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howard fineman, aol director for "huffington post" media group and msnbc analyst. thank you both for joining me tonight. >> hi, lawrence. >> i'm not sure if the world is ready for herman cain, but republican voters seem ready for herman cain. he didn't rocket all the way up to that now seems stratospheric 38% rick perry was at in this poll last time around. this is an amazing move for cain in this poll. >> it is an amazing move for herman cain, and i think it's very possible he could sustain it. he's been in the race, he got in pretty early. he's been pretty disciplined about his campaign. he's run a good campaign. he's a very sunny, optimistic guy. he's very confident. he's very bold. he's very assertive, as you've seen in the debates. he absolutely dominated the debate last night. i tell you, at least a third, maybe half of the debate was spent either talking about him or talking about his plan or he was defending his plan or describing his plan. it was all about herman cain. when the debate is all about you, then it's not a surprise when you wake up the next day

and the huffington post, howard fineman. first up, a year and a month from now we will either say yes to a new four-year term for president obama or turn the job over to either mitt romney or rick perry. that's now. what it looks like is the true choice. the latest polls are very tough for president obama. 55% of voters say they do not believe he will win. so if you're romney, on top in g.o.p. polls you might be very hopeful. but not so fast, mitt. consider these reasons why it still could be rick perry. first, perry's got more debates to come. his big drop came after debate mistakes. romney won three in a row and can't budge above 25%. what happens if perry has a good debate? also, perry's got cash to hang in there. he raised a hefty $17 million in just the first few weeks. and finally, so far, mitt romney is not drinking the tea. his refusal to join the tea party and lead them to perry and dan, that's my big question. it looks like it's still a big fight on that side. those two. >> i think it is a big fight. perry is wound

. >> joining me now is howard fineman, editorial director for the aol "huffington post" media group. thanks for joining me tonight. >> hi, lawrence. >> the obama campaign has to be sitting back and looking at those videos and saying, oh, boy, they're doing the job for us. >> i think their only concern is the republicans are just going to use up all their ammunition on each other and in a couple weeks, it's gotten so nasty in the last few days. yeah. i think the white house, i know that the democratic strategists and obama strategists around them are saying, you know, guys, on the republican side, you keep it up, we love the creativity and the edge of that perry ad. let's see more. let's see a lot of them on both sides. let's see more nasty comments from the romney spin doctor. let her rip. >> howard, it's interesting to watch those two, perry and romney, when you're considering what the ticket is going to look like. because with republicans, you can usually look at the top two or three and look at your whole ticket there somewhere. somewhere there's the presidential nominee and somew

and aol, "huffington post" analyst, howard fineman. thank you. you were chuckling as we were ramping back into the latest christie fever, christie indecision 2011 discussion. what's so funny? >> i was chuckling at the definitive politico report. >> the definitive maybe. >> the definitive maybe. here's what i know. i'm in john's town here. so i'm calling new york sources. he's seriously considering. a political consultant close to him, also by the way close to karl rove, and others who have been going around saying, i said this on the show last week, they're saying to professionals around the region and the country, if the governor were to decide to do this, would you be willing to go with him? either as fund-raisers or as professional staff people? that doesn't mean he's going to do it. the last word i had before i came on the air was one guy who worked for him at one point who said, look, if he's gone radio silent, that definitely means he's seriously considering it. that's all we can say at this point about his decision making process. >> john,

thanks, howard fineman. a lot of fun at the expense of the republicans. i don't think the president is worried tonight. josh marshall, thank you. >>> coming up, why the big winners i suggested of last night's republican debate may very well be the democratic nominee next summer which probably is going to be obama. you're watching "hardball," only on msnbc. >>> brand new nbc news, marist poll numbers out of south carolina and florida. let 'take a look. a look at scoreboard. there it is in south carolina, herman cain leads the republican field with 30 points. mitt romney is a close second at 26%. rick perry is way down at 9%. look, he has to win that one. similar story in florida where cain is neck and neck with romney, 32-31. the numbers that cain is posting are amazing. perry a distant third again. showing a pattern here. look at what happens in the general election matchups in florida. the president is leading romney by two points. that makes sense, 45-43 and the pres lesix points, 47-41. that makes sense. he's ahead of perry, 47-39, all seems to match u

