there? the cnn poll out yesterday and nbc news poll today saying mitt romney is looking good. ron paul is on his tail, and newt gingrich is collapsing. what's the mood over there? >> well, i think, you know, we've now seen a bunch of polls, as you suggested alex, that all sort of say the same thing. those are trend lines we've seen, as i say, other surveys, the nbc poll, confirms what i think a lot of people are feeling. you're hearing a little bit from inside, some of the other campaigns, besides ron paul's, that there might be a little slipping going on in ron paul's support. i actually think one of the most interesting things in our poll is the fact that rick perry is ticking up a little bit. and i think that has a lot of consequences and implications for rick santorum. we've been talking for the last couple of days about whether santorum, how far he can go, if he can drain away more of the evangelical, cultural conservative vote from people like rick perry. he's going to gain a lot from

michele bachmann's collapse. but i think the question on how high he can go does depend, to some extent, on whether rick perry goes the way of michele bachmann, and what seems to be keeping him up in the air is the fact that he is, in fact, on the air. he has enough money to stay on tv, and that is a problem for rick santorum, because he has very little money and can't go head-to-head with rick perry over the airwaves. >> i want to talk a little bit about chris christie who is in the state today doing some stumping for mitt romney and play a little bit of quintessential christy sound, which is to say, new jersey talk. let's go to that right now. >> you people disappoint me on tuesday, you don't know what you're supposed to do on tuesday for mitt romney, i will be back, jersey style, people. i will be back. >> i will be back, jersey style. the thing about mitt romney, and the thing that folks -- the criticism that is constantly lobbied on him is that he is wooden, he doesn't connect, he has an incredible surrogate in chris christie, and so there is

someone who is never described as wooden. do you folks and to john, i'll ask you first, does chris christie help mitt romney with iowa voters at all? >> you know, alex, i think that probably less so here than he helps mitt romney in some other places. he, i think, will be a stronger surrogate for mitt romney down the line in the industrial northeast, in the industrial midwest. there's a reason why chris christie decided not to run for president. and it was that he thought he would have a very hard time winning in any of the early contests. and that included iowa, where he did not think he had that much appeal. so, although it's not surprising that romney is rolling him out as a surrogate, because as you said, he's a very strong, per se a very strong surrogate, i'm not sure he's going to move a ton of votes in iowa into mitt romney's column. >> although he may actually kneecap the people that don't vote for mitt romney. >> people with violence in iowa. the last time i saw someone

drive a bus into a warehouse, the whole scene, they drove a bus into the cavernous place where they had that rally, that was howard zone in his final spring, he drove a bus into this place and martin sheen popped out of the bus. so you know -- we all know how dean's story ended in iowa. >> yes, we do. >> he is probably not going to grovel onstage. >> i think that's a you've mystic characterization -- >> but the think that i see in iowa as these poll numbers all sort of reach this equilibrium, there's this entrapy thing happening where it's a fiveway tie, almost. plus or minus five points and with michele bachmann in the back, they're all, you know, 17, 18, it's the whole idea of primaries, and iowa caucuses, is to achieve some -- >> winnowing? >> pulling away. >> it's worth noting that in that poll, the nbc poll i mentioned, 7% are undecided. which is definitely -- >> we should talk about the rick

perry thing a little bit more. we were speaking earlier in the green room about the oops moment. everyone said rick perry's done, he's finished, now he's at 14% in iowa, right behind santorum. he's not done. he's got a lot of money left in the bank. i've written him off before. i don't think he's going to get the nomination, but if he can pull some of this evangelical support and santorum can't coalesce all that support, perry gets a ticket out of iowa and then after new hampshire, which romney's going to win easily, you've got south carolina and georgia. this is home territory for rick perry. is he the next guy to get a bump? >> oh, lord. >> i mean, he's died and he rose again. is he going to rise again? >> a lot of biblical metaphors, which is interesting because rick perry has absolutely made a turn towards the right. he's trying to court the conservative evangelical vote. his face has become a big sort of message in the last few weeks. i wonder if it's convincing. and actually, even newt gingrich is dipping into this sort of faith-based candidacy. i think his daughter jackie gingrich is speaking on his

