we begin in washington where michael steele is waiting patiently. >> i'm in my little booth. >> what conspiracy where they're going to collect my information? >> there you go again. >> one, michael steele has no place to go today. he's been hanging around all morning. and two, i hesitate to say this, but i'll say it anyway, franklin graham has a

i'll ask michael steele if he agrees. the best part of having my own cable show, inviting who i want to the table. this morning, professor anita hill joins me. it might be the breakfast burritos we had this morning, but i think we've got a gas problem. >>> good morning. i'm melissa harris-perry. it's sunday. a day when many american families sit down at the kitchen table and face the reality of the household budget for the week, groceries, bills and gasoline. it you're trying to stretch your dollars, even a small increase in the price per gallon can change your plans. not just the cost of your gas but your milk, your produce. the things that have to be hauled across america's highways to you. even if you don't like big government, these kinds of pocketbook economic issues tend to make liberals and conservatives alike look to washington leadership for relief. if you look to the republicans right now, republicans like newt gingrich, you'll hear promises like the one he made campaigning in california last night. >> look, you

i want to ask you first, michael steele, we look -- >> why me? >> because as an elder statesman -- >> ari's good. >> we'll get ari to weigh in after you. let's take a visit down memory lane, in terms of who is endorsement romney. got the support of nikki haley, lost south carolina. has the support of john mccain, isn't really making much of a play for arizona. he also has the backing of chris christie and donald trump. how much do endorsements matter for mitt romney? >> well, the way you put it, not much. >> well, i would -- >> i think they do matter. look, a lot of people overhype what endorsements really are all about. i mean, in fact, they don't even go to what they're really all about. they're really about organization and structure on the ground, maybe some money, that may come in, that the flow in. but this is really about how you get that individual, particularly somebody who's the governor of a state or who has a very important network of activists, that they can tap into. that's really what those endorsements serve. now, from the media s

michael steele, maybe i ask you a question i was just putting to our guest.e against the obama white house now going to have to change by the gop candidates? i ticked off just what's in today's news. it's headed in the right direction for all americans, we hope. >> so the narrative that has been built for the last several months, what now if unemployment continues to guideline? >> i think that's a very good question. from my perspective, the gop doesn't have anything to worry about here. i still think you make the arguments, you look america in the high and say we're excited for those americans who got back into the marketplace, but let's have the real conversation about the fact that we still have an underemployment situation, still a lot of people who stopped looking. we have policies that we want to put in place that this organization has ignored, to really begin to bring the economy back full-throated for those people who have given up and stopped looking. so i think the message is still there. romney, gingrich and others have to continue to pound that po

if he sweeps tomorrow, what is michael steele missing?think first of all, larry you're absolutely right. romney's win in nevada and florida, he won almost across the board. economic conservatives, social conservatives, self-described tea party people, moderates. he is bringing it home and honing his message and delivering. and that's why he's had these huge margins of victory. in the places where delegates are actually being awarded. i wasn't emif a seize these three too much tomorrow because there are no delegates being awarded. they're largely beauty contests, and romney and the campaign are very disciplined this year. they're they're spending time and money and resources where they can bring delegates home. so look for the big payoff in places like super tuesday and primary states. >> keith boykin, on the other hand, to be fair and balanced, mr. romney has had a couple major league gaffes. one he's not worried about poor people. he's for the safety net. he would agree with you, and he would probably agree with president obama. but not

and michael steele, former rnc chairman.of the things i read romney's speech, i don't care how many people were there and all this other garbage. he's using the language of supply-side conservatives. that's what interested me. unlike george bush, he's talking about putting more money in people's pockets, which is keynesian, demand side, romney talked about the extra dollar earned. it's an incentive model. is he going to convince conservatives now that he really understands the incentive model, the ronald reagan model? >> larry, if mitt romney becomes president, this will be the week that really made him. i think he's had a great week. he did a great job in the debate. and i think this tax policy change, because remember, mitt romney 1.0 wasn't something you or myself or the "wall street journal" editorial pages were very excited about. this is pretty exciting. it's reaganesque. i think he's got to run with this, there's no backing off of it, but i really believe he has enhanced his chances not just winning michigan but winni

