it's sea world, and those feeding off what's being offered in des moines and davenport and elsewhere will want a lot more if their side gets in. thanks for being with us. "politics nation" with al sharpton starts right now. no more mr. nice newt. for weeks gingrich vowed to stay positive. but now the gloves are finally coming off. i'd watch my back if i were you, willard. going to extremes. iowa front-runner ron paul has disowned the views of far right extremists, but he doesn't seem to mind their support at the polls. and this picture had a lot of people smiling over the weekend, but here's something the president can smile about. new polls show his message is working. >> this country succeeds when everyone gets a fair shot, when everyone does their fair share.

>> welcome to "politics nation." i'm al sharpton. tonight's lead. newt gingrich promised to honor the gop's 11th commandment not to attack other republicans. but tonight he's going back on that promise and going after mitt romney. >> to have somebody who is a massachusetts moderate, who said he did not want to go back to the reagan/bush years, who voted as a democrat for paul tsongas in '92, who campaigned to the left of teddy kennedy, who has recently running for governor said i'm really sort of a moderate pragmatic guy, to have him run a commercial that questions my conservatism? >> with just one week to iowa caucus, newt is falling in the polls and desperate to stay alive in this race. the gingrich camp is launching a full-fledged attack on willard's record as a massachusetts moderate. they sent an e-mail pointing out

that romney was eager to show he is a moderate independent and no ideologue, and that romney indicated that he would side with the moderate wing. they ask can we trust a massachusetts moderate to enact a conservative agenda? newt's doing all he can to respond to recent attacks on his character. >> it's a character problem. >> he doesn't have the discipline that you want in a president. >> newt has a ton of baggage. he was fined $300,000 for ethics violations. >> he's also trying to defuse the attacks on his record. >> everything that gingrich railed against when he was in the house, he went the other way when he got paid to go the other way. >> you're an embarrassment to our party. >> this guy hasn't got skeletons in his closets, he's got a whole graveyard in there. >> newt's gearing up for a fight, but is it too little too late? joining me is bob slum,

democratic strategist and professor at nyu, and michael steele, former rnc chairman and now an msnbc news analyst. thank you both for being here to the. >> good to be with you, rev, merry christmas. >> same to you and no tuxedo tonight, mr. steele. >> i know. you were looking good, rev. >> thank you, sir. >> bob, is this 11th hour counterattack by newt going to work? >> i don't think it will work in part because he's doing it in the free media, the earn media, and he's having hundreds of thousands of dollars of negative ads thrown at hip. gingrich says it's not a negative attack and, of course, to me calling someone a moderate is a negative but i'm not the target audience for this. the target audience is a group of very conservative voters in iowa. i think romney now sees a chance that he's going to win iowa and end this thing maybe early, and he wins even if he comes in second to ron paul because ron paul is an unthinkable republican nominee, so they want

to just push off newt. you can see romney trying to ride high now, trying to be positive. newt is trying to get back at him, but i don't think it's going to work. >> now mr. steele, we look at the poll numbers. the real clear politics numbers show that gingrich went from the 11th of december from 31% all the way to now, 15%. paul has gone up from 17% the 11th of december, up to 22% on the 27th, and romney's kind of steady, 18%, 18%. >> right. >> 20, now he's 21, and then we look at the national polls. gingrich has gone from the 8th of december where he had beaten romney, this is on the national polls. >> right. >> 37-23. now they are dead even just about, 25-24. so newt has reason to be concerned. but is this desperate move going to backfire? >> i don't know so much about

backfiring but i agree with you about the desperation, and i also agree with bob slum that i don't know what the ultimatum pact of it going to be given the timetable we're in. i mean, look, $3 million plus in negative advertising has obviously had an impact. what i find is it's done very little to improve the position numerically of mitt romney but that was not the point. the point was to bring down the numerical position of newt gingrich, even if it had the opposite impact of increasing the opportunity for someone like a ron paul. i think it also may have a positive impact for someone like a rick santorum, so the dynamics for newt are very tough right now, but, you know, in talking with some of his folks and talking with some of the santorum people as well, i think that the dynamics are going to still be a little bit more in flux. folks are still undecided. a huge undecided number out there, reverend, in terms of those who will show up next

