sure don't act like democrats. "the ed show" starts right now. good evening, americans, welcome to "the ed show." mitt romney is taking heat for not releasing tax returns. late breaking news this evening raises major questions is about bain capital's offshore accounts. this is "the ed show," let's get to work. >> you should put them out, put them out sooner than later because it's always better in my view to have complete disclosure. >> even mitt romney's pals are piling on and now we find out romney wants to lower his own taxes. david cay johnston will crunch the numbers. does romney pay a lower rate than veterans. jon sotlz wants to know. >> newt and mama grizzly are scratching each other's back. >> if i had to vote in second quarter to keep it going i would

vote for newt. >> i would ask her to consider taking a major role. >> the chaos in carolina. >> scott walker is licking his wounds with his pals on fox. >> i believe this is your debut, is it not? >> yeah. >> the nation's john nichols has the latest from the badger state. >> colbert versus citizens united is getting better. >> ari melber and krystal ball will explain. mitt romney is getting attacked by enemies. newt gingrich will release his own tax returns tomorrow and says romney should do the same. >> we can confirm i pay 31% rate, and although let me be clear, the 21st century contract with america has an optional 15% flat rate for every american. so my goal is not --.

>> not just mitt romney? >> my goal is not to raise mitt romney, it's everybody pay mitt romney's rate. i won't criticize romney, shouldn't we all have the option of a flat tax at the same rate he was paying? >> mitt romney stands to gain a lot from his tax policies. citizens for tax justice broke down the tax proposals of president obama and mitt romney. under the president's plan, romney would be taxed at 24%. but wait a minute, under his own plan, he would be taxed at less than 15%. good deal, huh? chris christie tried to run interference for him. he may have done more damage. >> the way i conducted myself i released all my tax return during the campaign, went back a number of years and released them and release them every year after i file them right after i file them to the public in new jersey so they can see everything. that is what i would tell

governor romney to do. he said he will release them in april. that is what i would advise him to do. >> romney has said he will probably release his tax returns in april. christie wants romney to release them now and release them going back a number of years. former labor secretary robert reitcsh pointed out why he's being coy, he writes a loophole in the tax laws allow private equity managers like romney to treat compensation as capital gains. it's legal but it's a scandal. so mitt romney already is hiding the amount he stands to gain from his own tax policies, and he's hiding the tax loophole he exploits to get a low rate right now. and here's some interesting stuff as well about romney's tax returns that if it would be released it would reveal this. a reuters report discovered bain capital has millions of dollars in foreign tax havens in the kay men islands, bermuda, hong kong and ireland.

this is not illegal but offshore holdings brings in massive profits for companies like bain, which is the source of mitt romney's income. he's becoming the poster boy for what is wrong with the tax code in the country. he calls himself an expert in creating jobs, but romney is an expert in gaming the system. >> what is the effect it rate i have been paying? probably closer to the 15% rate than anything, my last 10 years my income comes overwhelmingly from investments made in the past rather than ordinary income or earned annual income. i got a little bit of income from my book but i gave it all away and then i get speaker fees from time to time but not very much. >> not very much. the story won't go away. there is a new chapter every day. his rating is starting to take a dive. he has an unfavorable rating of 53% in a new ppp poll. 33% of americans say they look

at romney favorably. romney, this guy, he's got ice in his veins. he can't relate to the middle class in any way, shape or form. the money he makes in speaking fees is a life-changing number. what would you do with $375,000? in south carolina alone the median income is over $42,000. but that 375 is really not that much. mitt romney doesn't relate to the plight of every day working folks because he hasn't had a job in five years. even chris christie knows this. >> it doesn't come as any shock because the guy hasn't been having a job where he has been getting income over the last number of years and so he has been getting money from investment income which is taxed at a different rate. >> mitt romney doesn't need to work for a living. he makes millions from untaxed offshore investments and he pays

