thanks for being here tonight. >> hey, al, thanks for inviting me. >> willard romney, tea party, do you> that's the laugh of the day. you know, in the conservative movement, a lot of times we refer to mitt romney as mit for brains. but, no, he's not a part of the tea party. he has turned up his nose at us on more times than i can count and now the only time he shows any interest in the tea party movement is when we need the votes. we were born in the dark, but it wasn't last night. >> well, he's come out for the paul ryan budget plan, he's come out and demonized poor children, he's come out and said a lot of things that you guys agree with. is it too little, too late, is it that you believe he's disingenuous? what do you say? >> nobody believes a woshd that mitt romney says. he has taken at least two positions on everything that he's ever stood for, maybe more than that. 1994 he was a liberal. more liberal than ted kennedy. in 2002, he's a liberal. he's a progressive, and now suddenly he wants to claim that he's a conservative and newt gingrich is not? i don't think so. newt gingrich ha

willard romney was the front-runner. five polls although gingrich ahead of romney and gingrich is getting cocky. >> i'm going to be the nominee. that's very hard to not look at the recent polls and think that the odds are very high that i'm going to be the nominee. >> romney is feeling the heat. today he went on the attack. >> to win the election, you've got to earn it. you've got to get out and win it. newt has had a very extensive long record of working in washington with various governmental and nongovernmental agencies. and i just don't think that's the background that is ideally one to lead the country. >> willard can lash out all he wants but more bad news is heading his way. herman cain says he will make a major announcement about the future of his campaign tomorrow. >> i am reassessing because of all of the media firestorm stuff. why? because my wife and family comes first. >> if cain drops out, it could be real bad for willard. cain is still pushing at 8 or 9%. now those voters might have to go somewhere else. j

>>> and did you know willard mitt romney makes as much as $13 million a year for a job he doesn't even have anymore? hey, i'll vote for him if everyone can get that deal. >>> and forget flavor of the month, republicans are about to have a ron paul moment. are they ready for it? >> i think gold is a good insurance policy and i personally buy my gold to protect my family. i'm for seat belts but i'm against seat belt laws. i don't think we need a department of education. >> welcome to "politics nation." i'm al sharpton. looks like a christmas miracle, republicans actually backing a plan to help the middle class. but not so fast, folks. the tea party's holding the conversation hostage once again. later tonight, house republicans are expected to vote down a bill that would keep money in the pockets of 160 million americans. and extend unemployment benefits for all those struggling to find work in this country. this was supposed to be easy. in fact, 89 members of the senate voted in favor of it, including 39 republicans. this weekend, speaker boehner even called it, quote, a good deal. and,

from the iowa caucus and the brand new nbc/"wall street journal" poll released minutes ago shows willard romneynner newt gingrich. newt has a commanding 24-point lead, but even though newt's the clear front-runner, republicans don't love him. more than half the republicans say the candidates are average. they are not crazy about any one of these guys. how is this all going to shake out, and what does it mean for the president's re-election? joining me is bob shrum, democratic strategist and professor at nyu. today he's writing about newt's staying power, and mark mckinnon, co-founder of no labels and former advisor to george w. bush and john mccain. he's released a new reform plan for congress today. we'll talk about that in a little while. thanks to both of you for being here tonight. >> glad to be here, reverend. >> bob, there's some good news for president obama in these polls in head-to-head races. he's beating both newt gingrich and mitt romney. >> bob? >> yes. >> your reaction. >> look, i don't think you can take a head-to-head number for the president right now and when he's two points a

willard mitt romney wants voters to think he's just an everyday joe. 's got no idea how joe makes ends meet. here's willard's idea of a friendly wager. >> rick, i'll tell you what. 10,000 bucks? $10,000 bet? >> i'm not in the betting business, but i'll -- >> oh, okay. >> $10,000, willard, your 1% is showing again. 10,000 grand may be betting money to you. but to the average iowan, it's just not chump change. it's about two months' salary in iowa where the average household income is $50,000. it's also enough to cover the $7,500 tuition at iowa state university. the average iowan could use that $10,000 to pay the rent for at least a year. willard, you're hopelessly out of touch. but the other gop frontrunner isn't any better. newt ran up $500,000 tab at tiffany and bragged about how much he charges per speech. >> i did no lobbying of any kind, period, for a practical reason -- i'm going to be really direct, okay? i was charging $60,000 a speech. >> what newt and willard don't seem to get is that millions of americans, democrats and republicans, are hurti