behalf earlier today. let's play her comments on her father. >> he's a man much more faithful, has much more belief, deep belief in god. he talked very openly about having made mistakes, having sinned, having asked for god's forgiveness. >> having asked for god's forgi forgiveness. >> do we believe any of this? iowa voters for one thing, they know these guys, they pay attention to politics, they're pretty astute. they know it when they can see it and i think they're not buying this. >> john, i want to bring you back in. what accounts for rick perry's lift? i think he gained something like four points in this nbc poll. >> well, look, he's done, alex, he at some point rick perry decided that he needed to do what rick santorum has been doing all along, and as you know he's been crisscrossing the state on a bus tour. he is actually a pretty good retail politician. that's something people first talked about when he was first getting into the race as one of his strengths. he also, as i said before, has really had a lot of money on the

air here. the dominant advertising has been from mitt romney's super pacs, from ron paul's campaign, and from rick perry himself and rick perry superpacs. he's up on the air as strong as anyone. you can see a lot of things about retail politics in iowa, having money on the air, ads both positive and negative on the air, doing your work for you, is really important, especially in these closing days. and i think that is -- he's not gaining a lot of ground but he's also not falling and that's pretty important to the prospect that he might be able, i'm not sure he can consolidate the evangelical vote, which rick santorum has a chance to do. but he could keep rick santorum from consolidating the evangelical vote and that in the end is good for the top tier candidates like romney and ron paul, who would like to win this thing outright. >> let's talk about ron paul for a little bit. because john you suggested that he was slipping a little bit. 41% are saying that ron paul would be unacceptable as a republican presidential nominee. but there's a great story in "the new york times" today which talks about ron paul's support among active and retired service

members. and he is doing better and getting more money from that segment of the population than all of his rivals combined. which, to me, doesn't make any sense. because, ron paul is an isolationist and would presumably gut the nation's military. think about the toll that these wars have taken on those families and the costs, and the injuries, i think there's a whole base. south carolina has a lot of military. >> by the way, ron paul served in the military, unlike, i believe all or most -- >> rick perry did, too. >> sort of took a turn in the military, as well. so he is -- he is psychographically more like a veteran than the rest of them. >> i think people believe in ron paul and who he is and aren't listening as much to his policy specifics. they are believing in the guy. although john you characterized him as someone you thought had moments where he sounded and looked like an old nan in the park feeding pigeons, steal bread crumbs, is that right, from yesterday? >> that is.

although, i stand by that. but i will say, having been to a ron paul veterans rally the other night, where it was one of those enthusiastic crowds that i have seen in this cycle for a republican candidate, we should not pigeonhole veterans as all being, quote, pro-military, in terms of military adventures. a lot of the veterans community looks at the endless wars that we've waged over the last ten years as having been bad things. that they're for strong defense. they're for respect for the military. but they're not for endless engagements in which their sons and daughters and themselves have to get recycled and troop deployments over and over and over again. there are a lot of veterans who think that a more cautious, less interventionallist, less promiscuous use of military adventurism abroad would be a good thing and ron paul is finding a receptive audience among those people. >> a very, very fair point. and one well taken. after the break, the ones who got away. we will be looking at republicans who flirted with the idea of running for president, and that will be next on "now."

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as the republican field stumbles towards the first nominating contest we share with you a look back at the ones who got away. >> what's scaring off all the serious candidates in the republican party? >> mitch daniels has said he's going to decide by june. >> laura bush called a couple of weeks ago to try to push him into the race. >> mitch daniels is officially out of the race for the president. >> haley barbour was the favorite son who pulled out. >> mississippi governor haley barbour is out. >> this, you know what that is?

the brain power. i've never taken it seriously like this. >> trunp stands for taking reintroduction understanding massive power. >> steve forbes stated that i was one of the greatest entrepreneurs in the history of free trade. i will not be running for president, as much as i'd like to. >> dog gone it, trump is out? >> people are getting a little tired of the teasing. >> no savior is going to rise from these streets. >> huckabee's out, too. >> tim pawlenty, officially announcing -- >> i'm not running for entertainer in chief. >> pawlenty, the name itself is like polenta. >> president obama said that he designed obama care after romney care. and basically made it owe bombny care. >> there were some missed opportunities by him. >> the question, governor was by bamay care. >> the knock on you is that you're invisible and dull and you have the chance to be visible and sharp. >> breaking news, nbc can confirm that he is dropping out