less in taxes than people who earn a fraction of what mitt romney is worth. romney's only real job is running for president. so he can pass policies to make himself even richer. is he your guy tonight? get the cell phones out. tonight's question, should mitt romney have to explain bain capital's offshore accounts? text a for yes, b for no, to 622639. results later in the program. joining me is david cay johnston, columnist for reuters, and author of "free lunch" and jon soltz, great to have you with us. david, you first, how advantageous are these offshore holdings by bain for mitt romney? >> well they are better than 15%, ed. you and i and john and most of the viewers get a paycheck from which the government takes the taxes out before we get our

money. if you're a single person making a bit over $60,000, you're paying 15% of your income to the federal government. but romney set up these deals where he was allowed to get compensation, not investments, compensation from managing other people's investments, and be paid with what is called carried interest. he doesn't pay any taxes on that, until he cashes out. he will pay taxes on different i denied or other things that flow out of it. imagine if you could for five or ten or twenty years have wealth in your bank account or your offshore account and all you had to do was pay low 15% rate on the dividends, . >> you talk about that carried interest, today rupert murdoch said romney's tax uses as long term legal loophole, carried

interest. makes all fund managers rich. time both parties stop selling out to wall street. what do you think about that? >> well, i think that if i were a wall street executive or hedge fund manager, i would be worried about romney running. once ordinary americans sitting around the kitchen table understand this, and that what is my column at reuters will be about tomorrow, once they understand this and how this game is rigged, far worse than they ever have been told, there will be public pressure to end this practice of pay now, pay your taxes years later. >> jon, your group, vote vets, has a petition to get romney to release his tax returns. why is this an important issue for vote vets? >> well look, he's running for commander in chief and it's no surprise you can go in any army times and military times article and see what the pay scale is. when we're deployed, we get a non-taxable income, but when we

return we're probably taxed at a higher rate other than the man that wants to be president. when we are deployed, there is a certain percent of officers field grade officers and higher that pay taxes because we're only allowed to get tax-free pay up to the highest enlisted man. if you're running to the president, there is a leadership responsibility that the troops need to know who the commander in chief is. you don't have this type of secrecy. the second issue is really simple, the public is appalled at the fact that people that can spend 20 years fighting for our country could be paying higher taxes. we're the real 1% than a man who is making hundreds of millions of dollars annually, this is something the public has a right to have disclosure on. >> is there anything in his tax returns you think would disqualify him for the presidency? everything he's doing right now is legal, it may not seem fair to the average joe or to the combat soldier, or to retired veterans, but you see anything that could disqualify him in

your opinion? >> i can't see these things. i have no idea, but it's perception is reality, and at vote vets we released a poll, we looked at veterans messages in battle ground states, this is the issue that popped. wasn't veterans talking to veterans, the issues in places like ohio, montana, republican men and independent men, these people are appalled to find out the wealthiest 1% is in the lower tax bracket based on the capital gains structure than people that spent 20 years fighting for the country. it's an achilles heel. >> david cay, is there anything he can do between now and the date he will release these returns? i guess the middle of april, that might soften the blow a little bit or it's just done? >> he has a quandary here. he shouldn't delay until april. you get the news out and try to get it over with and move on.

but as soon as he releases those returns, people will recognize that he has been running for president now for five years. he has had five years to shape his finances to make whatever return he make public look as good as possible. the returns that matter are the ones from 1984 when bain was founded through 2000, those are are the ones that will tell us about the money he made and not investment income as he calls it. compensation, just like your and my paycheck that under this special rule hasn't been taxed or isn't taxed until he sells that compensation that buys him shares. >> both parties are guilty of not doing anything about it the wealthy, they shake down the senate and the house and they give to both parties and so there hasn't been any push to change any of these loopholes, is that fair enough? >> yes, but if people called the capital switchboard and asked for the congress person by name and say you got to stop this, we may see some movement about it. there is only one party in

washington the party of the greenback. >> we had such a big discussion in this country about income inequality, i show the chart, the vulture chart, the top 2%, their income has gone up 300% over the last 30 years, blue liners seen a modest increase in wage force 30 years. i would imagine for soldiers, the military is at the blue line, i don't think this is a real good morale issue, is it jon? >> the soldiers, we call ourselves 1% because we're gone. people between 25,000 in taxable income to maybe 80 or 90,000 and retirees get 50%. you're talking about middle class people. the veterans are the middle class. why we had 4,000 families sign this petition.

