, but what i remember more than anything is he was a big man. he never reduced himself to pettiness. he always saw the bigger picture. he never allowed himself to engage in name-calling. he played chess while many of us play checkers. i've learned when you play chess, sometimes you give up a pawn or two to get the queen. i learned that lesson from mario cuomo. may he rest in peace. he sleeps with the giants in american politics. thanks for watching. i'm al sharpton. "hardball" starts right now. women in charge. let's play "hardball." ♪ ♪ i'm chris matthews in washington. and in this holiday season we're happy to give you this special edition of "hardball." there are a remarkable number of tv dramas set in washington

these days or with political themes that star bold powerful sometimes ruthless women, and yes, i'm a fan of most of them. these characters are fictional. and have district foibles but they are clearly the stars of the holiday season. what story is it hollywood writing? washington today, or washington as a coming attraction? i'm joined by the "hardball" roundtable ruth marcus michelle bernard and melinda heminburger. start with claire danes starring as carey mathson in homeland. here he is calling the shots. >> i want you to stay here. >> no. >> i'll have two security details. i'll be fine. it will be at 45,000 feet. but i need you monitoring it. >> quinn's one of the good guys. then kathryn hagel in nbc's

"state of affairs." her job is to brief the president on the state offof terrorism in the world. here's here character commanding the room when news of a terrorist capture breaks out. >> charlie, i don't want to speak too soon but i think we found fada. >> get down! >> charlie, we go to print in 30 minutes. >> i know. earl, where are they at with the situation report? >> just came online. he's got boots on the ground. >> do we put it in the book? >> that we may have found fada? >> it's big news. >> the bigger news is when we kill him. >> and eighttea leoni.

>> madam secretary, what an unexpected pleasure. >> general, it's time we had a talk. >> by all means, we have so much to discuss. where are your beautiful legs? >> they're under the table, where they're going to stay. >> and kerry washington who plays the top crisis management expert on "scandal." are we in -- is hollywood ahead of the curve or about where it's at in terms of women in power in washington? >> first of all, i'm not going to ask you where your beautiful legs are because i know it's a family show. look, hollywood is both reflecting washington being inspired by washington and then influencing washington in turn. so here we have in washington the situation where not only have we had a succession of women secretaries of state, there's a bunch of boys in town who are growing up who think

men can't be secretary of state. thank goodness. >> condoleezza rice hillary clinton. before that. >> madeleine albright. and that's a lot. and the president's counterterrorism adviser is a woman. his u.n. adviser is a woman. there's a sort of robust presence of women, not just at the highest level ofs of power in washington, but at places of power that women have not traditionally been. this is interesting for hollywood. and then as hollywood takes and hollywoodizes, if that's a verb its approach to this that then influences the public perception as women as and you knew i was going to get to this there might be a woman running for president sometime soon. >> let me go to michelle. because there's a difference between having all these roles and being the star of the show. >> yes. >> and i like all of these. i certainly like good wife. haven't missed an episode of that in five and a half years. a tough woman lawyer with a

husband who's got problems maybe she's got some problems too. but being the star, and that's what you were alluding too. are we ahead or we hind the conserve? and the new show state of affairs, the president is a woman. >> not only is the president a woman in the new show she's an african american woman, which i think is a big deal for all of the television networks. hollywood is ahead of the curve in that sense, but i don't think in real life we are that far behind. i think the american public is as ready for a female president as we were for an african american president. doesn't mean the people are going to vote for someone -- >> is that saying we were or weren't? >> i think we were ready for the right candidate. i don't think anyone was ever going to say i'm going to vote for obama because he's black. i'm going to vote for hillary clinton because she's a woman. i think people are saying if you're the right candidate, if we like you, if we like your vision for the future of the country, we're going to vote for you. and i think we are ready for a female president and we'll see it very soon.

