with other unions. thank you for watching. tonight we're going forward all week. stay tuned. we have a lot for you the rest of the week. thanks for watching tonight, though. i'm al sharpton. please join us back here in alabama from alabama tomorrow night. "hardball" starts right now. the beat-up goes on. let's play "hardball." >> good evening. i'm chris matthews up in new york. leading off tonight, to be continued. he won the most states. he won the most delegates. he even won the big prize of the night, ohio. why does mitt romney still look like a big ball of cold mashed peas to republicans? romney's argument seems to be you're stuck with me so live with it. not exactly the lift of a driving dream. the race goes on and on and

guess what? the next few states favoring rick santorum. santorum might have a clean shot at romney if only newt gingrich would get out of the way. newt won his home state and nothing else yesterday. why is he staying in the race? meanwhile, over at team obama, they are smiling. i talked to david axelrod about the state of the race. and president obama's great fort nun having mitt and company as his opponents and only opponents. and rush limbaugh keeps losing advertisers, but wait until you hear which big name progress sieve defending him. finally, let me finish with the lack of great innocence the republican presidential campaign. as if you needed to hear about it from me. we begin with mitt romney weak in victory. chuck todd and major garrett is with the national journal. gentlemen, thank you so much. let's take a look at the wicked national press reviews romney has been getting. his six-state win didn't stop the chorus of critics in the conservative press. rich lowry writing for fox news said, for all his technical

proficiency and institutional advantages, romney so far is the candidate of eh. conservative blogger eric eriksson was no less harsh writing on red state, were i mitt romney, i'd be wondering how i spent 5.5 times as much money as rick santorum and barely won ohio. i'd be wondering who on my campaign staff gets fired first. with each romney win he comes away even more badly bruised. the rest of march will be just as brutal. what a mess. and an editorial in "the wall street journal" put it this way. republican elites are aching to declare this race over and take aim at mr. obama. the hand-wringing is fruitless. the voters are in charge and their split decision shows that republicans still haven't settled on a standard bearer. so there we are. it seems to be the strangest race in the world. no matter how many races we have it doesn't seem to seem like anything we've had before. they just can't put their face into this guy and kiss him.

they just can't do it. >> i hear you except, you know, you got to give him his due. we said he had to win ohio. he won ohio. we said he had to win a majority of the delegates. he won a majority of the delegates. he does have a delegate lead that if somehow santorum pulled this off, he would do something that no presidential candidate in the modern history of how we do this process over the last 40 years has been able to do. so he is a commanding front-runner now. now all that said, i think that what you are seeing here and the conservative press, what you are seeing among other republicans is they can't believe that a guy who is this sort of -- has this sort of lack of a core base conservative enthusiasm, which clearly that is there. i mean, you know, even in ohio, we saw that. how he's going to be the standard bearer for 2012. i think that that's the issue that republican elites and republican activists and

republican tea partiers have to come to grips with. guess what? he's going to be their nominee. >> who are these -- while still have you. who are these futureless young people waving the placards. are they androids? who are these people that seem thrilled. they call go up in unison. they all put their plaque orders up in the same way. they are exactly in unison. is this north korea? who are these people? there's this kid in the white shirt and the glasses. they all look like the perfect kids in school with perfect attendance. who are these andrights? >> i think that's actually a pretty good description. these are the -- perfect kids. i think that's what you get at a rally sometimes. they get behind him. you are right. you point out another problem that i have found when i go to romney events which is you don't meet people that will crawl across broken glass to vote for mitt romney. they are settling. there's no question. the song in my head.