we have pending budget cuts going on over at the pentagon, is governor romney if president want to 401 k the pension system to continue to pay 15% taxes or lower because he has offshore accounts. these are concerned, will he take from the middle class programs that have been earned, they are not given to us but earned by retirees to keep himself in bonds that pay 0% taxes or carry interest program, playing with other peoples money. >> great point. david cay johnston, jon soltz thanks for your insight. this story won't go away. remember tonight to answer the question at the bottom of the screen. share your thoughts on twitter, we want to know what you think. coming up, is newt gingrich, i mean is this guy a surge on the who are in south carolina. tyler jones and bill press will weigh in. democrats in wisconsin

partied hard now the real fight begins. we'll bring you the latest on the record-breaking recall of governor scott walker and what he's trying to do to get support.

oh, yeah twitter is alive on "the ed show." if obama has to show his birth certificate, why doesn't romney have to show his tax returns? coming up newt gingrich, is he rebounding in south carolina? should mitt be worried, tyler jones jones, bill press will join me next. psycho talk, what this super superstitious cheese head said about the packers who. stephen colbert won't be on the ballot, his plan to win the united states of south carolina later on the show. share the thoughts on twitter, using #edshow. we'll be right back, stay tuned.

i fully expect the romney campaign to be dirt y and dishonest for the next four days, they are desperate, they thought they could buy it, they are discovering they can't buy it. >> that was newt gingrich earlier hitting mitt romney good. romney looks like he's in for a very rough few days. gingrich is catching up in the polls in south carolina. the latest poll numbers show romney with a ten-point lead, gingrich is gaining ground. romney campaign has taken notice. today surrogates on a conference call explaining why gingrich is unreliable. as the washington post reports, romney hasn't organized such a call with gingrich as the target

since the former speaker led the field back in december. last night gingrich's southern strategy got a boost from way up north. >> if i had to vote in south carolina, in order to keep this thing going, i'd vote for newt, and i would want this to continue more debates, more vetting of candidates, because we know the mistake made in our country four years ago was having a candidate that was not vetted. >> we didn't vet president obama at all. believe it or not, right there she was not referring to herself. gingrich says the half-term governor will be a key player in his white house. >> i would ask her to consider taking a major role in the next administration if i'm president, but nothing has been discussed of any kind, it wouldn't be appropriate to discuss it at this time. >> major role by sarah palin in a gingrich administration? tyler jones, democratic strategist and co-founder of south carolina forward progress.

and talk show host bill press, author of the upcoming book i can't wait to read it "the obama hate machine" bill what that is about? you're writing how they are going after obama all these years. looking forward to it. speaking of going after candidates, abc news has an interview with newt gingrich's ex-wife, marianne. she told esquire magazine once she didn't believe that he was fit to be president of the united states. bill, what do you think, could this be something that derails his momentum in south carolina if abc runs the story? >> you know, ed, this reminds me of way back in the clinton days when dredge reported, i think also nbc, had this story about a girl named monica lewinsky the president might have been having an affair with, a young woman i

should say, there was a big debate whether to run it now it's going inside abc. if this comes out, this could tube the gingrich candidacy. in south carolina today, people don't like romney even though he won the first two primaries, sort of one in iowa. looking for somebody else. and newt is a bomb-thrower, the one that throws the red meat, they like newt and want to give newt one last chance. he may not win, but he's going to go down fighting and is giving romney the run of his life which is why romney sent his people in here today to move around and trash newt gingrich. >> interesting, for a guy, tyler jones, not the front-runner, newt gingrich is certainly acting like it. what do you make of his move in south carolina? cutting this lead by mitt romney to just ten points? >> well, good evening, ed. i think the surge is for real. newt gingrich needed two things in order to win south carolina.

