>> we have known gingrich for a long time. he at the head of the class. >> gets a line of credit from none other than bill clinton. >> he is articulate and tries to think of a conservative version of an idea that solves a problem. >> mitt flip flops on to hard times. >> people understand i'm a man of steadiness and constances. >> the sprint for the republican nomination is on. >> we begin with newt gingrich surging to become leader of the pack, grabbing the coveted endorsement of new hampshire's largest newspaper. they boost in the nation's first primary state and make no mistake, the paper's touting of newt's courage and conviction hands a backhanded blow to mitt romney.

gingrich is by no means the perfect candidate. we would rather back someone with whom we may sometimes disagree than one who tells us what he thinks we want to hear. ouch. i guess mitt would be getting their vote for homecoming king. despite living in the granite state at his family's lakefront estate, i guess romney has only been courting the paper for several years. here he is seated next to the publisher. looks like he has a bad taste in his mouth. maybe he was thinking then what he told fox news about mitt romney this morning. >> we're don't think he has got it. we think he's the managerial type, but he's sort of a blank slate and is going to go with the wins too much. >> yet you can almost hear the editorial writers holding their

noses as they draft their endorsement of newt gingrich. by no means the perfect candidate. it could be newt's history of adultery? the three marriages and half million dollars in rolling credit at tiffany? maybe it's the million dollar lobbying deal with freddie mac or his plan to put children to work as janitors in public schools. his developing by the house ethics committee and the cruise at the start of his campaign this summer? we can go on and on and on. if you think all that was means gingrich doesn't have a shot, here's the union leader publisher once again. >> gingrich is going to have a better time in the general election than mitt romney. it's going to be obama's 99 versus the 1% and romney sort of represents the 1%. >> there you have it. put up against romney, newt

gingrich looks like the man of the people. let's bring in our panel with us from washington. republican strategist and columnist for the hill and democratic strategist julian epstein. newt gingrich, serial adulterer and a man who attacks others for supporting freddie mac and fails to mention he banked almost $2 million for historical insights to the same company. your response to his rise? >> you should be writing ads for the democratic national committee. >> these are truths. they are not made up. they are truths. >> if we were going to kick out everybody with multiple marriages, we would have nobody left. >> benefits from freddie mac. >> it was not lobbying as he said. he gave advice that sounds like they didn't take. what he got was average for firms here in town.

the boutique firms and he could have gotten more stretched out over the course of several years and they have the union leader never going to endorse mitt romney. it's just a matter of who it was going to be. it's a nice fethner his cap. this was not someone unexpected. they knew they were not going to get the endorsement. it's good for newt gingrich. he's a strong candidate and doesn't have a lost resources. he's really done well for himself. i think we have our top tier two candidates. bill clinton did not endorse him, be e but he says what he thinks. bill clinton tried to take credit for him when he was president in terms of balanced budgets and welfare reform and surplus. the endorsement listed great positives, but again, romney never expected to get this

endorsement from the union leader. >> i don't know when the recommendation was going to end. you heard it. newt gingrich is the leader. >> the big picture is this continues to be a campaign of seven dwarfs and none of the above continues to be the most popular candidate. the quote or the comment by clinton was classic. democrats want nothing more than newt to be the nominee. we ran against him in 1996. he's a lot like house guests and fish. after a couple of days of having him around, he starts to become a lot less pleasant. his numbers dropped faster than a black friday sale at macy's. he gets a little bit of exposure and the campaign in 1996 between clinton and bill was as much of a campaign against gingrich.

making it a campaign against the gingrich congress. his numbers are able to push up quickly. every democrat in town wants them. the other news of the day is the word that congressman banner frank will not seek reelection. i want you to listen to this. and that's going to come up again. >> i used the comment and he had more personal baggage and drama than lindsay lohan. here's a guy who has a tiffany account and he is going and telling school kids to become janitors and telling the unemployed to take a bath and find a job. he has as much message discipline and thriftiness as

does charlie chan. >> you are not bothered by the resolving line of credit. >> he have is generous to his wife as though it's our business. the first lady is spending taxpayer dollars. i would be more concerned about that with the money wives are spending. in terms of newt gingrich, i think that his personal negatives are such that voters want serious people and a candidate to run against barack obama who seems like a nice guy, but a failed president. there is a maturity among the electorate. >> for that's the case, then why is it since we have had every one of the republican front-runners shooting themselves in the foot, why have we seen a positive 15-point swing for barack obama. he is running almost even in the gallup polls where before all the serial mess ups, he was down

