so maybe i'm not the guy mark mckinnon, to talk to about this.t really good resonate with the american people. i go back to the poll that we always show. 70% of tea party members tell pollsters, i just love this, get the government off my back. and yet, the biggest program, medicare, don't touch my medicare! and by the way, i use that for liberals, too. it is the most absurd world view that i don't want the federal government in my life, but give me medicare. >> i want what i want. >> i don't want it reformed. >> welcome to america. >> joe, that's right. but they don't represent the better of majority of americans. to steve's point earlier, you asked americans, what percentage would support a combination of tax increases and entitlement reforms, more than three-quarters of the country supports that. because everybody knows that's what we have to do. and somebody stepping forward and saying what's obvious, what all the voters know, would absolutely resonate. can you could do that kind of a message by saying that's what we need to do to embrace the

yes. >> so, mark, let's go to mark mckinnon. keep that up while mark answers, please.omney -- this is the sort of thing nobody in the media likes to talk about. >> it happens. >> but everybody in the game knows is going on. i mean, is ron paul hoping that his son gets a job in the cabinet? >> who cuts the deal? >> is he hoping his son will be the -- >> who says it? >> what is going on here? there is a deal between these two guys. >> have you ever done one of those? >> here is the interesting thing. it's not just santorum but if you go back, ron paul has been a devastating attack dog against first rick perry then newt gingrich and now santorum spending millions of dollars with i think the most effective negative advertising in the whole campaign. i mean, he's been throwing out daisy cutters clearing the way for mitt romney all along. it's a wink and a nod and never any spoken deals on these sort of things. but it's pretty clear what's going on and, you know, he has been the full back, you know, created blocking in front of romney this whole time. >> so where are we righ

mark mckinnon, thanks for your time tonight.ll be right back. [ male announcer ] we know you don't wait until the end of the quarter to think about your money... ♪ that right now, you want to know where you are, and where you'd like to be. we know you'd like to see the same information your advisor does so you can get a deeper understanding of what's going on with your portfolio. we know all this because we asked you, and what we heard helped us create pnc wealth insight, a smarter way to work with your pnc advisor, so you can make better decisions and live achievement. a smarter way to work with your pnc advisor, like many chefs today, i feel the best approach to food is to keep it whole for better nutrition. and that's what they do with great grains cereal. see the seam on the wheat grain? same as on the flake. because great grains steams and bakes the actual whole grain. now check out the other guy's flake. hello, no seam. because it's more processed. now, which do you suppose has better nutrition for you? mmm. great grains.

. >> mark mckinnon, a former bush and mccain aiser, says that romney is reinforcing the image of the republican party as out of t touch, and that is why he is having such problems with independent voters. hodoes he get past that? >> it is a mistake to underestimatate romney because he is maladroit but there is an ner toughness to him. his family history y it hasee costed persecution. his family has always been ground down, runt out of town, and each timime they come back and rebuild the fortune. he seeees that things, he accepts bad things, but he is pretty tough. >> you just haveo look at the way he came back from south carolina. it does remind me in a way of clinton. you just cannot knock this guy out. has an inner toughness. >> he n take a punch mark. >> he can definitely take the plunge but i guess all -- can take a punch, but it is all moot if it is going to be 8.9% unememployment at the end of this year. if that is the case, forget the gaffes of mitt romney. >> another problem hhas is at he has defined the reason he should the president is biography -- i am a businessman i know

. >> mark mckinnon, a former bush and mccain adviser, says that romney is reinforcing the image of the republican party, out of touch, and that is why he is having problems with independent voters. how does he get past that? >> he is maladroit, but there is an inner toughness to him. his family history has been constant persecution. his family has always been ground down, run out of town, and each time they come back. that is the way he is paid he sees an expanding, but he is pretty tough. >> you just have to look at the way he came back in south carolina -- from south carolina. it reminds me in a way of clinton. you cannot not this guy out. he has inner toughness. >> he can take a bunch. >> he showed he could take a punch by coming back in florida from south carolina, but i guess all moo -- it is all moot. 8.9% unemployment at the end of this year. if that is the case, they will forget the gaffes of mitt romney. >> another problem is that he has defined the reason he should be president is biography -- i'm a businessman, i know how to create jobs, hire me. he doesn't have a policy. i

