plus, mitt versus mitt. even if the obama campaign is happy about newt, they're preparing for romney. >> look, i was an independent during the time of reagan/bush. i'm not trying to return to reagan/bush. the principles that ronald reagan espoused are as true today as they were when he spoke them. >> there you go again. that's just a small part of a new dnc video that skewers mitt romney with his own words and to a devastating effect. also, the big political fight this year. republicans are fighting president obama on extending the payroll tax holiday. so let's get this straight. tax cuts are always good for the economy, except when democrats propose them. >>> and a tribute to chicago's first lady. maggie daley. >>> we start with herman cain. chuck todd and john heilman join us. here's a portion of an interview with the woman accusing herman cain of a sexual affair. she spoke to an atlanta tv station. let's watch. >> it was pretty simple. it wasn't complicated. and i was aware that he was married and i was a

carolina to attack mitt romney.tive alternativetive to mitt romney and i think i'm the one candidate that can bring together a national security conservative and economic and social conservatives in order to make sure we have a conservative nominee. i wouldn't lie to the american people. i wouldn't switch my positions for political reasons. it is perfectly reasonable to change your position if facts change f you see new things you didn't see. everybody has done that. ronald reagan did it it is wrong to go around an adopt radically different positions, based on your need of any one election because then people have to ask themselves what will you tell me next time? >> joining me is the former minnesota governor tim pawlenty and former presidential candidate. thank you for joining me tonight, governor. >> glad to be with you. >> as you know, i famously picked you to be by now the republican front runner by the process of elimination that i saw coming but i thought if you hung in there, the support would fall away for

that's our top story tonight. >>> plus, mitt versus mitt. even if the obama campaign is happy about newt, they're preparing for romney. >> look, i was an independent during the time of reagan/bush. i'm not trying to return to reagan/bush. the principles that ronald reagan espoused are as true today as they were when he spoke them. >> there you go again. >> and that's just part of the -- a small part of a new dnc video that skewers mitt romney with his own words, and to devastating effect. also, the big political fight this year. republicans are fighting president obama on extending the payroll tax holiday. so let's get this straight. tax cuts are always good for the economy, except when democrats propose them. >>> and is the occupy wall street movement to the 2012 election what the anti-war movement was to 1968? in other words, could it unintentionally turn the middle against the democratic candidate, president obama, and help throw the election to a republican who opposes everything the occupy movement stands for. >>> and let me finish toni

substance over politics, my friend. >>> up next, mitt versus mitt.e dnc has a new ad skewering mitt romney for his changing on the issues. >> i will preserve and protect a woman's righty to choose. the right next step in the fight to preserve the sanctity of life is to see roe v wade overturned. >> much more when we return. this is "hardball" only on msnbc. direct rates side by side to find you a great deal, even if it's not with us. [ ding ] oh, that's helpful! well, our company does that, too. actually, we invented that. it's like a sauna in here. helping you save, even if it's not with us -- now, that's progressive! call or click today. no mas pantalones! >>> when given the choice, americans prefer the current president. 40% of respondents say they'd vote for obama in a hypothetical match-up between the last two presidents. only 31% go for bush and a full quarter of voters say they'd reject both presidents. the reason for that nine-point spread, independent voters break for obama by a significant margin. we'll be right back. m@n@=@sñ >>> i'm r

mitt versus mitt. >> i will protect a woman's right to choose. >> i will see row v wade overturned. was breaking the bank. so to save some money, i trained this team of guinea pigs to row this tiny boat. guinea pig: row...row. they generate electricity, which lets me surf the web all day. guinea pig: row...row. took me 6 months to train each one, 8 months to get the guinea pig: row...row. little chubby one to yell row! guinea pig: row...row. that's kind of strange. guinea pig: row...row. such a simple word... row. anncr: there's an easier way to save. get online. go to geico.com. get a quote. 15 minutes could save you 15% or more on car insurance. diabetes testing? what else is new? you get the blood, hope it's enough, it's-- what's this? freestyle lite® blood glucose test strip. sure, i'll try it, but-- [beep] wow. yep, that's the patented freestyle zipwik™ design. it's like it-- [both] targets the blood. yeah, draws it right in. the test starts fast. you need just a third the blood of one touch.® okay. freestyle test strips. i'll take 'em. sure. call or click-- we'll send you stri

