>> so, that's the republican position on domestic affairs, get government out, on foreign policy, let's get stuck in. and that's their recipe for american success. thanks so much for watching. chris matthews and "hardball" is next. feeling lucky? let's play "hardball." good evening, i'm chris matthews in tampa just outside of the tampa bay times forum, the sight of the republican national convention. there she is. mitt romney comes into prime time television tonight. the question is whether he'll come into national focus or not. some winsome lines, no doubt

some chuckle worthy ones about his choice of music on his ipod. all portray him as a good hearted square. perhaps a bit out of touch, but closer to your heart. we need to look for the real person behind the words tonight. the back story to what's presented because it is the back story, the real person, that ends up walking into the oval office and end up being there longer than what is scripted practice. clint eastwood will appear tonight. he gives away his funny toughness whatever his script. the question is tonight, what character will mitt romney reveal in his moment of national close up? joining me is howard fineman and john heilemann. i have to ask you about some questions and challenges facing mr. romney tonight. let's go to the advantages and disadvantages starting with the disadvantages, the character questions. let's look at this. it's evident in these nbc wall street journal polls he has some

problems. obama beats him by 45 points on the question of likable and easy going. this is more important. caring about average people, obama beats romney by 12 points, more than double digits. on being honest, straightforward, obama is ahead of romney by 11 points. i don't think the the performance by ryan last night helped the honesty factor either at all. we'll be getting to that later to show. howard, you're shaking your head. the honesty thing. i didn't think that would show up that high. >> i didn't either. i think he can forget about the likability number. mitt romney is not overnight or in the last two months of this campaign going to come anywhere close to barack obama as a likable guy you'd want to sit here and channel side and have a cup of coffee with. so that's not of a concern. the other two are very much of a concern and those are the numbers that mitt romney has to address tonight. and i think he has to address them in narrative form, in some way. when ann romney spoke the other

night, she said take it from me, queen ann, that the king is a really good guy. >> he brought home a quarter billion dollars. of course he's a good guy. >> now, the speech writer fer mitt romney has been working with him. he's a novelist and narrative guy. i would expect to hear some narrative tonight and i would expect to hear about the father again. you've heard about him before. when i first went to the romney headquarters last spring, the biggest photograph of a politician on the wall was not of mitt romney, but of george romney and in mitt romney's mind when he's standing up there tonight, he's going to be thinking about his father. >> and the father who was born in mexico. >> right. >> the father who gave away 12 years of tax returns. about jokes about birth certificates. >> that's certainly the irony. ryan's going to hurt him on that. >> i think ryan's got a whole list of problems right now. whatever you're going to call them. your thoughts about his

performance. does he hit the honesty button, question of likability or what? what's he got to hit hardest? >> i think howard is right. he can't fix the likability thing. the gap is too big. when you look at this race, you think about all the personal attributes where he's behind obama. the one personal characteristic, the economy. >> he's not the current president. and there are people who are worried about that. howard is also right about this point about narrative. all three of us are writers up here to one exe tent or the other. you know the difference between illustration and exposition. ann romney did exposition. she didn't give us stories. anecdotes, things that revealed him. i think this speech has to be like that and it's got to be stories about his father. it could be stories about his

kid. he's got to go to the places like talking about bain. why was he so successful with that? what did he love about bain? his church, his family and tell people about it in a way that makes him not seem like an android. he's like how 2000. he's not human. he needs to be human. >> he's been reluck dactant to about the church. you're going to see his service and his role within the church coming through. don't forget, leaders of the mormon church refer to themselves as presidents. he was president of the boston state, the boston region. he believes in that idea. if he can convey that idea, it would be helpful. for all the distractions that have been thrown at him, for all the questions he's had to answer from the campaign on bain, taxes, mismanagement, this and that, he's right there in the horse race here, so the number

