i believe we go go out of our way to not do that around here. >> yeah. >> and very ruthless on your part, whh i like. >> i try. >> we had some compassion here. we have to heal this crazy turkey. thank you very much. have a good weekend. that does it for us. i'm dylan ratigan. "hardball" is up right now. what a pill. let's play "hardball." good evening. i'm chris matthews in washington. leading off tonight, woman trouble. the republican spaert getting itself in deeper and deeper and trouble with female voters. instead of focusing on their strong suit shs the economy and fiscal responsibility, something has got them talking about birth

control. birth control. a topic that hasn't been on the national debate since your grandmother's day. look who is doing the talking. guys. guys talking with other guys about having baby or not having babies. news flash. men don't have babies. it's the worst since terri schiavo and it's driving away women voters. plus sonia sotomayor's sorge is serious enough that the obama campaign is thinking of taking him on. team obama doesn't want to elevate santorum, but they are getting a head start on opposition research to portray him as a conservative fringe figure out of touch with most americans. plus motown or no town? mitt romney is having a world of trouble explaining these headlines. "let detroit go bankrupt." now he's making it worse. what happens in november if either guy wins?

and the tea party troubles are out there. the big winners of 2010 have sprung a leak. are they a governing party or a permanent protest party? finally, let me finish with a word of a friend of this show and a colleague of mine for years. pat buchanan. we begin with the fight over birth control and how republican men may be reaching for trouble. es herbpecially woman trouble. michael steel was chairman of the republican party and joan walsh, both are msnbc political analysts. i see the smile on my colleague's face. although she's wearing green a month ahead of time, here's your chance. speak loudly and clearly about what the republicans are doing to the potential of getting even a little bit of women's sport in the next election. >> they are decimating their

chan chances. this has been one of the best things they could do for president obama. you know, the democrats lost certain groups of women in 2010, chris, and they are coming back in drones. we have had had so many great images. first of all, the whole debate over contraception dm the last two weeks t brought home to a lot of women, that wow. the affordable care act really pays for my contraception without a co-pay? that's a great benefit to a lot of women. this is terrifying. i think the terri schiavo moment, the comparison is very apt. president bush had won reelection. the republicans looked strong, and they are march sboog a woman's bedroom and coming back from vacation and passing laws and they make very palpable what democrats complain about. that they want to intrude in our personal lives. suddenly, people really saw what that meant. that's happening again with contraception, with the

ridiculous hearing yesterday, and our friend foster friess and the aspirin. >> i don't even know what he's talking about. i wonder what days he was talking about? before gun smoke. michael steele for the defense here. your political party. guess who was up there playing chaplain the day with schiavo vote with three u.s. senators they voted to intervene in a family matter down in florida involving a woman who was on a res pir ray tor. but getting involved in that case as a u.s. congressman. >> stuck with a lot of conservatives. those of us who believe the government has no place in the bedroom. it has no place in the health decisions that families have to make, which is the kruks of our argument of obama care in the

the first place. that gets thrown out of the window. this situation is a little worse than the schiavo because at least with the schiavo, you had some women who understood and would probably be with the party's position in terms of wanting the family having to make that choice. but here, this is much more personal to every woman. and so now you have the party or at least certain voices out there that have moved this off of the controversy that it was, i think, rightly on. on the roll of church and state. the freedom of speech. the freedom of religion. now you're talking about the health of women. you're talking about the recourse of what they have access to. it's not a good spot for the party. they need to get off this conversation and focus on -- >> do you have anything hard on this? >> i have seen some early polling from inside a number of the campaigns that is not

pretty. we're beginning to hemorrhage independent women. they are moving away from our leading candidates, santorum and romney, around this issue. and they have to figure out a way to stop the bleeding and then retract the conversation about the economy and on to things that women are more concerned about than having a bunch of men sit down to decide what their health issues should be. >> but they keep doubling down. >> they are trying to keep people from having birth control. just in modern day, we all know the situation. i want to go to this. as we reported yesterday, there were no women present in the first panel on the hearing of contraception. today democratic senators made their anger very clear. >> they held a hearing on the administration's decision to ensure that women have access to affordable contraception.

