nominee for president is almost certainly going to be one of three candidates so michele bachmann rick perry or mitt romney we have a top here it is mitt romney rick perry michele bachmann guess what if you get video of syrup alun or get a sound bite from her brain dead back unless you can hold the ron paul stuff. i have gotten a ton of e-mail today from people saying look ron paul finished one hundred fifty two votes behind the shell bachmann to be instructed basically a dead heat why are we giving him his no well let me start with a certain question because it's easier to remember it was the latest or rather he's not going to be taking over united states libertarian he's not going to be elected we're not a libertarian country so what's the deal here the people are voting ron paul's views on everything from gold to ending the wars to closing down the federal reserve are starting to be adopted by more mainstream republicans his ideas have remained consistent and yet according to most of the people out there on the media he is on a lot well luckily the ron paul camp is still full speed ahead i want to leave

nominee for president is almost certainly going to be one of the three candidates michele bachmann rick perry or mitt romney we have a talk here it is mitt romney rick perry michele bachmann guess what if you get video surveillance or get a soundbite from her brain get back to us you can hold the ron paul stuff. i have gotten a ton of e-mail today from people saying look ron paul finished one hundred fifty two votes and michele bachmann of the instructor basically a dead heat why are we giving him his due oh well let me start with the second question because it's easier to remember who is the latest one ron paul is not going to be playing there you know it sticks with the carrot is not going to be elected where you're going with the country. so what is the deal here i mean the people are voting ron paul's views on everything from gold to ending the wars to closing down lower federal reserve are starting to be adopted by more mainstream republicans his ideas have remained consistent and yet he is still according to most people and a lot of them well luckily the ron paul camp is still full speed ahead so i wa

nominee for president is almost certainly going to be one of the three candidates michele bachmann rick perry or mitt romney we have a top here it is mitt romney rick perry and michele bachmann here's what if you get video share a pail and we're going to sound bite from her bring that back to us you can hold the ron paul stuff. i have gotten a ton of e-mail today from people saying look ron paul finished one hundred fifty two votes behind michele bachmann of the ames straw poll basically a dead heat why aren't we giving him as. well let me start with a certain question because it's easier to remember it was the latest for ron paul he's not going to be playing the united states libertarian he's not going to be elected we have got a libertarian country so what's the deal here the people are voting and ron paul's views on everything from gold ending the wars to closing down the federal reserve these are views that are coming out and starting to be adopted by more mainstream republicans his ideas have remained consistent for decades and yet he is still according to most talking heads on the air on electable wel

the entire republican presidential campaign, people assumed mitt romney was not going do to compete in iowa. with rick perry, michele bachmann and ron paul in the race, i think the romney campaign is saying they could split the conservative side of the field and we could sneak in and win iowa. my prediction is he'll compete there full-on by next january. >> chris, here we are celebrating a monument to dr. king, ironically the civil rights organization he founded, the southern christian leadership conference son its last legs. it had a fight over alleged embezzlement, a bitter court fight among board members, but its biggest problem is it hasn't been able to carve out a role for itself in a nation that has a black president. >> helene? >> the obama administration thinks it's got a secret ace in the hole in these debt super committee negotiations that are coming up in the fall. they think at the end of the day, the trigger is tilted in such a way that it's going to hurt republicans much more than democrats. i think that could be what tips things over. >> will it bring republicans back to revenue hikes? >> that's what they're b

mitt romney, 13. where are we in iowa now? michele bachmann won the amos straw poll. is she the front runner? >> i think she's the one, as the american midwesterner, she has got it. for mitt romney, rick perryit's like a key conference game, home game that's really important. michele bachmann needs to win. i mean win, win, win iowa. mitt romney needs to win new hampshire. rick perry, even though south carolina and texas are far apart, as a deep southern state, he's got to really win in south carolina, so the question is who could edge in one way or the other? >> who can steal the game essentially? >> right or any wildcards that jump in. >> you mentioned, i think we've got this up and running. let's try new hampshire. new hampshire is a state, this is romney home territory. in '08, mccain won. >> right. where independents can vote in a republican primary, yes. >> this is a must win for mitt romney. there's no way he continues in the campaign? >> there's not a path to winning for romney that doesn't include winning in new hampshire. >> who, in your estimation, or is it too early, because we don't know about iowa, who is the biggest threat there? jon huntsman spending a lot of time and money t