of the presidential race. >> pawlenty is out. >> mitt romney, and i'm proud and excited to endorse him for president of the united states. >> pawlenty was the hope for the gop. >> republicans need another entry. they need someone like chris christie. >> i don't feel ready in my heart to be president. i don't feel like i'm ready to be president. i simply do not have the desire to do it. nor do i think i'm ready. >> the person who just keeps being mentioned is chris christie. >> we can't wait another four years. your country needs you. >> the man many held up as the last great hope for the republican party. >> now is not my time. >> the tour is fueling speculation that palin will run for the republican nomination for president. >> we just love her. >> she's the only person i've ever voted for. >> she has major grassroots appeal. ♪ run, sarah, run! >> sarah palin, she's crashing the party in iowa. >> does that mean you're interested in running? are you going to run? >> sarah palin became the latest to drop out. >> she's not running for

president. >> really? you don't need a title to make a difference in this country. ♪ you had the time of your life ♪ >> the ones who got away. >> so much time. >> we didn't know where we were when pawlenty dropped out. >> it was like a moment that lives in infamiliarity. >> who would have thought we'd be grateful to be up on the stage -- >> are we? >> i think chris christie took at least 45 minutes to say he wasn't going to run for president the last time he said he wasn't going to run for president. i don't think any of these people were qualified or ready to make the jump. look at how polished mitt romney is. and newt gingrich has all this experience. >> you're focusing on two people in this race as opposed to the entire field. >> ron paul's ron before. >> both mitch man yules and chris christie would have been formidable candidates. >> tim pawlenty would have done better. >> maybe he should have stayed in. but the big question is, why did all these guys stay out? >> exactly.

>> and barack obama is not, last time i checked, the most popular president we've ever had. the economy is not in the best shape it's ever been. there's going to be something inside the obama campaign that's going to be tough to beat. a sitting president is always hard to beat, no matter what. >> bically it was moderates, so to speak, who stayed out. so to some degree, clearly, it's the getting over the iowa thing that made them all look like, oh, if you're chris christie, if you're tim pawlenty. >> don't be so hard on iowa. that pawlenty quote by the way, was on the money. you have to be an entertainer in chief -- >> polenta. >> seize the momentum for a tea party fueled republican contest right now. and you know, if you are a serious governor somewhere you've got a real reputation behind you, do you want to play that game? i just think that you look at the fracturing of the party, you mentioned earlier, one of the ideas is in winning, to unite this group. can anyone pull this party together, can you actually get any kind of throw away out of

this primary process? and you know to do that, do you have to just go completely crazy? >> speaking of iowa, john heilemann i want to go back to you. you know, peggy noonan has an op-ed in today's "wall street journal" where she says that noonan made mitt a better candidate and she excoriates those who would be running for president to mouth off and sell books. i wonder what you make of the contention that newt has made mitt better as a candidate. >> oh, i think it's incontestbly true. i think that every challenge that mitt romney has faced has made him a better candidate. he came in this cycle into 2012 having gained a lot from the experience he had in 2008. they all do, running. there's no greater asset that a presidential candidate can have than having done this before. but every time that romney has been challenged, and he hasn't faced that many serious challenges, but whether it was the early days of rick perry or the gingrich surge, it's caused him to raise his game. i think that it's always the case that a nomination is worth

more when you have had a chance to slay some dragon along the way. it's never the case that it helps you to walk -- to a cake walk to a nomination. in some ways i think romney may have had it a little bit too easy. will probably be good to have at least one more big scare along the way. >> but he's holding less than he got four years ago. he got 25% of the vote in 2008, and he's now at 23% in the latest nbc poll. >> and this is a fractured field that that is a big number for him. >> did he really slay newt gingrich or did the super pacs spending $3 million to remind everybody about gingrich's baggage slay him? i don't disagree romney has become a better candidate but i don't notice a marked difference in his performances on the stump and interviews based on the graph challenge. i just see a ton of money that got spent to destroy gingrich with the help of bachmann and santorum and others. >> "the wall street journal," you know, "the wall street

