and despite trailing in the polls, michele bauchmann insists there's time to turn her campaign aroundining us now, congresswoman bauchmann's press secretary. and i want to get straight to it. the congresswoman has not addressed the herman cain scandal directly, only saying there are no surprises when it comes to her and her record. as the only woman on that stage tonight at the debate, is she compelled -- or does she feel a need to address this subject head on tonight? a lot of people -- women, that is, expecting her to do so. >> well, certainly, well, thomas, first of all, thank you for having us on to talk about our campaign and our policies. in regard to the herman cain incident, let me make it clear that mr. cain has been nothing but respectful and professional to michele throughout the entire campaign. she's disturbed business his policies when it comes to pro-life, saying he is pro-life, but it's not the government's right to get in the middle of the woman and her right to choose and building a fence between the u.s. and mexico. and most recently not knowing that china has been

so that was a good michele bauchmann moment.away was foreign policy is an area where the president is likely to be dominant. i didn't think any of these people really rose to the level of intensity or coherent critique that's going to mean this is going to be trouble for obama. weirdly, this will be an area of strength for this democrat. >> and who would've ever guessed that. go back to 2008, who ever guessed that dan senor would be applauding him for tripling the number of troops in afghanistan, for jacking up the number of drone attacks to levels it's making people like me nervous on to all of the countries that we're dropping bombs into where we haven't even declared war. this guy -- remember your column about the cia back in 2009 talking about him undercutting the cia. now, the cia has got to love what he's doing, going after al qaeda with the drone attacks. >> he -- >> he is more aggressive than bush was. >> identify writt've written as commander in chief, he has been quite brilliant. he's been tough -- as a public commande

and michele bauchmann last night, she was showing her chops from the intelligence committee on -- let'sk perry on pakistan. >> the obama policy of keeping your fingers crossed is not working in pakistan. and i also think that pakistan is a nation that -- it's kind of like too nuclear to fail. we've got to make sure we take that threat very seriously. >> i'm so excited by too nuclear to fail. >> it's a lot from the -- >> can we talk about michele bauchmann a little bit? this is someone who obviously was ridinge ining short, and do give her any kind of currency? showing that she has more of a grasp on foreign policy than previously thought? >> the base current care. >> i found her impressive. and i think what she did. that question about pakistan in the debate with rick perry is going to be an overarching foreign policy question until the election. do we need pakistan? who needs each other -- needs the other more? >> but do you think the base is the going to really focus? >> i don't think that's what the republican base is interested in right now. they care more about the issues with spen

when michele bauchmann was the front-runner, we... found out about this. ( laughter ) if you think this sort of scrutiny is something new because you're black and conservative, bill ayers, jeremiah wright, and young obama in muslim garb, would like to have a few words with you. ( laughter ) but i will agree with those conservatives on one thing-- we shouldn't let this cain scandal from the restaurant association distract us from other, more troubling issues. >> you view china as a potential military threat to the united states. >> yes, they're a military threat. they've indicated they're trying to develop nuclear capability and they want to develop more aircraft carriers like we have. so, yes, we have to consider them a military threat. >> jon: yes. china has indicated it would like to develop nuclear capability. perhaps as soon as the 1960s. ( laughter ) worse yet, i understand-- ( applause ) that the chinese at this very moment are on the verge of developing a cookie that can predict the future. ( laughter ). how do you defeat an en

mitt romney can survive a loss in iowa, but can michele bauchmann? newt gingrich can afford a loss in new hampshire, but for mitt it may be win or go home. the winner or go home january races. next, president obama's chances of beating the nominee. where does he stand in the crucial battleground states? historically, how have other presidents done with approval ratings in the mid-40s one year out? and that's where he is. could marco rubio seal florida for romney? could we see a gingrich/cain ticket? and would president obama consider dumping joe biden for hillary clinton if things looked really bad. what about a third-party run? it would throw the election to one side or the other, but which one? this is no fantasy, we'll be joined by somebody who is making sure that a third candidate will be on the ballot in all 50 states. >>> finally, amateur hour, we'll go to the videotape for the campaign low lights, if you will, in the gop race so far. we start with january madness. politico columnist cynthia tucker who is a visiting prof s professor at the univ