if you can't be with the one you love, love the one you're with. and i think that's what a lot of republicans have to come to grips with. but again, you got to give romney his due. he did have a big super tuesday night. he won in a bunch of time zones. he won ohio, yes, by the skin of his teeth, but he won it and money a majority of the delegates. >> he still looks like one of the figures at the hall of the presidents. one of those statues that's motorized. they stand up and wave. there he is with his wife. she looks normal. they wave to a crowd of androids who look the same. they all put their placards up at the same time. he turns around and smiles as if he's connecting. he clearly is not a human being connecting with other human beings. look at this. is this real? >> chris, of course it's real. you may not like it. you may want to brand them androids but they are real people supporting a candidate they believe in and that's what the democratic process is all about. mitt romney does not have a backdrop problem, chris. don't think that he does.

what he has is a republican party that is in transition. and romney wins big where that transitional party is withering, the northeast, and he loses where that party is strong, the south and the west with the exception of arizona. now everything that chuck said is true. romney had a pretty good night last night but last night was an opportunity. the first he's really had in this race to definitively and conclusively wrap this up. not just mathematically but atmospherically and he didn't do it. the close win in ohio was not good enough. and i believe the loss in tennessee proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that southern republicans will not back romney even when they know instingtively, strategically the time to end this process is over and they'd be better off as the party strategically. their ambitions of taking the senate would be better off and holding the senate would be better if they did but they simply won't. >> is it religion or ideology that stops them from going forward. 28% seems to be his ceiling in all these states.

>> what i believe it is fundamentally is they do not trust him as a conservative. >> okay. >> and republicans in this south treat their conservatism as something that is -- it is a principle to them, and they look at romney and say across the board on a lot of issues, you do not earn my trust. you have not won my trust. and i'm not going to hand it over in a simple transactional way to you just because it would be better for my party. so they aren't thinking strategically. they are thinking personally and princip principlely. they are depriving romney of what he most needs which is a couple of vict flees states where it would be unexpected for him to win. he wins where it's expected. he does not win big or doesn't win at all where it woubld unexpected and that's his central problem. >> can we turn this around? santorum still has to be -- i agree with major garrett. i think that ultimately mitt romney it would be better for his chances to unite the party rather than be a nominee of a fractured party. unite the party to win in a

southern state to sort of erase this issue. a southern state that is not named virginia or florida. two states trending in different directions but sort of the deep south. but let's remember. at some point, rick santorum has to be -- has to knock romney down. and he's had two shots at it. and he's certainly bloodied him up in michigan and bloodied him up in ohio. but he hasn't knocked him out. you remember in the old days of boxing, you know, to beat the champion you didn't get to win it by points. you had to knock the champ out. >> let me ask you about that. you guys are the best in the business. chuck, you start. next week, cab n we see a knockout? if romney can't win in alabama or mississippi and loses to either of these guys. perhaps he loses one to each of them, does he knock down the south? >> i think this is the reverse. it's an opportunity for romney. i'd say the opportunity is perhaps in mississippi where it's a little more of a mache state where, you know, maybe the barber machine can help him out

if he can put that deal. they've actually been a little hesitant to rally around romney. but mississippi, he's going to try to announce some alabama endorsements today. if romney only has to win once in the deep south and we erase this conversation. but let's look at it through the other prism which is where does santorum create momentum for himself? first of all, i think he needs to win both states. alabama, mississippi. he needs to shove gingrich out of this race and gingrich himself has said if he doesn't win both he's not credible anymore. and then santorum needs to beat romney in one of these neutral sites states. illinois is the next one. >> who is that guy clark down there who built that mississippi party years ago? remember that guy? i'll think of it. rick santorum was asked about comments from mitt romney's campaign that santorum would need an act of god to win the nomination. romney shouldn't raise the religious issue, but here he is again. let's watch. >> what won't they resort to to

try to bully their way through this race. if the governor thinks he's now ordained by god to win, then let's just have it out. i feel very, very good that we're running a race energizing people. the man versus the machine. and they've got the machine and they got the insiders and the big money. and we've got the people. >> why do you think this morning that mitt romney went on "squawk box" our sister station at cnbc, major. it certainly isn't going to break his image as the business candidate for president. >> well, look. i think where romney's campaign is in candidate and on those who are advising him is they are in sort of a data bain capital mode. what i mean by that, everything they said today was about the mathematics, the data, the numbers, and everything they said is true. that to obtain the proper amount of delegates, gingrich and santorum have a much, much