>> i think that a lot of these characters are based on real people, or composites of several real people. so i don't think hollywood is so far ahead -- >> the good wife margulies has been running that show through all its twists and turns. is she hillary with the husband? come on there is some parallel here. >> she was raised on eliot spitzer's -- >> where a woman was cheated on. >> she's the woman who traditionally has stood there in the pearls standing by her man. and now she's becoming her husband. the interesting thing to me many interesting things i love "the good wife" too is how she's becoming a politician and making her faustian bargain pace by pace in a slow-motion kind of way. but the christine bar an ski character on that show is a version of hillary. >> and she's a "hardball" fan by

the way. i met her. you just mentioned "the good wife." it's a chicago show, brimming with politics. margulies' character floric is running for state's attorney and plays bare knuckle politics with her husband. >> is that what i'm doing here i'm asking you for a favor? >> yes, you are. you want something, that's a favor. >> no. and you know why it's not? because if you don't show up to endorse me if you go off to some governor's conference instead, your favorables will plummet through the floor! >> the anger is just so inexplicable. what do you think? [ all speak at once ] she's so mad at this guy. >> i would say, during this holiday season so that none of the ladies watching get angry with you, i would not use the word angry, when we talk about alicia floric. >> that woman's not angry at her

husband? >> i think he deserves it. i don't think she's being angry. i think she's being forceful, making her point and playing "hardball" politics with her husband. >> so he yells at her, it's anger. but when she yells at him, that's not anger? >> i don't consider that yelling. i consider that playing hard core politics with someone who happens to be her husband. >> we strike the word anger from the record. >> the thing about "the good wife" is that it was inspired in a moment when we saw so many of these women who were very accomplished women but standing very meekly beside their husbands in a way that many of us experienced as humiliating. and now with the evolution of "the good wife." she may be good but she's not so nice these days and that's great. because she's -- >> you guys are amazing. ruthless is good now, huh? >> i can't say that ruthless is good, given my name. but i can say that toughness is good. and i think the thing that's fascinating about all of these

different women, alicia floric carrie math son, the wife of the protagonist on "house of cards"? >> what is that about? they stand at the window and share a cigarette? >> that's their deal. >> it is very lady macbeth. let's be honest. >> these are women who are tough. and hollywood is conditioning the public to understand and appreciate tough women. >> wait a minute. hollywood has a message here and they're pushing an agenda politically? >> no. >> you just said -- let's go back and read the transcript. you just said hollywood is pushing something. >> no i said hollywood is conditioning it. >> conditioning us why? >> because hollywood has always been interested in powerful tough, ambitious women. they're much more interesting than the meek mild alternative. >> stand by your man. >> think about all about eve. so it's not hollywood, it's back to shake spears. >> yes, sure. >> michelle? >> it is reflected in everyday

life and it's being highly publicized through hollywood and people love it. who doesn't read the story about susan rice sitting in a meeting and flipping the bird at one of her colleagues who irritated the hell out of here because of the way he was treating her. we see this happening with powerful women in d.c. and on television. >> so women have babies and women live longer and what's the problem here? [ laughter ] >> we still make 50 cents on the dollar, that's the problem. >> let me ask you about the new secretary, madam secretary. ly -- leoni. her husband is mr. supportive. completely supportive of her in her role. she asked to give some russian kid at georgetown to help out

with her diplomacy. i wouldn't call that nice tim daly is a good guy. >> i've seen one minute of it. i turned it on and she was telling her communications director worries about my reputation and standing can wait said no one ever. >> so you thought that wasn't real? you don't see hillary, for example, saying i don't care what people think of me. i agree it's both jenders, everybody likes to be liked. >> complicated characters do come more from life. i think that's hollywood writing characters as they really are. >> wait until you see the next one, we're going to the real thing, like hillary clinton. coming up on this special edition of "hardball," to the real power women of washington today, is art imitating life? later this hour we have the most outrageous comments from the republican clown car. plus the best confrontations, what we're calling the howard

beal mad as hell moments of the past year. and the theater of the absurd, we always have that on "hardball." the most bizarre moments from the campaign trail that just ended, all ahead here on "hardball," the place for politics. ry talking to people who made the switch to ford. it felt nicer than my bmw. good gas mileage... ecoboost makes a four cylinder engine feel like a six cylinder. my dad went and turned in his lexus and got the exact same car as me. he had to have it... i'm very happy with my escape. i don't know if i'll ever not buy a ford. make the switch to america's favorite brand. check out special offers on ford escape at ford.com or see your local ford dealer. ♪