journal" went off newt, "the new york times" went off newt almost immediately. this wasn't just money. this was major media -- >> that's right. >> i would say the candidate had a fair amount to do with it. >> exactly. >> the republicans of iowa look closely at, and saw their blemishes and smelled their bad breath and decided to reject them. >> the one person whose blemishes we have not seen and bad breath we have not smelled is jon huntsman. jon says is there one more challenger left, do you guys think it might be jon huntsman? can he pull it out in new hampshire? doa? john heilemann, what do you think about jon huntsman's chances about resurgence in new hampshire? >> well, i think the key question is going to be what happens in iowa. we know that milt romney is very confident right now. but i think it's not impossible that we'll have a surprise on tuesday, where possibly mitt romney ends up in third place. if that happened, if santorum were to surge ahead, paul were to hold steady, romney would land in third, that would be a significant blow to his campaign and might open up the

possibility of something unexpected happening in new hampshire. and among the unexpected things that could happen might be jon huntsman. >> what's incredible about this, that we once thought that mitt romney couldn't do anything in iowa, wasn't even campaigning there, and now he finishes third, it's a huge blow to his campaign. the way expectations can change is just so -- >> it's all relative. john heilemann it looks like people are either hopped up on caffeine back there or your words i'm hoping the latter and not the former. take care of yourself and thanks again for joining us from iowa. >> thank you, alex. >> we will look at the best excuses of 2011, that's next on "now." [ child ] it's so cool! you can put a force field on him and be invisible! [ child 2 ] i call first player. no. i already called it. [ dad ] nobody's playing anything until after we get our homework done. thank you. hello? test drive's not over yet. [ male announcer ] it's practically yours. [ louder ] hello?

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process for scoping out the various candidates for president, learning about their financial assets. and with regards to my tax

returns, why, time will tell. that's not something i'm planning today, but never say never. >> but if you were president, it's not that hard to make a commitment that if you're elected president of the united states, that you would release the tax returns. every president does. >> you know, if i become president, why then i'll consider that. it's a little premature for me to be talking about that at this stage. >> is there some secret? people know you're wealthy. >> yeah, i understand. >> there's nothing to hide? >> no, a degree. there's nothing to hide. >> that was andrea mitchell talking to mitt romney about his decision not to release his income tax returns. you'll see more of her interview at the top of the hour. but speaking of hiding, 2011 seemed to be a year of ducking and dodging questions and explaining away the unexplainable. here's a look at this year's best excuses. >> excuse me. >> i don't think right wing social engineering is any more desirable than left wing social engineering. any ad which quotes what i said on sunday is a falsehood.

>> when he took office the economy was in recession. and he made it worse. i didn't say that things were worse. >> shovel ready was not as shovel ready as we expected. when i said change we can believe in, i didn't say change we can believe in tomorrow. >> ep halfly when i sit down with interviews people don't start talking about birth certificate. i feel i've accomplished something really, really important. and i'm honored by it. >> i'm a high priest war lock. can't process the normal brain. i'm charlie sheen. >> the white house moved -- >> i'm sorry that the so-called super committee was not able to do its work. >> i did not no lobbying of any kind. i was charging $60,000 a speech. >> sounds like a whole lot more. >> well, look, i was speaker of the house and strategic adviser. >> i don't think i've ever hired an illegal in my life. we hired a lawn company and they had illegal immigrants that were

working there. and when that was pointed out to us we let them go and we went to them and said -- you have a problem. >> was it before he was before -- >> readily admit i may not be the best debater. i stepped in it last night. i had surgery on my back the first of july. if they print any more money over there in washington the gold's going to be good. i would suggest to you i was pretty fatigued. not to -- not the mayor -- >> sonia sotomayor? >> if anybody's looking for a perfect candidate i'm not it. >> i wanted to take the heat off my buddy herman cain. >> i'm not trying to hedge on the questions. we didn't even know that this whole thing about woman number four was going to even come out. >> i was frank, i can't say with certitude my system was hacked. pictures can be manipulated. tweeted a photograph of myself. >> i cannot say that it is a conspiracy. we do not have definitive factual proof.