rick perry dropping in, we've got ourselves a race. >> we have a top tier. it is mitt romney, rick perry and michele bachmann. >> we have a new top tier. perry, romney and bachmann. >> there's a top tier in this race of romney, perry and bachmann. >> that's fair so say. >> jon: really, fair to say? you're not forgetting anyone say an ideologically consistent congressman who came within 200 votes of winning the straw poll. isn't anyone going to give that gentleman a little love. >> there's a top tier of bachmann, perry and romney and we haven't mentioned, we should. >> bob: thank you. >> we haven't mentioned we should rick santorum who did surprisingly well for the amount of money and resources he had. >> jon: rick santorum. he didn't get half of what ron paul got. he lost to the guy who lost so bad he dropped out of the race. santorum? >> we're looking at mitt romney who continues to be the frontrunner. but we have rick perry as well and now michele bachmann. let's not count out john huntsman though. >> jon: what? john huntsman? huntsman got 69 votes. if all of john huntsmans sporters met at the same ames io

rick perry is an idiot, and i don't think anybody would disagree with that. >> the other republicans are still praying for help. >> mitt romney, rick perry, michele bachmann. >> men from mars? >> scoffing at science. >> ask him why he doesn't believe in science. >> in texas we create evolution. >> jon huntsman saying he does believe in evolution and climate change. >> i am not the only potential candidate. first rule of war is know your enemy. >> want to go all the way. >> oh, my goodness, yes! >> christine o'donnell tells nbc that she's a victim. >> borderline sexual harassment. >> he asked you about gay marriage. >> creepy line of questioning. >> he was asking her on same-sex marriage. >> personal questions. >> he was asking about same-sex marriage. >> lust in your heart is committing adultery, you can't masturbate without lust. >> i'm having problems with my audio. >> whatever her name is. >> her new book. >> one wonders why anyone would want to read a book from christine o'donnell. >>> good evening from new york, rick perry appears to be all hat and no cattle, at least when it comes to his tea party credentials, remember how he was bragging about his j

. >> who would be the strongest opponent, mitt romney, rick perry or michele bachmann?t the republicans decide that. >> diplomatic answer. >> got a beautiful state. love coming here to iowa every four years. you come here a lot more than that. >> proud of it. >> thanks, mr. secretary. thank you very much. >>> new comments by republican congresswoman michele bachmann may, repeat, may, may be raising red flags over at the pentagon and she's not the only republican presidential candidate saying some very controversial things about the military and the president. stand by. and concerns at the brazen kidnapping of an american citizen in pakistan was an inside job. new information coming in. stay with us here in "the situation room." aflac! oh, i've just got major medical... major medical. ...but it helps pay the doctors. pays the doctors, boyyy! [ quack ] oh yeah? what about your family? ♪ we added aflac, so we get cash! it's like our safety net... ♪ to help with the mortgage or whatever we need! so my family doesn't feel the pain too. ha! [ male announcer ] help protect you

when you think about that, mitt romney, rick perry and michele bachmann, and then if you throw in jon huntsman, i mean, you've got a quartet of hair -- >> i do like they're hair. >> anchormen and presidential candidate. do then have the same job requirements? for the big number. michele bachmann made the rounds sunday morning television, of course, this week at talking points in hand. over the course of five, count them, five morning interviews bachmann positioned herself as a successful business own are and a new one a job creator. suffice to say the eschew came up more than once. >> my husband and i started and own a successful company. >> my husband and i started a successful company. >> my husband and i started a successful company. >> my husband and i also started our own company. we have a successful company. >> my husband and i create add company. >> as a job creator. >> we're jacques job creators. >> job creators. >> well, how many times did michele bachmann call attention to her status as a business owner and job creator? in the course of one sunday morning, nine times. what