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we're back with our panel, ruth michelle and melinda. how far off is hollywood's did i pikz of women in washington? is it real? seems like washington has come a long way in the past few years. many of the president's top officials are women. susan rice u.s. ambassador to the u.n. samantha power, assistant to the president lisa monaco. his cabinet is six women, three of the past five secretaries of state have been women. and the next front-runner for to be the president of the united states is hillary clinton. you cover it all. let's have a firefight here. valerie jared has been getting attention. not necessarily positive.

if she were a guy, would this be happening? >> a few things about valerie jared, she's a uniquely influential person who occupies a position of closeness to the president, both personally and professionally that is unusual in white houses. i think the fact that she is a woman just makes that a little bit harder for people to take. and it kind of goes back to something that michelle was saying before about whether we were ready for a black president and ready for a woman president, yes, we were ready for a black president, we elected him twice. are we ready for a woman president? yes. but that doesn't mean there are not going to be moments of discomfort about barack obama's race, and there is going to be when we have a woman president, moments of uncomfort with gender. >> it's like she embodies him. i am here. he is here. this is a uniquely powerful position. i wonder whether what bothers

men, for example, since i'm the only one here -- [ laughter ] i think you have to choose your personality. if you come on as a sort of john wayne figure like margaret thatcher, men say, i get it. who's the boss? she's the boss. simple. if it's gold mayor? i get it she's the boss i salute her. it gets complicated sometimes when women play it both ways and they're both female and they cry or something and then they're also tough as nails. >> that's called being a human. >> exactly. >> we all have that spectrum men and women. >> when hillary cried it was seen as a sign of -- >> 30 40 years later. >> so if a guy cries today, it's okay. >> i think it depends on the context. if it's john boehner who cries at the drop of a hat, people think it's a problem. when darrell issa has cried on the air, no one --

>> i don't know why he cries all the time. i just think people think it's problematic. anything that he talks about brings tears to his eyes and they actually seem like genuine tears. >> what's it say about him? >> that he cries a lot. to me it really doesn't say anything. [ all speak at once ] >> is he a strong leader? >> i don't think that -- i don't look at him in terms of tears and question his leadership skills. >> is he a strong leader? >> not because of tears or no tears. because he -- >> it never hurt either one. >> mcconnell has cried and is not -- >> i'm going to pause at something. it remains more dangerous in politics for a woman to cry than a man. notwithstanding the fact that the tears humanized hillary clinton in new hampshire. >> if we were in a back room with hillary clinton and you had to get her ready for the test of her life really the chance to be president of the united states, a very good chance if she wins -- i say, if she runs a

good campaign she can't be beaten. so she's the one that has to -- what would you -- >> it depends on the opponent. >> no i think she can beat anybody if she runs a good campaign. obviously you disagree. would you want to advise her to do anything different than she's done to be the best candidate for president? >> well, i think she had a rocky book tour. so i would advise her to do two things that are going to sound contradictory. one is to be more careful about her words. don't go getting so defensive about your life that you say things like we were dead broke when we left the white house. the other is to be more human. because people liked hillary clinton when she got teary-eyed in new hampshire. >> unless it was a fox viewer they did not like hillary clinton when she cried coming offer the heels of that loss in iowa. it was a very big deal there. people called her all kinds of names. >> there are some people if you're hillary clinton you're never going to be able to win over. >> i think it was legitimate. i don't know exactly what made her unhappy, maybe just her

situation, but i think it really helped her. it was genuine. >> i think i would say that she needs to run a hell of a lot better campaign than she did last time with a lot more discipline. it okay. >> . >> i'm going to study the transcript of what you guys say. i've been outnumbered. but i learn and that's the job of everybody in our business. thank you, ruth marcus and michelle bernard of course who gets more passionate every time i meet her. and melinda heminberger. we heard plenty of outrageous statements from the right-wing clown car this year. we have some of the most ridiculous coming up next. this is entertainment for the season. a special holiday edition of "hardball," the place for politics.

