i've been there. i know firsthand the candidates that cry when they're rejected. it's not about ed muskey in '72 or pat schroeder a generation later or hillary clinton or newt. it's about the business they have chosen. that's "hardball" for now. thanks for being with us. "the ed show" with ed schultz starts right now. good evening, americans. welcome to "the ed show" live from minneapolis. the iowa caucus has turned into a three-ring circus. santorum is under attack. they're worried about him. ron paul is slipping. and one of the romney boys is questioning the president's birth certificate. this is "the ed show." let's get to work. i do policies much easier than i do personal. >> with just four days to go in iowa, newt gingrich breaks down. mitt rommy says he would consider releasing his tax returns but only if he is elected president. and michele bachmann says her favorite hunting weapon is an assault rifle. wow. it's going to be a long weekend,

everybody. democratic strategist bob shrum will help us make sense of it all. >> you don't do what you're supposed to do on tuesday for mitt romney, i will be back, jersey style. >> chris christie has a message for iowans. vote for mitt or he'll return jersey style. as we head into the last weekend before the vote, our all-star panel joins us. "washington post" columnist e.j. dion dionne. "real clear politics" erin mcpint and "ring of fire" radio host mike papantonio join us tonight. we've tallied up the votes. tonight we'll count down the top "psycho talkers" of the year. and my special thank you to those who made 2011 such a special year and that includes you, the viewer. great to have you with us tonight, folks. thanks for watching. there are less than 100 hours before the first votes are cast in the iowa caucuses. it's a mad dash to the finish line for the republican

candidates. a new nbc news marist poll has mitt romney out in front with 23%. ron paul slipping a little bit in second at 21%. and rick santorum continuing his rise with 15%. newt gingrich has plummeted. last month he led the poll by eight points. now he's in fifth place with 13% and is hoping to get some kind of momentum back. republican show frank luntz tried to help gingrich today when he set him up with a sentimental question about his deceased mother. >> my whole emphasis on brain science comes indirectly from dealing -- see, i'm emotional -- but from dealing with, you know, the real problems of real people in my family. and so it's not a theory. it's, in fact, you know, my mother. >> it remains to be seen whether the display of emotion will translate to more support for gingrich after a month of attacks. ron paul is also seeing the

effects of negative coverage. his numbers have stalled since a newsletter controversy erupted last week. paul doesn't even plan to be in iowa this weekend. he returns on monday with his son, senator rand paul, at his side. rick santorum is clearly threatening the other candidates in iowa. the rest of the field has taken shots at him. that's a good sign for him. a radio spot in iowa is calling him the pork barrel senator. it's a line of attack rick perry hammered again today. >> senator santorum, just to get a little more specific here, please tell me why you ask taxpayers to support the bridge to nowhere in alaska. why did you ask the taxpayers of iowa to support a teapot museum in north carolina? an indoor rainforest in iowa? and the mountain sheep institute, montana sheep institute? why? >> santorum had no problem defending his earmark votes when i spoke with him in iowa

yesterday. >> you know why i voted for the bridge to nowhere? because who am i in pennsylvania to tell the folks in alaska, this is money going to alaska. ted stevens said, i want to earmark for this purpose. this is money going to alaska. >> you went with your colleague? >> i went with the federalist argument. who am i in pennsylvania to tell alaska what their highway priorities should be? >> i said this yesterday and i want to repeat it tonight. i think one of the reasons why iowa voters are responding to santorum and he's getting a late surge, the guy stands by his convictions. he has an answer for everything he's done which is impressive. whether you agree with him or not, that's who he is. the same cannot be said for mitt romney. and today, romney's own son caused a whole heap of trouble when he was asked about his dad's tax returns. >> he's certainly not afraid of anything. he's not hiding anything, but i heard someone suggest the other day that as soon as president obama releases his grades and

birth certificate and sort of a long list of things then maybe he'd do it. >> the younger romney quickly went to twitter to walk back his comments, writing "i repeated a dumb joke. my bad." the obama campaign had a little bit of fun with the remarks saying romney must not have seen the obama campaign mugs featuring the president's long-form birth certificate. but the real problem for romney is the spotlight his son put on the candidate's finances. romney had to address the issue with msnbc's andrea mitchell. >> can you commit that you would release your tax returns if elected president of the united states? >> you know, we're getting a bit ahead of ourselves in terms of what we'll release when. i'll certainly follow all the laws. i do remember when -- >> stlthere's no law. there's precedence. >> i remember when i ran against kennedy. he wouldn't release his tax returns. i said, i'd release mine if you