a brand new national poll has newt commanding 15-point lead over willard romney. otal we've seen in this race. take a look at this. you can see newt's yellow line surge from october and romney, the red line, is stuck in the same place, and in key states it's the same story. newt is beating willard in iowa, and he's crushing him in south carolina by 16 points, but the most striking number is this one. 82%, 82% of tea party supporters say newt's an acceptable pick. folks, this is starting to feel like something powerful. we've seen them rise. we've seen them fall, but this one feels different. joining me now msnbc contributor maria theresa kumar, executive director of vote total latino and bob slump, msnbc analyst and a professor. bob, is newt for real? >> he sure is and for several reasons. first of all, the longer romney campaigns, he's stuck in the same place in terms of the number that's voting for him, his likability and favorables and unfavorables go down. in iowa in one of the polls, he's basically got a one for one favorable, unfavorable. newt has a 3 for 1.

willard romney might put on the ticket if he's the nominee?e it's going to be a southern senator who is strong in the evangelical bloc voting group. the biggest problem mitt romney's going to have is the south with that evangelical. that's the 800-pound gorilla in the room in a nobody wants to talk about. they really have problems with him, and i'll say it, being a mormon. and turning out that base. i think it will be a southern senator. who? honestly i don't know. pick one, but it's got to be somebody from the south who is well-liked with evangelicals. >> all right. let me do this last round real fast. our last prediction, the big one -- who will win the election? my producers tell me all our panelists are on the same page with this one. maria? >> i think it will be barack obama, but he has a lot of homework to do. one, eric holder has to continue to go after states with voter i.d. laws. that's the true voter fraud, but also president obama has to take his message local. he has to dominate locally in the states, talking about the issues that

romney. i mean, everybody poll gets worser and worser, as we say, for the willard. now whered bottom is. he keeps dropping. >> right. he keeps dropping. here'sed one silver lining that there is no mitt romney. newt gingrich is trying to build the plane as he's flying it the operation is nearly not where it should be, as compared to mitt romney's. so i think what the romney folks are hoping for is that, because newt gingrich doesn't have the campaign apparatus that he needs, he'll stumble. that's why you're seeing these attacks from mitt romney and surrogates, i think it was jim talon today and john sununu, going after substance and policy, but talking about his character, his leadership abilities, the chaos that engulfed the capitol when he was the speaker. they're hoping to bring that mean down. michele bachmann has officially said she's not not going to -- mr. trump only has mr. gingrich and mr. san storm. is this the uncrowning of the donald? he can't get everybody to the debate clearly because of him. does this take away a lot of perceived influence? >> sure. to

>>> it's day two of willard romney's attempt to knock down newt gingrich. but team willard is going nasty. this ad is about to hit iowa. >> newt has a ton of baggage, like the fact that gingrich was fined $300,000 for ethics violations or that he took at least $1.6 million from freddie mac before it caused the economic meltdown. then there's the $37 million from health care and industry groups. and on the issues, newt's been on all sides msnbc contributor maria, the executive director of latino. >> hi, al. >> thank you both for being here. >> peter, can newt handle the heat? >> i think you remember it, it wasn't a game of t-ball. he's used to the run and tumble. probably could punch harder than romney. he's not doing any of these attacks himself. he's got his surrogates out there. you could even say no in person to donald trump. he had to say it was a scheduling problem. so until romney defines himself and does the dirty work for himself, people are going to question whether he has the spine to go up against the president. >> now, maria, newt reiterated in a

. >>> a brand-new poll out of iowa has willard mitt romney back at the top of the pack. nd he's kicking newton leroy gingrich to the curb. look who is number three? santorum. it's a complete reversal of fortune. willard has risen five percentage points since early december, while knute plummeted 19 points in less than four weeks, and rick santorum is soaring up 11 points. >> whether they got down to the time to seriously look at the candidates, they saw we had the right message, the bold plans, the consistent track record. >> rick santorum, direct message, rick santorum who worried president obama might go to indonesia and bow to muslims, who called elder education programs a government plot to indoctrinate your children, this is the new gop flavor of the month. the republicans have gone extreme and they're not turning back. >>> joining me now, anybody elsç news political analyst ed rendell, former dnc chairman and pennsylvania governor, and live from des moines, iowa, where she's cover the race, erin mcpike from real clear pot tick. thank you both for joining me. >> my p

