quizes for christmas dinner. i'm sweating. >> really? >> nervous. >> very good. >> i don't think i learned much of anything. i'm a monkey. what do you expect? it's too early. what time is it? >> it's "morning joe" time. >> i did learn my mom is watching from my home. >> how are you doing? >> hey, mom. >> merry christmas. >> chris is hosting today for "the daily rundown." >> we can keep talking. >> best thing about the charlie daniels band if you listen to this song -- what type is it? >> time for "morning joe" and chris cillizza with "the daily rundown." >> wrap it up. >> remember when the gop field kept reserving their fire for democrats and president obama? well, with over a week to go before iowa voting begins the fight between mitt romney and newt gingrich has taken a nasty turn. gingrich is complaining loudly about the negative ads but if he had the money, would he be running them too?

plus the payroll tax cut extension. has house republicans backs themselves into a corner? they're taking heat from the republicans, conservative media. what's the path out of the stand-off? and after a tough year the end of december is looking better for president obama. will the trend continue? we'll look at his campaign strategy for holding on to the white house. it's thursday, december 22nd, 2011, and this is "the daily rundown." i'm chris cillizza in for chuck todd this morning. let's get to my first reads of the morning. we begin with the massive game of political chicken that is going on in our nation's capitol. in a last-ditch effort to extend the tax cut and unemployment benefits president obama called boehner. boehner wouldn't bend. with most of the conduct cuss leaving orrer are gone, chances of a deal appear slim. mark murray joins me now.

i was saying, before we came on, this is second verse, same as the first. we've been here for the last 24 to 48 hours which is essentially the house says we're not doing it the senate says we're not doing it. and certainly feels like house republicans are on an island at the moment. you're got senator republicans, democrats united in congress, the "wall street journal" editorial page saying this is not a good strategy and they need to change it. how can they -- is there a way out of the corner they've backed themselves into? >> that's the question we don't have an answer to now. yes, democrats hold a political and pr advantage now. talk to any republican outside the house gop, john boehner, eric cantor, they think this is a mistake for house republicans but how do you go? so the easiest thing for the house republicans to do is pass that senate legislation that passed by an 89-10 vote and say we're going to extend it for two months and let's go back to the drawing board, talk about a

year-long extension get our things but the question is, can they really do that? they've backed themselves into a corner. >> talk about, you know, how that would look. you just voted it down theoretically on principle that you don't think two months is enough and go back a week late somewhere say we're going to do it now. i want to play just to echo the fact that you've got a lot of republicans coming out against what house goppers are doing. this is bob corker from tennessee, republican senator. let's play what he had to say on cnbc yesterday. >> i know that -- oh, we don't have bob corker. republicans getting killed right now in public opinion in there's no question. are we on a bad path of public policy? no question. that's a republican from tennessee. >> right. >> this is not scott brown from ma ssachusetts ma we know lots f

voices have come out against this. does john boehner have enough control? that seems to be the question. does he have enough control to wrangle -- john boehner's a smart politician. does he have enough control to wrangle republicans in his conference, especially tea party republicans, to his cause and say, we've got to put a band aid on this, we're bleeding. one of the difficulties john boehner's had he's gone into meetings with mcconnell and reid to cut deal but was had to deal with the tea party base, conservative house republicans and it's put him in a difficult spot. as you know in politics, and also in poker, when you have a bad hand, you need to fold. you don't want to go all in on a two and a three. >> i'm a terrible gambler and even i know that. let's talk a little bit about -- again, second verse, same as the first -- newt gingrich getting more and more and more upset about mitt romney and his negative ads. but he's getting upset, but to

