this is msnbc's live coverage of the republican national convention, which for the purpose of programming -- >> every other speaker proceeded to ignore the invisible president sitting right there on stage. >> marko rubio never addressed him. >> only clint eastwood saw him. >> with you there was more imagery there, too. the use of the f word. he's a family man, i've been around him, he doesn't talk like this to reporters or anybody that he interacts with. i thought that was a cheap shot. >> i think also one thing that

has to be said is when mr. romney started talking about the president was supposed to bring us together and didn't and all of this division, he's completely given immunity to his party that met the very night of the inauguration, planning to oppose and obstruct everything this president did. he is really trying to act like the president failed in uniting the country, rather than the republicans failed even when he proposed things that the republicans agreed on and they refused to do it with him. i think that's going to come back to haunt him, including paul ryan. they voted against republican plans if it became from the obama administration. >> there was one line in paul ryan's speech which he said something implicitly about the george w. bush administration having been irresponsible. he made -- he said, we brought a little bit of this on ourself. it was half a line, got no

applause and nobody noticed it. in this speech tonight from mr. romney, there was nothing about the republican party, both sides need to, we have also done this, we have also made mistakes. we need to work together more than we have in the past. no bringing that -- no sort of stepping above it maturity moment at all. steve, i'm wondering if you -- >> i think one of the most powerful things you can say to people in the middle of the electorate who move back and forth is i will reach out with my hand open to work with the other side. it's a powerful piece that there was no reason that mitt romney couldn't say tonight. it works with that portion of the electorate. as a political construct in the speech, on the front half he's talking about domestic policy and he has a lead on the economy, the ability to create jobs, he's ahead in the polls on that. when he went on the national security stuff, on the foreign policy issues, where the president has an advantage.

and it was obviously he's running for president. you're going to talk about foreign policy sand national security in the speech. but it was interesting to see how long he went down that path, the belacosity of some of the remarks and i don't think even in the republican party that there's an appetite for more adventurism around the word. >> to hear him end his speech that way, we asked john mccain, does mitt romney share your warmongery views on this subject? he said implicitly that he does, and i didn't believe him. and then mitt romney got up and gave the speech tonight, saying with syria and iran and no mention about -- >> took a direct shot at putin. direct shot at putin. and we're dealing at a time that we do not need another war as we try to deal with this. >> let me bring chuck todd in from the convention floor. i just want to get to chuck. i'm just wondering your

impression overall of the broad scale impact of this speech. >> i would just say a two-word phrase is optimistic nostalgia. it felt like the only time he was horrorish in his criticism of the president was on foreign policy. i was struck by how many times i felt like i heard phrases that included the words return to, restore to, and it played very well in this crowd. and i've heard that before. but it also reminded me of another recent nominee's speech that did that. at the time it played well, but it added the democratic president to run against and that was bob dole in '96. he was almost trying to paint the clinton presidency as an accident, it wasn't the sort of a bump that got in the way of the story of america. i felt like that's what romney

was trying to say tonight. there's a risk there, if you look like you're looking too nostalgic or looking forward enough. mitt romney, i think that they worried about that, because i heard at the end the word "future" like three times. so say no, no, we're talking about the future. but i wouldn't be surprised if you see the obama folks sort of respond to this going forward. >> there is a reason why obama picked that campaign slogan forward, anticipating that nostalgia you've been talking about. they've been making fun of that campaign slogan from obama all week long. >> and very quickly, i would say i think the biggest thing he needed to accomplish tonight was to connect personally. that shouldn't be underestimated. when he was talking about his mom and dad and family, that's as good as i've ever seen mitt

romney connect on a personal level. i think that that in itself, if that's all they get out of this speech, they will say the convention is a speech. >> hearing fresh anecdotes we have not heard, hearing him talk about his mother, it was very good. >> i think the cartoon of the mitt-bot as he's been lampooned, he became a real human being and came across like a good guy, a decent person. i think it's going to be hard to erase that from people's memories. i think he got what he needed out of this convention. i'll be very surprised if mitt romney doesn't open up a lead over the next couple of days. it will be short lived coming into the democratic convention, but i think they're going to get that lead for the first time in this race. >> he didn't seem like the guy who put a dog on top of the car. that might be gone now. >> they should have done more dog stuff. >> they should have attacked

that head on. >> let me bring in kelly o'donnell. she was near the vip seating area. who was your experience like and what could you see? >> it was one of those nights that was a culmination for so many of the people that were in the vip box. we watched as ann romney was greeted by many people who have nope them through the years. we saw the olympians and we saw moments of emotion when there were points when earlier in the program, parts of the evening that may not have been seen on television nationally, where they were talking -- the speakers were talking about moments in mitt romney's life where he had done charitable things, where he had helped families in his community. there was a lot of emotion in the box at that point. very different emotion now. it's almost like they're trying to take down the goal post. this is the california delegation where they pulled down the sign for their state. on the floor tonight, we certainly saw a lot of excitement at different points.

i would say that during the clint eastwood remarks, it was difficult to tell what the romney family was thinking. there weren't a lot of reactions during that. but there were other times when everyone was on their feet and there was a lot of enthusiasm. you saw the big applause moments and big emotion moments of the evening. earlier tonight, a aide told me romney had a cold earlier in the week and they were worried about it. but he had gotten enough rest and it was rare for all of the members of the family to be alone and he had gotten a lot of energy by spending time with the grand kids behind the scenes. so we saw lots of personal moments tonight where old friends came by, said hello. same true for paul ryan, who was in the box for a long time tonight. there was one lighter moment when the member of the 1980 miracle on ice team came back and said, clint eastwood followed me.

there were a lot of those moments who were important to individuals tonight. and certainly for the family. always a great experience to be on the convention floor. i was at least hip deep in balloons for a while. rach rachel? >> i want to bring chris matthews in here. chris, in terms of what you're hearing from chuck and -- >> kelly, i love -- kelly, can you tell us watching romney how was he specifically different tonight than you've seen him in previous public orations like this in a big room? >> mitt romney looked like he was taking his time, he had done

a lot of preparation. one thing i noticed is aides said he spent so much time with the meticulous details of the speech and you saw it in the pacing of how he delivered it. the day in and day out campaign trail has a much looser feeling in terms of it's not so formal and not so important to be perfect. it was important for him to be right on tonight. to have that kind of a demeanor that people could relate to and ability to deliver a speech of this length and with this content to an audience -- there were moments where there were higher points and lower points. one of the things about the modern convention is many people are on their phones and blackberries, taking pictures and reading things while the speech is going on. that used to never happen. but i have watched mitt romney a lot on the trail and tonight and the people around him seem very pleased that he was able to come through on a night that was certainly the biggest in his political career.

there will be lots of debate how he did. but in terms of being able to get through it, they told me today he was remarkably relaxed. that was the term they had used. and you did get the sense that he was at ease on that stage. and that's often something we look to with mitt romney, is he at ease? he did, at least from my vantage point, appeared at ease. the family often had tears in their eyes when they were watching. they were on their feet, they were living the moment. it was somewhat like during the olympics when jim's parents were doing the moves with her moves. there were a few moments like that where the family was connecting to the speech. >> thank you, kelly. chris, in terms of your taking a slightly broader view on this, obviously i think you were right to zoom in on me at the end of this. but also that human stuff at the beginning, do you detect that there's a change in campaign strategy, that this is a pivot point and they're going to do something different than they have done, or is this a version

of a stump speech he's been giving? >> let's talk about social issues, because he doesn't really like to talk about them. the way he handled with velvet gloves the issues of reproductive choice, very general language there. very general language about marriage equality and general in a way that couldn't excite any kind of opposition in the room. very careful, i think finesse is the right word. he doesn't seem like when he gets in the biggest possible room right now, like he will be in the debates, he wants to debate abortion rights. he doesn't seem comfortable with wanting to debate against marriage equality. so i think there is a calculation here, where he wants to emphasize, as ronald reagan did 32 years ago, it's strictly the economy. he wants it to be about jobs. like in a cartoon, that's when the bubble got big, that's when the words got big and he stretched it out and savored it.

that republican audience is focused on this country, not on further international expansion of our power, certainly not a shooting war with iran. and certainly, i hope not, into a rebuilding of the cold war with russia. i think he had to do those for the neocons. i think that audience is focused on the economy and i thought his best line, when he said, i wish the president had succeeded because i want america to succeed. if that is an authentic expression of his will, of his true belief, that he wanted this president to succeed, he's a good man. i'm not sure it's true. mitch mcconnell didn't want to unite america behind this president. he wanted this president to fail, as leader of the senate in the republican party, he said from day one, i want him to fail. now, if romney shared that sentiment, he's not a good guy. everybody should root for the

success of every new president, at least in principle. i guess i'll give romney credit for saying the right thing. all americans should have rooted for the president, because they're rooting for america. it is the right sentiment for america. i really liked that line. >> chris hayes? >> there was talk about specifics in the jobs plan. i'll note the 12 million new jobs promising is what is being projected in the next four years, regardless of policy, as we work our way out of the recession. just two quick things. north american energy independence is a preposterous idea. it is an idea that's been reversed engineered around politics. it used to be american energy independence, but that's clearly not possible. so we've now enlarged the area that we're going to have energy independence with canada and mexico. oil's price is driven by supply

and demand. north american independence is not a coherent concept. and the line that we are going to become greece, there is just no comparison between greece and the u.s. greece has a structural deficit that is way bigger than our own. this idea that somehow we're looking down the future of greece, which is invoked as a boogeyman is ridiculous. >> here's another thing that jumpd out at me, and you mentioned this earlier, rachel. when the world needs to do really big stuff, you need an american. that was the line to the birthers tonight. that's what i think. that was the other line. you know, we've got to do big stuff. we've got big problems. we don't have an american. how else are we supposed to take that line? to imply that the guy who is leading the country right now is

not an american, when the world needs to do really big stuff, we need an american. i think that was below the belt and it was a dog whistle, whatever you want to call it, it was a bone throwed to the birthers out that that, you know what? i'm not that far from you. >> it struck me as the same way. that's why i highlighted it. especially coming on the heels of his birther joke from this past week. we're going to take a quick break. you're watching msnbc's live coverage of the republican national convention. when we come back, we'll be talking more about the weirdest thing that happened tonight, which we tried to pretend didn't happen, but something really, really, really weird happened in the last hour of the republican national convention and it cannot be ignored. that's ahead. >> if you felt that excitement when you voted for barack obama, shouldn't you feel that way now that he's president obama? [ applause ] you know there's something wrong with the kind of job he's done as president when the best feeling you had was the day you voted for him.

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what do you want me to tell romney? i can't tell him to do that. can't do that to himself. >> that was the weirdest thing i've ever seen at a political convention in my life. i've not seen every political convention that's happened on television, but if there is anything weirder, i have yet to hear it described or read about it. clint eastwood, the actor, life long republican, did an ad lib speech in primetime tonight. he started doing that at 10:03. the part you just saw was sort of the -- i guess the spine on

which he hung his remarks that were otherwise not scripted. and the idea that he was interviewing an empty chair in which an invisible president obama was sitting and that invisible president obama was telling him -- was swearing at him and telling him to shut up and mr. eastwood was responding to this invisible character. what's important here in terms of the romney campaign's culpability in this is that mr. eastwood's remarks began at 10 p.m. 03 p.m., which means network coverage started at 10:00. they did not have the video, the very good introduction showing mr. romney in this attractive light. instead, that aired before 10:00 p.m. so the campaign could make room to have clint eastwood speaking to an empty chair rambling about the president swearing at him on network television introducing mitt romney. i'm done. >> see, i think that everything

that we would like to give credit to romney for, if we were to, about him saying let's unite america, and of him saying that we need to bring the country together, he had totally contradicted that by putting eastwood on, who belittled the president by acting like he would swear at him that way, who was belittling of the whole convention. you don't have an opening act like that, primetime, and then you come out with a lofty speech and then you end the speech by insulting the head of russia almost like warmongering and saying we threw israel in front of the bus. so it was like one of these real attempts to go to the mountain top, but you know i live in the valley. >> it's also one of the political attempts to paint someone as an empty suit. >> empty chair, empty suit. >> the symbolism of it is very

strong, it's also very demeaning. the other thing is tomorrow around the water cooler, it's about clint eastwood, it's not about mitt romney. in the social media, it's all about clint eastwood right now. he was the big winner tonight. >> that's the serious point, you know, for republicans here. the first convention video not seen in primetime since 1984, it was a great video, humanized him. i thought all the montages of the family videos. and tomorrow morning, you had a brilliant, brilliant speech by marko rubio. i think one of the best articulations of a conservative vision, you know, that probably since reagan '64's speech was an incredible speech. mitt romney did a fantastic job in the speech. all of that is going to be cut into tomorrow with the coverage because of the sloppy clint eastwood decision. >> can you explain, as someone who has been in this room, what

was the conversation like with -- did clint eastwood say, i'm just going to go out there and wing it, and then everyone said -- >> like, we vetted the rand paul speech but you can go ahead. >> i don't understand how that came about. >> somebody put the empty chair out there. >> right. >> that's the $64,000 question. i suspect we're going to find out before too long. just incredibly irresponsible and it's going to hurt romney because it's going to cut into the coverage of, again, marko rubio's brilliant speech and mitt romney's very effective speech. mitt romney gave the speech of his life and the fact that there's going to be minutes taken away from the coverage of it tomorrow, not good. >> steve, before we wrap up and hand it over to chris matthews, one more point you were making i would like you to make about colin powell's endorsement. >> in 2008, we had some evidence at the end of the campaign we had a little bit of forward

movement. we were dealing with lots of problems post financial collapse. but the positive moment we had was over when colin powell endorsed president obama. i was just listening to comments on putin towards the end of the speech and i'm reminded when secretary powell said not long ago, he said come on, mitt, think. russia is not our number one enemy. and i know that colin powell was listening to that speech tonight. that's a powerful endorsement. that's an endorsement that matters in the middle of the electorate. when you look at the people who are out there on the sidelines who have yet to endorse in this race, there's one person who really matters, who has a lot of credibility, that's colin powell. i wonder politically if there's a repercussion to that. >> sabre rattling at russia is a proven way to not get that endorsement. i think that's an important point. but culture wise and in terms of historical impact, a lot of great points of potential big

inflection point in the campaign. i don't mean to make light of other things, but the clint eastwood thing blew their final night and they're making light of it already. but i cannot believe it happened. we're going to do all of this again next week for the democratic national convention, which is going to be just as fun, maybe times two. next week covering the dnc, we'll be right here, getting started on tuesday. our coverage of the republican national convention in tampa continues now with the great, one and only chris matthews. one is for a clean, wedomestic energy future that puts us in control. our abundant natural gas is already saving us money, producing cleaner electricity, putting us to work here in america and supporting wind and solar.

