. >> most people only remember one thing about the vice presidential debate, when senator lloyd bensonquayle compared his experience to j.f.k. >> senator, you are no jack kennedy. >> john: years later, al gore walked up to bush. >> al gore tries to be the bully. you ren the moment. bush doesn't say anything. he smiles and goes on. >> i believe i can. >> that was it. it absolutely devastated him. >> you watch him go. >> we revert to junior high mentality. when the team scores. what most people don't know. bush had been prepared. gregg who had played the role in the debate, be prepared he is going to come into your face. we dismissed it but sure enough it happened. >> john: which raises the question, how do they prepare? the these two debate coaches showed me. o'donnell coached michele bachmann. they try on replicate moments. >> you have them stand in front of podium. >> you want strong. look at colin powell he commands the podium. it's like this. >> it's about making sure that you fill the stage more than your opponent does. >> they practice debating. john kerry's played romney. rob por

the model he could look to where dan quayle and lloyd benson went at each other and i thought lloyd bensondled that masterfully. and he overcomp states for the president's performance the other night and somehow loses himself. and loses that person in the clip you just showed. >> jennifer: and how about you duf? >> i think being too wonkish getting too much into the numbers. the issue that paul ryan would take, and mitt romney would take. i was surprised they didn't have that resolved by the time they were running. >> jennifer: i agree with you. any time you get a new ticket that will be the new problem. >> but the potential gaffes of biden i think is a real concern. >> jennifer: i hope there is an opportunity for him to respond to that. i have a clip of joe biden in 2008 responding to this issue. >> you're very kind suggesting my only achilles heel is my lack of discipline. others talk about my excessive passion. i'm not going change. i have 35 years in public office, i haven't changed in that time. >> jennifer: come on, you have to love that guy. >> we do love him, and we love that he is

text sr2 for lloyd benson to dan quail in 1988. he use jack kennedy and you're no jack kennedy.. size in 2000. sr4. gerald ford's answer in 1976 there was no soviet domination of eastern europe. results a little later. next up, the latest on the libya investigation. [ male announcer ] there are only so many foods that make kids happy. and even fewer that make moms happy too. with wholesome noodles and bite sized chicken, nothing brings you together like chicken noodle soup from campbell's. it's amazing what soup can do. stop! stop! stop! come back here! humans -- we are beautifully imperfect creatures living in an imperfect world. that's why liberty mutual insurance has your back with great ideas like our optional better car replacement. if your car is totaled, we give you the money to buy one a model year newer. call... and ask one of our insurance experts about it today. hello?! we believe our customers do their best out there in the world, and we do everything we can to be there for them when they need us. [car alarm blaring] call now and also ask about our 24/7 support and s

when he did the i have more experience than jack kennedy when he was running for president and lloyd bensonou're no jack kennedy. >> right. as the story goes, quale was warned not to make that comparison in his debate prep but for some reason it just stuck in his head as an effective tool but it blew up on him. >> and the funny thing is though, tamron, i talked to quale a couple of days ago. he said, i still benefitted the republican ticket in 1988 and in 1992 because i did what vice presidential candidates need to do in debatsz, not focus on the guy across the hall for me. yes, benson got a good line off on me, i focused on michael dukakis, bill clinton in 1992, and i think you can expect that paul ryan is going to do the same thing. >> john harwood, a big night. thank you so much for your time. i'll see you soon, john. that does it for this edition of "news nation." i'm tamron hall. stay with msnbc tonight with special primetime coverage of the vice presidential debate at 8:00 p.m. eastern. "the cycle" is up next. that ma. with wholesome noodles and bite sized chicken, nothing brings you