by about 15 points. what explains for the 15-point swing? >> nothing to do with the republican candidates running for president. what this has to do with is the fact that this president slid out of town, slid out of the contr count rye while they blue themselves up with the super committee. >> that's not -- i think it's the -- >> sherry, that is not -- that is not a plausible response, but in a conversation about mitt romney today in south caroline, gingrich had a critical answer. listen to this. >> is there anything that you wouldn't do to be president? >> sure, there lots of things i wouldn't do. i wouldn't lie to the american people. i wouldn't switch my positions for political reasons. >> that sounds great, but is gingriching issing that mitt romney is a liar and that he is prepared to lie to the american people by shifting his position?

>> she targeted at romney and the line has more to do with barack obama. he was back in the primary. >> it was actually a question about mitt romney and nothing to do with the president. >> in the tough primary. >> you won'ting is that romney is a liar? >> i didn't hear the full context of that. if he was, it shows that he is ready to take the gloves off. i hope that these guys don't get too rough on each other. they continue to respect each other as they have and it helps them both to maintain that respectability and to go with the ronald reagan. i don't think he likes beating up other republicans. he tried to elect republicans. i think mitt romney is more comfortable being a gentlemen. i hope they stick to their guns on that one. they will take swipes and see how the republican primary

voters and how they like that. i suspect they won't like too much. >> just a final question. gingrich has $370,000 in cash on hand. that's not a lot of money. is it? >> very few staff and the numbers are way behind. the reality of this is that poor mitt romney who is always the bride's maid and never the bride. he wins iowa and far ahead in new hampshire and does well in south caroline a. my guess is he wraps it up early. again, this is a campaign of seven dwanrfs and none is more popular and the american public looks at this cast of characters and they see what looks like a star trek convention for them and all of a sudden obama's numbers have gone from 38 up to about 45,ing even with republicans and this is good

news. >> the president was under 50%, obama is in serious trouble. >> thanks so much for the afternoon. >> the man newt dethroned, the white house continues to target mitt romney. >> the story of two men trapped in one body. mitt versus mitt. >> i will protect a woman's right to choose. >> i will see row v wade overturned. was breaking the bank. so to save some money, i trained this team of guinea pigs to row this tiny boat. guinea pig: row...row. they generate electricity, which lets me surf the web all day. guinea pig: row...row. took me 6 months to train each one, 8 months to get the guinea pig: row...row. little chubby one to yell row! guinea pig: row...row. that's kind of strange. guinea pig: row...row. such a simple word... row. anncr: there's an easier way to save. get online. go to geico.com. get a quote. 15 minutes could save you

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>> it is just 36 days to go before the first vote is cast in iowa, but the dnc is clearly casting sights on one man, one

opponent, mitt romney. a brand-new ad targets the former massachusetts governor flexibility on the issues and plucking in at four minutes, it has plenty of color. here's a taste. >> from the creator of i'm running for office for pete's sake is the story of two men trapped in oned about. >> i will preserve and protect a woman's right to choose. >> the right next step is to see row v wade overturned. are we put together an exchange is the president is copying that idea. >> obama care is bad news. >> let's bring in our panel and democratic strategist crystal ball and karen finney, former communications director for the dnc. aren't they doing romney's work for him by talking him up as the likely nominee regardless of the

rise of other candidates? >> i think they had to do the work of the other candidates for them. by now you would see an engagement and the campaigns that we are not really seeing. they thought it was penitentiary that they get the message that they get that early and often. there is so much in terms of switching positions. >> i guess the bottom line is they don't really need to attack newt gingrich. poison out life politically. >> they will not temporarily forget the things and mitt will be the nominee. the president is beating newt gingrich by 6 percentage points and 1 to 2% against romney. they drudge up the past. they think about newt.