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[ snoring ] [ male announcer ] because sleep is a beautiful thing. [ birds chirping ] introducing zzzquil, the non-habit forming sleep-aid from the makers of nyquil. ♪ mr. chairman and delegates, i accept your nomination for president of the united states. >> good evening, i'm chris matthews here in tampa for a special edition of "hardball" and tonight mitt romney delivered the most important speech of his career and in some ways a remarkable moment. a one time self-professed moderate governor of massachusetts and developing the

precursor of the health care plan, tonight accepted the nomination of a party that's moved sharply to the right. it was the culmination of five years of campaigning for president. his challenge was to connect to people and to pitch himself as acceptable alternative to president obama. >> president obama promised to begin to slow the rise of the oceans. [ laughter ] and to heal the planet. [ laughter ] my promise is to help you and your family. [ cheers and applause ] >> the speech had positive tributes to his mother, to our free enterprise system and his family generally. but there were other darker moments as well. we'll get into all of it with "the huffington post". and eugene robinson. i went to the speech, i watched it, i sat here and i liked the

resounding nature of it. i like good oratory. it had some good moments. i wish the president had succeeded because i want america -- if that's true a good sentiment, if it's true. even if it's not, it's a good thing to express. that thing about the oceans, that thing about the planet, what's the point? how narrow-minded, how small and insular and piggish to say we don't care about the planet we live on, which is getting hotter, the climate change is manifest all over the world. i've been in columbia and alaska. it's so manifestly true what's going on and he's mocking it. >> chris, i think it's on two levels that you can question it. first of all, the anti-science sentiment that you just mentioned which is a big theme in the republican party of today, the faith-based republican party which often seems to put science in a category next to evil. but beyond that, and even worse, i think, was the sort of smart

alecy nature of the way he said that. >> yeah. >> the rest of the speech was the good man mitt romney. i'm a good man, i'm a decent man. right there he was doing a parlor snark, if you will. >> what happened to the stewardship, all of our religions believe in the see wardship of this planet. god gave us this planet, to destroy it? >> he was being too cute by making a point. >> what did that tell but that audience? >> i was in the hall, the audience loved it, best applause line of the night. >> it was ungenuine. when he was governor, he accepted climate change, he was enlightened on the subject. i think it's another example of the way he has pandered, the way he's changed his views or his stated views to fit what he believes is his constituency on the right.

>> let's move to foreign policy, another one of my problems. i wanted him to pay tribute to his wife, i love what he said about women who work in the home, my mother had five boys, i pay tribute to that. how can you not? let's take a look at his language when it came to iran and russia and foreign policy in general, let's watch. >> every american was relieved the day president obama gave the order and s.e.a.l. team 6 took out osama bin laden. on another front, every american is less secure today because he has failed to slow iran's nuclear threat. in his first tv interview as president he said we should talk to iran. we're still talking and iran's centrifuges are still spinning. president obama has thrown allies like israel under the bus, even as he has relaxed sanctions on castro's cuba. he abandoned our friends in

poland by walking away from our missile defense commitments. but he's eager to give russia's putin the flexibility he desires after the election. >> i have to tell you i don't think he thinks that, i think he's reading that. i think dan senor wrote that for him. i think john bolton wrote it for him. it's a line of argument. first of all, have we thrown israel under the bus? you don't hear that from the defense minister over there. you don't even hear it from netanyahu. what is he talking about? >> if it's dan senor writing it why is hi parroting it? there is not a constituency for a war with iran. >> not even in that room. was this a hopped up war crowd in there? >> not really, i talked to senior citizens about medicare, republican women who said let's cut defense spending.

actually, and clint eastwood, crazy as he was, got some applause for his let's get out of afghanistan. >> he was george mcgovern there. >> i think on this thing, this speech had to be aimed at a single mom in canton, ohio, sitting in her kitchen table wondering if he's a decent guy and how he's going to get me and my kids jobs. that excursion into foreign policy at the end, which played well in the hall was unnecessary politically. i don't know why he felt he had to do it. >> like the state of the union address you have to hit all of the points? >> no, you don't. >> let's be positive for a moment. there are things i liked and we all liked. governor romney talking and actually getting choked up talking about his mother, this very modern woman, very pro-choice, who ran for the senate in a time women weren't running for the senate. let's watch. >> my mom and dad were true partners.

a life lesson that shaped me by everyday example. when my mom ran for the senate my dad was there for her every step of the way. i could still see her saying in her beautiful voice, "why should women have any less say than men about the great decisions facing our nation?" [ applause ] >> i saw ann romney choke up there, the fact her husband was saying not only equal rights, but everything across the board. >> i thought he was convincing about that and i thought for the first time, we talked about this before the speech, he unpacked some memorable details about his life and their life, that whole bit about how george romney used to give the mother a rose every morning and put it -- >> wow. >> you heard that. >> i loved that story. >> and then the morning that there was no rose she knew that her husband, was something wrong. it sounds corny and crazy but i guarantee you everybody out there had a mental image of that

rose. >> it was beautiful. it was absolutely beautiful. >> that means every day going out and getting a new one, putting it in the fridge overnight, getting up before your wife and coming down and putting it on the plate. i mean, this is a heavenly husband. >> to writers, the other beautiful image was waking up in the morning and having a pile of kids asleep -- >> i liked that. >> where was seamus? was he in bed with the kids or not? >> on the roof. >> and we're taking note of these because there have been very few of them. i think he got over very low bar of saying i'm a human being. i'm not a conehead. >> does this prep him for the debates? i got the feeling put some wind in his back in terms of self-confidence. he gets big applause as a major orator for the first time, does this get him ready to take on obama?

>> the weakness of the speech to me is it revealed once again that his entire campaign is based on the minimalist strategy of saying that obama failed. there were no real details in his plan. >> can he say it to his face? >> 12 million jobs what is everyone this is will happen in the next four years anyway and no details and believe it or not, those undecided voters would like to hear some specific reason why they should feel hopeful. so that's what struck me about the speech. >> no cuts. no cuts. >> no nothing. he's not saying. people aren't dumb. they know something is missing. >> estate taxes, bush tax cuts, none of that stuff. >> i don't think this necessarily gives him confidence for the debates, although he's a good debater. >> he's a good debater. might help him in the debates. what struck me about the speech was overall impression, being sweet, talking about himself and humanizing himself and talking about women, he was like good mitt.

when he's on the attack, he changes. >> i know. that's business. >> he becomes the guy who laid you off, you know? >> the worst mitt was the snarky one about i won't save the oceans -- >> i resent that so deeply, about kids, thinking about the future. what we called in the '60s, a pig, people that talked about that, generally, i'm not saying he is, but people that talk like that. here's another attack on president obama. might have been the best line of the night. let's watch. >> i wish president obama had succeeded because i want america to succeed. but his promises gave way to disappointment and division. this isn't something we have to accept. now is the moment when we can do something and with your help, we will do something. >> you know what, i don't know

about that line but i did love it because it was america. i think every time we have a new president inaugurated most people say let's give this guy a shot. let's give him a honeymoon, that's what it is, we're hopeful for him. >> it's all very nice but a predicate for him to repeat over and over again that obama has failed. >> are you saying he was hoping he would? >> no, no, i'm not saying that. i'm not saying that. i'm just saying that it's a rhetorical nicety -- >> that disappointment is better than i don't like the guy. >> saying it in sorrow, not in anger -- >> political baloney. >> that works better than the relentless attack. that grates on people. >> i agree. >> i think we heard the end of compassionate conservatism in this sip of omission. this line didn't get much reaction, i say strangely, from the audience. >> that united america will care for the poor and sick and honor and respect the elderly and give a helping hand to those in need.

>> ha. nothing. nothing. scratch. scratch. >> i heard the chirping of crickets. >> gutter ball. nothing. wild pitch. no reaction. >> i was in the hall. nothing on that one. >> they saw it coming, in a rhythmic reaction to everything positive until they heard compassion coming. clammed up. >> that's because they've been primed with rhetoric that says any expression of compassion is an excuse for big government. this whole convention is about the fact that government doesn't work. it sort of begs the question of why we elect a president to begin with. >> when he did the line i want to help you and your family my twitter feed, i was looking and conservatives saying i wish he said i want government off your back. >> they were ahead of the applause which didn't exist that time. thank you howard fineman and gene robinson. the world of social media buzzing about clint eastwood, making his day in the wrong way. msnbc's live coverage continues after this from tampa.

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what do you want me to tell romney? i can't tell him to do that. can't do that to himself. >> that was the great clint eastwood tonight's mystery guest speaker and final night of republican convention and safe to say his performance left many mystified. the bizarre rambling included a

back and forth with an empty stool he pretended was our president. the scene instantly erupted over social media, we got the word immediately and saturday night live head writer quoting, respect to clint, 82 years old and putting twitter over capacity. safe to say most of the comments on twitter are not complimentary. and with me now is msnbc political analyst and mother jones washington bureau chief david corn and comedy cental's political arm, from it editorial producer mary sandy to my right and comedian jared logan. do a riff, what did we see tonight? he came out, everybody loved him, sort of old and folksy and iconic figure in american life but he did an, what we called a bob newhart, talking to somebody that isn't there. >> they was man with noint -- no point tonight, i think. amazing. you don't let an 82-year-old man just go off script and talk

about whatever he wants. my grandmother is 82 and we don't let her do that. >> we'll get rid of obama, that was pretty personal. >> i don't know if there was a theme. he was all over the place, he was talking to obama. >> here is eastwood, great actor, speaking to the empty stool. pretended was president obama. let's watch this performance. >> so mr. president -- how do you handle, how do you handle promises that you made when you're running for election and how do you handle it? what do you say to people? do you just -- i know people -- people are wondering you don't -- okay. >> i think that hairdo was by christopher lloyd by the way. go ahead. >> there was something about it that was almost performance art, right? if it hadn't been happening on the stage of a national political convention it might

have gotten an nea grant of some sort. >> aren't you putting in a plug -- good liberals. you and i speak the same language. was any part of you rooting for him to be better than he was? >> i was disappointing he was there, he's pro choice and in favor of gay marriage and he's talked about doing something about global warming. >> and he wants them home from afghanistan. >> that was incomprehensible, seemed to believe that mitt romney's position is bring the troops home tomorrow morning which of course it isn't, it's keep them there forever. i have to say, do you know in mitt romney's speech how many times he mentioned afghanistan or the troops? not once. i thought that also was incomprehensible, how did he get away with that if you want to be commander in chief? >> yet he was talking like the most crazed sabre rattler, jingoist, go to war on every front, push the ruskies

and go into iran and at the same time he skips the current wars. >> how do you give a speech like this to the nation and not note the service of 100,000 men and women in uniform in afghanistan? clint eastwood didn't seem to really know what mitt romney was saying. >> eastwood is a notorious libertarian. >> i thought the chair did very well. >> you were rooting for the chair. let's take a look at some more of this. roll some more of this performance from those who didn't tune in for clint eastwood. his own variation on mitt romney's liking to fire people. that wasn't good in the first instance. here it is in the second. >> it's important that you realize that -- that you're the best in the world and whether democrat or whether republican or libertarian or whatever, you're the best and we should not ever forget that and when somebody does not do the job, we got to let them go.

[ cheers and applause ] let 'em go. >> whatever you want to say about his performance and it's all been negative that got the highest applause so far i thought in the convention. because it was so negative and they wanted to hear it. >> that's a good point, when things are not good they should be better. like very specific, very to the point on clint eastwood's part. >> let him go. there's a phrase in business. not fired, had to let her go let him go. >> both clint and mitt see the need to fire people. >> donald trump was there anyway. firing seems to be a big thing with these guys. your thoughts? >> let them go didn't strike me as a good movie catchphrase in the ways of, do you feel lucky, punk? the other phrase that got a big applause line when he said we

own this country. >> okay. let's go with that one. >> they went nuts. >> what do you make of that? what's the "we?" >> a slight sense, wee bit of sense of entitlement in the room and when clint eastwood said that they really enjoyed it. >> who is the we? >> the delegates, those driving the train. the republicans. >> and we want to take ownership back from whom? >> the guy in the white house and his pals. he's not part of the we. >> seemed like an effort to tie into the republicans' theme of we built it, we built it, therefore we own it. the connection didn't seem to make a lot of sense but then again, nothing else he said did either. i want to believe that's the logical connection he was trying to make. >> this was part of the theme he's not one of us? >> i don't know if he was going that far but the other thing that was strange, what ad did he do at super bowl halftime? >> auto industry rebuild. >> who is responsible for that, mr. eastwood?

