>> kara's last day. kara. >> thank you so much. >> adorable. >> best of luck. thank you for everything. >> you know, she has been our intern, i think, since 1967. she has been here longer. >> say thank you. >> seriously, she came out the week before "sergeant pepper" and we thank you for -- it -- really -- >> wonderful job putting up with us. we will never be able to fill your shoes. >> if it is way too early, willie what time is it? >> "morning joe." stick around right now for a special edition of chuck in tampa. thank you, guys. right on the heels of that double-digit win in south carolina, newt gingrich prepares for another one of the debates that have been so critical to his success. can gingrich keep his momentum going and how far will romney and the republican establishment go to stop them? plus, the electability argument. after this weekend's drubbing,

romney hopes for a little sunshine in florida. he is releasing his tax returns, just two years, and launching a new assault on gingrich, but he is having a hard time convincing voters he is more electable than gingrich what shot does he really have? and just over a year after suffering the debilitating gunshot wound, congresswoman gabrielle giffords announces she will resign her seat to focus on her continuing recovery. who will take her seat and what does it mean for the democrats in arizona and also gaby giffords going forward? it is monday, january 23, 2012 this is a special edition of "the daily rundown," i'm chuck todd, coming to you live from the university of south florida, right here in tampa, site of tonight's republican debate. i'm in the spin room t is quiet right now. it won't be as the day moves on. let's get right to my first reads of the morning, speaking of spinning, the four remaining republicans face off tonight here in tampa and mitt romney has signalled over the last 24 hours, he is prepared for for a fight. nearly 200,000 floridians have already cast their ballot, by

voting early, at the polls or absentee, in 2008. 1.9 million republicans voted in florida, nearly 1 million more than have voted this year in iowa, new hampshire and south carolina combined. the romney campaign has always seep florida as their second firewall after new hampshire. after his double-digit defeat on saturday, romney is going on the attack. he is hitting newt gingrich more directly and personally than he has so far. >> we are not choosing a talk show host, all right? we are choosing -- we are choosing a leader. i have had the experience of leadership. now, speaker beginning rich has been leader, avenues leader for four years as speaker of -- speaker of the house and at the end of four years, it was proven he was a failed leader and he had to resign in disgrace. i don't know whether you knew that 88% of his republicans voted to reprimand speaker beginningry. he has not had a record of successful leadership.

>> republicans think elect ability is the most important quality in their nominee. in south carolina, mitt romney failed that test after winning both in iowa and new hampshire. newt gingrich beat romney by 14 points after the electorate said beating obama the most important quality in a candidate. south carolina was romney's first conservative test, he failed that as well, 45% picked gingrich, 24% chose romney n florida, romney faces an electorate that looks a little more like south carolina than new hampshire. 2008, florida exit poll showed 61% of republican voters described themselves as conservative. now, there is some moderate elements in this here but it is a closed primary. john mccain actually was struggling just in the few days ahead until charlie crist, then the moderate republican governor, threw his weight behind him and his machine behind him. he had this interesting ballot

measure on there that actually put mccain over the top this suspect an easy primary to whip. the thing you ought to study up on, the 2010 republican gubernatorial primary between rick scott and bill mccollum. that was tea party, outsider/insider. outsider won. both come into tonight's debate with baggage, minimize their own and exploit the other guys. after touching down in florida romney wasted to time tear nothing gingrich on freddie mac. >> what he has been doing for 15 years? he has been working as a lobbyist, as a lobbyist and selling influence around washington. he has been working for freddie mac, heard of those guys? he said he has just been a hist tore yachblt i would like him to release his records. what was his work product there? what was he doing at freddie mac because freddie mac figures in very prominently to the fact that people in florida have seen home values go down. >> this is romney's message of the day, they have already had a

house-themed event this morning, just over an hour, surrogates will hold a conference call on "gingrich's work as an historian" for the mortgage giant. gingrich, again, denied those lobbying charges on "meet the press." >> wait a second, david. david, you know better than that i was not a lobbyist. i was never a lobbyist. i never did any lobbying. don't try to mix these things up. the fact is i was an adviser strategically. >> a little taste of how he will probably respond to romney tonight. romney is doing his best, debatedly, to neutralize an issue that has weighed on his campaign for about two weeks, whether and when he will release some tax returns. >> i will release my tax returns for 2010, which is the last returns that were completed. i will do that on tuesday of this week. i will also release at the same time an estimate for 2011 tax returns. we just made a mistake in holding off as long as we did, it just was a distraction.

