states try to undermine a lot of national moves. i think that you should keep your boots and picket signs right next to your champagne glasses. because by next year's revvies, we're going to have to have used a lot of both. well, that's it for 2012 revvies. i'd like to thank our panel. jonathan capehart, victoria defrancesco-soto, krystal ball, and richard wolffe. we know 2013 will give us more chances to hand out the revvies. thank you for watching. good night to everybody. you've been watching the 2012 revvie awards. brought to you by "politicsnation" and al sharpton. thanks for watching. we hope you have a safe and happy holiday season. and see you next year! good night, everybody!

a building that is usually all quiet on new year's night is bustling with black suits and big debates at this hour. inside capitol hill, house gop itself will decide if they fall in line with their comrades in the senate or stage rebellion demanding changes to the fiscal cliff compromise. hello, everyone. i'm richard lui. here's the latest in the fiscal cliff talks. 2:00 a.m. we had a deal sfr the senate with strong bipartisan support. then this afternoon around 3:30 p.m., we heard that they would amend that bill and that there was not support for it from leaders. the house will then take a look at this, but we are hearing that the senate will hear none of it. they will not accept an amended bill. but for the second time today, the house gop caucus met to discuss the way forward with the senate bill itself. house speaker john boehner emerging sfr that latest meeting after proposing two options. first is an amended bill that would cut around $330 billion in

spending. republicans would then see if they had the 217 votes needed to pass the new bill. if they can't get the required number of votes, they would bring the senate bill to the floor for an up or down vote tonight or tomorrow morning. let's bring in nbc's luke russert who is covering the latest development from the capitol. you were giving us some of those details. for those who are just joining us and wondering i thought we had a deal earlier today, what is happening and where are we at now? >> it's been an amazing day. when the senate passed their compromise that was negotiated by mitch mcconnell and vice president biden, that passed by 89 votes. but a lot of us thought on capitol hill that was it with the story and it'd be done. the one thing we've seen all through this congress is when it comes to the house republican conference, you can never be sure about anything. sure enough, that came true around 2:00 p.m. today when we got word that a lot of house republicans were upset with the deal because there were no

spending cuts. eric cantor came out against that bill. john boehner sort of held his ground and didn't say anything. was trying to gauge his conference. after they talked to some leadership aides and they talked to other leaders throughout the conference, they went back at about 5:15 tonight. they spoke to their members and said we're going to give you a chance to vent by adding a spending cut amendment for $330 billion. but if you guys can't get the 217 votes on that, which will all be republican votes because not one democrat will support that, when they whipped it and are trying to get the 217 votes, if they can't get the votes, then the senate bill would go to the floor. it's very odd. a lot of people are asking if this has been the strategy and it's unlikely for them to get the 217 votes which it is, then why go through this? this is boehner's leadership style. he tries to let his conference vent, talk about their grievances. oftentimes it's embarrassing for

them like it's been so far today. but they believe at the end when it's over it puts him in a stronger position as speaker for certainly the jury will be out on that. but going forward, as we speak right now the leadership is on the floor. there's other meetings going on right now. they're going around to members saying do you support this bill with the amended cut? if they get to 217 on that, they'll vote on it and it sends it over to the senate. but from what i've heard from a lot of members is the 217 votes is not possible on that because there's enough conservatives in the house that even with an amended bill regarding the fiscal cliff, they still don't like it because of so many things in there they think that -- >> still not enough. >> quite striking, yes. >> all right. luke russert, thank you so much for that. we will of course be watching that. the latest of what's being offered to the gop conference. joining us now is jared bernstein. jared, always good to see you. what do you make of this latest

