nbc/marist poll finds mitt romney opening up a lead in the badger state. the endorsements are rolling in as well. rubio, bush 41, and paul ryan, making it official today as well. plus, what voters in wisconsin are really thinking about. it's that recall election facing governor scott walker following his crackdown on public sector unions. our polling shows it's going to be a nail-biter. there is a more polarized state electorate in the country than wisconsin and now the presidential candidates have to join the debate. and more kabuki theater, paul ryan's budget plan passes the house down party lines, so you know what that means, it heads to the senate to die. but it sets up the republican aspect of the debate for 2012. it's friday, march 30th, 2012, the last day of march that we'll be on the air. this is the "daily rundown," i'm chuck todd. let's get right to my first reads of the morning. we said wisconsin is rick santorum's last stand and if that's the case then it looks like the end is near.

in our new nbc/marist wisconsin poll, mitt romney leads seven points among likely voters. ron paul sits at 11 and in gingrich is at single digits in 8%. two-way race romney's lead narrows but barely, ahead 46-41. this republican race, demographics are destiny and demographics spell trouble for santor santorum, wisconsin looks more like illinois where romney won deceasively than it does like ohio where he only pulled out a very narrow victory. it's as simple as one group, evangelicals, only 41% of likely voters in our poll identified themselves as evangelical christians closer to the 43% number in illinois. a long way from the 49% in places like ohio. where santorum has won evangelicals averaged 75% of the population. in iowa he practically lived for

six months. of course, wisconsin is in the middle of a historic ideological battle and the recall effort on governor scott walker is dominating voters' attention. according to our poll 41% of likely republican voters are following the recall a lot more closely than the republican presidential race. for now that recall is looking like a coin flip. razor tight. 46% of wisconsin voters say they will support walker in a race against an unknown democrat, 48% said they would back an unknown democrat. of course, it won't be an unknown democrat when that happens. walker, of course, sparked a firestorm of criticism in his effort to curb collective bargaining rights for the state's public sector workers. and the republican governor's job approval is divided entirely on partisan shines, 48-48, that split is mirrored among independents, and as they stump in wisconsin today, both santorum and romney will stop but they're going to get drawn into this recall conversation. is romney on the cusp of wrapping up this nomination?

this morning on the heels of the passage of congressman paul ryan's republican budget last night, romney picked up ryan's endorsement. >> i think this primary has been productive. i think it's been constructive up until now. i think it's made the candidates better, but i think we are entering a phase it could become counterproductive if it drags on much longer so that's why i think we have to coalesce as conservatives around romney. >> romney in wisconsin already, and ryan may campaign with him this weekend. he had agreed no to endorse until the trust was fully funded. well, it got fully funded this week and it left ryan free and clear. last night romney got his fourth endorsement of sorts. this time on camera with moving pictures from former president george h.w. bush and, by the way, with former first lady barbara bush who not too subtly urged gingrich, santorum, and paul to get out of the race with

the beginning of this kenny rogers' song "the gambler." >> aren't you going to sing a song for us, "you know when to fold them"? >> i do think it's time for the party to get behind romney, and he was reminding me of the kenny rogers' song, "it's time when to know them and when to fold them" i think it's time to get behind this good man? >> but you never count your money sitting at the table. in the event romney was asked about one endorsement he hasn't gotten. a little awkward. >> we'll see the rest of you on the trail. >> no question. >> governor, have you met with george w. bush when you met here and have you talked to him? >> you know, i haven't met with president george w. bush. we speak from time to time. [ inaudible question ] no >> that's right, bush 41 asked mitt romney whether bush 43 had endorsed him yet.

while romney picked up the endorsement of bush 41, santorum did his best to conjure up images of another republican president ronald reagan at a major foreign policy address at none other than the jelly belly factory in california. >> we just did a little tour of jelly belly and we wanted to come here to jelly belly and it's hard to say that in a political speech. jelly belly. i don't know what it is. >> of course, the gypper was famous for his love of jellybeans. even inspiring one of the famous jelly belly flavors blueberry created so he could serve red white and blue jellybeans at his 1981 inauguration. santorum did his best to extend what he hopes are more reagan comparisons. >> the entire establishment was against him. everyone said that his time had passed. we're not going to concede to the moderate establishment who wants to convince everybody that it's over. it's time just to go away.