>> no accident the news dump, by the way, planned to co-inside with the state of the union, perhaps as soon as president obama says the state of our union is -- then suddenly the e-mail will go out. gingrich on sunday said he is satisfied, for now. >> i commend him and i think it is exactly the right thing to do as far as i'm concerned that particular issue is now set aside and talk about other bigger and more important things. >> by the way what is interesting, neither gingrich nor romney is living up to at least the bush precedent of releasing ten years, let alone the george romney precedent of 12. gingrich tried pivot when calling for transparency on romney's massachusetts health care plan. >> the governor is trying really hard to avoid answering anything, whether it is on his -- the romney care, for example, where the news reports are that they cleansed every single computer. we have no real record of how they developed it and we have no real understanding of the overlap between his advisers and

obama's advisers, although president obama says they are the same people. >> we should see how thing goes tonight but mitt romney on the attack hasn't been a good attack if you look back four years ago. finally, tonight's debate is republican candidates' first opportunity to make their prebut theals to the state of the union. tuesday night's address is expected to focus on economic fairness. the president will emphasize american manufacturering, domestic energy sources and job training. in an online message to supporters over the weekend, he previewed what the white house is calling a blueprint for an economy that's built to last. >> we can go in two directions, someone toward less opportunity and less fairness or we can fight for where i think we need to go, building an economy that works for everyone, not just a wealthy few. on tuesday night, i'm going to talk about how we will get there. >> so far, that message isn't being warmly received, shocking, by congressional republicans. this is what house speaker john bain her to say s-- boehner had

sunday on fox. >> i read a lot about what the president is going to talk about tuesday night and sounds to me like the same old policies we have seen, more spending, higher taxes, more regulations. the same policies that haven't helped our economy, they have made it worse and if that's what the president is going to talk about tuesday night, i think it's pathetic. >> well, let's go back to the fight for florida, we begin right here, the site of tonight's critical debate. can mitt romney stop newt gingrich's momentum? nbc's peter alexander is also here in tampa. peter, you had a little interesting exchange with him last night, an interview after his late night rally where he was delivering more punches at newt. >> yeah, we did, chuck. even again today, speaking to some of mitt romney's senior advisers, they made it very clear he is going to ramp up the rhetoric against newt gingrich, he is going to become more confrontational, as we already saw, more combative as we witnessed last weekend, he was

that way during our conversation as well. i want to begin by showing you one thing we posed to him, a photo he tweeted out of he and his wife doing laundry at the hotel on primary day, appearing to look like he is trying to be like an average guy, i asked him about that and when he sees images like that if it makes him cringe. take a listen. >> everyone knows i am not an average guy financially. i have had ex-recordnary success. >> are you doing your laundry on primary day? >> we do our laundry at least once a week, we will be on the road 2 3 0 straight days, holes do you think is going to do our laundry? >> as we speak about the combative tow tone you have been talking about in much of the morning, we did witness that, as long as we have traveled with him the course of the last month, he rarery referenced gingrich by name, referred to him as the house speaker or some of my opponents, now talk ate tack directly at gingrich and took the attack, occupy protesters who showed up at that event, several hundred people