release yours. i was unable to get him to do that. we have a very full 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. >> i agree, there's nothing to hide. >> mitt romney knows his tax records could really help destroy his candidacy. you know, he doesn't draw a salary. in fact, he makes jokes about being unemployed. it's very likely romney, very likely romney is making big money off capital gains which are taxed at a much lower rate than what income is of the

hardworking americans. if mitt romney, you have to admit, has clever accountants, it's very possible the scenario could be played out that he gets a rebate from the government. but we will not know as the answers, as long as romney is not going to answer this as a candidate. he will only consider releasing his tax returns once he's president. we would be putting someone in the white house with a completely unknown financial situation to the voters. this is mitt romney's soft underbelly in my opinion. i mean, he doesn't want full disclosure? would you vote for a guy who wouldn't let you know just how much he really pays in tax? and be honest about this, you conservatives out there tonight. would you take that as an answer from barack obama? i mean, don't you think that there's some precedence set here that if you're going to run for president you have to have full disclosure to the american people? i mean, i think that answer right there that mitt romney

gave andrea mitchell, the arrogance just drips off this guy. and it fits the picture that a lot of people have circulated in the media. it fits this picture right here. where all the money is just so happily being tossed around by the boys in the corporate world. it's arrogance is what it is. i'm just guessing that he doesn't pay any tax. get your cell phones out. i want to know what you think. tonight's question. is mitt romney trying to hide how much and how rich he is? text "a" for yes, text "b" for no to 622639. two to our blog, leave a comment at ed.msnbc.com and we'll bring you the results later on in the show. joining me now, democratic strategist, nyu professor bob shrum. bob, good to have you with us tonight. happy new year. >> happy new year to you. >> so with nothing better to do than talk politics. you know, is romney going to be able to run away from this tax return issue all the way to the white house? what do you make of this?

>> i don't know that he'll be able to. i think there will be more and more pressure on him. andrea mitchell there really got him a long way down the road. we got to get him from consider to he'll do it to he'll do it during the campaign. you know, i was involved in both 1980 and 1994 with senator kennedy. and my bet is that unlike senator kennedy, mitt romney's assets are not an abline trust. when he votes on issues in the senate, he won't know whether he's affecting anything he owns. that's a big difference here. we know he's still receive a lot of money from bain. i think people have a right to know what he is paying. if he's president and didn't release his tax returns, it would be absolutely extraordinary. it would be unprecedented. i think there's going to be a lot more pressure on him. you watch him there, he's got the body language right now of someone who thinks he's going to win these iowa caucuses. in the few days before a vote, that body language often tells you almost as much as the polls

do. >> well, in the nbc news marist poll that we showed earlier, romney is at top with 23%, but that's not even matching the 25% he got in iowa back in 2008. when he came in second to mike huckabee. should he be worried? does he have this sealed up? >> he should be worried only if there was a last minute coalesce sense of the religious right and conservative voters around one candidate. that's why they're running negative ads against santorum. he has to get by santorum so he can become the alternative to romney. he has the resources. he has the organization. he might give romney a run for his money. if this thing ends up romney first, santorum second and paul who's flat lining and falling, third, romney is basically very close to sewing up this nomination. >> all right. let's talk about gingrich. the emotional moment. is this going to have any impact at all? >> i don't think so.

look, newt gingrich is road kill from the negative ads. i saw a figure today, 43% of all the advertising run in iowa has consisted of negative ads run against newt gingrich. i mean, he has been whacked and whacked and whacked. maybe he was crying a little bit for himself today. but i don't think that will have a big impact. i think newt will continue to fall. i think conservative voters will move away from him. probably some of his voters go to romney. some of his voters go to santorum. some go to perry. i think he'll finish pretty far down. >> you know, when hillary clinton had an emotional moment in new hampshire back in 2008, this is show bill kristol reacted on fox news. let's look. >> i don't believe it was genuine. i think no clinton cries without calculating first. this -- and i think this was -- if it was genuine, it was entirely narcissistic. it's all about her. >> can we expect anyone on fox to say the same thing about gingri