>> what was he saying about gitmo? a lot of my friends on the pretty tough left were angry about the president for not delivering, people in my family, younger members of my family. thinking not getting rid of gitmo was a big deal. here saying he promised -- does he want to get rid of gitmo, no, he said it was a good investment we got to keep it. so what was the point of that? >> he was clearly off the prompter at that point. there were hundreds of people going no, no! >> you can't blame that on the prompter. >> that was the thing, nothing on the prompter, they just decided on the most important night of mitt romney's life they let this guy come out and say whatever he wanted to say. >> let's take a look at this. somebody thought of some genius here, clint eastwood's speech, brings to mind the famous line from ross perot's chosen vp admiral stockdale in the october 1992 debate. it's not fair, he's a great american hero but what a line. just watch.

>> your opening statement please, sir? >> who am i? why am i here? >> i hate that because he was a p.o.w., a great guy and yet he -- so wonderfully honestly, i don't belong here, do think? >> wasn't a good opener. >> let's hear some great lines from the daily show. what will he say tomorrow night? what will stewart do with this baby? >> you'll have to watch and find out. one of my favorite moments of the clint eastwood speech when he told a roomful of ron paul supporters that you shouldn't bite your lip and vote for the guy you don't really want. which again seemed to me like -- >> whoa, wasn't that about romney? >> that's it but i think what he meant was, i think trying to make it about obama, but sounded -- >> didn't you hear the same thing think? i heard romney. >> i was like, you shouldn't be bringing that up. >> you should not mention that here. >> sometimes you have to go for the guy that you need.

>> remember the lyric, if you're not with the one you love, love the one you're with. >> that's right. >> that's all i can say, thank god he didn't sing. >> in memory, in memory of clint eastwood before he went on that stage tonight i honor his memory. i hope it comes back. he'll outlive this infamy, i believe. and the new movie is ant women's baseball, i'm rooting for it to be great. didn't we all love "million dollar baby?" thank you to all of you. tell jon stewart to like me, will you? your watching msnbc's live coverage of the republican convention from tampa. >> if you felt that excitement when you voted for barack obama, shouldn't you feel that way now that he's president obama? you know there is something wrong with the kind of job he's done as president when the best feeling you had was the day you voted for him. this country was built by working people.

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did clint eastwood make your day? >> it was a good comedy skit. i thought it was funny. >> it was funny? >> what did you think of clint eastwood? >> i thought clint eastwood is the reason why we need obama care. >> you are tough. that was an ageist joke. what did you think of eastwood? >> a great man, i like clint eastwood. >> you're still with him. anybody have a problem? apparently the blogosphere has been very, very tough. >> he was cute but ineffective. >> you think disrespectful of our president? the empty chair? >> just a little. >> i thought it should have been like the golden globes, not the republican convention. your thoughts? let's go to romney. >> looking like he was talking to his imaginary friend.

>> did romney show he was a human being, not a robot? >> i don't think so. if a republican president had gotten rid of bin laden and doubled the stock market -- >> they would be dancing in the end zone. >> i think mitt romney proved he's more than capa we would be >> dancing in the end zone. >> i think he has proved he can be the next president, and jobs is an issue and he creates jobs. >> the whole night turned it for me, all the staples, founders all the experience he had, the olympics. >> you think he is a job creator. >> yes. he proved it. >> miss, you got your food, you want to talk about this. >> i missed the entire thing i was at hooters. i'm kidding. >> what do you think? >> i think as a country, we are better than race baiting and i thought that was dispicable. we are better than that. >> clint eastwood started his career started with i sing to

the trees and now he is ending it with i talk to the chairs. >> what do you think? you are dressed up. >> i thought his speech was inspirational. >> romney or eastwood? >> romney. >> what do you remember from the speech that. >> that we wanted a change, more jobs. >> you are right -- jobs was in the speech. >> chris, i thought it was a prep speech not a pep speech. >> like a prepster. >> i think a little cranbrook. at least he did not shave someone's head. but you know what? >> i want to know where the dog was, did he let it in the bed? >> he brought good energy to tampa. >> how can you don't sweat,

nobody sweats here. >> i think that clint eastwood had intellectual points that he made. >> give me a eastwood point from tonight. >> see what i do for a living. >> yeah, i watched the whole thing. >> what grabbed you that he said? >> just a lot about how did make all the promises. >> fair enough. he did say that. >> romney's speech was great. and rubio, u.s. center from florida. >> what is the -- >> romney gave an amazing speech and he put his business acument on display, and he is the shot in the arm that we need. >> he showed he is a human

being? yes. >> i thought romney did a good job of humanizing himself and made him seem like a nice guy. i will not vote for him. but he seems like a nice guy. >> one last thought, i think i know where you stand, sir. >> i would like to make a $10,000 bet that obama wins florida. >> we will be right back. [ owner ] i need to expand to meet the needs of my growing business.

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obama's waiving of the work requirements of welfare reform, is oan example of his going against the -- he should be ashamed for putting politics before people. >> welcome back to our late night coverage of the tampa republican national convention, to paraphrase ronald reagan, here they go again. the narrative has been checked and rechecked and the president obama did not waive the work requirement for welfare. any defense against the attacks joining me is time magazine's mark halperin. mark, it's rare that all the

fact checkers agree that obama is not waiving the work requirement. we have had many guests here. i cannot find a governor who will say, yes it's true. >> your kasich interview was a watershe h watershed, i thought the one they hit was you did not build it. there's nothing to it and they hit it over and over. when they say in context it's even worse. no it's not. in context it's more clear. >> he praises individual initiative. >> so, the general issue of if you do ads over and over and speeches over and over, can you get away with it, unfortunately you can. i think the white house is trying to fight back on that in a way that is not totally defensive, but it's hard, because both of them strike at issues that republicans want to

stress. one is that the president does tot believe in work or -- believe in work or the private sector. >> and you get the rabbit punches in the ads and then riding out here on a white horse is romney praising the free enterprise system, hint, hint, he doesn't. in other words the body blows have been hit blow the belt. >> he can take the high road, he does not have to get dirty and deliver the body blows. it's difficult, it's an interesting political science question. do you have to go up with counter ads? do you have to, you know, counter their carpet bombing with your own carpet bombing or is that -- >> what's the impact? you are both print guys. at one point, i noticed the papers are saying it's wrong,

dishonest, in the a-one reports. they are saying these are dishonedishon e dishonest ads about the welfare points. at what point does the mainstream press stop doing it and saying we cannot do that. >> that's a watershed moment as well, you do not usually see that. you cannot have false equivalents. obama's camp has lost high ground. they took things out of context wi romney. he doesn't like to fire people. >> it's a bit of a different thing. and also, they have mischaracterized his position on abortion as well. so their hands are not totally clean but at this point, the romney campaign is besting them in making the distortions clear.

>> he said that president obama did cut money from welfare to pay for his health care program. let's listen. >> his $716 billion cut to medicare to finance obama care will hurt today's seniors and depress innovation, and jobs and medicine. >> and the medicare line he spoke was the same one used by paul ryan last night. let's listen. >> even with all the hidden taxes to pay for the health care take over. even with the new law and new taxes on nearly a million small businesses, the planners in washington still did not 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. >> and then there was this untrue narrative that obama has diminished america in the eyes of the world. let's listen to that. >> it's striking how president carter and president obama both took our nation down a path that in four years weakened america's confidence in itself and our hope for a better future. >> both weakened the respect for america abroad. >> anyway, tonight, mitt romney in his big speech that president obama raised taxes on the middle class, but he didn't. let's listen to him. >> and let me make this very clear. unlike president obama, i will not raise taxes on the middle class of america. [ applause ] >> you know, we are living under george bush's tax schedule. you think we would be living

under a highly repressive left wing regime. every attempt to change the bush tax laws have been beaten. and we are living under the same fiscal process of bush. here we have the challenge of the facts again. >> you can just kind of go down the list on medicare, that is the thing for paul ryan, his budget assumes the same savings. >> why did paul ryan write in that number, that he blames on the president. now it's in his numbers. >> he needs the revenue it falls short of deficit reduction and this is money he felt he could take. if you took the politics out of it, both ryan and the president would say, you have to find savings in medicare. it's a reality.

>> when the discussions start about dishonestesy and over statement of fact. i keep thinking of the up coming vice presidental debate, i think we will see it hashed out here, mark, biden has to take on this whole thing. paul ryan who is the very number cruncher that comes up with the numbers. >> some of it, but i'm not sure that the white house wants to put all their chips on joe biden to perform. if this show existed in 1988 can you imagine the shows that they would be doing? this is not brand new. there's more fact checking than there has been before. and both sides i think are going to be doing as much of this as they can get away with. wait until the super ads start. >> what did you think of the push back from the romney

campai campaign, no fact checker will dictate our pr campaign. >> i know, if you are going to reach low information voters, does a headline in the "new york times" saying it's inaccurate counter act the ads? >> we know the answer. >> no. >> the 6% out there right now are not looking for information on these points. next, what did the republican party accomplish, tonight and all week here in tampa. it's a hot tampa, by the way. it's only cooling down now. this is msnbc's live coverage of the republican national convention. >> this president can tell us that the next four years he can get it right. but this president cannot tell us that you are better off today than when he took office. [ applause ] . [ male announcer ] it seems like every company has a facebook page these days. but where's the relationship status? well, esurance is now in a relationship...with allstate.

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my mom and dad were married for 64 years, and if you wondered what their secret was, you could have asked the local florist, because every day, dad gave momma rose, which he put on her bedside table. that is how she found out what happened on the day my father

died, she went looking for him because that morning there was no rose. >> wow, well welcome back to our late night coverage of the republican national convention, as we close out our late night here. let's look at what was accomplished these last few days. we have our guests right here. and michael, the white house correspondent for time. take your time on this. the big question we were asking for the last several days, can romney begin some kind of political matrymony with his own party. he is the nominee, can he be somewh somewhat beloved? >> that clip that you showed, he definitely emotionally connect. i started to tear up in my hotel

room watching the speech. i never had that reaction to this man, as much as i respect him. i never had an emotional reaction. >> that was a story that his dad was so impressive tonight. a man of plain speech and toughness. unlike, well unlike mitt romney. i thought the father overshadowed the son. what did you think? in the video we saw? i never saw george look better. >> but people will not see the video, they will see mitt romney. i think really -- they want to have him back in their living room, not just the next couple of times, but for four more years. >> how did he do? >> he was nervous in the

beginning. but for the 15 minutes he was talking about his family, he came off slightly awkward but is caring about what he is doing. and likeable. >> did you notice he was able to convey a biography of a regular person through his mother and father and wife and kids, without doing a look at his meaning of life, did you notice how he got not too internal? >> i appreciate that. i did not know all the things about about his father and i enjoyed his whole story going off and ann's reaction on the stage. i'm a republican, i'm the converted so i was not a hard audience. >> i thought with mitt romney, from 2008, his big challenge was he rarely this courage to be who he was. himself. he was nervous how he would be

portrayed or whether he would mess up. and you could see it. he was ready to be caught off guard. >> did you see what was said is tonight? i said what was the difference between his performance and earlier big hall presentations, and she said he was measured and slowed it down. it was a much more disciplined. it was not spontaneous. it was practiced with care and delivered with slow precision. >> i think that's true and more important, it was an emotional speech, he was emotional in the middle of it. he talked about his church, he has not done that. >> here is what president obama tweeted. it's a picture of him sitting in the president's chair, and he said, this seat is taken. i don't know whether that's the jab or not. what do you think? >> ouch. >> i think the -- >> do you think he tweeted that on his black berry?

>> the campaign is trying to go viral with it. they will have to be careful over the next few days. they can profit from the clint eastwood, if they push it out, it lessens the quality of the conversation. >> let me ask you about your favorite moments. megan, i love condi rice, i thought she was great and american, and nothing exclusive about it, it was for everybody. who did you like? >> governor martinez, i think she is the woman to watch. as a republican woman, talking about why she is a republican and shooting guns and why she loves the party. she is the one to watch. >> from new mexico? >> yeah, i thought it was a great line when she came back and said, hey, we are republicans i never thought about it that way. what about rubio tonight, he is cuban american and he spoke spanish a bit. will that help? >> it will not help with the

spanish speaking vote, rubio is the most talented communicator in the republican party right now. he is an asset that the party needs to deploy better going forward. >> this was the speech of his life too. i think he really stepped up tonight. >> i think he really stepped up. yes. >> you think he stepped up. >> yes. completely. >> do you think he would have been a better candidate than ryan? >> i love him and what he is doing in florida. if he is not a running mate, he will a candidate in the future. >> i do not know why they picked ryan over rubio. >> the conversation becomes about rubio, and the issue of immigration and the latino vote. which is not where the romney campaign wants to be right now. >> i liked if governors, kasich and the ones that have done

things. scott walker came over well. he had been beaten up a lot over the battle over recall. this -- they were talking real stuff about politics and it was not bs. >> i thought nicky haley was fantastic. >> yes. >> i have not always been her biggest fan. but i felt she came across. >> it finally clicked why she was elected and popular. >> thank you both. that's it for our coverage. the whole convention is over, i'll be back tomorrow at 5:00 p.m. and 7:00 eastern for hardball.