he needed money and he needed debates and he got both of them. he obviously got the $5 million contribution and also got two debates in one week and if there is one candidate that benefits from two debates in one week it's not rick perry, it's newt gingrich. he had a great debate on monday night, was full of hateful and insulting rhetoric toward poor people, which south carolina republicans love. mitt romney had a terrible debate. i think he's got momentum. >> gingrich believes his momentum is coming out of this tuesday debate you're talking about, the exchange between juan williams and newt gingrich came up in a town hall today. let's go to that, here it is. >> i would like to thank you, mr. speaker, for putting mr. juan williams in his place the other night. >> what about that tyler, did he knock it out of the park with these red neck voters in south carolina, i don't mean to be disrespectful but holy smokes. >> no offense taken. he had a tremendous debate, he

threw out the red meat he needed to to connect with eccentric republican voters in south carolina. but i think the surge has a lot to do with the debate but has a lot to do with mitt romney imploding. he is not able to fill rooms at his events in south carolina. obviously had a terrible debate. and the ads in south carolina are finally starting to stick people are looking for that alternative to mitt romney and i think they found it in newt gingrich. >> you can listen to that crowd, bill press, he has a base down there. >> oh, yeah. no doubt about it, ed. his specialty throughout this primary season and all these debates has been attacking the moderator, right? attacking the members of the media. he has done it over and over again, juan williams was the latest. wait until tomorrow night. the word around town here in charleston, ed, is cnn knows this is the last stand. this is the last chance for most of these candidates, they will let them go at each other.

boy, that will be fun to watch and there is nobody better at slash and burn than newt gingrich. >> he called for perry and santorum to drop out of the race. here is rick santorum's response. here it is. >> i think it's an enormous amount of huberous for someone who lost the first two races who thinks enough of themselves because of a couple polls have him ahead of me that everybody should step aside and let him who hasn't won, defeated me in two of the ee length shuns so far, to let him have a wide berth. >> other drop-out talk as well. laura ingram and ericson want rick perry to drop out and console i date to the anti-romney vote. here is perry earlier. >> the idea we will do anything else other than try to impact this election and that is why we got in it. we didn't get in it because it was our purpose in life to be the president of the united states, we did it because it was our purpose to serve this country and that is what we have been called for and will continue doing.

>> bill, what about this, anybody going to drop out and coalesce behind one conservative? >> probably not, because they've got their super pacs and money. ed, i got to tell you for newt gingrich, who hasn't beat santorum yet in two primaries, to suggest that he ought to drop out so everybody can get behind newt, remember madeleine albright called it cahones, he's showing them. they may announce tomorrow a different ending to the iowa caucus, tyler jones at this point it doesn't matter, does it, whether mitt romney won by eight votes or might lose by 12 on a recount, what does that do to south carolina, if anything? >> nothing. i don't think that matters. a new poll came out that showed mitt romney up 10 on newt gingrich and showed rick perry at 6%. so ed, even if rick perry were to drop out and all his support went to newt he would still be four points down on mitt romney. he has to go against rick

santorum, if he's able to do that he could win. >> tyler jones, bill press, always a pleasure, good to have you on. bill, enjoy the warm weather. up next, a very depressed green bay packers fan has a unique theory about why her team lost to the giants. i have a sparkly surprise for you in psycho talk. today the president took a stand against republican pressure to build the environmentally unfriendly keystone xl pipeline. steve israel will join me later in the show and talk how it affects the 2012 elections.

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to learn more, or find an authorized retailer near you visit tempur-pedic.com. tempur-pedic the most highly recommended bed in america. it's psycho talk, tonight we got back from wisconsin and there were a lot of sad faces in packerland after green bay got booted out of the playoffs by the new york giants. working in new york, i heard a lot of it. we all heard all kind of rumors about why the packers didn't get it done. but a fan named casey had the best theory of all. >> they didn't because they told me to put sparkles on my nails. >> i'm sorry, don't cry. >> it's your fault. >> you told me not to get the sparkles. i told you not to do the sparkles, but you told me to do it. it was pretty. i don't care about pretty. i want the packers to win the

super bowl, megan! >> oh my god. >> and i wore my jersey and i said let me wear my aaron rodgers jersey, you said no. >> we don't know how serious she was about the sparkle nail polish, but packers all pro linebacker clay mathews let her have it. he posted the video and tweeted, "damn you megan and your sparkles." if the spark ems were the reason you lost, she wasn't the only one that put them on her nails. i kind of like the pack. >> a recall about someone who breaks our promises. >> scott walker is raising cash all over the place to save his job. will the democrats field a winner?