security really hasn't played a big role, but i suspect we will get statements from mitt romney, rick perry, michele bachmann story really broke last night as the rebels were moving into tripoli, the capital, moving into green square, which they have now renamed martyr square. but i suspect you'll be hearing from the candidates. we did hear, as you pointed out earlier, from senator mccain and lindsey graham, they indirectly took a swipe at the obama administration for supposedly not going more quickly and leading more robustly in the air campaign. >> wolf, stay with us, as we continue our breaking news coverage on libya. but i understand we have miked up and ready to go a former translator for moammar gadhafi. it's kind of hard to figure out what's next, and what's going inside moammar gadhafi's mind. but he's a professor at western state connecticut university now, and as i mentioned he was an aide and interpreter for gadhafi himself. i'm glad we have a chance to talk with you this morning. that seems to be the $50 million question, where is moammar gadhafi? what is going through his mind right now? will he

mitt romney. he's tied with rick perry who just announced and has a slight advantage over ron paul and michele bachmanns? let's bring in a. b. stoddard, associate editor at "the hill" newspaper which covers all things political in washington d.c. a.b., if you are an advocate of the president f if you're one of those who wants to see him reelected, these are not good numbers for the most powerful man in the world really. >> no. and ditch with the state of the economy and the window of time that president obama has to try to improve the economy, democrats are very worried about his standing, and i think that these numbers probably take the administration by surprise. i mean, i don't think at this point, um, that those sort of untested republican contenders, they've been candidates a while but not very long, to show them in matchups with the president doing that well is not a good sign at all. jon: yeah, i mean, ron paul has a national following from his previous campaign for president. michele bachmann, you know, has drawn a lot of attention for her tea party advocacy, but both of them are members of con

rick perry, 39%. mitt romney, 12%. ron paul, 9%, michele bachmann, 8%. play, but theoretically it suggests his base and after the first four, a lot of states in the south, super tuesday, is the south going to be the kind of strength of rick perry? >> i think that, you know, it does start with the first, iowa, and new hampshire, but it's all about momentum and if he can stay in the game, you know, stay in the game against bachmann in iowa and mitt romney in new hampshire, and get to the south where he's stronger, i think that would be key. >> mike huckabee even though after he lost florida and the nomination was over in 2008, he won a bunch of southern states. i want to play sound, someone last night asked mitt romney would you consider yourself the front-runner for the nomination. here's what he had to say, and we'll come back and talk about it. >> i'm following the strategy i've had and that we've laid out from the very beginning. and the field is still fluid. they're going to be potentially other candidates. i heard today george pataki's thinking of ge

mitt romney, rick perry and michele bachmann, three leading republican presidential candidates, are encouragedy these sudden obama slide. >> that is not because he's not campaigning. it's because he's not leading. the american people need a president who will lead this economy back to vitality. >> romney campaigned in new hampshire, his strongest early primary state. rick perry was in iowa. he skipped the weekend straw poll but perry has appeal here as a texas governor cutting regulation and adding jobs. >> i will be a pro-business president. getting america back to work. >> michele bachmann is basking in heroin of the straw poll. >> my fwoel is to be new different. >> it's working so far. congresswoman bachmann will lead the fight on capitol hill this fall against the president's plan to cut the deficit deeper by hiking taxes on the rich. brent cannon, nbc bay area news. >>> for the first time in almost a decade a majority of california school kids are proficient in english and math. 2011 standardized test results are in today showing 54% of kids are proficient in english and 50% are proficie

