i had no idea. [ laughter ] and rick perry, you know? rick perry -- rick didn't fair much better. when he was told about kim jong-il, he said, "i never heard of him, but then again, i don't listen to that rap music." [ laughter ] so i don't think -- i don't think he understood -- kim jong -- yeah. i don't know. [ cheers and applause ] you know, did you see this? you know, during the debates the other night, rick perry compared himself to tim tebow. you know what rick and tebow have in common? both their seasons will end before february. okay? that we know. we know both their seasons -- [ cheers and applause ] i know, i tell ya -- i am gonna miss rick perry 'cause he makes so many mistakes -- that his campaign -- what they've told him to do is get back to basics, and in his campaign ads, just talk about what you know. that's what they told perry. "just talk about what you know." well, here's his latest ad. ♪ >> it's almost 2012. i'm rick perry, and i approve this message. [ laughter and applause ] and "the new york post" is reporting that jets quarterback m

rick perry, rick perry is really trying to capitalize on his connection to even gelcles. he practices a style of christianity himself and i went to church this morning here in iowa and saw rick there and trying to connect and kind of giving a confessional about his faith and it really hasn't worked yet. he hasn't broken through to even gelcles one of the reasons that is the case newt gingrich has and he seems to have a lot of those voters, even gelcle voters in iowa on his side which is surprising, but part of it is because he's apologized and apologized a lot, you know, in the last four or five years and continues to do so. >> how does this catholicism resonate, whether it be among evangelicals or anyone else who is trying to uphold some sort of standard of religion as it relates to a candidate for presidency? >> it's kind of ironic. you think someone like gingrich, himself an evangelical for 25 years, he converts to catholicism in 2009. his wife is a catholic and brought him into the church. you would think this might take a lot of evangelicals off him leaving the faith but it had the opposite effect. it's being interpreted a as born again experience. i've talked to a numb

perry were at that point two front-runners. and so they clearly had an interesting kind of going back and forth at each other. so if mitt romney attacks rick perry or mentioned rick perryond response. and if rick perry in his response chooses to attack mitt romney it then goes back to a rom nie and it can go back and forth. >> dave: so you in fact control your own fate to a certain extent in this format. >> and it eats up a lot of time from other candidates. >> you know who was here last night was jon huntsman. >> i saw that. >> dave: seemed like a terrific guy, seemed like a smart, reasonable fellow but yet not doing well nationally. i understand he has come up a bit in the polls in new hampshire. many anything, should he quit. where does he get his money, is it family money, he is wasting money. >> just as you don't want judge as rested, i think the last thing you want is news anchors determining who should quit and who should run for president. so i leave that up to the american people but look, he hasn't gotten the traction clearly that he would like. he's not well-known. he wasn't well-known, though he has an impressive track record of being ambac-- ambassador to

rick perry. rick perry is well financed. rickng a very clever commercial that appeals to these religious conservatives, so we can't discount him yet. >> nia, when you talked about the money and the organization, you also have to talk about the money that's going against him. look at what romney's pac -- willard has a super pac that has $3.2 million they are spending in iowa. and compared to newt, leroy, on planning to spend $233,000. we just had an embed from nbc to show show us that we have this coming out of ron paul's campaign. they sent a mailer to iowa voters saying among other things gingrich is the latest flavor of the month, this particular flavor, however, will leave a bitter taste. so nia, not only is it a question does he have the money to fight, the question is that the guys against him are spending money to paint a bad picture of him. >> exactly. there's just been this wholesale dumping on newt gingrich, not only from his immediate rivals in this race, but from the washington establishment, folks like kathleen parker

appointed by rick perry who got a tremendous amount of money from the guy from the people who built a five hundred million dollars in waste management plant in texas second biggest auditor rick perry rick perry has an incentive to fix the system and then a guy who is handling the waste management then guess who he worked for right afterwards the same company that he was supposed to be regulating and chose not to regulate it's systemic how do you fix it you set rules where you say hey you know what for example if you were going to see you are not allowed to work in any company or even in the industry that you were regulating for a certain number of years i would do i would be draconian and say ten years well then people say oh nobody will want to work there well ok if you came to the government to rob us so you pay later on i don't like to work there i want honest people to work there and i want to pay a good fee to do it. you know i like that idea because you're coding and i don't think of that sounds bad at all now when it comes to our members of congress though right because apparently this entire story when it comes to this you see and what t.v. is reporting on bank came out thanks

