>> production assistants for "inside washington" -- ♪ captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org-- >> i am very concerned about not appearing to be zany. >> this week, heading newt gingrich offset the pests. what bugs republicans about this man? >> he is on focus, undisciplined, and southwest center. are the vocoders -- self- centered. are the voters listening. >> lives have not been lost in vain. they gave birth to a independent, free, sovereign iraq. >> i have a hard time understanding why we went.

the first place. >> if you want to get members of congress moving, try threats in their christmas vacation. >> this congress shall not and we cannot and should not leave for vacation until they have made sure the tax increase does not happen. ♪ >> former republican congressman joe scarborough, was part of newt gingrich's 1994 republican revolution. he said on television that newt gingrich is not a nice human being. .e is a bad person thei congressman peter king says he saw the damaged newt gingrich did to the republican party and congress and he thinks he owes it to constituents not to block -- let that happen again. george will says he would make a

marvelous marxist. >> the conservative heritage review is urging readers to resist a nasty marriage to newt gingrich because but he demonstrated impulsiveness, grandiosity, weakness for half- baked, and not especially conservative ideas, and again and again combined incendiary rhetoric with action, and put his own interest among those he championed in public. what is it about this guy? >> you certainly presented a strong indictment, but i have to say newt gingrich has an ability, having been "time magazine called come and of the year in 1995. he plummeted in popular support. less than two years later, he was 14% favorable. people said why do people take an instant dislike to me.

because it saves them time. [applause] [laughter] >> this is a man that has enormous amount of history. he is trying to create a new love affair with the republican party. the people who felt for him once are trying to tell the people falling for him now do not do it. >> it always goes back to high school. newt gingrich is a no-it-all kid, who is annoying, sooner or later. >> yet to the zero groups of people. the people than all him best -- you have two groups of people, the people that know him best from inside the beltway, and the people on the campaign. the constant fascination is

going to get beyond the beltway at some point, and it is went to catch up with newt gingrich. i do not think he can sustain this candidacy. >> he was dead in the water last year, then he went on this rocket ride. tell us about the third mrs. gingrich. >> his first campaign in plotted because of her. she was refusing to let him go to iowa. you have to go to iowa if you want to run for president. so, then most of them quit. he is resilient. i give him credit. he is a resounding guy. he is been through a lot. he called nancy reagan, and he is been flying under the radar. he got something going again. she is smart, and probably a

good adviser. but, the revulsion against newt gingrich is part of her problem, because he was having an affair with her while he was running the impeachment hearings. that kind of thing, again and a general election, it is going to come out. >> i wonder. i wonder if people care. i wonder if it had the impact that it did. >> he has acknowledged the faults. his biggest problem will be the way he has been characterized by but critics within the republican party, as a person that cannot be relied upon, and the fact that he is not a real conservative because he has radical ideas. >> what about his achievement during the clinton administration?

there was a balanced budget. >> he says he balanced the budget four years in a row. he did not do any such thing. the budget was balanced because of bill clinton and the tax increase imposed on some of the rich. >> he did get the house of representatives to vote to cut medicare, almost impossible to do that in modern politics. you cannot write it off as being a joke. he did accomplish a lot of things as a speaker. >> andy was the first republican speaker in 40 years. >> he did all of that, and took a lot of credit for his, but there are people that give him a lot of credit. he was the classic, charismatic figure that can also be characterized as a demagogue. we live in an area where everything is on videotape. we played that, and it can make

him look -- to have a face that is very unattractive. >> some democrats are begging for newt gingrich as the candidate. is this a case of be careful what you wish for? >> one of the problems that newt gingrich heads is that like all republicans he wraps itself in the cloak of ronald reagan. in an interview he said a helped ronald reagan create millions of jobs and we helped defeat the soviet empire. he did not mention the fact that he was a constant critic of ronald reagan, and when ronald reagan and his historic summit meeting with mattel jordan did gorbachev, congressman newt gingrich -- mattel gorbachev, congress nicking -- , newt gingrich says this is the most

dangerous summit since adolf hitler. >> this week, it was written that gingrich has compare themselves to lincoln, margaret thatcher, ronald reagan, and for sheer perseverance, co-chairmen. >> his note and tivo. .tim tebowno >> let's look at the last debate before iowa. >> it is laughable to say someone who is a 30-year record of conservative as some is not a conservative. >> the evidence is speaker gingrich took $1.6 million. you do not need to be within the technical definition of being a lobbyist to the influence peddling. >> i know what it takes to get this economy going. qwikster you have a brief sense of the first in a debate >>