what end? he can't do much other than essentially say he's running these negative ads and it's bad. what is newt gingrich's recourse here? can he -- he's challenges mitt romney to a debate. i can't imagine mitt romney will agree to the debate before iowa. is this just newt gingrich doesn't have the money and this his only chance? >> chuck todd put it very well -- >> as he always does. >> -- when you don't have the money, this is your answer. you complain about the negativity. you i know in politics, negativity works. if it didn't people would never run a negative ad. so in newt gingrich is just getting hammered. i'm looking to see and he can hold on and withstand. one thing worth knowing. you look at his numbers in the polls that we've seen it's not as bad of an erosion as we saw rick perry back in october or herman cain in november or december. >> right. >> if he can withstand this, basically recuperate going into the holidays and have some blitz and mojo, he's not completely out of this but it's not looking

good. >> like the mojo "morning joe" reference. this is the back and forth between romney and gingrich. let just -- let's watch. i want to analyze from a rhetorical perspective, can gingrich win the fight? let's watch. >> i know the speaker would like to say, look we slunts hashould negativity. if you can't handle the heat in the kitchen the heat from obama's hell's kitchen will be a lot hot. >> if he wants to test the heat i'll meet him anywhere in iowa next week, oneone-on-one, no moderator, just a time keeper. i'll be glad to debate him any war. bring his ads and he can defend him. >> i love the idea of the newt gingrich slogan, let's test out this kitchen. >> or as nellie might say, it's getting hot in here. >> i like that. my wife will appreciate that st. louis reference. the question here is that, like yes, newt is good rhetorically.

without a debate, something where he has a forum to reach lots of people, newt gingrich's best chance is us talking about it or him meeting iowa voters. meanwhile mitt romney's super pac is spending millions reaching lots of iowa voters. can he reverse it? the fade isn't drastic, it's a slow fade. given where he is financially and organizationally in iowa can he reverse it? rhetoric is not going to enough. >> i think he can. it's all about iowa. if newt gingrich is able to end up winning iowa he's going to get the boost he needs to go into the other early nominating states. so he might not need a tv ad to run but what he could do is hold a press conference in des moines, cedar rapids and say, mitt romney isn't the true conservative in this race, i am and here's why, and try to engage them that what and hope his allies -- what newt gingrich seems to is say if it's between mitt romney and a conservative, i'm the only conservative.

>> he needs someone amplifying that message on television. >> right now it's not happening. >> nbc deputy political editor, mark murray, thanks for joiningus. >> christmas is just around the corner. there's little to cheer about on capitol hill. as we've reported, it could cost 160 million americans $1,000 if congress fails to extent the payroll tax cut. the white house, democrats and senate republicans are demanding that house republicans pass a two-month extension as soon as possible. but gop house lead have dug in their heels. nan hayworth is from new york and joins us now. thank you. look it feels -- mark murray and i were discussing this -- it feels as though house republicans are on island here. senate republicans, the white house, the "wall street journal" editorial board saying cut bait, make the two-month deal, let's move on because we don't want to be holding the bag on a tax increase on middle class americans.

what say you? >> chris, there's not going to be a tax increase on middle class americans come january 1st, that, i can assure you of. we're fighting here with the n continent. we represent the american people and rerepresent common sense. we passed a bill that gave them a full year of payroll tax relief that gave them two years of medicare assurance that our seniors and doctor whose care for them won't face devastating cuts in reimbursements, 13 months of the extension of unemployment insurance. those are big things. that's a big deal. we're fighting for that to the last minute because we have to. that's our job. >> now, congresswoman, dave camp, chairman of the ways and means committee, has floated the idea -- on cnbc -- of a three-month extension as a compromise. now, in your mind, is that acceptable?