john nichols of the nation magazine has all the answers. republicans are twisting themselves in knots over the president's keystone decision. steve israel responds. stephen colbert is reheating cold pizza to expose the ridiculous citizens united decision. >> anybody who shares my values can show it by voting for herman cain.

i believe this is your debut on the curvy couch, is it not? yes it is. >> i wish for you personally it was better circumstances. >> so great to see him in person because he's always on satellite on fox. there he is, spending his morning on the curvy couch, scott walker after the big fundraiser that he had with the boys at a ig in new york on tuesday night. when i woke up this morning in madison, wisconsin, this is the headline i woke up to.

i saw the wisconsin state journal, walker is running scared after the recall petition drive, he's basically on the ropes and so he runs to the safe haven of conservative talk radio and the noise machine. >> scott walker, i think arguably one if not the best governors in the entire country. >> certainly don't want to see endless campaigns, that what is we have thanks to the big money coming in from washington from the public employee unions, we'll fight that scottwalker.org, hopefully people will join us. >> governor, thank you. nice to see you, sir. >> i hope with the chance with the help of people they can help us out. >> they want to recall you're effective doing what you said you were going to do and what you said you were going to do is working and that is the last thing the left can tolerate. >> really? i'm sure rush got out of bed yesterday and said "you know, the first thing we got to do is

cover that wisconsin story, let's help that walker guy" they got their machine in place. walker needs all the help he can get. the recall effort against walker really is unprecedented. the wisconsin democratic party points out more than 46% of the wisconsin electorate signed a petition to recall walker. happened two other times in history, 1921, 31.8% of the voters signed when north dakota governor lynn frazier was recalled. and not too long ago in 2003, took 23.4% of california petition signers recalled gray davis. remember those days? would you like to have them back? walker won the 2010 election. think about this. he won election in the mid-terms, 2010, this gubernatorial chair by 124,638 votes. keep in mind, many union households voted for this guy. before they realized he was out to destroy collective bargaining. i don't think they will make the same mistake again. the working men and women of wis

wisconsin needed to sign 540,208 signers, they collected over a million, 185% of the amount they needed. in 2010, what happened? could you call it a health care hangover. many didn't show up, were mad at democrats, didn't do enough, now look what happened much the democrats in wisconsin got a major chance to correct all of that, and turn this around. they have done the due diligence, now they have to go the next mile. let's turn to john nichols, now on twitter, i love it. #atnicholsuprising. i love that. now, was walker shocked by these results? and also, john, your take on this unbelievable media tour that he is on. every right wing heavy weight is helping this guy out with visibility, raising money, this

is a national campaign. do you think he was blind-sided by the million signatures? he was absolutely blind-sided, ed. governor walker and his lieutenant governor, who faces recall, saying the progressive forces that go beyond the democratic party that set out to do the recall had fallen short of their goal. the lieutenant governor said that they would only get 700,000, 720,000, and she said that was a defeat because they didn't get the million. so their internal communication was telling them that this was not going to get near a million, when that hit, they were unquestionably shocked. when you his listen to the governor's interviews later in the day you heard a lack of energy. he was actually mumbling in some of the interviews. and yet, of course, this right wing spin machine did everything

it could to prop him up, and they were doing so with a clear intention, to help him raise huge amounts of money. you pointed it out there in that clip, every time on every one of these shows he mentioned his campaign website. that is a desperate candidate. >> i think the right wing of the current r country views this as a alamo of sorts. they have to win to it go after blame middle classers for the condition of the country economically and balance the budgets on the back of wage earners. so the money that will be coming in, how much super pac money do you think will be out there helping walker? >> today, we heard has been suggested this would be a $70 million campaign. not all of it for governor walker, fighting on both sides. but with walker having the overwhelming majority of that. now there is talk that this $100 million campaign.