don't just visit new york. visit tripadvisor new york. tripadvisor not only has millions of real traveler's reviews and opinions but checks hundreds of websites, so people can get the best hotel prices. to plan, compare & book the perfect trip. visit tripadvisor.com today. welcome back to "hardball." we move from the sublime to the

ridiculous with a look back at some of the most outrageous moments from the last year. there were many. let's begin with the best from the hard-right clown car itself. joining me now is former rnc chair and msnbc political analyst michael steele, michelle bernard of the bernard center for women and howard fineman of the huffington post. mike huckabee, this january, wanted to push back against the accusations that republicans were waging a war on women. take a look at how he tried to valiantly defend american women from democratic attempts to provide them with birth control. >> if the democrats want to insult the women of america by making them believe that they are helpless without uncle sugar coming in and providing for them a prescription each month for birth control, because they cannot control their libido or

reproductive system without the help of the government, then so be it let us take that discussion all across america. because women are far more than the democrats have played them to be. >> who is he selling that popcorn to? i couldn't figure out the group that think women have an overactive libido and some guy named uncle sugar. who is he playing to? >> i'm watching the clip and i'm thinking to myself is he saying that republican women don't have sex? is that what he's telling the audience? i don't know who he was talking to, maybe somebody on the far right. i have no idea who that was supposed to play to. you would have a better idea. >> i have even less of an idea. i think while the uncle sugar was a play on uncle sam. >> i know. >> or sugar daddy. >> or sugar daddy. >> women looking for sugar daddies. >> this is a classic way that sometimes these guys get into the clown car, because they are

trying to make -- they're a little too enthusiastic about the caricatures they present of the other side to the point where it sounds like they secretly believe in those carrick turs. >> i was thinking of the song remember? >> yeah, the candy man running over with a bag of birth control pills every month. i mean it's really embarrassing for the party. >> it's also playing to a base constituency and sort of driving a narrative that in large measure, it does not resonate beyond that -- >> but who is the base? >> he's pretending to denounce it while reinforcing it. >> what about this line. i'm no expert believe it or not. they can't control their reproductive system. what is that? >> well that's akin -- who was the person that talked about legitimate rape and if you're legitimately raped, your body will self-abort? >> and next we remember how

sarah palin informed the country she can see russia from alaska. but the former governor had a lot more trouble when it came to the geography of the most famous location in this country, the white house. this is her in september. >> they scream racism just to end debate. well, don't retreat. you reload with truth, which i know is an endangered species at 1400 pennsylvania avenue anyway truth. >> what's at 1400 pennsylvania avenue? >> a hotel. >> why did she put in the particularity of -- >> that was playing on the 1600 pennsylvania. look, that's just a numeric slip. >> it is a hotel. >> you got it right. >> my favorite part is where she said afterward ruth. reload with truth. >> a ballistic reference there. >> i have my trophy from the great sarah palin days the

alaska moose jerky that she was handing out to people. >> that's right. >> when she was on the rise. do you remember that? do you remember that she was actually on the ticket? >> vice president of the united states. >> and at that convention she was electrifying when she spoke. i mean we didn't know that she didn't read magazines or newspapers or anything like that. >> that was a question from katie couric what do you read? i'm kidding. >> she did the country a huge favor. >> by asking that question. and the way a politician reacts to confrontation can reveal a lot about them. here we have steve king confronted on camera by dreamers while eating lunch. rather than brush them off, he treated them to a patronizing lecture on what it means to be american. >> for you to be calling us names, saying that we have no -- >> no no please please.

stop a minute. you're very good in english. you know what i'm saying. >> i was raised -- >> so don't contact like you don't understand the english language. you're saying something that is not true. >> okay what is it? >> i spoke against drug smugglers. >> he said hispanic people who come here from mexico and latin america are here with legs the size of cantaloupes, when he now denies. saying he was referring to the drug smugglers. but he said the people the ethnic group. it's crazy talk. >> steve king is the ultimate nativist american politician from western iowa. and unabashedly so and the amazing thing about it is this is only one of many crazy statements he's made. when republicans run for the nomination in 2016 in iowa, in

the iowa caucuses every one of them would be delighted to have the endorsement of steve king. am i wrong? >> no that's very true. i get what steve was trying to do then. he was engaged in the conversation. >> i love the way he said that am i right or am i wrong? wants to defend the republican party at its worst. because you're pointing out the fact that the iowa caucus voter who gets the first-round pick on who the next president is -- >> by the way, that's the only reason why anybody pays attention to steve king. >> but also, he's appealing to the part of the base throughout the country that passed these laws, like in arizona, and south carolina prove you're a u.s. citizen and if you're illegal, sayonara. >> making fun of somebody ethnically by saying they have weird legs remember dan burton shootingicant shootingicant lopes to prove somebody hadn't committed suicide -- >> this was taking some

information that he'd been given somewhere along the way, misinterpreting that information or blowing it up to something that it didn't represent. >> used to say that are the brains of people like you and me are smaller because of our brown skin. >> i feel guilty for making him defend that. >> remember the running back who played for navy he had big calves. he could have said joe bellino legs. anyway, up next do you have another thought? >> this is about poor staffing, that's all. up next the best confrontation this year in politics. these are the howard beal moments. mad as hell. when politicians stand up and say, i am mad as hell and i'm not going to take it anymore. you're watching "hardball," tonight the funny place for politics. latte or au lait? cozy or cool?