well, mitt romney's in first place, but mitt, what does he believe?han any democrat. and he's -- he flip-flops on every issue. so conservatives feel betrayed by eight years of republican rule under george w. bush. >> fair enough. fair enough. >> they don't want to go there again. then, what do you do next? you start going down the laundry list and that gets you to herman cain and michele bachmann and sarah palin and that gets you to rick perry and -- and at the end of the day, you just throw your arms up and, i guess, maybe joe mcquade thought, well, you know what? he was a conservative speaker for a year and a half. >> yeah. >> he made a lot of big changes in '95 in the first half of '96 before he caved and became a moderate. >> yeah, i think probably the basis of the endorsement is twofold. one, they don't like or trust mitt romney. >> okay, fine. >> in terms of adherence to conservative principles. and b, maybe more importantly than "a," newt gingrich has the ability to really stay in the ring with barack obama. better than any of the other candida

mitt romney and jon huntsman. one of them will probably win up there, it's probably mitt romney. what happens if that doesn't happen? >> well, i think it depends on what happens in iowa, chris. if mitt romney wins iowa and then somehow new hampshire does what it does often and hands new hampshire to someone other than mitt romney because they don't want to coronet him, i think rid romney could still survive that. i think if mitt romney loses in iowa and doesn't come in first and then loses new hampshire, he will be fundamentally crippled and won't be able to be the nominee. jon huntsman i think must win in new hampshire for the reasons you just said. maybe it's possible that a very, very, very, very strong second place keeps him in the race. but he has put all his chips on the table there and he's bet it all on black. >> let's go south with you. you pick it up here, john. south carolina's been the king maker for the republicans ever since the party went south and become a southern-based party. who has to win down there and stay in the race? it seems to be perry and cain have to d

, the one released by the democratic national committee called "mitt versus mitt" that portrays romney as a flip-flopper. >> from the creator of "i'm running for office for pete's sake" comes the story of two men trapped in one body, "mitt vs mitt." >> i will preserve and protect a woman's right to choose. the right next step is to see roe v. wade overturned. >> two mitts willing to say anything. >> we've put together an exchange and the president's copying that idea. i'm glad to hear that. obama care is bad news. >> see it all at mittvmitt.com. >> so, that's the ad that came out yesterday and the obama campaign went as far as sending out a message from the president's own twitter account, mocking romney for having "two sides that can only agree on wanting to be president." the romney camp responded with a series of conference calls yesterday, coming out aggressively, mobilizing a team of surrogates in 12 states to accuse democrats of trying to divert attention away from the economy with that "mitt versus mitt" ad. >>> herman cain is on the defensive this morning with an atlanta woman

none of them came up to mitt. he could stay comfortably above the fray and just attack barack obama. as the -- he was trying to portray himself as the inevitable nominee. but the simple fact of the matter is newt is not as smart as he thinks he is, but he's smart enough to engage in a rhetorical battle with mitt romney, and so we're going to see a lot of snarkiness going for the. >> well, here's some of it now. i'm beginning to see right now, thanks to bret baier who has done a very good interview for fox. i see mitt romney starting to get tagged as he's never been tagged before, and he's starting to sweat a little. watch his leg crossing which he never does. it's an odd bit of secondary characteristic, but this guy never moves when he's being interview but here he is readjusting his presentation in the middle of an interview. mitt romney pretty much avoided one-on-one interviews this political election and perhaps now we know why. take a look at some of the more awkward moments, as i said, in this interview on fo