one thing he's got to do is to do no harm. he can't create any other problems for himself with his speech tonight. >> he's got the easiest audience this history tonight. those people will laugh at the most lame jokes. they'll laugh at the ipod jokes, isn't funny. anything. >> they also appreciate he picked paul ryan -- >> let's get to -- >> that's not his audience cht his audience tonight as you know -- >> the the left. >> they will. but he's -- he's speaking to the people, must speak to the people outside the the hall and he knows that. >> substance, dishonesty. these are the substance questions. who would do better on the issues. medicare, obama. a new poll out, obama running would handle a series of issues with medicare. 12 points up for the president. who would better handle the economy? romney. no surprise and who would do a better job at the federal budget

deficit? romney. he has some strengths there. republicans are seen as better on the debt issue. that makes sense. >> but you saw last night, there are a lot of problems with paul ryan's speech last night. lies, misstatements, but the thing -- >> what's the biggest -- lie's a hard word, but which one fits that category? >> i think the the story with the plant in janesville is the most concrete as a misstatement. but the bigger, misleading thing is all the jazz hands around medicare. that goes to the -- about to say, which is that's where president obama has the lead right now, on the issues. we saw last night a political angle that paul ryan adopted, that actually i think could have some traction. it's based on misleading facts. but the notion that you reign in medicare to pay for obama care is a potentially very politically sail enter argument.

>> first of all, on the debt, to have a big lead on the debt is is not as material in term of the campaign. >> i want to move on to something really fun. producers have put something really good together. it showed there wasn't a natural love. not an arranged marriage, but slow to take. look at the, the road to the alter for romney and the gop was not easy a graph charts the rocky courtship. romney had the inside track before the primaries. he had been at this for five years after all, then texas governor rick perry, he swaggered on to the dance floor and took republicans for a wh l whirl. by mid september, he led romney by more than ten points. but the romance was short liveded. next up, herman cain. mr. 999 topped romney by about two points in early november, but mitt held tough. then it was newt gingrich's turn. by mid december, republican primary voters were in his

tlaul. a little of newt goes a long way. in february, rick santorum came calling. he led romney by more than six points, but couldn't go the distance either and by march, it was clear. well done. howard, they didn't go for this guy naturally. it's his turn, republican culture, your turn is important, he had lost narrowly last time. >> first of all, mitt romney forced himself into a business that is politics that he's not suited for to begin with. then he took over the republican party that didn't really want hill. he said he's resolute, i'm say implaquable. he picked one of the guys, paul ryan, who could settle the question with the base. he doesn't have to worry about the base now. they like him because he picked paul ryan. now, what romney has to do is sell the 10% or so of undecided

voters out there who are going to see him for the first time. you have to be impressed by his refusal to fail. by his refusal to go away. by his refusal to take no for an answer. >> he's relentless. >> at some point, that has to be regarded as a virtue. >> is he lowering the bar by saying i'm just a place holder on the way to ryanism? >> i don't think he's putting that forward. it may turn out to be true, but the other thing you have to admire in him and the white house does. he kills wealth. and that's not unimportant. that's the thing he did more better than anything else was raise a ton of money and killed everything that got in his way and being a killer in politics. >> so right. >> i think that's the way you get elected in many local offices. make sure nobody else is alive, politically. thank you, howard finemanme.

john heilemann. coming up, at the republican national convention, paul ryan likes to say he's speaking the hard truth. well, last night, he missed a couple, which is ironic since his speech was full of many objectives. and he's going to have to listen to fact checkers sooner or later. also, what are republicans mean when they say they want to restore our country to the founding principles? what about things like civil right, women's rights? isn't it time to get out of the 18th century? plus, romney's not the first awkward candidate to run for president. >> i'm john kerry and i'm reporting for duty. >> well, according to politico, there's a rich tradition of awkward campaigners from john kerry to al gore.