the former rnc chair, and another expert, who's independent, and a great journalist, of course, howard finemaneditorial director for "huffington post." michael, i want you to start on the inside and the outside for howard. he has a notebook open for this. if you look at the fact that all of this is coming pretty quickly now. we're halfway through october. november, december, and then the game's up. he has to have a plan to win the iowa caucuses, probably win or do very well, do decently well in new hampshire, and perhaps have to win by south carolina, at least compete. tell me how you would take these bulbous poll numbers and apply that and get it going on the ground in iowa to start with? >> i think, first off, you've got to right now the cain k campaign is doing the holy crap, this thing is starting to gel for us. so there's a little bit of shell shock. but the reality for him is to get off the book tour and really get on the ground in at least one of those two states. because if he posts very well in like iowa or new hampshire, then he locks in that vote. and that's what the voters are sayi

howard fineman joins us. david corn joins us as well. and i have to ask you, gentleman, about this whole question. it looks like the tea party is raising money. not the tea party, the occupy wall street is raising money. i was about to say. $300,000. they're having huge rallies. the labor movement is joining up with them, especially the public employees sector, the teachers. i want to go with you, david corn, to start with. is this possibly the great marriage of the left and center-left you've been waiting for? >> well, we have been waiting for this for a long time. i think occupy wall street is kind of at a fork in the road. and their decision has to be made and there's no one single person and one single group that can make the decision, whether it's going to go to a more organized movement with targeted strategies and goals, and eventually, demands, or whether it will remain amorphous and voicing dissent and voicing anger and resentment and the like. and right now, it's unclear which way it's going to go. it's really up to the people

they're, howard fineman. they're sweet, their adorable. thank you, john heilemann as well. coming up, so with chris christie out of the picture, can republicans learn to love the one they're with? there he is, mr. excitement. i can't believe it, he's got his shirt sleeves rolled up. boy, is he wild. he's getting really wild. you're watching "hardball," only on msnbc. [ male announcer ] indulge all you want. now there's no need to hold back. ♪ new revolutionary scope with dualblast technology obliterates strong food odors and kills bad breath germs leaving your breath minty fresh. hey. sorry i'm late, baby. i bet you're starving. [ male announcer ] so there's no trace of evidence... hey, i thought i did the dishes. [ male announcer ] blast away strong food odors and bad breath germs with new scope dualblast. also, try crest complete extra white with scope dualblast. >>> voters are going to the polls today in west virginia for a special election for governor that has implications far beyond the mountain said. the acting governor in the race is democrat earl ray tomberlin. now

howard fineman is editorial director at "the huffington post" media group and msnbc political analystl for politico. thank you both, gentlemen. howard, it looked like it took some hand-wringing or arm twisting to get mccaskill, bill, nelson, joe manchin, jim webb. he did manage to get a lot of the ones. he got them to agree to at least vote to move it forward. >> well, i think that's important, chris, because i think the president, having talked to some of his aides over the last day. they saw tonight and today as a study in contrast. some up here in new hampshire where the republicans are debating and supposedly talking about the economy, while meanwhile down in washington all of the republicans voted against, or voted not to consider the president's jobs bill. and i think that's the contrast that the white house wanted to make. that's the point that the president wants to try to make out on the campaign trail, that he's not just dealing with a do-nothing congress but with a congress that doesn't want to -- you know, wants to stop everything. that's the message he's trying to put out

thank you, howard fineman, that was a reference. president obama heads south. states he thinks he can win. if he loses on the inside, he could still win if he picks up north carolina and virginia. i'm skeptical. he can win on the outside of the pumpkin if he loses the inside. you're watching "hardball," only on msnbc. halloween reference there. give . applications up. check my email and text messages. hands in position. airbags. ten of 'em. perfect. add blind spot monitor. 43 mpg, nice. dependability. yeah. activate dog. a bigger dog. [ male announcer ] introducing the reinvented 2012 toyota camry. it's ready. are you? ♪ i i've tried it.you? but nothing's helped me beat my back pain. then i tried this. it's salonpas. this is the relief i've been looking for. salonpas has 2 powerful pain fighting ingredients that work for up to 12 hours. and my pharmacist told me it's the only otc pain patch approved for sale using the same rigorous clinical testing that's required for prescription pain medications. proven. powerful. safe. salonpas. >>> check this out. since is

they're, howard fineman. they're sweet, their adorable. thank you, john heilemann as well. coming up, so with chris christie out of the picture, can republicans learn to love the one they're with? there he is, mr. excitement. i can't believe it, he's got his shirt sleeves rolled up. boy, is he wild. he's getting really wild. you're watching "hardball," only on msnbc. my washer had a foul odor that made the whole room stink. even my laundry started to get a funny smell. [ female announcer ] got a bad odor in your high-efficiency washer? clean it with tide washing machine cleaner. three uses will help remove odor-causing residues and leave your washer clean and fresh. to help maintain your h.e. washer, use tide washing machine cleaner once a month. and always wash with tide h.e. detergent, specially formulated for proper h.e. performance. tide washing machine cleaner. clean laundry starts with a clean washer. >>> voters are going to the polls today in west virginia for a special election for governor that has implications far beyond the mountain said. the acti ining governor