gingrich? >> no. not at all. in fact, i thought that was one of the -- you know what, i thought that was one of the most genuine moments that hillary clinton had in that campaign. i think if she had gone on from that to be -- to be unpackaged and to be herself, she might very well in the end have won the nomination. but she went right after she won new hampshire she went right back to that tight, tiny box of running on experience. i think it was a big mistake. people liked her when she was herself. >> quickly, they're attacking santorum. that's got to be good for hilm. he has to be making people nervous. >> everybody is looks at his polling. everybody believes he's coming on. as i said, rick perry who would be more dangerous to mitt romney, has also come up, he needs to get santorum out of the way. he needs to get those votes to come to him. i think they're going to be fragmented. romney is likely to win with the lowest total anybody has won a contested iowa caucus since, say, in modern times, since 1976 or 1980. >> well, huckabee got it with

40,000 votes, i believe. bob shrum, great to have you with us tonight. thanks so much. >> thank you, ed. remember to answer tonight's question at the bottom of the screen. you bet. share your thoughts on twitter @edshow. newt gingrich is hurting so bad in iowa, newsmax will be running 30 minute ads for him under the guise of a campaign special. michele bachmann expresses her love for a weapon. saying the ar-15 is great because it's so accurate. will this outlandish assertion help her collapsing campaign, question mark? stay tuned. try bayer advanced aspirin. it's not the bayer aspirin you know. it's different. first...it's been re-engineered with micro-particles. second, it enters the bloodstream fast, and rushes relief to the site of your tough pain. the best part? it's proven to relieve pain twice as fast as before.

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coming up, newt slides in the polls but still refuses to stoop to negative campaigning. chris moody of yahoo! news is on the bus with newt. we'll hear from him. and john nichols of "the nation" magazine will report from the campaign trail. last year's top "psycho

talker" left fox news in june. we've bare bli heard from him next. find out who wins the title of "psycho talker" of 2011. radical republicans took on workers of the middle class. took to the streets to defend their rights. and tweet us your thoughts using #edshow. we'll be right back.

welcome back to "the ed show." newt gingrich simply does not have the money to carry negative ads in iowa. he looks like he's calling in favors. newsmax will be running 30-minute advertisement for

gingrich this weekend in iowa's major television markets. newsmax is calling it a campaign special and it's hosted by michael reagan, ronald reagan's son. gingrich needs all the help he can get. in fact, the late jerry fallwell's liberty university is running 30-seconds ads in which gingrich promotes the university. the former speaker has been offering his own explanation of why his campaign often seems to falter. >> we got off to a bad start for a variety of reasons. part of which is just the culture of modern politics. the fact it took us a couple months to realize i can't do modern politics. i wouldn't do modern politics. and so i had to sort of clear out the underbrushing and back to being positive. i would say to all of you, i hope when you go to the caucus, and i hope all of you will, i hope your friends and neighbors. if someone has to try to frighten you and run ads that are false to get to be president, why would you expect them to tell the truth when they are president? >> well, the translation is

please, please, please don't pay any attention at all to those negative ads running against me. let's turn to john nichols, washington correspondent of "the nation" magazine. great to have you with us tonight. happy new year. thanks for all your work on this show this year. >> thank you, ed. >> you're on the campaign trail -- you bet. you're on the campaign trail, you see how newt gingrich is handling all this. how would you characterize his position right now? is this damage control? >> i was with newt this morning. in fact, i hadn't planned to cover him. it turned out he was at my hotel. when i came down to get coffee, i ran into him and walked into his event with him. we talked for a little while. he let me know he'd be glad to come to wisconsin and campaign for scott walker if he's asked. but the reality was i watched newt's body language very closely today. i watched his style. the truth is he looked like a man who understands he's got to do this for about, you know, 72 more hours and then he can go home to virginia. >> this newsmax 30-minute

special is going to be costing a bundle, but gingrich was the first to sign on with the now defunct trump debate. maybe they feel a little bit loyalty there. is this going to have an impact? this is really a commitment that none of the other candidates have gotten. >> no, it is not going to have an impact, ed. look, newt gingrich has done a little bit better than some people expected in holding a total in a double digits. he's now in the low double digits heading downward. the likelihood is he finishes fifth in iowa, ahead of michele bachmann whose campaign has degenerated to something close to tragedy. but not getting to where rick perry or rick santorum are. i just don't see gingrich getting much beyond where he's at. i don't think a tv ad is going to help him. >> john, stay with us. i want to bring in by telephone right now chris moody, political reporter for yahoo! news. he is on the newt gingrich