>> this is msnbc's live coverage of the republican convention. >> every other speaker ignored the invisible president sitting there on stage. >> marco rubio never addressed him. >> clint eastwood -- >> there was more imagery there too, the use of the "f" word -- >> a couple of times. >> -- he is a family man and he doesn't talk like this to reports or anybody that he interacts with and i thought it was a cheap shot. >> and one thing that has to be

said, when mr. romney started talking about the president was supposed to bring us together and didn't, and all of this division, he is completely giving immunity to his party that met the night of the inauguration, planning to oppose and stand in the way of everything that the president did. he is trying to act like the president failed in uniting the country rather than the republicans failed even when he proposed things that the republicans agreed on and they refused to do it with them. that will come back to haunt them. including paul ryan, they voted against republican plans, if it came from the obama administration. >> he could have done a little bit of listen, there was a line in paul ryan's speech where he talked about the george w. bush administration being a problem.

and at least it was a gesture. in this speech from mr. romney, there was nothing about both sides need to, we have also do this, we have made mistakes. we need to work together more than in the past. there's been no working together. there's no sort of stepping above it, maturity moment at all. steve, i'm looking at you, did you see that? >> i think one of the powerful things you can see to the people moving back and forth, i will reach out with my hand open to work with the other side. it's a powerful piece that there was know reason that mitt romney could not say tonight. you know, it works with that portion of the electorate, when he is talking about domestic policy, he is ahead in the polls on that and then he went into the foreign policy issues where

the president has an advantage. obviously you will run for president, you talk about national security and foreign policy in the speeches but it was interesting to see how long he went down that path, and clearly as we talked about last night, i do not think that even in the republican party that there's an appetite for more adventurism around the world. >> to hear him talk about that, mccain said that he shares his views and i did not believe him and mitt romney got up and gave the speech, with syria and iran -- >> took a direct shot at putin, direct shot. and we are dealing at a time that we do not need another war as we try to deal with -- >> let me bring chuck todd from the convention floor. i'm sorry. one second, you were there and saw it in the room. i'm wondering your impression

overall of the broad scale impact of the speech. >> a two-word phrase is optimistic nostalgia, the only time he was harsh in his criticism of the president was on the foreign policy. everything else was i wish things were better. and i was struck when i heard phrases of return to and restore to and it played well in this crowd and i heard it before, and it reminded me of another recent nominee speech that did that and at the time it played well. but it handed the incumbent democratic president something to run against. that was bob dole and he was talking about the nostalgic ways, it was not a bump that got in the way of the story of america and i felt that is what

romney was trying to say tonight. there's a risk there if you look like you are looking too nostalgic, are you looking forward enough. i actually was thinking they were worried about that, because at the end i heard the word future three times. no, no, we are talking about the future. i would not be surprised if you see the obama folks respond to this feeling of going to the past, and moving forward. >> there's a reason that obama picked that campaign theme, forward. they have been making fun of that slogan all week long on and off. >> and quickly, rachel, i would say that the biggest thing he needed to accomplish tonight was to connect personally and that should not be under estimated. when he was talking about his mom, his dad and his family. that is as good as i have ever

seen mitt romney connect on a personal level. and i think that that in itself, if that's all they get out of the speech, they will say, hey, it's a success. >> i'm with you there, and seeing his own emotion and hearing fresh stories and hearing him talk about his mother and her voice and things like that. >> i think the cartoon of the mitt-bot as he has been portrayed faded away. he became a real human being and came across like a good guy, a good person, and i think it's going to be hard to erase that from people's memories. i think he got what he needed out of this convention. i will be surprised if he does not open up a lead over the next couple of days. it will be short lived coming into the democratic convention, but they will get the lead for the first time in the race. >> he did not seem like a guy that put a dog on the on top of the compare. >> they should have done more

dog stuff. >> they should have tacked that on. >> let me bring in kelly o'donnell, she had a great seat, she was near the vip seating area, kelly, what was your experience of the speech? what could you see? >> it was really one of those nights that was a culmination, we watched as ann romney was greeted by those who they knew over the years and we saw moments of emotion when there were points when earlier in the program, parts of the evening that may not have been seen on television nationally where they were talking, the speakers were talking about moments in mitt romney's life, where he helped families in his community. there was a lot of emotion in the box at this point. a very difference emotion now. it's like they are trying to take down the goal post, this is the california delegation next to me, where they pulled down the sign for their state. on the floor tonight, we certainly saw a lot of excitement at different points.

i would say during the clint eastwood remarks, it was difficult to tell what the romney family was thinking. they held back, not a lot of reaction, but other times everyone was on their feet and there was a lot of excitement. you saw the big applause moments and emotion moments of the evening. earlier tonight, i was told that romney had a cold earlier in the week and they were worried about that, but he got more rest during the convention because he was off the campaign trail than he had in a long time and it was rare for all of the members of the family being together and he got a lot of energy spending time with the grandkids behind the scenes. we saw lots of personal moments tonight, where old friends came by and said hello, there was a lighter moment when michael rusiano of the miracle on ice team had spoken and came back and stood next to me and said

clint eastwood followed me. so it was important to those participating tonight. those who had stories and for the families. always a great experience to be on the convention floor, i was hip dip in balloon for a while. it's one of those crazy nights. >> i want to let you know, in case you are worried that another balloon drop started. it was one guy standing behind you talking right now, giving you your own personal balloon drop. he is on the union roles, we have him. don't worry. chris, in terms of what you are hearing from chuck and kelly -- >> yeah, kelly, can you tell us, watching romney, how was he specifically different tonight than you have seen him in previous public orations like this in a big room? >> i thought that mitt romney looked like he was taking his time, he had done a lot of preparation.

one of the things that i noticed from aides is that they had said he spent so much time with the details of this speech. and you saw it in a bit of the pacing of how he delivered it. obviously the day in day out campaign trail has a much looser feeling in some ways in terms of it's not so formal, it's not so important to be perfect. it was important for him to be right on tonight. to have that kind of demeanor that people could relate to and an ability to deliver a speech of this length and with this content to an audience that in this room, there were moments are where there were higher points and lower points. one of the things about the modern convention, there are many people on their phones and their blackberrys and reading things and tweeting, and that used to not go on, people were more focused. but the people around him seem pleased that he was able to come through on a night that was the

biggest in his political career. there will be debate on how he did, but in terms of getting through it, they said today that he was relaxed. and you got the sense that he was at ease on the stage, that is often something we look to with romney, is he at ease? from my viewpoint, he look at ease and the family had tears in their eyes, they were on their feet and they were kind of living the moment. it was somewhat like during the olympics when the parents were doing the moves with her moves, there were a few moments like that where the family was connecting with the speech. >> thank you. thank you. >> chris, in terms of you taking a broader view. i think you were right to zoom in on the end, and that human stuff at the beginning. do you detect a change in campaign strategy that it's a pivot point, that they will do something different than they

have done, or is it the same campaign before as ever? >> let's talk about social issues because he does not like to talk about them. the way he handled with velvet gloves about pro choice, and marriage equality. very careful not to excite any opposition in the room. he does not seem like, when he gets in the biggest possible room right now, like he will be in the debates that he wants to debate abortion rights. he does not seem comfortable with wanting to debate against marriage equality. so there's a calculation here. where he wants to stress, as ronald reagan did 32 years ago. strictly the economy. he wants it to be about jobs. that's when the bubble got big, that is when the words got big

and he stretched it out. he has the stuff at the end, and it got nothing from the audience. they are focused on this country and not on further expansion of power and not in a shooting war with iran and certainly not, i hope not, in to a rebuilding of the cold war with russia. he had to do it for the people writing the speeches. the audience was focused on the economy and again, i thought his best line, when he said, i wish the president had succeeded because i want america to succeed. if that is an expression of his true belief that he wanted the president to succeed, he is a good man. i'm not sure it's true. mitch mcconnell did not want to unite america behind this president. he wanted the president to fail. as leader ofhe senate and the republican party, he said i want him to fail. if romney shared that feeling he is not a good guy.

everyone should root for the success of every new president at least on the outset, i will give him credit for saying the right thing. you should have rooted for the president, because he is the president of america. it's the right thing for america. i like that line. >> there were specifics in the jobs plan, i'll note the 12 million new jobs is about what is being projected regardless of policy over the next four years. >> it's by the cbo. >> right, just two quick things. first, north american energy independence is a terrible idea. it has been reverse engineered around politics. there's canada and stuff off of the gulf of mexico so we enlarged the area that we will have energy independence that we will have with canada and mexico. the oil price is driven by

supply and demand. and also, the line of -- about greece, it's a buzz line, we are going to be greece and americans savings will not vanish. there's just no comparison between greece and the u.s. greece is locked in to a union that it does not control. it has a deficit way bigger than our own. this idea that we are looking down the future of greece which is invoked as a boogie man is ridiculous. >> here is another thing that jumped out at me. you mentioned it earlier. when the world needs to do really big stuff, you need an american. that was the line to the birthers tonight. that is what i think, that was the other line. you know, we got to do big stuff, we have big problems. we do not have an american, how else are we supposed to take that line? to imply that the guy leading the country right now is not an

american, when the world needs to do really big stuff, we need an american. i think that was blelow the bel, and it was a dog whistle, whatever you want to call it. it was a bone throw to the birthers out there that i'm really not that far from you. >> it struck me the same way. that is why i highlighted it. especially coming on the heels of the birther joke this past week. we will take a quick break, when we come back, we will be talking more in part about the weirdest thing that happened tonight, which we sort of tried to pretend has not happened. but something really, really, really weird happened in the last hour of the republican national convention, it cannot be ignored, if you felt the excitement when you voted for barack obama, shouldn't you feel that way now that he is president obama? you know there's something wrong with the kind of job he has done

as president about the best feeling you had was the day you voted for him.

>> what do you want my to tell romney? i can't tell him to do that, can't do that to himself. >> that was the weirdest thing that i ever saw in a political convention in my life, i have not seen every political convention that happened on television, but if there's anything weirder i have yet to hear it described or read about it. clint eastwood, the actor, well known republican did a speech in prime time tonight, he started doing that at 10:03, the part that you saw there was sort of

the spine on which he hung his remarks that were not otherwise scripted. he was interviewing an empty chair where an invisible president obama was sitting and that invisible president obama was telling him to, was swearing at him and telling him to shut up and mr. eastwood was responding to this invisible character. what is important in this, is mr. eastwood's remarks started at 10:03 p.m., which means that the network coverage started at 10:00. he did not have the video, showing mr. romney in the attractive light. speaking to an empty chair, rambling about the president swearing at him in his own mind. i'm done. >> see, i think that everything

that we would like to give credit to romney for, if we were to -- about him saying let's unite america, and of him saying that we need to bring the country together. he had totally contradicted that by putting eastwood on that who belittled the president by acting like he would swear in that way. who was belittling of the whole convention, you do not have an opening act like that prime time, and then you come out with a lofty speech. and then you end the speech by insulting the head of russia almost like warmongerring and saying we threw israel under the bus, it was an tempt to go to the mountain top, but i really live in the valley. >> it's one of the old political attempts to paint someone as an empty suit. >> empty chair. empty suit. >> empty chair, empty suit. the symbolism of it is very

strong and demeaning. the other thing is that tomorrow, around the water cooler, it's about clint eastwood, it's not about mitt romney. >> the thing that is remembered. >> he was the big winner tonight. >> that's the serious point, you know, for republicans here, the first convention video, not seen in prime time since 1984. it was a great video, humanized him, i thought all the stories of the family videos not seen, and tomorrow morning, you had a brilliant, brilliant speech by marco rubio, one of the best articul ampt articulations since reagan. and all that will be cut into tomorrow when the coverage happens because of the sloppy clint eastwood decision. >> can you explain as someone in

the room, what was the conversation like? did clint eastwood say i'm going to go out and wing it and -- >> they were like we vetted the rand paul speech, but you go ahead. >> i do not understand how it came about. >> somebody put the empty chair out there. >> they knew he was going to do it. >> that's the $64 million question, i suspect we will find out before too long. justin credibly irresponsible and it will hurt romney because it's going to cut into the coverage of, again, marco rubio's speech and mitt romney's speech, mitt romney gave the speech of his life and the fact that there's minutes taken away of the coverage of it tomorrow, not good. >> before we wrap up and hand it over to chris matthews, a point that you were making at the break, you were talking about collin powell's endorsement. >> yeah, we had evidence that we

had forward movement, we were dealing with a lot of problems post financial collapse. but the positive moments in the campaign, it was over when collco collin powell endorsed president obama. i'm reminded when second powell said not long ago with regard to comments about russia, he said come on, mitt, think, russia is not our number one enemy. that's a powerful endorsement, it's an endorsement that matters in the middle of the electorate, when you see the people out there that are on the sidelines who have yet to endorse in the race. collin powell matters. and i wonder if there's problem with that. >> it's a really important point, but culture wise, a lot of great speeches and great

points and great point in the campaign. i do not mean to make light of other things but i think the clint eastwood thing blew their final night, they are making light of it already, but i cannot believe it happened. fella, we will do it again next week for the democratic conventi convention, just as fun, maybe times two. i want to thank everyone. next week, we will cover the dnc starting on tuesday, but our coverage continues now with the great one and only chris matthews. we know a place where tossing and turning

