michelle goldberg of "newsweek." and josh barrel the natural institute online.e change. a spirited climate debate ensued during the break. we turn our attention to republicans who have met a tax cut they don't love. the payroll tax cut extension set to expire on december 31st. what is it about this tax cut? president obama is for it. the prerogative tax cut. the real stimulative effect. and today the bill to cut the taxes lower, which would have been paid for was denied an up or down vote despite the backing of a majority of the majority of senators, not enough to overcome the republican filibuster. and by cutting salaries and jobs of sfral workers, also failed with the majority of republicans voting against their own plan. still republicans seem to understand the political cost of imposing the tax cut. and so they are trying to get giveaways in order to turn chicken extrament. i'm paraphrasing. what's so interesting about this, and josh, i want you to respond to this. i'm going to play sound from obama in a second. there's two theorys about republicans. what is

michelle goldberg. thank you. happy new year.e finish with the slow, methodicaç way republicans pick their nominees for president. totally different from the way democrats tend to do it. this is a general statement, but i'm going to live with it. cold . flavored with real honey. powerful cold medicine that leaves out artificial flavors and dyes and instead uses something more natural, honey. new vicks nature fusion cold & flu. ♪ >>> let me finish tonight with this. democrats have a hard time figuring out the way republicans go about picking their presidential candidates. the reason is it's totally different. democrats tend to go with their heart and gut. they see a candidate like jack kennedy or bill clinton or barack obama and feel something inside them that says go with this guy. that's it. it doesn't always work out so well, of course. george mcgovern got blown away. jimmy carter didn't turn out to have the political chops he needed. the same with others. it always seemed like a good idea at the time. well, republicans are dif

eugene robinson is an msnbc analyst and michelle goldberg is a columnist for "newsweek." ichelle, what do you think? who won the weekend bakeoff here? >> i think it's obvious that you have kind of obama seeming, if a little bit weary, also, very dignified and serious. and then you have the latest episode in this ridiculous clown show. the idea -- it's actually not the fault, you know, contrary to what fred barnes said, he kind of blames it on the liberal media for setting up these debates to make the republican candidates look bad. the republican candidates are making themselves look bad all by themselves. and kind of, they are diminished, i think, by this process, because it is such a race to the bottom. but that's where their base is. >> eugene, i wonder if the debates vice president served one purpose of finding the most ferocious combatant. newt gingrich, if this was like "survivor," a reality show, it has succeeded. they've got what looks to be the toughest customer they could run against the president out of all these nightly -- these almost every other week debates.

michelle goldberg. thank you. happy new year.ish with the slow, methodical way republicans pick their nominees for president. totally different from the way democrats tend to do it. this is a general statement, but i'm going to live with it. i take an omega for my heart. but to be honest, i find the omega choices overwhelming. which one is right for me? then i found new pronutrients omega-3. it's from centrum. a name i trust. it goes beyond my heart to support my brain and eyes too. and these ultra concentrated minigels are much smaller than many others. it's part of a whole new line of supplements. there's probiotic and fruit & veggie too. new pronutrients from centrum. look for your five dollar coupon in this sunday's paper. what is this shorty? uh, tissues sir, i'm sick. you don't cough, you don't show defeat. give me your war face! raaah! [ male announcer ] halls. a pep talk in every drop. [ merv ] mr. clean magic eraser extra power was three times faster on permanent marker. it looks like mr. clean has won everything. the cl

joan walsh is editor at large at salon.com and michelle goldberg reports for "newsweek" and the dailya while. seems like we're getting into a territory where people need to think about. if you define a fertilized egg as a person, perhaps even a citizen as far as i know action it becomes a murder, you're killing a person if you -- in any way interfere with the attachment of that fertilized egg to a uterine wall, in other words, an iud is a murdering instrument. it's completely far out here, and what people are trying to put into statute. do you think people know what they're doing here even politically know what they're doing? >> i think they do. i think they're trying to get through this primary. some may well believe it, but chris, you made the point, when you're too extreme, too far right for the mississippi, you know you've gone too far. you know, you're getting to a point in the republican party where a female has more rig@tr before she's born than afterwards. because this is just turning the clock back even on birth control. i think we've seen signs of this. the tea party came in

goldberg has some thoughts on that upcoming. >> bill: impact segment tonight, why is michele bachmann failing to catch on? is it a gender issue? joining us from los angeles, fox news contributor leslie marshall and from fort worth, texas, janine turner radio talk show host in dallas. why do you think michele bachmann has lost so much support in iowa, janine? >> well, i think that rick perry came along and took a lot of wind out of her sales. she has focused a lot of time on the fact that obama is a socialist, which is true. but now is time to focus on her agenda in a clear, concise, and catchy way. what are her views? what is her -- >> bill: she has made it clear. she is very clear. >> not necessarily in a catchy way. herman cain did 9-9-9. you walked away and remember. >> bill: he had the slogan. we only have four weeks away from the vote. catchy slogan isn't going to do 230 minutes is eternity in politics. attacking fellow republicans negatively. she said herman cain's 9-9-9 is 6-6-6. mitt romney on life. what republicans are looking for a government that works. if she can remain true to conservative pr

goldberg has some thoughts on that upcoming. >> bill: personal story segment tonight, most polls in iowa have michele bachmann in single digits. as the congresswoman has often said she believes she will compete well there on january 3rd. mrs. bachmann is the author of the brand new book "core of conviction," and she joins us now here in new york city. according to mayor list nbc poll today newt gingrich and ron paul are your main competition on the conservative end. you are running as a conservative in iowa. you are going to have to take support from both of those men to perform well. how are you going to do that? >> we are going to do it because i think as people read my book and continue to get to know more about me and get to look at the candidates they will see that i am the true consistent conservative in this race. 20% of the people have decided they want mitt romney. 80% don't. as the layers get pulled back on the candidates they are seeing who is the core. >> bill: newt gingrich. >> absolutely. without a shad did he of a doubt. newt gingrich wants to legalize 11 million workers. that's not what conservatives want. he i