tuesday so there's still some room for newt to grab and hold on to a third place, maybe a second place finish and that's probably hopeful right now, but we'll see how he works these numbers over the next few days. >> bob, isn't the fact now it's down to a weeks so this is a real deal now. this is beyond the candidates spending. we really need to look at the mechanics of caucus because caucus is about who has organization, who can bring their numbers out. unless you have an overall enthusiasm, and we're not seeing this for any of the candidates, and they are starting to play dirty. i mayne mean, you ran a lot of campaigns. when you start seeing things like attacks on candidates coming from anonymous text messages. look at this text message. romney exposed at 2012 caucuses. romney pro-life? and voters were instructed to call a phone number for more information. then when they called the number, you -- the number now

that's totally anonymous, it says mitt romney on life. i believe abortion should be safe and legal in this kun tris -- in this country. i won't even read t.play t. >> mitt romney on life. >> i believe that abortion should be safe and legal in this country. i believe that since "roe v. wade" has been the law for 20 years that we should sustain and support it. >> now when you start getting anonymous texts, you make a call and have a tape of romney that's pro-choice, that is in a very conservative state, i mean, somebody's playing a little ugly here. >> yeah, i'm not sure that ugly is the right word. i was actually there when romney said that. it was in a debate with senator kennedy, and he went on to explain that he was pro-choice in part because there was someone ose to his family who had died of a botched illegal abortion so he he said he had to be pro-choice. you know, what's happened to him here is that -- >> they are not giving that

whole context. >> if they went on to relate it to a personal experience. they are attacking the guy for being a con man, change is his positions on fundament al principles of consciousness. romney is in the odd position of saying it's a dirty, mean, lowdown negative attack to quote me accurately from 1994. >> and that is a real precarious place to be, but let me go back to you, michael steele. mr. gingrich said tonight he is not going to promise that he would vote for ron paul, and he went further and said that he thinks nobody would take him seriously. what does that do to the unity of the party, your party, going

forward when you now have one of the three front-runners at least in the early states saying he may not even vote for the other if he is the nominee? >> well, i think the unity issue has been kind of blown out of the water long before now, and i think you're going to see more of that as this iowa vote settles accounts on next tuesday. more and more people are going to hedge their bets about romney. they will hedge their bets certainly -- if ron paul is the nominee you'll probably see more of the establishment and others coming out and distancing themselves. i think that's unfortunate but that's the way this is going to get played out so the whole concept of the reagan 11th commandment and unity has long been blown up and kld a lie because starting with the romney campaign over the last few weeks, the ron paul campaign as well. they have been hitting below the belt and then some, and then i think that stings. we saw it in 2008 where all that

comity went out the door and people were very upset by the time it was over and the energy to support the nominee eventually dissipated. >> now bob, we saw in "the weekly standard" that bill kristol called for some others to still jump in. he said, quote, it's no time for leaders to duck responsibility. now is not a time for leaders to engage in clever calculations of the odds of success or to succumb to concerns about how they will look if they enter the fray and fall short. now is the time to come to the aid of our country. he sounds like he has no confidence in those that are on the stage, come to the aid of our country. don't worry about how it looks. help, help, help. >> well, you've got to admire bill because he just doesn't give in. this is the fifth or sixth time he's written the same editorial. >> exactly. >> he doesn't like mitt romney. he doesn't think mitt romney should be the nominee. for a while he kind of liked

perry but even though perry appears now able to talk, people still think he can't be the nominee so they are looking for somebody else. there isn't going to be somebody else. the republican establishment faced with the threat of newt gingrich i think wield very effectively behind mitt romney. i think romney is likely to be first or second in iowa, may very well be first. and then he'll win new hampshire and do okay in south carolina, probably win florida and the republican national chairman now suggests they may get an early nominee. i think that may be right. by the way, i have to add i'm not actually sure that michael steele would vote for ron paul for president even if he won't say it. >> well, i won't put him on the spot right now but i will ask you this, michael. if the scenario that bob just laid out was the case, if you see romney win iowa or come in a strong second, win new hampshire and well in south carolina and win florida, is it over? >> i don't think so because i still think there's going to be