development in the fiscal cliff discussions? >> who could have guessed the things we get screwed up at the house of representatives. right? i felt luke just gave a very youthful rundown of -- let me try to simplify this in a way that makes sense to me and hopefully some viewers as well. if this bill is amended, that is if there are enough republicans to vote for that 300-plus billion in more spending cuts, then this deal is as good as dead as far as i can see. because there's no way that -- it would have to go back to the senate. because the amended bill would no longer be the one that 89 senators voted for. and there's no way it could get a majority in the senate. the democrats at that point in the senate would abandon the bill. so if luke's suggestion that this does -- that the amendment doesn't get over the goal line, it doesn't get the 217 needed, then there's an up or down vote on the deal that passed the senate yesterday. now, that deal could pass in the

house with largely democrat votes. and so then we're kind of back on track. so this looks like it might be -- because of this double option we just heard about, they're going to try this amendment. if the amendment fails then it's just an up or down vote. because of that option, we may be able to get back on track. but without that second part of the option, the up or down vote that leader boehner said he would allow, things would probably be as good as dead. >> we'll see where that goes. there's also the markets. the markets are now opening around the world. it is january 2nd in some places. you used to serve as an economic adviser to vice president joe biden. how big of a deal, this current deal we're talking about if it doesn't go through, how will we see this effect the world markets? and therefore, for instance, how much it costs for us to borrow money as a u.s. government from other policies around the world. >> so you're raising two questions there. one is what will happen in equity markets in the near term. they really don't like downside

surprises around this kind of a deal. i think the market was kind of pricing in a solution and the market kind of saw a solution coming. especially after the senate vote. so i think if this thing actually does die in the house, there'll be a big negative opening -- >> it's not built in is what you're saying? it's not built in right now. >> correct. i think you'll see a big drop in equity markets if the deal dies. i think the expectations were things were going to go forward. in terms of interest rates, i don't think it's going to have that much impact in the near term. if we essentially go over and stay over the cliff because there's no deal, then a lot of bad stuff starts happening in terms of tax increases and spending cuts. that slows down a growth in our economy. and then we have a full set of problems of which probably rising interest rates is the least of it. >> talk about your old boss, vice president joe biden and how key he was for this deal to get through. >> well, you know, joe biden and i'm going to give mitch mcconnell credit here too.

these are guys who remember the meaning of the word compromise. if you look at the deal, i was one person and one among many who was somewhat critical of certain aspects of this deal. i mean, i think both sides gave a lot. both sides got a lot. i think going forward, the white house has a case to make that this was a good deal for them. but i thought it was a little bit short on the revenue side. nevertheless that's precisely what you have in this situation like this where a couple guys like biden and mcconnell who again are not folks sent to washington to shut things down. they know how to get deals over the finish line and at least up until a few hours ago it looked like they did. >> we shall see. that is a cobbled together compromise deal you're describing there. two veteran politicians, mcconnell and biden. thank you very much, jared bernstein, for your time tonight. we'll be watching this together. joining us now is democrat from new york jonathan israel. he's also head of the congressional campaign

committee. thank you for talking with us tonight. you've heard some of the details of what speaker boehner is now going to be doing. his two-option deal here. now, if he is able to get that 217 votes, that's the question right now. but this amendment, it's very similar to one that was passed by this house twice before. do you think this can make it again? >> it's unpredictable. this has become the congress of chronic chaos. every time the people are willing to make a prediction, the unpredictable happens. this could have been done last week, last month. every time we get close to a solution, the house republicans move further away. i hope that we're in a position tonight whatever fancy footwork that speaker boehner engages in, we can get to a vote. give us an up or down vote. i believe there are enough democrats including me who don't love this deal but are willing

to vote for it to get a solution. so give us a vote and let's get this done. >> would you say 170? 150? what's the number you guess on the democratic? >> i want to see what the republicans can provide us. they need to come to the table and give us a sense of how many votes they have. i understand speaker boehner has to go through these gyrations to tell us the votings. that's fine. but this is not a baseball game that can go into endless innings. >> said around 50 would probably go with this bill on the republican side. you need 217. >> i want to see how many votes they can produce. i do believe based on the vice president's discussion, there's a critical mass among democrats to come to a compromise that protects the middle class and avoids continuing over the cliff. but the republican party needs to tell how many votes they can produce. >> talk to me about this. when they pass in bipartisan fashion, we saw 89-8. that's big.