really american voter has been hammered by a character list from dumb and dumber mitt romney michele bachmann rick perry are constantly changing their soundbites to appeal to who are more of their talking with. ron these conservative policy is reliables obama's anti-war position and romney is a total big government it's highlife obamacare instigator in chief so i know you don't need any more convincing romney sucks. to rick perry michele bachmann just two years ago rick perry stood on the steps of the austin capital talking about seceding from the united states now he's saying how much he loves it here so what is it rick you love your country or are you going to leave it but what about this notion rick perry is a job creator let's think about that do you know what kind of jobs rick perry has created texas has the highest percentage of workers making minimum wage out of all fifty states in two thousand and seven two hundred twenty one thousand residents of texas were making minimum wage and by twenty ten the number has doubled to five hundred fifty thousand rick perry would have you believe he knows how

mitt romney. you have michele bachmann in there, great race and winning the straw poll over the weekend. i think it ends up being a three-person race. michele bachmann, rick perryromney. megyn: you say he won't win in he's george w. bush or ronald reagan. he has to be rick perry which seems more like john wayne. >> everybody is trying to say he's like george bush or ronald reagan. that ad you just ladies an introduction of rick perry and it plays in hearted of america. my wife, one of 11 children, first one born in a hospital. didn't have indoor plumbing until she was 12 years old. rick perry not until he was 6 years old. it plays in that hard-working family that guy out of the middle part of this country and made it well. it reminds me of ronald reagan going to school on a needy school scholarship to eureka college. it plays in heartland. megyn: why is he distancing himself from george w. bush. >> because all the attack ads against george w. bush the last few years have done damage to george w. bush and the reputation of george w. bush. this president ran against george w. bush. he wants this president to run against rick perry. he has to show he's different t

it is mitt romney, rick perry and michele bachmann. a couple other candidates that can make some waves. ron paul proved he can do that. he's going to be a nuisance to the field. rick santorum is going to live off the land, as they say. but this is -- we have our top tier. it's those three, and the question now is, and we'll see it tonight in waterloo, the first showdown between perry and bachmann, but you have the two of them fighting for, as david brody, i think it is, the tea-vangelical vote, combining the tea party and the social conservatives. >> the big question is why iowa matters and does it matter as you're trying to look toward the general election? "since the 2000 contest, a succession of socially moderate contenders have chosen to largely bypass the caucus, concluding that it is dominated by religiously devout voters. fergus cullen have argued what many gop republican strategists have privately argued in he cent years, iowa caucus has become so tilted towards social conservatives that it has become an evangelical primary. th

poll shows if it were held today president barack obama could lose to mitt romney tied with rick perry and barely beat michele bachmann. what happens with the unemployment rate will be key for president barack obama. >> if that looks like it is dropping a point or two every month it will help him a lot but if it does not happen it will be around for him to win. >>> the man accused of strange willing a napa state worker is sentenced today. he pled no contest for the attempt of donna gross. kidnapping charges were dropped in exchanged to no contest plea. he will get 20 years to life in prison. >>> they are trying to figure out who threw a baby from a window. a witness called from seeing a baby dropped from the upper level of a garage at the hospital. the baby is now at another hospital. police do not have any information on the baby's identity and can only say he is between one and three years old. >>> in the marine county neighborhood, some valley residents have end stalled their own cameras after believing it would deter criminals. several installed cameras after a long debate about privacy concerns. >> you just have

indicator of anything, some notable story lines have emerged, mitt romney has the money, rick perry may have the momentum. and michele bachmann remains in the news for how she's treated the others. it happened again last night in the big debate in iowa. it's where we begin tonight with nbc's andrea mitchell in des moines. andrea, good evening. >> reporter: good evening. it was arguably the most memorable moment of that debate, brian. it was the question to michele bachmann about her marriage, her faith and how it would affect her ability to be president. today people were talking about whether women politicians are still being treated differently than men. >> did anybody catch the debate last night? >> reporter: she is the front-runner in iowa, but on stage last night, for michele bachmann, a political debate unexpectedly turned personal. >> can you describe the moment in your life when your husband said you should study for a degree in tax law. you said you hated the idea, but you explained, quote, but the lord said, be submissive, wives you are to be sub miss sif to your husband. as president, would you be submissive to you