and mitt takes a hit. a leading conservative red site, redstate.com says nominating romney against obama is a death wish for conservatives. among criticisms, mitt romney is going to be the republican nominee, and his general election campaign will be an utter disaster for conservatives as he takes the gop down with him and burns up what it means to be a conservative in the process. he is called utterly unprincipled. if not romney, who? >>> and a story that saddened college football fans everywhere. joe paterno will soon be out at penn state according to "the new york times." perhaps in a matter of days. at issue? his failure to act agress ill upon being told a former football coach allegedly sexually abused a boy in the team's showers. >>> let's start with herman cain defending himself. david gregory, moderator of "meet the press," eugene robinson from "the washington post" and msnbc analyst. and cynthia tucker, a visiting professor at the university of georgia. david, where does this story go now in terms

mitt romney, you're amazing. mitt romney and rick perry, as well, both came out in favor of the mississippi personhood thing that got voted down yesterday by more than 20 points in mississippi. this thing that would ban all abortions, no exceptions, and hormonal birth control and iuds and the morning after pill and in vitro fertilization. now that it has been beating in mississippi, mitt romney says he was never for it. in 2006 and 2008, democrats had huge electoral victories, right? democrats in '06 and '08, they took the house, took the senate, took the white house, swung more than five dozen seats in congress from red to blue over those two elections. in 2010, the pendulum swung back the other way, right? republicans had a huge year in 2010. they took back all of the democratic gains in congress from the previous two elections and then some. now, the next big election is in 2012. is the pendulum staying on the republican side or is it swinging back? joining us now is democratic pollster, celinda lake. miss lak

new hampshire to someone other than mitt mift because they don't want to core on eight him, i think mitt romney could survive them. if mitt romney loses in iowa and then loses in new hampshire, he will be crippled and won't be the nominee. john huntsman must win new hampshire for the reasons you said. maybe it's possible a very, very strong second place keeps him on the race. >> you pick it up here, john. south carolina has been the kingmaker for the republicans ever since the party went south and become a southern-based party. who has to win down there to city in the race. it seems perry and cain have to do incredibly well there. >> especially since neither one is going to be competitive in new hampshire. south carolina, if you can't win the first southern primary if you're a candidate who is going to win the nomination based on regional strength, you're in significant trouble. and mitt romney looks very strong in florida, which is coming up right after that. you need to -- one of those guys -- >> does everybody agree that perry and cain is -- >> if perry makes it that far. i'll disagre

to someone other than mitt romney, i think mitt romney could still survive that. i think if mitt romney loses in iowa and doesn't come in first and then loses new hampshire, he will be fundamentally crippled and won't be able to be the nominee. jon huntsman i think must win in new hampshire for the reasons you just said. maybe it's possible that a very, very, very, very strong second place keeps him in the race. but he has put all his chips on the table there and he's bet it all on black. >> let's go south with you. you pick it up here, john. south carolina's been the king maker ever since the party went south. who has to win down there and stay in the race? it seems to be perry and cain have to do incredibly well or they're not relevant among the baptists. >> especially since neither one will be competitive in new hampshire, i don't think. south carolina, they're a regional-based candidacies. if you can't win the first southern primary based on regional strength, you're in significant trouble. mitt romney looks strong in florida, coming up right after that. so yo

said that his name has always been mitt. >> mitt romney's full name is willard mitt romney. >> mitt is his middle name. >> i'd like to see your long form birth certificate. >> willard suffers an identity crisis. >> i'm mitt romney, and yes, wolf, that's also my first name. >> he has the distinction of being the luckiest bird on the face of the earth. >>> iowa christian conservatives are uniting to stop mitt romney from winning the republican nomination, according to a cnn report. representatives from leading iowa social conservative groups held a secret meeting on monday in des moines, which i guess isn't secret anymore. and they discussed which candidate they might endorse, endorse in order to prevent romney from winning the iowa caucuses. bob vander plots, the president of the family leader, who had a representative at the meeting and invited some of the attendees said, "our concern is that if the conservatives stay as fragmented as they are, that romney could win the iowa caucuses, and if he wins the iowa caucuses, he'll be the nominee. so i think there's an urgency to say, well,

