that's good for hanging clothes on if you're a se disic fashion person, but it's not what is attractive to men. >> a scientific poll agrees with you. >> men like babes. you know. >> healthy babes. >> that does it for us. i'm dylan ratigan. "hardball" is up right now. the age of santorum. let's play "hardball." good evening. i'm chris matthews in washington. leading off tonight, escape from santorum. who gave rick santorum a weekend pass for the 21st century? did you hear this guy? he doesn't like public schools and the alternative is he doesn't like prenatal care. environmentism is a false

theology. he thinks president obama is this guy over in europe in the 1930s. in one weekend spree, this front-running republican candidate for president was out blasting it all. schools, science, caring for the environment. how many wild things can you say before people think you're the wild thing? or suddenly think mitt romney might not be so bad. plus shouts and whispers. republicans are saying out loud what was once unthinkable. that mitt romney might lose michigan. the whispers of drafting another candidate are getting thoughter. poll numbers are rising. the bad news, so are gas prices. could this be the issue republicans are looking for. and art imitates art. the first family as characters in the cosby show. if you missed it on "saturday night live" this weekend, we have it in the sideshow.

final lip, what happened 50 years ago today that got us headed to the moon. we begin with rick santorum. susan mil began joins us. let's look at this this. here's rick santorum speaking at the christian alliance luncheon on saturday. he criticized prenatal testing and the public education system in this country. let's listen. >> they require free prenatal testing in every insurance policy in america. why? because it saves money. why? because free prenatal testing ends up in more abortions and therefore, less care that has to be done. because we call the ranks of the disabled in our society. where did they come up with public education and education bu rack sis?

it's an ak nisic. >> you know, mark halperin the they say the media is shifting the attention to these crazy questions. there he is, rick santorum, you could argue is the front runner for the nomination of the republican party pushing these issues sharp as nails. he wants a fight. >> chris, when he does that, the media thinks three things about him. he's unelectable, extreme and out of touch, and incompetent. those things are going to hurt him with the national media narrative. at the same time, he's talking about issues that make the impossible for mitt romney to attack him. and emphasizes the passion he has on the issues he cares about. i talked to one of his senior aids. they are not backing off any of it. he means it all. the press is the only one who cares. they may be right or wrong.

>> susan, this is an argument. we know he believe it is. but the fact he home schools his kids, fair enough. he doesn't think public schools are any good. public schools as an institution he thinks are wrong. prenatal testing, it's a controversial question. there are people who choose abortions after the prenatal testing. to bring up issues like this that he knows are red hot, he's appealing to the right. >> he is. i think he knows the one way to beat mitt romney is to whip up that part of the party that's never been satisfied with romney as a social conservative. he's not say iing anything more out there than he said before. i remember when he said that the catholic church sex abuse scandal was a result of the liberalism in massachusetts and the environment that it created. he said it, and then we went back at it again, and he didn't back off then either. this is who he he is. he's not moving to the right.

he is this way. >> do you buy the fact he's doing this deliberately? he knows it's tricky business. but he's going, as mark says, where mitt romney can't follow him? >> i think that's absolutely true because he's not trying to win the approval of the national media or even right now the independents in this country. he's trying to get nomination. he knows romney has shaky credibility with social conservatives to begin with. when he goes this far to the right on it and so passion about it too. >> people watching right now are progressives and independents. even some conservatives watching, pay attention to the fact this is not gotcha journalism. we're trying to track what a guy is saying. he knows he's being listened to by the people he wants to win over in this primary in michigan. here he is on saturday. romney criticized president obama's energy policy. what he says putting concerns about the planet above the convert of people.