campaign bus right now somewhere between council bluffs and schehenandoah, iowa. we apologize in advance. it's in rural america. the cell phone connection isn't all that great. we want to try this. chris, good to have you with us tonight. i want to know, what's the reaction of the gingrich campaign with the polls that are out, especially the one from nbc news, confirming that he's on the slide? where's the confidence level right now, chris? >> well, newt is really blaming the attack ads that are gone against him over the past several days. you certainly notice them up. obviously you can't watch tv in iowa without hearing something bad about newt gingrich. and so he's fighting back against them. he's really trying to continue his push for a positive campaign. you can tell, it's really beleaguering him. >> beleaguering him. what's his demeanor? does he look like a beaten man or is he still upbeat? >> well, he's very tired i think you can tell. he's coming and, you know, he's

staying on message. he's being very careful about what he says. but he does seem like he's waning thin just a little bit. >> and what about the -- how about the crowds? are the crowds thinning? are they enthusiastic? how are they responding to newt gingrich now? >> i think they're still very interested in him. wherever he goes, you still do have a full room that shows up. people are not losing complete interest in him. i think they're still willing to give him a fair shake. but, again, with these polls coming down, these attack ads are just killing him. it's really, really showing on him. so, you know, his pitch is, look, anything can happen, so -- >> chris moody, good to have you with us. go ahead. chris moody, thanks for joining us tonight. i appreciate your time. i want to go back to john nichols. john, conservative evangelical

radio show steve daece who we've had on this radio show a few times is endorsing newt gingrich based on gingrich's position on liberal judges. what are your thoughts on that? >> it's a silly endorsement. santorum has the same position, perhaps even a little more extreme and frankly santorum is on the rise. gingrich is not. so i think it's a badly chosen endorsement at this point. right now we're getting flury of endorsements coming from evangelical media types, some to hick perry, some to gingrich, some to santorum. the failure of the evangelicals, hardcore conservatives to coalesce behind one candidate is ultimately going to be the problem here. because if you keep poulling tht base apart, it doesn't work. roughly 45% to 50% of caucusgoers fall into that evangelical harder right conservative base. but if they're polled in three,

four, five ways, they're not going to cause mitt romney all that much trouble. >> john nichols, gra great to h you with us. when i was down in iowa the last few days, i was really struck by the intensity of the people that are at these candidate offerings, so to speak. these town hall meetings. they're not rallies. i mean, they're a very intense crowd. i'm sure you seen the same thing. good to have you with us, john. have a great new year. next up, "the ed show" unveils our 2011 "psycho talker" of the year. later, chris christie threatens to go jersey on a crowd in iowa? e.j. dionne, erin mcpike and mike. tone you have a lot of things to say to us. wi th t

he "name your price" tool, you tell us what you want to pay, and we give you a range of coverages to choose from. who is she? that's flobot. she's this new robot we're trying out, mostly for, like, small stuff. wow! look at her go! she's pretty good. she's pretty good. hey, flobot, great job. oops. [ powers down ] uh-oh, flobot is broken. the "name your price" tool, only from progressive. call or click today. multi-policy discount. paperless discount. paid-in-full discount. [yawning] homeowner's discount. safe driver discount. chipmunk family reunion.

someone stole the nuts. squirrel jail. justice! countless discounts. now that's progressive. call or click today. and in "psycho talk" tonight, we're bringing you the top "psycho talkers" of the year. this is pretty tough. we had arguments in the office over this. the competition was tight. the top tier is only separated by just a few appearances. so we had to go by a number of appearances. in fifth place we have sean hannity and rick perry. who have each made five trips to the "zone." the kids on the curving couch over on fox and friends, they're in fourth place. they have seven appearances this year. third place, oh, i thought she was going to win it, but no. third place goes to congresswoman michele bachmann. she's an eight-time "psycho talker" on "the ed show." in second place, it's the pizza