obviously house republicans think two months is not enough a year is preferable, is three months where common ground could be found in your opinion? >> we're working to find common ground, chris. there's no question. but that's why you have a conference commity, that's why we're calling the senate and our democratic colleagues to return to the negotiating table. the idea is, yes, we negotiate. and we reach an agreement. the best possible agreement we can get for the american people. a year would be preferable. >> but congresswoman, here what happens i would say, i understand your point about the conference committee, and i know many house republicans are saying that, but we're nine days away from at least $1,000 tax increase on most americans. is the regular order of the way congress should work really the acceptable option now, given how -- first of all the holidays -- but given how close we are to this? shouldn't we take extraordinary steps to make this work? >> we will make it work, chris,

but we're trying to do our best to allow the process that has works since the founding of this country to work again. we're here. americans across the country, chris, you know that, work across the holiday season. i'm a doctor, i've done it for years. i am more than willing to do it now. we need to provide the american people with as much assurance as we can. and i can tell you, as a doctor who cares for medicare patients, america's doctors are really not happy at all with another two-month kick the can down the road to use the cliche, but one that's true. this is extremely troubling. it's very hard to make plans when you have only a couple of months. this isn't the way to do things. >> let's me ask you one last question, quickly, i want to play some sound. this is bob corker, conservative republican from tennessee, a senator, what he had to say how this is impacting the republican party yesterday on cnbc. >> are republicans getting

killed right now in public opinion? there is no question. are we on a bad path as it relates to public policy? no question. both republicans and democrats have agreed this is going to happen, and probably the best thing to happen now is just to get it over with. >> republicans are getting killed in public opinion. that is a republican senator from tennessee. do you disagree? >> well, i've been talking with my constituents in the hudson valley of new york and i can tell you that yesterday one of them told me, on radio that goes across orange county, new york, that he's with me. he's with us because he says it will be very difficult for payroll administrators and small businesses to manage a two-month extension. it just doesn't make sense. so we're getting positive messages from our district and not just from that fellow citizen, but from many others. they want us to fight for them. and that's what we're doing. we will get them the relief they

need. we want it to be the greatest possible arrangement that we can make for them in very challenging times. >> congresswoman nan hayworth, thank you for joining us. >> thank you. >> while the republicans jockey for position in iowa and new hampshire, team obama is looking at the whole country mapping out their path to victory. we're busting out our calculators. yes, i have a pocket calculator. show you the multiple ways president obama can beat a republican candidate whomever that might be. still to come -- iraq's future hanging in the balance. coordinated attacks rock baghdad days after the last u.s. troops pulled out. but first, a look ahead at the president's schedule. 12:00, statement to urge house republicans to pass the short-term bipartisan compromise. remember, president obama and the democrats believe they have the high ground and are going push on this payroll tax. you're watching "the daily rundown" only on msnbc. we know a place where tossing and turning

have given way to sleeping. where sleepless nights yield to restful sleep. and lunesta can help you get there, like it has for so many people before. when taking lunesta, don't drive or operate machinery until you feel fully awake. walking, eating, driving, or engaging in other activities while asleep, without remembering it the next day, have been reported. abnormal behaviors may include aggressiveness, agitation, hallucinations or confusion. in depressed patients, worsening of depression, including risk of suicide, may occur. alcohol may increase these risks. allergic reactions, such as tongue or throat swelling, occur rarely and may be fatal. side effects may include unpleasant taste, headache, dizziness and morning drowsiness. ask your doctor if lunesta is right for you. then get lunesta for $0 at lunesta.com. there's a land of restful sleep. we can help you go there on the wings of lunesta.

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while the republican candidates fight it out for the nomination, president obama's team has been pouring over the electoral map, figuring out paths to take to get the 270 electoral votes to win a second term joining me, charlie cook and editor of the cook political report and stew rothenburg, contributing writer. i will say two people who have been my mentors. very nice to have you both. we want to talk about the map. we start with 246, the amount that john kerry won in 2004. charlie, you wanted to make a quick point, before we go into the numbers, about the broad map. go ahead.