let's watch had this argument he's making. >> this is what the president's agenda. it's not about you. it's not about you. it's not about your quality of life. it's not about your jobs. it's about some phoney ideal. some phoney theology. not a theology based on the bible, but a different theology, but no less a theology. >> i couldn't disagree with him more on this stuff. here's today santorum trying to explain his use of the word theology. blasting president obama for having a phoney theology. let's listen. >> i referred to it the other day and i got criticized by some of our members of the press corp. who have a difficulty understanding when you refer to someone's ideology. >> mark, the question he just changed the word right there. theology is a wild word. but basically, his argument is

to say if you care about this planet and concerned about scientific theories about global warming, if you worry about getting rid of resources on this plaent, wearing out the planet, you are not being a christian. that's what he's saying. i would think about caring about the planet that god created would be a christian belief and part of our system of believes. what's he saying? >> i think the way you characterized it goes further. >> go for it. >> look. you said for months part of the what the republican nomination fight is about who can be the most anti-obama. who can impugn his legitimacy and his hold on the office most passionately. that's what rick santorum is doing. as susan said, if you had been with him last year and the year before that, this is the way he would have talked. it's getting more attention now. he's undisciplined as a

candidate. he's got a lot of skills and strengths as a candidate. but he says stuff he shouldn't say. as i said before, his advisors don't think this falls into that category. but i don't think if he wants to be president of the united states this is sustainable lines. >> you think he crossed the line on the environment? certainly conservationists bought by both political parties, we have to preserve our planet. people walk into the grand canyon and say man can have a trail here or there, but don't screw this up. he says that's a false theology. to worship beautiful things that are part of this continent, he thinks we should put them below us. >> remember that his party on the hill when they took control of the house in 1995 changed the name of the energy and environment committee to energy

and natural resources to send a signal this isn't something for us to protect, but something to use. i have heard that religious argument that we're all here on this earth for however long we're here and we're here to use the earth. >> if he's saying that, let me give a sermon. you say i'm overstating this, mark. but how long would there be a central park in new york if you opened it to development? trump and everybody would be competing. zumerman would be developing that area. there wouldn't be a tree left. maybe a couple outside your window for effect. if you opened up this country to development, the reason we protected our environment is a way to keep it away from capitalists. is he saying that should trump natural beauty, our environment, national monuments? how far do you see him going? >> i think he was making a statement about the president's view of the environment and it's

a place that should play in our society. we don't disagree about this. if you're david axelrod, you're saying would i rather run against the guy from bain capital? or the guy who is leaving a longer and longer paper trail of statements about birth control, the environment, i mean both of these guys are flawed candidates. and santorum is maybe helping himself with parts of the party. he's killing himself with the press and fat cat donors and those in washington who want somebody electable. >> i would say teddy roosevelt is so far to this guy's left. here's what he said speaking at the georgia church last night. santorum comparing the late, back in '41 to what's at stake in this election. he describes why the united states was late to engage. let's listen. >> we're a hopeful people. we think, well, you know, it

will get better. he's a nice guy. it won't be near as bad as what we think. this will be okay. maybe he's not the best guy after awhile you found out some things and he's not so good of a good after all. sometimes it's not okay. >> i don't know who said he was a nice guy. today santorum explained his comments saying "it's a world war ii metaphor. it's one i've used 100 times. he said he's not comparing the president to hitler, but what was he doing? >> i think he was putting this election in a -- >> if we don't stop this president from being considered a socialist, we think he's a nice guy socialist, he will end up being a dictator socialist. >> he's trying to put this election in apock liptic terms. but i think also what we're seeing here is while romney is this incredibly scripted

candidate, and that's not working for him, santorum is incredibly unscripted. >> we're choosing here if you're a republican voting on the 28th, which is now about eight days from now, it looks like this is tightening up in michigan to practically even now. i think romney could win this based on his trends in some of these polls. but is this about a guy who can't talk and a guy who talks too much? >> that's one way to frame it, but it's also about a guy who is spending a lot more money on negative ads. romney has some advantages here. but look. the metaphor he used, we all agree, nazi metaphors shouldn't be part of politics. but at the same time, there are tens of millions of people in this country who think the president's illegitimate and is destroying america. that's who is voting in these contests. i don't think santorum should use language like this, but he

is trying to tap into something. which is the urgency on the republican side to get rid of the president. romney doesn't tap into that. if he loses michigan, that will be the reason as much as anything else. >> so it's god-fearing, right-winged politics. >> you have to give him points for being who he is. >> don't think rick santorum is an idiot. just consider him a right-wing ideology. it scares people in the middle. thank you mark halperin and susan mil began. coming up, if romney loses, will we get a brokered convention? we have a draft for jeb bush. if it keeps going crazy, the voters may just say this is chaos. the grown ups have to take over. that's ahead. you're watching "hardball" on msnbc.