a funny thing happened to willard mid romney in the final countdown before the iowa caucuses. is back. until now, willard's been the focus of attack in almost all of the dozen gop debates, but in sioux city, iowa, romney's republican rivals went after the front-runner, newt gingrich. >> speaker gingrich took $1.6 million. the bidding was to keep this grandiose scam of freddie mac going. >> speaker had a conservative revolution against him when he was the speaker of the house. >> it's very, very dangerous. some people says if it goes to extreme, it becomes fascism, because big business and big gov get together. >> willard couldn't land a punch, but his super pac is doing all kinds of dirty work for him. >> newt has a ton of baggage. he was fined $300,000 for ethics violation, before it helped cause the economic meltdown. newt supports amnesty, and teamed with nancy pelosi and al gore on global warming. >> newt continuing to remain positive, but how many punches can he take before cracking? >> joining me is nia malika henderson, a national reporter for "the washington post," who

a new nbc poll has newt leading willard, romney, in iowa by eight points. her has newt trouncing willard in iowa by nine points. newt is the frontrunner. and like all the frontrunners before him, he paid a visit to the king-maker today. right here in new york city, today, the latest candidate to praise the birther king, donald trump, as a true american icon. >> this is a country which elected a peanut faermer to the presidency, an actor who made two movies with a chimpanzee to the presidency. donald trump is a great showman and also a great businessman. >> trump is back in the spotlight moderating a gop debate this morning. but has created a serious family feud within the party. >> what the heck are the republican candidates doing showing up at a debate with a guy who says, i may run for president next year as an din. the chairman ought to say, we strongly discourage any candidate to be involved in a debate like that. >> karl rove gave us george bush and george bush crashed and burned. the republicans, they have to get rid of the karl roves and they need fre

balls that belong to one willard mitt romney, who is facing a bit of an uphill battle in his race to be the republican nominee. by "uphill battle" i mean nobody seems the want to vote for him, so he's decided on a ballsy new tact. >> he's going after gingrich, questioning his conservative yes den,s. >> jon: romney is questioning gingrich's conservative credentials. barbara? >> what? >> jon: this is what romney, the former not-pro-life, pro-gay governor of massachusetts says about newt gingrich's consistency of thought. >> the number of times he has moved from one spot to another has been remarkable. i think he has shown a level of unreliability as a conservative leader today. >> jon: you're talking about you. that's the kind of sack that santa would look at and go, we're going to need a bigger sled. by the way, romney wasn't just saying gingrich was inconsistent, he was specifically saying gingrich wasn't conservative enough. romney, how would you describe a not idealogically pure enough conservative, and can you frame it as a positive in 2002? >> i think people recognize that i'm no

the fight between newton leroy gingrich and willard mitt romney is hotter than ever. lard was on this network slamming newt. >> i know the speak would like to say, look, we shouldn't have any negativity, but look, if you can't handle the heat in this little kitchen, the heat that will come from obama's hell's kitchen will be a heck of a lot hotter. we have to show as a party and as a candidate we can stand up to the barrage that will come from the obama world. >> whew, can't handle the heat? wow. newt is finally ready for a fight. >> he wants to take it out of kitchen. we'll bring in his ads, and he can defend them, and we'll bring "the washington post" indication that his ad is fill with lies. would he like to play in the kitchen? i don't think so. i don't think he want to do anything except hide over here and pretend that it's not his fault he's flooding the people of iowa with falsehoods. i can take the heat plenty well. >>> it looked like the republicans will need a 12th commandment -- don't leave a bruise when you slam the competition. >>> joining me is bob shrum,

willard and iowa voters have been avoiding each other for years. how did this happen? >> romneynthusiasm is the wrong work. he's not winning because people are enthusiastic. he's gaining ground because he's run a cold, efficient mechanistic campaign that i think will get a nomination without inspiration. the real problem is republicans have is who else do they got? gingrich has serious flaws, and rom any, or willard as you like to call him may be the luckiest paul in the world. he could leave with ron paul and/or rick santorum as serious rivals. paul is ahn unthinkable nominees that would shatter the money and i don't think santorum has the money or the organization to keep this going. at best he'll be a mi mini-huckabee. >> jonathan, when you hear bob shrum say that mr. paul is an unthinkable candidate, then why are all the gop rivals to romney piling on paul? andç could it be that paul, having a good organization on the ground, having some true believers, and the fact that even independents can walk up to a caucus and register republican right that night and go in and vote, c

. >>> you can say a lot of things about willard mitt romney, and i sure have. he's a flip-flopper. le. but you've got to give willard credit. there's one thing he's got at doing. that's making money. the problem for him is coming back to haunt him. here's the infamous picture of willard during his time at private equity firm bain capital. this week we're learning his 'still making millions. under his retirement deal, he got up to $13 million from bain in the last year alone. but willard does not want us to know it. >> i can tell you we follow the tax laws, and if there's an student to save taxes, we, like anybody else in this country, will follow the opportunity, but we don't have any current plans to release tax returns. but never say never. >> meanwhile, the associated press has uncovered more details about some of the jobs bain cut in the '90s. under bain's control, a photo album company opened and closed a south carolina factory where 150 people were laid off, but bain made $22 million from the company. great deal for willard. not so great for the 150 people who lost their jobs.