it passes so overwhelmingly for this special fiscal cliff bill, how does this effect the house and house republicans specifically when we had several very conservative senators on the right go for this bill? does it all effect those which luke russert was just telling us that are on the right side of the republican caucus and the house still might think that this $330 billion is not enough? >> well, this is why i've given up predicting because the unpredictable continues to occur. yesterday who would have thought that after senator mcconnell, harry reid, 40 republican senators, 89 senators come to an agreement with the president of the united states and the vice president of the united states that this would still be up for grabs? the conventional wisdom was we could get this done fairly simply and quickly. but you have this extremism among the house republicans. they will invent any excuse they can find to get to no. we would like to get to yes. and i hope we can do that this evening. >> now, after this fight is over

on the fiscal cliff, what opinions should americans have of congress? >> well, they should have low opinions of congress. western sent here to get things done. we were sent here to state our disagreements and move on. americans have every right to be frustrated with the house republican caucus that has been about obstruction, refused to compromise. that won't even take yes for an answer when we give them what they want. they have every right to be frustrated with a congress here. >> thank you so much. steve israel, thank you. we'll have the latest on when they house will vote on the fiscal cliff tonight here on msnbc. we'll be right back with "hardball." stick around. [ man ] visa prepaid opened a new world for me. ♪ i have direct deposit on my visa prepaid. my paycheck is loaded right on my card. automatic. i am not going downtown standing in line to cash it. i know where my money is, because it is in my pocket.

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welcome back to "hardball." time for the "hardball" campaign 2012 post-game show. we're going to start with the highlights of the primary season and the low lights and then move on to the general election.

mitt romney summed up the gop primary season in a quote to donors. we had 20 republican debates that was absolutely nuts. and the tone was set early. in the august 2011 debate when the candidates were on stage showed their intransigence on raising taxes. watch grover norquist as people go to work here. let's listen. >> well, i'm going to ask a question to everyone on the stage. say you had a deal, a real spending cuts deal. 10-1 as byron said. spenting cuts to tax increases. speaker, you're already shaking your head. but who on this stage would walk away from that deal? would you raise your hand if you feel so strongly about not raising taxes you'd walk away on the 10-1 deal. >> whoa. joining me now is review that list of greatness and other highlights and lowlights of the primary season michael steele who never had a year like this.

who was always a success over there. and howard fineman. that was a scene -- you come from the roots of the republican party, sir. is that a good day or a bad day for the republicans? >> i think it was a bad day. and i thought it was interesting that later on that huntsman said, you know, i probably should have raised my hand and said i would have taken the 10-1 deal. i think he recognized after the fact that was a definitive moment where he could have carved out a new space on that stage and probably run the kind of campaign free of that baggage. >> he wouldn't have looked good after the election. >> i'm just saying, but i think that moment sort of solidified the rest of the story for the primary. >> whenever a bill passes you want to be the ones who voted against it because you never get blamed for it. or vote when it fails. >> i agree that was the beginning and end for jon huntsman. but also in the long-term the

beginning of the end for mitt romney. >> how so? >> well, because he began to lock himself into a position of grover norquisting himself for the whole election. and that played into who he was as a businessman. that played into the -- >> it's today's politics. they used to say you have to be the most segregationist guy in the south. you couldn't be an inch away from it. >> i guess you could say whatever an early primary season crowd claps for furiously is going to kill you in ohio. >> i'm thrilled thinking how great politics are. let's get back to the iowa caucus. iowa is another unique state. romney's campaign b and the super pac that were supporting him were to annihilate. newt gingrich was the biggest threat. they destroyed him.