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ask your doctor if lunesta is right for you. then find out how to get lunesta for as low as $15 at lunesta.com. there's a land of restful sleep. we can help you go there on the wings of lunesta. mr. chairman and delegates, i accept your nomination for president of the united states. >> good evening, i'm chris matthews here in tampa for a special edition of "hardball" and tonight mitt romney delivered the most important speech of his career and in some ways a remarkable moment. a one-time self-professed moderate governor of massachusetts and developing the precursor of the health care plan, tonight accepted the

nomination of a party which has moved sharply to the right. it was the culmination of five years of campaigning for president. his challenge was to connect to people and to pitch himself as acceptable alternative to president obama. >> president obama promised to begin to slow the rise of the oceans. [ laughter ] and to heal the planet. [ laughter ] my promise is to help you and your family. [ cheers and applause ] >> the speech had positive tributes to his mother, to our free enterprise system and his family generally. but there were other darker moments as well. we'll get into all of it with "the huffington post" howard fineman. and eugene robinson. i went to the speech, i watched it, i sat here and i liked the resounding nature of it. i like good oratory. it had some good moments. i wish the president had

succeeded because i want america -- if that's true a good sentiment, if it's true. even if it's not, it's a good thing to express. that thing about the oceans, that thing about the planet, what's the point? how narrow-minded, how small and insular and piggish to say we don't care about the planet we live on, which is getting hotter, the climate change is manifest all over the world. i've been in columbia and alaska. it's so manifestly true what's going on and he's mocking it. >> chris, i think it's on two levels that you can question it. first of all, the anti-science sentiment that you just mentioned which is a big theme in the republican party of today, the faith-based republican party which often seems to put science in a category next to evil. but beyond that, and even worse, i think, was the sort of smart alecy nature of the way he said that. >> yeah. >> the rest of the speech was

the good man mitt romney. i'm a good man, i'm a decent man. right there he was doing a parlor snark, if you will. >> what happened to the stewardship, all of our stewardship of this planet. god gave us this planet, to destroy it? >> he was being too cute by making a point. >> what does that tell you about that audience? >> i was in the hall, the audience loved it, best applause line of the night. >> it was ungenuine. when he was governor, he accepted climate change, he was enlightened on the subject. i think it's another example of the way he has pandered, the way he's changed his views or his stated views to fit what he believes is his constituency on the right. >> let's move to foreign policy, another one of my problems. i wanted him to pay tribute to

his wife, i love what he said about women who work in the home, my mother had five boys, i pay tribute to that. how can you not? let's take a look at his language when it came to iran and russia and foreign policy in general, let's watch. >> every american was relieved the day president obama gave the order and s.e.a.l. team 6 took out osama bin laden. on another front, every american is less secure today because he has failed to slow iran's nuclear threat. in his first tv interview as president he said we should talk to iran. we're still talking and iran's centrifuges are still spinning. president obama has thrown allies like israel under the bus, even as he has relaxed sanctions on castro's cuba. he abandoned our friends in poland by walking away from our missile defense commitments.

but he's eager to give russia's putin the flexibility he desires after the election. >> i have to tell you i don't think he thinks that, i think he's reading that. i think dan senor wrote that for him. i think john bolton wrote it for him. it's a line of argument. first of all, have we thrown israel under the bus? you don't hear that from the defense minister over there. you don't even hear it from netanyahu. what is he talking about? >> if it's dan senor writing it why is he parroting it? there is not a constituency for a war with iran. >> not even in that room. was this a hopped up war crowd in there? >> not really, i talked to senior citizens about medicare, republican women who said let's cut defense spending. actually, and clint eastwood,

crazy as he was, got some applause for his let's get out of afghanistan. >> he was george mcgovern there. >> i think on this thing, this speech had to be aimed at a single mom in canton, ohio, sitting in her kitchen table wondering if he's a decent guy and how he's going to get me and my kids jobs. that excursion into foreign policy at the end, which played well in the hall was unnecessary politically. i don't know why he felt he had to do it. >> like the state of the union address you have to hit all of the points? >> no, you don't. >> let's be positive for a moment. there are things i liked and we all liked. governor romney talking and actually getting choked up talking about his mother, this very modern woman, very pro-choice, who ran for the senate in a time women weren't running for the senate. let's watch. >> my mom and dad were true partners. a life lesson that shaped me by everyday example.

when my mom ran for the senate my dad was there for her every step of the way. i could still see her saying in her beautiful voice, "why should women have any less say than men about the great decisions facing our nation?" [ applause ] >> i saw ann romney choke up there, the fact her husband was saying not only equal rights, equal in policymaking and everything across the board. >> i thought he was convincing about that and i thought for the first time, we talked about this before the speech, he unpacked some memorable details about his life and their life, that whole bit about how george romney used to give the mother a rose every morning. >> wow. >> you heard that. >> i loved that story. >> and then the morning that there was no rose she knew that her husband, was something wrong. it sounds corny and crazy but i guarantee you everybody out there had a mental image of that rose. >> it was beautiful. it was absolutely beautiful.

>> that means every day going out and getting a new one, putting it in the fridge overnight, getting up before your wife and coming down and putting it on the plate. i mean, this is a heavenly husband. >> to writers, the other beautiful image was waking up in the morning and having a pile of kids asleep -- >> i liked that. >> where was seamus? was he in bed with the kids or not? >> on the roof. >> and we're taking note of these because there have been very few of them. i think he got over very low bar of saying i'm a human being. i'm not a conehead. >> does this prep him for the debates? i got the feeling put some wind in his back in terms of self-confidence. he gets big applause as a major orator for the first time, does this get him ready to take on obama? >> the weakness of the speech to me is it revealed once again

that his entire campaign is based on the minimalist strategy of saying that obama failed. there were no real details in his plan. >> can he say it to his face? >> 12 million jobs is what everyone this is will happen in the next four years anyway and no details and believe it or not, those undecided voters would like to hear some specific reason why they should feel hopeful. so that's what struck me about the speech. >> no cuts. no cuts. >> no nothing. he's not saying. people aren't dumb. they know something is missing. >> estate taxes, bush tax cuts, none of that stuff. >> i don't think this necessarily gives him confidence for the debates, although he's a good debater. >> he's a good debater. might help him in the debates. what struck me about the speech was overall impression, being sweet, talking about himself and humanizing himself and talking about women, he was like good mitt. when he's on the attack, he changes. >> i know.

that's business. >> he becomes the guy who laid you off, you know? >> the worst mitt was the snarky one about i won't save the oceans -- >> i resent that so deeply, about kids, thinking about the future. what we called in the '60s, a pig, people that talked about that, generally, i'm not saying he is, but people that talk like that. here's another attack on president obama. might have been the best line of the night. let's watch. >> i wish president obama had succeeded because i want america to succeed. but his promises gave way to disappointment and division. this isn't something we have to accept. now is the moment when we can do something and with your help, we will do something. >> you know what, i don't know about that line but i did love it because it was america. i think every time we have a new

president inaugurated most people say let's give this guy a shot. let's give him a honeymoon, that's what it is, we're hopeful for him. >> it's all very nice but a predicate for him to repeat over and over again that obama has failed. >> are you saying he was hoping he would? >> no, no, i'm not saying that. i'm not saying that. i'm just saying that it's a rhetorical nicety -- >> that disappointment is better than i don't like the guy. >> saying it in sorrow, not in anger. it's political baloney. >> that works better than the relentless attack. that grates on people. >> i agree. >> i think we heard the end of compassionate conservatism in this sin of omission. this line didn't get much reaction, i say strangely, from the audience. let's watch. >> that united america will care for the poor and sick and honor and respect the elderly and give a helping hand to those in need. >> ha. nothing. nothing.

scratch. scratch. >> i heard the chirping of crickets. >> gutter ball. nothing. wild pitch. no reaction. >> i was in the hall. nothing on that one. >> they saw it coming, in a rhythmic reaction to everything positive until they heard compassion coming. clammed up. >> that's because they've been primed with rhetoric that says any expression of compassion is an excuse for big government. this whole convention is about the fact that government doesn't work. it sort of begs the question of why we elect a president to begin with. >> when he did the line i want to help you and your family my twitter feed, i was looking and conservatives saying i wish he said i want government off your back. >> they were ahead of the applause which didn't exist that time. thank you howard fineman and gene robinson. the world of social media buzzing about clint eastwood, making his day in the wrong way. msnbc's live coverage continues after this from tampa. >> i know you were against the war in iraq but that's okay but

you thought the war in afghanistan was okay. you thought that was something that was worth doing. we didn't check with the russians to see how they did there for the ten years.

what do you want me to tell romney? i can't tell him to do that. can't do that to himself. >> that was the great clint eastwood tonight's mystery guest speaker and final night of republican convention and safe to say his performance left many mystified. the bizarre rambling included a back and forth with an empty stool he pretended was our president.

the scene instantly erupted over social media, we got the word immediately and saturday night live head writer quoting, respect to clint, 82 years old and putting twitter over capacity. safe to say most of the comments on twitter are not complimentary. and with me now is msnbc political analyst and mother jones washington bureau chief david corn and comedy cental's political arm, editorial producer mary sandy to my right and comedian jared logan. do a riff, what did we see tonight? he came out, everybody loved him, sort of old and folksy and iconic figure in american life but he did an, what we called a bob newhart, talking to somebody that isn't there. >> they was man with no point tonight, i think. you don't let an 82-year-old man just go off script and talk about whatever he wants. my grandmother is 82 and we don't let her do that. >> we'll get rid of obama, that was pretty personal.

>> i don't know if there was a theme. he was all over the place, he was talking to obama. >> here is eastwood, great actor, speaking to the empty stool. as i said, he pretented it was president obama. let's watch this performance. >> so mr. president -- how do you handle, how do you handle promises that you made when you're running for election and how do you handle it? what do you say to people? do you just -- i know people -- people are wondering you don't -- okay. >> i think that hairdo was by christopher lloyd by the way. go ahead. >> there was something about it that was almost performance art, right? if it hadn't been happening on the stage of a national political convention it might have gotten an nea grant of some sort. >> aren't you putting in a plug

-- good liberals. you and i speak the same language. was any part of you rooting for him to be better than he was? >> i was disappointed that he was there. he's pro choice and in favor of gay marriage and he's talked about doing something about global warming. >> and he wants them home from afghanistan. >> that was incomprehensible, seemed to believe that mitt romney's position is bring the troops home tomorrow morning which of course it isn't, it's keep them there forever. i have to say, do you know in mitt romney's speech how many times he mentioned afghanistan or the troops? not once. i thought that also was incomprehensible, how did he get away with that if you want to be commander in chief? >> yet he was talking like the most crazed sabre rattler, jingoist, go to war on every front, push the ruskies and go into iran and at the same time he skips the current wars. >> how do you give a speech like

this to the nation and not note the service of 100,000 men and women in uniform in afghanistan? clint eastwood didn't seem to really know what mitt romney was saying. >> eastwood is a notorious libertarian. >> i thought the chair did very well. >> you were rooting for the chair. let's take a look at some more of this. roll some more of this performance from those who didn't tune in for clint eastwood. his own variation on mitt romney's liking to fire people. that wasn't good in the first instance. here it is in the second. let's listen. >> it's important that you realize that -- that you're the best in the world and whether democrat or whether republican or libertarian or whatever, you're the best and we should not ever forget that and when somebody does not do the job, we got to let them go.

[ cheers and applause ] let 'em go. >> whatever you want to say about his performance and it's all been negative that got the highest applause so far i thought in the convention. because it was so negative and they wanted to hear it. >> that's a good point, when things are not good they should be better. like very specific, very to the point on clint eastwood's part. >> let him go. there's a phrase in business. not fired, had to let her go let him go. >> both clint and mitt see the need to fire people. >> donald trump was there anyway. firing seems to be a big thing with these guys. your thoughts? >> let them go didn't strike me as a good movie catchphrase in the ways of, do you feel lucky, punk? the other phrase that got a big applause line when he said we own this country. >> okay. let's go with that one. >> they went nuts. >> what do you make of that?

what's the "we?" >> a slight sense, wee bit of sense of entitlement in the room and when clint eastwood said that they really enjoyed it. >> who is the we? >> the delegates, those driving the train. the republicans. >> and we want to take ownership back from whom? >> the guy in the white house and his pals. he's not part of the we. >> seemed like an effort to tie into the republicans' theme of we built it, we built it, therefore we own it. the connection didn't seem to make a lot of sense but then again, nothing else he said did either. i want to believe that's the logical connection he was trying to make. >> this was part of the theme he's not one of us? >> i don't know if he was going that far but the other thing that was strange, what ad did he do at super bowl halftime? >> auto industry rebuild. >> who is responsible for that, mr. eastwood? >> what was he saying about gitmo? a lot of my friends on the pretty tough left were angry

about the president for not delivering, people in my family, younger members of my family. thinking not getting rid of gitmo was a big deal. here saying he promised -- does he want to get rid of gitmo, no, he said it was a good investment we got to keep it. so what was the point of that? >> he was clearly off the prompter at that point. there were hundreds of people going no, no! >> you can't blame that on the prompter. >> that was the thing, nothing on the prompter, they just decided on the most important night of mitt romney's life they let this guy come out and say whatever he wanted to say. >> let's take a look at this. somebody thought of some genius here, clint eastwood's speech, brings to mind the famous line from ross perot's chosen vp admiral stockdale in the october 1992 debate. it's not fair, he's a great american hero but what a line. just watch. >> your opening statement please, sir? >> who am i? why am i here?