but guess who was missing? the women. >> for millions of american women, reading the news was like stepping into a time machine and going back 50 years. seeing the headlines and the photos of an all-male panel in the house talking about a woman's right to access birth control. >> when will they get this simple nondebatable fact? the power to decide whether or not that women will use contraception lies with her. not her boss. not her employer. >> let's go on to this issue. it seems to me, in all fairness, joan, you and i had a different perspective about the way this matter was proceeding a week ago. then it changed. once the president laid down what he considered to be an important distinction. not whether women need full health care as part of the package, but not infringe on what the church felt was their

domain. what they have to sign their name to. they said you don't have to sign your name to it. the government is going to take care of it with the insurance companies. he took care of that. they would have said we made our point. instead they pushed forward and said let's make this a birth control issue. right? >> right. this is not their point. that was the point of certain church leaders and certain catholics who felt strongly about it. that was their point. but once that accommodation was reached and you had catholic charities applauding it, you saw republicans whose real problem is contraception. >> how can that be? >> i don't know. >> what does it mean exactly that contracepti contraception? >> we're forgetting another major player here. that was the obama political operation, which i think did a wonderful job of shifting the dynamics of this conversation and focusing it around the issue

of contraception because that is a much more explosive conversation to have for the gop than the one they were having. >> but that's what it was about. >> let me clear the air here. i may not be fair. but in an interview last october, this past october, rick santorum, who is now running head to head for the republican nomination, talked about what he called the dangers of contraception. let's listen. >> one of the things i will talk about that the president has talked about before. i think the dangers of contraception in this country. many in the christian faith have said that's okay. contraception is okay. it's not okay. it's a license to do things in a sexual realm that's counter to how things are supposed to be. it's supposed to be in marriage. for purposes that, yes,

recreating. that's how it should happen. >> i was thinking of the old bul wink l show. where are we going today? going back to 1953. we're debating contraception. >> you know -- >> doodoo -- >> there's no reason why no presidential candidate has talked about this issue before. because the church has not tauds about it. >> i haven't heard anything about this for years. >> the church's teaching is clear. what the church lays out is its teaching. this is one church. and then you have your pastors and priests within that church who from sunday to sunday, week to week, guide the faithful along that path on those tea

teachings. this is an issue for me. it's not the politicians. i don't care if they are republicans or democrats. to discuss dock drin when it comes to policy. >> let's talk politics. let's look at a new poll. this will also clear the air. a new cbs poll taken this february, basically spanned opinion before and after the president announced his accommodation this friday, 66% support the federal requirement that private insurance plans cover the full cost of birth control. now there's a very clearly-worded comprehensive question that says should it be fully covered without a co-pay and it should be a federal requirement. a federal requirement that people with clear eyes said -- it was only 26%. one in four. your thoughts. this is a clear public opinion here. i think. >> it's very clear.

it's clear among catholics. we had had the debate about what catholics thought and catholics were divided. but when the dust settled, chris, you know the only people who were opposed to this a are the people who are most opposed are born-again evangelical christians. it's an issue that they try to use to gin up the culture war. rush limbaugh says they are going to win the culture war. i think he's a closet democrat. he's leading michael's party off a cliff on this issue. all the polls show that. and michael has the integrity to admit that. this is not something republicans should want to be talking about it because americans don't want to talk about. we settled it a long time ago. >> the progressive lovers are probably happy tonight. and the the progressive people that want to see the president reelected is wondering is this the luckiest man on the history of the planet? >> we'll see what happens in

march and april. >> rick santorum has come back to haunt your party with his strong views. michael steele, thank you. i don't know if you're rooting for the other guy or not. joan walsh, thank you. up next, the search for israel. now the obama campaign is considering on taking him down the road. they are getting ready. they don't want to get too ready because in a weird way, i think they want him to be the nominee. you're watching "hardball" on msnbc. [ male announcer ] you are a business pro. monarch of marketing analysis. with the ability to improve roi through seo all by cob. and you...rent from national. because only national lets you choose any car in the aisle... and go. you can even take a full-size or above,