>> i think before you look at the electoral college, the important thing to think about is demographics. the way i look at it for president obama in were four legs to the stool to his victory last time. african-americans, latinos, young people, and independents. now, african-americans, i'm going to assume, look, unemployment's 15.5% with african-americans but i'm going to assume he's going to get the vote and turnout he got last time. latino voters the job approval rating is only 51%. does that suggest the supercharge turnout he got last time? young people, 18 to 29, it's 48%. does that suggest the turnout? independents 38%, 33% among pure independents. like three of the four legs of the stool -- >> not where he was in 2008. >> -- are very, very weak. >> these are the maps that the obama senior campaign team have

laid out. start with 246. those are states that john kerry, these are the states we assume barack obama will win. this is our baseline. assume, again, always a dangerous thing, let's start on the first one, add florida, a fast-growing state, that's 29 more votes. now he's at 275. give me your quick run. how plausible is that a path? >> i think it's plausible, certainly if you get a big hispanic turnout, we're not talking about cubans growing republicans. seniors get scared about the republicans' ability to run the economy and entitlements and things like that. you can imagine that. but i would take issue with starting at 246. i mean, when i do my count -- i don't know what you, charlie, i start with 190 for each, for the rs and ds. >> wisconsin, new hampshire, maybe pennsylvania. they're beginning with a nice sweet scenario but i'm not sure that's where it should be.

>> it's a good point. let's go to the west. this is another path. again, go back to 246, which may be shaky. we add colorado, new mexico, nevada and that western state of iowa. you know you got to stick this into the framework. na gets him to 272. not a huge victory but democrats have had gains in the west of late. how likely? >> let's start with the least west. iowa the economy is in good shape. >> right. >> i'm assuming time for a change, it won't be that strong. so i would be willing to sort of say the president probably, as my chair starts sinking to the ground, he probably does iowa. new mexico, i think that they're going to have real turnout problems with latinos but new mexico is democratic enough where that's going to be okay. i think it's the nevada is the tough one. the economy's so horrible. and heavily dependent upon latino vote, that's the problem of that group. >> the midwest. stu, starting at 246le.

weep include iowa, belongs in the midwest. and and ohio, 18 votes. this is the path i fine the most fascinating, the industrial midwest, where he struggled the most during the prime plaer and in the general election tougher. this is critical, this is where the economy's struggling with the exception of iowa, as charlie points out. >> this is really -- we say it's iowa and ohio, but it's ohio, ohio, ohio. if he doesn't win ohio, he's -- it doesn't matter if he wins iowa. it's about changing what the election is about for obama to win. he has to make it, it's about the republicans who have made it impossible for us to address the economy and jobs and they stood in the way. if he can't do that, if it's a ref den rum on him, it's difficult imagining him win win ohio. >> in ohio a huge year for republicans in 2010, one in senate, five house seats.

back to 246, the south, this is the one most fascinating, louisiana native. we're not going to talk about louisiana. >> that's not -- >> that would be farfetched. north carolina and virginia. now, virginia, no democrat won since johnson in '64 before obama. no democrat since carter in '76. can he do it again? he wins those two, he's got 28 more. and he's over 270. >> i think virginia's the one that's just right, right teetering on the edge. my hunch is, if the president can carry north carolina, he won't need it because he would probably have gotten 270 elsewhere. but virginia's the one that's just right on the edge. i think it could end up being the most important state because i think the president may very welcome up short in ohio and florida. and the only way you get to 270, if that happens, is through virginia, the virginia, colorado, you have do a little fancy stuff there. i think virginia could end up being the most critical state. >> there are no two people, i

would rather talk electoral college about, than stu and charlie. thank you for joining me. happy holidays. in time for the holidays, is the economy starting to pick up steam? the market rundown is next. plus -- >> five, seven, six, six, eight, nine. >> it's the most famous campaign commercial in history and it only aired one time. coming up, we'll look at how that lyndon johnson ad changed political advertising forever. but first, today's trivia question. who was the first president not born a british subject. tweet us @dailyrundown. the first correct answer will get a follow thursday. that and much more coming up on "the daily rundown."