mitt romney can survive a loss in iowa, but can michele bauchmann? newt gingrich can afford a loss in new hampshire, but for mitt it may be win or go home. the win or go home january races. next, president obama's chances of beating the nominee. where does he stand in the crucial battleground states? historically, how have other presidents done with approval ratings in the mid-40s one year out? and that's where he is. plus we'll looking potential running mates. could marco rubio seal florida for romney? could we see a gingrich/cain ticket? and most interesting of all, would president obama ever consider dumping joe biden for hillary clinton if things looked really bad? what about a third-party run? an independent candidate would almost surely throw the election to one side or the other. but which one? this is no fantasy, we'll be joined by someone who is making sure a third candidate will be on the ballot in all 50 states. >>> finally, amateur hour, we'll go to the videotape for the campaign low lights, if you will, in the gop race so far. there are

to see you on "meet the press" where your guests will include debbie wasserman schultz, and michele bauchmann retired colonel jack jacobs are going to be with us at the table. very excited to have these two great american heroes with us. ♪ ♪ [ multiple sounds making melodic tune ] ♪ [ male announcer ] at northrop grumman, every innovation, every solution, comes together for a single purpose -- to make the world a safer place. that's the value of performance. northrop grumman. and here's what we did today: supported nearly 3 million steady jobs across our country... ... scientists, technicians, engineers, machinists... ... adding nearly 400 billion dollars to our economy... we're at work providing power to almost a quarter of our homes and businesses... ... and giving us cleaner rides to work and school... and tomorrow, we could do even more. cleaner, domestic, abundant and creating jobs now. we're america's natural gas. the smarter power, today. learn more at anga.us. our machines help identify early stages of cancer, and it's something that we're extremely proud of. you see someone who is sa

then give us michele bauchmann, then give us rick perry, then newt gingrich. have -- you have three people there who are running glorified book tours. cain, gingrich, and trump. and they were glorified book tours and they've taken off for newt now. and the one person they don't want and they will quietly tell you, they don't want jon huntsman. they're scared of him, they hate him, and as long as he stays low, they're happy. >> that's what i'm hearing too. and the irony is that newt's trying to argue if you want someone to manage washington, elect romney. newt's a creature of d.c. he's been in d.c. for decades. it's amazing. >> he was the champion of the mexican bailout back in 1995. >> yes! >> and now he's talking about no foreign policy. he's the guy that pushed bosnia, that pushed kosovo when they were saying do we want to get involved in the -- >> he was arguing for the individual mandate and a national one at that, which is exactly what romney -- >> details, details. >> can i make a point -- >> a conservative idea that it was -- it was responsibility, you

>> well, we're going to have the dnc chairman on the program on sunday, also michele bauchmann to talkican race. >> interesting. >> got a good program. >> fantastic. and debbie, write that check to joe walsh. >> okay. >> will you do that? >> we'll will ready for him. i want him to keep going out there. >> keep doing what you're doing. >> do more democratic candidates a favor. >> chuck todd, we'll see you at 9:00. >>> an exclusive new issue of "time" magazine. we'll be back with more "morning joe." chri or llesndthr en ng we'renvor of. t icay eiou m an wt ent en hos salesteats .aoure ng we'renvor of. when you're a sports photographer, things can get out of control pretty quickly. so i like control in the rest of my life... especially my finances. that's why i have slate, with blueprint. i can create my own plan to pay down large purchases faster... or avoid interest on everyday items. that saves me money. with slate from chase, i'm always in control. financially, anyway. get slate with blueprint and save money. call 855-get-slate today. ♪ a refrigerator has never been hacked. an online