yesterday, they started, you know, making their statement out in the audience, hard to hear exactly what they were saying, i think they said we are the people. he said you are not the people, you are the interrupters, we are the people, take a hichblgt a lot stronger tone, frankly, than we have seen in the way he even deals with folks out there one other note i think worth sharing is the way his wife, ann romney preempted what will happen tomorrow with the release of the family's 2010 tax returns and 2011 estimates with our thanks to the folks doing construction a short distance away from here right now. she said we know where all the real riches are in our family, real riches, real value in our family comes from the strength of the romney family, trying to make it about family values, not wealth. john? >> all right, peter alexander, across town for me, peter, nice to talk to you. all right, well, south carolina republican lindsey gramm said problems stem from a passion deficit but romney said that won't be a problem in tonight's debate. >> when there are things i care about deeply and my character is

one of those things, when that's going to be challenged, i'm not going to sit there and smile and act like it is something of no significance, i have emotion and passion. i'm concerned about the great challenges that america faces. and i'm going to show the passion that i have when it comes naturally. >> susan mcmahon you a political science professor here at the university of south florida and of course, dean balls, national correspondent for the "washington post." welcome to both out. dan, let me start with you with what mitt romney is doing tonight. mitt romney seems to be deciding he is going to go after newt gingrich, does avenue newt gingrich problem or a mitt romney problem? >> he has got a combination of both. part of what happened in south carolina was a mitt romney problem. he was on the defensive all week. did he not have good debates, he was on the defensive over the tax issue which he now tried to take off the table, but he was -- i talked to somebody in south carolina late last week who said he just is not an effective closer in these

primaries and in the debates, he has got to back more effective. that is part of the problem. clearly august problem with gingrich who feels he has a head of steam and try to take the momentum that he got out of south carolina and move forward here in florida and he has got two debates this week to try do that. >> susan, we have been trying to remind people that florida may be a swing state. right. >> but in a republican primary it is a very conservative elector rat. rick scott wouldn't be governor today if it wasn't, considering how conservative the leak tore rat s give us a little sense of t. >> well, the republicans are actually quite diverse here, one thing that unifies them saul a concern about florida's lagging economy and they are, first and foremost, fiscal conservatives and very distant social conservatives, even among social conservatives in this state, the economy is troubling to them, the fact that florida is lagging behind the rest of the country in recovery, a position that we are not used to being in. but there is quite a verge of die verge jones in our republicans compared to other states in terms of religious backgrounds. we have a lot more catholic and

jewish republican reasons than had you saw in the other states and you also see a diversity in terms of race and ethnicity. 11% of our voters latinos and women voters usually outnumber men. so, there is's a lot of reasons to see differences here and i think going into this debate, this state is pretty split right now and the republicans are really focused on who can win this state back for republicans. let me ask you this, what is -- should that insider/outsider aspect of the republican gubernatorial pry america the entire republican establishment was trying to rescue bill mccouple lum, rick scott played that to his advantage. >> something to learn was a massively effective athd campaign on television and lots of money do it and endorsements don't matter as much to people when they have a lot of firsthand information about campaigns. and in florida, this is a state where people are saturated with politics, i can guarantee that you these florida republicans have been watching this whole race from iowa through south

carolina but they know that they are going to play the tie-breaker role tonight and that is -- obviously on the debate tonight cab tiebreaker but the primary and that is going to make a difference to how they assess elect ability in these candidates. dan this elect ability argument what is fascinating, gingrich whips elect ability in south carolina but gingrich win -- a sense that gingrich won't electability or suddenly that is potent that romney, not just the inevitability but the idea he might be capable of going toe-to-toe with obama has actually been punctured? >> it is hard to get in the minds of voters on that question of electability, chuck, i think part of the issue is when people saw gingrich in those debits, they saw somebody that they thought was very strong, very forceful and willing to take the attack to president obama and that's what they want and in the estimation obviously of many they feel that that's what would make him more electable, that he would be able to make a strong argument. i think what we will see this week is governor romney trying to show that he has got the

aggressiveness, both aimed at newt gingrich but also aimed at the president. >> is he in fighting shape? four years ago, i just was struck, he would do this with mccain -- i felt like it was about four years ago in this moment, right, yes realized that this was it. he doesn't do anger well? >> he doesn't t is not his natural person eighth. it is difficult in a fight like this to change who you are. i think he will have to do it in his own way and that is going to be the challenge tonight. >> one week campaign, ten-day campaign, how much money is it going to take for newt gingrich to at least sort of get to -- he doesn't have to equal probably what romney does but to be competitive? >> he can have about 1.5 noll carry ads in all ten media market he is, so, that is doable for this pack or whatever. but what is also true, they have so much free media at their fingertips. these debates in florida are going to be a level for having

