way, that republicans are idea together. and liberalism by its nature logically driven zealots means the market shouldn't rule. it can be perfected upon by incapable of compromise. his vow to veto their attempts public action. that's what it is to me, you can make choices. >> number one, i think that's to undo the automatic cuts look good. that's an important role. number two, some of the strong. will his party and the country criticisms are just flat right. be with him? like i say in the piece. that's a great question. the problem comes when liberals why have liberals been so go from that, i'm disappointed dissatisfied with president with this, i'm disappointed with obama. we've got a guest who says the that, i want more here, to a problem may not be the president but the expectations of those general feeling of disappointed. oh, i'm let down, oh, this isn't liberals who aren't ever happy with any democrat in the white what i expected because they're house ever. always let down. >> joan, abstain for a second i may have to admit to some here. i know what he's talking about problem here of my own self which is basically in d.c. it's the -- we love to argue here. and mitt romney is running a new tv commercial in new hampshire among ourselves. we love this. it's called ndc, november called "believe in america." but you shouldn't believe what doesn't count. you hear in this commercial. it's about us winning among check out what romney has obama saying in the ad. ourselves. these arguments are why the democratic party tends to be the >> it's going to take a new most exciting party because all these great arguments occur within the party. direction. the fight over the vietnam war if we keep talking about the economy, we're going to lose. was within the party. i get thrilled by the idea of >> well, that last line isn't arguing. merely out of context, it's out i'm thrilled by this argument. of bounds. okay. here's what obama actually said. thank you, jonathan, great >> senator mccain's campaign writing. i love "new york" magazine. actually said, and i quote,$# you guys way underpaid for what we keep talking about the economy, we're going to lose. you can do. >> thank you very much. up next, it's been 48 >> so obama -- actually romney years -- you too, joan. is taking something obama said 48 years since president kennedy was assassinated in dallas. about john mccain and sticking it back in the president's now never-before-seen video to mouth. talk about dishonest show how oswald acted alone. advertising. and on this day, 48 years after president kennedy was this is "hardball" on msnbc. ♪ assassinated, we've got new video evidence from daly plaza that may help answer the lingering questions about kennedy's death. finally let me finish with some thoughts on what happened in this day in dallas 48 years ago. we start with the battle of the super committee and the battle of 2027. dana milbanks and jonathan allen, a great reporter. gentlemen, a great team to look at this the morning after, if you will. let's look at this political climate. why isn't congress working now? ♪ look at these approval numbers. congressional approval as of november 13th and november 15th, ♪ ...don't matter what you saying. ♪ that was the field days, 12%. ♪ don't matter what you do. ♪ my heart is yours for keeping. ♪ you know, that's one in eight. they approve the job congress is ♪ do with it what you choose. doing. who is that one in eight person, ♪ and you ooohoohooh... ♪ you are my heart... jay-mar? who likes -- is it the far right [ male announcer ] vera wang love. person that loves gridlock, ♪ oh yes you do... the new diamond bridal collection from vera wang. what? >> probably those folks that exclusively at zales. wendt mega tense. 530 members of congress, 300 million americans and i can't think of anyone that approves of the job congress is doing. let's once again check the you've got the right idea in "hardball" scoreboard. general. in new hampshire, no surprise those who like gridlock, those mitt romney is well ahead of his who don't want to see anything republican rivals. moving forward have to be a new poll has him nearly three somewhat satisfied. perhaps a few people that just times with three times the love their own member of support of second place candidate newt gingrich and ron congress or love the speaker of the house at the time. paul. but when you broaden it out >> or haven't been reading the nationally, it's newt gingrich newspapers for two or three years. in the lead. >> or didn't hear the question right. the new quinnipiac poll has >> couldn't hear the question. john, your thoughts. gingrich at 26 and romney stuck why is there still a residual -- at 22 andk.n it seems it should be a strikeout, a complete strikeoutç they don't get anything done. >> some colleagues of my at the post looked into this question and there are a few people, a few conservatives that are just happy nothing is happening in washington so they approve of what congress is doing. >> do nothing types. >> and others don't want to say ♪ silent night anything about anybody so they just say oh, it's fine with me what congress is doing. ♪ holy night whether it's 9% or 12% support of congress, and this is before what is perhaps the biggest debacle of all, you can only ♪ sleep in heavenly peace imagine how much worse can things be. ♪ sleep in heavenly peace >> i keep thinking about those european countries or south american countries before a ♪ sleep in heavenly peace coup. but in some countries with weaker constitutions and a failed political class, things ♪ sleep in heavenly peace happen. the tanks start moving in the streets. think about this. >> if this were italy, we would presumably have a new since ameriprise