is it possible that he could be the nominee? >> i think it is. this new hampshire endorsement is a new deal. analysis with the bump in new hampshire. he has a clear path in iowa and they come into play. mitt romney is the front-runner and i think newt gingrich could be the john mccain of this year. >> the john mccain of this year? >> i don't think we know the answer to that question yet. a couple of things i would say is don't forget that i myself have, we have a ton of opposition research already done on newt gingrich and the ability to put that out there is not hard and won't take a lot of time. he still has a lot of things to overcome in terms of money and other resources. remember that the way modern campaigns are, particularly when you have a crowded field. each of these guys that are the front-runners are trying to figure out a coalition of voters

that will get them over the line. in a field like this, you have who newt is going for is not exactly who romney is going for. each is looking at how they split that vote and keep this thing going. i don't think you will see a situation where one person wins iowa and takes new hampshire and clears the field. >> mitt romney is held at 20 to 24 percentage points. if this is an a versus b choice, mitt romney and one other person, i don't think romney can win. he doesn't have enough supporters unless they are dividing the vote. >> they said the last thing and i'm quoting that the white house wants is to have to run against mitt romney and be held accountable for the failures of the administration. instead of focusing and creating jobs, president obama and democrats are focused on tearing down mitt romney.

the president is vulnerable and romney is vulnerable on his lack of consistency. >> he is vulnerable on his record as a business man. he likes to timeout that part of what he did was to dismantle companies and fire people. there is his record as governor. he has a mixed bag. the reason that the team is going after romney, at the end of the day, voting is an emotional exercise and it's not rational. people vote with emotions and if they don't feel like they can trust and you know where you stand, sounds like somebody we may know. it makes it a lot harder for them to cast a ballot for the person. >> mitt romney is vulnerable and the poster boy of the 1%. just because he is the most electable of this group of candidates, it's not a high bar

this year. thank you very much for joining us. when we come back, a shooting war on the border with pakistan. could the states get any higher? [ male announcer ] an lg smart tv, lg optimus cell phone and...an apology card. this is ridiculous. yeah, and it's got apps. nice. it's got vudu, twitter, facebook. no honey, not facebook. ♪ honey, you think my sweater's horrendous? cats don't skate. i think it kicks butt. [ male announcer ] get low prices on the gifts they love, like lg tvs with the latest technology. backed by our christmas price guarantee. save money. live better. walmart.

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diarrhea and abdominal pain. other serious stomach conditions may still exist. let your doctor do her job, and you do yours. ask if nexium is right for you. if you can't afford your medication, astrazeneca may be able to help. >> there is increasing tension between pakistan and nato over the death of 24 troops at a check point on the afghan border saturday. pakistan denied first opening fire and provoking the nato air strike for its part and nato apologized saying it was a tragic unintended incident. i am joined by jim miklaszewski and we understand there is a u.s.-afghan special forces mission in the area and this camp apparently came under fire from within pakistan territory. can you provide us with more details? >> just about everything else in this relationship between the u.s. and pakistan, this is very

complicated. as you said, u.s. and afghan forces were reportedly taking fire from the pakistani side of the afghan-pakistan border in the early morning hours on saturday. those american forces called in air strikes against two separate targets. according to u.s. officials, the american commanders contacted and got permission from the pakistani military to launch the air strikes and in the aftermath, some 24 or 25 pakistani soldiers were killed in the attack. the way u.s. commanders here at the pentagon and down there are looking at this, even if the counter attack was justified, it was a huge strategic blunder to kill the 24 pakistani soldiers even though we are getting into

the area and it is long-suspected that the pakistani soldiers and outposts along the borders gave permission to those militants along the border to launch strikes. i'm sure that is all clear to you now. that's helpful and there is dispute about how long the firefight went on for. >> according to the pakastanis, this went on for several hours and they claim they made repeated calls back to the americans in afghanistan to say hey, hold your fire. you are shooting at pakastanis. we haven't found anybody in the military or the pentagon to verify that could. >> jim miklaszewski, stay with us. the top lines are coming up. >> whoever the nomination is not going to be the first. that will be one perfect person that walks on this earth and he

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and nick, you shouldn't even be here, you can do everything from the golf course. good? good. [ male announcer ] on at&t, blackberry® torch moves at the speed of 4g. ♪ >> perhaps you talked politics at the thanksgiving dinner table and maybe you noticed stuffed buries were everywhere. here are the top lines, the leftovers edition. >> i'm getting whiplash watching these people. >> frrt creator of i'm running for office for pete's sake comes the story of two men trapped in oned about. mitt versus mitt. >> i will preserve a woman's right to choose. >> the right next step is to see roe vs. wade overturned. >> those who came here illegally should have permanent residency or citizenship. >> we would make a mistake