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>> just minutes away from the opening bell. it's time for the market rundown. cnbc's becky quick joins us. >> good morning. the opening bells a couple of minutes away, and this morning investors are trying to invest two conflicting pieces of data about the u.s. economy. first of all, we've got jobless claims and jobless claims came in lower than expected, that's very good news. they came in at 364,000, which was a drop of 4,000. and it was well below what xw e economists had been expecting. the lowest number in over 2 1/2 years and the third week in a row that number has come in below expectation. even the doubters are starting to put this together and say, maybe things are looking better than expected. there is a school of thought that says maybe a month from now you'll start to see improvement at the unemployment number, chipping away at that as people really start to get back to work. now, that's what people are hoping for. that's the good news. the bad news out of the economy this morning is that the gross

domestic product outlook, the gross product revision for the third quarter, that's just how much the country's growing, came in at 1.8%, and that was below what people had been expecting. already we have been looking at numbers of 2% and better. economists were very surprised by that number. turns out that americans were using fewer services than they had been or -- than they had been on the earlier looks that we got at this number and that has people concerned because, as you start to lose and get below 2%, there's a real concern whether we hit a stall speed for the economy. markets taking it all in. the dow's going to open up by 30 points. >> mixes signals the story of the year. thank you. next, going negative. as mitt romney and newt gingrich clash over the barrage of ads airing in iowa, we're looking at evolution of political advertising. how one commercial five decades ago changes the whole tone of politics in this country. and it only aired once. stick around. you're going to want to see

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back with the "the daily rundown." i'm chris cillizza in for chuck todd this morning. here are some other stories making headlines. less than a week after the last u.s. soldier left iraq, the capital has been hit by the worst wave of violence in months. at least 60 people were killed in 14 separate bombings across baghdad today. the attacks appeared to target mostly shiite neighborhoods, raising fears of new sectarian civil war. in pakistan, a u.s. investigation blames mistakes and a lack of communication on both sides for a friendly fire incident that killed two dozen pakistani troops last month. nbc news has learned the u.s. will offer condolence payments to families of those soldiers. the pakistani military says the report amounts to a whitewash. bank of america has agreed to $335 million in payments to

resolve allegations its countrywide unit discriminated against minorities seeking home loans. countrywide is accused of charging them higher fees and interest rates, than white borrowers. mitt romney and ron paul are blitzing the airwaves in iowa just days befored january 3rd iowa caucuses. those ads are aimed at newt gingrich but they're the mainstay of modern presidential campaigning. and they all have their roots in a single ad that aired just one time, amazingly, way back on september 7th, 1964. chuck todd recently took a look back at the spot that started it all. >> it's the most iconic, political tv ad in history. >> one. two. three. four. five. seven. six.

six. eight. nine. nine. >> ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one. these are the stakes to make a world in which all of god's children can live or to go into the dark. we must either love each other or we must die. >> vote for president johnson on november 3rd. the stakes are too high for you to stay home. >> with me now is bob mann author of "daisy petals and mushroom clouds." the ad that changed american politics. you chose to write a book just on this ad, the political moment of the time.

ad aired one time, september 7th, 1964, what happened that day phone the campaign trail? >> johnson, lyndon johnson held a big rally in detroit. >> first one. >> first one, kick-off, labor day kick-off of the fall election campaign, 100,000 people in the audience and gave a speech and attacked barry gold water and it didn't go over very well. i think people thought, this is a slow start to the campaign, in fact "the new york times" story did sort of imply that it was a slow start to the campaign. they didn't know what johnson had in store for 50 million tv viewers late that night. >> the state of the race at time we look at '64, think landslide. did it feel like a land decide september 1964? >> some ways it did. johnson was ahead, that day probably 30 points ahead in the gallup polls. johnson was not going to be satisfied with just a within. he wanted an historic win. he wanted to beat fdr's numbers