romney willard.n you compare him to pee-wee herman, but he is a little awkward. there are some things that does caught people to kind of look. and politico has dug up footage for him campaigning for senate in 1994. he was just as awkward 17 years ago. look at this. how are you, ma'am? >> i don't vote. >> tell me, why don't you vote? >> i've never voted. >> never voted? >> no, because if you want to know why, i don't believe anybody that's a politician. >> well, you should know one thing. i have never run for office before. that's why i finally decided to do it. good to see you. >> yeah. >> don't run away. i know, you haven't got your makeup on right? good to see you. >> just a worker. how's business? >> struggling. >> i'm mitt romney. good to meet you. >> you notice how even 17 years ago he doesn't seem to connect. he kind of like walks up to people that walk the otherç wa. there never seems to be a connection with him and people. that is the same awkwardness that people are kind of sensing today, a

and so he has surged past willard m. romney in the polls, leaving romney a desperate shell of his former self. mitt romney, the man with the longest winning streak in the history of presidential debates on saturday night was reduced to this. >> i read your first book and it said in there that your mandate in massachusetts should be the model for the country. i know it came out of the reprint of the book, but you can, i'm just saying, you were for individual mandates, my friend. >> you know what? you've raised that before, rick. >> it was true then. it's true now. >> i'll tell you what. $10,000. a 10,000 bet? >> i'm be in the betting business. >> okay. >> do you know who else is not supposed to be in the betting business? devout mormon mitt romney. in the gospel topics section of the official website of the mormon church, the faithful are taught about gambling. the church of jesus christ of latter day saints is opposed to gambling, including lotteries sponsored by governments. gambling is motivated by a desire to get something f

willard mitt romney, who appears to be feeling mighty confident about his chances in iowa, a state he'dginally all but written off as lost.ç today the romney campaign announced plans for a four-day marathon bus tour across the hawkeye state in the final days before the caucuses. the weird thing is romney doesn't appear to be planning to get off the bus much. he has only ten stops planned in four full days of driving. some 770 miles. on wednesday morning, the day after the caucuses, romney is planning to still be in des moines so he can be available for morning show interviews, which is exactly the kind of thing you put on your schedule when you are feeling are about your chances the night before. joining us now from java joe's coffee house in des moines, msnbc contributor and slate.com political reporter dave weigel. he's been spending time with all the political campaigns in iowa. dave, how are you doing? >> very good. good to see you. >> good to see you too. so from your on the ground reporting today, covering the various campaigns, what is your sense of the state of the race? >> i t

romney. newt gingrich has a lot in common with willard, including how they get campaign cash.newt is tonight. stay with us. >>> president obama has the republican party in a pretzel over payroll tax fight. the american public wants to raise taxes on millionaires. a whopping 64% is for that. but the republican party is determined to protect the rich and raise taxes on everyone else. that's right, i said raising taxes. the fight now is over the payroll tax cut. it puts an average of $1500 in the pockets of the middle class. but if there's no deal, middle-class families will see an average increase of $1,000 in their taxes. and the democrats are talking tough today. >> i have a simple message for my republican colleagues. we will make sure we pass this tax cut for middle class before the end of this year. we're not going to leave town understanding it's completed. and i say to my republican colleagues, we can do it the easy way or we can do it the hard way. >> the president made it clear in our meeting this morning, he is committed to this payroll tax cut. we're staying in washin

if they would really read up on willard mitt romney and his dad, they would find that this man is a great man. and he does speak the truth. host: all right. thanks. caller: wait a minute. i need to make another point. you give a lot of people a lot of time. host: ok. finish up. caller: finish up i said. i'll give one instance about barack obama, how dishonest he is in his presidency. i'd like for everybody to go back to 2009, when his first appointment was the green jobs, and his right-hand gal, ms. valerie garrett. there's a video on where she's saying, talking to a group of people, saying -- she's smiling. she said, and here's a guy that we have really wanted to get for a long time. so no doubt that they vetted van jones. ok? he was a devout communist and spent time in prison and was a radical. host: all right, horatio. going to let you go now. you've had plenty of time. wanted to mention that while mitt romney is not in iowa today, his wife ann romney will be meeting with voters. that is one of our live events today 1:15 eastern time. she's going to meet with voters in ottumwa, iowa. w