and still pay the mid-size price. i'm going b-i-g. [ male announcer ] good choice business pro. good choice. go national. go like a pro. i'm going to own my own restaurant. i want to be a volunteer firefighter. when i grow up, i want to write a novel. i want to go on a road trip. when i grow up, i'm going to go there. i want to fix up old houses. [ female announcer ] at aarp we believe you're never done growing. i want to fall in love again. [ female announcer ] discover what's next in your life. get this free travel bag when you join at aarp.org/jointoday. we have a new poll from the senate race in massachusetts. it doesn't look like other recent polls we have been tracking. let's check the "hardball" score board. according to the new poll, scott

brown has a nine-point lead over elizabeth warren. the first time we have seen him up. a poll earlier this week showed warren with a three-point edge. other recent polling had warren in the lead. maybe this is a poll outside the norm here. we'll keep tracking those numbers from massachusetts. this is still the hottest race in the country for the senate. "hardball" back after this.

welcome back to "hardball." boston the home of mitt romney's campaign has its eyes on rick santorum now and his recent rise in the polls. ap rise so steep you can see santorum is ahead in four national poll. but narrowly. further west, another campaign is watching santorum. team obama is following the new front runner and waiting to jump into the fight and start framing the story of who rick santorum is.

susan page is bureau chief for usa today. i don't want to jump ahead. i think they think they are still facing romney. is that correct? >> they still think romney is still the stronger candidate for the republicans to nominate against barack obama, but hard to ignore the fact that rick santorum has won four states. >> are they rooting for santorum? >> rooting for santorum? are they basically saying, come on rick. >> they have seen the vulnerabilities that mitt romney is displaying. >> who has more? >> but i think that rick santorum is a more target-rich environment. >> for a general election, absolutely. >> because his problems with gays and women. majority voters are women. >> the obama path, they think, is to go in the states like

virginia, north carolina, nevada, colorado, the so-called enclaves of upscale suburb niets who work in technology who don't have cultural baggage and are not hard-core partisans. if santorum is the nominee, that's a good contrast for president obama. >> that's a bonus. but does rick pick up the reagan democrats? >> that's the other side of the argument. exactly right. would santorum be a tougher candidate than romney? >> the the people that voted democrat and now voting more republican. can he pick up them? >> it will be tougher because he does have the cultural down market appeal in a way that romney has proven time and time again he does not. >> who is running the better campaign? santorum has no money. he hasn't had endorsements. >> he's coming off an 18-point loss in pennsylvania.

>> yet he's leading the national field. so sometimes the most rational analysis doesn't fit the way the politics work. >> let's look at "the wall street journal." today mr. santorum doesn't come with the type of political baggage that romney had. he has the ability to go further and is more likely to be a potential nominee. directing attacks against mr. santorum is under discussion at the headquarters in chicago." it doesn't sound like they are moving very fast. rough up romney and maybe beat him. but at least rough him up as much as possible between now and tampa. >> and drag it well into the spring, if not the summer. go rick go. they want him to do well in michigan. democrats can vote there. they are going to have to say that the republicans at the

polling place, but stay can show up there and vote. if a couple thousand democrats show up in michigan, i think it could help. >> the country is droppi inping debates like flies. wouldn't they like to see a debate between santorum and romney now? just the two of them. let them go at it. the cultural conservative and the detached presence of romney. >> santorum would like that. . i don't know if the nation is hoping for this kind of debate. maybe. >> are you working against me here? >> i think if newt does fade here -- >> the thing in austin powers where the seat disappears? we need him around here. we love this guy. >> newt does fade hard here. i think you're going to see a one on one campaign. there will be pressure to do more debates because they'll

have this style of campaign. whoever is losing is going to be pushing for more debates. if santorum makes a move, you'll see romney call for more debates. >> the president is still in the race. he's willing to make his fight. here he is in washington today fighting for the 99%. he's still thinking romney is the opponent. mr. 1%. he'd like to put that on his bowling shirt. let's listen. >> we have a choice right now. we can either settle for a country where a few people do really well and everybody else is struggling, or we can restore an economy where everybody gets a fair shot. and everybody does their fair share. and everybody plays by the same set of rules from washington to wall street to main street. everybody is doing their part. [ applause ] >> the campaign has started. >> i'm loving this.