harder path than does romney. that's true. but there is something in its analytical truth that is also a bit bloodless about that. that's why santorum does want to portray this man, people against the machine. >> john henry against the train. >> yeah, i have to say, i don't understand. reinforcing the image. going on a channel that is watched by the business elite of the republican party. that's his base. mitt romney was talking to his base this morning. and granted, i know he does have some fund-raising that he needs to kickstart again because they are burning through money big time. but it did seem an odd decision to talk to some of his base supporters. >> maybe fund-raising. >> i don't think mitt romney wants to write a check. i think that would reinforce every negative narrative that's building around him personally. >> let's watch. >> that's fraught with peril. >> i want to get on that show to talk about my book, by the way, but becky quick is on that show. let's take a look at mitt

romney. not knocking "squawk box." why is he doing it, reinforcing his brand. here's how he thought he wrapped up the nomination before the convention. let's watch him. >> i'm prepared to fight all the way to become the nominee. and i was pleased with our success last night. obviously, we've got a strong lead in delegates. a very strong lead in terms of the number of people who have voted for our campaign. we've got the time and resources and a plan to get all the delegates. and we think that will get done before the convention. but one thing i can tell you for sure is there's not good-bye to be a brokered convention. >> quickly, chuck, and then major, how does santorum win the nomination at this point? is there a route for this guy, chuck? >> i think it has to become this perception primary. and it goes back to what i was telling you using the boxing metaphor. he has to start beating them all across the board. when he starts winning, he can't stop winning because the math stinks for him. he needs basically 2 out of every 3 delegates from here on out. you can't stop winning.

and it would have to be this growing chorus of him just not losing at all to romney no matter the territory. >> krirks i described on your show the difference between the two voting blocs. the rationals who have always been with romney and the notional chos who have been with everyone but romney. the notionals are all with santorum. what would need to happen for santorum is victories and victories that pull the rationals away from what they perceive to be the rational choice and make them notionals. i thought of super tuesday it was going to be the opposite. that romney for the first time would persuade those notionals. i've flirted with a lot of different republicans but time to move over to romney. didn't happen in large enough numbers. for santorum to do this, he has to reverse that trend. >> which rocky was it the italian stallion went up against that android from russia? >> that was "rocky 4." and even -- and even that movie had a montage. never mind. sorry. >> and they aren't andandroids. they are real people. you may not like them but they're real people and they like romney.

leave them alone. >> you've got to be a real lib tro liberal to say that. why does newt gingrich think he should stay in the race? newt gingrich won georgia, his home state, but didn't finish higher than third anywhere else. and he's still in it. now the santorum campaign is working to get newt out so they can be one on one with romney. makes sense. see if it works. you're watching "hardball" only on msnbc. not in this economy. we also have zero free time, and my dad moving in. so we went to fidelity. we looked at our family's goals and some ways to help us get there. they helped me fix my economy, the one in my house. now they're managing my investments for me. and with fidelity, getting back on track was easier than i thought. call or come in today

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i'm not saying i don't want to get out. if he wants to get out, i'm all for him getting out. i'm all for mitt romney. i wish president obama would just hand me the thing, but that's not going to happen. >> welcome back to "hardball." that was rick santorum today talking about whether it's time for newt gingrich to get out of the republican presidential race. in a statement today, an adviser to the pro-santorum pac, the red, white and blue fund said, quote, based on his electoral performance last night and his out of step record it is time for newt gingrich to exit the nominating process. but the gingrich campaign comes right back on that one. a gingrich aide said in turn, we can make the same statement. the worst part of santorum's analysis is he is splitting the moderate vote with romney. with either santorum nor gingrich backing down, neither will get a chance to go one on one against mitt romney. jon braybrender is a strategist for the romney campaign. dee dee, you are watching this. jon, you are in this fight. this obnoxiousness of saying