. >> reporter: and lloyd benson's swipe at dan quayle. >> i served with jack kennedy. i knew jack kennedy. jack kennedy because friend of mine. senator, you're no jack kennedy. >> reporter: then there are other moments that seem to say more, like george w. bush looking at his watch. >> tell you what, 10,000 bet. >> reporter: and obama's comment to then-rival hillary clinton. >> you're likeable enough. >> reporter: one thing they do agree on. the debate maybe romney's big chance. >> it's hard to be likeable when you're -- >> you've got to know obama really well. there's not a lot of room left on his canvas to paint. mitt romney, he's still got a little white space on his canvas. >> reporter: the president will be spending the first part of the week in nevada. in the meantime, romney will be campaigning in colorado, also a swing state, and playing to the role for him will be ohio senator rob portman. in the newsroom, i'm grace lee, cbs 5. >> and, of course, cbs 5 will have special live coverage of the presidential debate beginning at 6 p.m. on wednesday. >>> constant thu

the other, of course, dan quayle, new to the scene, and he -- lloyd benson, who wasn't known for the n he mentioned john f. kennedy and benson took this sort of huge indig nant exception to it and said, you know, i knew jack kennedy, and you're no jack kennedy, and it became this famous sort of slice down. it was kind of the end of the debate. you look at when walter mondale was debating, and there was this age issue about reagan and whether he was -- you know, whether he was getting too old, et cetera, and he joked about it. it was after a bad debate, actually, and he joked about it and said i'm not going to make my opponents relative youth an issue here. there are things that can happen, and the dynamic really is the senior statesman and the new young upstart as you go in the joe biden and paul ryan. i think it will be fascinating to watch not just for what they say. there's a ryan plan on capitol hill that we'll hear about, and i think it's not just that. there's, what, 30 years between them. >> ryan certainly isn't shy about speaking his mind either. he could get pretty feisty. >>

for example, lloyd benson did well, you'll remember, lloyd benson in '88 against dan quayle, but benson'set lost. >> i knew jack kennedy. jack kennedy was a friend of mine, yes. okay, new pew poll out today shows mitt romney with a four-point lead over president obama among likely voters, but of course, everyone is watching polls from the key battleground states -- ohio, florida, michigan, to some extent now. is there any indication, or do you see any trends looking at the national numbers that tell you, do they influence voters in swing states? do they give us an indication of how voting might go in swing states? >> oh, absolutely, on the latter, an indication. one of the reasons we at gallup focus a lot on the national numbers is because the same tide that will sweep voters nationally usually will move voters in the swing states. it's very rare that the national numbers don't reflect what's in the swing states or the electoral college. 200020 being the most recent exception. so yes, if we're seeing romney doing better nationally, there's no doubt we will see him, as we have in some poll

. >> most people only remember one thing about the 1998 vice presidential debate, what senator lloyd bensonaid when dan quayle compared his experience to jfk's. >> senator, you're no jack kennedy. >> here's later in debate, al gore walked up to bush. >> al gore tries to come over and be the bully and get in his face. bush doesn't say anything. just looks at him, smiles, gives him the head wink, and goes on. >> i believe i can. >> that was it. it just -- you know, it just absolutely devastated gore. >> you watch him go. >> yeah. we all revert to our junior high mentality, you know, when our team scored. yeah, you know! >> most people don't know is that bush had been prepared. >> jud gregg, who had played the role of al gore in the debate prep, had seen him pull this trick. he said to bush, be prepared, he's going to come and get in your face. we all dismissed at the time, but sure enough it happened. >> which raises the question how do candidates prepared? these two debate coaches showed me. they prepped president bush for debate. o'donnell later coached mitt romney and michele bachmann. the

he was one of the questioners when lloyd benson gave the fame you're no jack kennedy and everybody thought there was a big boost. we never saw a president dukakis. >> that's for sure. chris, always great to see you and have your insight and experience. thanks. >> thank you, eric. >> chris's interview with kelly ayotte and martin o'malley on "fox news sunday" some debate tips. boy, does somebody need that. debate coach brett o'donnell will give his insight. >>> there's a very rare form of meningitis claiming more lives and it spreads the country. we'll tell you if you're at risk and what you need to do right now to protect yourself. "sunday house call" coming up. it's hard to see opportunity in today's challenging environment. unless you have the right perspective. bny mellon wealth management has the vision and experience to look beyond the obvious. we'll uncover opportunities, find hidden risk, and make success a reality. bny mellon wealth management >>> groovy music and great topics is what we have today on "sunday house call." joining us, dr. david smatty, chief of robotics at the mount