and his re-election and he wanted a mandate. >> all right. so the add ad airs once on nbc, 50 million people estimated to see it. and then it went viral in its day. explain. >> well, it -- that -- it created quite a stir because no one has seen anything quite like it. all of the three major news networks did stories on it. >> let's back up there a minute. political ads up until that day were all what? describe them. >> well, they were boring and not creative. and there wasn't a whole lot of spot advertising. we think of spot advertising of 30 and 60-second spots as being routine, which they are now, but prior to that, candidates generally bought 30, 15-minute blocks of time and delivered a campaign speech. >> they didn't buy too many 30-second -- >> they did a little. eisenhower did a lot. >> speaks to the voters. >> that wasn't the common practice. it was preempting tv shows. so the johnson people and johnson's ad firm decided we're going all in on spot

advertising. and that was the big innovation of that campaign. >> that was the first one. '64 more than kennedy in '60. >> absolutely. >> the firm, tell me about the ti firm. >> doyle dane burnback, firm that had done volkswagen. >> mad men of its day. >> exactly. and john f. kennedy, as president, saw those volkswagen ads and was intrigued. he liked the humor in them. he had a wry sense of humor. he asked his brother-in-law to find the firm. it fell to the democratic national committee to pick up the reins and they worked with firm and hires them to do campaign. >> political candidates sometimes screen their tv ads sometimes they don't. do we know if lbj screens the ad? >> yes, he did screen the ad. they went to the white house and showed it to him and everybody

kind of -- it was a check everybody gas and people said it would be a big deal. >> gasp at wincing? >> they never had seen anything quite like it. the reaction in the room is what they assumed would be the reaction in the public. johnson, the comment he made he thought the quality of his voice was kind of poor and they didn't do anything about that and went with the ad presented to him. >> thanks for coming. >> that was chuck todd with bob mann author of a new book on the iconic daisy ad in 1964. a dare say one of the best political books in 2011. negative cam tainike campai this psych cycle. first the white house soup of the day. candied sweet potato. if i want sweet potato i will eat a sweet potato not soup. just one phillips' colon health probiotic cap a day

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and lunesta can help you get there, like it has for so many people before. when taking lunesta, don't drive or operate machinery until you feel fully awake. walking, eating, driving, or engaging in other activities while asleep, without remembering it the next day, have been reported. abnormal behaviors may include aggressiveness, agitation, hallucinations or confusion. in depressed patients, worsening of depression, including risk of suicide, may occur. alcohol may increase these risks. allergic reactions, such as tongue or throat swelling, occur rarely and may be fatal. side effects may include unpleasant taste, headache, dizziness and morning drowsiness. ask your doctor if lunesta is right for you. then get lunesta for $0 at lunesta.com. there's a land of restful sleep. we can help you go there on the wings of lunesta. [ cat yodeling ] honey, check your email! [ cellphone chimes ]

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♪ [ male announcer ] build your own unique memories with persona beads. now at zales, the diamond store. he tried to light up this matches to kind of like put his own shoe on fire and explode. >> daily flashback to this day in 2001, ten years ago when richard reid tried to blow up a flight with explosives hissen in his shoes. he was subdues by the plane's crew and passengers. a self-proclaimed al qaeda member, reed later plead guilty and sentenced to life in president. a decades later we're still taking our shoes off as we go through airport security. 12 days until iowa and newt gingrich is talking and talking and talking about one thing -- >> if he wants to test the heat, i'll meet him anywhere in iowa

next week. he wants to try out the kitchen. test out the kitchen. i'm happy. i'll go in the kitchen. governor romney, would he like to play in the kitschen? "the washington post" fact checker gave one of romney's ads four pinocchios. i don't know what the limits post is when you can get a six or nine pinocchio. not one pinocchio. not three. he got four pinocchios. >> jamal simmons national democratic editor for govote.com, susan page, washington bureau chief, and political editor for thegrio.com. glenn kessler is "the washington post" report who writes the fact checker ad and gives pinocchios. newt gingrich giving him publicity, not one, not two, not three, but four times. this appears that newt gingrich is generally annoyed. chuck todd joked newt gingrich