financial was founded back in 1894, government. >> the colonels take overall those countries in latin america. they've been committed to putting clients first. let's take a look at what the president said with in hope helping generations through tough times. about the payroll tax cut. good times. never taking a bailout. he wants that extended and there when you need them. unemployment insurance extended. helping millions of americans over the centuries. let's take a look at obama in new hampshire. the strength of a global financial leader. he talked about this today. let's listen to the president. the heart of a one-to-one relationship. >> this payroll tax is set to expire at the end of next month. together for your future. ♪ end of next month, end of the year this tax cut ends. if we allow that to happen, if congress refuses to act, the middle class families are going to get hit with a tax increase at the worst possible time. if your members of congress aren't delivering, you've got to send them a message. make sure they're listening. tell them don't be a grinch. don't vote to raise taxes on working americans during the holidays, put the country before party. put moneyç back in the pocketsf working families. do your job. >> so, jonathan, why do you think the president shifted from the disaster yesterday so quickly to what he wants done at the end of the year, which is to continue unemployment benefits and also extend the payroll tax cut? why is he more focused on those issues? >> one of the things is venue. the president in 2008 in the primary ran as a tax cutter. if you listen to the robo calls, they said barack obama is the only one in the race that's cut taxes before. he's going to show the payroll tax cut, the only tax cut that's happened this year is also something of his. i think that's popular in new hampshire. i also think that it's something as the motorcade turns onto that he wants to be able to say not just there but all across houston street, hugh's camera the country, i'm cutting your taxes and maybe the republicans inadvertently trains on the will stand in the way of this payroll tax cut that they don't texas school book depository like as much as i do. >> so here's the president on building. after undergoing the the popular side of a fiscal ground-breaking process of issue finally. not for raising taxes, which is scanning and restoration, does never really that popular, hugh's high-resolution film show exempt if it's somebody else', the rich people's. the sniper taking aim from the but nobody wants to play around with medicare and social sixth floor window. security and cut those benefits. >> well, we're back. that was a clip from the new but here he's doing something national geographic documentary, almost everybody wants, a payroll tax cult giz for "jfk, the loft bullet." businesses. >> and looks at the it attempts to prove once and juxtaposition. he was just in this fight with for all that president kennedy the republicans who are insisting on protecting tax cuts was killed by a lone gunman for millionaires, now he can go through oswald on the other side of this and through never before seen say they're trying to increase coverage and footage of that taxes by a thousand dollars on fateful day in dallas 48 years ago today. somebody that earns $50,000. mac holeland is the historian they're trying to take away who worked on the documentary. their unemployment benefits. it's his work and joins us now it works out well for the to talk about some of the new president. evidence he and his team were a lot of people were critical able to discover. so, i have -- i'm going to talk for obama not getting more about this later when you're off involved with the super about the reason why we can't committee. he said, look, this isn't my baby. live with the fact that a nobody they forced this super committee on me as a toll for raising the killed a somebody. what -- what do you think you've debt limit. been able to prove here, to he would much rather be talking about the payroll tax cut and establish with this new film? thingsç to get the economy goi. he also has to get these things >> we're trying to hoe is the going or we're going back into a first account of all three shots recession. >> this has an economic impact and what happened to each one. >> and there was a longer period if these things don't happen. if it costs more to hire of time that he was able to somebody, that slows whatever shoot, 11 seconds. there is of this recovery. >> there's a proverbial six the republican co-chair of the seconds in dallas, and we say it's more like 11 seconds. super committee blamed the >> to get off three shots. failure on democrats in an >> right, which is all the time in the world. >> cbs a number of years ago op-ed. he wrote democrats on the super committee made it clear that the demonstrated with a guy actually with that kind of bold action new spending called for the table. rifle, showed how you could get still committee republicans offered to negotiate a plan on the other two health care sbien minutes, medicare and medicaid. they offered modest adjustments but they were far from sufficient to meet the challenge and even their modest changes were made contingent upon a >> >> a good enough shot as a minimum of a trillion dollars in higher taxes and made sure to marine. >> had a telescopic lens. stifle job creation during the worst economy in recent history. >> yes. >> it wasn't a hard shot. it seems to me they're coming out with something here. >> no. the republicans are saying, you >> how fast was the car going? >> 11 miles per hour. know, the democrats didn't want >> and it was an open car, and to really do -- didn't want to had you knew who he was shooting