trying to describe which should be given am nest to jump ahead of the line and the people who have been waiting in line. >> i clearly did not call for amnesty and clearly did noting is 11 million people stay in the united states. >> she fully in support of president bush's amnesty program. >> it would be nice if they stuck to the facts. >> i am pri paired to take the heat. >> it was unthinkable a month ago for newt to get the endorsement. it would have been unthinkable. >> newt put together a radical and robust proposal. i think the most written out is now rick perry's of texas. romney put his plan in early and needs to update it to catch up with where the debate is going. >> the tea party point of view of no compromise is not a point of view that will produce a

presidential candidate. >> of course nowhere in all the political discourse among republican candidates is there any mention of the shocking rise in the number of americans now living in poverty. the best way to help those who have lost jobs and homes in the recession, but we have iron clad promises not to raise taxes and the willingness to raise everybody but themselves for the mess we are in. goldie taylor is ceo of the goldie taylor project and the princeton university radio show. goldie, do republicans understand what's happening in this country where almost 25% of all american children are now living at or below the poverty line? >> you have got to consider if newt gingrich is meeting the gop among presidential candidates, maybe they don't understand what it means. this is a guy that is 1994, 1995

wanted to strip parents who were on welfare of parental rights and send children to boys town orbeganages. i'm not sure if he understands if he is leading in the polls and would like to put the same children to work as assistants. you have to worry about this gop and how much concern they have for the working class families and by extension, the children of the families who are not surviving, but trying to strive and what has been a cool economy to them. >> professor west, you protested with occupy groups around the country. i believe you were in san francisco over the weekend. how would you describe the vision that these republican candidates are offering the nation? >> i think it's clear that candidates across the board have a very mean spirited vision that is a form of olegarchic rule for poor and working people either

rendered invisible or after afterthought. part of the insight of the occupy movement is we have the rule at work in both parties. no doubt the democrats would be better than the mean spiritedness, but it's a milquetoast rule that doesn't put working people at the center. i'm always reluctant to pit the democrats as if they are so good and the republicanss if they are bad. we know how bad the republicans are. the problem is that the democrats don't have the courage or backbone necessary to deal with the poverty and the working class stag nating wages and so on. >> sir, you were critical of president obama until recently. now that you have seen what the republicans are offering as an alternative, surely you get behind the president, don't you? >> you know, brother martin, i get behind principals. >> par know, sir, that the principals are represented by these two parties.

>> sure, but i always knew republicans have very little to offer, but i hoped the democrats would go beyond a milquetoast concern with no fundamental focus on the kind of foreclosure crisis and the catastrophe facing the country. is obama better than the republicans? of course, indeed. but is he what we need if the social forces behind him like wall street and corporate elite, if they are targeted so he is freed um to do what he ought to do, he is too imprisoned. >> democrats want to force a vote on extending the payroll tax holiday and the move could come as early as this week. before you tell me if you think it can pass, we need to watch this exchange between two senators over the weekend. give me a response. >> the payroll tax holiday has not stimulated job creation. we don't think that is a get way to do it.

>> i can't believe that. at a time when working families in this country are struggling paycheck to paycheck when we need them to have the resources to buy things in our economy and create wealth and profitability and more jobs, the republican position is that they will raise the payroll tax on working families? i think that just defies logic. >> goldie, do you believe republicans will vote to essentially raise taxes by refusing to extend the payroll tax holiday? >> i absolutely think they will. at the end of the day if you don't extend the tax holiday, it means a tax increase to most working class americans of $1,000 per year. that's $1,000 less than on goods and services and keep this economy moving. that's $1,000 less that causes what they believe will be a half million loss in jobs and certainly cannot afford to lose. they say it is about saving social security.

that's a long-term problem. we have 25% of our children today living in poverty. i think the families deserve to keep the $1,000. the real trade off is they don't want to pay for the tax cut by adding a surcharge on the very wealthy. that's what's behind this republican charge. >> dr. west, do you agree? >> no. she hits the nail on the head. i think the problem is that the poor children, keep in mind it's 42% of poor children who live at or near anded r they need a war against poverty to make it. to defend corporate interests and environmental interests. the occupy movement and some of this will be fought in the

streets. civil disobedience does make a difference. the corporate greed is an issue you have to talk about. everybody must talk about it because of the occupy movement. >> i think he makes a policy there. he makes a good point, yes. >> goldie taylor and professor west. thank you. as we go to break, one of the greatest hits from a man who championed the poor and oppressed. barney frank. he will be sorely missed. >> straight military personnel will have to shower with homosexual -- >> shower with homosexual. what do you think happens in the house of representatives? of course people shower with homosexuals. what do you think is wrong with people who shower with homosexuals. the spray makes it catchy? we know a place where tossing and turning