to spend so much on campaign ads. the romney ads are stale, he those come with something fresh. r they going to have a new idea? >> it is not clear that they have got a particularly new idea. i think their new idea is to get tough with newt gingrich in a way they haven't done and try to tear him down. >> susan macmanus, dan balanz, thank you very much. we will hear from the campaigns as the two candidates storm into the sunshine state. who has really got the advantage? but first, a look ahead at the president's schedule. coming back overnight, because tomorrow is a pretty big speech. you are watching "the daily rundown," only on msnbc. the employee of the month is... spark card from capital one. spark cash gives me the most rewards of any small business credit card. it's hard for my crew to keep up with 2% cash back on every purchase, every day. 2% cash back. that's setting the bar pretty high.

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kevin madison an adviser to the romney campaign and kelly app coply is a senior adviser to the gingrich campaign. kelly, i will start with you. i heard you say something this morning on "morning joe" that you believe you have successfully sort of punctured the balloon of electability on romney but how have you -- you know, how do you pivot -- how do you make the case that somehow gingrich is electable, himself, given his history in '96 -- the two times he led the party -- he led the party to defeat? >> oh, he led the party to defeat? actually, the republicans still have a majority when he resigned as speaker but in any event, i think it really comes down to chuck, whether voters want to look backward or forward. i was a very vocal critic of the strategy in 2008 by the mccamp

you campaign to focus on bill airs, the reason many in the media did that, too the concerned media. why? people vote according to their own future aspiration, not according to somebody's past association f people want to revisit the mid'90s, they are welcomed to t he will go out there and talk about people's futures, particularly bringing that case to florida, where folks are anxious to envision it that way. breaking the backed of electability so was critical for us because it had become a suck stantive issue, not a process issue. the hot air out of the electability minute den berg is emitting now, now we show that we won the delegates in all seven congressional districts in south carolina. it was a major sweep, really the only demographic groups governor romney carried were folks making over $200,000 a year and moderates. aren't enough voters in those groups these early states to make for a majority.

>> kevin madden, if document have electability what do you have? >> i don't think one contest will serve as the summary judgment for the entire party or electorate. let's not forget, only a couple weeks ago that speaker beginning rich was finishing fifth and fourth in other contests were governor romney was finishing very well conservatives, doing very well economic voters, winning among women, wing among a lot of demographics. we had a contest in south carolina where speaker beginning rich won. governor romney competed very strongly but didn't win. this is stale question of who is best positioned to fix the american economy and who is best positioned to beat barack obama on that issue in a general election e and because governor romney is somebody with the res my experience from outside of washington, unlike speaker beginning rich with his long history of ethical traps greg and making money off of washington, d.c., that is going to be a question and a choice that is crystallized right now for the republican electorate in florida and going forward. and we are still in a very good position.

>> it never lasts with newt, a moment there he shoots himself in the foot, why is it different this time, why is -- why is candidate gingrich going to be built to last this time? >> we all learn from our political near-death experiences and he has had two, just in the last few months. i think a great lesson out of iowa, running a positive campaign when our main competitor was not going to play ball set us back. we absorbed millions and millions of negative advertising, we got to south carolina the romney campaign spent 4.7 million in paid ads, zero delegates to show for it a lot of that media was negative toward gingrich.