we're going to take a look back and all night tonight, we'll be having continuing live coverage of the convention, including what promising to be an interesting speech from clint eastwood. nbc has confirmed the hollywood legend himself will be here. we'll see what he has to say about mitt romney. this is "hardball," the place for politics. hey. hey eddie. i brought your stuff. you don't have to do this. yes i do. i want you to keep this. it'd be weird. take care. you too. [ sighs ] so how did it go? he's upset. [ male announcer ] spend less time at gas stations. with best in class fuel economy. it's our most innovative altima ever. ♪

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right there at that plant, candidate obama said, i believe that if our government is there to support you, this plant will be here for another 1 0 years. that's what he said in 2008. well, as it turned out, that plant didn't last another year. it is locked up and empty to

this day. >> paul ryan's speech last night and some serious factual omissions and commissions that, let's start with the gm plant in janesville. he applied it closed due to obama's policies. history shows it shut down in december of 2008. the president at that time was bush. here's what he said about the simpson bowles debt commission. >> he created a new bipartisan debt commission. they came back with an urgent report. he thanked them. sent them on their way and then did exactly nothing. >> what he failed to mention was that as a u.s. congressman, he was a member of that commission and voted against its final urgent report. here's another one on medicare. take a look.

>> even with all the hidden taxes, even with the new law and new taxes on nearly a million small businesses, the planners in washington still didn't have enough money. they needed more. they needed hundreds of billions more. so they just took it all away from medicare. $716 billion funneled out of medicare by president obama. >> well, why is that hypocritical? what he doesn't tell you is that in his own budget proposal, mr. ryan keeps those $716 billion in cuts and savings in his budget, which he voted for. believe it or not, we've only scratched the surface of the distortion, dishonesty and pure fiction. debbie wasserman schultz is u.s. congresswoman from florida and chair of the democratic national committee. the author of what's the matter with white people.

let me ask you, i have first of all, do not get the joke that mr. huckabee last night said you were rehearsing your speech in the room next door. now, joe my friend said it was sexist and i thought that was over the top. what else is the joke here? i heard this awful noise, meaning the sound of a female voice, which apparently is an awful noise to mr. huckabee. >> the joke is apparently that mike huckabee is unfamiliar with the voice of a strong women. >> let's hear him. huckabee taking a shot at the madam chairman. >> but the only hitch in an otherwise perfect week was the awful noise coming from the hotel room next door to mine. turns out it was just debbie wasserman schultz practicing her

speech for the democratic national convention next week. bless her heart. >> what is the joke? what is the joke? okay, let's talk about the serious stuff. i can see a congressman playing politics. i can see overstating and rhetoric. but he said that plant closed because of president obama. it closed in his district before obama took office. how could he not have known that when he was involved in trying to save that plant? >> he knew it. mitt romney and paul ryan have put the republican national convention on a diet. on a fact free diet. one that means that they've spent this entire week doing their best to distort, lie, mischaracterize the president's record because they know they don't have the facts on their side. they know their policies are so extreme. they know they've proposed to increase taxes on the middle class to pay for budget busting tax breaks and they've got the wrong policies when it comes to women's health --

>> this is what -- >> i could go on. >> i just want to stick to this. you catch him in a lie, focus on this thing. ryan also put the blame for the country's credit downgrade on the shoulders of president obama. >> it began with a perfect triple-a credit rating for the united states. it ends with a downgraded america. >> that's a total mischaracterization of what happened since the reason standard & poor's downgraded the rating had a lot to do with the republican congress playing a dangerous game of chicken. ryan also pushed some bogus information about the stimulus. let's listen to that. >> the stimulus was a case of political patronage, corporate welfare and cronyism at their worst. you, the american people of this country were cut out of the deal. what did taxpayers get out of the obama stimulus? more debt.