let's watch here's a romney supporting ad destroying newt. >> you know what makes barack obama happy? newt gingrich's baggage. he has more baggage than the airlines. gingrich cashed in on freddie mac. freddie mac paid newt $30,000 an hour. $1.6 million. gingrich not only teamed up with nancy pelosi on global warming, but together they co-sponsored a bill that gave $60 million a year to a u.n. program supporting china's brutal one-child policy. >> there's been a lot of discussion in my head and whether ads work in a general election. i don't think they work in october or september. people have made up their minds. but those ads out there -- tell me. >> in primaries they are deadly. and particularly in republican primaries. and that ad in particular for newt gingrich was devastating. because it hit -- it was the kitchen sink. >> what did it say about him? >> it said that, you know, he's

an insider. he's a washington pal. and, look, he even pals around with nancy pelosi. didn't we just fire her? >> did you see those loving looks they worked with the camera there. >> quick on that. the interesting thing i thought -- if i were newt i would have pivoted off that caption of him and nancy together. that's what people are looking for. the partnership getting things done. >> but they were talking about global warming. >> the other thing about that ad. that was symbolic of the entire mitt romney campaign strategy in the primaries. which was a sort of take no prisoners, attack the other guy strategy. it wasn't about philosophy. it did nothing to show that mitt romney was a committed conservative. it just showed that mitt romney had tons of money and clever consultants who could carve up anybody in his path. that left him with a lot of making up to do once he secured the nomination. the way he got the nomination as

typified by that ad, showed weakness in his campaign. >> let's go back to the strategy. someone is going to be the republican nominee and that person is going to beat obama. you just have to be that nominee. wasn't that the thinking? >> that was the theory. but neil sedaka made famous making up is hard to do. so once he secured that, having everyone fall in line and support him. >> how much verses can you do of that? throughout the republican pri pair, mitt romney pushed himself to the right. especially on immigration. nearly impossible. by the way i don't think he tried one. here's the immigration exchange that became a defining line on the hard right for romney. let's listen. >> let's stay on immigration for a second. governor romney, there's one thing i'm confused about. you say you don't want to round up people and deport them but they have to go back to their home countries and apply for citizenship. how do you send them home?

>> the answer is self-deportati self-deportation. where people decide they can do better by going home because they can't find work here to allow them to work here. so we're not going to round people up. >> what was wrong with that, howard? >> first of all there was a little titter in the background. first of all, the phrase self-deportation -- >> was inevitably a headline. >> yes. and it managed to summarize everything that people didn't like about mitt romney. >> like firing you. >> the firing you part of it and the whole technocratic part of it. that these are just sort of numbers on a spread sheet. these people will self-deport. the coldheartedness and cold-bloodedness of it just played into it. >> like the bathtubs are going to overflow and they'll overflow out. >> it's not realistic. the hitering and the snickering you heard is like grandpa's going to wake up saying mitt said i'm going to self-deport.

>> this was funny. and i hope it didn't ruin the guy's life. rick perry the guy who was much celebrated as governor of texas. he was considered a serious contender. many thought he'd win this thing until some lackluster debate tmplss gave primary voters second thoughts. then came this moment. november 9th, big debate. here he is trying to remember the three government agencies he wants to get rid of. let's watch. >> and i will tell you. it's three agencies of government when i get there that are gone. commerce, education, and the -- what's the third one there? let's see. oh, okay. so commerce, education, and the -- >> epa. >> epa, there you go. no. >> seriously? is epa one you were talking about? >> no, sir. we were talking about the agencies of government -- epa

needs to be rebuilt no doubt about that. >> but you can't name the third one? >> the third agency of government, i would do away with the education, the commerce, and let's see. i can't. the third one, i can't. sorry. oops. >> he wasn't getting a whole lot of help from his pals there. that's where they come out and the first things you do in the debates. they start scribbling the notes when they get out there. howard, i never heard oops before in a national debate. >> first off, props to john harwood there for milking it. up next, the right wing's most outrageous conspiracy theories. this is "hardball," the place for politics. u can actually use. tragically, their buddy got sacked by blackouts. but it's our tradition! that's roughing the card holder. but with the capital one venture card you get double miles you can actually use.