i think we turned the corps, croixed rube con here, to keep newt talking where he is best. he talks about history, deep history but talks about aspiration in the future, i think to connect that directly to the voter, the other thing going on here, chuck, accepted wisdom the debates help newt you that is indubitable. the other thing that helps newt that we are going to leverage is 2010. voters in 2010 would not be told what to think and who to vote for and we have that going for us, people in the republican primary electorate want don't want to wrap this up neat and pretty, they want to go on, their chance to have at t. >> kevin madden, have the obama campaign attacks on romney, which have been pretty established, are they hurt, are they taking a toll, is that what hurt you in this primary? >> i don't think so and i think that given the fact that governor romney competed very strongly in iowa, comp immediated, you know, actually had a win in new hampshire and fin finished second here in south carolina, i think that she is the depths of support that we

have across many different demographics, across many different regions of the country and that we are well positioned to continue on through the campaign with an argument about the governor being the best position to help fix the american economy and best position to beat president obama. i mean, we have to remember that south carolina was one contest, it was a contest that i think the gingrich campaign did very well in, but let's remember this is going to be -- a campaign that's built for the long haul and this is going to be a nomination that's earned. i would actually agree with kellyanne on that. >> kevin, very quickly this insider/outsider argument you are making, you guys have all the endorsements, how does that make newt gingrich the insider? >> what's interesting, we have the endorsements of people who know about newt gingrich's ethical transgression, they know about his unrely ability when he was house speaker, they know that the last time we saw four years of speaker gingrich leadership, that it resulted

in -- >> in 11 million new jobs. >> stepping down from the speakership because his own party and those who were -- cared most about this country didn't believe in his leadership. look at governor romney, they do believe he has the aspirations, vision for the country, the right direction for the country. >> kellyanne, i will let you respond to that why sort of ask you a question, why is it that nobody who works -- many people, there are plenty of people but a lot of people who work with him who aren't for him? >> you can ask them, however, i will point out that many of those people started their careers in 1994 when speaker -- when then-minority whip gingrich led them with a contract with america. so they are a little ungrateful. but we know -- always knew we would never win the inside the beltway primary, never counted on that, not going to win votes in, you know, manhattan and d.c. among the elites buts here the point, you need washington experience. everybody -- all three of us have deep washington experience. that's why we are talking to each other right now this idea

that you can just parachute into washington and transfer private sector ability what is the proof of that? and let me just say, this the outsider, you can be an outsider by fighting the system and i think newt's -- newt's sheep that over a number of decades. >> i don't think invoice freddie mac for $1.6 million. >> you got to shelf those talking points. the good knew have the two candidates themselves talking about this in about 11 hours and 30 minutes, if i get to end this show. thank you both, kevin madden. kelly ann conway, next, we will talk about how wall street is starting the week. plus -- >> i will step down this week. >> just an amazing video to hear how much actual progress she has made, more than a year after attempt on her life what is behind congresswoman gaby giffords' decision to step down and who might step up? first, today's trivia question, which state was the first to adopt a primary process? çñ

♪ i have abeen working on the railroad all the live long day ♪ ♪ i've been working on the railroad just to pass the time away ♪ >> well, my good friend mark murray would say, warren buffett was not -- was trying to sing the texas fight song, but that was billionaire investor warren buffett wishing the people of china a happy new year. apparently, the oracle of omaha is also an avid u ka malely player and a heavy investor, of course in chinese companies well, how about that? opening bell just rang on wall

street. time for the market run down. come on, beck kim. i have a question for you, chuck, are you a blackberry man or iphone man? >> do you know i'm both? i'm in an open smartphone relationship. >> i like that. one of the few. blackberry a decline. i'm a blackberry user myself but a shrinking my nority of people out there that is why this morning, research in motion, the canadian company that makes the blackberry, came out with announce o a new ceo, the co-ceos are stepping aside, still going to be on the board, a new ceo taking over, torston hines, something that investors have been jostling for but the question is it enough change?

a gentlemen who has been an inside terror, a chief operating officer before this he will see what happens, does have the stock high they are morning. looking at the u.s. economy there is some bright news out there according to the national association of business economic, a new study shows they are looking for improvement in the economy this year, the good news. the bad news it is not going to be enough to get unemployment down to more manageable levels. a few things that we are looking at this morning.