man, herman cain. his foreign policy gaffes and his 9-9-9 plan left him one entry shy of the top spot. >> oh, shucky duckie as the man would say. >> now it's time to crown the winner. the "psycho talker" of the year. it's the drugster, rush limbaugh, with ten trips to the "zone" this year. here's a sample of how he got there. >> liberal women have femmenized politics to such a degree that politicians, male politicians, can't even be men, which may explain why politicians as a group are often caught in these sex scandals. isn't it due to ignorant and uninformed voters that we got obama? there isn't any quantifiable, empirical evidence that obama is smart. herman cain could be our first authentically black president. talk radio is not made up of

angry white hosts. in the end, powell will vote for obama. thicker than water, folks. the triple double oreo. you wait -- it isn't going to be long before it's going to be called the orbamio or something like this. well, it's a biracial cookie here. >> now, who the heck can beat that? congratulati congratulations, rush. of course, the guy who got this honor last year has dropped off the map. he was even too crazy for fox news. he lost his tv show and is rapidly fading into obscurity. i wonder what fate awaits this year's honoree. and there it is, folks. another year of "psycho talk." next up, michele bachmann is trying her best to avoid a last-place finish in iowa. her latest attention-grabbing stunt? discussing her deep affection for a semiautomatic assault weapon.

e.j. dionne and mike papanto and erin mcpike will join the conversation. 2011 was the year when we stood up to a radical republican onslaught. i'll show you why john kasich might have a worse 2012. ♪ that's why we created the share the love event. get a great deal on a new subaru and 250 dollars goes to your choice of five charities. ♪ with your help, we can reach 20 million dollars by the end of this, our fourth year. [ female announcer ] get 0 percent apr financing on select models for thirty-six months and we'll donate two-hundred and fifty dollars to your choice of five charities. now through january 3rd. to your choice of five charities. go i want to look natural,l. not naked!razy? but all you need is 3. lashblast for volume, outlast -- for kissing... simply ageless to help you look easy breezy beautiful covergirl.

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things are not looking good for michele bachmann. she's run out of cash. she can't attract a crowd. her staff is leaving the ship. 4 1/2 months after her iowa straw poll victory, bachmann is on track for an embarrassing finish in a state she's devoted all of her time, money, energy and resources toward. and bachmann's desperation is definitely showing. in her latest outlandish assertion, the congresswoman told an iowa radio station, w.h.o., her gun of choice is a semiautomatic assault weapon. >> i learned how to hunt here in iowa from my dad.

i went through gun safety when i was 12. and my favorite gun is an ar-15 because you can be so accurate with it. and i scored the best in my class of any of the men, too, in that class. >> the ar-15 -- >> it's a rifle. >> that's a combat weapon. >> i love if. >> it can be made automatic -- >> it's a great gun. >> it's a semiautomatic .222 i think. >> i like being accurate. that's a great gun. >> accurate and apparently lots of firepower and many, many shots. how big is your magazine? >> you really want to know? >> is it a legal magazine? >> yes, of course it is. >> joining me now, erin mcpike, reporter for "real clear politics." mike papantonio, host of "the ring of fire" radio show, and e.j. dionne, senior fellow at the brookings institution and "washington post" columnist. well, mike, let's start with you on this. i don't know anybody that hunts with an ar-15. what do you make of this story? is she lying? >> we're going to hear her

good-bye speech at the end of iowa, ed. look, there's a different kind of excitement. there's carnival excitement, sideshow excitement that seems to follow michele bachmann. then there's the genuine kind of excitement that follows a candidate who really has hope and possibility of being a president of the united states. she's over. it's over for this woman. we're going to hear good-bye speech after iowa. i don't care how hard she dtrie. she just can't come back. it's getting ridiculous by the day. >> erin, bachmann has visited, worked the land. she visited every county in iowa. she talks about her iowa roots. i don't know if we've seen a bigger flame-out in the primary after someone won the straw poll. is this almost embarrassing in your opinion? >> a little bit. her support is collapsing. it's certainly true. rick santorum is picking up a lot of her support. she's bleeding to him. that's been going on now for

about a month. it's clear rick santorum is getting that support. i actually went to several of her events a couple weekends ago around the state, sort of even in central iowa. she's only getting about a dozen people at each of those events. she just sent out her schedule for tomorrow and she only has two events. one is a lunch with undecided voters. it's closed to the press which means obviously there's something they don't want us to see there which might be another very small crowd. >> e.j., yesterday i spoke with rick santorum, and here's what you wrote about him. this caught my attention. you wrote this today. "only one thing can stop the former pennsylvania senator from doing exceptionally well in tuesday's caucuses, and that is texas governor rick perry hanging on to the support he now has." it is a fight between those social conservatives to see who they're going to support. what do you make of it? >> well, i think that what rick santorum has done is started