perry's saying is i'm not mitt romney, and he's still trying to run against mitt romney, even though we've seen newt gingrich really climb quickly in the polls. it's really right now for rick perry, rick perryy race, and that's exactly what he's trying to do in that ad. >> mark preston up early for us, sharp as ever at the crack of dawn. thanks, mark. >> thanks. >> talk to you soon. >>> it's business as usual this morning in washington, and this time, it could cost you $1,000. competing plans to extend the social security payroll tax holiday for millions of americans both died in the senate last night. the average worker could see a $1,000 tax increase if this expires. the president's plan called for a new millionaires tax to cover the cost. republicans wanted to extend a pay freeze for federal workers. many in the gop say the payroll tax holiday is sapg social security and it hasn't done enough to boost growth. the president released a statement last night, saying in part, "senate republicans chose to raise taxes on nearly 160 million hard-working americans because they refused to ask a few hundred thousand millionaires and billionaires to pay their fair share." >>> the former hedge fund b

and rick santorum has surged and so has rick perry. rick perry's numbers are looking much, much better than they have. he was down in single digits. he's now up to 14%. and i -- perry is kind of the sleeper candidate here that i see from a distance of a whole weekend. i think he's got all the money. he's got some organization there. i think he potentially could do better than a lot of people expect. >> now, what about ron paul using the kind of isolationist foreign policy ideas as his closing argument? is it his sense that these ideas will play well in iowa? >> i can't imagine that he thinks they're going to play well enough for this to be the closing argument. and, you know, ron paul has to be, to do well, i think he has to kind of be beyond politics. he has to be ron paul. and once he starts thinking of electoral strategy and what's going to win him the argument in the caucuses, i think he's not at all good at that. i think his people are not at all good at that. and if this is what they have chosen, as a winning strategy, i don't think they've c

and rick santorum has surged and so has rick perry. rick perry's numbers are looking much, much better than they have. he was down in single digits. he's now up to 14%. and i -- perry is kind of the sleeper candidate here that i see from a distance of a whole weekend. i think he's got all the money. he's got some organization there. i think he potentially could do better than a lot of people expect. >> now, what about ron paul using the kind of isolationist foreign policy ideas as his closing argument? is it his sense that these ideas will play well in iowa? >> i can't imagine that he thinks they're going to play well enough for this to be the closing argument. and, you know, ron paul has to be, to do well, i think he has to kind of be beyond politics. he has to be ron paul. and once he starts thinking of electoral strategy and what's going to win him the argument in the caucuses, i think he's not at all good at that. i think his people are not at all good at that. and if this is what they have chosen, as a winning strategy, i don't think they've c

perry's new ad up on "news nation." >>> tamron hall gives me a great transition to rick perry. rick perrythe latest candidate to say no to donald trump's december 27th debate. in a statement ray sullivan said governor perry talked to donald trumps and respects him and the folks at news max. there are two debates in the next seven days and traditional retail campaigning in the days and weeks leading up to the caucus is the perry campaign's top priority. they said no, mitt romney said no. so far the only confirms are newt gingrich and rick santorum. maybe it turns into one of the lincoln douglas debates which means donald trump would have to be a time keeper. >>> president obama offered a powerful response to republicans who questioned his foreign policy and whether he's too weak to take on america's enemies like iran. >> ask osama bin laden and the 22 out of 30 top al qaeda leaders who have been taken off the field whether i engage in apiecement or whoever is left out there. ask them about that. >> william cohen served as defense secretary under president clinton and currently the chairman