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one week after the michigan and arizona primaries, coming up next tuesday, nine states vote on super tuesday. we have new numbers from super tuesday in the "hardball" score board. in oklahoma, it's rz rick santorum with a 16-point lead. 39% to 23%. newt gingrich is a close third at 18%. in massachusetts where romney was governor, he has a 48-point lead over santorum. massachusetts is one home state romney shouldn't have a problem winning. but the home state love doesn't extend. president obama has a big lead over romney. 53% to 39%. that could help elizabeth ,jáájátr' the senate race.m we'll be right back. ♪ he was a 21st century global nomad ♪

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welcome back to "hardball." the fear amongst republicans that mitt romney's campaign

might self-destruct is growing as he trails rick santorum in every michigan poll right now. there's even talk in republican circles being a contested contention. most party veterans will think romney will get nomination. but it's not difficult to find concern about his general election prospects and anxiety about the potentially chronic nature of the rest of the primary. the chaotic nature of the rest of the primary. michael steel is the tomorrstee chairman of the committee. walter, your column grabbed me today. this whole idea that you chalk it up to mitt romney, who is a bit structured in his manner and rather not spontaneous, you said it was like a business school case study. tell me about that. the way he's looking at this campaign.

>> the whole thing about mitt romney is he's doing everything technically right. and the problem is he is still losing to a rag tag opposition. no one took rick santorum seriously as a presidential candidate. and new englat gingrich who bea in south carolina handedly was like the harold statson of 2012. and yet mitt can't put them away. imagine if he was up against a real opponent. >> let me go to michael steele. this whole question, do you hear it among your colleagues of talk of some kind of -- i was thinking back in history 50 years ago. 1952. the last time a convention really picked somebody who hadn't ran. he refused to run. the party people said he had to run. he wouldn't run.

when it came time for the convention in chicago, he gave a barn burner of a host speech. he had this great speech and he got the nomination. is that still possible in your party that someone could give a speech welcoming the convention so well they nominate him or her? >> it can't. i was one of the first out there to raise about a 50/50 proposition of a brokered convention. not so much about the convention being broken where the third party is going to come in and be the shining horse come iing in sdoor at end, but more about a contested convention. you have at least three of the four of the individuals walking into the convention, 400 votes shy of what they need for the nomination. and then the contest begins negotiating with one or the other to get the votes you need from the delegates so you can pull out the nomination. that's very likely. particularly, if you see it in

michigan, romney losing michigan, it sends a very strong signal out there about not just eligibility, but about credibili credibility. and i think newt asked the right question. how does mitt go to his donors and say, i'm your guy, give me more money. it's game changer should that happen. >> so it's michigan next wooek. >> absolutely. what happens is you're looking at then jockeying for the strongest position to make the best argument to get the most delegates once you get to tampa. >> let's look at the the new numbers coming in. in michigan, a poll has romney gaining from last week's poll. now they have santorum still on top 37% to 33%. in arizona, in what was thought of as a romney stronghold, romney has just a three-point lead over rick santorum. 36% to 33%.