surprising political story and police cal development over the weekend. arizona congresswoman gabrielle giffords made the decision to resign from congress this week, she released a video announcement sunday, one year this month after she was shot in the head by a lone gunman at an outdoor constituency event in tucson. >> i have more work to do on my recovery, so to do what it is best for arizona, i will step down this week. i'm getting better. every day, my spirit is high.

i will return. >> the whole video is just amazing. for more on the decision, let's bring in nbc news's capitol hill correspondent kelly o'donnell. and let's digest the news itself but i have to say, you know, just considering where we understood where she was in her speech just a couple of months ago, that was just a remarkable video. >> it really is and it is something if you love politics and if you have been interested in the story of gaby gifford it is worth watching it is beautifully done, gives you a glimpse into some of her time before this shooting happened a year ago and talks about some of the issues that motivated her to want to serve publicly. we have learned through her book and some of the things that she said publicly that she has suffered greatly, as we know. speech has been an enormous challenge. she has lost a great deal of her vision, some of here mobility and her speech therapy and her physical therapy is really a full-time job now, she does that

multiple days a week and she had to make a decision she would have had to declare her intentions to run again in a few months so instead of just taking the option of not seeking re-election, she is going a step further that many here in both parties have called a selfless act to step down now so the governor can call for a special election, others can put their name in to succeed her to fulfill the remaining year of her term and then to, of course, run for a new term as others will come fall. so, it was something to watch and it was a bit of a surprise. been asking aides would she attend the state of the union and in fact she but we did not expect that she would make this announcement. and many people have said they react with both sadness and admiration for the decision that she's made. chuck? >> probably a great -- too descriptive words to use. let ask about the seat itself, ultimate swing seats and swing districts in american politics.

>> a high-profile district, long before the terrible events of last year and gaby gifford also won so narrowly, so, one of the possibilities is that her republican opponent last time around, jesse kelly, may put his name n everyone had been hands-off on this race because of the extraordinary circumstances so there are a number of democratic state senators who are being considered, many people who have followed this and said perhaps her husband, mark kelly, the former astronaut would run. he said he has no interest. also a resident of the houston area, not arizona. so it will be highly watched it is a border district. it has been fiercely contested. it is a tough race and one that republicans will certainly want to try to put in a number of names and democrats had hope they had could hold it. so many had wanted her not only to run for re-election but had even talked about might she seek the open senate seat and of course, she has decided she is just not well enough to put her hat in that ring. she hinted, as you heard about coming back and some of her friends say there will be some

kind of public service for her down the line. >> kelly o'donnell. let's remember, arizona residency didn't matter much for john mccain when he started. it is a transient state. you can jump in at any time. it is. >> we will keep an eye on mark kelly. kelly o'donnell on capitol hill, thanks very much. big day tomorrow. back to the 2012 republican field, a field now very much in flux with the word inevitability on the shelf for the moment. joining me now, rob johnson, former campaign manager for both rick perry and new england's presidential bids at certain moments in time. rob, good to see you. >> good to see you, chuck, thanks for having me. >> well, let me start a little bit with a miniautopsy of sorts on your campaign. you know, sometimes you look at this and everybody wants to point fingers, staff, this or that. is this a case where governor perry just, because he didn't prepare to run for president for the last four years, was not ready for this campaign?

>> i think, chuck, when it comes to the palace intree i will just leave all of that in the palace. i do think that from the beginning, we were under no illusion that we were under a -- a constrained timeframe and we did a hell of a lot in a constrained amount of time. we raised 17.2 million dollars in 48 days and governor perry helped shape the debate of this campaign and i think you see that in the message of other candidates as this race has evolved. >> well, what's interesting here is what we are seeing with gingrich could have easily been ablind frankly, it was the expectation of a lot of movement, conservatives, economic conservatives, tea party republicans shall and social conservatives that they were hoping that rick perry would be the vehicle for this so there's clearly a constituency here when you look at gingrich today, can he hold this together? >> absolutely he can hold it together. i think governor perry endorsing