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>> egypt yens waited in lines to cast ballots in the first elections since the ousting of mubarak in february. from cairo, this is just the start as we know of a long voting process. we are hearing about a huge amount of enthusiasm for the election. what are you seeing and what have you seen throughout the day? >> we have seen very long lines at polling stations and at least in the early morning when i was walking around my neighborhood. i saw lines around the block. we got them from a lot of eyewitnesss. some as long as seven hours to guilty into a polling station and that's not a bad thing and a testament to the process. there is their have been some

irregularities. really a great showing of people and so much they extended voting hours by two more this evening and pick up on tuesday morning going to be a long day there as well. >> the state department said they will get positive reports with little or no violence at polling places. is that the case from your perspective? is it largely peaceful? >> yes, absolutely. to the credit of the organizers of the elections, the high commission, they knew they could not carry out elections across the entire country. what they did is they divided the country made up of 27 into nine for three days. today is the first round and they were able to have a judge to ensure the process will be secure and safe. there have been reports of irregularity, but all in all, all of the officials and people

we have been speaking to have a great deal of confidence and the elections are going through without major hindrance. >> thanks so much for joining us. for more on the ramifications of the elections for both egypt and the rest of the world, let's bring in professor of international relations at the london school of economics. good afternoon, sir. >> to you too. >> we had nine days of protests leading up to today's elections. 41 protesters have been killed. something like 2,000 injured. they have been broad by the flood of the people. >> the miscalculated monster in the public mood and the changed psychology and the rupture has taken place. including syria and yemen and libya. i think the people have shown courage and resilience and what we have seen in the last nine

days in particular, the people said no more dictatorship and no more authoritarianism and it's a testament to the courage of the egyptian people. >> how innovating is it for them to cast votes they feel will actually count for something after almost 30 years of rule by president mubarak. >> it's not just 32 years and the former president, since 1952. since the military took over power in egypt in 1952. this is why it's a very important day for egypt and egyptians. the first time in almost 60 years that the egyptians feel free to cast a ballot to get the representatives. this is why this is an historic moment. even though we are not seeing

the celebration that we see in tunisia, they feel an opigation and sense that they are sending a clear message to the military that the old order is there to feel empowered. >> given the importance of egypt and particularly it's peaceful with israel. is it fair to say that the whole world needs a stable egyptian democracy? >> we teach our student at the universities that whatever egypt goes, the region follows. the most pivotal state in the arab world and the most populous state in the arab world and almost 90 million people. the capital of the cultural production. in the 1920s and 30s and 40s, egypt was a parliamentary system. in the 1950s and 1960s, the nationalism was the order of the day.

the region went secular nationalism. since the 1970s, the region went islamist. the reality is egypt has always been a driver in the arab world and the great at least. democracy and egypt was critical not just for the egyptian people, but the region as well. >> do you expect by next year, the prominence of the army is likely to diminish or do you think the military will seek to hold on to power for as long as possible? >> make no doubt about it. they will fight tooth and nail to monopolization and control and seize power. what we have seen is a really second phase of the egyptian revolution being made before our eyes because the egyptian people are trying basically to dislodge the military from power and

that's why i believe the military will try to basically control and remain in power, the people will struggle to free themselves from military authoritarianism. i will bet on them to be free if not by next year, the year after, i hope. >> professor, thank you so much. >> pleasure. >> stay with us. the president is hosting european union leaders. we are going to take a break. back in a moment. ♪ but the fire is so delightful ♪ nothing melts away the cold like a hot, delicious bowl of chicken noodle soup from campbell's. ♪ let it snow, let it snow the new spark card from capital one. spark miles gives me the most rewards of any small business credit card. the spark card earns double miles... so we really had to up our game. with spark, the boss earns double miles on every purchase, every day. that's setting the bar pretty high.