i think i'm beginning to feel like the presidential office fits him. it fits him well. the role he's playing in history of being the popular leader. he seems very happy right now. he looks happy. i never thought he was populous until recently. >> he's trying the suit on now. >> doesn't it seem to fit him? >> i think he's engaged now. for awhile, talk about being detached. he seemed detached from some of the things you need to do in a campaign. he's totally engaged in that now. >> columbia and harvard law are not the little kids. but yet he's adapted and coming off like the middle class guy and the middle class champion. >> what's better news for him is the economic indicators that are coming out. today up .4%. sign after sign that the economy is recovering. and in time to do him some good. >> how does romney complain about his economic performance when the stock market is back up

to 13,000? to where it was before the mess they created in 2008 and '09. >> more and more people have stopped looking for a job. >> but the markets, they are richer. all the people that vote republican have more money thanks to obama. >> well, but a lot of those folks are voting for democrats now. >> if this was happening under w., he would be jumping up and down. >> you'll see that in the months ahead. things are turning around. you'll hear that message time and time again. >> thank you, susan page and johnathan martin. romney is trying to look like an average joe. now he's telling a new story involving pink nail polish. trees are just the right height. he's talking nail polish. severely conservative. he can't learn the idiom of our language. you're watching "hardball" on msnbc. [ male announcer ] chicken broccoli alfredo.

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back to "hardball." now for the sideshow this friday. first up, mitt romney the prankster. that doesn't round sound reich. as rick santorum is gaining popularity thanks to his average joe persona, romney is doing what he can to step it up. he led an ohio crowd in on a story he kept under wraps until that very moment. let's listen. >> there was a young lady who i had once spent some time with. she decided to marry a fellow. it was a perfect wedding. they had little bottles of shocking pink nail polish so all the bridesmaids had had the same nail polish. i found the groom's shoes he rented. i took some of the nail polish and i wrote something on the bottom of his shoes.

the minister gave a beautiful service. he said let us pray, and the couple knelt down. slowly but surely, people ahead of us began to shake and point all the shoes. and it said "help" on the bottom of his shoes. i haven't seen a crowd in ohio reich like this before. >> it's painful. this is romney's problem. he doesn't know what to say to people. this one is going to be the moment of the week. lewis cateris thinks he's trying to speak for catholics when he bashed the decision on contraception coverage. he sees more than a few ironies with that one. he chapeled his disbelief with this rant yesterday on the house floor. let's watch. >> if newt gingrich can speak for american catholics, then it's tu. in america, anything is possible. maybe charlie sheen can become

the spokesperson for the temperance movement. and the cast of jersey shore can lead a national campaign for manners, humility, and modesty. if newt gingrich can do it, why can't they? this is me with senator bill bradley. he's over 6'6" and i'm barely 5'6". he's noticed the difference and given me a friendly kiss on the top of my head. i'm pleased to announce today if newt gingrich can speak for our catholics, i'm going to speak for all tall people. >> i think the gentleman from jill made his point. while mitt romney's strategy of bashing labor unions backfire in michigan? do you belief it? you're watching "hardball" on mz nbc. [ male announcer ] but when she used tissues, she went crazy wild. tissue after tissue, she always took a ton. until mom explained with puffs ultra soft & strong,

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i'm seema mody with your market wrap. the dow rises 46. it nears the 13,000 level. the nasdaq loses. consumer prices rose last month as gas and food costs were higher. camp bell's soup was up thanks to better than expected earnings. and yelp is slated to go public with 7 million shares priced between $12 and $14 a share. that's it from cnbc. now back to "hardball." welcome back to "hardball." it looks like mitt romney is engaged in a high-risk strategy as he fights to win the first of his many home states.