perhaps the most expensive gubernatorial race in a state this size ever in the history of the country. here's what significant about that as well. governor walker has been raising huge portions of this money, very close to half of it, from outside the state of wisconsin. that is an effort to get money to support this initiative, and governor walker himself has said why. he has said that if he loses, that the anti-labor push of the right and of these republican governors will begin to lose steam and perhaps fall apart. >> john nichols, we'll follow the story, great to have you with us tonight, appreciate your time. president obama stood up to republican pressure to approve the keystone xl pipeline and republicans are hitting back really hard. steve israel will tell us how the political football fits in the 2012 election strategy.

the president up against the oil companies.

coming up next the president rejects the keystone pipeline plan and republicans are jumping all over it. tweet us at #edshow. we will be right back.

president obama threw the republican red meat by putting his foot down and refusing to authorize the keystone pipeline. republicans forced president obama to make a quick decision on the proposed pipeline running from canada to texas as a condition of extending the payroll tax cuts. the president cited the gop's rushed and arbitrary deadline as the main reason for his denial. the republican backlash was very predictable. >> president obama is destroying tens of thousands of american jobs and shipping american energy security to the chinese. >> by deciding to block the

development of the keystone pipeline, he has essentially decided to block the creation of 20,000 new jobs. >> all right, here we go. 20,000 new jobs, is a bogus talking point. the company that wants to build the pipeline estimates the project will only create around 6,000 temporary jobs. two of president obama's clean energy initiatives are projected to create 68,000 permanent jobs but republicans label those programs job-killers. how much more evidence do americans need to see that the republican party cares more about defeating this president than they do about creating jobs? joining me now is the chairman of the dccc, steve israel of new york. good to have you with us. >> great to be with you. >> this is a very detailed response, has to be a detailed response because there is a lot of environmental issues that play in this decision. it's hard to fit it in a 15 second sound bite about killing

jobs. what is your response? >> look, this is the latest twist and turn in the congress of chronic chaos. this has nothing to do with the pipeline, this has to do with the house republicans doing everything they can using every excuse they can to block a middle class tax cut. ed, when in the history of tax cuts did the republicans ever impose a condition? but when it comes to a middle class tax cut to help working families, suddenly they won't do it unless they get a pipeline. you can't approve a pipeline unless you can prove it's safe they are not interested in proving it's safe. >> is there a chance the president might go along with the pipeline, just won't shoot from the hip? >> that is right. did they forget the bp pipeline in the gulf of mexico that was spewing oil in the gulf of mexico? now they want to disregard all safety standards, want the pipeline running through the united states, has nothing to do with the pipeline, it's a joke, they want to oppose a middle class tax cut and using the pipeline as an excuse the american people are tired of excuses.

>> there are serious environmental concerns about where this oil is coming from in canada and how toxic it could be, and also the pipeline would be running over the midwest, which would be over a major aquifer, that deals with drinking water, irrigation for crops. this is a big deal. >> i guess the bp spill in the gulf of mexico wasn't enough now they want it in nebraska nebraska. there are environmental issues, that is why you have a permitting process. make we can make the judgment it's a good idea one day, you have a permitting process. they want to disregard the permit process and use it as an excuse not to do the middle class tax cut. >> you unveiled the plan, how does the keystone decision affect the race in 2012? >> we need 25 seats to take back the house, we have 76 seats in play. we rolled out 36 of our red to blue candidates, these are problem solvers, they won't find excuses to pass middle class tax

cuts, these are people used to reflections of the middle class, solving problems, nasa astronaut, first african american woman police chief in orlando, florida, these are people who solve problems. they are not interested in continuing this joke that these republicans inflict on the american people. >> the obama campaign released their first ad, a soft sell but talks about the environmental record and energy. here it is. >> secret of oil billionaires attacking president obama with ad fact checkers say are not tethered to the fact. independent watchdogs called this president's records on ethics unprecedented. america's energy, 2.7 million jobs and expanding rapidly. for the first time in 13 years, our dependence on foreign oil is less than -- president obama is strengthening the economy. >> i'm barack obama, i approve this message. >> congressman, does that work? >> it does work. every election is about who you

for. they are about the middle class, house republican majority has consistently chosen millionaires over medicare. chosen oil companies over middle class tax cuts and this message is the message that our candidates will be articulating throughout the campaign. >> quickly, are the republicans lying about the job numbers about the pipeline? >> the republicans continue to spin, the congress of chronic chaos, they spin, don't tell the truth. we're not going to let them get away with them, holding them accountable. >> good to have you with us tonight. stephen colbert can't get on the south carolina ballot he's calling on herman cain for help. i'll explain, next. [ male announcer ] you love the taste of 2% milk.