rick perry is clearly the scarecrow. let me say about rick perry -- he illustrates the point that what's scary about some people is not what they don't know, but what they know that isn't true. newt's the wizard of oz. you think newt -- there's nothing there. i think he's ginned up this whole big thing. >> pay no attention to the man behind the curtain. anyway, now him, we'll really miss. but to be fair to the wizard of oz, all those characters did have something redeeming in them, the movie characters. >>> up and next, newt gingrich's rising at just the time. he's leading in iowa and closing the gap seriously in new hampshire. can newt keep up with mitt romney and take the fight all the way to the republican convention? you're watching "hardball" only on msnbc. >>> here's what's happening. >>> here's what's happening. the u.s. military says it's unlikely anything useful or valuable survived the crash in an unmanned surveillance drone in iran. it was flying a mission over western afghanistan when they lost control and it ended up crashing on iran's side of the border. >>> standard & poor's is putting 15 of the 17 members of the european union on negative credit watch. that could cause real problems for ministers trying to put together a bailout fund there. >>> the postal service is announcing drastic cutbacks aimed at keeping it from defaulting on a massive health payments benefit. it's cutting about 28,000 jobs. >>> and in florida, the navy says it doesn't know where this training mine that washed up on miami beach same from but they say they only contain a small explosive chart very difficult to set off. back to "hardball." >>> welcome back to "hardball." it's been a busy day in republican presidential politics as candidates scramble to pick up the pieces from the fallout of herman cain's suspended campaign. thanks to a new nbc marist poll, we're getting some indication of where cain's supporters may likely go in the early primary states. the nbc/marist poll also shows just how dramatically newt gingrich has surged into front-runner status. he now leads the pack in iowa and is catching up to mitt romney, even in new hampshire. newt certainly has a lot of detractors among prominent conservatives, but right now he also has the momentum in the race, while mitt romney's support continues to flat line. michael steele's the former chair of the republican national committee, and ed rendell is the former democratic national chair, and of course, the former governor of pennsylvania. both gentlemen are msnbc political analysts. let's look at some of these new numbers from the nbc/marist poll. in iowa, newt gingrich, the clear front-runner now. he's got 26% among likely republican caucus goers. romney is eight points behind with 18%, followed closely by ron paul. in new hampshire, mitt romney still leads with 39%, but newt gingrich has 23% and is climbing rapidly. if you look at the trend lines in both iowa and new hampshire, newt gingrich has made major gains while romney has slipped. in iowa, gingrich is up 21%. in new hampshire, he's up 19%. romney, on the other hand, lost 8%. and 6% of those two states since october. let me go to the home court right now with michael steele. it's your party. read the tea leaves. what's happening? >> well, what's happening right now is you're seeing that shift that you alluded to, certainly in gingrich's favor. the interesting thing about the polling right now, chris, is, who is the backup? where do these folks go, let's say, if gingrich stumbles. and the interesting thing is mitt romney. and so mitt romney is holding on, barely in the first place spot, but he is the fallback if, for example, gingrich has an oops moment and starts to lose that traction. so if i'm mitt romney's team, i'm not all that concerned, necessarily, because right now, they're playing for the fumble. they are, you know, waiting for the conventional wisdom to play itself out, that gingrich is going to stumble somewhere soon before january 3rd or shortly thereafter. and if i'm gingrich, i'm going to play for the goalpost here. i'm going to shoot for the stars and stay on the straight and narrow as long as and as hard as i can. so the next dynamic we're going to see played out is going to be leading up to that ballot box on january 3rd. >> what would you rather be, the guy running for the goalposts, running down the field, breaking away, or rather be the guy hoping that he stumbles? >> i would rather be the guy breaking away right now, to be honest with you. because i don't want to have to pin my future to someone else's failure or success. if i'm gingrich, i'll cut my own pathway. he knows he can't afford the screw-ups and the slip-ups, so i think you're going to see a steadier but quick campaign by gingrich. i think the romney folks will have to mix it up a little bit if they really want that fumble to occur. >> let's look at this from the other side of the field. governor rendell, you're looking at these two guys. there they are. they have track records. based upon their track records and the current momentum swing, who's winning this thing? it's all going to be over, by the way. look, we're talking about the 3rd of january now, coming on strong. less than a month. we're talking about the new hampshire primary just about a month. this thing's happening. >> there's no question, chris. but mitt romney has an ally here that michael did mention, and that's rick perry. rick perry is sitting at about 9% or 10%. he's got a boatload of money and he's got to find a way to use it effectively. he's not going to get votes from mitt romney. the way he's going to get votes is if he can tear down newt gingrich. he has to go hot and heavy after newt gingrich on television. in fact, that tape of gingrich and pelosi talking about global warming, he's got to put 1,000, 1,500 points on television for the next two weeks, showing people that tape. it would shock the living daylights out of a lot of iowa conservatives who are trending right now towards newt gingrich. so mitt romney's got to do some of the banging himself, but he's going to have a pretty powerful ally in rick perry. they've got the same motive right now, and that's to bring newt gingrich down. >> let me ask michael -- how do you see perry? do you see him alive enough to be even an attack dog? even if he can't win it, can he make noise and bring down newt? >> not effectively. i was going to see

