msnbc.

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welcome back to "hardball." the economy is expected to be the main issue. there are several major flash points in the world that will affect the economy. they are in the middle east now. look at what the president is facing right now. just recent days, on syria, russia and china vetoed a resolution that would have called on assad to step down. the united states closed their embassy in demascas. they are on shaky ground after officials said 19 americans connected with the prodemocracy citizens. one is sam lahood. and most troubling, israeli leaders continuing to hint that

military action by them is coming against iran. could that be an october surprise? the chief washington correspondent for "the new york times" joins us. david, let's go through the relatively easy. syria, why are we worried about so much? >> this has been a huge humanitarian disaster. when you think that up until january, the estimates were 5,000 killed by the syrian regime. they have lost count now. >> but from the beginning, we wanted to topple this guy, right? >> i think there was a strong sense during the end of the bush administration and even the beginning of the obama administration that assad might be someone they could work with in a difficult way. remember, he tried to build a nuclear reactor that one assumes was for a nuclear weapons

project. but as soon as the arab spring came, he showed his true stripes. we're not in the land of lousy options. we're in the land of no options. without a resolution or military option, there's little the united states or others can do to stop what's happening. >> why did susan rice get so emotional today? i was watching her over the weekend. she was calling it despicable. why is she getting so enraged? i think it's been fabulous. taking on the u.n. guys. she knows they are playing games up there. >> i think it's precisely as david said. there's a humanitarian crisis. the fact that russia and china were unique in blocking this. there are a lot of folks at the u.n. who were really surprised that russia and china would be the ones to just say no to this. >> why are they just saying no? >> because, you know, the argument they use is that they are concerned that given the libya resolution, they are concerned about military

strikes. that's not what the resolution said. that's not what was at stake. that was my view, the excuse they were using. >> here's secretary clinton on the issue yesterday. >> what happened yesterday at the united nations was a travesty. those countries that refused to support the arab league plan, they are full responsibility for protecting the brutal regime. >> i get the sense the russians are still loyal to the old ties over there. is that because one of those cold war residue things? >> it's got a little bit of that, but also antiamericanism. they are feeling as if they were dooped in the libya resolution. the resolution was about protecting the population and that it was turned to regime

change. >> it's true. >> and it was. >> that was mission creep. >> that said, what this has created a clear division of is those who are supporting a responsibility to protect the citizens of syria. that's included the entire arab league. what the secretary was getting at and the oddity here was that it was the other arab states who you could never imagine separating yourselves. >> let's get to the hot button in the interview. the president said the united states and israel were in agreement on the threat from iran. the president said the united states had successfully gotten other countries to increase sanctions against iran. let's watch the president on the hottest issue in the world right now. >> we have been relent leless i sending a message that it is time for assad to go. the kind of violence that we have seen exercised against his own people this weekend and over the past several months is inexcusable. it's very important for us to

try to resolve this without recourse to outside military intervention. i think that's possible. my sense is that you're seeing more and more people inside of syria recognizing that they need to turn the chapter and the assad regime is feeling the noose tighten around them. >> the big question i have is what we're going to do here. david sanger, what are we going to do? israel keeps sending signals. it seems to be a smart hawk. is israel feeling they have to do something this spring? >> israel cannot allow iran to get into what mr. barack calls a zone of immunity. a place where the nuclear facilities are down so deep they could never strike them militarily. the united states has a different view of where that zone begins and ends. so the u.s. position is there's a lot more time. and a lot of other options .

remember what else hit iran in recent times. the computer worm, sanctions that are beginning to be felt. >> and assassinations. >> the assassinations of the scientists. so those have all been underway. the u.s. has said give this a little bit of time to work, particularly the cutoff of revenues to the iranians. >> i want to go to you on this. is there any way to know who is right? how much time we have? >> in a sense, i think they are both right. the issue is that the american military has greater capabilities and has a longer time. >> we can go deeper. >> we can go deeper than they can. that's the issue. we are two countries with two different national security issues. our interests are very aligned with israel's, and that's the

incredibly important point. in time horizons, we have different times because we have different capabilities. >> we're exposed all around the world. if the iranians decide to strike back, they have an amazing forest around the world that can strike at us. they can go after missionaries, tourists, all kinds of weaponry. but if they decide to go to war with us for a long period of time, they can do a lot of things with us. is there something worse than iran having nuclear weapons? if there isn't anything worse, strike them. thank you. up next, millions of americans watched the super bowl last night. but is it one ad causing a stir? this is the big one. this is the one to watch. this is "hardball" on msnbc. ttd#: 1-800-345-2550

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a former white house intern is coming forward a half century later describing an affair with president john f. kennedy. in a new book she describes her 14-month alleged affair with kennedy, whom she referred to as mr. president, even while in the intimate relationship. she has given an exclusive interview to nbc and i'm going to be part of that segment on "rock center" on wednesday night

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make information instinctual, visual. introducing trade architect, td ameritrade's empowering web-based trading platform. take control of your portfolio today. trade commission-free for 60 days, and we'll throw in up $600 when you open an account. it's halftime. both teams are in their locker room discussing what they can do to win this game in the second half. it's halftime in america too. >> welcome back to "hardball." those are the first few seconds of a super bowl ad that lit a fire in the political world. it was a two-minute ad airing in a prime commercial slot where clint eastwood says detroit is showing the rest of the country how to make a comeback. here's more. >> all that matters now is what's ahead.

how do we come from behind? how do we come together and how do we win? detroit showed us it can be done. what's true about them is true about all of us. this country can't be knocked out in one punch. we get right back up again. when we do, the world is going to hear the roar of our engines. yeah. it's halftime, america. and our second half is about to begin. >> i like that guy. a headline summed up one take. clint eastwood makes obama's day. karl rove says he was offended by the ad. chrysler says it has zero political content. the question is could the ad that celebrates america be seen as pro-obama? that's our big question tonight.

