>> jim vandehei! >> what is up? >> my gift to you.ing is to break down the republican race for 2016 with candidates in ten different categories, so let's start with the strongest candidate. who fits that description according to politico? >> one grading on a curve here given i don't think anybody is strong at this point. i think rand paul and scott walker would be the two strongest at this point in this field. we will get to christie in a bit and why he is not on that list. rand paul wants to run. he has got a good political timing. he keeps finding ways to stay in the news. scott walker, no doubt people like him. fund-raisers love him. probably wins re-election in wisconsin. he isfi'f getting hit this morn in milwaukee journal sentinel above the top story about a scandal involving his staff when he was county executive, head of the county executive in milwaukee. it doesn't look like there is anything there that would hurt him long term but like bridgegate, if there is more down the road and when you have that many e-mails it's always

jim vandehei, john meacham, gene robinson with us.derator from "meet the press" david gregory. in chicago senior adviser from institute of politics and msnbc contributor david axelrod all along with joe and me. >> you know -- >> yes. >> lets talk about jay leno for a second. there's a guy who had a lot of negative press through the years. the other late night comics loved punching that guy all the time, but he went out where he has been for 20 years now, on top, number one, the undisputed champ of late night television. he didn't always get the respect that, say, david letterman and others got. but man, if you want -- johnny carson believed because he was a central time zone guy as well as i think it was dick ebersol that said you win the ratings wars in the central time zone. and you know, that's where leno and carson and a lot of the great late night hosts won it, not in new york or l.a. but middle america. leno deserves respect. number one with a bullet for years. >> looked like a great show last night. we've got a great group this