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back to "hardball." now that the final weeks of president obama's first term were upon us, it's hard to remember the bizarre conspiracy theories pushed about the president the last four years. let's look back at some of the worst. first his 2010 trip to ind u ya. up in arms over rumors about what the trip would cost. >> i think we know that just within a day or so the president of the united states will be taking a trip over to india that is expected to cost the

taxpayers $200 million a day. we have never seen a trip at this level before of this level of excess. and i think it's not a good signal to send to the american people when the people are struggling right now. >> for comparison, $200 million a day would have surpassed the daily cost of the war in afghanistan at the time. i mean, that non-factual story from michele bachmann about the cost of obama's trip was started by an unnamed source on an indian news web source and got into the news there. we can't talk about conspiracy theories without bringing up rush limbaugh. remember when the conference was canceled because of hurricane issac. he then floated the idea that president obama was involved with the weather reports showing that tampa might get hit. >> got a hurricane coming. the national hurricane center which a government agency, very hopeful that the hurricane

getting near tampa. this national hurricane center is obama. it's the national weather service, part of the commerce department. i could see obama sending fema in advance of the hurricane hitting tampa. so it's nothing but a bunch of tents and rvs and stuff. make it look like a disaster area before the hurricane even hits there. >> was he laughing as his own b.s. there? did you think rush limbaugh would warn us of a skewed weather report. next an extreme case of fear mongering. what caused a republican judge down in texas to float the idea of a tax increase in his state? well it was about the need to beef up the military personnel he said in case civil war breaks out because president obama got re-elected. do you believe it? here's judge head on that one. >> i'm thinking worst case scenario. civil unrest, civil disobedience, civil war maybe. we're not just talking a few

riots here and demonstrations. we're talking lexington, concord, take up arms and get rid of the guy. he's going to send in u.n. troops. i don't want him in lubbock county. so i'm going to stand in front of their armored personnel carriers and say you're not coming in here. and the sheriff i asked are you going to back me? he said i'll back you. >> loony toons. that was his case of a worst case scenario. here's steve king with how president obama's mother managed to convince us all that her son was born in hawaii, not in kenya. >> i looked into that before he was sworn in for the presidency. we went into the library there we found the only two newspapers in hawaii. each of them published the birth of barack obama. it would have been hard to fraudulently file the birth notice of barack obama being born in hawaii.

that doesn't mean that there aren't some other explanations about how they might have announced that from kenya. by telegram. the last goes on. >> by telegram. i guess she neglected naming her son barack obama might be hard for the presidency. up next from mitt romney's 47% video to president obama's debate disaster in denver, we're going to run through the turning points in the election. you're watching "hardball" the place for politics. wer choleste, how does it work? you just have to eat it as part of your heart healthy diet. step 1. eat the soup. all those veggies and beans, that's what may help lower your cholesterol and -- well that's easy [ male announcer ] progresso. you gotta taste this soup. so we created the extraordinarily comfortable sleep number experience. a collection of innovations designed around a bed with dualair technology that allows you to adjust to the support your body needs - each of your bodies.

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welcome back to "hardball." now that we've marked the highlights of the gop primary,

let's dig into the turning points of the general election. first up the video that turned out to be the low point for the romney campaign. the taped comments to donors in florida that nearly half the americans are lazy and happy to be on the government dole. it's known as the 47% video. let's listen again. >> there are 47% of the people who will vote for the president no matter what. all right? there are 47% who are with him, who are dependent on government who believe they are victims who believe government has a responsibility to care for them. who believe they are entitled to health care, food, housing, to you name it. so my job is not to worry about those people. they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives. >> never trust the caterers. joining me again former republican national committee chairman michael steele and howard fineman. i cannot believe someone paid 10,000 bucks to go in there and then hurt the guy.