michigan, romney has taken every opportunity he can to start bashing the labor unions out there. here are a few of his recent jabs. let's watch him. >> i have taken on union bosses before. i'm happy to take them on again, because i happy to believe you can protect the interests and a great industry like automobiles without having to give in to the auw. >> some of the union bosses get things wrong. i'm concerned when i watch a president kowtow to the union bosses by putting in place the labor that stopped the boeing decision. >> let's make sure we have not crow kneecap tall lymph, the benefit of the federal. >> i haven't heard this in awhile. a candidate bashing the unions. as such as bloomberg news points out more than 18% of the workforce in michigan belongs to a union. more than a quarter of the people who voted in 2008 were

from households that included a union member. meanwhile, romney continues to struggle to explain his opposition to the auto bailout, when that believe saved gm and cities in michigan. we'll be talking to the mayor of flint. with me is david corn. this generalized attack, you don't hear that more. it's like birth control. >> we're really going back to the' 50s this week. republican leaders out tlrks including governor rick snider are not backing romney up on the union bashing. they are saying we have some disagreements because they know the stat that you just put out there. 18% of the voting electorate are union households. so what he's doing is making a bid for a very small group of people. republican primary voters who

can't stand unions. why? because rick santorum from pennsylvania, a good union state, has voted against right to work laws. this is where he thinks he can be more conservative than rick santorum who is widely seen as more conservative than him. >> i don't think he's known as antilabor. >> he's not. this is one of the few places. >> you can't survive in pennsylvania politiciitics and to be antilabor. >> this is what he said about the auto industry. let's watch. >> i love the businesses of this city. i love the auto industry. i want to see it thrive and grow. i recommended for it to get its footing. in had my view, this auto industry can continue to lead the world and must continue to lead the world to keep detroit looking at a prosperous future.

[ applause ] >> he's supporting managed bankruptcy. there's a position like the old jerry ford in new york. drop dead. now that the thing is coming back, all the auto companies are doing pretty well. >> very well actually. his position is like saying osama bin laden would be more dead if i had been president. it's absorb. the managed bankruptcy he talked about could not have happened because there was no credit flowing. the economists had a devastating piece today saying we were against the bailout. we were wrong. looking back at it, nobody would have come in in a managed bankruptcy situation to save these companies. they would have been carved up and sold off for dead. that's what he says would have worked better. he's totally out to sea on this. >> he has the bain capital. he was part of a company that did the chop shop stuff. take big things, break them into

pieces and make some money. here he is in 2008. his position on the bailout. "let detroit go bankrupt. he wrote if general motors, ford, and chrysler get the bailout that chief executives asked for, you ca motive indust good-bye. it's demise will be guaranteed. what can he mean by that now that they have survived despite his opposition? >> it's like he's in cirque du soleil. he's contorting himself because he's doubled down on that position to attack the unions. obama's bailout -- >> is he arguing that "the help" from the government is going to poisen their ability to compete? >> i think what he's saying is it would have been better to do it in the public sector. he's playing to a small slice of

the public. republicans were against the bailout. and amongst people who vote, the more conservative republicans more of them were. >> let's to go to the mayor of flint. we want to ask you what you make of this comment. let's look at something that mitt romney said just recently about his love of michigan. i want your thoughts about this. special emphasis on the trees. >> okay. >> i was born and raised here. i love this state. it seems right here. trees are the right height. i like seeing the lakes. i love the lakes. just something very special here. the great lakes, but also the inland lakes that dawn the parts of michigan. i love cars. i grew up totally loving cars. >> i know he would pander by saying he would love cars. americans love cars. what did he mean the trees are the right height? you're an expert on your state and city. we need to know not being from michigan.

>> i have never heard anyone say that before. i just don't know what it means. we're focused on trying to grow the economy, not the height of trees. it doesn't make any sense. >> let's talk about your awe troe industry. i have seen enough michael moore exposes. what's going on? all we read is good news. we thought the auto industry was getting killed by japan and germany and korea. and it's doing pretty good. >> gm has come back strong. that's good for flint. we have products like the silverado hd, which was the 2010 truck of the year. we have a third shift back to work. more than a thousand new people working in the community. that means they can pay their bills and support their families and important for local governments. they can pay some taxes. >> why is romney wailing against union members?