we've now dumped in $100 million. we've beaten up the other candidates into a pulp and it's time to take who we want. >> he's speaking, of course, of reagan '76, reagan did not succeed in '76. by the way, in the senate, santorum was known as the keeper of the famous candy desk, so he was the guy who used to hand out candy. over to team obama, it's another fund-raising day, the president heads to the northeast, he makes stops in vermont and maine to raise campaign cash. the end of the month, of course, is tomorrow. health care may be dominating the news this week, but apparently we may not hear the president talk about it much in keeping with what's likely to be a white house pattern until the decision comes down. the president did a big public event in the rose garden yesterday on another topic, calling on congress to end tax subsidies to oil and gas companies. >> they can either vote to spend billions of dollars more in oil subsidies that keep us trapped in the past or they can vote to

end these taxpayer subsidies that aren't needed to boost oil production. so that we can invest in the future. it's that simple. as long as i'm president, i'm betting on the future. >> by the way, that vote failed in the senate, 51-47. a few democrats crossed over. one republican crossed the other way. vice president biden ended a three-state campaign swing last night. he was in chicago. where he played a pundit or prognosticator taking an optimistic view of the president's prospects saying this, quote, i don't think we'll be beaten by those candidates referring to romney and santorum. i think we'll be beaten, if we are, by something happening in the euro zone or something happening in the gulf which could be difficult to us, referring to, of course, the middle east, or this barrage of super pac money, but even with that, i feel good. all right, we have a lot of information on our new nbc news/marist poll, so let's get

right to it including the matchups. the director of the marist poll is here. nice to see you. >> good morning, mr. todd. >> let's wrap up a little bit of the republican race and then i want to get on to wisconsin as a battleground state. the demographics is destiny. one thing that struck me, even in the places where santorum is leading among very conservative voters, among tea party support is, his leads weren't overwhelming. >> and, of course, the general picture as you correctly identify is this is not the demographic of the states that santorum has been doing well in, so he needs to broaden, you know, his reach to a lot of voters that he hasn't been able to attract so far or he's got to run up the score among his followers neither of which is happening in wisconsin. that having been said, it's still a single digit race and obviously there are several days of campaigning between now and tuesday, so it's not like romney has a lock and, in fact, only 46% of the romney supporters tell us they're firmly committed to him, so it's kind of like a

lukewarm endorsement right now for romney. a lead, but nothing overwhelming and not a lot of enthusiasm on the presidential side of things. >> and it's funny, i want to get to that. i want to put up the two general election numbers. >> sure. >> the president sitting at 52%, romney at 35 and the romney at 38. and they are saying, wow, it's a big lead for the president but note where his number is, it's a hard 51 or 52. you looked at this undecided vote and is it what we're seeing is it the same sort of lukewarm enthusiasm for romney -- >> exactly. >> -- that's showing up in the general? >> it's several things first of all, with president obama, he's actually running a couple points below where he was four years ago when he carried wisconsin overwhelmingly, so it's not like he's getting a big endorsement right now in wisconsin despite the margins over romney and santorum. and, yes, the lukewarm support for the republicans, right now the undecided, 12% of

republicans say they are undecided in the general election toss-up against romney and obama, and a lot of independents who lean republicans, are also undecided in the head-to-head matchups. the endorsements that romney is getting that we talked about with bush and others and ryan, i mean, that's really important for him right now because he needs to start bringing the republican party together, to start bringing party unity and start generating some enthusiasm for the general election. that's why the gaps are likely to close in the toss-up, because the folks who are not supporting romney right now are people who are probably going to end up romney supporters. >> right. and they're just sitting on the side. but i got to go to the walker, the scott walker phenomenon here. 48-48 split. and, you know, you see this in a presidential level, okay? george w. bush, barack obama, on days they can hard, positive job approval and a hard negative job disapproval. but for a governor to see it this polarized is amazing.