mitt romney i attribute a lot of it to matt rose, his campaign manager. disciplined saying, don't engage. don't fight every battle. the question for you, can rick perry draw mitt romney out in a way that michele bachmannen't been able to? he's been attacked -- he's ignored it. >> yes. >> how long until he starts -- >> he said this ramps up after labor day. we'll see them in three debates. ideally, for romney, if perry's up there, they'll get into a back and forth. the question is, is peractual -- perry actually going to debate? he isn't known as a strong debater. with perry in the race a strong contender for romney it make it is a nomination worth having. to win over pawlenty wouldn't be the same thing. >> right. >> exactly. >> five debates in the next 60 days. so we'll have a proving ground. first, before the panel, we're going to trivia time. we asked, which president took the longest vacation while on the job? the answer -- james madison. near the end of his presidency, madison left washington for, count them, four months. he took off in june of 1816 and didn't come back until october. >>> we'll be right back with more from our panel. you're watching "the daily rundown" only on msnbc. [ man ] i got

mitt romney has, but this is good for mitt romney. sarah palin is not drinking the same water that mitt romney is. he's over there with michelle bachmann and to some extent rick perry and bachmann duke it out. >> i remember that debate a few weeks ago in iowa. you could almost see mitt romney smiling. karen finney, go. >> prayers for pat summit. amazing woman coach, mentor, and i hope she will have another successful season, because think about what kind of hope that brings to people who are suffering from this disease to show that you actually can continue your life. >> i would say an inspiration. my life is a college coach. a huge inspiration for her. thanks for mentioning it. kasie? >> gold man and nathalie pozo has a thing on tv. >> the traditional shameless plug. tune in tomorrow night for our interview with john huntsman where we began. >> i always, always do. thank you, david, thank you, kasie, thank you, karen. that's it for this edition of "the daily rundown." we'll see you right back here tomorrow on 9:00 a.m. coming up next on nbc, it's jansing and company. and at 1:00, don't miss the andrea mitchell reports. >>> business travels forecast, looking at lea

perry be the main conservative rival eclipse michele bachmann? be right back. cc1:cc1:cc1:cc1:c: chris: welcome back. texas governor rick perry appears ready to challenge mitt romney and michele bachmann. in the most reason poll has him already second to romney in this race. perry hopes to duplicate george w bush's pro pulling from austin to number one. the differences are highlighted by a great piece incc1: "texas monthly" called "dear yankee, what you need to about rick perry. perry is the son of a pearm. he was born dirt poor. perry has always been close to the conservative base, never cozy with the establishment. mike, this is a question for everybody watching. is the new republican party right now the tea party oriented party really a rick perry party more than a gorge bush party? >> absolutely. this is what is interesting about his emergence in the race. if he didn't exist, the republican party would invent someone like him. this is a much more consent, much more down holm -- it's someone who has never been in washington, never really been part of the political establishment even in his own state. the bush family regards rick perry as something as a question

americans are looking for in this country and the reason why donald trump and rick perry and mitt romney, michele bachmann and sarah palin resonate with the american people is that american in this country are starving for real leadership. people with guts and a spine. this president hasn't been able to exhibit any of those things at all. >> do you believe that barack obama is a loyal, patriotic american. >> of course. >> thank you. chairman of the republican party. >>> up next michele bachmann was once worried about anti-americanism in congress. now she's worried about the rise of the soviet union. yes, the sovietdown union. we'll talk about that in the side show. you're watching "hardball." i >>> back to "hardball." now for the side show. first up, it's on. that's what jon stewart had to say to standard and poors last night on "the daily show." >> you mess with us, we mess with you. you may be subject to several depositions by government officials. plus, interviews by investigators that in some cases could lead to fines. obviously, it's a negotiation in many respects. the point is there's a strong chanc