it sounds like old-time republican talk. very old-time. >> yeah. it's hard to figure out who he is pandering to. but what we want to see is a strong partnership with our federal government. we want a president who will stand up for working families and middle class security. there were more than a million jobs at risk in this great recession in the auto industry alone. the president took a decisive step. he made some smart decisions that put people back to work. and there were some other provisions that made sure that the assets, the land, the brown fields, in a place like flint are now in responsible hands. when you talk about something being washed through the market and sold to the hietest bidder, those protections go out the window. >> talk about the bailout. the federal role in all this. what role did it play as you see it as mayor flint? >> i take my cues from general motors and they said it took a process. it took the federal government

being involved to protect this valuable american asset. this is one of the industries we can count on in the 21st century. and general motors has shown with the right support and the right team and leadership in place, they are able to outcompete with anyone in the world. they are now the largest selling auto manufacturer in the world. that's exactly the kind of industry we need in this country. >> i'd like you to finish this sentence. what's good for general motors is good for -- >> it's good for the united states. it's great for our position in the world economy in the 21st century. more people are buying cars than ever before around the world. we want the american auto industry to be leading that industry forward. >> okay. thank you. have a nice weekend. it looks like things are looking up out there. the mayor of flint, michigan. what an iconic place to represent.

up next, the tea party is it headed for a beating in november? we're going to talk to a couple experts on the tea party. are they falling in power? this is "hardball" on msnbc. ♪ he was a 21st century global nomad ♪

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the state. the state passed the measure despite the veto threat. chris christie says he wants the voters to decide the issue of same sex marriage in a statewide referendum. supporters of marriage equality say it's a civil right and shouldn't be put up for a public vote. we'll be right back. look at all this stuff for coffee.

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they go into power plants which take some form of energy, harness it, and turn it into more efficient electricity. [ ron ] when i was a kid i wanted to work with my hands, that was my thing. i really enjoy building turbines. it's nice to know that what you're building is gonna do something for the world. when people think of ge, they typically don't think about beer. a lot of people may not realize that the power needed to keep their budweiser cold and even to make their beer comes from turbines made right here. wait, so you guys make the beer? no, we make the power that makes the beer. so without you there'd be no bud? that's right. well, we like you. [ laughter ] ♪ we're back. the tea party's impact on the house and senate during the 2010 midterm elections couldn't have been ignored. does the movement have the momentum going into the 2012 race? jenny beth martin is a founder

of the tea party patriots. i should say i'm a patriots as well. i'm in a good mood now. let's start. politics. what is your purpose when you help as individual members or a group help somebody get elected to congress? you send them back here, what do you want them to do when they get to washington? they have the staff and everything. the transportation. what do you want them to do when they get here? >> i want to make sure we're clear, we don't help or endorse candidates. when they get elected, we want to see them cut the overspending. >> how do you do that? you need 60 votes in the senate. 218 in the house. they need a president to sign that bill. how do you get that done? >> you have to keep pressuring the congressman and let them know what you think the solutions are. there are a lot of solutions on the table. they voted again today to put us another $100 billion in debt.

>> but how do you get that to happen? >> there's legislation out there. the gao has released a list of services in the government. start cutting there. $100 billion could be cut now. it wouldn't even hurt the government. >> talk and i'm all for -- i know what you're trying do. it's for real and legitimate what you are trying to do from your perspective. how do you get this to happen? you've had two years there. a lot of people elected with tea party support. it didn't happen. how do you get it to happen? >> well, i don't think we expected it to happen. i think we've gotten pretty much what we expected. we knew we had a senate still controlled by the democrats. we knew that even a lot of the republicans who came in would be co-opted by the system and would end up going along. it takes more than one cycle to make this happen. >> when -- but you don't -- in this country -- >> yes. >> -- you have cycles. >> absolutely. >> you don't have long trends. you think there's going to be a long trend over five or ten years where all of a sudden, the country is going to get