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the president is hosting european union leaders a t the white house today, even as the market saw some strong gains following a positive start to holiday shopping over the thanksgiving weekend. markets were up and they're now up at about 225. also up on hopes that finance ministers are working to bring europe's debt crisis under control. but there are also fierce of a new recession in europe with expectations of growth

downgraded now for next year. for more on this, i'm joined by william cohen, author of "money and power." good afternoon, bill. why would european union leaders need to come to see the president of the united states, aside from the fact that they cannot agree about how they're going to get themselves out of their crisis? >> martin, one of the great lessons that we learned from the 2008 crisis is how interconnected we are. the economies of the world are totally and thoroughly interconnected. not only individually, firms individually, but also countries and nations and banks in various countries and nations. so the fact that they cannot agree is absolutely going to be visited on our shores sooner rather than later. in fact, our whole stock market, frankly, for the last six months has been on this roller coaster of european union ups and downs. they come here to try to get a little more guidance, as part of the theater of trying to get this done. >> and there's that worry, the word contagion -- >> it's more than a worry, it's

real. >> of course. but is there a possibility that as europe may slip into recession again in the year to come, is that going to affect america? >> absolutely. one of the great reasons that companies in this country have been able to earn so much profit is because the dollar has been low verses the euro, making our exports look very attractive, and tourists coming here to new york, you know, new york is overrun with tourists from europe. and if both of those things slow down, that's going to affect the profitability of companies in this country. we all know without those profits, we can't have -- expect companies to build new plant equipment or hire more workers. so it's a completely contained circle of life, if you will, and we all have to do our part here and make sure that all the parts are working together properly. >> treasury secretary tim geithner has repeatedly said in public that the european finance ministers need to get a grip on their own economies and take the distraction action that they need to. is the fact that they've had to

come to the white house an indication that they've not heeded that warning? they've basically not listened to what mr. geithner said? >> well, first of all, mr. geithner can say whatever he likes, he's not over there, but he's probably thinking about his own experience through our own financial crisis, where he, hank paulison, and ben bernanke, the three of them, were able to devise a plan of their own liking and tried to shove it down the rest of our throats. they were very effective in doing it, and it's a good thing they did, too. the t.a.r.p. really helped pull us out of our financial crisis. can you imagine trying to do with they did with 17, you know, independent voices? it's virtually impossible. it's like herding cats. so he needs them to try to do what he did, but he has to remember how impossible, virtually impossible that is. >> william cohan, as ever, thanks so much for joining us. and we'll be right back to clear the air. ced medicare prescription drug plan. ♪

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it's now time to clear the air. and for republicans, we have entered the final sprint before the people cast their votes and begin the process of selecting a nominee. but who'll it be? virtually every month, a different candidate has risen to the top of the pile. so we've had michele bachmann, herman cain, and now newt gingrich, each fighting to be a genuine alternative to mitt romney. and along the way, we've had some pretty remarkable public performances. for example, who could forget this. >> commerce, education, and the, um -- what's the third one there? let's see. >> or how about this? >> just want to the make sure we're talking about the same thing before i say, yes, i agree, or no, i didn't agree. i do not agree with the way he handled it for the following reason -- um -- nope, that's a different one. >> and while it has been embarrassing to observe the

incompetence and ignorance on display throughout the last few months, these gaffes haven't been the worst of it. much worse has been the vision, or lack of vision, presented by this field. nobody has seized the initiative, nor captured our imagination with a view of what we could be in the years to come. one candidate, michele bachmann, even held up china as an example that we should follow, a country without any programs for the poor and an appalling record on human rights. and she says we should be more like china. in his book, a community of character, professor stanley howess puts his finger on the real problem facing these republican candidates. he writes, "too often politics is treated solely as a matter of power, interests, or technique. we thus forget that the most basic task of any political group is to offer its people a sense of participation in an adventure." the reason why there have been

so many front-runners in this race is because none of these candidates has yet to offer the american people an adventure that they'd even consider embarking upon. and so now, we have newt gingrich. compared to the other candidates, he may be more intelligent, less prone to mistakes, but can he, with all of his heavy baggage, lift up americans in need of inspiration? that will be a challenge for him, but if i were you, i wouldn't hold your breath. thanks so much for watching. dylan ratigan is back and ready to move forward. dylan? how are you? >> very well. yourself? >> good. >> should we leave it at that for today? >> it's in your hands. you're in control. >> it seems adequate. >> thank you. >> the show starts right now. well, good monday afternoon to you. i am dylan ratigan.