you're a moderate, what twinkie on his campaign thinks he gets away with calling your guy a moderate? not a single person watching this show, not a single person on right, left or center, nobody thinks that rick santorum is a moderate. why are they calling you that dirty name as far as you guys are concerned? >> well, and ron paul a couple of weeks ago called him a liberal in which in my mind people thought for a long time we have should have random drug testing in congress and i think that gave them more evidence or proof. >> why are they calling you those bad names. you are conservatives on cultural, economic, every issue. hawks on foreign policy. where your in any way vulnerable to the nasty charge of moderate? >> well, obviously, rick santorum is seen as a trusted conservative, tea party supporter, somebody that is sympathetic to their views. and so i think it's a ridiculous argument but the one thing i will say this. conservatives and tea party members have a choice. and they have a decision to

make. either they are going to let the sort of minority in the party, the moderates decide who our nominee is, which will be mitt romney or they can unify behind a single candidate. i think if nothing else, rick santorum has shown in the last six weeks that he is the one who can go up against romney. in that six-week period he won six states. he had a lot of close second places that went into overtime. and, frankly, if all those conservatives and tea party would have been with rick santorum, he would have won those. newt gingrich and that six-week period, he did well in his home state. other than that in that six-week period his best finish was next to last. >> dee dee, you are watching from the sidelines. why do you think newt gingrich is in the race at this point? >> for the same reason newt has done a lot of what he's done in his life. he has a gargantuan ego. he hasn't finished better than second to last in eons and still claims he's the only guy that

can beat and debate president obama and, you know, it's -- i hope he stays in because he's totally entertaining. and as long as the race remains muddled, it's good for democrats. >> let me go completely machiavellian. i know dee dee over the years. i want to ask you a real machiavellian question. two guys really racing against this guy. your candidate who is santorum and romney. your guy can't offer him anything to get him out of the race because you have nothing to give him. romney has a lot to give him because he's's front-runner but he doesn't want him out of the race. he wouldn't give him a nickle to get out of the race. is that a good analysis? >> that's their worst nightmare. there was one state already, missouri, where newt gingrich didn't make it on the ballot. what happened? rick santorum won missouri by 30 points over romney and won every single county. the biggest fear i think that romney has is that if he -- if this ever became just a one on one race with rick santorum versus mitt romney. >> what happens here.

look at the numbers last night. i had hours to look at the numbers last night. romney can't break, dee dee, 28% in the deep south. you started south carolina, work your way through georgia, over to tennessee and oklahoma. he never gets above 28%. one of these two other guys also -- since they are both going to be in the race has to get about above 30 it seems to me because the romney money machine will go in those states and try to jack him up to mid-30s. isn't this race going to come down to a couple of points next tuesday night whether romney can stay in this race in the south or gingrich can stay stay in the race at all. >> gingrich can stay in as long as he has money. >> because of adelson? >> he'd be out of the race a long time ago if it wasn't for one family. and i think we'll see what happens going forward. it's import toont say whether he'll to v to get out of the race. this is an spirely new world in terms of where the money comes from and how it gets allocated. it's a lot of regional candidates. if you looked at the map last night, santorum was strong. romney was strong on the coast

to the more, hate to say it, moderate places and gingrich has won the biggest contest other than florida in the south. and so we have three candidates that represent three different regions of the party and sort of different -- slightly different ideologies and see how it goes. it's great theater for us on the president's team. and if the long ter goes on, the better. >> do you think, jon, that adelson is being tickled in the ear or whispered in the ear or blown in the ear by the romney people saying, keep this guy gingrich in the race? >> look, i don't know. that's the strange thing about these super pacs. what do you think is going on? adelson is a smart guy. i met him once. he's very smart in a business sense. why is he backing a guy who ain't going nowhere unless there's a rim shot bunker shot, whatever you call it. what is going on? why does he want gingrich in the race except to cut the advantage down for you guys? >> i think that could be. i don't know what the reason.