>> i hate that because he was a p.o.w., a great guy and yet he -- so wonderfully honest, i don't belong here, do i? >> wasn't a good opener. >> let's hear some great lines from the daily show. what will he say tomorrow night? what will stewart do with this baby? >> you'll have to watch and find out. one of my favorite moments of the clint eastwood speech when he told a roomful of ron paul supporters that you shouldn't bite your lip and vote for the guy you don't really want. which again seemed to me like -- >> whoa, wasn't that about romney? >> that's it but i think what he meant was, i think trying to make it about obama, but sounded -- >> didn't you hear the same thing think? i heard romney. >> i was like, you shouldn't be bringing that up. >> you should not mention that here. >> sometimes you have to go for the guy that you need. >> remember the lyric, if you're not with the one you love, love the one you're with. >> that's right.

>> that's all i can say, thank god he didn't sing. >> in memory, in memory of clint eastwood before he went on that stage tonight i honor his memory. i hope it comes back. he'll outlive this infamy, i believe. the new movie is ant women's baseball, i'm rooting for it to be great. didn't we all love "million dollar baby?" thank you to all of you. tell jon stewart to like me, will you? your watching msnbc's live coverage of the republican convention from tampa. >> if you felt that excitement when you voted for barack obama, shouldn't you feel that way now that he's president obama? you know there is something wrong with the kind of job he's done as president when the best feeling you had was the day you voted for him. during mattress price wars at sleep train,

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did clint eastwood make your day? >> it was a good comedy skit. i thought it was funny? >> it was funny? >> yeah, it was funny. >> what did you think of clint eastwood? >> i thought clint eastwood is the reason why we need obama care. >> you are tough. that was an ageist joke. what did you think of eastwood? >> a great man, i like clint eastwood. >> you're still with him. anybody have a problem? apparently the blogosphere has been very, very tough. >> he was cute but ineffective. >> you think disrespectful of our president? the empty chair? >> just a little. >> i thought it should have been like the golden globes, not the republican convention. your thoughts? let's go to romney. >> looking like he was talking to his imaginary friend. >> did romney show he was a human being, not a robot?

>> i don't think so. if a republican president had gotten rid of bin laden and doubled the stock market -- >> they would be dancing in the end zone. >> i think mitt romney proved he's more than capable of being the new president and jobs is the issue and he creates jobs. >> i think the whole night turned it for me, basically all of the staples, founders, all of the experience he had, the olympics. >> you think he's a job creator. >> yes. >> you got your food, you want to talk about this? >> i missed the entire thing i was at hooters. i'm kidding. >> what do you think? >> i think as a country we're better than race baiting, i thought that was despicable, i think it's been despicable, we're better than that. >> thank you. sir? >> clint eastwood started his career with "i sing to the trees," know ending it with, i talk to the chairs.

>> you're dressed up tonight. >> i thought the speech was inspirational. >> clint eastwood's or romney's? >> i only heard romney's. >> what do you remember from the inspirational speech? this is mean of me, what do you remember of it? >> that we wanted change -- >> come on -- >> more jobs. >> that was in the speech, you're right. jobs was in the speech. >> i thought it was a prep speech not a pep speech. >> like prepster? >> >> you think some boarding school -- >> a little cranbrook. >> you're keeping score. >> i want to know where seamus was when the kids were in the bed. did he let the dog in the bed? >> we won't go there. >> it brought good energy to tampa. >> how come you don't sweat? everybody else sweats here. >> i'm from here. i think clint eastwood had a lot of really intellectual points he

made as well as he was super funny. >> give me an eastwood point tonight. >> um -- >> see what i do for a living? >> i watched the whole thing and the whole time -- >> what grabbed you that he said? what did he say? >> a lot about how he did make all these promises and -- >> that's right. fair enough. >> romney's speech was fantastic, rubio's, u.s. senator from florida. >> yeah. what's the point of that commentary? >> we're floridians. >> you are a piece of work, buddy. yes. >> yes, i believe governor romney gave an amazing speech and he truly put his business acumen on display for everybody to see and based on what he's said, he's the shot in the arm to get this country back on track. >> you think he showed he's a human being? >> he has the character we need. >> i'm not a supporter of romney but i thought he did a good job of humanizing himself and seemed

like a nice guy. i won't vote for him but seems like a nice guy. >> thank you. one last thought. i think i know where you stand, sir. >> i would like to make a $10,000 bet with mitt romney that obama wins florida. >> thank you, everybody. we'll be right back with gene robinson and mark halperin.

obama's waiving of the work

requirements in welfare reform is one example of his direct repudiation of president reagan's values and he's proud of what he's done and his politically motivated partisanship but he should be ashamed of putting politics before people. >> welcome back to our late night coverage of the tampa republican convention. to paraphrase president reagan, here they go again. there's no amount of fact checking that stops the romney come pain. it's been rechecked and president obama did not waive the work requirement for welfare. any defense for these attacks? both are msnbc political analysts. mark, it's rare that all of the fact checkers agree, they do seem to all agree that obama's not waiving the work requirement.

we had interviews here, i can't find a governor who will say yes, it's true. >> the kasich interview, he was part of the republican brand. i thought what they hit more is you didn't build it, there is nothing to it and they hit it over and over. when they say in context it's even worse, no, it's not. in context it's more clear. >> he praises individual initiative in that same paragraph and talking about infrastructure because we can't build our own roads. if do you ads over and over and speeches, can you get away with it? unfortunately you can. i think the white house is fighting back in a way that is not totally defensive, but it is hard because both strike at issues that republicans want to emphasize, tease out. one is that the president doesn't believe in work and the other is that the president

doesn't believe in the private sector. so, there is the reason, part of the reason they're effective is they're reznant for some people. >> you get romney praising the free enterprise system, hint, hint, he doesn't. the body blows have already hit below the belt. >> he can take the high road, doesn't have to get dirty and deliver the body blows. it's difficult. it's an interesting political science question. do you have to go up with counter ads? do you have to counter their carpet bombing with your own carpet bombing or is that somehow drawing more attention -- >> you're both print guys. i know that "the new york times" and other papers are now saying dishonest ad, in the a-1 reports. they're putting it on the front

page that these are dishonest ads about the welfare charge. "time" probably doing the same thing. when does the legitimate press stop doing it and say we can't win this argument? >> that's a watershed, you don't normally see that, i think that's fantastic because you can't have a false equivalency when things aren't equivalent. the obama campaign lost a bit of high found on this. they've spent months taking things governor romney took out of context. he doesn't like firing people. >> did the burton ad hurt, about the husband saying my wife died -- >> i think it probably did but that's a bit of a different thing but yeah, but also they mischashgized governor romney's position on abortion in an ad, their hands are not totally clean but at this point the romney campaign is besting them in making these distortions and untruths a bigger part of their message. >> here tonight mitt romney in his big speech, barnburner many

believe, he continued discredit line that president obama did get money from medicare to pay for his health care program. let's wln listen. >> his $716 billion cut to medicare to finance obama care will both hurt today's seniors and depress innovation and jobs in medicine. >> and the medicare line he spoke was the same one used by paul ryan last night. let's listen. >> even with all of the hidden taxes to pay for the health care takeover, 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. >> and then newt gingrich continued the untrue narrative

that president obama has diminished america in the eyes of the world. let's listen to that. >> it's striking how president carter and president obama both took our nation down a path that in four years weakened america's confidence in itself and our hope for a better future. >> both weakened the respect for america abroad. >> anyway, tonight mitt romney and his big speech also said president obama raised taxes on the middle class, but he didn't. let's listen to him. >> and let me make this very clear, unlike president obama, i will not raise taxes on the middle class of america. >> you know, we're living under george bush's tax schedule. you think we'd be living under sigh highly repressive left wing regime but every attempt to change the bush tax laws have

been beaten and we're living under the same basic fiscal policy of w. and they blame, they do that's politics but here again, this challenge of the facts. >> you could kind of go down the list and medicare, that's chutzpah for paul ryan since his budget assumes the same savings. >> why did paul ryan write into his budget, subsequently passed by the house and all of the republicans basically voting for it, that number, which he blames on obama, why did he put it into his numbers? >> he needs the revenue. >> exactly. >> already falls short in a lot of ways of real deficit reduction and specificity and if you took the politics out both the president and paul ryan would say you have to find savings in medicare, just a reality. >> every time a conversation gets started about the issues of dishonesty and claim dishonesty, objective dishonesty and overstatement or manipulation of

fact, i think of the upcoming vice presidential debate. for some reason i think that's where we'll see this hashed out. mark? because biden has to take on the very grand -- the number cruncher who comes up with the numbers. >> some of it, although i'm not sure the white house wants to put all of the chips on biden, ryan is a smart guy. if this existed in '88 could you imagine the shoes you'd be doing on flag factories and willie horton and the aclu. this is not brand new, there is more fact checking than ever before and both sides doing as much as they can get away. went until the super pac ads start with no accountability. >> no fact checker will dictate our pr campaign -- >> i think that's incredible. we're not going to be governed by the facts.

if you're trying to reach low information voters, does a headline in the "the new york times" saying it's inaccurate counteract the carpet bombing of ads? >> we know the answer. >> we know the answer. >> no. >> the 6% holding out are not looking for more information on these points. thank you mark and eugene, thank you for sticking around. what did the republican party accomplish tonight and this week in tampa? it's sweltering, by the way. only cooling down now. this is msnbc's live coverage of the republican national convention. >> the president can tell us that the next four years he'll get it right but this president cannot tell us that you're better off today than when he took office. [ applause ] [ male announcer ] it seems like every company

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my mom and dad were married for 64 years and if you wondered what their secret was, you could have asked the local florist. because every day dad gave mom a rose, which he put on her bedside table. that's how she found out what happened on the day my father died. she went looking for him because that morning, there was no rose.

>> welcome back to our late night coverage of the republican national convention as we close out our late night in tampa, let's look at what was accomplished these past few days, especially tonight. meghan mccain, daughter of the last presidential nominee and "daily beast" columnist and the correspondent for "time", new interview with president obama in the new issue of the magazine, michael scherer. we haven't seen that yet here. take your time on this the big question we were asking for the last several days, can romney begin some kind of political matrimony with his own party, i know he's the nominee, can he be the one that is somewhat beloved, even? did he do that tonight? >> even that clip when he talked about his father and mother, he emotionally connected, i started tearing up. i never had this reaction to this man as much as i respect

him, i never had an emotional reaction to mitt romney and he did that to me tonight. >> that was a story about what i thought was a challenge to him, his dad was so impressive in that video, the short moments that tough, rock ribbed republican, main of plain speech and toughness, unlike mitt romney. i thought the father overshadowed the son. what did you think? in the video we saw tonight. i never saw george look better. >> people won't see the video, most people -- i think tonight was a test for mitt romney, first time he's in the living rooms of a lot of voters, they weren't following the primaries closely and he has to pass a test that says they want to have him back in the living room. not just a couple more times, but for four more years. >> how did he do? >> nervous in the beginning, but the story line of the night is disrupted by the clint eastwood thing but i agree with meghan, for 15 minutes in the middle, talking about the his family he

came across as slightly awkward guy who cares deeply about what he's doing who is a person who is very likable. and something he's not been able to do on the stump so far. >> did you notice he was able to convey a biography of a regular person through his father, his mother, wife, kids on the bed in the morning when he woke up without doing an introspective of the way he looked at the meaning of life or anything like that. did you notice how he didn't get too internal? >> i appreciate that, i know some things about his personal life but didn't know about his father, i enjoyed the biography and seeing ann's reaction. i'm republican, time converted. i wasn't a hard audience. >> i thought with mitt romney from 2008 his big challenge was he rarely had the courage to be who he was, to be himself. he was always nervous about how he would be betrayed, if he would mess up, it was tangible when he talked to reporters that he would be off guard.