all this stuff twirling around in my head. ♪ everybody hurts sometimes >> the most depressing 90 seconds on television. >> it is over and this is depressing, also. this is pathetic. >> we'll look back on that year and ignore it completely. >> that was so -- the best thing is that rick perry managed to be simultaneously the best and worst candidate in the entire season. >> the best and worst excuses. it's almost a fine line because at least he sort of owned it, in a way that nobody else did. >> he did acknowledge that maybe he's not the best candidate ever and i think he gave us ample evidence of that. there's a good analogy for 2011 with the stock market. the standard & poor's index is going to close the year pretty much where it started the year, nothing much happens. this year in politics may be remembered that way a little bit. mitt romney started the year as the likely nominee, he's ending as the likely nominee, and we had a lot of weird stuff happen in between, a lot of pretty

depressing stuff but not a lot changed. >> i don't know though, i think this works, you know, if the american public has decreasing confidence in our elected leaders and i don't think that this stuff necessarily helps. and i think, you know, i don't want to be a doomsday, you know, not a doomsday sayer but a pessimist, let's just say that, i do think this weighs collectively on our -- >> absolutely. when you already have congress ' approval ratings being in the, dipping down into the single digits sometimes, this is, i think if there is a shared, unifying narrative about american politics it is that it is badly profoundly messed up, and this kind of thing, as -- as our political discourse, only reinforces it. >> haven't we always had sort of, you know, messy, goofy politicians? >> but have they -- >> throughout -- >> but we also had grown-ups that were -- whether in the media, or candidates who were kind of controlling and letting

the freaks -- >> going to shake out that way. obama and romney would be a grown-ups campaign. >> -- people who cannot be bothered to do their homework and still think they can run for president. that's why rick perry, as great a recovery it was on letterman. as great a retail campaign as it was. that debate moment when he couldn't think of the three things he had in his own head. >> shutting down government agencies. >> this wasn't a one half-term governor, this is a successful, reelected governor in a big state, who has a real record to run on and he just has never done his homework on anything. >> and it's telling that the clips of charlie sheen looked not that foreign when run alongside the excuses for -- >> remember george washington, i cannot tell a lie. these guys come out and just flat-out lie. >> one of the problems in the tape is he can't lie or assemble well. >> we will be talking more about this plus other heavier topics, including the year of foreign policy. we'll take a look at the

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tonight, i can report to the american people and to the world that the united states has conducted an operation that killed osama bin laden, the leader of al qaeda. today the government of libya announced the death of moammar gadhafi. today i've come to speak to you about the end of the war in iraq. president obama has had a string of foreign policy successes this year but how come he hasn't gotten any credit for it? >> he's going to go on tv and say, i got rid of fidel castro, as well. he has nowhere else to go. the most extraordinary year of foreign policy for a president since bush 41. anyone who nitpicks on this guy's year in foreign policy is being ridiculous.

because, for all the second-guessing, the armchair quarterback stuff, the arab spring, bin laden, the winding down of iraq, actually the stabilization in afghanistan, none of these things are resolved. they never are. but seriously, you could not get a better year in foreign policy. >> it's pretty remarkable that he could be running for re-election on a better foreign policy record than economic record. and yeah you can't, bin laden is an accomplishment that obviously can't be downplayed. we are out of iraq. we might be out of afghanistan in july. who thought he would be running on those things, out of iraq, out of afghanistan, bin laden dead. >> he's the strongest democratic candidate on foreign policy since fdr. >> i think it has transformed the bad odor of the democratic party. then again people don't vote on foreign policy success. they vote against foreign policy failures at various times and they temporarily vote for, oh, we're in a war, i support the president. but this kind of quiet consistency, foreign policy success, doesn't play. >> but if romney pulls the

trigger and says, can people really imagining romney say, shoot the guy in the head? now they can picture obama saying that. >> he's not only getting credit he's getting attacked for it. the republicans are calling it an appeasement strategy. with iraq it's very much a mixed bag. foreign policy claims iraq is the most important thing the administration got wrong this year. obviously, you know, the sectarian violence has increased since we pulled out. there has been no ticker tape parade for the troops coming home. it's amazing to me that after this year not only is he not operating from a position of strength but that he has to defend this stuff. >> it's primarily chatter, though. however if iraq were to blow up in the next year, if iraq goes really badly south in the next year that won't be good. >> america's job cannot be to stop civil wars from either taking place or getting worse. and i don't think you can go to the american people and say i'm going to be president to stop civil wars. you know, that just doesn't work. but put it to one side for a second on the, could he have done better on various things.