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been recovered following the crash of airasia flight 8501. searchers have been battling bad weather as they work to locate victims and the plane's black boxes. and president obama signed an executive order imposing sanctions on north korea in response to the hacking at sony pictures. it's said to be the start of a broader response. back to "hardball." ♪ welcome back to "hardball." it was a year of wild and sometimes bizarre confrontations in politics of course. some politicians lost their cool like chris christie. and sometimes the outbursts were heroic like democratic congressman elijah cummings standing up to republican darrell issa. these are some of the best howard beale moments of the year. when your elected leaders said for better or worse, i'm mad as hell and i'm not going to take it anymore. let's start with michael grimm of staten island erk new york

who managed to turn an interview about president obama's state of the union into a one-sided street fight after a reporter dared to ask him about his campaign corruption issues. after the interview was over, the cameras kept rolling. watch what happens. >> i always wondered about the language, i'm going to break you like a boy. >> i don't know what that means. >> reminds me of that the senator from idaho idaho talking about clinton being a naughty boy. >> i would observe first, that guy was re-elected. >> was the reporter re-elected? [ laughter ] >> i've been on the hill a long time. and i've occasionally gotten

into some shouting matches off the record. >> did you ever take lip like that from a congressman? >> i actually have. and it's not a pleasant experience. and as a reporter -- >> did you report what they said to you in anger? >> no. because that was said off the record. >> i see. >> totally off the record. >> so they say, can i say something off the record? you're no good. [ laughter ] >> but that thing, the difference is and this is true of everything you're doing here, chris. we're in a hypermedia age in which virtually nothing is off the record. virtually nothing is unrecorded. virtually nothing is not on video. everybody's got a smart phone. everybody's got a way to be a network correspondent. every single person. so what you got there was the camera still rolling. in the old days that never would have seen the light of day. >> because? >> well first of all, probably in the interview was over and the unspoken etiquette back in the day would have been you don't show that kind of thing. that's the other thing that's

happened. the rules have changed and everybody understands that basically the idea of off the record has almost disappeared in american politics and american life. >> mitt romney said a couple weeks ago, he wants everything on the record. he said leave that recorder on. because i want to know that i'm on the record. i don't want to pretend i'm not at any point. >> he learned his lesson. >> in this day and age when you have anthony weiner who feel like it's appropriate to take pictures of private parts and tweet them. no politician should think that anything they do is off the record. why would they? >> do you think it would have been normal in an earlier age? [ laughter ] >> to michelle's point, in fact they do think that they still are -- should be treated differently. to your point, howard that yes, you're not going to play this because i'm the congressman, and that's all the more reason to show it. >> next up republican oversight

chairman darrell issa goes rogue. he's known to be ruthless and inappropriate during hearings. but he crossed the line during an irs hearing in march when he turned off elijah cummings's microphone mid hearing. he picked the wrong guy to try to silence. let's watch pch. >> for the past year, the central republican accusation. >> we're adjournd close it down. [ inaudible ] >> before our -- [ inaudible ] >> thank you. >> i am a member of the congress of the united states of america. i am tired of it. >> well -- >> we have members over here each who represent 700,000 people. you cannot just have a one-sided investigation. there is absolutely something wrong with that. and it's absolutely unamerican. >> here here.