let's look at the 47%. if you're right about the election in terms of power, it's the numbers. first of all the occupy people, 1%. all of a sudden the 1% became the thing to talk about. then the 47% being anybody on any kind of government benefit program whether it's disability or retirement or military pension. everything was painted as bad. where'd he get that number? >> you know, look. this election was all about the numbers. 23 million unemployed. one in six on welfare. but it was that 47% number that trumped them all at the end of the day. people galvanized around it because it was them. it was me. you're talking about me and my grandma. you're talking about everyday folks. and it really to the point that howard made earlier, really drew out that disconnect between the romney campaign and romney personally and everyone else. >> you think it's this brand of the shrug that it's people calling for everyone else. >> i think it's a cold

calculated business look. >> i disagree. i think it's his philosophy and it showed. >> how do you know it's his philosophy? >> i'm guessing. >> you can't say it's his philosophy because he never told us what it is. >> i think he said nice things about ayn rand at one point. >> bill clinton brought the house down. this is one of the great speeches ever, i think, and made the case for electing the president. let's listen to bill at his best. >> are we better off than we were when he took office? and listen to this. listen to this. everybody's forgotten -- everybody's forgotten when president barack obama took office, the economy was in free fall. it had just shrunk 9% of gdp. we were losing 750,000 jobs a

month. are we doing better than that today? the answer is yes. >> you know, i was thinking back to the fairy tale remark you made. but the guy's showmanship with the gesticulation, the hands, the cuff flashing, the way he presents his case. very southern too. >> yes. earlier this year i wrote oh who needs conventions. what are they for anyway? they're for moments like that. i was on the floor for that moment. and it -- >> it worked. >> it was one of the most memorable things i've seen live in a hall or anywhere. that was bill clinton at the summation of his career. that was everything he'd learned about showmanship, about telling a story -- >> about politics. >> and about how to make the case for the president. he made it so simply, so clearly, so logically that you wondered why the supposed great speecher barack obama couldn't do it the way he did. and that's probably because the case he had to make somebody

other than the president had to make. if the president himself said we were in a terrible situation when i came in, it doesn't sound as compelling as when somebody else says it. >> i had a moment like that in new hampshire when clinton was running the first time. he was in new hampshire and got to the draft letter with the girlfriend problems. but the draft letter was killing him. then he went from the field houses and gyms and spoke in the rounds and would go on the last question in the room he'd answer. and rick said to me nobody in our generation can do that. only he can do that. >> what also impressed me about that, i was covering that same series of events. was his will. clinton's will to succeed. no quit in that guy. >> you take the worst falls in the world and come rolling back. another turning point that threatening to derail this campaign and this is purely negative, i think, although good day for mitt romney. the president's listless performance in the first presidential debate which he said caused me to have a stroke afterwards.

i was so apalled by it. here's part of his closing argument. if you want to call it that, an argument, let's listen to the president in a bad night for him. >> you know, four years ago i said that i'm not a perfect man and i wouldn't be a perfect president and that's probably a promise that governor romney thinks i've kept. but i also promised i'd fight every single day on behalf of the american people, the middle class, and all those striving to get in the middle class. i've kept that promise and if you'll vote for me, then i promise i'll fight just as hard in the second term. >> i don't know. i don't know what to say even now because the man has so much juice and excitement about it. >> he did not want to be there. >> his brain's always working on two or three elite levels when you're with him. i went off the channel, i went off the stage. i don't want to be here. >> i think a lot of it had to do with how he feels personally about mitt romney. the idea he was on the stage with him i think was beneath him. that's what came across to me.