let me go to walter on this. the idea that santorum could be doing so well reminds me of buchanan where you can run well in one state. this is a nationalized political environment we're in. everybody voting in the primaries is watching shows like this. kbauz the politically-interesting people are the ones making these decisions. walter, do you see anything that gets in the way now of romney being the nominee? every time i sit down, they say it will be romney. it may be dirty, but he will be the nominee in the worst, bloody way. is that inevitable? >> i don't think it's inevitable at all. because of things called voters. gary heart went from nowhere to leading many national polls after he won the new hampshire primary in 1984. of course, we long for an open convention because if it gets to the convention there are no

brokers left. and i would love to see a second ballot. but as you point out in your book, in 1956, they won the vice presidential nomination over kennedy because the convention chairman decided to recognize oklahoma instead of illinois. i'm not sure that lack of democracy would play well for a political party on national television when we're totally unused to the deal making at the national convention. >> back to the former chairman. is there a chance because of romney's poor performance that you'll have something like a democratic process where people will come and get released by the second ballot and actually make a decision about who the nominee should be in that room? >> yeah. i think that's very likely. if coming out of next week and super tuesday, the combination of those two, you don't have someone with showing the wind in their sails, pushing towards that magic number of 1,100

votes, yeah, you could have a situation. >> what's more likely. all ganging up on romney? or romney buying one of the three guys off with the vice presidency. >> i don't see any of those three getting bought off at this point. this goes back to the 2008 campaign. the romney operation has a way of poisoning the candidates so badly that they don't want to work with them and cooperate with them. >> you're telling me something here. >> and so there's always this, you know, thing that sticks in their krau about him. i don't see them jumping up and down saying i want to be on mitt's team. particularly someone like newt. i don't see that happening. >> same question to you, walter. they all gang up and agree on one of the three being the norm nominee rather than giving to to mitt? >> let me try another scenario. if mitt can't put away santorum

or gingrich makes a great comeback, and this year anything is possible, and they look like political disasters in november, will there be pressure by the republican establishment for romney to get out of the race and release his delegates to a jeb bush or mitch daniels or chris christie and resolve this thing in may and june with a replacement establishment candidate for romney? that's a small chance. but i think it's possible. >> fall on his sword for the party? michael is laughing at the thought of such generosity. >> walter, i loved your piece today, man, but that scenario is not happening. >> these guys who come in first like to stay in first. thank you michael steele. thank you, walter. up next, mitt romney strapped his dog to the roof of his car for a family vacation. he had it in a dog house, by the way. but rick santorum has a dog story of his own.

that's ahead in the sideshow. you're watching "hardball" on msnbc. wake up! that's good morning, veggie style. hmmm. for half the calories plus veggie nutrition. could've had a v8.

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back to "hardball." now for the sideshow. )om the sandwich. the first family went cosby on snl with each member of the family slipping into their alter egos for "the cosby show." the president found himself in the dog house after fashioning a sandwich that didn't quite pass muster with mrs. obama. let's watch. >> i hereby approve this hogi for eating. but first, some amendments. we're going to add a little salami to the hogi. i also veto the rice cakes that michelle said were healthier than the hogi.

here we go. >> hi, barack. my meeting was cancelled. >> she's home. my beautiful wife is home. >> bah brack obama, is that a h? that leads to obesity. you are to never, ever, ever, ever, ever, eat them. >> i know. i just found it here. i think one of the children must have made it. >> that's a great version. ever since the let's move initiative hit the ground running, they see her as a junk food cop. next up, reliving embarrassing campaign moments. this isn't the most popular strategies for a candidate, but rick santorum gave it a try with a tale involving a dog. a woman invited him for a woert break while he did some door to door campaigning back in the '90s.