>> you know sometimes mad as hell works and i thought at that moment, he was expressing what a lot of people felt, that this guy was ring leading, running this thing like a dictator. and he only wanted certain testimony. elijah cummings is a very dignified fellow. when he gets that angry, it tells you there's something wrong here. i think that was the beginning of the end for issa being taken seriously. your thoughts? >> i wanted to say, i saw congressman cummings speak a few weeks ago, he accepted an award for outstanding achievement, people with learning differences. and we talked with such passion about growing up in the south and being told that he was stupid and that he could never learn how to read how to write, and that he spoke too much. and how speaking so much would lead him to become a great congressman and a lawyer and how his first client was the first person whoever said to him, you're stupid and you'll never learn anything.

this is his first client that was the first person to say that to him as a child. so what that tells me about elijah cummings he's come very far. he's a fighter. he's going to force people like darrell issa and anyone else in congress who wants to disrespect him, to treat him with the respect he deserves. >> no list of confrontations would be complete without the man himself, new jersey governor chris christie. it's hard to pick the governor's most outrageous comments but this confrontation with a city councilman stands out far above the rest. let's watch. >> i've been here when the cameras aren't here buddy. and done the work. i've been here when the cameras aren't here and did the work. turn around get your 15 minutes of fame and then maybe take your jacket off, roll up your sleeves and do something for the people of this state. so, listen, you want to have the conversation later i'm happy to have it buddy. but until that time sit down and shut up. [ cheers and applause ]

>> hey, buddy, what do you think? [ laughter ] >> a little new jersey goes a long way. >> how far will that go beyond philadelphia? how far will it travel? >> it doesn't. it might make it to pittsburgh but probably not much farther. he was okay until the last part. it actually was a good line when he said roll up your sleeves and do something. i was with him, sort of. but then the sit down and shut up, which is going to be of course his campaign slogan. >> anyway the roundtable is staying with us. up next of course from anger to the absurd some of the most bizarre moments of political history this year. and this is "hardball." when heartburn comes creeping up on you... fight back with relief so smooth... ...it's fast. tums smoothies starts dissolving the instant it touches your tongue ...and neutralizes stomach acid at the source. ♪ tum, tum tum tum...♪

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♪ >> i'm joni ernst, i grew up castrating hogs on an iowa farm. so when i get to washington i'll know how to cut pork. >> joni ernst, mother soldier, conservative. we're back with michael, michelle, and howard. it was of course the year of absurdities on the campaign trail. joni ernst ran away with the iowa senate race thanks in part to the wild ad you just saw. that was just the tip of the iceberg this year.

it was one of the nastiest midterm elections ever. some of the big races it went from nasty to absurd especially toward the end. here's the best of the best from the midterm theater of the absurd. let's begin in kentucky. ernst wasn't the only candidate trying to gain support with talk of animals. tea party candidate matt bevin tried to unseat mitch mcconnell by defending the great american tradition of cockfighting. >> but it's interesting when you look at cockfighting and dog fighting as well this isn't something new. it wasn't invented in kentucky for example. the founding fathers were all, many of them very actively involved in this and always have been. these are part of a tradition and heritage that go back for hundreds of years and were integral early on in this country. >> big surprise. he lost. [ laughter ] >> there's that great painting in the capital of all the founding fathers standing around watching a cockfight.

i can just tell you. matt bevin isn't from kentucky. he was a businessman from new england who moved to kentucky only in recent years. >> who is he pandering to? >> he was trying to impressive people with his devotion to kentucky institutions. the fact is, cockfighting never was a big thing in kentucky. go to the coastal states it waunts a big deal. [ all speak at once ] >> i never wanted to. did he ever hear about michael vick either? it's very bizarre. but it's like every guy who runs for president tells you they're a hunter. >> trying to show he's down-home kentuckian. it's absurd. >> that's what happened when you're out of order, out of place. he was not mimicking the true values of kentucky. >> was this like belgian endives? [ laughter ] anyway, the florida gubernatorial race was full of absurd absurdities, but the contest

will forever be known for this debate moment when governor rick scott, the governor of the state, refused to take the debate stage as long as the challenger, former governor charlie crist, wouldn't give away his fan. here it is. >> governor rick scott, we have been told that governor scott will not be participating in this debate. governor crist has asked to have a fan, a small fan placed underneath his podium. the rules of the debate that i was shown by the scott campaign say that there should be no fan. somehow there is a fan there. and for that reason ladies and gentlemen, i am being told that governor scott will not join us for this debate.