stayed overnight in iowa and saw all of the negative ads being run. got under his skin. the question is, what recourse does he have beyond this? mitt romney's not going to agree to a debate in the remaining days before iowa. is this the best that they can do, if you're newt? doesn't have the money and done have the organization to push back. >> he's made this i'm in a campaign positively pledge as well. that's another big problem for him, he keeps saying i don't want to attack my opponents, his wife has been subtle about romney. that's a big problem for him, he can't push back the way he wants to without the money, and these ads are working. >> more, susan, on romney kind of needling newt getting under his skin. the virginia ballot, getting on the virginia ballot, one of the highest bars you have to have 10,000 verified signatures. romney has been poking gingrich on this. let's play this and talk about. >> if people violated the law they should be held accountble. you think people violated the law? >> i'm not an investigator, i'm

not a prosecutor,ãall of our signatures in virginia and gingrich last night doing an event today in virginia to goat the signatures. he said we have at least one competitor running for six years, has raises millions from his close friends, his close friends and did youtube, little youtube i'm being orderly. i want to tell you up front, that ain't us. is mitt romney getting to newt gingrich here? >> he clearly is. when you do attacks against another candidate you hurt your opponent but you hurt yourself too. in this case the tough attacks

that romney's doing against gingrich, it's from his super pac which he has a certain distance, though run by former staffs are and, it protects romney. he doesn't do the frontal assault by and large against gingrich. >> it's a great point. i feel like in debates he's uncomfortab uncomfortable. the 10,000 bet line came out of the -- we know how that went. an interesting thing i've noticed, last couple of days, we're three days away from christmas, the last couple of days we've seen the candidates' wives on the air as much as the candidates. let's play ads with ann romney, anita perry, talking about their husbands. let's play that. >> if you really want to know how a person will operate, look at how they've lived their life and i think that's why it's so important to understand the character of a person. to me that makes a huge difference. maybe some voters it doesn't but for me it makes a huge difference. >> it's an old fashions american

story, i married my high school sweetheart but first i had to wait as he volunteered for the air force and flew planes all over the world. i'm anita perry. we grew up in small towns raises with christian values, val cues we still believe in. >> newt gingrich wasn't mentioned in the ads. people in iowa know the newt gingrich history, he's been married three times before. why put your wife on television? everything is strategic, none of these things happen by accident. >> one of the toughest thing do in a campaign is how to cam taken during the holiday. peep don't want to hear your back and forth and all of that. they get tired of it, things get softer. into between it's a wonderful life and the grinch who stole christmas -- charlie brown christmas, you don't want to have a hard-hitting punch. you want to find a way to deliver a message that's softer, creative everybody won't turn

voters off while getting another browning. >> make sure the suit's still buttoned. susan "usa today" wrote about this, this has been underplayed about ron paul, a guy who is either in first or second in iowa. there have been some reports about newsletters that were written under -- he say he didn't write them -- but under his name in the 1990s. talk about the newsletters and let's come back and talk about it. >> i didn't write them. i disavow them. that's it. >> but you made money off of them? >> i was still practicing medicine. that was probably why i wasn't a good publisher. >> these things are incendiary. >> because of people like you. >> no, no, no, no, come on. some of the stuff was very incendiary, saying in 1993 the israelis were ponresponsible fo the bombing of the world trade center, that kind of stuff. >> good-bye. >> what's striking about that is of everyone's willing to talk to the media, ron paul, he'll go almost anywhere and talk to

almost any one. the pack that ron paul would break off with the interview, you see him fiddle with his mike, you see where it's headed, tell us about the story. >> ron paul as we heard says now that he didn't write these racist and other incendiary columns but appeared in his newsletter in 199 6 he did an interview in which he said he did write them were words were taken out of context but a different version of events than now. >> welcome close to front-runner status in iowa. dr. paul. this is the treatment you get. we'll be back with our tree you. before that, trivia time. who was the first president who was not born a british subject. the answer, i didn't know this, martin van buren, born december 5, 1782, in kirnnderhook, new york. he wasn't of british ancestry. take that.