>> she hands me the glass of water. the dog jumps up and hops in my lap. the next thing i know, there's a warm sensation on my lap. i jump up and on my tan pants is a huge wet spot where you don't want a huge wet spot. undeterred, i soldiered on. anybody remember the closer for the 1979 world champion pittsburgh pirates? kent dacovi. that's his house next door. and i said, i'm rick santorum. i'm running for congress. he does this. i say to him, i'm so excited to meet you. >> pretty good. santorum said he told the story to show the audience that he's walked the path. would that be a different path than the one romney took when he strapped his dog in the kennel on the roof of his car for a

family road trip up to montreal? finally, excitement is ramping up as baseball season approach approaches. but the washington nationals team got things underway with another crucial part of their team spirit this past weekend. the mascots. if you haven't seen them before, the figure heads are fittingly the four presidents featured at mount rushmore. and saturday brought the last round of tryouts for mascot wanna bees. handling the 45-pound costume, not to mention clocking a 40-second run from center field to home plate. and it's now a tradition for the mascots to race against each other. that's a job. and not an easy feat. gasoline prices are up. we all know that. and republicans think they have an issue to use against president obama. you're watching "hardball" on msnbc.

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here's what's happening. three skiers were killed on sunday after being caught in an avalanche in washington state. they were skiing in an out of bounds area. authorities say there were minor injuries after a small plane and helicopter flipped each other over northern california. officials are investigating that. and u.n. nuclear inspectors are in iran for a two-day visit. iran declared progress in their nuclear program. now back to "hardball." welcome back to "hardball." president obama might be thankful for the lowered

unemployment rate. the stocks have been up. but there's a troubling number. that's the rising cost of gasoline at the pump. a national average has it at $3.57 for regular. that's up 18 cents from last month. up 40 cents from a year ago. it's higher in different places like here in washington. it was a fortune for me the other day. also in l.a. it's a fortune. republicans see this as a winning issue for the november elections. but is this something you can argue about as an obama failure? daniel yergin is the author of "the quest." crist ta freelance also joins us. why are gas prices going so high

now? i paid $75 to fill up my car. >> it's about what iran is threat tong close off the supply of oil. and both the u.s. is putting sanctions on the central bank. so there's a sense that all of this is intensifying. that means there may be problems in the supply of oil. >> why does a fear of a shortage of oil down the road drive prices up now? >> it's because people are in the market now getting ready to be preparing themselves. no one wants to be caught short of oil. >> they are buying as much oil as they can. >> not just the big oil. everybody. airlines are doing it. >> so they are buying it now because they don't want to be cut short. >> right. >> where's the price of gas going to be this summer when people travel? i hear it goes up in the summer because of the demand of

vacatione vacationers. >> that tends to happen, although with the brilliant dan yergin i'm not going to forecast the price of oil. this is smart issue for republicans to focus on t. the culture wars have gone so far to the right, that in the general election, that kind of a focus could really kill them. they will have to try to find a way to return to the economic debate. but with economic numbers looking a little bit better, it's hard to find something to peg that on. so the oil price could be the issue. if they are smart, they will raise the keystone pipeline. >> as don rumsfeld said, you fight the war with the army you have. their army is gas prices. here's yesterday on fox news. newt gingrich, who always knows how to exploit an issue, pledged to drive down gas prices under

his leadership. let's listen to him. >> what i can guarantee you is, the obama program is higher prices, more dependency in the middle east, more vulnerability to iraq. can we get to $2.50. it was $1.89 when obama was sworn in. it's not an inconceivable number. it can be done. >> his boogeyman is us. is there anything he said that's true? >> if he can change the outcome in the middle east, if he can solve the iranian short of the tension that's around it now, we would see prices lower on top of iran, the world oil market is kind of tight in terms of other supplies. if you talk about an embargo of iranian supplies and making it

hard for them to sell it. >> these same characters like newt gingrich that are going to solve the whole thing overnight are saying let's bomb iran tomorrow morning. the minute you bomb iran, you have to calculate a lot of factors. one of those factors is iran will have a reaction. that's not going to be cheaper gas for the west. >> absolutely. i totally agree that the main thing driving the price of oil is uncertainty around iran. if that conflict gets hotter, then the oil price will go up very significantly. i wonder to what extent that is figuring into the white house calculations on that issue. >> you mean if we bomb or encourage israelis to bomb, not that they need a lot of it, they have a reaction. the gulf becomes a log jam. then what happens? >> and in fact, the iranians know if they threaten to close the strait or have the large