>> that has to be the most unique beginning to any debate -- >> i don't think we'll forget. >> -- not only in florida but in complains about the fan? >> it was one bad moment for the governor. he won the election but i think it was symptomatic of his administration in so many respecteds. just a little detail that everybody in florida knew that kryst carries this fan with him. whether it's a sit-down interview with you -- >> i knew ant it. needless to say, the man with the fan. >> this idea, rick scott has left the building. oh, he's back. it just kind of showed how ridiculous it was. >> did it turn things? >> i don't think it turned that much at the end, no. i really don't. i think for the governor the power of clemency came into play. this governor largely lived in the land of the 30s in popularity for most of his four years. and, yet, he was ability to pull it out.

that was the power of incumbency. it was a matter of who do i like better. >> if you had to pick one event and one sound byte that's symbolic of this midterm election, that was probably it. neither of these guys was very palatable. the guy with the fan or the guy with the rules. neither one. they both made themselves look small. >> and let me tell you something. in florida, you always see this retirement place for a lot of people. down for the south, older people go down and retire. nobody goes north. no. >> and they all had these big cars down there. everybody likes the big caddies with the license plates that have, like, 18 letters on them. the comfortable ride. aened when he said after his retort, what's wrong with being confidentble comfortable, i thought he was referring to leisure town. why not be comfortable. go down where it's always 80

degrees. >> but it's something people can identify with because everybody in the state knew that's his thing. >> and it's hot down there. >> it's stranger than that. democrats made no secret of the fact that they ran away from president obama this season. one basically pretended that the president didn't exist. here's democrat of kentucky and the most awkward election debate moment. >> why are you reluctant to give an answer on whether or not you voted for president obama? >> bill, there's no reluctancy. this is a matter of principle. our constitution grants here in kentucky, the constitutional right for privacy at the ballot box for a secret ballot. >> you won't answer that question tonight? >> again, you have the right, senator mcconnell has the right, everybody has the right for privacy at the ballot box. if i don't stand up for that right, who in kentucky will?

>> what do you make of that? >> i think it was an enormous blunder. every time i watch it i still can't believe that it really happened. particularly for a female candidate, she was so strong it was close. i think she actually could have won the race until that moment. people want their elected officials to say who they are and what they stand for. if she voted for the president, she should have said why. if she didn't, she should have said why. maybe people in kentucky like that. >> she should have said she voted for hillary? >> probably not in kentucky. >> this was so patently over- lyly over-scripted and false, it made everybody cringe in the state. chuck todd our chuck todd, said that was dpis qualifying. legally, he was wrong. but, politically, schuk turned

out to be absolutely right. >> suppose the moderator there, the older guy, had just said who are you going to vote for in the primary? who are you going to vote for in the general? she would say i'm going to volt for myself. that's not a secret. there's nothing secret about voting. >> this is the result of an aide sitting around -- >> this is not aides. this is consul tanttants that you pay a lot of money to silting around telling you under no circumstances do you get anywhere near that. >> finally, going to the strangest gubl thattorial debate. back in may, a series of third party candidates stole the show out in idaho. this is harley brown. the leather clad biker who loves his hog, but hates political correctness. >> a substantial portion of my political campaign is campaigning against political correctness. i don't like political correctness. can i say this? it sucks.

it's bondage. and i'm not -- i'm about as politically correct as your proverbial turd in a punch bowl. what did you think? i'd be a democrat? their proctologist called, they found their heads. i didn't say anything false e nasty. okay, don't think i'm crazy because i'm not. [ laughter ] >> they need more hogs like that. >> do you think we should have more candidates or less candidates. >> remember the guy that held the rat up in the mccarthy campaign back in '68? i remember everyone weirdness. 40u ard? >> i'm ashamed of the fact that i kind of thought that was cool. >> okay. >> it's you and him. >> okay. michael, michelle always, we'll be back after this. talking to people who made the switch to ford. i loved the look of the fusion... we test drove it...i was like "this is my car". all-wheel drive is amazing... i felt so secure.

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from all of us add e at "hardball" to all of you add e at home we want to wish you an extra joy ousz holouts e eous holiday season. thank you at home for watching us, of course, for being a part of our family this year and every year for this long time we've been on. thank you.

due to mature subject matter, viewer discretion is advised. >> msnbc takes you behind the walls of america's most notorious prisons into a world of chaos and danger. now the scenes you've never seen. "lockup: raw." >> for some inmates, a prison sentence means nothing left to lose. >> what the [ bleep ] it look