, while mitt romney does. and there's one other thing i'd add to that. you need to be able to survive scrutiny. and newt gingrich up to now has had the advantage of low expectations. the media hasn't gone and looked at the 17 organizations he's running -- he's run. one good example, the other night at the debate, on cnbc, they asked about $300,000 he was paid by, what was it, freddie or fannie. and you know, when they were trying to get political influence in washington to keep the regulators off their back. he said that they turned to him because he was a historian and he would give them historical lectures. i spoke to someone at fannie mae about that, and they were laughing about this. he wasn't telling the truth. no one's dug into a lot of these things, in 30 years of political controversies. so he may come up for a while, but he's going to fall down like everybody else, like we say see herman cain now. you may be left with mitt romney because there's nobody else in the barrel of apples. >> david, i agree w

there's mitt romney who has a stable 20% to 25% support. mitt romney did a fantastic job tonight.very debate he does incredibly well, looks presidential and says theç right things for the republican conservative electorate. three out of four republicans don't trust mitt romney and that's probably not going to change. the other battle, the non-romney candidate that's going to emerge and get down to a two-person race between romney and somebody else. newt gingrich did a fine job tonight. it was interesting to see michele bachmann is the one person who did take a swipe at him on the immigration issue and challenged him going down the same path that torpedoed rick per perry's campaign a few months ago. newt took a body blow. i'm interesting to see if that makes movement in the polls. overall newt had a very grasp of the issues and he's going to probably stay solid in the polls at this point in time. >> ron, let me stay with you on this immigration question, because it seems to me that newt gingrich found a new way of talking about it. perry's way of talking about it was obviously dis

mitt romney has valued outsourcing.iowa, he said that corporations are people with all the same rights. in nevada, one of the states with the worst housing crisis and foreclosure crisis, he said the mortgage crisis should run its course and hit bottom. he had a plan for the speculators to step in, but not for the people living in those homes. people think he is a flip-flop peper. the only thing scarier are the issues where he has refused to change. he has been rock solid in siding with the privileged over the middle class. the autoworker versus the financial engineer, or employees of versus corporations, he has been consistent on whose side he is gone. if you are in the hard-working middle class, your left at the scrap heap. in the next four years, there will be more challenges, and more crisis. as good as i'm standing before you, that is what you can guarantee will happen. those challenges and those crises will determine the economic vitality of a middle class and the economic future of this country. those character, w

i'm not knocking mitt. i like mitt. dad who decide who gets the republican nomination, right, mitt romney is just sort of a big question. pro life? my dad, my mom very pro life. my dad was a money guy. but he would still go, okay. how does a guy in his 50s go from being pro choice to pro life, go from being pro gun control to anti-gun control? i don't get it. i don't get it. >> also when he talks about business, he actually isn't that kind of a businessman that people relate to. he is much more the guy who arrives with a severance package. that's how he comes across. when you look at him that is exactly who he looks like. >> gene, we're being awfully tough on mitt romney. >> yeah. >> we're -- >> ow. >> the guy probably will win the republican nomination but we've been seeing in the polls he has actually jumped up a little bit to 27%. he's ahead of -- 28%. he is ahead of herman cain. that is a better showing than he's done in sometime. but the bigger story here is that as romney becomes more inevitable he is going to hav

not many people are talking about mitt romney. not many people have talked about mitt romney.is campaign wants, isn't it? you and i talking about him, just talk about him. you know? what do you think? >> well, i mentioned there might be something to that in terms of the strategy. everyone is saying the ad that they just released. no the only in terms of ad time but news agencies are broadcasting it. it's important to realize that the public is being told throughout the day that mitt romney is caught blatantly lying. that's not necessarily somethinw that the campaign wants to be associated with, especially realizing that looking back over the last several weeks that romney has been caught in a series of lies. and once you have a reputation for dishonesty, it's hard to shake that once your integrity is undermined. >> speaking of integrity, all of them have denounced the stimuluç package and many say the economy would be in worst shape without the stimulus package. it has added as many as three million jobs in the third quarter of this year. will that make a difference to republi