>> i asked kelly o'donnell what was the difference between this performance tonight and earlier big hall presentation. she said it was a much more disciplined -- it wasn't correspondent tape use, but it was very carefully rehearsed. practiced with care and delivered with slow precision. >> i think that's true but also, more important, it was an emotional speech. he was emotional in the middle, he talked about his church. which is something he hasn't done. >> here what is president obama tweeted tonight. didn't know president's tweeted. a picture of him sitting in the president's chair and he says, this seat's taken. i don't know whether that does the job or not. what do you think, meghan? >> ouch. >> i think -- >> do you think he really tweeted that? >> when he tweets it says -- he didn't actually -- the campaign is trying to go viral. the campaign has to be careful,

they could profit from the clint eastwood thing, but if they seem to be pushing it out, it lessens the quality of the conversation. >> let me ask you about your favorite moments. i loved condi rice. i thought she was grand and churchillian and american, not exclusive, it was for everybody. who did you like? >> governor martinez, she's the woman to watch and as a republican woman, talking about why she loves the party, shooting guns, she's the one to watch. >> from new mexico. she came back from her meeting with the republican recruiter and said we're republicans, i never thought of it that way. what about rubio tonight? he's cuban american, did some spanish out there. will that help with the spanish vote, michael? >> won't help with a lot of spanish vote which has turned away from the republican party. rubio demonstrated he's the most talented communicator and an

asset they need to figure how to deploy better. >> this was the speech of his life, too, he really stepped up tonight. i think he stepped up tonight. >> you think he's really good. you think he would have been a better candidate than ryan? >> i don't know. i love marco rubio, i love young, i love what he's doing in florida and if he isn't going to be the running mate he has to be a presidential candidate in 2016. >> still haven't centered on why they picked ryan over rubio. rubio is more charismatic, certainly. >> if you pick rubio the conversation then becomes about rubio, about why rubio is more talented and better speaker and about the issue of immigration, latino vote, not where the romney campaign wants to be right now. >> i liked the governor's, i liked kasich, scott walker came overwhelm. he's been beaten up a lot in the

big fight over recalls. they're talk meat and potatoes, talking about real stuff and real lives in politics. you know what i mean? not b.s., if you will. >> i thought nikki haley was fantastic, as well. i wasn't always the biggest fan of hers and she came across. >> i finally clicked on me why she's gotten elected and been so popular. thank you meghan mccain and michael scherer. that's it for our coverage. the whole convention is over. i'll be back tomorrow for "hardball" until then, good night from tampa. we know a place where tossing and turning

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mr. chairman, and delegates, i accept your nomination for president of the united states. good evening, here in tampa, for a special edition of hard ball tonight. tonight, mitt romney delivered the most important speech of his political career so far. and in some ways it was a remarkable moment. a one-time self professed governor of massachusetts, whose most important achievement was

the pre curser to president obama's plan, tonight, he moved sharply to the right. it was the end of campaigning for the job of president, tonight, his challenge was to connect to people. he has failed to do so so far. and to pitch himself as an acceptable alternative to president obama. >> president obama promised to begin to slow the rise of the oceans. and to heal the planet. my promise to help you and your fami family. >> the speech had positive tributes to his mother, to our free enterprise system, and to his family in general. but there were darker moments, we'll get to that with eugene robinson, political analyst. i went to the speech, i sat here and i liked the resounding nature.

it had good oratory. if it is true, even if it is not it is a good thing to express. that thing about the oceans, that thing about -- the planet, what is the point? how narrow-minded, how small and insular and piggish you can be, to say about this country we don't care about the planet we live on. which is getting hotter, the climate change has manifested all over the world, i have been all over the world. it is so true what is going on, and he is mocking it. >> well, chris, i think it is on two levels you can question it. first of all, the sort of anti-science sentiment that you just mentioned. the faith-based category putting science in that category of evil. but even worse, was the sort of

smart-alecky nature of the way he said that. the rest of the speech was the good man, mitt romney. i'm a good man, a decent man, right there, he was doing a parlor snark, if you will. >> but if everybody believes in the stewardship of this planet, god gave it to us to destroy it -- >> my point is he was being too cute by making a point he shouldn't have made in that way -- >> what did it tell you about the audience -- >> the audience loved it, possibly the best applause line of the night. >> but it was not genuine. when he was governor of massachusetts, he accepted the reality of climate change, and actually quite enlightened on the subject, i think it is the classic way he has pandered and stated his views to his

constituency on the right. >> i wanted to pay tribute to his wife, i love what he said about women working in the home. my mother had five boys. i obviously pay tribute to that. how can you not? let's take a look when it came to iran, and every other foreign policy, let's watch. >> president obama gave the order and seal team 6 took out osama bin laden. on another front, every american is less secure today because he has failed to slow iran's nuclear threat. in his first tv interview as president he said we should talk to iran. we're still talking, and iran's centrifuges are still spinning. he has relaxed sanctions on castro's cuba, and abandoned our

mission in poland, in the wake of the defense. he is willing to give putin the flexibility he desires after the election. >> i have to tell you, i don't think he thinks that. i think he is reading that i think that was written for him. john bolton wrote it for him. it is a whole line of argument. first of all, have we thrown israel under the bus? you don't even hear from netanyahu, so who is talking? >> well if it is dan senar, there is not a constituency in this country for a war with iran. >> was this a war hopped -- war crowd in there? >> no, not really. i mean i talked to a lot of senior citizens about medicare, republican women who said let's cut defense spending, so

actually, and clint eastwood, crazy as he was, got some applause for his -- let's get out of afghanistan. >> he was george mcgovern there. >> so i think also on this thing, this speech had to be aimed at a single mom in canton, ohio, sitting at her kitchen table wondering if he is a decent guy and how he will get me and my kids jobs. that excursion into foreign policy at the end, which also played well in the hall was completely unnecessary politically. i don't know why he felt he had to do it. >> like the state-of-the union address -- >> here is governor romney talking about his mother, this very modern woman, who ran for the senate at the time, very pro choice -- >> my mom and dad were true partners, a life lesson that

shaped me by every day example. when my mom ran for the senate, my dad was there for her every step of the way. i can still see her saying in her beautiful voice, why should women have any less say than men about the great decisions facing our nation? >> i ann romney choked up there, the fact that her husband was not just saying equal rights, and making it foreign policy -- everything across the board. >> i thought he was convincing about that. and i thought for the first time we talked about the speech, he unpacked a few memorable details about his life and their life, that whole bit about how george romney used to give the mother a rose every morning, you heard that? >> that was a story. >> then the moment when there was no rose, she knew something was wrong. everybody in the hall, it sounds corny and crazy, but everybody out there had a mental image of

the rose. >> it was beautiful, absolutely beautiful. >> you know what that involves? it means every day going out getting a new one, putting it in the refrigerator overnight. every day getting up before your wife and coming down and putting it perfectly on the plate. this was a heavenly husband. >> and you know, to writers, the other beautiful image was waking up in the morning and having a pile of kids asleep -- pile of kids -- >> where was shamus, was he in bed with the kids or not -- >> and we're taking note of these, chris, because there have been very few of them. i do think he got over the very low bar of saying okay, i'm a human being, i'm -- >> i know we're better than this -- even being daddies or husbands, i think. does this prep him for the debate? i got the feeling it put wind in his back in terms of self-confidence. will this help him get ready to take on obama mano emano?

>> i think the entire minimalist strategy -- >> did he say it -- >> 12 million jobs is what people are going to think is happening anyway. there are no details. and believe it or not, those undecided voters out there would like to hear some specific reason why they should feel hopeful. now, so -- that is what struck me about -- >> no cuts. >> no nothing, he is not saying. people are not dumb -- >> they want -- none of that stuff. >> i don't think this necessarily gives him confidence for the debate. >> although he is a good debater. >> it may help him in the debate, the thing that struck me about the whole speech was the overall impression, when he was being sweet and talking about himself, humanizing himself, talking about women. he was like good mitt.

and when he is on the attack he changes. >> but he -- >> he becomes the guy who laid you off. you know? >> and the other was the snarky one about i'm not going to save the oceans. >> i resent that so deeply about having kids, and in the future, that is what we called people in the '60s, a pig, generally, i'm not saying he is, that is what we called people -- and the attack on obama, that may have been the best line of the night. >> i wish president obama had succeeded because i want america to succeed. but his promises gave way to disappointment and division. we do not have to accept this. now is the moment we can do something, and with your help we will do something. >> well, you know what? i don't know about that line, but i did love it because it was

america. i think every time we have a new president in office, i think most people say let's give this guy a shot. let's give him a honeymoon, that is what it is, we're hoping for it. >> all that is very nice, but just a predicate for him to repeat over and over again that obama has failed. >> are you saying he was hoping he would? >> i am not saying that, it is a rhetorical nicety -- >> but that works better for him than the relentless attack. >> i think we heard the end of compassion and conservativism here. this didn't get much reaction, i say strangely, from the audience, let's watch. >> we'll care for the sick, honor the poor and elderly, and give a helping hand to those in

need. >> nothing, nothing, scratch. >> i heard the chirping of crickets, i think. >> wild pitch, no reaction. >> i was in the hall, there was nothing on that one. >> they saw it coming. they were in a rhythmic reaction, until they heard compassion coming. clammed up. >> well, that is because they heard any excuse for compassion is big government. it sort of begs the question -- >> when he did the line i want to help you and your family, my twitter feed, i was looking, and there were conservatives who said i wish he had said i want to get big government off your back. >> thank you, they were ahead of the applause, thank you howard fineman, and eugene robinson, the world of social media is buzzing tonight about clint eastwood. they're making his day in the wrong way. after this from tampa. i know you were against the

war in iraq. and that is okay. but you thought the war in afghanistan was -- okay. you know, i mean you thought that was something was worth doing. we didn't check with the russians to see how they did there for the ten years. [ male announcer ] if you stash tissues like a squirrel stashes nuts, you may be muddling through allergies. try zyrtec® liquid gels. nothing starts working faster than zyrtec® at relieving your allergy symptoms for 24 hours. zyrtec®. love the air.

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coming out here to mt. rushmore, it reminds you there are issues that are at stake, issues of freedom, and this country standing for something. these guys were all looking forward to what they wanted to build in this country, every one of them. and this place reminds you of that. it is not just about petty arguments over tax and about environmental regulations, but it is about what kind of country you want to live in. what do you want me to tell romney? i can't tell him to do that. can't do that to himself. >> well, that was the great clint eastwood tonight, the mystery guest tonight. at the republican national convention. it is safe to say his actions left many confused, the

ramblings back and forth, seth meyers tweeted, respect to clint, and putting twitter over capacity. safe to say most of the comments on twitter are not compliments. we have david corn and political arm indecision from it, editorial producer, mary philips sandy, to my right. and comedian jared logan. okay, do a rift, what did we see tonight? everybody loved him. he is an iconic figure, and everybody loves him. but then he did a bob newhart, talking to somebody who was not there. >> yeah, he was the man with no point tonight, it was amazing. you don't let an 82-year-old man just kind of go off script and talk about what he wants, my

grandmother was 82 -- >> we're going to get rid of obama, that was pretty personal n . >> i don't know if there was a theme -- >> as he pretended it was president obama, let's watch this performance. >> so mr. president, how do you handle -- how do you handle promises that you have made when you are running for election? and how do you handle it? i mean what do you say to people? do you just -- you know, i know people -- people were wondering, you don't have it, okay. >> i think that hairdo was by christopher lloyd, by the way. >> i mean, there was something about it that was almost performance art. right, if it had not been happening on the stage of the national political convention,

it may have gotten a grant of some sort. >> aren't you putting in a plug for him -- let's go, corn, you and i speak the same language, was any part of you rooting for this guy to be better than he was? >> well, i was disappointed he was there, this guy was in favor of gay marriage, and pro choice, and talked about doing something for global warming. that was almost incomprehensible. it seemed like his mission was bring the troops home tomorrow, which of course, it isn't. do you know in mitt romney's speech, how many times he mentioned afghanistan or the troops? not once. i thought that was also in -- >> we're going to go to war on every front, push the ruskies around, and go into iran. at the same time he skips the

current wars. >> how can you give a speech like this to the nation, and not even note the service of a 100,000 men and women in uniform over there in afghanistan. but clint eastwood didn't really seem to know what mitt romney was saying. >> he is a famous libertarian, let's roll some more performance for those who didn't tune in to clint eastwood, he is giving his own variation on mitt romney's liking to fire people. that was not good in the first instance. here it is in the second. let's listen. >> it is important that you realize -- that you're the best in the world. and whether you're a democrat or republican, or whether you're a libertarian or whatever, we should not forget that. and when somebody does not do the job, we have got to let them

go. let them go. >> whatever you want to say about his performance, and it has all been negative, that got the highest applause, so far, i thought in the convention, because it was so negative and they wanted to hear it. >> well, that is a good point, i mean, when things are not good, they should be better. very specific and to the point on clint eastwood's part. >> let them go, not fired, we had to let her go. >> yeah, both clint and mitt see the need to fire people. >> so donald trump was there -- firing seems to be a big thing with these guys. your thoughts. >> let them go didn't strike me as a good movie catch phrase, in the ways of "do you feel lucky, punk"? the other thing that got attention was, we own this

country. >> okay, what do you make of that, what is the "we"? >> i this i there is a slight sense, a wee bit of entitlement in the room. and when clint eastwood said that, they really enjoyed it. >> who is the "we"? >> the republicans, the people driving the train. >> and we want to take it back from who? >> the guy in the white house. >> and the "we"? >> he is not part of the we. >> it seems to tie into the republican theme, we built it, therefore we own it. the connection didn't seem to make a whole lot of sense, but then again, nothing else he said did either. but i want to believe it is the logical connection he was trying to make. >> was this all part of the theme of he is not one of us? >> well, i don't know if he was going that far, but what ad did he do at super bowl time? at half time -- who is responsible for that, mr. eastwood? again -- >> what was he saying about gitmo, a lot of my friends on

the pretty tough left were angry about the delivery, the younger members of my family think that not getting rid of gitmo was not good. did he want to get rid of it? no, he said he had to keep it. so what was the point of that. >> i think he was clearly off the te-- >> they let this guy come out, say whatever he wanted to say. >> clint eastwood's speech tonight, his performance brings to mind the famous line from ross perot's chosen vp running mate, admiral stockdale. it is not fair, he is a great american hero, but what a line. let's watch. >> you're opening statement, please sir. >> who am i?