>> that's how you spell polarized in wisconsin, w-a-l-k-e-r, it's spelled walker and that's what we see. it's split down the middle. the state is tornl apart, and te events are causing it, the recall is attracting so much attention. as you indicate when you went through the numbers in the first read, more republican primary voters are paying attention to the recall election than they are to the presidential primary, sew it's that big for wisconsin right now. it couldn't be any larger really. >> and in your history of polling governors, you've done a lot of state polling over the years, have you seen a governor sort of this polarized view between the two parties? >> no. and the recall really chrissalichrissal i crystallizes that. now there's this opportunity to really have folks in a sense get a second chance to make a first impression in terms of their original vote so that's what ask really galvanizing the interest in wisconsin. that will be the story in indiana. tuesday will be a distraction, then they'll get right back to

the recall discussion. >> what a great way to put it, tuesday's primary simply a distraction while the recall attracts their time. lee, always a pleasure, thank you. >> talk soon. up next, we're wrapping up our weeklong spotlight on this effort called hiring our here roaf heroes. and we'll look at cast of characters on the supreme court, from the ringmaster to the class clown, what do we learn about the personalities of some of these justices this week that you don't actually get to see or hear in this case. but first, a look ahead at the president's schedule, as i told you, it's a new england day. the clam chowder he'll get on air force one i'm guessing. but, by the way, pay attention to the remarks he gives at these campaign events. they are public. will he talk about the supreme court hearing? you're watching the "daily rundown" only on msnbc. ♪

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we always have an obligation up here to ensure that the people who have served have the right transition into the rest of their lives. >> put all of the different services whether they be nonprofit, government, what have you, under -- in one listing and try to make it easier for vets to know the folks that are out there to help them. >> our goal should be to end veteran homeless in the united states. it's shocking that these young men and women who have served the country so well now literally can't find a place to stay. >> all week long we've, of course, been focusing on nbc and msnbc on a new mission called hiring our heroes, it's an effort to support military families and help veterans find

jobs. we've been looking at all week this week. we've had job fairs this week and current legislation for our soldiers, but as one organization that makes the futures of these heroes a priority every day, it's the vet ran veterans administration. mr. secretary, thank you for joining me. one thing i've learned this week is there's no shortage of ideas on capitol hill. >> right. >> but there is a shortage of bills that get passed on capitol hill when it comes. and every one -- have been has good intentions about it. >> right. >> and a bipartisan crew of folks come up here on different things and it looks like everybody wants to put their stamp on a piece of legislation, but nobody wants to get it through. give me reality checks here. >> first of all, let me thank nbc and the chamber for calling attention to this issue of employing our veterans. but your question, i think's, interesting if we can ever solve that, i think we can make some changes for our veterans across the country.

you know, a lot of times it comes down to dollars, i've always felt as an advocate for our veterans, we shouldn't ask what it will cost, let's just get the job done. >> it seems everybody agrees on some portion of this. but there definitely teaseems t be, everybody has their own complaints when it comes to, well, this needs to be streamlined here. you are there. you are dealing hand to hand essentially with these veterans every day. what is it that you need out of congress? >> well, i think a budget, of course, and, you know, last four or five years under this particular administration the va's had the largest budget increase that we've ever had over $180 billion, and that's creating major change throughout the country for our veterans. it's created sinnergy out there among the private, public sokecr to join forces and help get our veterans into school. we've got a large number of veterans coming out from the military today, unlike what happened when i came home from vietnam, the sinnergy wasn't

there 30 years ago. today there's more of a partnership. but i think the word across the hill up in congress needs to be that we need to do all that we can, because these are the future of our country, these men and women. they're going to make a huge difference in the economy, in the way our country direction, their our future leaders. >> what is it do you think has been the biggest stumbling block among veterans and why the unemployment rate is higher among veterans? >> when veterans come home and take their uniform off, i think it's the transitioning back into civilian life. many of the young men and women that have gone into the military are right out of high school and they served four years, 15 years, 20 years and transitioning back into mainstream society is sometimes difficult, but you can't do it yourself. in the years past everyone looked at the va, as the organization and the entity that will help the veterans transition. it's not just the va role, it's the community issue. >> i was asking yesterday,