what i do know is that mitt romney's super pac has spent over $30 million in negative ads and he can't put anyone away. he overspent us in ohio and -- >> i think what's going to happen, you guys are going to get off on the vice president at some point. are you going to take it. >> you mean instead of biden? >> no, the vice president from romney. you aren't going to take it right now. your saying that on behalf of your candidate? >> we've exceeded expectations all the way through. we've only had about 20 out of the 50 states even vote at this point. >> would you take the vice president or not? >> right now we're running for president of the united states. >> right now. but when that runs out, that string are you going to accept the vp? >> i'm going against your premise. no one is telling me that's going to run out. if we get a one on one race where it's rick santorum versus mitt romney, vick santorum will be the republican nominee. >> it's a poem but not a campaign. let me ask you one more time.

is vice president of the united states your ultimate end game here? >> absolutely not. president of the united states is the end game. >> thank you. by the way, i hear you are a great guy. thank you john brabender. i think he's a product of the jesuits. dee dee meyers, thanks for joining us. newt doubles down on his plan for a lunar colony. you can't beat newt gingrich for show biz. a lunar colony. i guess he'll be the mayor. up next in the side show. you're watching "hardball" only on msnbc. ttd#: 1-800-345-2550

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and you could pay as little as ten dollars a month for androgel 1.62%. what are you waiting for? this is big news. it's back to "hardball." now for the side show. making time for the colony in space. even in the midst of super tuesday, that's right, newt gingrich found time for a visit to the u.s. space and rocket center in alabama. of course there have been a lot of jokes about newt's promise of

an american colony on the moon if he's elected president. remember the snl sketch that made gingrich the president of a colony far, far away. and then there was this zinger from romney in the recent debate. >> if i had a business executive come to me and say they want to spend a few hundred billion dollars to put a colony on the moon, i'd say you're fired. >> wow. well, newt hasn't forgotten romney's jab or that shot from "snl." here he is yesterday at the u.s. space and rocket center. >> this isn't the end state of the space program. this is the launching pad for the next phase of excitement. governor romney said, well, if he'd been in business and somebody came in to him with a big idea, with that kind of idea, he would have fired him. and i realize that he has said he likes firing people. i want to restate far from backing off. i invite "saturday night live" to come here to huntsville to tape one of their skits. they can tape it at the space camp. >> there goes commander gingrich back to the future.

next up, yesterday may have been an important day for republicans. president obama is getting his own jump-start on battleground states. he spoke at a plant in north carolina and didn't pass up an opportunity to ding his potential opponents. let's listen. >> since i took office, america's dependence on foreign oil has gone down every single year. you wouldn't know it from listening to some of these folks out here. some of these folks. next time you hear some politician trotting out some three-point plan for $2 gas, you let them know we know better. >> coming soon, a real face-off. now for the big numbers. results of the primaries are coming in. each of the candidates took their turn at the mike to thank supporters and ramp up support for what's ahead. but how about some congratulations for the other fellows? here's mitt romney and what he said.

>> i want to congratulate newt gingrich on a good night in georgia and rick santorum on his good night and ron paul for his steadfast commitment to our constitution. thanks you guys. nice races. >> there you have it. well done, i think. of the three other contenders, how many extended a similar pat on the bat to romney? zero. not even ron paul who many thought had some kind of bromance in the works with romney. romney snagged more delegates last night than his opponents. none of them threw an election night congratulations to them. zero. that's tonight's big number. up next, advertisers are ditching rush limbaugh's radio show after his ugly attack against the law school student sandra fluke. more coming with him. there he is, bouncing away. you're watching "hardball" on msnbc. is this what we're doing now?