mark mckinnon is head of a strategy firm and was advertising director for president bush's 2000 and 2004ne except with me. and the question is, i saw the ad. what was your response to it? >> well, first of all, i thought it was a great, great ad. reminded me of "morning in america," one of the great political ads of all time. it's great because it evokes optimism and confidence and it evokes hope. but i didn't see it as particularly political, as being one side or the other. i think it's kind of like a rorschach ink blot test. people read into it what they wanted to. i could make a case that it could be a romney ad. you shift it up a little bit and say it's halftime. we need to put in a new quarterback. it's just as easy you could make that a romney or republican version. >> i'm with you completely. i think we're both being very nonpolitical. i heard it and i thought, i guess because i know clint eastwood is a libertarian and a republican or pretty much to the right that he was -- well, who knows his motives. obviously working here. but i think it's a rorschach test. today on fox news ch

democratic strategist tad devine and mark mckinnon, republican strategist and former bush 43 policy advisermike mckinnon, welcome the show. i want to begin with you. there is this flap today that i didn't put up on the screen. mitt romney said i'm not concerned about the poor. we have a safety net. if it needs repair, i'll fix it. i'm not concerned about the rich. they're doing just fine. i'm concerned about the heart of america, which is the 95% who are struggling in the middle class. newt gingrich is jumping on this. the media is jumping on this. they're all saying mitt romney doesn't care about poor people. what do you think about that? is it utter nonsense or what? >> well, i think his instincts were try to try to get a message designed to get a message to the middle class which president obama is successful getting a lot of traction with. so the instinct was right, the execution was bad. that's where i think this long drawn-out primary is in many ways problematic. because we're seeing -- we're seeing independents turning against mitt romney. we're seeing incredibly negative campaign, w

. >> and for another perspective on all of this, mark mckinnon. a more effective general election candidate against president obama because of his blue collar appeal? >> right, andrea, let me just mention, we have something new in politics now call today andrea mitchell rule, and it's the following, if anybody in your campaign thinks it's a good idea to have your super pac millionaire fundraiser to go on television, you have to do two things -- on the issue of santorum. >> on the issue of santorum. >> i do think that, i mean, his organization has been overwhelmed, that is why we had the foster friess moment. that was not a good idea to put people like that out front. i think that santorum understand what's is saying. and in some ways, it's a problem, at this point for romney or santorum. i think that romney would be stronger in some ways, in is same way, i think of 2004. john kerry was the perfect opponent, because his weaknesses reflected george bush's strengths, what people liked about bush they liked about dean, he was strong and consistent and

we don't want your endorsement. >> i wonder about that, mark mckinnon. i wonder.amming mitt romney, completely slamming him. so i have to tell you, to see them both on stage there in front of american flags, all this pageantry as joe put it, it just simply doesn't look honest, and we'll leave it there. >> and completely hypocritical. >> so, willie, on to nevada. >> one more thing that needs to be said about donald trump. >> please. >> "celebrity apprentice" premieres february 19, just ahead of the show. that's no knock on the show. that's going to be great. arsenio hall is going to be on the show. >> joe? >> he's got a casino to promote. and, willie geist, as you and i always say, if abraham lincoln were alive today and had to host one tv show, it would be "celebrity apprentice." this all makes perfect sense. >> let's put this all against that backdrop. t "apprenti "apprentice" is premiering february 19. >>> republican contenders in the final push before tomorrow's nevada caucuses. not a lot of drama. the las vegas review journal shows mitt romney with a 20-point