this guy was some place else. yeah it was his anniversary and everything else. but politically he was thinking why am i dealing with tier two. it came across. >> now let's look at the impact of hurricane sandy. and the pictures we saw on television near the election like right before it, we saw the president of the united states a democrat facing a really tough re-election situation along with a pretty popular governor of new jersey. here he is, the president, with the new jersey governor chris christie. a week before the election. >> we are not going to tolerate red tape and bureaucracy. i've instituted a 15-minute rule essentially on my team. you return everybody's phone calls in 15 minutes whether it's the mayors the governors, county officials. if they need something, we figure out a way to say yes. >> whatever he said then is still important today because there's so much devastation in that area. it's worse than we even thought in the beginning. it's getting worse and worse. people without electricity. but that picture, i think it was

just two people of different parties. and the biggest applause i've heard is can't we work together. >> right. and that's what people wanted all along throughout this entire campaign was seeing the republicans, the democrats, conservatives, and liberals coming together. >> why do you think that's stronger than partisanship? >> i think that's there. and to christie's credit, he galvanized the moment through action. yeah he said nice things about the president, but you saw a cooperation. you saw his government and the federal government coming together to solve people's problems. >> they were wearing the fleece. >> they had the fleece on. sleeves rolled up. >> you guys are the best. i have to tell you i love politics. >> you do. >> i'm breaking the story here. >> we agree with you. >> when people rise to the occasion and do the right thing, it's great. and i love bill clinton coming to save his old rival and he did. thank you michael steele and howard fineman. up next from etch-a-sketch

to legitimate rape to 47%. we've got the most notable political quotes of the year. that's ahead. and this is "hardball," the place for politics. [ male announcer ] coughequence™ #8. waking the baby. [ coughs ]

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we're back. 2012's coming to a close, but before it does let's look back a few of the most memorable quotations uttered this year. from the infamous to the absurd. librarian fred shapiro has released his list. joining us now is a columnist for bloomberg view and a reporter for politico. here's the number one, actually the number seven quote of the year. it happened in march. while the republican primary fight was still going on. romney had been pushed to the far right on a host of issues and the question many were asking was could he pivot back to the center in the general election. and then one of his top advisers said this. let's watch. >> you hit a reset button for the fall campaign. it's almost like an et

etch-a-sket etch-a-sketch. you shake it up and start over again. >> i've never seen a guy just give away the signals. here's our secret plan. there he did. >> not only give away the plan, they then had to cancel the plan and didn't pivot to the center until that first debate many months later. so what that etch-a-sketch comment did was it almost cost them the election right there. because it prevented them from scampering back to the middle in time on issues like immigration. and it didn't allow romney the running room that he needed with the centrists and swing voters he needed to win the election. >> and also saying i don't believe a word i spoke since i began running for president. here's one for you, ken. if one comment crystallized the overwhelming trouble the republican party had with american women voters, it was this. take a look at number six. >> first of all, from what i

understand from doctors, that's really rare. if it's a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down. >> i love the double whammy, this guy. let's start with the first part. if it's a legitimate rape. what did that mean? >> well, what it meant was absolutely unjustifiable. and it was the reason that the potential for todd akin to sort of go off the reservation on an issue that was already one the democrats were seizing on and prepared to hit him on show why democrats wanted him to be the nominee. to the point where they advertised democratic super pacs in his pri pair for the nomination to run against claire mccaskill in missouri. ads that said that todd akin is too conservative for missouri voters. he would not represent you well. he's never voted to raise tacks. he's opposed to abortion. and republican primary voters

there say this sounds like our kind of guy. so democrats meddled in that primary. got the candidate they wanted and he self-destructed like they wanted. making what should have been a tough re-election fight for mccaskill is cake walk. >> we always get our man. and claire mccaskill got her man to run against. anyway, the president bounced back from a bad first debate performance with two strong showings. here was a memorable line from the third debate that ranked as the number five quote of the year. take a look. >> you mentioned the navy for example. that we have fewer ships than we did in 1916. well, we also have fewer horses and bayonets because the nature of the military changed. we have these things called aircraft carriers where planes land on them. we have ships that go under water. >> meanwhile perhaps the most memorable moment patronizing. meanwhile, the most memorable moment occurred in the second debate. take a look at the number four