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i'm veronica de la cruz. defense secretary leon panetta is pushing back against comments made by john mccain about syria. mccain is calling for u.s.-led air strikes. panetta says unilateral action doesn't make sense right now. according to a report, secret satellite images of an iranial nuclear facility seem to show a cleanup activity. and a big solar storm is headed our way and may disrupt satellite and gps early thursday. that's the news. now back to "hardball." welcome back to "hardball." dozens of advertisers have now ditched the rush limbaugh show after limbaugh's offensive attack last week on georgetown law student sandra fluke. today, rush played down the fleeing of support. >> everything is fine on the

business side. everything is cool. 28 sponsors out of 18,000. that's like losing a couple of french fries in the container when it's delivered to you at the drive-through. you don't even notice it. none of what's happening is out of the ordinary. it's just part of an onslaught to try to convince you that this show's history. and our days are numbered. and i'm happy to tell you nothing could be further from the truth. >> and now rush finds himself supported by an unlikely duo. sarah palin, of course, and bill maher. eugene robinson is a pulitzer prize-winning columnist for "the washington post" and msnbc political analyst. and susan milligan covers politics for "u.s. news and world report." there you have it. i guess i should say there's a lot of talk. here's what bill maher tweeted

yesterday. hate to defend rush limbaugh but he apologized. liberals looking bad. not accepting. also hate intimidation by sponsor pullout. and last night, sarah palin weighed in on the controversy. here she is. >> i think the definition of hypocrisy is for rush limbaugh to have been called out, forced to apologize and retract what it is that he said in exercising his first amendment rights. and never is that the same applied to the leftist radicals who say such horrible things about the handicapped, about women, about the defenseless. so i think that's the definition of hypocrisy. and that's my two cents worth. >> that's not bad for her. let me go to gene robinson. your thoughts about this whole thing. i'm going to reserve my comments which may surprise. but they'll be coming in a moment. yours first. pulitzer prize-winning columnist gene robinson steps on to the hot skillet of media criticism. >> yes, and i try to avoid media

criticism. >> me, too. >> not like we're short of media critics. it wasn't very much of an apology. in fact, he apologized for the word choice and not for the misogynistic bitterness with which he attacked the woman sandra fluke. and, in fact, my colleague gene weingarten in a post about -- on our website about the whole affair yesterday pointed out that it actually what rush limbaugh said was close to slander. >> yeah. >> in that he erroneously stated facts. the central fact in which he built this whole fantasy was not, in fact, true. she didn't go to -- before congress and say that she was having so much sex that she needed somebody else to pay for it. so i clearly think the criticism

is justified. and i guess i understand why bill maher might think otherwise. but -- >> you know why you think that because, you know the pills like viagra are taken for each incidence of sexual encounter whereas birth control pills are taken on a time basis, a monthly basis or daily basis. he's assuming the more pills you take for birth control, the more sex you are having. that was his erroneous stupidity upon which he built his whole assault on this woman. >> well, and that, plus the fact that actually if you actually look at her testimony, she spoke of women she knows at georgetown who have difficulty paying for birth control pills. he made it a very personal thing about her which, if, again if you look at the testimony, she did not. so it was wrong on every basis. >> so wrong. and then the bottom line is we have all said what we say and say it here for a week now. and it took mitt romney a week

now to say nothing, susan. to me, i'd like to focus on the politicians because they are the ones we elect or don't elect and we have a real lever on them. don't vote for them. >> well, exactly. i don't think this has anything to do with rush limbaugh or sarah palin or bill maher. santorum is right when he said that limbaugh is an entertainer. and he's keeping this going now in a way and painting himself a little bit as a victim and that's probably going to help his ratings as well. that's not the issue. the issue is these presidential candidates and these leaders in congress who are so afraid of rush limbaugh, so afraid of alienating that wing of the party that they won't say what is so obvious that this is just an outrageous thing to say about any human being. it's not even about how you feel about contraception. and i think they are playing a very, very dangerous game here because i think this issue has a capacity to be the second coming of the anita hill controversy where women who otherwise might be attracted to a small government, fiscally conservative candidate or perspective are going to get so riled up at a bunch of men