should we use old military bases as sort of a place for housing and the job training and all of these things that are needed to sort of make the transition rather than it's sort of this immediate, okay, take your uniform off and start with civilian life. >> i don't think it begins when you take the uniform off. the transition begins the time you go into the service. the time you put the military uniform on, the transition began. d.o.d. is beginning to recognize that and the t.a.p.s. briefings that are conducted with the veterans to transition out to mainstream society. it's not putting them into a billets or barracks when they get out that's the answer, it's informing the general public that we help to transition the veterans back. many are going back to school in the post-9/11 gi bill. over the next five years we're expecting over a million veterans coming back from afghanistan and iraq.

we need to be ready for them. >> are you concerned that there are too many companies and small businesses that get a little nervous about hiring a veteran because maybe they are still staying in the reserves and they're worried they're going to get called up, or they're wor worried about health issues? >> well, you know, that's i think a question that is valid. but i think this administration has addressed that by offering some tax incentives to some of the corporate companies to hire our wounded warriors and veterans, training incentive. but also i think making the public aware that what they're getting in terms of employee, they've got somebody who has global experience. they're articulate, they understand mission. >> discipline, i mean, the ability to get the job done. >> absolutely. but more importantly, there are also individuals with integrity and honor, they understand what it is to be committed to a workforce and they're going to create change i think in the workforce. so, you get a very valuable employee. you know, you mention about small business. there are 26 million small businesses in the country, 3.6 million are veteran owned and

they employ about 1.8 million people, these veterans are generating $1.6 trillion, so they're contributing to the economy, so it seems to be if we're going to change the way we do business and move our economy forward, we've got to invest in our veterans and the obama administration and secretary shinseki have seen that and we're doing job fairs and reaching out. and speaking as a vietnam veteran and coming home and there wasn't much going on, i think what you see now is this wave of support around the country that's just building. and you all have been showing that all this week. >> secretary garcia, thank you for coming in. pleasure to meet you. good luck with this effort. >> you bet. >> come on, folks, i don't know why you wouldn't hire a veteran, it seems like a pretty easy call. amidst all the wrangling on health care, why washington just can't stop talking about gas prices this week. that's next. but first, today's trivia question, justices william powell jr. and william rehnquist joined the supreme court on the same day.

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help millions of people by helping to make gluten free bread that doesn't taste gluten free. together, the elements of science and the human element can solve anything. solutionism. the new optimism. the health care fight and rising gas prices kep the white house pretty busy this week, though, with a stop in south korea complete with an open mike gaffe that did make its ways to the headlines for president obama. kristen welker, with a little bit of the week's highlights that you might have missed. >> reporter: hey there, chuck, of all things that happened this week, high gas prices really continued to dog this president that's because the price at the pump is one of the main things that is still threatening this fragile economic recovery. health care may have seemed like the only story in washington this week, but there's one issue that continues to dominate the headlines and concern the white house even more.

gas prices. many believe it's just a matter of time before the obama administration releases more oil on the market by tapping the strategic petroleum reserve. but the white house has been mum on the topic. >> i will say as we have said repeatedly, that this option is on the table and remains on the table but no decisions have been made and no specific actions have been primed. >> no decisions have been made and no specific actions have been proposed. i don't have anything to relay to you about the spr with any specificity. >> reporter: oil analysts say tapping the reserve could help lower the price of gas. the last time it was tapped? june 2011, when there was a supply disruption due in part to the libya civil war. gas prices did drop by about seven cents but only for about a week until they inched back up for most of the summer. and while this -- >> after my election i will have more flexibility.