why am i here? >> you know, i hate that because he was a p.o.w. for so many years. he is a great guy. and yet -- he is wonderfully honest in saying i don't belong here, do i? >> no, it was not a good opener. >> okay, let's hear some great lines, what will he -- will stewart do with this baby? >> i think you will just have to watch and find out. one of my favorite moments of the clint eastwood speech was when he told a roomful of mitt romney supporters imbedded at a convention, saying you shouldn't just bite your lip and vote for a guy you don't want -- >> whoa, wasn't that about mitt romney? >> i think he was trying to make it about obama, but -- >> didn't you hear the same thing, it was about romney -- >> you should not bring that up. >> sometimes you have to go for the guy you need. >> remember the old lyric, if

you're not with the one you love, love the one you're with. >> that is all i can say, thank god he didn't sing. >> i would have said in memory before clint eastwood, before he went on the stage tonight. i honor his memory, i hope it comes back. he will out live the infamy -- i loved million dollar baby, didn't we all? anyway, thank you jared logan, and mary sander, the writers for "the daily show." you're watching msnbc's live coverage of the republican national convention, from tampa. >> if you felt excitement before, shouldn't you feel that way now that he is president obama? you know there is something wrong with the kind of job he has done as president when the best feeling you had was the day you voted for him.

did clint eastwood make your day? >> yeah, it was some good comments, i thought it was funny. >> what did you think of clint eastwood? >> i thought clint eastwood was the reason we need obama care. >> oh, you are tough, what did you think of clint eastwood? >> he is a great man. >> you're still with him, anybody have a problem with him. apparently the blog has been very, very tough. >> he was cute, but it was not effective. >> do you think he was disrespectful of the president? i thought it should have been at the golden globes or something, not at the republican national convention. >> it looked like he was talking

to his imaginary friend. >> did romney get to you tonight? did he show he was not a robot, but a human? >> i don't think so, if president romney had gotten rid of the stock market -- >> i think mitt romney proved that he is more than capable of being the new president. and jobs are the issues, and he creates jobs. >> i think the whole night turned it for me. basically all the staples, founders, all the experience he had, the olympics. >> you think he is a job creator? >> yes, he proved it. >> miss, you got your food, but you want to talk about this? >> i missed the entire thing, i was at hooters. >> okay, thank you, what do you think? >> i think as a country we are better than race-baiting. and i thought that was despicable, this whole thing was, we're better than that. >> he started his career, i sing to the trees, now he is ending it with, i talk to the chairs.

>> what do you think? you're dressed up tonight. >> i thought his speech was an inspiration -- >> clint eastwood's or mitt romneys? >> mitt romney's. >> what did you hear from the speech? >> that we wanted a change, and more jobs. >> jobs was in the speech. >> chris, i thought it was a prepped speech, not a pep speech. >> like a prepster -- >> you guys saw some school -- boarding school. >> at least he didn't life shave somebody's head, but other than that. >> i want to know where shamus was when the kids were in the bed. did he let the dog in the bed, too? >> well, we wouldn't go there. >> giving energy to tampa, at least. >> oh, gosh, how come you don't sweat? everybody else sweats here. >> i'm from here, i think clint

eastwood had a lot of points he made that were intelligent -- >> okay, give me one of the points tonight. see what i do for a living, what grabs you that he said? >> just about how he did make all the promises. >> fair enough, fair enough. >> romney's speech was fantastic, and rubio, u.s. senator from florida. >> yeah, well what is the point of that comment? >> we're floridians. >> you are a piece of work, buddy. >> yes, i believe governor romney gave an amazing speech and truly put his business acumen on display for everybody to see. and i believe he is the shot in the arm to get the country back on track. >> so you think he showed his human side? >> yes, he showed his human side, definitely the character we need. >> i am not a supporter of mitt

romney, he seemed like a really nice guy. i won't vote for him, but he seems like a really nice guy. >> okay, one last thought, i think i know where you stand, sir. >> i would like to make a $10,000 bet with romney that obama wins florida. >> okay, thank you, and mike halpern. america is a great place, because there is a fantastic fusion of two forces. individualism and communities, when you look at communities where there has been a natural disaster, what you see is americans running towards each other, not running away. so there is a kind of amazing fusion between individuality, and yet a commitment to community. and i don't think there is anywhere on the earth quite like that.

obama's waiving of the work

requirements in welfare reform is just one example of his direct repudiation of president reagan's values. obama is proud of what he has done, and of his politically motivated partisanship. but he should be ashamed for putting politics before people. >> welcome back to our late night coverage of the tampa republican national convention. to paraphrase ronald reagan, here we go again. there is no fact-checking. it has been checked and re-checked, and president obama did not waive the work requirement for welfare. are facts any defense against these attacks? we have eugene robinson, mark it is rare that all the fact checkers do seem to agree that

obama is not waiving the work requirement. we have interviews with john kasich, and john brownback, i can't find a governor who says it is true. >> your john kasich interview is kind of a water shed, i think because he is such a big part of the republican brand. i think one of the key points on welfare is that you didn't build it. there is just nothing too it. they hit it over and over, in context, they say it is even worse. no, in context it is more clear. >> he praises individual initiative in that same paragraph. >> he is talking about infrastructure, because we can't build our own roads. the general issue, if you do ads or speeches over and over, can you get away with it? unfortunately you can't, i think the white house is trying to fight back on this in a way that is not totally defensive, but it is hard, because both of them strike at issues that republicans want to emphasize. one is, saying that the

president doesn't believe in work. and the other is that the president doesn't believe in the private sector. so part of the reason they're effective, is they're resonant for some people. >> and riding out here on a white horse is romney, praising the free enterprise system, hint, hint, he doesn't. in other words, the body blows have been hit below the belt. >> he can take the high road, and doesn't have to deliver the body blows. you know, it is very different -- an interesting political science question, do you have to go up with counter ads, do you have to counter their own carpet bombing with your own carpet bombing -- >> you're both print guys. at what point, i noticed that the new york times and other papers are saying dishonest, erroneous, the reports on the front page, these are dishonest

ads about the welfare charge. time magazine is probably do this. at what point do you just -- the main stream press stop doing it, saying you can't win this argument? >> that is a watershed moment, you can't have a false equivalent when things are not equivalent. you know they have taken things governor romney has said, taken out of context, he doesn't like firing people -- >> the wife died, did that -- >> that is a little bit of a different thing, but also, they mischaracterized governor romney's position on abortion, as well. so their hands are not totally clean. but at this point, i think the romney campaign is besting them in making that -- these distortions and untruths a bigger part of their message. >> well here tonight, mitt

romney in his big speech, he continued the discrediting line that president obama did cut money for medicare to pay for his health care program. let's listen. >> his $716 billion cut to medicare to finance obama care will both hurt today's seniors and depress innovation and jobs and medicine. >> and the medicare line he spoke was the same one used by paul ryan last night. let's listen. >> even with all the hidden taxes to pay for the health care takeover, even with the new law and new taxes on nearly a million small businesses, the planners in washington still didn't have enough knomoney. 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.

>> and then gingrich continued the untrue narrative that president obama has diminished america in the eyes of the world. >> it is striking how president carter and president obama both took our nation down a path that in four years weakened america's confidence in itself, and our hope for a better future. >> boanyway, tonight, mitt romn in his big speech also said president obama raised taxes on the middle class. but he didn't. let's listen to him. >> and let me make this very clear, unlike president obama i will not raise taxes on the middle class of america. >> you know, we're living under george bush's tax schedule, you would think we're living under a

highly repressable regime now, we're living under the same fiscal policy of dubwa, we do -- >> you can kind of go down the list, on medicare, paul ryan's budget assumes the same savings in medicare. >> why didn't paul ryan write in his budget which was subsequently passed by the house, that number which he now blames on obama, why didn't he subsume into his? >> he needs the revenue, here was money he felt he could take. and remember, if you took the polit politics out of it, both the president and paul ryan would say you got to find savings in medicare, it is just a reality. >> every time one of these conversations get started about the issue of dishonesty, you can

claim dishonesty, and over statement of the fact, i keep thinking of the upcoming vp debate. for some reason i think this is where we'll see it hashed out. paul ryan, who is the very number cruncher who comes up with these numbers. >> some of it, though, i don't think the white house wants to put all their chips on joe biden necessarily performing. because ryan is a pretty smart guy. if this existed in 1998, can you imagine the shows that would exist? this is not brand-new, there is more fact checking than i think was there before. both sides are doing as much as they can get away with it. wait until the super pacs start, with no accountability. >> no fact checker is going to dictate our pr campaign. >> i think it is incredible.

if you're trying to reach low information voters, does a headline in the new york times saying it is inaccurate really counter act the carpet bombing of the ads? >> that is a horrible question, because i think we all know the answers. >> and the 6% are not looking for answers, and next, what did the republican party accomplish tonight and all week here in tampa? this is hot here in tampa, only cooling down now, this is msnbc's live coverage of the republican convention. >> this president can tell us if the next four years we'll get it right. but this president cannot tell us that you're better off today than when he took office. [ male announcer ] if you stash tissues like a squirrel stashes nuts, you may be muddling through allergies. try zyrtec® liquid gels. nothing starts working faster than zyrtec®

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no -- my mom and dad were married for 64 years, and if you wondered what the secret was, you could have asked the local florist, because every day dad gave mom a rose, which he put on her bedside table. that is how she found out what happened on the day my father died. she went looking for him, because that morning there was

no rose. >> wow, well, welcome back to our late night coverage of the republican national convention as we close out our late night here in tampa. let's take a look at what was accomplished, especially tonight. meghan mccain was the last vice presidential candidate's daughter, and now today, we have not seen that here. let's go, meghan, take your time on this. because the big question we were asking for the last several days was, can romney begin a political matrimony with his own party? i know he is the nominee, can he be well loved? >> even that clip he showed, talking about his father and mother, he definitely connected to me, even in a way i never reacted before. i literally teared up in my

hotel room, i never had this reaction to this man, as much as i respect him. i never had a reaction to mitt romney, and he did that tonight. >> his dad was so prefimpressiv unlike mitt romney, i just thought the father over shadowed the son, what did you think? in the video we saw tonight. i never saw george look better. >> but people won't see the video, they will only see mitt romney, i think really, tonight was a test for mitt romney, the first time he is in the living roomins of a lot of voters who have not seen him before. they have not followed the primary closely. and he wants to pass the test, where they say we want him back in the living room, not just one time. >> i think he was a little nervous in the beginning, i think the storyline will be interrupted by clint eastwood,

but i think he came across as a slightly awkward guy who cares deeply about what he is doing, who really is a person who is very likeable. and it is not something he has been able to do so far. >> did you notice he was able to convey a biography of a regular person, his mother, his wife, his father, without doing an inthrowspective look, he didn't manage to get too internal. >> i didn't know all the things about his father, i enjoyed seeing his whole biography, i am a republican, i am not a converted. so that was not a hard audience. >> i always thought in 2008, his big campaign, he rarely had the courage to be himself, he was nervous about how he would be portrayed, how he would mess up. you could see it. he was ready to be caught off

guard. >> did you see what kelly o'donnell said when i asked her, i said what was the difference between his performance tonight and earlier big haul presentations? and she said he was very measured and slowed down, he savored it, not spontaneous, not that he ever is, but it was practiced, delivered with slow precipitation. >> i think so but more important, it was an emotional speech. he talked about his church, which he has not done. >> and here is what president obama tweeted today, i didn't know presidents tweeted. a picture of him in the president's chair. and it says, this seat is taken. i don't know whether that does the job or not. what do you think, meghan? >> ouch. >> i think the -- do you think he really tweeted that? >> when he tweets it, it says b-o at the end, i think the campaign is going to have to be

careful from the next few days. they can profit from this clint eastwood thing, but if they make it their own thing, seem to be pushing it out, it lessens the quality of the conversation. >> okay, let me ask you about your favorite moments, meghan. i love condy rice, grand, nothing exclusive about it, it was for everybody. who did you like? >> governor martinez, i just think she is going to be the woman to watch. as a republican woman, on stage talking about why she was a republican, and shooting guns, why she loves the party. i think she is the one to watch, really. >> from new mexico. >> yes. >> i think it was a great line when she came back with her recruiter and said hey, we're republicans, i never thought about it that way. what about rubio tonight? he is cuban-american, will it help with the spanish vote? >> well, it won't help a lot with the spanish vote who really turned against the republican

party. but rubio, he demonstrated he is an asset that the party needs to figure out how to deploy going forward. >> this was the speech of his life, too, i think he really stepped up tonight. >> what -- >> you think he was really good? >> yes. >> marco rubio, do you think he would have been a better candidate than ryan? >> you know, i love marco rubio, and what he is doing in florida. if he is not the candidate, he will definitely be a running mate -- >> rubio has more charisma -- >> if you pick rubio, the conversation comes out about him, why he is more talented, the better speaker, the issue on the latino vote, which is not where the romney campaign wants to be right now. >> i love john kasich, scott walker came over well, he was

battled up a lot, the big fight over the recall. they talked meat and potato, real stuff about politics, it was not bs, if you will. >> i thought nikki haley was a good speaker, i have not always been a big fan of hers, but thought she really did well. >> anyway, thank you, meghan mccain, and michael scherer, the whole convention is over. i'll be back tomorrow with hard ball, until then, tonight from tampa. we know a place where tossing and turning

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