he's already seeing conflict. yeah, there are other things he could have done. it does speak to character. the question about bin laden wasn't just, did he get him or not, and the hunting of the great white is one thing. yeah, he got him and bush didn't. but, he took the gamble. it was a risky, gutsy move, and for anyone else running against him, even if they're talking about the economy, they have to cross that presidential bar. can they take the 3:00 a.m. call, can they deal with crisis and pressure? he can say, look, i did it. and everyone else has to match that. that's very hard. >> it's amazing when you look back at that footage of the white house correspondents din where president obama was listening to seth myers talk jokingly about osama bin laden still being out there and then, you know, the next day, made the announcement. i want to switch gears a little bit and look towards 2012 and talk to you about how much you think foreign policy will dominate the -- the dialogue going forward? we have violence in syria over 5,000 killed, egypt is still very much, you know, in a state of unrest. and then, of course, the eurozone which many folks have

said, you know, obama's re-election effort hinges as much on what happens over there as anything else, because of the repercussions. >> right, yeah, there are so many wild cards. i mean the political arena could look a lot different next november than it does now. and the eurozone is one. there's some progress there in italy just sold a bunch of bonds and is paying less than 7% great. it's still very high. there's still the possibility italy could run into a default and u.s. banks that have tons of exposure to european banks and that tanks our economic recovery and obama is running again in recession with unemployment going back in the wrong direction i think north korea obviously is now an unknown with a new leader. the egyptian situation is unsettled. the iranian could shut down the straits of hormuz and stop oil transportation. you could run down the list of ten things that could go horribly wrong in 2012, that could completelyion end the -- >> and then there's pakistan. >> do we really think this is going to be, it's all difficult

events but i still think president obama comes out ahead on this stuff. he's still got experience. he's still done the hard things. i think none of these republicans so far could make the case that they will do better than he will do. >> bullish on the prospects. we will talk more about 2012 next when we discuss chaos in the capital, and how congress earned its record low approval rating. oh it's clearance time! yeah, our low prices are even lower. we need to teach her how to walk. she is taking up valuable cart space. aren't you, honey? [ male announcer ] it's our biggest clearance event of the year where our prices are even lower. save money. live better. walmart. diarrhea, gas or bloating? get ahead of it! one phillips' colon health probiotic cap a day

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lawmakers are relaxing at home this week, no doubt exhausted from the havoc they've wreaked on the american people this year. from threatened government shutdowns to eleventh hour agreements it's no surprise congress is ending this year with record low approval ratings. i just want to walk you guys through this year, in case you've forgotten. in march and april we had budget fights which almost led to government shutdowns, in july debt ceiling debacle, in august s&p downgraded u.s. credit, in september there was a funding fight over disaster aid, in november the super committee failed, and in december, of

course, the payroll tax cut battle. >> that's a job well done by our united states congress. i feel well represented in washington. >> it's what the founding fathers wanted. they wanted a system that where it was hard to do stiff. and the voters gave us that. uniquely, and america is an exceptional country -- >> are you a brit? >> actually american now. >> other countries -- >> we welcome you. >> other countries have financial crisis because they cannot pay the bills, we have financial crisis because we cannot abide each other in the same room. republicans and democrats created a functional crisis out of nothing. it was totally unnecessary. voters ought to beware of what they buy. >> and primary campaigns are supposed to be theater to some degree. but congress is not supposed to be all theater all the time. which, things like, say, msnbc and fox news probably exacerbate, as a problem. >> this is never -- >> this is the worst, most self-serving, most incompetent congress we've seen in just decades. i mean, when you study congress

it's really depressing. this is just below anything else. they simply don't care about the american people. both parties they just don't care anymore. >> you do think that this has repercussions in 2012? >> of course it does. >> what do you think happens in the house and senate given what's happened in the last eight months? >> i think the house republicans a new republican nominee, presidential republican nominee's neck. if they continue to be nuts and not care about the rest of the country i think they bring the republican party down. i think somebody has got to sit them in a room and say if you don't want to come here and destroy government, go home. >> that i guess the fault lands on boehner's doorstep. how much is he wounded critically? >> to defend boehner, he had a caucus, republican caucus filled with tea party freshman conservatives who just would not bend to his will and i don't think they would bend to anybody's will. they came to washington thinking they had a mandate to do nothing but cut spending no matter what it did. shut down the government, they don't care. they thought that was their mandate from voters. to a certain extent they're