howard fineman, thank you as well. >> thank you. nick fineman. >> wake up, nick. coming up, best selling author deepak chopra will be here, also radio talk show host bill bennett and up next starbucks ceo howard schultz is here to reveal his company's latest initiative to help communities in need. you're watching "morning joe." brewed by starbucks. ♪♪ [ female announcer ] the road is not exactly a place of intelligence. highway maintenance is underfunded, costing drivers $67 billion a year, and countless tires. which drivers never actually check because they're busy, checking email. this is why we engineered a car that makes 2,000 decisions every second. the new audi a6 is here. the road is now an intelligent place. ♪ >>> welcome back to "morning joe." 24 past the hour. look at that pretty shot of the sun coming up over new york city. >> the upper west side. >> this morning starbucks is introducing a new community model in two neighborhoods, harlem and crenshaw, los angeles, where organizations will share in the profits of a store i

joining me now, howard fineman, editorial director of aol "huffington post" media group. ward, thanks for joining me tonight. >> sure, lawrence. >> howard, you -- when i read your title now, aol "huffington post" media group, it's a job that would not have existed were it not for steve jobs' creativity in his garage, thinking there's a market for this thing, this idea of mine, the home computer. that's where your work is now consumed. not just on home computers, but on computers people are holding in their hands, created again by steve jobs. the iphone. other smart phone, digital devices. this is -- i've been trying to place him, howard, in his position in american history, in our lives from alexander graham bell, thomas edison, forward, through the people who created things that changed our lives. >> well, you're absolutely right about the immediate business, lawrence, for one. when i joined "the huffington post," one of the first things i did when i visited our headquarters down in soho at the time was to meet with a group of developers. of course, they were all under th

the great howard fineman and massachusetts' own mike barnicle, who's covered and grown up with the kennedys over the years. gentleman, you're going to be asking me the questions about jack kennedy. howard, you start. >> okay, chris. let's play hardball. >> okay. >> i know that wasn't convincing. but the first thing that occurred to me was that there have been a lot of books written about jack kennedy. i, in fact, was inspired when i was a little kid to get into the business i'm in because of reading "making of the president" in 1960 about jack kennedy and that race. why now? why another book? why were you so interested in it? especially because in the past you had written one about kennedy and nixon. why now? >> i wanted to know if he was as good as we thought he was. back in the '60s before he was killed. i wanted to know if he was the genuine article. i had a lot of access to people through oral histories, person relationships, and documents, to go back and find out what he was like in high school, what he was like in the navy, what he was like in that early going politically. how he lear

howard fineman's an msnbc political analyst and "the huffington post" media group editorial director. and john heilemann is "new york" magazine's national political columnist. gentleman, too heavyweights. today's press conference, it's been noted, was a bit snippy. tough reporters, justifiably skeptical after these three years of obama, questioning what he's really up to. here's bill of cbs asking a great question today, about whether the president, president obama, is going to give them hell like harry truman. let's listen to some of that exchange. >> anybody on capitol hill will say that there's no chance that the american jobs act, in its current state, passes either house. and you've been out on the campaign trail, banging away at them saying, pass this bill. >> right. >> and it begins, sir, to look like you're campaigning and like you're following the harry truman model against the do-nothing congress. instead of negotiating. are you negotiating? will you? >> i am always open to negotiations. what is also true is they need to do something. if congress does something, then i can't

howard fineman's an msnbc political analyst and "the huffington post" media group editorial director.nd dana milbank is a columnist for "the washington post," who appears quite regularly and wondrously on page two. this afternoon, perry called the birther issue a distraction, but just last night in an interview with cnbc's john harwood, perry said it was a good issue to keep alive. let's watch this performance. >> it's a good issue to keep alive. just, you know, donald's got to have some fun, so -- and the issue is this. >> it sounds like you really do have some doubt about it? >> look, i haven't seen his -- i haven't seen his grades. my grades ended up on the front page of the newspaper, so let's, you know, if we're going to show stuff, let's show stuff. but look, that's all a distraction. i mean, i get it. i'm really not worried about the president's birth certificate. it's fun to poke at him a little bit and say, hey, how about -- let's see your grades and your birth certificate. >> you know, i use these words carefully. that's a clown's performance. he's running for president of t