other candidates -- maybe two at the most who will still garner some electoral support because the early states are proportional states so they will get something. how much and how that's leveraged could have an impact and stretch it out, not necessarily to june but maybe through late march possibly, but we'll see on that, and i think the other point, that you know, bob made about, you know, the establishment, i think he's exactly right again. they have clearly made up their mind. the bill kristols of the world are listening and whistling but that reality is not going to come home. there's no life in that energy at all so romney's the go-to guy for the establishment in d.c. and the establishment is putting their imprimatur on that as well and hoping getting past the possibility of a ron paul and newt gingrich from their point of view. i kind of like the mix myself so here's for a longer process than a shorter one. >> well, bob slum and michael

steele, thank you for your time. i didn't put you on the spot about ron paul, but keep watching the show because i'm going to talk about what ron paul's newsletter thought about people like you and me. >> oh, yes, sir. it's getting hot in here. >> we do have something to say about that. >> yes, we do. >> ahead, newt gingrich slams ron paul over his connection to racist newsletters. saying he has a long way to go in explaining himself. we'll talk about paul's extremist supporters next. plus, message received. more signs that president obama's fight for fairness is paying off. and a major development in the battle over voter suppression. we've been talking about it for months here. what it could mean for the 2012 election. you're watching "politics nation" on msnbc. [ coughing ]

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up next, ron paul has denied even reading controversial newsletters published under his name, so why did he once pre-motor them as a key part of his political machine? nick, what are you doing? oh, there's still a few more days of chevy's giving more. got to stay loose. how do you do it? i have my little helpers. boop. oh. [ chuckles ] [ male announcer ] hurry in to chevy's giving more.

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written over 20 years ago, statements like, quote, order was only restored in los angeles when it came time for blacks to pick up their welfare checks. another quote. if you've ever been robbed by a black teenaged male, you know how unbelievably fleet of foot they can be. another quote, i think we can safely assume that 95% of the black males in washington, d.c., are semi-criminal or entirely criminal. paul says he didn't write any of that, and even denies reading the newsletters, but back in the '90s paul thought the newsletters were a key part of his political machine. >> i deliver babies for a living but i also do an investment letter, called the ron paul surviving report, expressing concern about surviving in the age of big government. i also put out a type of political business newsletter

that sort of cord all these are areas, and it covered a lot of what was going on in washington. >> and in 1996 paul told "the dallas morning news" he was not a racist and said he was not evoking stereotypes when he wrote the columns. he said they were being taken out of context. ron paul's surge to number one in iowa has brought new attention to his record and to what his supporters believe in. joining me now is perry bacon jr., the politics editor of thegrio.com, msnbc contributor and bob franken, syndicated columnist. thanks for joining me tonight. perry can, ron paul really deny that he knew what was in these newsletters? one thing and all of us in public life may have said things we needed to apologize for that was distorted but to say you have no knowledge, didn't read it and then people can now come

and have you saying that these were part of your machine and that you were taken out of context, well, even if you were taken out of context, you acknowledge that you had read them, how do you take the whole thing in context and in 2011 say i don't even know what you're talking about? >> reverend, i think he can't do this. ron paul has always been known for being straightforward and honest. he has views that people don't agree with, even republicans about war and government but he's known for being candid and honest, and in this case his stories don't seem quite consistent and this does take away from his political brand in a lot of ways. >> now, ironically, bob, nobody less than newton leroy, who has called and upset a few racially insensitive things himself in this campaign. he had this to say about ron paul. >> you look at ron paul's total record of systemic avoidance