military mamaneuvers, the pricef oil goes up because people get nervous. >> what would you do? >> i think the options are quite limited in what you can do. you can jaw a bone. you can tell people don't gouge. >> i'm going to say open the pumps. >> the saudis say we'll meet the needs of our customers. they have just about enough extra oil supply to put in the market to replace iranian oil. so saudi arabia is the main place to go for other oil. they are also in the persian gulf, however. >> so it's hard to deal with. >> but the saudis -- >> could we go to the saudis and say to reduce the price of gas? >> you can say can you put more oil in the market to reduce the price. i wouldn't be surprised if those conversations are already going on. >> the brilliant author "the

quest." >> i love dan. >> it's mutual. >> thank you. please come back. next what will bill clinton do to help president obama win it's huge. he's going to bring in the vote this president needs. this is "hardball" on msnbc. s fd by balsa wood airplanes since i was a kid. [ mike ] i always wondered how did an airplane get in the air. at ge aviation, we build jet engines. we lift people up off the ground to 35 thousand feet. these engines are built by hand with very precise assembly techniques. [ mike ] it's gonna fly people around the world. safely and better than it's ever done before. it would be a real treat to hear this monster fire up. [ jaronda ] i think a lot of people, when they look at a jet engine, they see a big hunk of metal. but when i look at it, i see seth, mark, tom, and people like that who work on engines every day.

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final county in maine held their caucus dh weekend. it doesn't seem to be enough to overtake mitt romney. the results gave ron paul 163 votes. gingrich won 4. that leaves romney with the overall lead of 156 votes we'll be right back. [ female announcer ] when your child has a fever, you should know that just one dose of children's advil gives up to eight hours of fever relief. allowing your little one to get back to building a better afternoon. children's advil. relief you can trust. energy in america. building a better afternoon. we've got to protect the environment. the economists make some good points.

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will air a documentary examining the former president's life from his humbline beginnings in arkansas to his time in the presidency. here's the trailer for "clin." >> lots of people were saying they expect bill clinton to be president some day. they hated his guts and they would go to the end of the earth to e destroy him. >> what a squandering of talent possibility. >> tonight, the comeback kid. >> a look at the man and the president. clinton. >> that comeback was before the problem. joining me to talk about the former president doug brinkley e and eugene robinson. i want to start with gene on this. covering politics, and you look ahead to the spring and summer, as the democrats come alive and obama starts hitting on all of the pistons, what role does bill

clinton play in that? >> bill clinton can be an adversary in places like pennsylvania and ohio and places that the president really wants to win that maybe he's a little soft among traditional democrats. older, whiter, more blue collar. clinton has that sensibility. obama doesn't. obama didn't do that badly among those voters. >> but those who cling to their guns and religion, they like bill clinton better. >> bill clinton, he has that touch. >> i agree with that. i don't know how you improve on that. he has that touch they are looking for in the presidency right now. >> he's going to be, you know, the super envoy. he's going to be an incredible job. bill clinton has become a folk figure in america. he's more like babe ruth than a politician. just going as gene said, college campuses in pennsylvania and

ohio, or even at the convention just standing there with barack obama, he has a high public approval rating. and his post presidency has bee clinton as secretary of state. so the clintons are very important. they remind people of what a good economy was when the democrats had eight years. >> so well said. so well said. so we're talking about the past, the present and the future. the past looks damn good. great unemployment numbers. a growth. the eyeball. everything was great, right? in fact, when the republicans say restoration, they really mean go back to this guy. go back to -- nobody wants to go back to w. the president, my son worked with him in the global initiative. when you look at bill clinton and secretary clinton, you don't just see the past. you see the future. what role does the potential of hillary clinton as secretary of state to retire for a year or two and then head for the presidency, play in the present? >> well, i think she still has the opportunity, if she wants.