newt gingrich in south carolina, gave the speakary big boost. i think it also, once and for all, poked holes in this ridiculous electability argument. electability is the fool's gold of politics. luckily and fortunately for all of us, the american people get to deshied is electable and i think the people of south carolina spoke loudly and clearly. >> is interesting -- hang on there you stay is the fool's gold but it is the number one thing that voters say, both iowa, new hampshire, all three picked three different win but the only thing they have in common is they all thought electability was the most important issue. >> electability is proven by who is elected, therefore, newt gingrich is electable and the romney campaign can't win he is not electable. you know, people who sit in air conditioned studios and drink $7 late it is adon't get to pick the president. the people do and the people of south carolina spoke loudly and clearly and this is going to be

a good, long fight throughout this election season. >> and i don't think even on the upper west side there is a starbucks that charges for $7 lattes, i don't know what you guys are drinking down there in austin, my friend. but let me ask you this we heard, want to play a clip from chris christie yesterday who went really a romney surrogate, went at gingrich very hard about his past in the republican party. let's listen to what he said. >> newt gingrich has embarrassed the party over time, whether he will do it again in the future, i don't know but governor romney never has. he was run out of the speakership by his own party, find $300,000 for ethics violations this is a guy who has had a difficult political career at times and been an embarrassment to the party. >> well, embarrassment to the party. you know, gingrich does have this -- what is your advice to his, free advice i assume at this point, the two times he was head of the party? you can make an argument he

helped re-elect bill clinton or bill clinton used him to get re-elected? >> well, newt gingrich also led a revolution that helped bring the republican majority to congress and were it not for newt gingrich, we wouldn't have balanced budgets, we wouldn't have welfare reform and a whole host of other changes that need to happen again in washington, d.c. so, to call someone who is a leader of our party who is a loaders of our party, who just won with over 40% in south carolina an embarrassment i think is a mistake. >> and finally, if -- in your opinion who is the most electable and should it matter? >> newt gingrich is the most electable and that's why governor perry was proud to endorse -- to endorse him as a proven conservative who can go the distance. you know, newt wrote the forward to governor perry's book "fed up." they are going to work together on a tenth amendment project and governor perry's proud of theme door.and believes newt gingrich is the best to lead our country

forward but chuck, ultimately, from my side of the table, my side of the ayell, the most important thing we can do is defeat barack obama and i think all four of those guys on your stage tonight believe that. >> and very quickly, do we know when the texas primary is going to be yet? >> i don't think we do chuck but stay tuned. >> that is going to be one heck of a fight in the primary goes on to there rob johnson, former campaign managers to both perry and gingrich, thanks for coming on this morning. >> thanks for having me. i will see you soon, man. >> you got it. the fight has moved right here to florida and so has our political panel. they join me here in tampa next. and don't miss tonight's big debate, brian williams moderating you the nbc news republican debate, a special edition of "rock center" 9 eastern, 8 centrals are, partners in this, national journal and the tampa bay times. i got to give the soup of the day, you guys love me or -- love it or hate it you react to t today, a friday soup showing up on a monday, newt gingrich clam

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[ gasps ] ♪ [ male announcer ] get a retirement plan that works at e-trade. here's some live pictures from mitt romney, in tampa, florida, answering questions from reporters. you always know when romney is a little bit behind, he suddenly is more accessible. in the last 24 hours, if they are any indication, wither going to see attack dog romney tonight but can he play that role effectively? the political reporter for the los angeles teams, msnbc analyst michael steele is a former chairman of the republican party and major gar set national journal congressional correspondent, for now. >> actually. >> until an hour ago. >> until an hour ago. >> an hour ago. he is now the white house correspondent because he figured that is no story in congress anymore. >> not exactly true. >> that it? >> i'm eager to cover the re-election campaign and 2012.