into a buzz saw against a more experienced opponent the way dan quayle walked into this line from lloyd bensoni have as much experience in the congress as jack kennedy did when he sought the presidency. i will be prepared to deal with the people in the bush administration if that unfortunate event would ever occur. >> senator bentsen. >> senator, i served with jack kennedy, i knew jack kennedy, jack kennedy was a friend of mine. senator, you're no jack kennedy. >> now here's an object lesson for joe biden in a positive sense. eight years ago, dick cheney sat down against john edwards and he helped george w. bush stop the bleeding from bush's poor debate against john kerry. here's how that went. >> your hometown newspaper has taken to calling you senator gone. you've got one of the worst attendance records in the united states senate. the first time i ever met you was when you walked on the stage tonight. >> that was a complete distortion of my record. i know that won't come as a shock. it's amazing to hear him criticize my record or john kerry's. >> 30 seconds. >> i think his record speaks for

. >> reporter: there was lloyd benson's zinger against dan quayle. >> senator, you're no jack kennedy. >> reporter: and this from ross perot's running mate. >> who am i? why am i here? >> reporter: questions unlikely to surface thursday night, at least by these two. ron mott, nbc news, st. petersburg, florida. >>> and a reminder, we'll have live nbc news coverage of every moment of thursday night's debate, including our correspondents and analysis. that's thursday night here on this nbc station, 9:00 eastern, 6:00 pacific time. >>> in pennsylvania, this was sentencing day for jerry sandusky. convicted earlier this year of 45 counts of child sexual abuse. tonight a judge has sent him to prison for what will most likely be the rest of his life. but not before the former penn state assistant coach had his say in court. nbc's john yang has our report from the courthouse. >> reporter: jerry sandusky said nothing as he arrived in a red prisoner's jumpsuit over a bulletproof vest, looking thinner after 112 days in jail. inside, he sat passively, as three of his victims told the court of the

lloyd benson cleaned up the room, one of the great lines in the history of debates and it didn't move the needle one iota. i don't think vice presidential debates will be fun to watch or great for us in the press, i don't think it matters. >> rose: go ahead. >> i was going to say there are a couple sort of issues where there could have been more illumination in terms of flushing thing out on the healthcare debate where mitt romney for the first time as you pointed out talked about he would cover all people with preexisting conditions. anybody that's covered the debate about healthcare. in order to cover people with preexisting conditions and mandate that, the only way you can do that is mandate that more people have insurance with an individual and employer mandate. that's the whole crux of healthcare is in order to cover, to pay for certain things you've got to broaden the base and include more people. that is the crux of the argument. that's an argument that in politics you want people to make that argument. they have a strong debate about both sides of that why it's a good thing an

senator lloyd benson was 25 years old than eventual vice president dan quayle when the two of them gotogether in that famous debate of 1988. >>> all right. enough of the real news. let's huddle up around the water cooler to watch "the daily show" analyze the fixation with political polls we're all to blame. >> how the hell are the polls so useless yet accurate and quotable? i think we all know what we need. in other words! >> so when you see obama gaining in today's poll that, means obama's interviews yesterday were even better than those from seven days ago which were conducted before the debate. >> he went from three ahead in the seven day track yesterday to five ahead in their track today. >> the next round of swing state polls from nbc shows the swing states tied. then democrats really will be appropriate for them to panic. >> all right. those are our guys. good men all. the one poll you want to focus on though, he cuts to the core of all this is the 7-eleven poll. let him explain. >> folks, this race is as tight as mitt's smile when he meets a poor person. unfortunately, unfortuna