there you have a quick sense of the thursday night to break -- debate the debate. >> newt gingrich look a little hesitant. >> mitt romney did not have the target on his back. newt gingrich had a target. mitt romney benefited by that. the other benefit is that should he get the nomination, he will have a target on his back from barack obama. any time he has had that target, he has sort of choked and clutched. i think these debates are great for him. if it goes on for a while, it will be good for him because he has to get to the point where he can compete against the president of the united states, and not look at it like a rich guy. >> what about ron paul.

>> he defined himself as a libertarian. his position on foreign policy is so far beyond pillar of the republican party -- the isolationist strain that he is talking about, that just does not sell beyond the libertarians. the person who lays the profile it is michele bachmann. >> first of all, by avoiding the bullying tactic used last saturday night, and that is what mitt romney did, you say the yankees won the world series, do

you want to bet $10,000? the rich bully can do it. mitt romney avoided that. i thought michele bachmann did a formidable job on the influence peddling. i think newt gingrich hurt himself by playing defense, and defending freddie mac. give him credit for being honest about mortgages guaranteed by taxpayer dollars. i have to say, i was most impressed by ron paul. i thought he was energized and well-spoken last night. i what is the state that is a pacifist. it is democrats and republicans. >> could he be a dark horse? >> the last rasmussen poll, had

mitt romney at 23%, newt gingrich at 20%, and ron paul at 18%. >> i had one thing i wanted to set as the only woman on the panel. i thought michele bachmann did a really nice job of saying to gingrich, do not dismiss me. you are dismissing me. i thought she stood up for herself. >> to me, it sounded whiny parent -- whiny. >> i thought it appeal to women. >> it appealed to people. i thought it was a good job, too. >> there are so many debates.

which candidate does this schedule favor the most? >> it did favor mitt romney because he was the most battle- tested, and he hung in there. >> but the numbers now. >> i think the end of the day it served him. >> the governor of south carolina endorsed him this week. i did not think they carry a huge amount of weight. >> [unintelligible] she slipped badly in south carolina. >> you have to remember, no president since world war two has won reelection when the unemployment rate is 8% or higher. it is now at 8.6%. the housing situation is a mess. the european debt crisis --

>> the nbc poll showed president obama is defeating newt gingrich by better than 10 points, which shows the concern republicans have about gingrich. the president is favored if a generic republican is running against him. >> it all depends on europe. if it drags down our economy, it will defeat our -- it will defeat obama. >> new hampshire is what i want to watch. mitt romney had such a formidable lead, if he wins by a small mile >> there is a history of that. number two gets declared the winner.

>> it is not an election? >> your precinct caucus can meet in the firehouse, the school gymnasium. you go with neighbors, and as a democrat you have to make a case for who you are voting for. this has been an argument against the caucus. they inhabit someone. it put pressure. the secret ballot is gone. youou're working nights, cannot do it. he did not of transportation, and you cannot do it. -- if you do not have transportation, you cannot do it. he cast a ballot on the way in. it may give you the name. this is just the first step in the whole process. from the precinct, to the county, to the congressional district, -- by the time the delegates get each other, it will be june.

>> it is a complicated system. >> cookies and everything. >> not only that, you have to have numbers, then you qualify. republicans is really simple. the idea you have to have been a ground game, and complicated things would happen, it is metro when the republican side. [unintelligible] >> you have to get your own people. >> and then persuade them to come at a time-certain. >> mitt romney was not certain whether he would go all in in iowa. the question is, will he go all in this time and does he hold back? >> is there any chance rick perry can steal a march here? he had a pretty good debate.