thank you, steve schmidt, michael steele, howard fineman, eugene robinson. the trouble with mitt romney. you're watching "hardball" live coverage of the michigan and arizona primaries today only on msnbc. . [ male announcer ] you are a business pro. lord of the carry-on. sovereign of the security line. you never take an upgrade for granted. and you rent from national. because only national lets you choose any car in the aisle. and go. you can even take a full-size or above. and still pay the mid-size price. i deserve this. [ male announcer ] you do, business pro. you do. go national. go like a pro. i knew it'd be tough on our retirement savings, especially in this economy. but with three kids, being home more really helped. man: so we went to fidelity. we talked about where we were and what we could do. we changed our plan and did something about our economy. now we know where to go for help if things change again. call or come in today to take control of your personal economy. get free one-on-one help from america's retirement leader. >>> let me finish toni

michael steele, i'm going to throw it to you.al that the republican party would wrap its arms around the idea of personal choice and on the same note sort of turn around and say, look, gay unions are, you know, that love is not real love. >> i think that the party, are you right, in some cases you have that problem. but overall, people have taken the view more of a libertyview, the states should decide and that is where you have the battle drawn out, as opposed to the federal level when you have a federal mandate. i know when i was asked about the defense of the marriage act, those are local decisions that should be made by the state of california and on the state's level. everyone has the opportunity to express themselves and the community can decide where they want to be. fundamentally that is what it's about. when you bring it to the federal level, you are stomping on my toes, and i have a opinion about it. >> michael can i ask you a question? >> sure. >> since i fought for every state, tonight he believe that my love is just

joining us is karen finney, former rnc chair michael steele and steve kornacke. karen, you played a role in having nevada designated as first in the west, why nevada? >> a couple things, they were -- as -- the west had been a place where democrats thought we could see some important gains, because we hadn't been doing as well in the south. when we made those changes to the primary calendar, the republican party essentially adopted the same changes. what we looked at, though, was high latino population, as chuck said it's very different demographic, that these are mostly of mexican descent who tend to be more democratic versus florida, which is a different mix. we also were looking at union density, which is the people who work on the strip. one of the things i note the for tonight, they aren't making any special accommodations for the waitresses, the folks who work along the strip. >> i remember that issue. >> where you had your i.d. you could come within a certain period of time, and they're not doing that. which obviously i suppose is because you don't expect t

governor ed rendell and michael steele. thanks so much.>>> up next -- poor, poor willard. just wait until you hear how he's trying to spin his "i'm not concerned about the poor" comment. we'll talk to erin mcpike and steve kornacki about willard's bad week. stay with us. juice drink too watery? ♪ feel the power my young friend. mmm! [ male announcer ] for excellent fruit and veggie nutrition... v8 v-fusion, also refreshing plus tea. could've had a v8. trouble with a car insurance claim. [ dennis ] switch to allstate. their claim service is so good, now it's guaranteed. [ foreman ] so i can trust 'em. unlike randy. dollar for dollar, nobody protects you like allstate. hey. did you guys hear... ...that mary got engaged? that's so 42 seconds ago. thanks for the flowers guys. [ both ] you're welcome. oooh are you guys signing up for the free massage? [ both ] so 32 seconds ago. hey guys you hear frank's cat is sick? yeah, we heard. wanna sign the card? did you know the guys from china are in the office... [ speaking chinese ] [ male announcer

michael steele for the defense. guess who's out there paying chaplain the day they did the schiavo vote, voted unanimous consent to go ahead and intervene in a family matter involving a woman on a respirator. the whole situation we're now aware of. a very sad case for a woman there, young woman dying at that aimin age. >> stuck in the craw for a lot of those around the country because they believe that government has no place in the personal health care. which was the crux of our argument against obama care in the first place. this situation is a little bit worse than schiavo. at least you had some woman who understood and probably would be with the party's position in terms of wanting to have the family make this choice or that choice. but here, this is much more personal to every woman. and so now you have the party or at least certain voices out there that have moved this off of the conversation that it was, i think, rightly on, on the role of church and state. the freedom of church and religion. now you're talki