>> reporter: drew most of the headlines from this week's nuclear security summit in seoul, work was, in fact, done on nuclear security. kazakhstan with the help of the u.s. and russia is almost finished securing a cold war era nuclear test site the size of new jersey. >> and just yesterday ukraine had joined the ranks of nations that removed all the highly enriched uranium from their territory. all told, thousands of pounds of nuclear material had been removed from vulnerable sites around the world. this was deadly material that is now secure and can now never be used against a city like seoul. >> reporter: the next summit location, the netherlands. earlier this week first lady michelle obama marks the 100th anniversary of washington's cherry blossoms, originally a gift from japan, by planting a new tree by the potomac and suggesting the country is ready for a woman in the white house. >> and i hope that on that day, the first lady or the first

gentleman of 2112 will also have the privilege of joining with our friends from japan and planting another tree, which will bloom for yet another 100 years and beyond. >> reporter: and, chuck, coming up next, we're going to see something here at the white house that we haven't seen for a little while. signing ceremonies for two bills that were passed with broad bipartisan support, the stock act which bans congressional insider trading as well as the start-up act which gets rid some of the regulatory red tape and president obama will be inviting members of both parties here to the white house for the ceremonies, it's something we haven't seen in a while, chuck. >> that's right. we'll see him in some campaign ads depending on the state they'll be running in. up next, characters in court, the historic three-day arguments over health care stirred up a lot of passion among the supreme court justi

justices. what the arguments tell us about the nine justices that sit on the bench. plus, labor pains as the republican race moves to wisconsin. it's all about scott walker. you're watching the "daily rundown" only on msnbc. ♪ i'm making my money do more. i'm consolidating my assets. i'm not paying hidden fees or high commissions. i'm making the most of my money. and seven-dollar trades are just the start. i'm with scottrade. i'm with scottrade. i'm with scottrade. and i'm loving every minute of it. [ rodger riney ] at scottrade, we give you commission-free etfs,

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i see you're crunching numbers with a cup of joe... when you could be relaxing with a delicious gevalia. or as i like to say, a cup of johan. joe's a cubicle. johan is a corner office with a young, eager assistant... who looks like me.

put johan on your spreadsheets. he'll watch your bottom line. [ johan ] gevalia. meet me in the coffee aisle. today's deep dive takes a look at what we learned about the nine individuals who inhabit the top court this week as jerry seinfeld used to ask who are the people. the lack of cameras gives it tough to get an immediate read on the justices and who they are and where they stand on the arguments but what we heard this week brings insight about how each court member carries himself or herself, and what personality they bring to each case. there were lighter comments from justice breyer that drew laughs but he was also short with lawyers at times. >> if it were true that there were some terrible epidemic sweeping the united states and we xoont say that more than 40 or 50%, i can make the numbers

as high as i want, but you would say the federal government doesn'tve the power to get people inoculated, it cannot require people even if the disease is sweeping the company to be inoculated, the federal government has no power -- go ahead. >> justice kagan submitted an opinion on the medicaid expansion that may have given us an idea how she would have approached this as solicitor general. >> the federal government is here saying we're giving you a boatload of money, there is no matching funds requirement. there are no extraneous conditions attached to it. it's just a boatload of federal money for you to take and spend on poor people's health care. it doesn't sound coercive to me, i have to tell you. >> two justices shared a joke with the crowd before a comedy legend became part of the discussion. >> the chief has said, i can ask this. he doesn't always check first.

to determine whether something is coercive, you look to only one side, how much you're threatened with losing or offered to receive, and the other side doesn't matter. i don't think that's realistic. i mean, i think -- you know, the old jack benny thing, your money or your life, and, you know, he says, i'm thinking, i'm thinking, it's funny because it's no choice. >> but whenever the laughs took over too much, it was up to chief justice john roberts to settle things down. >> you can't refuse your money or your life, but your life or your wife's, i could refuse that one. >> let's leave the wife -- >> mr. clemente, he's not going home tonight. >> let's go on. >> i'm talking about my life. take mine, you know? >> i wouldn't see that either. >> i won't use that example. forget about it.