>> maybe in 1988, but i think we're fine now, referring to lloyd benson. a great night for us, paul was solid, a command of the issues and quite frankly, i was embarrassed for the vice president. the laughs, 82 times that joe biden interrupted paul ryan. >> paul ryan was interrupting too. >> i don't know who his debate partner was, maybe it was ed schultz from msnbc, not sure. >> at one point, the moderator asked congressman ryan to offer specifics, where are loopholes going to be cut back to pay for the romney/ryan tax cut plan. >> the congressman has provided boat loads of specifics, look at tax policies, the ryan plan, the five-point plan, 59-point plan, the fact of the matter, we have specifics coming out of our ears, and joe biden and barack obama and the democrats have not passed the budget. they haven't passed a budget in over three years. no ground to stand on in this country in this debate. no ground for president of the united states of america to be lecturing anybody about budgeting. they failed in their duty to this country. >> one thing you sa

thing back to 1988 michael dukakis had a bad first debate and lloyd benson mopped the floor with danuayle and we know how that race turned out. it is a 1-1 kind of tie for obama now. but it is going to change the outcome of the election, i would be very surprised. >> jennifer: all right. let's look at act 3. what is the most important thing the president needs to do. >> i would like to see him say a joke or something about his previous performance. i would like him to reassure people that he wants to be there. and again your message out there, see it as an opportunity not an obstacle. >> jennifer: if you had to advise him how aggressive need had to be what would you say? >> he has to really think about what people in the audience are asking them. think of that audience as a surrogate for the entire american electorate. and really make that connection in a personal way. >> jennifer: who do you think performs better in the townhall setting at the next debate? >> probably obama but not by much. and i don't think it's obama's particularly favorite thing, it's just that romney is awkward

dick cheney over edwards, and lloyd benson over dan quayle.den clearly had home court advantage. he was in command. had facts and stories. you want to talk about reagan and tip o'neill, i was there. >> bill: yeah, and he said martha, look i wanted to straighten you out too. i was in the oval office with the joint chiefs when they said this is what they wanted. i was there with the joint chiefs when they said that. >> absolutely. i this -- there were a couple of women i talked to last night who thought he was maybe a little rough with her at that moment. but he was commanded and authoritative, and it's hard to come back from that. if i don't know want to disagree with them, disagree with the joint chiefs of staff. >> bill: and as he said on more than one occasion facts matter. >> and we looked the camera in the eye and said who are you going to trust? >> bill: actually i think it was who do you believe? [ laughter ] >> bill: peter the other thing he brought up which the president did not to our astonishment. he really lays out the impact of rom

. >> he doesn't quite have the same gravity of a guy like lloyd benson. >> thank you for joining me tonighttt romney wants to try to balance the budget by getting rid of big bid. which will save 1, 100th of 1% of the federal budget. and next it is easy to have a gutt reaction about who won the debate. but being right about that, that is not so easy. that is next. >>> the media covers presidential debates as if they are sporting events and that is a big, big mistake. it makes pundits believe it is easy to tell who wins debates. what mitt romney did not win last night is next in the rewrite. wooohooo....hahaahahaha! oh...there you go. wooohooo....hahaahahaha! i'm gonna stand up to her! no you're not. i know. you know ronny folks who save hundreds of dollars switching to geico sure are happy. how happy are they jimmy? happier than a witch in a broom factory. get happy. get geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more. ♪ [ male announcer ] this is karen and jeremiah. they don't know it yet, but they're gonna fall in love, get married, have a couple of kids, [ children laughing

if you remember began quail had a bad performance against lloyd benson. dukakis won big. dick cheney abodid a nice job against edwards. for the most part people vote for the top of the ticket. in this case maybe vice president biden can change the conversation which would be a win for obama if he could do that. >> who has more to lose going into this tonight? oo evening paul ryan does even though he is inexperienced. it is a huge opportunity to introduce himself. he needs to hold his own. he needs to be seen as somebody who can step in for romney. there's a bit of a stature gap he needs to close that. >> that could also work in his favor as we saw when dick cheney and john edwards were together. let's take a look at a clip of that from viewers remind you have that. >> first time i ever met you was when you walked on the stage tonight. >> that gave a real distance between the two. you saw the generational gap there but also a gap in experience in a way. >> it was a bright move by dick cheney saying you are a new comer nobody knows who you are. vice president biden is sayin