reality and look at his newsletters and then you look at his ads, his ads are about as accurate as his newsletters. >> ron paul on fox news friday defending the statements on his newsletter. >> i think the charge, could be a correct charge, is i was pretty negligent as the publisher of a newsletter not paying more attention. it's trying to portray me as the opposite of what i am, but i don't think it will stick. >> he's saying the only thing he was was a negligent publisher despite the fact that there's tapes and i played them when he said things were taken out of context, part of what he does, deliver babies for a living and has a political newsletter. i mean, come on, bob. >> i mean, first of all, we should note this is possibly the first time in your life that you've held up newt gingrich as a shining example, number one. >> as an example. it wasn't shiny, but go ahead.

in any case, that you're expr s expressing an agreement with him. there's such an implausibility, translate probably lying, to somebody having no knowledge whatsoever that this kind of -- you call it questionable material. i think it's unquestionably hateful was going out in his name that we really just have to sort of shove that aside and really form some opinions about his credibility, but there's also a danger. the "new york times" pointed out today paul consistently refuses to disallow those groups that do believe in that kind of thing, and what that means is that they get some encouragement. he's in effect making a deal with them to make them players in our system. that's kind of a faustian deal that he's making, but it's very dangerous, and if i may, let's not underestimate the danger of this kind of thing. we have a society right now that is angry, and it's a society that for many reasons is angry

about the way that the economic system is going and how certain people have manipulated it. a lot of people want simple answers about who it is they should be angry about, so now this is going to resonate a bit if you think about the history. we've got people of color. we've got jews. we've got homosexuals, gays, that kind of thing and what does that remind you of? go back a generation, and you'll have your answer. >> perry, he attacked dr. king in these newsletters, israel. let me show you some of the quotes. martin luther king, the world class philanderer who beat up his paramores. israel is an aggressive, national, socialist state. aids patients should not be allowed to eat in restaurants because aids can be transmitted by saliva. this is all in the newsletters, but going to possible's point, which is more disturbing or as disturbing is some of his extreme supporters. "new york times" reported will -- well, first, let me show

you "storm front," a white supremist group, american free press, labeled a hate group by the southern poverty law center and the "new york times" when questioning paul about this, they reported on friday that he said to them, quote, if they want to endorse me, they are endorsing what i do or say. it has nothing to do with endorsing what they say, so in many ways he is not -- he's refused to repudiate their endorsement which brings him into the mainstream of these primaries, something that president obama and other major presidential candidate has not been allowed to do when groups were questioned. >> i don't think ron paul will be allowed to do these things. he'll win iowa and not any other state. the people who support you says something about you which is why

president obama repudiated hits former pastor and mentor to him. who supports him and what they say does say something about you and i'm surprised he doesn't take time to disavow these supporters. i think it would help his campaign if he did. >> how worried about the elites and establishments of the republican party that paul might actually pull iowa off? >> well, they seem to have so many things to worry about right now. they are worried about newt gingrich. surely they are worried about ron paul. they are worried about the fact that he could gain some tracks in iowa. we have a country that has two competing instincts going on. egalitarian instincts that have been widely discussed but there's also an ugliness that's there to be attacked, and you have a ron paul and some of his supporters, at least in time, who were going after that, and

it's a very potent force. i think it's going to be very interesting to see how iowa votes and how it reflects one or two of those instincts >> >> perry bacon jr., and bob franken, thank you vechg for joining me tonight. ahead, it's cold in which is which, but governor walker is clearly feeling the heat. today he's out blasting the recall effort against him. and the obama administration teps into the fight against vetter suppression. what will this mean for the 2012 election? and is it just the beginning of things to come? [ coughs ]

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the right's favorite union bashing governor is in trouble with the voters, so what did scott walker and his cronies do? they claimed fraud. walker went on fox today to push this line. >> there's an item that says signatures of mickey mouse and adolf hitler are being considered valid because they may be properly dated. that seems crazy, doesn't it? >> well, the whole process is pretty unusual. i mean, we had one of the local affiliates here do a story about someone signing it proudly saying they signed 80 different recall petitions. >> let me clear something up. the process isn't unusual, governor. you just don't like it.