i'm mitt romney.te for president and the current leader in the polls for the republican nomination. you don't hear much about me in the news because the other candidates like herman cain and rick perry are hogging all the headlines with sex scandals and whoops a daisies. that's why my staff and i decided i'm too boring and i should become 15% to 17% more edgy. tonight, mitt romney is going to let loose. get ready for mitt romney, raw and unleashed. now, rick perry and herman cain are also getting attention for flubbing some straightforward policy questions. i planned my own embarrassing mistake. here it is. >> governor romney, what would be your first act as president? >> well, if elected president, my first act would be to repeal obama hair. oops. i mean obama care. what an endearing flub. >> that was jason sedakis playing mitt romney on nbc's "saturday night live". the real mitt romney is in new hampshire and is talking about job creation. take a listen. >> i tend to make america the job creating ma

for mitt romney. chris: those romney madmen who he cooked up those ads, obsession. the obama crowd may not be obsessed at least not yet but they're definitely already focused on romney. and they confess they're disappointed that romney's emerging from the primaries so unbloodied. by his opponents. >> i don't know that his positions have been scrutinized that carefully. i know governor perry has made some halting efforts to do that in these debates. but he hasn't exactly got -- gotten the gun out of the holster. chris: rough talk. gun out of the holster. but they seem to be bugged and you heard it from axelrod talking to reporters that nobody has done any damage to romney in all these fights. >> well, give romney credit and his campaign credit. he took a page from the richard nixon book from 1968. limits his access to the press. so you have to give romney a lot of credit. i think the obama people are right to be concerned about it. i am not of the group that says romney has this tied up yet. i recogniz

mitt romney, he survived this debate unscathed. he's yet to suffer a kind of campaign altering blunder that national televised debates like these tend to encourage. so he seems steadily on top of the pack and is showing prom nice stapromise in states like north carolina but others are trying to make their way to the top as well. >> shauna shepherd, thank you so much coming to us from columbia, south carolina. >>> while they take types at president obama, the president is talking trade and jobs now. he's at the asia pacific economic cooperation summit in hawaii. and mr. obama is pushing for a new free trade agreement, the transpacific partnership. it would include the u.s. and nine other countries and cover about one-third of the global economy. president obama says it would create jobs in the u.s. >> this is where the action is going to be. if we're going to not just double our export but make sure that good jobs are created here in the united states, then we're going to have to continue to expand our trade opportunities and econom

here was mitt romney today. let's watch him. >> some of the democrats were asked, what's the president role been to help the super committee come to consensus. the answer is he hasn't had any role. he's done nothing. it is another example of failed leadership. he has not taken personal responsibility to get the super committee to find ways to balance our budget and cut spending. >> well there he is, taunting the president to be a leader, joe. you're smiling because there was the president coming back with real mettle. he heard the taunt and responded all right, buddy, you want leadership? i'm going to veto it. >> exactly. that's the thing. hearing the president actually say no to something that the republicans have proposed is refreshing to a lot of democrats, who have pretty much accused him of bending over backwards to compromise. that strategy hasn't borkd worked. it's worked for republicans and not the white house. this is something new and does speak of leadership and reminds me of the fact that the super c

so i don't want to say that mitt romney's going to be the nominee, but mitt romney's going to be thewhen i talked to fá democrats about that, and particularly when i talked to washington democrats about that, i keep hearing pushback from romney, as a flip-flopper, is aá good way to run against him.fá there seems to be skepticism on the democratic side that mitt romney's inability to hold a single position on any major issue is a real electoral liability for him. do you see that as a liability for him?fá or are people going to need to go after him from a different way on the democratic side? >> i think it's a huge liability. democrats may be getting confused because they don't know which mitt romney to run t( against, but of all of the mitt romneys we're presented, when we talked to voters last week in michigan, the number one thing they said they wanted was people who stood for something. ifferent . position every night.t( it's not a minor one. he's like a 360-change.w3 it's like those dolls whose head goes around. you don't know what you're jf getting. that's not what the public wan