consolidating the votes of the religious conservatives. they were the folks who gave mike huckabee his big victory four years ago. he hasn't cleat lycompletely consolidated them. rick perry spent a lot of money, worked hard in the state and probably run the most christian campaign since the reverend pat robertson back in 1988. so i think a lot will depend on what happens in evangelical churches this sunday. i think the drift is toward santorum. he has a lot of support from, important support from evangelical leaders. if he can consolidate that, take it away from perry, he could actually threaten ron paul and mitt romney. and that's why perry has gone negative on him. as you mentioned at the beginning of the show. perry knows he's in a dog fight with santorum for third place now but also to see if either of them can get in contention. >> mike, what do you think of the evangelical vote? is it really going to matter? >> i think it's relevant just

like e.j. says. it matters in iowa, but the real question is, how does it convert to cash for santorum who's out of cash? how does it convert to enough excitement for a ground game in places like new hampshire and south carolina and florida? it simply doesn't convert to that type of excitement. and that's what he needs right now. i believe e.j.'s right on. he's going to do well. i think he's going to cut into perry's votes in iowa. he has a great message there. he's a very convincing message there in iowa. it doesn't leave the state lines is the way i see the santorum situation. >> erin, is ron paul really slipping? what do you see out there? >> he's taking the weekend off, as you may know. is he slipping? i think he's always had about a 20% ceiling or so. he's getting up to 22%, 25% here and there. i think he's taking the weekend off because the attacks have been escalating. and he kind of wants a break from those to satave off some o that, to see if he can really get a victory.

he needs to stay out of the line of attack. >> there's one other event today. here's newt gingrich tearing up. here's the sound bite. >> my whole emphasis on brain science comes indirectly from dealing -- see, i'm emotional -- but from dealing with, you know, the real problems of real people in my family. and so it's not a theory. it's, in fact, you know, my mother. >> e.j. dionne, what does this do? is this a hillary moment where he might get a bump? >> you know, call me a softy, i thought that was actually authentic. i think he really felt that. i don't know if crying helps you in a republican primary the way choking up helped hillary in a democratic primary. but i think one thing about what's happened to gingrich that we have to pay attention to for the long haul, he has been sort of hammered by millions of dollars in totally unaccountable advertising. this is not advertising from a candidate saying, i'm paying for

this. this is money through these shadowy groups. we're going to see a lot of that for the rest of the year. >> welcome to citizens united. erin, mike, e.j., stay with us. we want to talk some more. coming up, sarah palin as secretary of energy. it could happen with newt gingrich in the white house. stay tuned.

up next, chris christie out of new jersey stumps for mitt romney in iowa. and newt gingrich speculates about this cabinet? our panel is back with reaction. and later, i'll take a look back at the big events of 2011. don't forget to tweet us using #edshow. try bayer advanced aspirin. it's not the bayer aspirin you know. it's different. first...it's been re-engineered with micro-particles. second, it enters the bloodstream fast, and rushes relief to the site of your tough pain. the best part? it's proven to relieve pain

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mitt romney is aiming for an upset on tuesday to help him secure some last-minute votes. the candidate brought out the big guns today. chris christie of new jersey. >> i'm thrilled to be in iowa. new jersey's watching you, too.

we're watching you really closely. and so listen, i want to tell you something. i want to tell you something real clearly. i'm in a good mood this morning. i'm happy and upbeat. let me tell you, you people disappoint me on tuesday, you don't do what you're supposed to do on tuesday for mitt romney, i will be back jersey style, people. i will be back. >> let's bring back our panel, "real clear politics" reporter erin mcpike with us tonight. "ring of fire" radio host mike papantonio. and "washington post" columnist e.j. dionne. does tough talk like that entertain the crowd. >> chris christie is kbee lobel iowa. when he was campaigning for lots of candidates in the midterms, it worked well for him. it's great for mitt romney that chris christie is out here. it might help him get over the