rick santorum and michele bauchmann. they've got events lined up in iowa.in the polls, a new confidence now, new polls this week showing gingrich running neck-and-neck with mitt romney. the former house speaker is at 22%. that's compared to 8% in october. jim acosta talked one on one with gingrich about the steady surge. >> reporter: meet the gop's latest fresh face. newt gingrich. >> yesterday afternoon in jefferson, iowa, someone introduced me as the front-runner. >> reporter: yes gingrich now has a shot at the gop nomination, drawing big crowds in iowa, he's candid about his near death political experience when his entire staff abandoned him at all once last summer. >> did you feel dead? >> no, desperate, but not dead. i've done this for 53 years. and the two hardest months of my career were june and july. >> i am the only candidate running who has actually led at a national level. >> reporter: but with gingrich, humility has its limits and assessing what initial lip went wrong with his campaign, he compared himself to two conservative giants. >> where d

in iowa this past weekend, michele bauchmann's getting tepid applause, he was treated like a rock stare could discipline that mouth of his -- >> but he can't. >> you can't either. you said you were going to stay out of the conversation. he can gain traction. and actually, jeff, newt gingrich is going up in the polls. we may see a surge by newt in late december. >> i actually had to watch the alabama/lsu game. it's a shame one of those two teams had to win. but i did tape the gingrich/cain thing and watched it. and the thing you see when you watch gingrich, particularly in a setting like that when he's not limited to a minute, there is a range of responses that he gives that i don't think any other candidate can give. he knows the stuff probably too well. he'll tell you the details of the medicaid and medicare problem as he sees it. he also, by the way, is very skilled at feeding the conservatives, red meat or outright demagoguery when he says let's abolish the congressional budget office, let's cut off electricity for the judges we don't like. i'm not sure he made that point, but came

they're not going to vote for michele bauchmann. they're not going to vote for rick perry.xample of that is we had a republican primary for governor in 2010. tom corbin who was viewed a moderate, now, he wasn't that well funded, but he got like 9% of the vote in a republican primary. and we're a closed primary state, independents, democrats, can't vote. that's about what the base -- this tea party base is in pennsylvania. >> we're living in a very different election system in that we have things called super pacs which can essentially fund a candidate even if he or she is down in the polls and really has no incoming donations on his or her own. and if there is one candidate who can rely on a network of funds like that is perry. he doesn't have to go out there and rely on funds, he has wealthy backers. >> which is why if you're barack obama you love it, he has to nuke herman cain, but he also has to nuke mitt romney. >> that's why mitt romney's being having the greatest week ever because everyone's focused on herman cain. >> except as governor rendell said -- >> the dnc ad.

basically said you don't believe mitt romney's a lock because of people like herman cain and michele bauchmann. and, you know, rick perry sight unseen, before he uttered a word, he was leading the race and then he started showing up at debates and, you know, he kind of fell down in the polls. but anybody, there is a huge anybody but mitt -- not faction, probably majority in the republican party right now. and this is a problem. i know the republicans usually, eventually fall in line. they don't have to fall in love. i'm just wondering if this year fits the pattern. because the -- this sort of -- i don't know if you could call it an ttipathy antipathy, but it's close to romney, or distrust of romney by many conservatives, doesn't seem to be going away. >> well, let's look at the latest gallup polls. new usa today gallup poll shows president obama neck and neck with his republican competition. the poll is based in a dozen battleground states including florida, new hampshire, pennsylvania, and virginia. in these states, mitt romney and president obama are in a statistical tie. the president is sl

perry and michele bachmann and rick santorum shows they are more politically expedient than they like to present themselvess. >> if they are going on their values it would be santorum or bauchmannit would certainly not be gingrich. i think he venn they thought, when i talked to them. even they thought it would disqualify him. >> i certainly did. >> i think everybody did. what they saw in focus groups, especially after his performance at the iowa family leader debate is their supporters even their som soccer mom, female supporters that they thought would be hardest on him bought in to his apocalyptic rhetoric show down in the country enough to over look his family values. >> thank you for joining us. >> thank you so much. >>> coming up, tim pawlenty is here and i will ask about mitt romney's tv ad and in the rewrite how the united states marines are adapting to the repeal of don't ask don't tell and one of the many many reasons we will miss barney frank's house in the house of representatives. ♪ [ male announcer ] how could switchgrass in argentina, change engineering in dubai, aluminum production in south africa, and the aerospace industry in the u.s.? at t. rowe price, we unde