you don't like to deal with the facts. as your buddy said on fox that election officials would let names like mickey mouse count on recall petitions but politifact that already labeled that claim mostly false. before a signature is counted it's checked by the petitioner circulators, election officials and your own supporters, walker supporters. mickey wouldn't make it through the review. walker also mention mentioned a man who told a wisconsin news station he signed 80 recall petitions. even if a person signs a lot of petitions, his signatures won't count. these signatures go through a review, and walker is suing the government accountability board asking them to check-for-multiple names, too. walker thinks if he talks about fraud we'll ignore the real story. the real story is more than 500,000 people have signed

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department formally rejected south carolina's voter i.d. law because it violate the discrimination laws dating back to the civil rights era of the '60s. their analysis found minority voters were 20% more likely to lack proper state idea. this is a crucial moment in the battle against voter suppression laws and the first time in nearly 20 years the justice department has blocked a new law under the 1965 voting rights act. it may happen again soon. the justice department is still reviewing voter suppression laws passed in foreother states this year. i'm very glad that this show, we go the on this issue early and one of the many civil right groups got on this early, marched in washington about it and now we're seeing movement, but we ear kend about those states that don't fall under the voter rights laws and that have

to be surbuoyed which other groups. we're not only worry about 20 level, joining me now is judd it brown, coade director of a civil rights group focused on issues of democracy and race. judith, thank for being here tonight. >> thanks for having me. could we see the justice department block other voter i.d. laws before the election? y. >> we did the attorney general was called on to enfielder's choice hrs obligation to enforce the voting rights act. and before him he has the state of texas that has their voter i.d. law cleared by the department of justice. we'll see alabama come before them, so the department of justice is doing its job.

they are finding that the state have not reason. that the burden is not on minority voters. we're glad to see that the attorney general is standing on the side of americans. >> and many of the challenges that many of us are about intering out across the country are falling to states that don't until under the voting rights act. people always say since the '60 what has the civil rights community done? >> we have to make sure we enfo enforce laws. >> in 2011 we saw states take up restrictions that place roadblocks in the way of americans trying to have a voice in the election coming up. we should be in a place where

we're trying to expand participation and rod blocks and poll taxes. bringing back poll taxes is not where the country should be. we should make sure that it's easy for the country to participate and to go to the voting booth, cast their ballot and have it counted. >> now, mitt "willard" rom anything, i'm sorry, weighed in on this and one of the things that's interesting is i never hear these candidates even question on this fundamental voter rights/civil rights issue of our team, but let me show you what willard said about it. i find it extraordinary that eric holder is one more time making a very serious error. the idea that people should not be identified as they vote so that we can know that they are not voting multiple times. that's the purpose here, of course, we don't want people voting multiple times. can you get a photo i.d. free at the state, get it at the time

you register to vote. anyone here who is over 18, 18 or older that does not have a photo i.d.? yeah, that's what i thought. >> well, look at where he was asking the question, but judith, what is so untrue about what he raised, one, if you look at the facts, only six convictions, six for voter impersonation fraud has occurred since 1997, ought of 593 million votes cast, so it's not a widespread problem. >> that's right. >> it's 0.00001%. he's fabricating a problem. >> that's right. >> secondly, if you get false state i.d., you can vote as many times us a want. the i.d. is the problem. having a i.d. does not stop multiple voting if somebody can get the wrong i.d. so what he's seeing on his face doesn't even make sense.

it's all hogwash. basically when you come into vet, they have a computer system, not talking about between 20 but 2011. they log you into a computer and they know that you have voted, and there is no evidence of voter impersonation. for example in south carolina where the attorney general stepped in and struck town that law, there was no evidence of voter fraud. they say you'll more likely to be struck by lightning than find a case of voter fraud. >> thank you for your time tonight. >> thank you. >> still ahead, christmas may be over, but the president got a gift today that should have his campaign staff smiling. it's more proof that his fight for fairness is working. and as americans have gotten poorer, lawmakers have gotten richer, much richer but what