edge in the next few days. >> turning to one of romney's other surrogates, his son brought up president obama's birth certificate today. how is this going to impact romney, mike? i mean, this isn't all that good, is it? >> i think you're going to have more and more of that. romney right now, romney is the guy. i mean, chris christie's message there is that the establishment republicans want romney to be their guy. but romney needs discipline. he certainly doesn't need his child, his family, anybody out there speaking for him. he's bad enough on his own, ed. any time he picks up a microphone, mitt romney is just an inch away from a disaster. now, you give that same microphone to his son and to his family and people who are undisciplined, people who have no vision about what the message is, it is the makings of a disaster. get the son out of it, get the family out of it and do what establishment republicans are telling him to do. beat the creepy side of the republican party out there. all this -- the fringe edge. beat them. that's what the mitt romney

message is. they have to win with romney. >> at a tele town hall, gingrich said he'd be open to the idea of choosing sarah palin as his running mate or for a cabinet position. here it is. >> there are also some very important cabinet positions that she could fill very, very well. i can't imagine anybody who would do a better job of driving us to an energy solution than governor palin, for example. >> e.j. dionne, is this just a play for her supporters at this point by newt gingrich? >> i think that's exactly what it is. although we could see the big drill, baby, drill sign hanging from the energy department. but that's about as likely to happen as newt getting elected president. if i go back to that romney thing, i think the real mistake the son made was to bring back to life the whole question of why won't mitt romney release his tax returns? you know, he may be able to make that work, but people who are his critics are going to keep

asking that question. and that's not an issue he wanted brought up at any moment. i don't think it's going to make a big difference now, but it's going to be out there. >> well, i think there's a very real possibility he's not paying any tax at all. mike, i mean, that is possible. he could be playing all the loopholes in the world and who knows what's out there for romney. >> tax-free municipals can generate millions. that could be what he's -- but look, e.j. hit it right. right now he can slide by with ridiculous nonresponsive answers like that, not in a real race. not when you really ask those questions. some of this ties into where he investments are. where's he putting his money? those stories tire out. it's like a spider web. any time you have all the investment information on a guy like romney, the spider web is endless. that's what he's afraid of. at this point, he probably shouldn't release them. they're going to come out. >> erin mcpike, the next 72 hours, who do you think is the candidate to watch? >> it's rick santorum. i covered a couple of rick

santorum's events today. he had one in ames, he had another one in marshalltown, not very far away from des moines. he's getting huge crowds. hundreds and hundreds of people. you know, that's where the evangelical christians are starting to look. so as we go into this weekend with lots of events and as e.j. mentioned, church on sunday, he's a candidate who's going to fire up that kind of crowd. so i think he's the candidate to watch. >> and quickly, e.j., i don't think he has much resources beyond iowa. he's put all his eggs in this basket. what do you think? >> what he's got up in new hampshire is an organization made up mostly of the right to life movement. but he does have something going up there. but the romney people think in the long run perry would be harder to beat, still, because romney has not traditionally been strong in the south. and so if one of them is going to emerge, i think they'd prefer santorum, but i think he's got an outside shot at doing well if he gets to new hampshire. >> mike, make the call.

who wins the caucus? >> it's going to be mitt. mitt's going to take it. ron paul, he's way, way too crazy. way too crazy. >> i feel like going all in on santorum just because i like long shots. >> all right. erin, you want to make a call? >> i don't know. i mean, i think it's anybody's game right now. it really is very fluid. so i don't want to make a call, actually. >> all right. erin mcpike, mike papantonio, e.j. dionne. great to have you with us tonight dissecting the whole thing. next on "the ed show," i'm going to show you why 2011 is a year this broadcaster will never forget.

"the ed show" survey tonight, is mitt romney trying to hide how rich he is? 98% of you say yes. 2% of you say no. you know what, i don't think he pays any tax. i mean, i think he's got it

worked out where very cleverly, and by the law, he's not paying any tax. i mean, if he was paying tax, he'd probably want everybody to know it. coming up, some of my favorite moments of this past year. stay tuned. o tolerance for such dastardly deeds. finally... [ male announcer ] some parties need a bowl of queso. made from creamy velveeta and zesty rotel tomatoes and green chiles. it makes any get-together better. but to be honest, i find the omega choices overwhelming. which one is right for me? then i found new pronutrients omega-3. it's from centrum. a name i trust. it goes beyond my heart to support my brain and eyes too. and these ultra concentrated minigels are much smaller than many others. it's part of a whole new line of supplements. there's probiotic and fruit & veggie too. new pronutrients from centrum. look for your five dollar coupon in this sunday's paper. challenge that. new olay smooth finish facial hair removal duo.