rick perry. rick perry's sitting at about 9 or 10%. he's got a boat load of money and he's got to find a way to use it effectively. he's not going to get votes from mitt romney. the way he's going to get votes is if he can tear down newt gingrich. he has to go hot and heavy after newt gingrich on television. in fact, that tape of gingrich and pelosi talking about global warming, he's got to put 1,000, 1,500 points on television for the next two weeks, showing people that tape. it would shock the living daylights out of a lot of iowa conservatives who are trending right now towards newt gingrich. so mitt romney's got to do some of the banging himself, but he's going to have a pretty powerful ally in rick's to bring newt gingrich down. >> let me ask michael -- how do you see perry? do you see him alive enough to be even an attack dog? even if he can't win it, can he make noise and bring down newt? >> not effectively. to the governor's point, the only way that strategy works is if perry doesn't engage directly himself. i think the fact of the matter is there's been so much that's already been placed in the minds of voters with respect to perry, not just on the issues, but how he has come across, you know, in terms of being presidential, that that may not necessarily be a helpful spot for mitt. but you may be right. if he can just run the ads and not do the personal appearances or anymore debates, that may have a way to zing him. but i think in the end, those commercials with pelosi and gingrich were national commercials. the people in iowa have already seen them. the stuff about gingrich has already been baked into this thing, so it will take a heck of a lot more to unbake it. >> i disa

these new right wing anti voter laws and rick perry doesn't care to rick perry these voter was are just fine no problem it's the name of the game so then why is rick perry suing the state of virginia now. you see rick perry just like newt gingrich didn't get enough eligible signatures to have his name put on the ballot in virginia for the republican primary he needed ten thousand and actually got more than that but thanks to laws in virginia designed to kick voters off the rolls many of those signatures were declared invalid because the addresses didn't exactly match the addresses listed in the state's voter registration database so now rick perry suddenly has a problem with these restrictive voter id laws as perry's own communications director said regarding a lawsuit we believe that the virginia provisions unconstitutional restrict the rights of candidates and voters by severely restricting access to the ballot and we hope to have these provisions overturned or modified to provide greater ballot access to virginia voters and the candidates seeking to earn their support you see rick perry is today's pastor name who watch thousands and thousands o

, talking to romney folks about rick perry who at the time seemed like a very formidable rival to mitt romney. and basically their philosophy, their approach to rick perryng to be any one thing that knocks him out. it's going to be drip, drip, drip. you can see that taking place with newt. people feel like they have a good alternative to romney, sort of. and then there's just one thing after the other. and eventually there's one thing that kind of crystallizes it l all. it could these comment, i don't know. >> i want to telescope out to the broader implications. mark lynch writes a blog for foreign policy. he was part of a roundtable discussion in kuwait about u.s./middle east policy. he tweeted this, first question from kuwaiti press, how can we trust u.s. when gingrich denies -- he answered, i wanted to answer gingrich question with, quote, ignore radical fringe. if we look at this field and we talked a little bit about iowa and how it steers sort of republicans to the right, do you think that there are broader implications here in terms of the american brand when we have folks running to be the commander in chief of this country saying the things tha