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>> the photo of the day is this picture of president obama

getting a mouth full of baby hand while visiting military families at pearl harbor on christmas day. the president just plays along taking it all in stride. it's probably the cutest thing you'll see all day and the white house must be loving it. another snapshot that the white house is probably smiling about tonight, a new gallup tracking poll shows the president's approval rating jumped five points up just in the last week surging back into positive territory in this poll for the first time since july. it's the fourth consecutive poll showing a jump in president obama's approval numbers. the rebound comes after the president's relentless fight for fairness for the middle class. >> if asking a billionaire to pay their fair share of taxes, to pay the same tax rate as a plummer or a teacher is class warfare, then you know what, i'm a warrior for the middle class.

i'm happy to fight for the middle class. >> my number one priority right now is doing everything that i can, every single day, to create jobs faster and to provide more security for middle class families and those trying to get into the middle class. >> americans aural deserve a fair shake and a fair shot. >> the free market has never been a free license to take whatever you can from wham ever you can. >> joining me now msnbc political analyst richard wolfe and alex wagner, host of msnbc's "now with alex wagner" noon every day eastern time. richard, let me start with you. >> yes. >> can the president keep up this strategy all the way through next november? >> sure, he can, and he should, because actually a consistency of this messaging and this focus on the middle class has actually been the really different factor

we've seen from frankly the last three years so sustaining this campaign has -- has obviously led to a really different dynamic in washington, and i'm not talking about the polls because frankly, you know, washington gets very excited about a five-point move in the polls. that's only the margin of error. much better to be in the high 40s than low 40s. the polls will be up and down, over 50. not that different from other presidents before him like president clinton, president bush, running for re-election around this point, but, you know, what matters here is had a people don't tune into politics nearly as much as we. do they need to hear this kind of message from this president over and over again to understand what he's trying to do. >> alex, when you look at the fact that the president has gone out there, has really built a whole message around fighting for the middle class and see the importance of middle class voters, if you look at this screen, middle class voters made up 55% of the 2010 electorate, so the -- when you contrast the

republicans coming off like they are fighting an extension of payroll tax cuts which impacts the middle class and you have a president out there like this, this does not look like a sound political strategy to me on the other side. >> i think that's being euphemistic, reverend. you know, as richard said, it's a great strategy, incredibly consistent, white house. this is something -- the idea of americans getting a fair shake is something he's been talking about since 2007. i mean, he should be given some credit. this is not a johnny come lately thing. something he's cared about. i think he's lost the thread a bit in the intervening years and picked it back up again. the republicans have played into his hands and, you know, the center for american progress has a great piece of writing about this. obama has to adapt donopt a pin strategy, the younger base and 65 and older. they want it know social security and social entitlement programs will be taken care of and they won't be cut this.

kind of message ensures that and younger voters want the idea that obama is a fighter, that he's an agent of change and, again this, message fits in with that as well. >> richard, in that light you have romney out coming out with the clip i'm going to show of cut, cut, cut, where romney is hammering, just hammering the president on obamacare and the economy. >> sure. >> let me show you this. >> i'm going to get rid of obamacare. it is a moral imperative for america to stop spending more money than we take in. >> so he's hammering away, as alex said, seniors are watching this and then karl rove, let me show you this full screen before you respond, karl rove told republicans how to fight obama's mid call class warrior strategy. resentment is not an effective political appeal. americans tolerate unequal outcomes if they believe people have equal opportunity.