and in washington, msnbc political analyst michael steele. od morning to have you on, michael. >> good morning. >> and we'll start out with the primaries, but olympia snow. >> yeah, big news, she's out of it. but no doubt. this is big news for mitt romney. >> a good day. got to give it to him. >> a very good day. i just don't think he could've afforded the loss at this point. >> no, and even the margin by which he won there are critics who are saying it's still not enough. but we've got to give him a win. >> listen, a win's a win's a win. if rick santorum hadn't gone ahead and if it didn't luk like he was going to win, if he had not blown himself up with one mistake after another. as charles krauthammer said last night, romney won in large part because rick santorum lost. >> it seems like he drove away women just a tad bit. >> well, i think he did. >> might have alienated them a tad bit. >> what's the churchill quote? i think they'll look back, the romney campaign. and this is their near death experience. this is the threat. the churchill quot

michael steele for the defense here. your political party. guess who was up there playing chaplain the day with schiavo vote with three u.s. senators they voted to intervene in a family matter down in florida involving a woman who was on a res pir ray tor. but getting involved in that case as a u.s. congressman. >> stuck with a lot of conservatives. those of us who believe the government has no place in the bedroom. it has no place in the health decisions that families have to make, which is the kruks of our argument of obama care in the the first place. that gets thrown out of the window. this situation is a little worse than the schiavo because at least with the schiavo, you had some women who understood and would probably be with the party's position in terms of wanting the family having to make that choice. but here, this is much more personal to every woman. and so now you have the party or at least certain voices out there that have moved this off of the controversy that it was, i think, rightly on. on the roll of church and state. the

thank you michael steele.og to the roof of his car for a family vacation. he had it in a dog house, by the way. but rick santorum has a dog story of his own. that's ahead in the sideshow. you're watching "hardball" on msnbc. wake up! that's good morning, veggie style. hmmm. for half the calories plus veggie nutrition. could've had a v8. lord of the carry-on. sovereign of the security line. you never take an upgrade for granted. and you rent from national. because only national lets you choose any car in the aisle. and go. you can even take a full-size or above. and still pay the mid-size price. i deserve this. [ male announcer ] you do, business pro. you do. go national. go like a pro. oh there's tons. french presses, espresso tampers, filters. it can get really complicated. not nearly as complicated as shipping it though. i mean shipping is a hassle. not with priority mail flat rate boxes from the postal service. if it fits it ships, anywhere in the country for a low flat rate. that is easy. best news i've he

michael steele, is that utter fantasy? >> it's not. you have the tale of two automakers at the same time with ford and gm comparatively difficult positions during the height of this economic downturn and how both came through it. the problem with the gm story is that it's not done and the reality of it is the government still owns close to 27% of gm stock. the auto unions own 17 to 18% of gm stock and so, we're still heavily leveraged as a nation in our ownership of gm and so there's a lot that still rides on the outcome. it's great to have these numbers now, but no one knows what the long-term management structure is going to be and how it's going the look on the other side, so there's still a lot of ground to cover here, so all the pats on the back and flying commercials with the flag and a u.s. made car in it is great theatre, but there's still an underlying structural economic question that has not been addressed. >> governor strickland, you have a very inspiring story i believe you didn't have running water in your house until you

anyway, thank you, michael steele. thank you, walter.reat to see your piece today. >>> up next, mitt romney infamously strapped his dog to the roof on his car for a family vacation. he had it in a dog house, by the way. but rick santorum has a dog story of his own. that's ahead in the sideshow. you're watching "hardball" on msnbc. it's time to get going. to put more giddy-up in our get-along. it's time to start gellin' with dr. scholl's... ... and mix a little more hop in our hip-hop. with the energizing support and cushioning of dr. scholl's massaging gel insoles ... you'll want to get up and go. >>> back to "hardball." now for the sideshow. step away from the sandwich. the first family went cosby on "snl" with each member of the family slipping into their alter egos from "the cosby show." even joe biden was represented. the president found himself in the dog house after fashioning a sandwich that didn't quite pass muster with mrs. obama. let's watch. >> i hereby approve this hoagie for eating. but first, some amendments. we're going to