and that will be much much harder to do for them if it is someone like mitt romney or rick perry or michelle bachmann for a variety of reasons i scary to some voters and are the kind of candidates who will motivate the democratic base to turn out which is a huge fear of the white house now. if there's a plain vanilla republican nominee, you'll get a low turnout election where the democratic base is not that excited, doesn't want to come out for the 3red because they're frustrated because of the deals like today. >> charlie: that's the highest likelihood. >> if rick perry becomes the nominee you will be an amed up electorate because there are a lo of things up setting and frightening and note valuating to black votersr young voters. let'john perry be the nominee or jon huntsman be the nominee. >> charlie: close this out for me, if you look at the congress over the next six months, what do you expect to see. >> i think it's very messy. i would be very surprised if that superommittee is able to come up with a recommendation and there will be a battle what that means for triggering and i think the bush t

. >> up in waterloo where rick perry and michele bachmann and mitt romney had an event yesterday afternoon. he brought a big throng with him no doubt about it. >> laura: tell us what happened last night there was some scuttlebutt how michele bachmann didn't listen to rick perry's speech and he sat and listened to her speech. is that much to do about nothing or what happened? >> it doesn't isn't any kind of measure who would make a better president it is important politically. in iowa and in new hampshire, the two most renowned first in the nation states, voters caucus goers, really demand a the love attention. they are michele bachmann goes out of her way to point out she was born in iowa specifically waterloo. last night's event took place in the electric park lounge the very same place where michelle balkman announced her candidacy about five weeks ago. they had rick santorum and rick perry speak. they got there early and worked the crowds aggressively. ms. bachmann stayed away. she had a family reunion yesterday that and you some amount of her time. before her remarks she parked her bus

turn to the other republicans who have announced they're running for president: mitt romney, michele bachmann, rick perry. they all opposed the debt ceiling deal. you were on the senate floor during the debate. you criticized republicans who opposed the deal. you called them "tea party hobbits." would you call romney, bachmann and perry tea party "hobbits?" >> what i was talking about, quoting from a "wall street journal" editorial was there was a segment of the republican senators that said we cannot raise the debt limit until we pass a balanced budget amendment to the constitution. the senate would not pass... would not get 67 votes. so in my view, it was unrealistic to tell... you've got to tell the american people the truth. that's one of the reasons why people are mad at town hall meetings. they don't think they're being told the truth. tell them the truth. we could not have passed it. that was unrealistic. hobbits are unrealistic. it was unrealistic to say we could raise a balanced budget amendment. by the way, i have always supported a balanced budget amendment. >> reporter: governor rick perry ju

rick perry in south carolina, he's stealing a lot of thunder from the folks in iowa. who -- i guess who is most threatened by rick perry right now? is it mitt romney? it is michele bachmanno should be shaking in their boots right now, maria, that rick perry is getting in the game? >> i think it should be all of them, t.j., but because mitt romney is the current front-runner, he should be the one that's most nervous, because we see in polls already that when rick perry comes in, he's going to be already a close second to mitt romney. and frankly, a lot of the conservatives have their eye on him in terms of becoming the front-runner when he jumps in. unfortunately, for the general, though, if he does end up becoming the nominee, he is a very out of the mainstream candidate who likes to tout job creation in texas, but, yet, unemployment in texas has gone up from 8.1 to 8.2. and the jobs that he has created in texas, mostly government jobs, and he likes to rail against the government. so a little hypocritical there. i'm actually looking forward to really focusing on his record or lack thereof in terms of growth for the middle class in texas. >> lenny, you agree, he's a threa

