steve mcmahon, purple strategies.ling, you love and respect leader armey. >> well, one of the things that happen in washington is you're in these green rooms all the time and i don't agree with him on anything, but he's a terrific guy. >> i saw a parity and ann coulter and al sharpton got off appearing on some show and they high fived each other in the green room and they were calling each other honey and what's our next gig, where is it going to be? and it was totally, hate when they're out there arguing. >> they're human beings. and it's the way washington used to work. people used to socialize together, whether they were democrats or republicans. they built an entire notion on the company that you can get democrats and republicans to work together to solve business and brand challenges. that's the key issue. >> they don't know each other. they don't socialize each other. there's a taint with doing it. let me give you an idea. we've got a fiscal cliff now. we have the fiscal abyss next year. we need to say, don't co

steve mcmahon. bad news for you, rick tyler.or you. >>> up next, what happened to the moderates in the republican party, the so-called -- i grew up with them -- the eisenhower republicans? this is "hardball," the place for politics. ♪ [ male announcer ] the way it moves. the way it cleans. everything about the oral-b power brush is simply revolutionary. oral-b power brushes oscillate, rotate and even pulsate to gently loosen and break up that sticky plaque with more brush movements than manual brushes and even up to 50% more than leading sonic technology brushes for a superior clean. oral-b power brushes. go to oralb.com for the latest offers. part of a whole new line of tablets from dell. it's changing the conversation. ♪ >>> "jack kennedy, elusive hero" has just hit number six on "the new york times" best-seller list. it's a great book to get for christmas and the holidays for one great reason. it reminds us how americans can not just get the job done but actually achieve great things. it's about a young leader who opened the

one democrat steve mcmahon and republican rick tyler. you first because you guys lost, and i don't mind saying this because i'm heartened by this. i didn't know it was going to happen. i thought the first debate, as i said clearly on the air -- the president said i was having a stroke over there -- i thought there was an opportunity to win if you stayed on that line, we can create jobs, but somehow you got into something else. what happened in this election on issues? >> i was telling steve earlier in the green room that i started to believe it after the first debate also. i didn't believe it all the way up. i was on this program being probably the number one critic of mitt romney, and we tried everything. we tried tim pawlenty and michele bachmann and herman cain and rick perry. i think that was inverted, but we tried newt gingrich and rick santorum, and we arrived at the inevitable mitt romney. >> you ended up with a weak candidate. >> in many ways yes. >> do you think any of the other guys or women that you passed over would have been

steele is former chair of the republican national committee and an msnbc political analyst, and steve mcmahon's a democratic strategist. michael, you're on the republican side, and what do you think of that? the argument made by brooks which is more sophisticated. make your deal now while you can get something for it because after january 1st you will just be saving your rear end. >> i think he's absolutely right. i think part of that deal should include giving the president what everybody in this town agrees on, and that is those middle tax cuts for the middle class out of the bush tax cuts. set that aside because everyone agrees we're not going to go after those. then it gives you some time and some room to really negotiate down on that -- what that -- >> we have to do all that by january 1st. >> and it can be done. chris, this is not rocket science. that piece is very easy to -- >> but once you do that, why don't you admit you're not -- you're going to let the top rates go back to 39.6%. >> you can do that, but this is the kicker. the republicans want to see that they're actually going to ge