he was better. >> he has some money. >> he is doing a huge job of a store of the state. -- auto bus tour of the state. in iowa, people are beginning to accept the notion that this might be the last of these things been so important because this has become such a nationalized primary in a way through the many debates, and you can see that somebody like mitt romney can come in at relatively the last moment. perhaps they could do very well, and win. if he wins, it is a very good deal for mitt romney. >> if you finish fourth, no one has ever survived by law. michael dukakis finished third in 1988, and one the democratic

nomination. george bush finessed second in 1988 and -- finished second in 1988 and went on to win the republican nomination. right now, candidates, two weeks before -- i think you have to say it is gingrich, ron paul, and mitt romney. >> suppose mitt romney comes in third, or even fourth, how bad does that hurt him? >> the national vote -- they pretend they do not paid attention to what happened in iowa, but they do. how does mitt romney respond? and does he take a punch? does he lashed out? does he said i am going to be a different candidate?

for 11 months he ran an incredibly disciplined, controlled campaign, then he lost the lead, and started to get more personal, more revealing about himself. which mitt romney will we see after i what? >> well, we will find out. the end of the iraq war. >> iraq is not a perfect place. it does many challenges ahead, but we are leaving behind a sovereign, stable, and self- reliant director >> i believe history will judge this president's leadership with scorn and distained that it deserves. >> senator john mccain, he also said it was clear that this decision was dictated by politics, and not in our national security interests. >> he does know how to carry a grudge. if charles were here, he would

say that the obama administration threw away -- that the bush administration would have negotiated to stay in. i do not think that is possible. it is clear this government in iraq was not going to allow american soldiers, they would be tried in iraq corps, -- courts, and it would've been the same. >> defense secretary leon panetta said" the cost was high in blood and treasure for the united states and the iraqi people. those lines were not lost in vain. they gave birth to an independent, free, and severn iraq." how independent? there was a lot of talk about the relationship with iran.

>> of this, they're going more influence with this government and the head with some of same. -- than they had with saddam hussein. the question of stability is one that has not been answered. over time, it will tell you what kind of regime has been left behind. america does not have broad support in the country. sectarianism could still rule. we are not leaving stable. >> there was an interview of the general of american forces in iraq, and he said we can expect violence in the future and does not think iraq security forces have much capability to defend

it as the internal threats. >> it is a mess, but as opposed to what? if we have not gone in -- he was a crazy, the little man, his sons were worse -- delusional man, his sons were worse. i think the united states were invested one way or the other to go into iraq. we lost a lot of men. the death totals, while terrible, are not by historic models all that big. i sound cold-blooded saying this. it was not a huge number. it was terrible for the people that lost their lives. >> 4500 killed, 34,000 wounded trillions of dollars spent. hard numbers.

>> said on hussein had iran in check. -- said dom hussein would have had -- saddam hussain had iran in check. >> eventually, those guys were going to march. >> the medicis went to war against a country that did not threaten us, but did not anything to do with 9/11, that did not have weapons of mass destruction, that was not capable of offering a mushroom cloud over the united states as the president alleged, and quite frankly it was an invasion and occupation of another country that in no way threatened the united states. as a consequence, we have 4500 americans who will never see their children grow up, never grow old. 100,000 iraqis as well. it was a bad war. i hope we are able to say good

warrior, a bad war. that is the only formulation you can make. >> will president obama be the grinch who stole christmas? >> i expect all of us to do what is necessary in order to do the people's business, and make sure that it is done before the 52 of the year. >> everyone needs to step back and take a deep breath. there is any easy way to untangle all of this. >> there you have the elected officials. it is a beautiful thing, merry christmas. >> merry christmas. the republicans do not want to be stuck with the idea that they opposed -- de make people pay more money. they are trying to figure out how to do this. they have loaded up this package with stuff the president does not want, including this gas pipeline. i do not understand if there is quite to be a christmas tree,

why confirmation of some of the office holders they want confirmed. if we have to except the pipeline, you have to except this. allowing us a vote on confirmation. >> it looks like congress has averted a government shutdown. >> nobody wants to have that on their hands. nobody wants to see the government shutdown. they ran that with a lot of cuts and trade-offs with the democrats. i think it will have to do the same thing with the payroll tax. they will have to find a way to make sure that the cuts go through, and do something about unemployment insurance. democrats will have to give a little something. >> about 9% of the american people think congress is doing a great job. >> i think it has sunk in how much the country needs congress. even congress knows how much

they're hated. >> someone about as smart as i know says two things move congress -- christmas and a crisis. what we are seeing right now is this, and happily so. i would add this, the payroll tax cut extension will be the opening for the republicans on privatization of social security. >> ok. we will see. last word. thank you. see you next week. ♪ >> for transcription of this br