now, i don't know -- i haven't seen karl rove in a long time so i don't know what planet he's on now but when you look at loopholes and all kinds of cuts for the wealthy and none of that for the middle class and the poor, how does he think that spells equal opportunity to people? >> right. i think equal opportunity, that if clause is really important, and, you know, it's very easy for mitt romney to say he has all sorts of moral imperatives to cut spending. when you're worth $250 million, it really doesn't matter if there's health care for everyone or not, or if it's affordable or not, severing affordable. going into the next couple of months we'll see the same debate we saw at the end of the year, for most of the last year over what's the right thing to do here just around the payroll tax cut, just around unemployment insurance. should you cut spending, should you raise taxes on the super wealth and mitt romney is going to have to speak up on this even though he's tried to avoid it

for a long time because as one of the super wealthy he'll be faced with that choice. should he pay a little bitmore so that payroll tax cut can continue and job creation can continue, or does he just think we need to cut spending that affects many people whether they are teachers, fire fighters, all those people in the public sector and beyond? >> the -- the example you use, alex, of saying that young voters and a lot of other voters are the disenfranchised in particular, want the president could come off fighting and standing up. the fact that he stood his ground on this last fight, on the payroll tax extension, cut extension, do you think that also has a lot to do with his rising in the polls, that a lot of his base began to say, yeah, that's what we want to see you fight, draw the line in the sand and don't go beyond a certain point? >> yes. i think that we talk about a high stakes game of chicken. said this on your program before.

usually the democrats are in the ford or minivan and the republicans are in the lamborghini. for the first time, the democrats and the white house were krugz down the highway in a fast car and they were not going to turn first and that was really empowering for a lot of democratic voters who thought obama blinked too often and too early in negotiations with republicans, but i also think, look, you're talking about a time when 47 million americans are on food stamps. you're talking about an income disparity that is unprecedented since the great depression. you are talking about, you know, one in two americans living at or near poverty. obama has not only found a message but is a message perfectly calibrated for these times. it's incredibly relevant and fight tooth-and-nail against a party that really wants to reenvision the american social compact is really heartening for not just young voters, the middle class and the poor and working class. >> when you look at the images of what alex just used, the whole analogy of democrats going down with a car krugz acruisinge

republicans on the other side, the fact is the republicans the last several weeks from herman cain, to now newt gingrich and ron paul have had to discuss a lot more of their personal internal contradictions, character flaws while the president has been able to talk about policy and the middle class and jobs. they can't even get to their points for getting in their own way. >> yeah, you know. we're going to see a slightly different dynamic though now reverend because they are going to be -- there are going to be winners that come out of this. whatever the debate was before and the relative strengths and weaknesses of these candidates, obvious think there will be more debates where some of these things will be fleshed out, but winners going through primary victories tend to look good. the problem for republicans is there won't be one single winner, and that's not going to be great for them. >> richard wolffe and alex wagner, thanks for your time tonight and talk about winners tonight, 12:00 noon tomorrow eastern, alex wagner graces your

office, your living room, wherever you are. just watch "now" with alex wagner. we'll be right back. >> thanks, rev. [ male announcer ] cranberry juice? wake up! ♪ that's good morning, veggie style. hmmm [ male announcer ] for half the calories -- plus veggie nutrition. could've had a v8. goals for the future... what if they were stolen from you? by alzheimer's. this cruel disease is the sixth leading cause of death,

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we here at "politics nation" hope you had a wonderful holiday weekend. i spent mine with some great people who celebrated the season by helping others. hundreds enjoyed christmas with the national action network here in new york. thanks to volunteers who spent their day helping families in need. >> it brings us closer together, and it makes -- it should make us realize what is needed. it's not just one day. it's -- this thing should happen every day. >> she's right. helping others shouldn't be something that just happens at christmas. "today" reports that more kids than ever this year wrote letters to santa claus asking for basics, like food and clothes instead of toys.

poor kids need this kind of help year round but they are not getting it from washington where too many lawmakers seem ignorant of the pain of their constituents and what their constituents face. a new study shows that over the last six years the net worth of members of congress jumped up 15%, but during that same period the net worth of americans dropped by 8%. i don't begrudge people making more money. all of us should, as long as we're getting paid our worth, but we should also fight for others to have the same opportunity and to have an even playing field so they can be paid their worth, and we should use days like christmas and other days to put a spotlight on that inequality and that drive to close the gap. otherwise it just becomes a commercial venture and not a holiday and not a day