his parents were dutch. we'll be right back. you're watching "the daily rundown" only on msnbc.wi hout a. i took ssteep risks in my teens. i'd never ride without one now. and since my doctor prescribed lipitor, i won't go without it for my high cholesterol and my risk of heart attack. why kid myself? diet and exercise weren't lowering my cholesterol enough. now i'm eating healthier, exercising more, taking lipitor. numbers don't lie. my cholesterol's stayed down. lipitor is fda approved to reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke in patients who have heart disease or risk factors for heart disease. it's backed by over 19 years of research. [ female announcer ] lipitor is not for everyone, including people with liver problems and women who are nursing, pregnant or may become pregnant. you need simple blood tests to check for liver problems. tell your doctor if you are taking other medications, or if you have any muscle pain or weakness. this may be a sign of a rare but serious side effect. [ man ] still love that wind in my face! talk to your doctor. don't kid yourself about the risk of heart attack and stroke. if lipitor's been working for you, stay with it. lipitor may be available for as little as $4 a month with the lipitor co-pay card. terms and conditions apply.

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i think that the petty politics between senate majority leader harry reid and the president really demeans the united states and really turns us into looking a lot like italy at a bad parliamentary crisis. this entire weekend crisis is pure politics, and it is baloney. >> that was newt gingrich speaking moments ago in richmond, virginia, and dropping the obligatory italy reference. let's bring back our panel. jamal, i want to start with you. you heard newt about the president. here's what john mccain one time adversary to the president. here's what john mccain had to say about the role of the president should be taking in the tax cut debate. >> i think that the president should play much more of a lead role rather than go shopping for his dog. the reality is, brian, this

issue is hurting republicans, democrats are exploiting it, and i would hope that maybe house members might come back and vote the same bill the senate passed and only make it a year instead of two months. >> go shopping for his dog. john mccain has not lost his ability to stick the knife in and twist. >> what is the role -- >> the president's been home alone for about six days now, the guy's trying to stick here and get a payroll tax cut, took his dog out to go shopping. what america is it mccain is in that you attack people for playing with their dogs? it's not going to work. the real issue is about john boehner. john boehner is now establishing a track record of not really being somebody you can cut a deal with that's going to stick. and now you have republicans who are getting nervous about this, as well. there's going to be real questions about how do you deal with a republican caucus when you can't get the speaker to cut a deal that will stick. >> i know you spent time

covering capitol hill. it seems as though john boehner is wrangling them is the kindest word you can say. does he have control over the republican conference? >> they don't view politics the way he does. he's at the core of it, likes compromises, and i think eric cantor gets where things are headed a little more. the people elected in 2010 don't want to come here and get things done, don't want to work together. compromise is a dirty word and boehner, it seems he has to adjust to that. he hasn't always done that this far. >> it's shameless plug time. susan page. >> shameless plug for the man next to me, political director, congratulations. >> thank you. >> washington post's loss, msnbc's gain. >> thank you. >> i just started as you saw, govote.com, which started about a week and a half ago. the one place you can go on the

web and find anybody running for office and anybody in office right now. govote.com is our new effort. >> terry -- >> i'll plug my tie to say thanks to my fiancee for buying it and merry christmas. >> and on that note about significant others, today is my wife's birthday. gia, happy birthday, i love you. thanks for always sticking by me. we know -- these three people know how hard that can be. that's it for this edition of "the daily rundown." tomorrow on our show, the look back on the year that was. and coming up "chris jansing and company." and don't miss andrea mitchell reports with me. .. ...got promoted to director? so 12 seconds ago. we should get him a present. thanks for the gift basket. you're welcome. you're welcome. did you see hr just sent out new... ...office rules? cause you're currently in violation of 6 of them. oh yeah, baby? ...and 7. did you guys hear that fred is leaving? so 30 seconds ago. [ noisemakers blow ] [ both ] we'll miss you! oh, facecake!

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