>> it'senough frivolousness. >> thank you for joining me. >> good to be here. >> we had this audio out, we got to hear the personalities of the justices in a way most of the public normally doesn't. how much did we hear this week that the public heard that you hear all the time, how much was similar, and was any of it different? >> it was very similar. i'm not quite sure the chief justice two have told them to cool it. i just don't know. it can be very funny. and it can be a lot of fun and it can be very stressed and tense. and you saw all of that this week. >> what was interesting there were a couple moments late on wednesday when scalia and sotomayor were having too much fun and you got a sense roberts didn't like it. how nervous was he about the fact that they're in the spotlight in a way they haven't been before? >> look, he's the chief justice of the united states, people

call him the chief justice of the supreme court, his title is chief justice of the united states and he takes that very seriously. and i would have to say he's sort of a tight chief justice. >> rehnquist wasn't this tight when he first took over? >> rehnquist was just an entirely different personality. he didn't -- he didn't as much preside, but he was sort of like the father who just gives you one dirty look and have been cools it. you don't have to say much of anything. it's hard to remember what he was like at the very beginning of his chief justiceship, and he'd been on the court also for a while. >> for so long. >> for quite a while. >> he was so comfortable. let's talk about this issue, there's a lot of panic at the white house to be frank. they really thought this wasn't going to be that hard of a case. they knew there was a lot of politics around it but they really thought looking at it

they could get as many as seven votes in their favor. now they are biting their fingernails. should they be biting their fingernails? >> they should be biting their fingernails. this court unlike other courts when i was first covering the court and you really couldn't tell at all from their questions, most of the time, not all of the time, but most of the time the questions are indicative of what they're thinking and you would have to say that this is a very, very close case up there right now. now, i do want to say, chuck, that the white house was right not to worry about it way back when. the entire legal community except for i would say the really hardcore -- >> very minority of the legal community. >> everybody, including conservatives, thought, oh, this case is a piece of cake. >> so, how much -- i think the question that a lot of folks that are watching this wonder is how much politics is there on this court? is it more political on this court than previous courts? is it the same we just see it more? which is it?

>> it's much more ideologically divided. that's not republican/democrat, it may coincide with republican/democrat. >> well, this one really could. >> yes. >> the 5-4 bush/gore -- >> yes. >> -- it was a 7-2 democratic, republican appointments. this is a 5-4 split republican, democrat appointments. >> because of the bush appointments which were very, very, very conservative, the court has become so much more conservative. i would say on economic regulatory matters and you are seeing a hint of this here, we haven't seen a court this conservative perhaps since the early -- mid -- since the mid-1930s, early new deal era. >> there's whispers around town that say chief justice roberts is concerned of what a 5-4 decision could do in either direction, that it's an -- that he realizes there is this perception that the court is

looking more and more political every day. if it's going to be 5-4 upholding, do you buy the idea he would jump in and be the six and write the opinion? >> i think that's possible. but if it's 5-4 the other way to strike it down, there's no way that there's a sixth vote anywhere. >> there's no sixth vote anywhere. when you are looking at 5-4, is the court going to get damaged politically by this perception that this was done simply on party lines? >> probably. you know, it's -- the court has lost some credibility since bush versus gore. it's still way better regarded than either -- either of the other branches of government. but it used to have the approval or the respect, when you did polls, of people in both parties. and now increasingly it's republicans who respect the courts and democrats who are having great reservations about it and i'm not sure there's anything -- if the court is going to take us in a dramatically different direction, it's representative of what we see in the rest of

the country and you're going to see people split on it the way they are about everything else. >> be in for a rough ride. nina totenberg from npr, nice to have you and talk about this. what a week. >> what a week. it's been fun. thank you, chaluck. the friday political panel is next, and on "meet the press" rick santorum and chuck schumer will be their guests on sunday. but, first, white house soup of the day. wow, i got this one wrong, i thought new england, would get some clam chowder instead. chicken mushroom, kind of a new one. we haven't had that one maybe ever. it's the "daily rundown" on msnbc. got soup fans with that one. or? get ahead of it! one phillips' colon health probiotic cap a day helps defend against digestive issues with three strains of good bacteria. hit me! [ female announcer ] live the regular life. phillips'.