night started with sketchy rumors of a rick perry resurgence, rumors rick perry ought to be taken seriously once again as a republican presidential candidate. rick perry the iowa x-factor was the headline today in the "washington post." the "post" reporting, quote, there's some chatter in republican political circles that perry's ads are finally starting to take hold in the hawk eye state and that his support is beginning to bump upward. "roll call's" political wire asking this morning, quote, is perry moving up in iowa? before themselves noting the sketchy nature of the reports on which their question was based. quote, no polling has picked up on that movement yet. everybody's been sort of waiting for the big rick perry comeback. this morning there appeared to be some maybe glimmer that it was finally upon us. the underappreciated thing about pi rick perry's candidacy, he has more money than you'd think looking at his polls. he has lots of money. on paper, rick perry was supposed to be competitive. he looked like a good candidate. again, on paper. so he did raise a lot of money right away. it was only when he started talking that things fell ap

rick uh -- perry. that's it. sorry -- rick -- i'm rick perry, and i'll be honest with you, that last debate, well -- it was a toughthought i had a good point there about shutting down those three agencies, you know, the commerce, education, and the uh -- what's the third one there? [ light laughter ] that's right. commerce, education and the -- well, it's the one i forgot. [ light laughter ] see, i had it on a note card, but the letters went all squirrelly on me. they were written in -- uh -- [ light laughter ] whew! what's that language they got over there in china? [ laughter ] it's like a bunch of little pictures? well, whatever the language is, that's what the words on the note card looked like. i couldn't read them. oops! [ laughter ] but look, what happened at that last debate doesn't change the fact that i still want to be your -- uh -- you know, your guy in the white house. [ light laughter ] i want to be that guy. [ light laughter ] and just because i couldn't remember the name of some agency doesn't mean that i can't be your president. president! [ light laughter ] that's the guy in the white house. [ ap

perry? >> you know, rick perry's strategy of running as an outsider makes sense, but running without a fifth grade or civic education doesn't make sense. the role of the exec ty and legislative branch, rick perryr of people in the supreme court and you've got newt gingrich advocating overturning the supreme court. i think they got their history lessons from michele bachmann and sarah palin. >> dean, what do you think about these ads and whether or not they will help that candidate? >> i think that it's a move in the right direction, congress is a 90% approval rating. perry could get more traction, let's dissolve congress. they should revolve disputes by combat. there's a mid evil times rest yaunt near d.c. but frankly, throwing the bums out what everyone says, we need term limits. in 2010, there's a 20% arooufl rating, won. so the problem in the system, we have the change congress term limits. >> okay, dean, thanks. now, your buzzer beater round, everyone. while the candidates are in the heat of the nomination, president obama is vacation vacationening. he's in hawaii, kissing babies. i don't know if you'd call that kissing. getting little hands shoved in his mouth. he's watching his approval

rick perry have been going at each other. i asked him about some of these attacks coming from rick perry, these criticisms from rick perry sayingrick santorum, you were a big proponent of pork barrel projects and earmarks. he had a sharp response to that. he said, look, governor perry has sent lobbyists to washington to lobby on behalf of the state of texas. so rick santorum is not shrinking from the fight. he also had a little bit of a shot at mitt romney saying to iowans, don't settle for something less just because you think that is what is going to win in this upcoming general election. so he's starting to sharpen the edges just a little bit. but he's sticking with the retail politics kind of message. he's hoping that's going to deliver him on caucus night, candy. >> jim acosta, i should point out one of the reasons reporters love iowa is that in general, you can show up at an event with a candidate and say, come on over here and talk to me and they actually do. after this, they get much bigger and it's hard to get to them. >> reporter: that's right. that's true. we'll take what we can get. >> thanks so much to jim acosta.