we'll see whether he gets back to that sooner rather than later. >> governor, i think that when michael steele raises the cbo, the cbo also talked about how much the bush tax cuts cost, how much it contributes to the deficit. so i think chairman steele is right that it cuts both ways. both parties have to be cautious. look at the fact that -- look at independents. romney had a 12-point lead last month. just last month. now they are virtually tied. so no matter which way the economy shifts, a lot is going to depend on what positions you're taking while we see these shifts go up and down. because even though the president could get worse numbers, if they are caused by republicans' positions, it may not help them. >> right. and i think that's right, rev. and i also think it's a little unfair and michael is usually a fair guy. it's hard to say this is a one-month plus in the economy. as the president pointed out in his comments a little earlier in the show, it's been 23 months, almost two years, and in that time, 3.7 million private sector jobs have been created. not everything we wanted it to be,

anyway, thank you, michael steele. thank you, walter. great to see your piece today. >>> up next, mitt romney infamously strapped his dog to the roof on his car for a family vacation. he had it in a dog house, by the way. but rick santorum has a dog story of his own. that's ahead in the sideshow. you're watching "hardball" on msnbc. o louisiana... they came to see o us in florida... make that alabama... make that mississippi. the best part of the gulf is wherever you choose... and now is a great time to discover it. this year millions of people did. we set all kinds of records. next year we're out to do even better. so come on down to louisiana... florida... alabama... mississippi. we can't wait to see you. brought to you by bp and all of us who call the gulf home. chase scene, netflix coming soon extra butter tickets, swoon penguin journey junior mints moviefone evil prince bollywood 3-d shark attack ned the head 5% cashback right now, get 5% cashback on movies. it pays to discover. you walk into a conventional mattress store, it's real

it also presents michael steele, a visual challenge for mitt romney.antoruming with do recall that for a ren -- i've been in a lot of groups that people pray for me and god knows i needed the prayers more than anybody else. but that still they weren't calculated about it, but that still presents mitt romney, the mormon, a challenge when this is happening in texas and you have all they super tuesday states. >> there's a lot of evangelicals that see that scene and conservative catholics that go, that guy is one of us. >> that's true, a very powerful image. in that moment for rick santorum, it's not just a spiritual upliftment, but a political one, too. but for romney the challenge remains exactly as you put it, to come across as authentic and real. "wall street journal" is talking about it in very start terms, in other -- the question for him is how did he break through. everyone is looking for cpac today at that moment where he addresses the largest amount of conservatives they've had for a long time. will you get the traditional romney approach? we've

this is not the first establishment nominee that has had problems with the party, and michael steeles the personal responsible for the primary calendar existing the way it is. what you do have that is unusual this time is usually after the -- in recent memory after the first few contests people start to drop out. you see people getting out. that is not happening right now. >> well, the field narrowed. >> super tuesday had already happened at this type this year. it not helping that it drags it out further. >> that was by design. >> and states going rogue and pushing the race up further and messing with the primary calendar has not helped a person like romney, gives every motivation in the world for newt gingrich to say in. >> in 2008, mccain had been pushed so far to the right, he could not win the general, and again, you are seeing that. even if romney gets the n nomination, the fact that they have had all the fights and the fact that they can push him further to the right and ron paul, you know, making sure that there are pieces to the puzzle, he will have a platform that is simply