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close range. the president is hit and then thrown into his car by his agent. his press secretary wounded in the head. a secret service man and a policeman wounded, a gunman captured. >> it was this day in 1981 when president reagan was nearly assassinated by john hinckley jr. who fired six shots as the president exited the washington hilton. for some of us, we remember every second of that day. i admit that i remember i had a cub scout meeting that afternoon and i watched everything unfold. anyway, wisconsin is in the middle of a pitched ideological battle pitting governor scott walker against the state's public sector unions and really the entire labor union and the electorate could not be more polarized, mitt romney is trying to tap into this republican anger in the new reasonable be call all over wisconsin. >> as you know, the fight against big labor led by governor walker isn't over here in wisconsin. i wouldn't normally make these calls, but i was shocked to find out that rick santorum

repeatedly supported big labor and joined with liberal democrats in voting against right-to-work legislation during his time in washington. >> msnbc political analyst david corn is the washington bureau chief of "mother jones" and author of the new book "showdown." and we've got the senior editor for "national review" and a columni isist for bloomberg new. i'll start with you, romney going right for labor, you cover a lot of pennsylvania politics. is that a fair hit on santorum, that santorum's a friendlier republican to labor than mitt romney? >> i think so, i do. i'm from southwestern pennsylvania, originally, i'm from pittsburgh and actually he was my congressman growing up and also my senator, and he wasn't -- for a republican he was definitely more pro-labor than a lot of other republicans but it was pennsylvania, it was western pennsylvania. this is the heart of steel country. >> right. >> most republicans were pro-labor or going in that direction on the political scale. >> almost politically you

wouldn't survive if you weren't. >> no. >> good hit by romney, the type of thing considering just where republican activists have their attention these days? >> well, it is i think a good hit in the primary, but republican candidates typically get in the general election for president some union household votes. >> sure, sometimes up to 40%. >> and you've got to be careful that in articulating this you are not creating problems for yourself come the fall. >> and david corn, that's been the issue for mitt romney, whether it's been on immigration, he goes and he plays the conservative sixilophe and hits notes. >> it's playing in the rust belt states which will probably be in play in november so, you know, the narrative is that romney has moved so far to the right it doesn't matter what santorum is saying about blasting him but he's become distant from independent voters and will he be able to make up the ground

particularly if it keeps grinding on this republican race. >> i have to say, we all have heard anecdotes about how polarized wisconsin is, but, wow, our numbers, 48-48 on scott walker. 46-48 in a generic -- against a generic democrat and i think that frankly telephones you that, you know, why the rga i think literally as i think we were getting ready put out two new ads attacking the two potential democratic opponents. >> yeah, i think wisconsin honestly has a lot of political activity the last couple years and in many ways you made a good point earlier in the show, had this is a shiideshow for the wisconsin voters that consumes all the oxygen. i talked to voters in wisconsin and it's hard to break through about anything in politics that isn't about scott walker. >> ra memesh, i heard this argut from both sides that says the party that loses the recall is just going to be so demoralized,

it's going to affect november, so in this case, wisconsin, a state that basically wants to lean democrat still, that if the democrats lose, it means it's going to be in play in november, but if the republicans lose, it's gone. >> i think that if any conversation that is premised on the idea of wisconsin might be in play in november, if wisconsin's in play in november, i think the democrats are in just bad shape nationally, because this is a state that, yes, you are saying it wants to be democratic, but there have been repeated cycles where republicans thought they were this close in wisconsin and it ended up going democrat. >> do you buy it? that the recall will tell us a lot more about november? >> i don't, actually. a lot will depend on who the democratic candidate is and, you know, the more attractive candidate might be a mayor who hasn't jumped in. >> who we don't know. >> who we don't know. and right now it's divided and i do think you can play out either way. a lot of outside money is coming in, koch groups supporting the

democrat. it's going to be tight. it's going to be close. whoever loses may want to come back for a rematch in november. >> the re-rerecall. >> we have weekender wisdom. trivia time just as lewis powell jr. and william rehnquist joined the supreme court on the same day. which man had seniority? when to justices join the court on the same day, seniority's determined by age. rehnquist thought nixon was too much of a hippie. that sits in the constitution when it comes to the supreme court. all right. we will be right back. watching "the daily rundown" 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 just appeared on my floor. yeah, that's fidelity helping you reach your financial goals.