rick perry, the rick perry super pac, make us great again, $3 million spent, a lot of ad buys in iowa, we move further from his gaffe. does the money -- is cash really going to be king in iowa and the ad game? >> that is a great question. so far, had it hasn't helped rickno one has spent more money in iowa, actually in all the states than rick perry has. he has raised a considerable amount of money. also, you have that super pac supporting him, also spent a tremendous amount of funds some far, it hasn't worked. we will see for three weeks whether money and organization does matter. the perry campaign is hoping that is the case. but it has really been his debate perform mapses that have hurt him, although add pretty good one last night. >> nbc's mark murray, thanks so much. >>> we go right into it because call it a hail mary pass, rick perry hopes to be the tim tebow of the iowa caucuses. did you catch this? could he stage an underdog upset? talk about what he has to say last night. >>> speaking of tebow, two new york high school at sheets been suspended for organizing tee bog. have you seen this before? we will explain why they are in so much trouble. that ahead. >>> all right. so we want to get to our hiring now segment, dedicated to real job opportun

rick perry. when i asked him about "what about these earmark that is rick perry keeps bringing up that you supported when you were a senator in washington?" . and rickantorum said, wait a minute, rick perry has sent lobbyists up to washington to lobby on behalf of the state of texas. this is kind of a race for third place right now with rick santorum and rick perry, kind of the battle of the ricks. three tickets out of iowa, if rick santorum has one of those ticks, it's going to be very interesting to watch to see how he does in the coming weeks. >> it will because lots of times, i think when we look at these candidates and we think, you get a ticket out of iowa, but you have to have the money to back it up. and i think that's where the santorum campaign, if they believe they're going to get one of those three tickets, must be looking now saying, this is great, but moving ahead, certainly in a state like south carolina, certainly in florida, you've got to have some money to put down so that you can do the ad wars. is there any sign -- i haven't seen it and i'm sorry to ask you this because i don't know if you have the answer. any sign that his fund-

rick perry? the rick perry bubble really started to inflate in mid to early august. and then by the end of september that bubble was no more. again, roughly about seven weeks, maybe a little less. and now we have newt gingrich. the newt gingrich bubble began around october 27th. from that point on mr. gingrich's polling numbers just took off. seven weeks from october 27th would be today. which means that newt gingrich would appear to have fully gestated and right on cue the polls are beginning to reflect that. nate silver at "the new york times" reporting tonight, "the polling data i've seen over the last two or three days suggests that newt gingrich's momentum has stopped and has probably reversed itself." not only has newt gingrich now lost his lead in iowa to mitt romney according to one new poll out today from rasmussen but look at this national gallup tracking poll between mitt romney and mr. gingrich. gingrich jumped out to an enormous lead as his bubble inflated. but look at the very end there. newt gingrich crumbling and mitt romney gaining. it appears to be baby fed fox time for knute newt gingrich. he has fully jess taited as a non-mitt romney candidate. and now it's out into the cold hard reality of life. mom! there are two things. one since there isn't enough time for a full seven-week gestation period for a new candidate before iowa that maybe republicans just get mitt romney. presumably that is as much a problem for the republican race right now as it has ever been. they do not appear to be falling more in love with mitt romney, they are just running out of people to try who are not him. a second thing that could happen is even though there really isn't enough time between iowa and new hampshire we could just decide that iowa and new hampshire really don't matter all that much anymore. we could start a new bubble right now. in the national review's scathe's right-wing editorial against newt gingrich last night they told conservative voters not to vote for mr. gingrich but to consider only mitt romney and two other candidates. the other two, jon huntsman and rick santorum. i mean, rick santorum, sure. but what about jon huntsman? new polling showing jon huntsman is starting his own teeny tiny little minisurge. so maybe that's possible. or how about a new entrant in the race altogether? is it too rate for that? technically it is too late for that. but how else do you explain this going on in new hampshire right now in dave weigel at slate.com reporting today that new hampshire residents are starting to receive phone calls asking them the following questions. do you have a favorable or unfavorable view of mitt romney? do you have a favorable or unfavorable view of newt gingrich? do you have a favorable or unfavorable view of jeb bush? jeb bush? somebody is paying for those calls to go out right now in new hampshire. what's that all about? finally, there is one other option, which is that maybe the newt gingrich bubble just won't go away. it does seem to be ending. it does seem to be getting to the end of its natural life span. time for the fox t