>> it's just not true. of course, taxpayers got a lot out of that stimulus. more than 25% went to tax breaks a loan. also, most economic studies found the stimulus had a positive effect on the economy. i don't understand why the plant closing. that's sticking his chin out. he's going to be banged for that. he knew it was wrong. i also don't know how he thought he'd get away with saying the president -- i think he should have done it. he brought it down. >> no, it's ridiculous. the thing about the plant closing the more interesting. i wrote a piece last night, paul ryan's brazen lies and i'm getting all this right wing pushback, which you're very familiar with. the thing they keep saying is well, after the auto bailout restructuring, there was a potential that janesville reopened, but it wasn't. i'm sitting there like so, president obama was supposed to be the czar, picking winners and losers out of the economy. like one of those central

planners that they hate. what are they talking about? and they feel like they can get away with it. >> paul ryan didn't mention last night in his speech that he asked for stimulus funds for his district, and in the letter that he asked for the money, said that it was because he thought it would create jobs, so this is a guy who voted against the stimulus, then asked for money from it. >> you know how his budget, you're an expert on the budget, you know how it cuts poor people's stuff. medicaid, which is for poor people. we know he's cutting all this discretionary spending. we know that here is his brave claim last night. he talked about the responsibility that he felt of the strong society to protect the weak. this by the way is why he was protested at georgetown for failing to meet catholic standards. here he is. >> we have responsibilities. one to another. we do not each face the world alone.

in the greatest of all responsibilities is that of the strong to protect the weak. the truest measure of any society is how it treats those who cannot defend or care for themselves. >> well, what do you make of that? >> i think that might have been the most brazen lie or distortion because the catholic bishops who were often on the side of the republican party, they went out of their way to slam him on his budget and to say that it does not honor the preferential option for the poor that catholic social teaching requires us to have. the catholic bishops have said how horrible it is for people and it doesn't balance the budget, but that it takes money from poor people to give more tax breaks. >> i sit on the committee. i had a front row seat and they take a slash and burn approach to education, college aid, head start, to health care.

if that is reaching out and understanding the plight of people who are struggling in this country, it's a really business definition. >> you know things we don't know. you're on the inside. when you get the money that the coch brothers have, just blow us out, the country in terms of time, does truth matter? >> well, truth matters to democrats and it matters to president obama. >> but to the voter. if they're only going to get blasted with this stuff. >> what matters is that for us, we know the president's going to get outspent. we know they have super pac corporate infused special interest billionaires who are going to try the buy the white house. that's why we have been running and setting up the the most significant grass roots campaign in history and we'll carry president obama back to the white house on the shoulders of the people of this country. >> will they know that plant closed under bush, not under

oba obama? will they know he walked away from the debt commission before he trashed the the president? will they know these facts? >> that and who has been in the white house fighting for the middle class and working families and going to bat every day to make sure we can create jobs. >> it's also our job, too, because last night, everybody was great. they said these were jobs, inaccuracies, but today, i saw all over cable news, a little bit of slippage about well, you know, this is the kind of liberty that politicians get to take and so -- >> i'm not hearing that about the nightly news here at nbc and our sister organization. the news organization is looking at this different. i'm not sure there's going to be that slipperyness of facts. >> i hope not. because we need to keep saying what it is. they were lies. >> facts matter. the cynical approach the republicans are taking that they don't matter and are trying to dupe the voters -- >> i think mr. right lost about five of his merit badges last night. thank you.

whose name seems to be funny on the lips of mr. huckabee and the fact you're female. he's a strange one. from tampa and our coverage of the republican national convention, we continue here. this is "hardball," the place for politics. we make a simple thing. a thing that helps you buy other things.

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good. facts didn't add up. >> did one jump out as dishonest? >> i'm wondering when the elementary schoolteachers, the math teachers are going to start teaching math and saying 2 plus 2 don't equal 6. >> thank you. your view. >> i couldn't watch all of him. he was rather disgusting to me. i had to quit. >> any republicans around here? >> had a great delivery. >> great delivery. what did you think of ryan last night? >> i want to know when the democrats are going to define what fair share is since the top 1% of income earners pay 31%. >> 91. >> 91 top bracket like in the old days. we can't afford anything if we're not getting revenue. >> probably room in the middle between 35 and 91, but any way. oh, you want to talk.