advertising director for president bush's 2004 presidential campaign joins us. you're on all alone, except for me. when i saw the ad, i had a unique response to it. what was yours? >> first of all, i thought it was a great ad. it reminded me of morning in america, one of the great political ads of all time. it invokes confidence and hope. by didn't see it particularly political as being one side or the other. it's like a inkblot test. people read into it what they wanted to, but i could make an argument it could be a romney ad. we need to put in a new quarterback. it's just as easy to make it a republican version. >> i'm with you completely. i think we're being both nonpolitical. i guess because i know clint eastwood is a libertarian.

who knows. i agree. today on fox news channel, chrysler ad and said it's a political payback for the auto bailout. you would expect a nefarious from him. >> this is what happens when you have the government getting in bet with big business. the leadership of the auto companies feel they need to do something to repay their political patrons. i'm a huge fan of clint eastwood. i thought it was an extremely well done ad but it's a sign of what happens when you have chicago-style politics and the president of the united states and his political mignons are in essence using our tax dollars to buy corporate advertising and the best wishes of the management which is benefited by getting a bunch of our money that they'll never pay back. >> chicago-style politics. he won't quit. team obama praised the chrysler ad. dan pfeiffer, the white house communications director tweeted, saving the american auto industry, something eminem and clint eastwood can agree on."

in a reference to eminem's pro-detroit ad in last year's super bowl campaign. david axelrod for obama tweeted, powerful spot. did clint shoot that or just narrate it? and bill burn, a former white house aide who co-founded the pro-obama super pac priorities usa tweeted clint eastwood #winning. i think it's both ways. and i just -- isn't it amazing to listen to rove find some nasty way of describing this thing? he actually calls this some sort of payback for the bailout and that's why they -- where does he think these conspiracy meetings are held anyway? >> well, i break with karl on this. he's reading too much into it. the key to the ad that makes it so powerful is it has an optimistic vision to the future. that's key to politics and winning. that's what john kerry never got. he always painted a bleak vision of the future. this is something george w. bush

always understood. and that is that you can't go out and campaign whether you are the challenger or the incumbent and say the future looks terrible. follow me. >> dukakis and al gore when he ran in 2000 and kerry. i don't know what's in the democrats' blood stream that makes them do that. ronald reagan evoked what you are talking about in that america on the road to recovery ad, known as "morning in america." let's watch and listen. >> it's morning again in america. today more men and women will go to work than ever before in our country's history. it's morning again in america, and under the leadership of president reagan, our country is prouder and stronger and better. why would we ever want to return to where we were less than four short years ago? >> that was the great voice of hal rainey. brilliant advertising. mark, why don't democrats put

ads like that on television? what is it? go ahead. >> i went to kiss the ring of hal ryan because he was such a god in our business. he had four whiskeys and smoked a pack of cigarettes over lunch. i realized where he got that great voice. it's great having you on, mark mackinnon. who is going to have the best ads this year? on the political side? >> well, i think both -- the team that produces ads like clint eastwood last night is the team that's going to win. i'll tell you that. >> will optimism sell? or are the american people down so much that -- >> it always sells. whether you are the challenger or incumbent you have to paint an optimistic future and a vision for the future that is better. whoever does that best and most persuasively will win this election. >> the great mark mckinnon. when we return, let me finish with president obama's re-election campaign strategy. it's going to be, i think, about how he's doing, not who is

running against him. i disagree with a lot of this talk about it matters who he is running against. i think it's all about him and he can still win or lose this campaign. you are watching "hardball" only on msnbc. ♪ ♪♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] this is your moment. ♪ this is zales, the diamond store. it'll cause cavities, bad breath. patients will try and deal with it by drinking water.

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let me finish tonight with this. lots of talk tonight about this new poll number that shows obama six points ahead of romney in a face-off. i'd be careful with that number. people love talking about elections being a choice. the way you hear it, it's not

going to be a choice between the president and the almighty but the choice between the president and an alternative. it's going to be better to beat someone than the ideal. if that prospect gets you, the voter, through the night, fine. if that prospect gets you the president and those working for his re-election through the night, you better stay awake a little bit and listen to this. elections are about the incumbent. think of a major league baseball game and you are the manager. you keep your eye on the pitcher and see how he's doing. if he's throwing hard, mixing up the pitches and getting them out, you keep him in. if he lets the other side scatter some hits you get jittery. if he gives up some runs you get him warming up in the bull pen. if you can't get the other side out you walk out there and take the ball from him. that's what good managers do. and we american voters are good managers. we don't keep pitchers in the game when they can't finish the job. look at gerald ford. look at the senior george bush. we yanked them. we liked them. but when it came to it, we had no problem pulling them. why?

because it's not about who is in the bull pen. it's not how hard that guy out there is throwing. it's about the guy on the mound. the pitcher in the game. if we figure he's got the stuff to get the job done, we keep him in. if not, we don't. so it's not about romney or anyone else who gets to run against the president. it's about the president. and just as we've said all along that romney solved his newt problem and now has to solve his mitt problem, the president has to meet his own challenge, before focusing on romney. president obama will be re-elected if he convinces a majority of the voters he's got the stuff to finish the job and get this country up there on its feet again. will he get us back to the kind of economy, the kind of employment outlook we had before all that happened in the last administration? people want it back. if obama looks like he'll get it back for us, he'll get re-elected. if he looks like he can't, he won't and the country will put a reliever like romney in there. it's not about the challenger or the matchup. it's about the incumbent. and that's "hardball" for now. thanks for being with us. "politics nation" with