and i, frankly, i think that's an if. some people don't think that's an if. some think it's a when. i think if she wants, she still is such a prominent democrat, such a well-known figure. she's done a good job as secretary of state. she is hillary clinton and so, in four years, she has the potential there for -- >> who would -- let's go to doug and let's do some talking here. if she decides to go out there and take a year. she'd probably want to take a year after the excruciating worldwide job she's had. take a break. don't get committed to anything that would tie her down and begin to run a year or two before the presidential election. who would be her oppon snent who would try to challenge her for the nomination? andrew cuomo. who would have a chance to beat her given how much she's established politically and professionally. >> you could have somebody like evan bayh trying to come in playing the midwest, particularly if the democrats lose in the midwest in 2012. but she -- when she leaves if she leaves in, i'd say, probably

march of 2013, if obama got r e re-ele re-elected, she'd write a memoir. rest up. she needs a rest. she's done a lot of world travel. she's going to be on everybody's top of the list for running in 2016. she's been an extraordinarily effective secretary of state. >> let me ask you about the politics. let's tie it all together. what does bill clinton want from barack obama to go out and campaign his heart out for this re-election so that hillary clinton -- how does that connect to his wife becoming president some day in is there an interlock? >> what i think he wants is props first of all. this is bill clinton who barack obama -- remember when he was running, he wanted to go beyond bill clinton. he wanted to be -- >> no more referring to bill as the -- >> like ronald reagan. he didn't say like bill clinton. >> he wants a little more respect. >> wants a little more respect and he's going to get it from -- >> he's got to get it.

>> do you think there's any deal there? we don't know when the president decided to name hillary clinton, senator clinton at the time. it just worked out. do we know what worked and what may be part of a future transition here politically? >> i was just going to add, i think, remember, the mistake that barack obama could play if he tries to distance himself from bill clinton because, you know, al gore did that in 2000 and it wasn't a smart idea. >> sure. >> the rap against obama this summer will be he's a jimmy carter 1980 president. double-digit inflation. long gasoline lines and a problem in iran. and instead, when you have clinton there, it's that constant jobs, jobs, jobs reminder. the economy was better under the democrats and does put some of the blame on w. >> doug, you're great. doug brinkley, thank you for being on. and gene, of course, from a pulitzer prize-winning great

guy. we don't know whether hillary clinton will run for president. it's up to her. she could easily win this thing. we'll finish with a milestone tonight. what a time we're united behind. think about john glenn. think about how popular he was. 50 years ago today, he went around the world three times. you're watching "hardball" only on msnbc.

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let me finish with this. when i was growing up, we got a

lot of our science from television. there was mr. wizard who taught us chemistry and verner von bron with a little help from walt disney who taught us physics. we americans were first in everything that we were going to be the country to conquer space. we were going to start the conquest by putting little things called satellites into orbit around the earth. yes, that was how it was going to be. and then came that terrible day in 1957 when we awoke, we awoke americans to find the soviets had done it. that there was indeed a satellite, a really big one winging its way around our world. but it had been launched out there into space by the communists, the people we had been taught were hardly in the game. well it made us sad. it made me sad because it undermined us. it made me think the communists were doing something we were trying do but couldn't. it had to do with booster rockets, something called thrust. their rockets were bigger, stronger, therefore, better than ours. for five years it went on like this. they'd send a man into space.

they'd send a man into orbit. and we could send one vanguard rocket up after another only to watch it topple right there in front of us, barely off the launching pad. then came the first american successes into space followed by this wondrous day 50 years ago today. on february 20th, 1962, john glenn became the first american to orbit the earth, circling the globe three times in friendship 7. glenn met with president kennedy at the white house both before and after that mission. even space, especially space, isn't free of politics. and john glenn well understood that. he recalled that kennedy knew, quote, we were superior to the soviets and that's what we were there out to prove. glenn's triumphant space flight proved the boost nasa needed. one reason my flight got so much attention was because we sort of turned the corner in public opinion at that point. conquering space offered us an unprecedented thrill for the american people. suddenly it s