no, you want to talk. >> hi. >> what did you think of paul ryan last night? >> i thought he told some very interesting tall tales. >> i do hope when it comes time for the democrat convention that we can get more truth coming out. >> who likes romney here? come forward. what would you like mr. romney to show tonight he hasn't shown in terms of personality, values? >> i think he's shown quite a bit of all of that and i think it's really unfair you guys are characterizing him as not being a normal guy. i think he's awesome. >> awesome. anybody else want to talk about romney? you, sir. you're looking very patriotic. >> i think what he should do is just show the american people the kind of person he is. i've met him. told him it was a greatest day of my life. i think once you get to know him, you can -- >> okay, the greatest day of your life was meeting romney. another underprivileged child of america.

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a down day for stocks. the dow slides 107 points. the s&p falls 11. the number of americans filing for first time jobless benefits was flat last week. economists expected a dip of 4,000. consumer spending rose in line with estimates, it was the biggest gain in five months and most retailer turned in better than expected same-store sales this month. now back to "hardball."

welcome back to "hardball." mitt romney's running for president 2012, but it seems republicans want to turn back the clock for inspiration. look at this -- speaking earlier this week in the 21st century, actually. >> it's the story of our founding fathers who fought and bled for freedom and then crafted the most mir political document ever conceived, our institution. the framers understood that our rights come not from monarchs, but from fwod. an that those rights are secure only when government power is restrained.

>> well, other republicans are looking back to the 18th sempkry. democrats are pushing for more government action, a record of fighting for right. the question is, which vision of government will win voters most this november? my notion of america, i hate to give this word to my enemies, is a -- and the people who always fought for change and in the end, liberalism has won, but it's taken a long fight and our country's gotten better. >> what we're seeing is an expansion of the franchise, an expansion of the population of the part of the population that's entitled to the rights that are guaranteed in those wonderful documents which enshrine, for example, slavery,

which don't allow women to vote. all that had to be changed. for hard fought victories. >> well, how does the -- republicans are regular people out there. when you hear these applause lines, don't the women in the room go wait a minute, we didn't get to vote until after world war i? what was wrong with the god given rights that weren't available to us? in practice, it takes governments to protect them. >> i don't think they make that turn, to be honest with you. i think there's always been this argument. i worked on a book for a great a author where he was talking about 13 american arguments and they all trace back to this. versus what government can do, whether government's a benefit or a curse. it's obviously -- you're right. they don't seem to know, not just that women didn't vote, but there wasn't such things as complex financial derivative, things government will have to

deal with. >> when we drove down here for spring weekends, from massachusetts, we saw the wyoming signs all the way down. if your wife or sister wanted to use the bathroom, they would have said no, out back, nd weeds. >> one of my grandmothers lived in michigan. we would provision the cars. we would have you know, food and any conceivable thing you might need because you couldn't stop. you couldn't stop at restaurants. until you got to a black owned motel. you couldn't stop for the night. >> wow, meanwhile, on the democratic side, president obama told a charlottesville audience he was the candidate for a -- opposed to his candidate, mitt romney. >> almost every issue, he wants to go backwards. sometimes back to the last century. you know, in november, you can

say that in this century, women should be trusted to make their own health care choices. you can say that in this century, we don't think young immigrants who were brought here when they were children and understand themselves as americans and pledged allegiance to the flag should suddenly be deported to countries where they've never been. you can say we shouldn't rewrite the constitution to prevent gay americans who love each other from being able to marry the people they love. >> pretty fundamental argument. i think he's joining the fight here. he seems to be open to this strong debate about what america stands for. >> he's accused -- of trying to turn america into something radically different than what it's been. he actually nailed down the concepts he's talking about. they're not that radical.

