we put it to the matthews meter. john and norah, could sarah palin beat barack obama with independents. 12-0 says she won't get the independent. . john, does it matter the whole fight, could she skid through there because they don't care what the independents think? >> yes. if you asked me today what the likely scenario. that's likely. she could win the republican nomination. that's the biggest hurdle to her being a general election candidate is the problem with independent voters. i don't see a way for her to solve that. chris: first your thoughts. could it be the republicans have a chance to win, barack obama won't be much above 50 in the next few months. they know this is a possible win for them, a year they could get the white house back. will they let her skid along and go with the far right people and know she's getting nowhere with the independents. and they think, we're picking the next president of the united states? >> we're seeing it that's when the silver fox took on -- barbara bush took on sarah palin. c

chris: let's go to matthews meter because we've already polled on this. 12 regulars including all of you here, what's going to be best appeal for candidates trying to win the republican nomination for 2012? eight say it will be their conservative credentials, the red hot stuff, the red meat stuff for the red states. going to the true believers. four say it will be how much they are the anti-obama, the unobama people that are good at business. good at management. good at fiscal responsibility. only you of the four here takes that position. only you says it's going to be the classic -- the classic way of picking a nominee is picking somebody who fills the void of the current incumbent. if obama is big on spending, get somebody who is better on business. >> right. republicans like seniority for one thing. i think new hampshire is going to be more important than iowa. for setting up -- i'm still sticking with mitt romney. although he does have problems with the massachusetts health care. that's not going to hurt him in new hampshire i've got a feeling. he can appeal -- >> how about, a wa

chris: let's go to matthews meter because we've already polled on this. 12 regulars including all of you here what's going to be best appeal for candidates trying to win the republican nomination for 2012? eight say it will be their conservative credentials, the red hot stuff, the red meat stuff for the red states. going to the true believers. four say it will be how much they are the anti-obama, the unobama people that are good at business. good at management. good at fiscal responsibility. only you of the four here takes that position. only you says it's going to be the classic -- the classic way of picking a nominee is picking somebody who fills the void of the current incumbent. if obama is big on spending, get somebody who is better on business. >> right. republicans like seniority for one thing. i think new hampshire is going to be more important than iowa. for setting up -- i'm still sticking with mitt romney. although he does have problems with the massachusetts health care. that's not going to hurt him in new hampshire i've got a feeling. he can appeal -- >> how about a wall

put this to the matthews meter, 12 of our regularincluding andrea, katty and panelists, joe, who won the post election war message this week? i think we are here hearing that here, president obama or the republican leaders? 9 out of 12 said republicans won the fight. two said the president. i don't know who that was. i think i do know. one says it was a tie. andrea, joe and katty, you all say the republicans won. you agree with that? >> i think they won it in one moment when john boehner lost it, when he started to cry. it was real. it was the only real moment of the race. >> i think the president's news conference was the moment where the republicans won it. because i just didn't feel that he was -- that he accepted it in sort of the fiber of himself. >> i think they won it when mcconnell stood up there and said we're going it fight everything he's done. we're not going to compromise and we believe in what we stand for. i think that's what the republican base wants to hear. they've sent people to washington who are going to carry on saying no to the president. >> perhaps the republi

ever thought that a cluster of used parking meters could end up being so whimsical and beautiful and welcoming. unfortunately we don't have rebar's founder, matthew pass more here today, he happens to be in paris inaugurating their first parking day, which is -- i said was started here in san francisco. again, we're leading the way. he sends his regrets and wanted me to convey how much he enjoyed working with the residents of visitation valley. rebar sculpture. you can't miss it. it is down the street on the corner of leland and bay shore. it looks like stalks of organically grown street furniture. using the vernacular of the street, sur mass parking meter heads which are painted dark orange which are attached to tall arching poles. the form was intended to reference the neighborhood's pastoral and agricultural past. according to the artist, the scultchur is meant to mark this particular moment in -- in a time when it undergoes a positive transition in the future. if you look at the sculpture, he incorporated eight text elements in the stalkings. you'll see the words visitation valley and a -- accompanied by words such as grow, thrive, nurture, p

matthews mirror. the question was, is sarah palin's high profile next year a plus or minus for president obama? not even close. 12 to zippo. the meter says, she's a plus. kelly? >> well, i think if you are president obama and his supporters, she is such a foil, and allows him to be the person in office, the person who's trying to appear statesmanlike and who has abundant and growing experience against someone who is entertaining and provocative and that contrast is something he can use at the moment. >> what's the downside of having sarah palin out there? >> the downside for him, remember that line she said, how's that hopey chain working for you? it takes a little bit of his majesty away from him. she can throw stones in from the outside. if has to seem above it all but someone is cracking at you the whole time, that's not so great. >> she can deliver a one-liner better than any other republican. >> i don't think it's necessarily plus for president obama because she's on television, it's all sarah, all the time, she's everywhere and to be hammering away for two years at him with relative impunity and the business of, he can dream o