metaphorically patting them on the head and saying this isn't about contraception or calling them sluts, prostitutes or tolerating it. i don't think i can improve on george will who said that when i think it was speaker boehner said that his words were inappropriate. inappropriate is a word you use for describing someone using the wrong fork not for somebody c l calling someone something like that on radio. >> bill maher makes a point of what he's been through. he talked about our use of standback weapons in fighting terrorism and saying, what makes that more courageous one way or another against these bad guys fighting who do give their lives up in these horrible incidents that no one should be engaged in. he lost his job for that. remember that, gene? he's probably quite aware he doesn't want fatwas being issued out there. he doesn't want people saying fire the guy. argue with him, trash him, destroy him in terms of the public debate but don't go after jobs. >> well, and i understand why he would say that. on the other hand, you know, i think that's kind of the way the free market in ideas and in talk

works. you know, we go on the air and we say what's on our minds. and we all walk a tight rope. we walk a line. and if you go too far off that line, the people can call you on it. >> yeah, we'll see. lots of ways to do it. you go through boards, actually people not -- the best ways for people not to listen to a guy they don't want to listen to. thank you, gene robinson. i don't like media criticism generally. up next, the fight for the republican nomination has been a boon for team obama. i talked with david axelrod about mitt and company and how the president plans to run for re-election. let's get back to the democrats with david axelrod, the chief communications director for the obama campaign. this is "hardball" on msnbc. every financial need. and then, in one blinding blink of an eye, their tree had given its last.

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welcome back to "hardball." the obama campaign is waiting in the wings right now to take on a republican candidate. they previewed their strategy today in a conference call with reporters. earlier this week i sat down with obama campaign senior strategist david axelrod out in chicago to preview the fight ahead for the general election. i began by asking david about mitt romney and what axelrod has learned about him from this primary process. >> well, he's been a weak front-runner. i thought he was a weak front-runner from the beginning. but i think there are tests. campaigns test you. i've said always they are an mri for the soul and people learn about you. and along the way, there are tests. we saw one last week when rush limbaugh engaged in that horrendous outburst against the young woman law student from georgetown.

and the republican candidates were asked to comment on it, and romney first refused and then finally just said, well, that's not language i would have used. that's not language i would have used? what about the essence of what he said. he called this woman, you know, a prostitute, and he called her a slut. and suggested that her -- she was trying to get taxpayer funded birth control. all that was outrageous. the premise was false. and that was a moment where he could have stood up and been a leader and earned the respect of the american people. >> who is he afraid of, do you think? >> rush limbaugh. i think he was afraid in that case of limbaugh. and as george will said, if you are afraid of rush limbaugh, how are you going to deal with ahmadinejad and all the bad guys you need to deal with in the world? sometimes you need to stand up. these campaigns test you. there are moments like that. and this was one of those moments and he failed the test.

so i learned that. and i've also learned that he -- through the economic nostrums he's offering -- he just offered a tax plan that would -- was very much like what we've seen in the past. would add trillions of dollars to the debt. would advantage the very wealthy. it would occasion huge cuts in social security and medicare and education and a lot of the things we need to grow as a country. so theirs is a kind of back to the future platform. we've tested these premises and they've failed us. as you know, chris, he ran for governor of massachusetts as a self-styled moderate with progressive views. now he calls himself a severe conservative. that's a big -- that's a big leap to travel. and it causes people to say, well, who is this guy? so you twin that up with an yo economic policy that conspires