they're very straightforward. some were adopted by -- >> he did make the point these are all european ideas and i kept thinking is the heritage foundation european? is bob dole some sort of uren? >> and you can do this with a number of things. look back at how reagan and bush talked about immigration reform. they were more open to the concept. >> teddy roosevelt wanted national health. >> these are very basic republican ideas. >> he wanted an employer mandate. he was tough. >> regretted that he never took that deal. >> i thought that one exception to the republicans sort of refusal to look at history was condi rice. you and her have sort of parallel, but different backgrounds. >> let's take a look. >> here's the former secretary of state. last night. >> a little girl rose up in jim

crow, birmingham, the segregated city of the south where her parents can't take her to a movie theatre or restaurant, but they have her absolutely convinced that even if 14e can't have a hamburger at the woolworth's counter, she could become the president of the united states if she wanted and she becomes the secretary of state. >> you couldn't vote. things have changed. >> look, it was a terrific speech and secretary rice and i do have very parallel backgrounds. born in the same years, similar families. of course, she was a friend of one of the young girls killed in the church bombing, the infamous church bombing in birmingham. that is where he differ in that. no, you couldn't be president of the united states then. it took a lot of people fighting. a lot of people fought and died to get us to the point where you could conceivably be president of the united states or you

could become secretary of state. but at that point, that was not realistic. and we just should appreciate and remember the -- we should remember our history. it happened. >> i think that's right. but let me talk politics. sam, you cover politics. who will win a battle in america if there's a battle between those who have seen nostalgia as a political mandate? it's better way back then. before pat buchanan, early '50s, way back. against people who say this country's getting better. for women, black people, immigrants, documented or other. it's getting better for gay people because it's becoming a better, bigger society. who wins that argument? >> it's a complex question because each side can use nostalgia in their own way. for instance, civil rights, you could have one person say well, much of the achievements were part of the individual communities coming together and another one saying listen, if the courts hadn't have helped out, none of this would be

possible. question is, you know, where do the facts come in. how do you render history? >> yes, i know. the historical record says if it weren't for activist judges who decided brown versus board of education and eisenhower who used federal authority, federal executive authority in the states in a way that i'm not quite sure the institution necessarily anticipated, but it was right. >> huckabee growing up in arkansas where little rock high school had to be integrated. >> my conversation is that the republican party would say ignore that part and say would it have been possible if not for rosa parks. >> are you quibbling? you're saying -- obviously, it's individuals who litigate, who sue, who go to court and say i'm the case. >> we value them over the

individual or vice versa. >> thank you, we've been together about 48 hours straight. thank you. up next, mitt romney's not new at being an uncomfortable presidential candidate, he's not the first. we're going to turn the clock back and look at other, you got to see this. other awkward nominees and that's "hardball," coming up here, the place for politics. mid grade dark roast forest fresh full tank brain freeze cake donettes rolling hot dogs bag of ice anti-freeze wash and dry diesel self-serve fix a flat jumper cables 5% cashback signup for 5% cashback at gas stations through september. it pays to discover.

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mitt romney has his work cut out for him tonight as he delivers his most important

speech to date. he needs to be more likable and he's hardly the first presidential candidate with that problem. some got over it. in 1968, he won despite the fact people didn't particularly like him. george h.w. bush did the same thing in 1988 despite being seen as elite and distant. michael duh caucus tried and failed. >> this election is not about ideology. it's about confidence. >> didn't work. john kerry also couldn't overcome it. >> i'm john kerry and i'm reporting for duty. >> with me now is politico editor and chief and joe klein. you're experts on this. i like your piece. romney comes off, i'll say it, as robotic, wooden, awkward.