right. they're constituencies supported that type of intransigence. when you have sophomore members that adamant about fighting on what they call their principles you're going to run into these situations. i don't think there's anybody in congress or anywhere else -- >> very positive view. remember it was mcconnell and boehner's decision to demonize this president and everything he stood for, including the republican plan for health care reform, which actually is obama's health care reform you know the reason they're all in pretzel these presidential candidates is because these were republican ideas. they tried to pretend that us was a socialist, radical agenda that this president was enacting. so they opened the door to a radicalized, demonizing politics. the thing about the presidential candidates is that you think back to 2000, president bush said he was a different kind of republican. he ran against gingrich and delay. not one of the house republicans. can you imagine, even mitt romney, today, having the confidence, having the support of the party where he could say, i'm not one of those people.

i think that's unthinkable, really. >> i wonder, the thing -- i wonder, but the weird thing about the republican party, as you said they're in sort of aologic slative presidentle. they push for odd cuts and attach all this legislation to unrelated bills you know, they, they try to defund planned parenthood, they tried to defund, of course, obama's health care effort and what, what did they succeed in, enforcement of the light bulb efficiency law has been repealed. >> that's a big bachmann issue. >> it is a huge bachmann -- but it's her -- >> towards next week. >> ouch. >> the low income energy assistance cut, restricted eligibility for pell grants, suffered the the gao the government accountability office which is the investigative arm of congress suffered cuts. i mean, they cut the epa. you look back at this and it's like what, what, where, where does this leave this party? this is what they can sort of proudly point to for 2011 and say that's what we did. >> the other weird thing they did is somehow change their

orthodoxy on tax cuts. it used to be all tax cuts were good tax cuts and forget about paying for them. and then we started talking about payroll tax cut. all of a sudden it's got to be paid for. why does it have to be paid for? we want the bush tax cuts to be extended but we don't care about the middle class tax cuts. >> that was the bridge too far. when you saw "the wall street journal" and all of the remaining republican establishment saying wait a minute, stop this you crazy fools. we're for tax cuts. >> right. this is our -- >> you crazy fools. we'll be back with more on crazy fools after a break. they may look the part but aren't they missing something really important? the look book for the gop field. [ woman ] my boyfriend and i were going on vacation, so i used my citi thank you card to pick up some accessories. a new belt. some nylons. and what girl wouldn't need new shoes? we talked about getting a diamond. but with all the thank you points i've been earning... ♪

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they say in politics, optic is everything, but have you taken a look at these guys? for some in the party of reagan the campaign season returned to

decades past. but not the '80s. even earlier. >> isn't it time for a president who looks like a 1970s game show host? >> for others in the field, look has been inspired by tinseltown. >> there's something wrong in this country when gays can serve openly in the military. >> their fashion taken from cues by hollywood's leading men. >> i wish i knew -- >> and then there are those whose wardrobe choices are theirs and theirs alone. suits custom made in a land where people's heads are disproportionate to their very, very large shoulders. >> we're getting to the bottom of it. >> it's a race where the choice of a sweater vest says you're desperate, and i'm still here. >> i'm sort of the guy at the dance that the girls walk in, they sort of walk by, but at the end of the evening old steady eddie is there. he's the guy you want to bring home to mom and dad, right? >> and where certain kingmakers pride themselves on a unique bround of crowning glory. >> i have to ask you about your hair. >> i've always like combed it this way.