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let's bring back the panel. david corn, shira, weekender wisdom. things i feel like i learned

this week when i didn't know the week started. mandate messaging, apparently the white house was supposed to always be using the individual responsibility initiative. do i have it correct? >> yes. >> instead of saying the words mandate. where was this the last three years? >> yeah, i think this is plan b or plan c or plan d. >> the day after you have this nightmare argument on the supreme court? >> what we learned this week is that there are smart lawyer whose can be really, really dumb at time, the most obvious question in the whole week of the arguments in front of the supreme court was botched by the solicitor general for the administration. he -- that should have taken three seconds out of his time. but as we know, oral arguments usually don't decide cases, that's the good news for the white house. >> we saw, there's a little new tv ad the rnc's doing based on audio for the solicitor general. this was a special week for all

of us. we got audio immediately after released. but this, the rnc distorted the audio and -- to the point it make me wonder if john roberts will ever allow cameras or audio in the courtroom ever again. >> yeah. could be a setback for the project. >> they see on c-span, you know, the congressmen they don't want to be those people, they don't want people mugging for the camera. you could tell -- >> i felt like there was a little hammieness, they knew what they were getting. all week long, hiring our heroes. you covered congress closely. the good news, there were a lot of ideas by members of congress. none of them seem -- everybody wanted their own bill. so it's a little frustrating watching congress work on an issue they all agree on. >> congress can't even pass their own budge. with a good intention, everybody wants to help veterans and they all want their own bill and they're not going to sign on somebody else's bill. >> shameless plugs.

>> over national review online, rubio seems to tell my colleague he won't participate in vetting for a vice president candidate. >> he will not say that until that book is out, right? >> probably right. >> my sister moved to town, working for signature theater which has a cool new musical out called "brother russia." >> what else do you plug besides this, these days. >> motherjones.com, a story out about a scientific study saying conservatives trust science less than moderates or liberals. >> how about that? >> it's scientistic. >> who knew? it's scientific. that's it for this edition of "the daily rundown." have a great weekend. next, chris jansing. see you later. happy pre-april fools' day. i'm meteorologist bill karins with a peek at your

weekend forecast. new england's not going to be the pretty of weekends. wake up saturday rain. sunday, cool, dreary. thunderstorms saturday in the southeast. by the time we get to sunday, should improve there. record heat in the middle of the country. very wet in the northwest. 14 clubs. that's what they tell us a legal golf bag can hold. and while that leaves a little room for balls and tees, it doesn't leave room for much else. there's no room left for deadlines or conference calls. not a single pocket to hold the stress of the day, or the to-do list of tomorrow. only 14 clubs pick up the right one and drive it right down the middle of pure michigan. your trip begins at michigan.org. hanging over us. hindering economic growth. it's time for some common sense -- people in congress who'll come together and put partisan politics aside. not with radical schemes that gamble with america's future.

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do about medicare and social security... security. that's what matters to me... me? i've been paying in all these years... years washington's been talking at us, but they never really listen... listen...it's not just some line item on a budget; it's what i'll have to live on... i live on branson street, and i have something to say... [ male announcer ] aarp is bringing the conversation on medicare and social security out from behind closed doors in washington. because you've earned a say. [ facilitator ] what do you smell? takes me outdoors. sort of a crisp, fresh feeling. [ facilitator ] go ahead and take your blindfold off. [ laughs ] [ male announcer ] the febreze set & refresh. breathe happy for 30 days, guaranteed. good friday morning. i'm chris jansing. endorsements piling up for mitt romney. wisconsin could