>> welcome all. >> i think the tone we are going to see it the two of them set the stage for tone yesterday on the sunday shows. here is how newt painted romney and romney painted himself. take a listen. >> i think the number one thing people look for in difficult times is all the then 'tisity. they want somebody who is what he seems to be, somebody who is comfortable with himself. i think he has been dancing on eggs trying to figure out how to find a version of romney that will work. >> there's no question, if you look back at those last couple of debates, he was angry and there may have been some people who like that and look, you know, i remember mike huckabee once said, i'm proud to be conservative but i don't have to be mad at anybody about that. >> michael steele, i think they both effectively played pundit about each other. >> they did. >> actually pointed out each other's main weakness. newt looks a little too angry at times, newt going, man, romdy

doesn't connect. >> what will happen when they are standing on the stage, they will assess each other, whether they can actually go to that description and respond to the descriptions in a way i think newt has it right. for both of them, both have to show they are authentic, they both have to show they can demonstrate the fire in the belly to go against the president this fall what the base has been looking for from the very beginning. you can talk about electability all day long, at the end of the day, i want to know if you are going to fight for me. >> major, you write about this today and i think it is interesting, which is this whole -- you bring up the same point we were bringing up, chris christie was batter making the case for romney than romney has himself. this is not his strong suit. >> no surrogates can be help. explaining your policy, your history, but your narrative has to be yours and yours alone, own it, believe it tell it with conviction, romney has not met that standard, off republican party telling voters in primary state what is they ought to and do south carolina, republicans said what they want do the

crucial question in florida is which will prevail? >> you know, you have been probably among all of us traveling more on the campaign trail, actually talking to real people. what is -- when you hear the when you hear the sort of romney anecdotes, what do you hear? >> it's sort of the battle between the head and the heart, the voters have been debating who's the most electable versus who are they passionate about, frequently passionate about speaker gingrich. >> is this stuff about his finances, do you hear voters talking about it? >> especially the tax returns, the tax returns, people were really put off by his answer, he didn't give a direct answer for a week, i think that really hurt him. >> michael steele, is he doing enough, a year estimate enough? >> it's enough, but to your point, it's how you do it. if you've done this in the beginning, put it out there, let the termites go through it and

do what they are going to do, but the reality is when you come off with this wall and create this between you and the voters, it doesn't help your narrative. >> has them already. that's what's so weird. >> he has them already. he prepared them for the mccain campaign in 2008, and when you -- when mitt romney says we should not be ashamed of success, then you should be comfortable with your success. telling people don't be ashamed of my success is not the same as i'm proud of my success across the board. >> stick around. trivia time, we asked which state was the first to adopt a primary process. the answer, it's florida. hello, we're like "jeopardy" here. in 1981, florida allowed for the statute of a primary election. take that, oregon. we'll be right back. you're watching "the daily rundown" only on msnbc. [ female announcer ] lactaid milk is easy to digest.

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he said in a debate, actually, that people who profited from the failed model of freddie mac and fannie mae ought to give back their money, speaker made money, he ought to give it back. >> that was mitt romney literally just a couple of minutes ago. let's bring back the panel very quickly. mike, major, we're clearly seeing he wants to go to freddie mac, this is a foreclosure state, housing issues all over the place, boy, does he want to go there and go there hard, but giving back the money. >> trying to create moral equivalency to what he's uncomfortable with in his personal finances. this is going to get played out tonight in the debate and thursday on the air waves, but what romney needs to do is tell them why his agenda is more

electable than newt's. >> feels like he doesn't have a positive message on himself, he needs this. >> he needs to first convince himself before he can convince those conservatives here in florida, and right now that energy is with gingrich. >> florida was a state where it got nasty, it didn't really work that well for him, so i don't know, we'll see how it replaces. >> rinehart, national journal at the debate tonight. >> former miami herald reporter, she's been terrific. >> new piece on bet bijt digita. >> it's my husband's birthday, sorry for missing another debate because of this campaign. tune in 9:00 p.m. tonight, it's the nbc news republican date, but it's a big one, it really is. tomorrow on the show, all the post-debate analysis.

and state of the union preview. up next, chris jansing talks to los angeles mayor and 1:00, andrea mitchell reports. have a great day, bye bye. ♪ ♪ let's go ♪ ♪ cruise like a norwegian ♪ and also to build my career. so i'm not about to always let my frequent bladder urges,

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