. >> mark mckinnon has been making that whole point in the daily beast, that you have to get a certainspanic votes and it increasing given the population change. speaking of things coming up, "game change" the movie. i want to show a clip. it's great. >> if you are going to seriously consider the governor of alaska, you have to call her now. >> this is sarah. >> you know, they say the difference between a hockey mom and a pit bull is? lip stick. >> cnn has us even with obama. >> you can really win this thing. >> i'm not sure how much she knows about foreign policy. >> you can actually see russia from land here in aklaska? >> oh, my god what have we done. >> both of those actors are so true to life, is the rest of the movie the same level? >> even better. you will see that it's extraordinarily well done. there was a reason why we were excited to work with hbo, the acting is extraordinary and film making extraordinary people will find it entertaining. as good as that trailer is, it's better. >> as entertaining as the race was and the book. >> and wednesday on nbc's "rock center "a new ni

. >> the great mark mckinnon. when we return, let me finish with president obama's re-election campaign strategy. it's going to be, i think, about how he's doing, not who is running against him. i disagree with a lot of this talk about it matters who he is running against. i think it's all about him and he can still win or lose this campaign. you are watching "hardbal >>> let me finish tonight with this. progresso. it fits! fantastic! [ man ] pro-gresso they fit! okay-y... okay??? i've been eating progresso and now my favorite old jeans...fit. okay is there a woman i can talk to? [ male announcer ] progresso. 40 soups 100 calories or less. >>> let me finish tonight with this. lots of talk tonight about this new poll number that shows obama six points ahead of romney in a face-off. i'd be careful with that number. people love talking about elections being a choice. the way you hear it, it's not going to be a choice between the president and the almighty but the choice between the president and an alternative. it's

debate across the airwaves as you said from george will to rush limbaugh from george petacky to mark mckinnon, everybody agrees this was not a good debate for the republican party. the word jobs was mention the six times, the word birth control was mentioned eight times. i don't understand what the priorities are, but they seem to be like rabid dogs with a bone. they just can't let go of this. this is in a week when you have the leading presidential candidate talking about the crushing of the judean christian faith by the president and the satanic versus invoked frequently and repeatedly throughout the week. i don't know what the republican party is doing. >> chris hayes, in that battleground state purple poll, they ask the question, is the nominating process strengthsening the nominee or weakening the nominee? 23% think it's strengthening the nominee, and 53% got it absolutely right, saying that it is weakening the nominee. i don't know how the nominee can get much weaker, whoever he is, than where they were last night. >> well, i think what's interesting is that there's two things that are

that he seems to keep going after rick santorum, he's got a very effective ad, i heard mark mckinnon say today that your ads have been the best ads of the whole campaign, going after santorum again. why isn't he going after mitt romney? >> well, he is. our number one campaign in terms of dollars spent are three of a kind, which includes mitt romney, rick santorum, and newt gingrich. and you know, andrea, everybody talks about brokered conventions, very, very unlikely, but there are four candidates, theoretically, mathematically, it is conceivable, though far-fetched. the reason there aren't brokered conventions because in this day and age, there are brokered campaigns. and i'll give you an example of that. rick santorum and mitt romney are working together in minnesota, just a few miles to the west of michigan, where they're fighting tooth and nail in michigan, they are cooperating in minnesota against us. so rick santorum's people are telling their delegates at the precinct level to vote for mitt romney delegates to go to the district level. so there is that sort of exchange going o

. >> the great mark mckinnon.. it's going to be, i think, about how he's doing, not who is running against him. i disagree with a lot of this talk about it matters who he is running against. i think it's all about him and he can still win or lose this campaign. you are watching "hardball" only on msnbc. ♪ ♪♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] this is your moment. ♪ this is zales, the diamond store. it'll cause cavities, bad breath. patients will try and deal with it by drinking water. water will work for a few seconds but if you're not drinking it, it's going to get dry again. i recommend biotene. all the biotene products like the oral rinse...the sprays have enzymes in them. the whole formulation just works very well. it leaves the mouth feeling fresh. if i'm happy with the results and my patients are happy with the results, i don't need to look any farther. ♪ [ gong ] strawberry banana! [ male announcer ] for a smoothie with real fruit plus veggie nutrition new v8 v-fusion smoothie. could've had a v8. but we couldn't simp

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