against the middle class, that will blow a bigger hole in our deficits and so on and i think there is a great deal of doubt about him. more than any i've seen for any nominee in my lifetime. >> let's look what he could do, potential lichlt y potentially. bob woodward says he'll bring in 4 40% that hate the president. suppose he takes the base and becomes more of a moderate, offers up as a problem solver, on top of that right wing hatred can he build 51% against you? >> anybody can win, and we are prepared for a close, tough race. 47% voted against us in 2008 whether we won a massive victory, so we have the wind at our back then, we don't have the wind at our back now, so we're prepared for a tough race. i think it's hard for him,

though, ultimately people judge who you are and they look at what you're proposing, and the essence of what he's proposing is a repeat of what we had in the last decade, tax cuts for the wealthy, deregulate wall street, a disaster for the middle class and disaster for the country. i don't think that is a winning platform. >> i don't think he defined himself, either. his campaign is effect i have at eliminating opponents, ran a dresden style campaign against newt gingrich. he did it in florida. then did the same thing in michigan to santorum, when he picked up the three states the week before. we assume, we look at the spending patterns over super tuesday, huge negative ad campaigns in georgia, ohio, where his opponents have strengths. take that to the general election. you guys will be as well-funded

as he, am i right? >> i think the super pac issue is one that concerns us. there are hundreds of millions of dollars allegedly pledged for negative ads in the general election through the super pacs. >> can you match the koch brothers and the hatred? >> i don't think we can match them i think we can offset that somewhat. partly through the money we raise, we've endorsed one super pac's activities, and perhaps they can help close that gap, but there will be a gap. ultimately we'll make it up because people a, know the president. the president will speak to them directly. he's not in the position that these other candidates were who romney dispatched with negative media, and we've got an army of folks all over the country of volunteers who people volunteering everyday who support the president and are carrying the message to their neighbors, so for every dollar these guys run in negative ads,

we've got people out talking to their neighbors, talking to their friends. effective way -- >> i'm on your mailing list. >> effective way. >> let me ask you as an american, i think you should be concerned as an adversary, suppose we have a battle of the super pacs whereby romney raises close to a billion with restore our future, and your side matches that but all negative. will that drive down the vote, will that suppress the vote in a way that not only hurts the country but hurt as candidate like obama? >> let me make clear we are going to run a positive campaign about the future of the country, we'll draw contrasts. the president has a fundamental vision how to move the country forward, how to rebuild the middle class, build an economy in which the middle class is growing and not shrinking, where hard work pays, responsibility is rewarded everybody plays by the same rules, we'll make that

case and draw those contrasts. i don't think a fundamentally negative campaign will win the election. >> important interview, david axelrod in chicago. when we return, finish with the lack of greatness in the republican campaign this year. you're watching "hardball" only on msnbc. hi, i just switched jobs, and i want to roll over my old 401(k) into a fidelity ira. man: okay, no problem. it's easy to get started; i can help you with the paperwork. um...this green line

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let me finish tonight with this. this republican primary campaign lacks greatness. i keep waiting for someone to thrust to the front, say something vital and compelling and hear the crowd cheering. is my heart so demanding it expects every four years or eight each of the two political parties send someone to the floor who captures the imagine nation of the american people. i think hard, i think hard. since world war ii tell me how many figures met the test. has presented himself or herself before the people and asked us to make him or her president. how many young stars have we seen flash across the firmament? since world war ii, truman, ike, jack kennedy, barry goldwater, that takes us in the 60s. in the 70s, carter briefly, ronald reagan, clinton, then okay, total of eight since world

war ii. name more stars. heros that grabbed us with the mag notice i am. in this century the 21st obama and hillary clinton. ten possible heros to lead the country in over 60 years. scarce. that is the word, scarce. the real problem i think is the few young people willing to enter the derby, to put their souls out there for our inspection, our approval and excitement. this, ladies and gentlemen, why we're forced to watch and me to cover this sparse arena, one life time want to be who decided he wanted to be president after his father failed, a couple ideologues and opportunist. the spirit of 2012 fluting itself across parade ground, hardly anybody today wanted to be president. that is "hardball" for now, thanks for being with us, "the ed show" with ed schultz