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"the ed show" survey i asked should mitt romney have to explain bain capital's offshore accounts, holy smokes, 99% of you said yes. i know there are a few republicans that watch the show. 1% of you said no. stephen colbert's new

strategy in south carolina, ari melber, krystal ball coming up next.

one chance to hunt down the right insurance at the right price. the "name your price" tool, only from progressive. ready, aim, save! grrr! ooh, i forgot my phone! the "name your price" tool. now available on your phone. get a free quote today. the big finish stephen colbert has a bit of a problem his name does not appear on the south carolina primary ballot the state doesn't allow write in candidates. how can he continue to run for president of the united states of south carolina? well, with the help of herman cain. cain is on the ballot in south carolina and colbert is now asking his supporters to vote

for the pizza man. >> because cain were similar, if herman cain were to get a significant number of votes that would be a sign voters are hungry. hungry for a stephen colbert campaign. anybody who shares my values can show it by voting for herman cain. >> well, as for herman cain, he thinks it's a great idea. cain will tape a segment tweeting this caveat, to be perfectly clear i won't be assuming stephen colbert's identity we are different when it comes to the color of our hair. colbert super pac run by jon stewart released this ad explaining the situation to voters. >> there is one name on the ballot that stands for true americanism, herman cain.

americans for a better tomorrow tomorrow more believes a vote for herman cain is a vote for america. on january 21st vote for herman cain. lets get insight from ari melber and krystal ball. the polls show obama at 41%, romney at 38%. this is ppp poll. colbert at 13%. will this alter the outcome, ari, on saturday in south carolina? >> he could take a bite out of it. this was actually the plot of an eddie murphy movie "the distinguished gentleman" they said if you have the right name id and say you're the other candidate you can wins a him,

one who had passed away. herman cain shows he's not serious since he's playing along. >> you never know, if stephen colbert could finish ahead of rick perry. >> it's not unheard of. maybe you should throw your hat in the ring, ed, jon huntsman's name is up for grabs. >> here is what mitt romney had to say about coordinating with the super pac last month. >> i'm not allowed to communicate with the super pac. >> you're not coordinating. >> my goodness if we coordinate in any way whatsoever we go to the big house. >> colbert and stewart proved how easy it is to not coordinate last night. >> i can't tell you, but i can tell everyone through television, and if you happen to be watching, well, i can't prevent that, jon. >> oh, i have an idea, hold on a second. [ applause ] >> i'm calling on the super pac,

i cannot coordinate with them, i can't communicate directly but i can speak out as a citizen talking to you, and i'm calling on them not to run vicious character assassination ads that impugn and border line slander any candidate, if in any way those ads could be traced back to me. >> we are at the point now, krystal two comedians are doing more to help the process than the politicians are, to help americans understand what the hell is going on. >> in fairness to the republican nominees, one of the most beautiful things out of this campaign and the campaign that has not been very beautiful has been seeing them all up on stage complaining about super pacs, stephen colbert has done an amazing job pointing out the absurdity of the situation and making it real. >> will this change, anything,

ari? >> number one will scramble things in south carolina a touch. if herman cain picks up 3 or 4 point, we'll hear complaints who that took votes from. i agree, most folks don't care about process that much. people don't worry about media bias until it hits something they care about. the process of super pacs are arcane but absurdity is huge. >> could we see the democratic president barack obama and the republican nominee broker a deal to cool it? >> there was a call for that by the new york times saying a mutual non-aggression pact, it has to be in the law. >> i think that is a possibility. the other piece i want to throw in this you have americans elect, someone with a big personality like stephen colbert could get americans elect nomination, have a big pact in the general election. >> thank you so much. that is "the ed show" i'm ed schultz, listen to me on the