and there is lloyd benson's dig in 1988. >> i knew jack kennedy. jack kennedy was a friend of mine.k kennedy. >> memorable moments, but hardly game changers. while presidential debates can affect the outcome of an election, vice presidential debates like this upcoming match-up between biden and his gop challenger, paul ryan, are a different animal. >> can you see they have hit the standard of readiness, they will be ready to be able to step into the oval office and take the reigns of the presidency. but beyond that in terms of the actual debate itself, unless there's a star-killing or star-catching moment, it rarely changes the course of the debate. >> brazil says the first rule here is to do no harm. >> in terms of substance, don't break any new ground. this is not an addition for 2016, but it's about 2012 and the top of the ticket. >> biden said that contests are never easy. >> what i have been doing mostly is quite frankly studying up on congressman ryan's positions on the issues, and governor romney has embraced, at least everything that i can see. i don't want to say anything i

. >> he doesn't quite have the same gravity of a guy like lloyd benson. >> thank you for joining me tonightg up. mitt romney wants to try to balance the budget by getting rid of big bid. which will save 1, 100th of 1% of the federal budget. and next it is easy to have a gutt reaction about who won the debate. but being right about that, that is not so easy. that is next. your ford dealer. who has 11 major brands to choose from? your ford dealer. who's offering a rebate? your ford dealer. who has the low price tire guarantee... affording peace of mind to anyone who might be in the market for a new set of tires? your ford dealer. i'm beginning to sense a pattern. buy four select tires, get a $60 rebate. use the ford service credit credit card, get $60 more. that's up to $120. where did you get that sweater vest? your ford dealer. with a vial and syringe. with a vial and syringe. me, explaining what i was doing at breakfast. and me discovering novolog mix 70/30 flexpen. flexpen is pre-filled with your pre-mix insulin. dial the exact dose. inject by pushing a button. no vials, syringes or coole

and lloyd benson's swipe at quail. >> jack kennedy was a friend of mine.or, you are no jack kennedy. >> and then the moments that seemed to say more, like wh bush looking at his watch. and rick perry's oops remark. and romney's wager, and obama's comment to then-rival hilary. >> he's got two tough competing goals, to be likeable and layout a contrast. it's hard to be likeable when you are the attack dog. >> we have gotten to know barack obama, and there's not a lot of room on his canvas to point, and romney can still show us who he is and where he would lead us. >> the president spends the first part of the week in the battleground state of nevada where he will be doing prep, and mitt romney will be in colorado another swing state where he will practice with ohio senator, rob porter haorb, who is playin president obama. >>> and so what will they say? american voters will weigh their choice and the first of three presidential debates coming up this wednesday night, and can you watch it with us live at 7:00 eastern on cnn and cnn.com. of course we take polit

. >> there were tense moments like that, including where biden came close to channelling lloyd benson's famous attack on dan quayle. >> you can cut tax rates by 20% and still preserve -- >> not mathematically possible. >> it is possible and it's been done before. >> it has never been done before. >> it has never been -- >> jack kennedy lowered -- >> oh, be now you're jack kennedy? >> republicans and democrats have worked together on this. >> was that nervous laughter of the audience that you could hear? whol had to meet the threshold of competency and he did. biden scored points on substance. don't be surprised if we hear the most effective lines of attack from the president himself at next week's town hall-style debate in new york. the question is, how much was biden hurt on style. republicans did what they could to turn him into al gore, the eye rolls, sighs, that kind of thing. >> he reminded me of al gore in 2000 walking over and standing by president bush and getting in his face. >> i don't know if he thought it was a joke but he was laughing a lot. >> it was bizarre. i thought it