conservative, they're going to all agree and you'll get the senate and the house, super majority in the senate and a president, all three -- >> we already had that in the early 2000s. we saw they continued to spend. exactly. that's why we're here. >> you are skipping over the step. the actual effective success of the tea party movement, how does it occur? >> i'm tell you how you get it done. and it's not just the tea party movement. i think that's something that we have to correct that perception. it's americans. right now we've got a problem is the ruling class. the entrenched incumbents against the citizens. they are on both sides of the aisle. it's not just republicans. it's not just democrats. we have to reinstill fear and accountability into the political system. we have to remove a lot of incumbents at the primary stage. and we're going to do that. it's going to happen in 2012. that will change the dynamics on both sides of the aisle. it's not a partisan issue. >> you don't believe us. >> no. >> so let me tell you how we're going to do it. >> i've been watching politics all my life and i know here's

how it works. i now will be big brother and tell you what happens. you may not likely looks of it but it's the way it normally works. there are trends when the economy is bad, we throw out one party and put in the other party. the other party does well or not. they stay in as long as things are pretty good. these are what you just called the word cycles. there aren't really trends. it's in or out thp the party that's in gets blamed when things go bad. and you don't have these long trends. >> right. so how is that working for us? >> not very well. >> but how your going to change it? >> the country has changed before. our history is relatively short considering the history of mankind. it's changed before. there's been revolution. we're talking peaceful revolution. you go out, you can -- >> the liberal -- the big liberal period lasted under roosevelt from '37, about four or five years. then the southerners took over. the liberal period under lbj lasted a year or two after kennedy was killed. then that was gone. these zealous periods where everyone knows what they are doing don't last long.

you are in your jealous period now. if you want to get something done you have to get it done now. you won the 2010 election. >> so you aren't cutting the right deals. >> if you look at the longer term trends. this trend left started in the 1890s. went through the wilson administration. the swing of this country left is an arc of over 100 years. >> the democrats pick up seats next time, you'll begin to crest? >> no, i'll take that any day. i'm happy to take that bet. >> i'm making predictions. good luck. i like people that believe in this country and a lot more people are patriots in this country than those on the right. >> absolutely. >> i happen to be one. anyway, thank you. >> thank you for coming in to "hardball." jenny beth martin and mike mechlmec mechler. when we come back, let me finish about a friend of mine, patrick j. buchanan. when i grow up, i want to write a novel. i want to go on a road trip.

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let me finish tonight with pat buchanan. he's leaving the network and won't be working with us from now on. i miss him already. we've had dragdown fights right here on this set and i've said things that drive him up a wall and he's said things that have driven me up a wall. we've done it here in all, pretty good -- in a pretty good spirit most of the time and have managed to be friendly and friends throughout it all. and, obviously, i'm going to miss his cheerful fun-loving irrasible presence around here. there are two aspects of pat buchanan i'd like to mention. one highly and wonderfully

positive. the other, well, that's the one that gets him into trouble. the good quality above his relentless genialities is deep even formidable loyalty. pat sticks up for his people like nobody i know. he'll laugh with you about the frailties and foibles of those he served but he never, ever quits being loyal to them. his most famous proof of loyalty was his strong defense of president richard nixon. at his moment of greatest vulnerability when so many others were running for the tree line, pat buchanan was out there in the open field with a national television cameras right on him. and here's what he said to enemy and friend alike. >> the president had conducted an administration for four years that had won the confidence or support of millions of democrats. the president's stand upon the issues of defense and welfare, upon taxes and government, upon coercive integration and bussing were closer to what the american people wanted than those of his opponents. but we want as well, mr. chairman, because of the quality and the character of our

candidate. if one looks back over the political history of this country, there is only one other man other than richard nixon who has been his party's nominee for president or vice president five times. that is franklin roosevelt. >> that's pat testifying before the senate watergate committee in the fall of 1973 defending nixon in his hour of peril. using a sharp mind and whit to stand up for someone who placed his trust in him, young pat buchanan as a young man. name another public figure who has built his public career on being a stalwart loyalist to richard nixon. loyalty is the heart of pat's being. he is loyal to country, to church, to neighborhood to heritage to pat, the world can never be better than the one he grew up in as a young boy. blessed sacrament church and grade school, gonzaga high school, georgetown university. no country will ever be better than the united states of america of the early 1950s. it's his deep loyalty t