first a gentle balm. then the removal cream. effective together with less irritation and as gentle as a feather. new olay hair removal duo. but my nose is still runny. [ male announcer ] truth is, dayquil doesn't treat that. really? [ male announcer ] alka-seltzer plus fights your worst cold symptoms, plus it relieves your runny nose. [ deep breath] awesome. [ male announcer ] yes, it is. that's the cold truth! well, this is it for 2011. i'd like to take a few moments to reflect back on this year. it's been a heck of a year. i want to say a few thank yous tonight for those of you who watch this show. i know it's been a roller

coaster ride, "the ed show," this year earlier was on at 6:00 then on at 10:00. now we have the task of doing the 8:00 hour here on msnbc. they actually asked me to do a 3:00 a.m. in the morning show, but i told them i was too busy delivering papers. but it's been a -- it's been a year to remember for us anyway. i really appreciate you watching the show and following the show. and we certainly couldn't do it without you. and we couldn't make all this happen without your support. but from a political viewpoint, i'd like to thank six radical governors who have kicked and awakened a sleeping giant in this country. the american worker. governors who were escorted into office by the tea party crowd and disgruntled voters who forgot to ask about the details of their overreaching and radical agenda. the ed team has been on a journey this past year that took us to michigan, indiana, florida, new jersey, ohio and wisconsin. you know, wherever we went, we

found american workers who felt like they were under attack and being scapegoated, vilified and blamed for the financial condition of the country. well, in 2011, workers have really had their wages attacked. their pension, their health care and their voice put on a table for a negotiating chip. workers who don't often get into the fray. don't get caught up in the political garbage because they're just too dog-on busy trying to make ends meet. i think 2011 changed all that. they are paying attention now. i know a lot more about firefighters today than i did a year ago. they are one tough bunch and they are dedicated. their involvement in ohio really was a game changer. i have renewed respect for teachers and i believe now more than ever, voices in the workplace are vital to saving the quality of life in this country. and a special thank you tonight to the people of wisconsin.

i want to thank them for standing up to the radical republican scott walker and his allies, the koch brothers, who have attacked teachers, firefighters, cops and other public sector employees. you know, these are the people who teach our kids, save lives, protect our cities and towns. and make sure our roads and bridges are safe in all kinds of weather. you know, the folks of wisconsin welcomed us with open arms. it was really a highlight for us. they allowed us to tell their story with passion and commitment. they showed it every night. and let me tell you, they made a hell of a difference. the thousands of marchers, i'll never forget those senators, the wisconsin 14. you all were such fantastic people and you made a difference. as the fight continues, we look forward to standing with you in 2012 for the walker recall election. in ohio, the firefighters, they were as generous as anybody could have been. jack rial, president of the local 67 was passionate, committed and advocating for his

men and women in almost an amazing way. it was workers like jack rial and gilbert who made the difference in the repeal of senate bill 5. we took "the ed show" to my high school in norfolk, virginia. that was a proud moment for me. would you like to do that if you had a tv show? it was really surreal. we met a young teacher there named alex. she kpeexemplified teachers aro this country, young, energetic. gets up early in the morning, stays late. teaches not only classes but extracurricular activities. the students at the high school love her dedication and passion. these are the kind of workers who get assailed by republican governors all over the country just to make sure their budget works. at the federal level, we saw what republicans really want for the elderly in this country. it was a real eye opener to me. the ryan plan will gut medicare and force seniors to take a voucher and wage battle with

insurance companies. here in america? are you kidding me? this is an outrageous and radical plan. the republicans actually want 70, 80 and 90-year-old seniors to negotiate with insurance companies who only care about one thing, and that's making a profit, not making a difference. we're better than this, folks. to the people of wisconsin and ohio, i hope you realize what you've done for america. in the middle of the country, every time i went out there, i got that bold handshake from people who were ready to fight. to stick up for what they believed in. i saw the tears in their eyes because of what they were going through. and i felt the passion of the people. they were and are determined to right a wrong. no doubt about it. yes, the people of wisconsin and ohio set an example for workers all over this country. i think they showed the world. they showed the world that nothing's lost if you don't give up. it doesn't matter how much money