quote of the year. >> i think it's interesting the president just said something which is that on the day after the attack, he went in the rose garden and said that this was an act of terror. >> that's what i say. >> you said in the rose garden the day after the attack it was an act of terror. it was not a spontaneous demonstration. that what you're saying? >> please proceed, governor. >> john, there is so much to that phrase, "please proceed." was that constitutional law class? >> i love that. >> what was that? was that "the good wife"? what was it? a courtroom scene, i think. >> he just led him right into the trap. and that was very harmful to mitt romney because not only did it take benghazi off the table, it basically took foreign policy off the table. it made it seem like in the third debate, you know, that romney barely showed up because he had basically ceded all of foreign policy to the president. that's what the polls were showing. but also it's something that you

very rarely see in a debate, chris, which is a clean kill. you got lloyd benson doing it to dan quayle. two or three other examples in the entire history of presidential debates. and this was -- this was a perfect one where romney was very well prepared on many other issues, was taken by his staff to a place that he shouldn't have been, where he is trying to score points on an issue where he shouldn't have been trying to score. >> go ahead, ken. >> what made that so effective is he wasn't even the one that delivered the sort of kill line. it was candy crowley, the moderator of the debate, because what romney said, which is that obama did not use those words was so demonstrably false, the moderator stepped in and said you're wrong. and that was devastating. >> he is right, john. the next caused the internet to blow up. twitter instantly went wild. it's the number two line of the year.

let's take a listen. >> we took a concerted effort to go out and find women who had backgrounds that could be qualified to become members of our cabinet. i went to a number of women's groups and said can you help us find folks. and they brought us whole binders full of women. >> what did they decide was the quote of the year? this probably won't shock you. in some ways it defined what the election is all about. let's watch. >> there are 47% of the people who will vote for the president either way there are 47% who are with him who believe that they're victims, who believe that government has the responsibility to care for them. so my job is not to worry about those -- that they should take personal care and responsibility for their lives. >> agree, john, agree, ken this was the line that put him away? >> not only was this unbelievably divisive in a country that likes to think of itself as one country, but it was critically important that it

was caught on surreptitious video. if this is something he had said in public, it would have been a big gaffe, but not as damaging as seeing it on that video where the voter is thinking ah-ha, now i'm seeing the real mitt romney, not one in the packaging. >> and not just that, the setting that he was speaking to wealthy donors who he could be candid with. it was like the true mitt romney talking to his people in this setting. it just so illustrative of what people's preconceptions, worst preconceptions of who mitt romney was. >> you know, a really good lawyer in washington, to make your point, told me the other day. the worst thing that can happen in a criminal trial is just to hear the voice of your client on tape there is something as you said about, john, caught on tape. ever since nixon, i don't know what. you don't want to be caught on tape. >> right, right. >> anyway, thank you, john. merry christmas, happy new year. when we return, let me finish with my thoughts on the year that was. you're watching "hardball," the

place for politics.

let me end tonight and end the year with this. i said it was a year of two steps forward, one step backward. a reasonable judgment about america in 2012 is we are a more diverse people than some imagined. we're a country more tolerant of our diversity than i imagined.

was it a good year for america? my answer is yes. as a country, we backed the rights of women, increasingly backed those of guy people. we voted as a people who believe not just in life and liberty, but the pursuit of happiness. from a distance of 236 years, we were very loyal to the opening words of the declaration of independence. i never believed president barack obama had a second term in the bag. the night of his first debate with governor romney, i thought he was on his way out of town. but he wasn't. his vice president outbattled his rival. the president himself came back to show he was not a man to be taken down twice. most important, he got some breaks. the supreme court upheld health care. the jobless rate dropped below 8%. mitt romney showed himself a man at home with his fellow rich, out on a limb when trying to be someone he isn't, a right-wing simple on the. so we look for washed to a new year and a new second administration of a significantly progressive president. america isn't a hard right country, intolerant, resentful of its new countrymen and women.