rick perry's got a chance. and the day in politics closed with, ah, never mind about rick perry. we're still three weeks out from iowa. anything could happen. rick perry flubbing another one today, more or less solidifies the fact this seems to be a two-man race. mitt romney and newt gingrich. or as i keep saying newt romney and mitt gingrich. if i do that on air tonight, i'm sorry. i keep doing it in the office. it's embarrassing. the thing emerging as the biggest hurdle to newt gingrich getting the nomination is the establishment wing of the republican party. today this came out into the open. there are people in the republican establishment willing to voice concerns or out right opposition to mr. beginning risch in recent weeks. today the flood gates opened. conservative columnist david brooks at "the new york times," quote, he has every negative character trait conservatives associate with 1960s excess. narcissism, self-righteousness, self-indulgence and intemperance. he would severely damage conservatism in the republican party if nominated. former reagan speechwriter, peggy noonan, writing in "the wall street journal," quote, those who kno

rick perry. you have rick perry coming up in i think a matter of minutes. tell me about what questions you think you want to ask rick perry at the editorial board of the des moines register. >> well, rick perry i think is sort of trying to win away the bachmann and santorum votes. he's up with some ads in iowa that are really sort of bringing -- i think making a play for the people who are opposed to the gay marriage situation here in iowa. they came out to vote in 2010. they ousted three supreme court justices. he thinks that that's a motivated electorate and if he can coalesce them to him he stands a shop to maybe get into the top three. i don't see much of a way forward for him. >> charlie, at this stage, mitt romney, does he really have a chance in iowa? >> well, what's victory? i mean, what if iowa and anne is the best at this, but what if it's kind of muddle? what if there's only a point or two difference between first, second and third? and then it goes to new hampshire and does romney hold on there? i mean, you could win a nomination without winning both iowa, new hampshire, but generally if you go 0 for 2,

rick perry's lift? i think he gained something like four points in this nbc poll. >> well, look, he's done, alex, he at some point rick perry decided that he needed to do what rick santorum has been doing all along, and as you know he's been crisscrossing the state on a bus tour. he is actually a pretty good retail politician. that's something people first talked about when he was first getting into the race as one of his strengths. he also, as i said before, has really had a lot of money on the air here. the dominant advertising has been from mitt romney's super pacs, from ron paul's campaign, and from rick perry himself and rick perry superpacs. he's up on the air as strong as anyone. you can see a lot of things about retail politics in iowa, having money on the air, ads both positive and negative on the air, doing your work for you, is really important, especially in these closing days. and i think that is -- he's not gaining a lot of ground but he's also not falling and that's pretty important to the prospect that he might be able, i'm not sure he can consolidate the evangelical vote, which rick santorum has a chance to do. but he could keep rick santorum fr

rick perry. we can't forget his epic brain freeze in an october debate. in the event you need a reminder, count on none other than rick perry. take a look at this new ad from the perry campaign to see what i'm talking about. >> commerce, education and what's the third one there? >> department of energy. you know, we have all lost our train of thought before. not many have done it on national tv. if you want a slick debater, i'm not your guy. if you want a clean house with a flat tax and part time congress, i'm your man. i'm rick perry. what's that line again? i'm rick perry and i approve of this message. >> i like it. it's a good strategy. if you are not convinced he can poke fun at his own gaffe, there's the late-night comedians that can help him out. let's watch him on "the tonight show." >> thanks for coming you provided us with a lot of material. i appreciate you being here. >> it's what i do. >> what happened with the brain freeze. you had three things to remember. >> you know, one, two, and -- >> every now and then, i call my dogs by the wrong name. >> what happened in new hampshire. >> those of you who will be 21 by november 12 -- i was thinking drinking age maybe. >> that makes sense. you have to have an excuse, right? that's mine. i'm sticking to it. >> if that doesn't work, he can give it a go michele bachman style. remember how she confronted it a couple weeks ago? >> i haven't had a gaffe or something i have done to cause me to fall in the polls. >> there it is. the poll numbers speak for themselv