mitt romney has done everything he can to stay above the fray. i think he'll continue to do that. at some point he's going to have to engage rick perry. to a lesser extent engage michele bachmannerry has to get past michele bachmann in iowa and get past mitt romney. here's what they represent. here's what i represent. here's why they're different and why you should vote for me. i can't imagine it's that far off. i would guess post-labor day we'll see more of it. >>> i'm savannah guthrie. that does it for this edition "andrea mitchell reports." andrea will be back tomorrow. she'll talk jobs, the economy and 2012 politics with mississippi governor ha eor hal boar. >>> we're getting more details on the president's specific plan to push congress for another round of stimulus spending and tax credits. plus, congresswoman mac sexine waters will join us live. >>> and the crackdown in syria. human rights groups say 2,000 people have been killed by government forces. now the white house gives its strongest condemnation yet of president bashir al assad. and your soul, you're missing that part of your life that just fulfills you. ♪ [ male announcer ] for us at humana, relationships matte

mitt romney had a good week. i say that, because rick perry getting in splits a vote with michele bachmann that was already not goingey. mitt romney is the establishment who is remaining and in the end could not these primary voters. >> let's turn the conversation to joe and start rick perry who is facing criticism. after suggesting that ben bernanke is convicted of treason. what do you think, joe? do you think that perry looked unpresidential this week? do you think he had a good week? >> god yes. i'm sorry. i couldn't even wait for you to finish the question. absolutely. i mean, first of all, he's a republican. he's an appointed -- was appointed by a republican. this is the most nonpresidential statement that has been made and that's why he caught it from basically republicans. can you imagine what texas bankers were saying when they heard that? and how he would be treated in and what do we do to people who are treasonness? he thinks he was being cute and to go back to mitt romney? i mean, come on. people are corporations. that's what mosolina said. and we used to call it fashionism. there is an effort by republic

>> it's now a three-person race, mitt romney, michele bachmann and the new guy, rick perry. so yeah, she's credentialed herself today but she's got a tough choice. now she's got to decide does she try to outconservative rick perry like she did pawlenty or try to demonstrate she can beat barack obama in a general election. >> i wanted to pose that question to her today because you said earlier that this is either the beginning of her campaign or the end of her campaign. she either has to appeal to a broad base and become the nominee or to a group, to i an core group. >> yes, is she pat buchanan or ronald reagan. she doesn't have to abandon her principles or anything she believes. but can she make her principles work on a larger audience? a big test for her, probably not. her history is she's more of a social conservative and she needs to talk economy. how are we going to create jobs. >> she needs to talk economy. >> yeah. >> among other things, is that what you believe she's not -- she's not hitting that point hard enough? >> not strong enough now and running against a govern

straw poll in ames and yet everybody kind of glossed over him was acting like mitt romney and michele bachmann and rick perry are the only ones worth talking about well maybe people will get talking after they look at this new that is. it's the story of a lost city. opportunity lost a story the same policies leadership the story you're smiling too she. says she said. to be sure. she. spoke. to the. principal. use of the spare. liberty. to. restore america now. i'm going to go out on a limb and say it's probably the most epic campaign ad i've ever seen what about you guys. announcement but it was actually pretty epic i would say yes i was saying to them i could not get out well i mean at least this one really kind of addresses the issues head on i mean to. video also did you know actually you know i read the script of it and i thought oh that's a little bit over the top you know this is this is still over the top but it's still pretty good and it's going to bring these i mean you know i mean like this is clearly the second coming of jesus he is the messiah and now i think that's a play really good with libert

rick perry, it's been a week now. >> we are going to go to break now, do you buy the top tier michele bachmann, mitt romney, rick perrynventional wisdom or is it right? >> that's the working tier. i think there's still some room there for growth, with some candidates. whether or not they politically elevate themselves of where they're going to be contenders, newt gingrich -- policy spin in the conversation, for example now, whether or not that gets them to the point where he's going to be side by side on that stage politically remains to be seen. there's a lot of travel time between where we are now and november and december. >> we always mistake that people, regular people are paying attention as closely as we are. >> we'll be back. even chuck todd is out there. >> we're here with you. >> we'll be back with the panel shortly. but first, trivia time. we asked how many sitting u.s. presidents have vacationed on martha's vineyard. the answer, three. barack obama, we knew that one, bill clinton, we knew that one, b other presidents such as kennedy, nixon and calvin coolidge visited the island, but not during their presid