former rnc chair, michael steele will weigh in on that next on "now." >>> my path to conservativeism came from my family, i know conservatism because i lived it. a conservative era, conservatives, conservatism, conservatism, conservative, conservatism, conservative, conservatism, conservatives, conservatives, conservatives. . . conservatives that was mitt romney using conservative or some vacationer of -- variation or it. chairman steele, is mitt romney a conservative? >> i don't know, i guess if you say it enough times somebody will believe it. that has been the problem here all along. saying the word does not necessarily make it so. and i think that for the governor, one of the things that people have always said was we do not feel it. we don't believe it. it's not authentic as a relationship. >> i believe you sir said the man -- the brother just cant bake the cake. >> can't bake that cake, i have heard that. i have heard that. brother can't bake the cake. >> chairman steele, what is the meaning of the sweater that you are wearing, should we read something into that? >> no, i'm, lo

michael steele said on "morning joe" that he would need to have the eye of the tiger. the bar pretty high for him. did he meet expectations? >> he was pretty strong. i thought he looked like he was enjoying himself which is not always the case in a mitt romney speech. he talked about his own family background and his own family history and how that animates his conservatism and he talked about his massachusetts record which everyone have been attacking. he wasn't awesome. he didn't blow the roof off the place, but he was very strong. i think he did well enough to avoid a setback. i don't know if he did enough to propel himself forward. >> i don't knowç kwyou said he good enough, but the prowith the most conservativconservative. 38% said they would have voted for someone else. that is of a great concern if he's going to get past rick santorum who was on the "today show". said he's raised a million dollars day this week. >> we still don't know how things are going to play out going forward. romney could lose to ron paul this week. this big contests are in a couple of we

thank you, michael steele and david corn.s is what people are going to be arguing about this year, unfortunately. the devil. >>> coming up the more republicans talk about limiting birth control or requiring women to get ultrasound before having an abortion the more vulnerable they are with many independent women. not speaking for everybody, but this stuff from my conversations is very concerning to women. they don't like it. now the virginia governor who wants to be on the republican ticket i'm told is pulling back from this stuff. he is not happy with all this talk about restricting women in terms of abortion. you're watching "hardball." we'll talk about that when we come back. hang in women. this is going to be hot. only on msnbc. >>> new poll numbers for the general election. check the "hardball" scoreboard. according to a new quinnipiac poll, president obama is virtually tied with mitt romney around the country. 46% to 44%. against rick santorum the president does a point better, 47/44. now look at the new associated pres

thank you, michael steele. thank you, gene robinson. >>> the obama campaign learning about mitt romney and how they will use the info. a lot of info coming out. not a great weekend for mitt romney. but he did win. he did win. we'll be right back. the democrats won the special election in oregon for the open house seat. we'll be back with more of the special eedition of hardball tonight from miami. >>> mr. president, you were elected to lead. you chose to follow. now it's time for you to get out of the way. >> this promises to be a long and ugly battle for the republican nomination, the obama campaign is gearing up about who they expect to face. it looks like they expect to face mitt romney. we have steve schmidt and author and historian, jonathan alter. gentlemen, let's talk about taxes here. as part of the vetting for vice president the last time around in 2008 do you know your campaign, the mccain campaign thought of the tax returns? did they pass muster, and who has copies of them? >> you know, chris, to tak

>> polenta. >> thank you david corn and michael steele. a boring italian food.xt a former white house intern says she had an 18-month affair with president kennedy. there she is. the former mimi feinstein, now mimi alford. she'll tell her story tonight on msnbc's "rock center" and it should be a big show. we'll talk about it in a minute this is "hardball." [ male announcer ] we asked real people if they'd help us with an experiment for febreze fabric refresher. they agreed. [ experimenter 1 ] relax, take some nice deep breaths. [ experimenter 2 ] what do you smell? lilac. clean. there's something that's really fresh. a little bit beach-y. like children's blankets. smells like home. [ experimenter 1 ] okay. take your blindfolds off. ♪ hello? [ male announcer ] and now new and improved febreze fabric refresher with up to two times the odor elimination so you can breathe happy, guaranteed. >>> the republican race for president now moves to maine where a week-long caucus window culminates on saturday night. we'll have live coverage by the way this saturday night beg