howard fineman and john heilemann. i have to ask you about some questions and challenges facing mr. romney tonight. let's go to the advantages and disadvantages starting with the disadvantages, the character questions. let's look at this. it's evident in these nbc wall street journal polls he has some problems. obama beats him by 45 points on the question of likable and easy going. this is more important. caring about average people, obama beats romney by 12 points, more than double digits. on being honest, straightforward, obama is ahead of romney by 11 points. i don't think the the performance by ryan last night helped the honesty factor either at all. we'll be getting to that later to show. howard, you're shaking your head. the honesty thing. i didn't think that would show up that high. >> i didn't either. i think he can forget about the likability number. mitt romney is not overnight or in the last two months of this campaign going to come anywhere close to barack obama as a likable guy you'd want to sit here and channel side and have a cup of coffee with. so that's not of a concern. the other