probably maybe a little bit more -- but i really don't. it's really combed back. if you look it's combed sort of back. >> most of all it's been a year where sartorial lessons have been learned. tough ones. >> if you're fighting sexual harassment charges don't wear your pinp hat. >> and hope, an unswerving face in individual expression. >> 9-9-9. >> 9-9-9. ♪ you can leave your hat on >> i ask you, is our current field of politicians more caricature than candidate? >> what i want to know is, is there an army of small creatures that lives inside ron paul's suit between his body and his jacket? because that's what i've always thought. it seems like there's room for at least some other people. >> like men in black. >> and speaking to him -- >> that jacket, by the way, rick perry's jacket, john kerry had the same thing, wore it all the way through iowa, and he bounced

back in iowa. just saying. >> you're right. in all fairness the barn jacket is a popular look. it certainly has been an interesting year with a field of interesting candidates. and the year continues in to another year. >> well romney removing his tie full-time is, you know, we -- we joke about this, and they're all minor here or there, that actually as sartorial things go, is a big deal. >> it is. >> and it probably has helped him, right? >> there you go. >> no. >> i try to go with the romney look as best i can. >> the great loosening up of the american political field. i will say, for the record, michele bachmann, still going formal with the fake eyelashes. >> you know what, can i just defend her for a second? i think she's looked pretty good on the campaign trail. it is tough to look that good, day in, day out, going to 99 counties. >> that's right. >> and you'll notice -- >> and fake eyelashes are better than fake eyebrows. >> they are. we did not put that in. but thank you for mentioning it richard wolf. we are going to pivot now to wrap up the year with a bow and

i just have a short few couple of remarks that i wanted to make to you our viewing audience as the calendar dictates this is, indeed, our last show of 2011. while we haven't been able to run vintage clips feet earring the best "now" moments from the year, this is only our 32nd show, next year there will be best ofs. that said we end this year staggered by the weight of a 365 days that have just passed. we've seen tectonic shifts in power across the globe, a fierce debate over the american social compact and the beginning of a mighty battle to determine who will sit in the oval office and chart a path forward for our country. it is a wild time, and it is a momentous time to be in the news business. and we thank you for giving us a chance in the beginning, and we hope you'll stay with us in the days and the months to come. finally, this show is called "now" with alex wagner but that name belies the extraordinary hard work, smarts, and comedic timing of the very talented folks who work on this show. as well as the men and women

brave enough to sit on set with me for 56 minutes every day. thank you all for making this television show a real, actual, factual television show. now, may emphasize the moment we're in but i'll take the liberty of looking ahead to say to everyone out there, happy new year. we cannot wait to see new 2012. thanks to richard, kurt, wendy and ben for joining us on our last show of the year. that is all for now for 2011. i'll see you back here in january, same time, monday through friday, until then, you can keep up with us on facebook, and twitter. oh it's clearance time! yeah, our low prices are even lower. we need to teach her how to walk. she is taking up valuable cart space. aren't you, honey?

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right now on "andrea mitchell reports," live fromoffva joe's in des moines, iowa, four days out, mitt romney is battling ron paul for the lead. with rick santorum and rick perry closing in and newt gingrich falling way behind.

our new nbc news/maris poll says mitt romney is still the man to beat. >> i'm pleased to be doing pretty darn well in the polls and have the kind of support you saw here today. huge crowds, a lot of excitement. you know, i can't tell you what we're going to do here in iowa but i can tell you that i'm pretty confident that we're going to get the 1150 delegates we need. >> this hour, my interview with the republican front-runner. and what romney says about his competition. the negative ads. and why he won't release his tax returns. his wing man today on the trail, new jersey's own chris christie. is this a first glimpse of a possible republican ticket? >> all those decisions are going to be up to the nominee of the party. he's going to be the nominee of the party. >> but you can't rule it out? >> why would you? the fact of the matter is it's extraordinarily presumptuous to do something like that. >> plus, what about newt? leading the pack, only one month ago, how does he feel about fall nothing fifth place?

>> hi. >> how are you? >> just a quick question? our polls show -- >> no. >> -- in the past -- that they would not find it -- >> and another blow for bachmann. her political director now walks, a day after losing her iowa state chair to ron paul. and today, bachmann scheduled a campaign event at a straund in iowa that didn't even know she was coming. good day, i'm andrea mitchell live at java joe's back here in des moines. with only four days left until the caucuses, could mitt romney pull off an iowa win? in our new nbc news/maris poll, romney has the support of 23% of likely caucusgoers, but ron paul is in a statistical dead heat with 21%. rick santorum has now surged into third place at 15%. but santorum has