i said the other day, it looked like he belonged in the hall of the presidents, who gets wheeled out. tonight, he's going to come out and wave, say something nice to ann. tell a couple of jokes about ipods. will it work? >> we'll see. we just look at are m romney and how weak he is at the theatrics of politics. the emotional connections of politics. wonder how on earth did a guy like this get to be a major presidential nominee. what your list shows is fairly common. there's great performers, but also a lot of people who succeed in politics because of sheer method. al gore almost won the presidency. won the popular vote. although he was as mitt romney not good at this. tonight's a big occasion. he's got to bring his best game and show on the right occasions, he can connect. even though he finds it very difficult and in most settings. >> you've written great stuff about the policies of

personality in fiction and nonfiction. can you fake it? >> well, george h.w. bush did a good job of it in 1988. the thing about mitt romney that has made it hard for me to watch him is he has this tick when he's speaking. he's like a lawn sprinkler. he starts over here, goes over to here and back and back. notice it tonight. he will do that again. >> a lawn sprinkler. you beat me out again, joe. mitt romney's attempts to connect with people on the campaign trail have been cringe worthy. let's look at his efforts. >> i should tell my story. i'm also unemployed. corporations are people, my friend. morning y'all. i got started right this morning with a business kit and cheesy grits. no one's ever asked to see my birth certificate. >> trees are the right height. i think that's one of the great

ones. he likes michigan because the trees aren't too tall or too short. my personal favorite was yes i read that article on the aircraft. not using the language we speak in this country. >> chris, it's going to be hard for me thanks to joe to get that lawn sprinkler image out of my head as i watch. >> everybody's going to be looking for that. >> thanks a lot, joe. what he has to do is channel something authentic. it's not going to work if he invents a personality for the occasion. he needs to dig deep and explain something about his life story and explain how that is relevant to the kind of president he would be. >> would it work, joe, if he did something honest? we know he's a legacy. there's nothing wrong if he's a legacy. his father was a great man. building american motors into an auto industry. he was born in mexico. can he talk about his dad in terms of being a rock, a father figure we all would love to sfl.

>> you know, the worst thing he can try to do is be someone he's not. this guy is a great manager. and the argument he has to make tonight is a logical argument. he has to argue that barack obama has mismanaged the american economy. and here's how i will manage it better. i think it's as simple as that. as for awkward moments, you don't see all that many in these speeches. they're really highly crafted, these acceptance speeches. where you see the awkwardness is in the presidential debates. >> yeah, well this is scripted. i am afraid about -- you know, you talk about herbert walker bush gave a wonderful speech. were you there? i was teary eyed but margaret noonan wrote that speech. >> an emotional resonance of the speech did come from within george h.w. bush. that wasn't a phoney speech. that's an example of someone not

natural good at this rising to the occasion. >> even though they don't seem spontaneous like reagan in his debate with mondell i will not use his inexperience and immaturity. that was a written line. >> that was in a debate. dukakis's worst moment wasn't in that speech. it was in the debate when he was asked about what would happen if his wife was raped and murdered and he just kind of shrugged it off. george h.w. bush's moment was when he looked at his watch. >> thank you. we'll be right back from tampa after this. you're watching "hardball," the place for politics. look at those toys. insurance must be expensive. nah. [ dennis' voice ] i bet he's got an allstate agent. they can save you up to 30% more by bundling your policies. well, his dog's stupid. [ dennis' voice ] poodles are one of the world's smartest breeds. are you in good hands? to meet the needs of my growing business.

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let me finish tonight with this. monday night at 10:00 p.m. eastern msnbc will air my hour-long documentary "barack oba obama: making history." it combines what i think is vital and historic in this presidency. as someone who grew up in this country, loved its democracy, i wanted to talk about the significance of us electing our first african-american president. i believe racial division has been this country's great scourge. it won't go away, but it can be narrowed. it can be. i know that because we acted to narrow it four years ago. in the privacy of the voting booth, white americans did what

they thought was right for their country. it resounded throughout the world. i know as you do that racial division is the san andres vault of this country. opening it back up to where it was so recently. nothing is simpler or prim tifz than the beat the drums. that someone's grabbing something from the other side. someone's threatening the other side. someone's cheating on the peace treaty we've been working on for decades. welfare cheating, food stamp grabbing are all part of the li lingo for the states orders. say what you want, the message is familiar. of the demagogue that stirs up the working white people against the black. my favorite picture is this dirty faced white father with his sons in the tracks a