put forward a plan and, therefore -- and they also at. >> yes. wanted us to raise taxes. >> more from the home video they don't want to be stuck in showing oswald missing the first the corner admitting that they shot at kennedy's motorcade. screwed this whole thing up by >> hughes stops filming just as the president's limousin makes refusing to raise taxes. >> well, clearly already no the turn on to elm street. >> the president's car is now mirrors left in the capital because everyone is pointing at someone else to blame and they going by and it's now traveling ought to be looking in the at a high rate of speed. mirrors on both sides. secret service standing up. the republicans refused to raise taxes. they talked about new revenues. armed with submachine guns. revenues don't necessarily mean new taxes. if you do new taxes, they were >> if hughes had kept his camera going to have a net of nothing. that is to say lower tax rates on for just a few more seconds, to make up for it. we might have seen a rifle they're not willing to do it. it is the party brand, it's the emerge to fire bullet "a." >> in all the study you did with image. grover norquist talks about this the evidence and archival material and the firsthand accounts, did you ever come across any reason, hard reason a lot. on the other hand democrats think they'll be able in 2012 to to believe, that someone else make the argument that some was involved besides oswald? >> no, not in the shooting, not folks at the top ought to have at all, but if this makes any sense he did it before, but with our explanation he did it even more. it was an easy thing for him to do. >> what was his motive? >> as ezra klein said in the killing our president? >> i think he was a politicized "washington post," here's sociopath, kind of like timothy something to watch if you watch mcveigh. the politics of this. >> had become disillusioned with basically the further right the soviet union and had come democrats tiptoed to catch the back after trying communism over republicans, the further right there and with russia and had they went. become infat ated with castro. the strongest proposal by a republican on the super >> exactly. committee was a plan by senator >> the day or so before he visited soviet and cuban embassies in mexico city. po by pat toomey. what do you think of that? looks to me like a trail of some sort ofç infatuated communist. boehner proposed $800 million in >> and i think he actually thought he'd be welcomed in cuba new tax revenue and dropping the if he managed to get there. tax rate of the wealthy down to >> no evidence of castro 35%. now, that was the thing from involved in this. this summer. >> no, but we really won't know look what toomey did. what the cubans knew about them he said i'll save $300 million until they open their archives. in new tax, mainly from the rich >> it's possible they knew it was coming? >> i'm not sure i'd go that far, and i'm going to drop the top but i think they might have rate down to 28. so here's a guy -- frankly it's known something about oswald, more than they have let on. >> held it against castro but hard to find even one area in then again we tried to get him. which super committee i do hold it against him anyway. republicans offered a >> i think oswald understood substantially new compromise or even matched what boehner that. >> that we tried to get him. offered obama a while back. >> that we were trying. >> i was doing some work on if the question is whether the democrats or republicans moved this, and i came across the fact further in the direction of a that at one point mrs. oswald compromise, there's no doubting that compared to the last set of tried to keep her husband from negotiations, the democrats moved right and the republicans going after nixon and also stopped him from going after a moved further right. right wing general. he had a pattern of being a hard it looks like there was a little lefty communist -- infatated give on the democrats' side even though they had a risk getting communist person. blamed by their own skp is it possible that one of the reasons why the american liberals don't accept this, a lot of them over the years, like constituents. they're willing to play with oliver stone, they just can't stand the idea that a hard lefty killed a guy they loved? entit >> that's exactly right. a lot of people said who would entitlementes if they could get some revenues. want to kill walker and john f. >> now, interesting, though, kennedy, it doesn't make any sense, but from oswald's point from what i understand there was the framework for this, some of of view they were a lot closer. the senate democrats, like max >> nixon, anyone anti-castro was his enemy. >> absolutely. baucus, was working with some of >> i think we've figured this theç house republicans. out. >> you've done the work and i've >> i know he was. been working thon for a while. >> they really could have thanks so much. probably struck a deal, but they "jfk, the lost bullet" airs were four or five members of the again this coming sunday morning committee doing that but the november 27th, by the way, on rest had no interest in it. so there was really never a serious proposal to come forth the national geographic channel. check listings for times. in the first place. >> let's talk about the president's veto threat. >> coming up, thoughts on what i was taken with it last night. it seemed to have a lot of stiffness in it. happened that fateful day 40 he did say that he will veto any years ago in dallas. you're watching "hardball," only attempt by the congress to on msnbc. wiggle out of these automatic ttd# 1-800-345-2550 instead of trying to understand what you really need. cuts which include big cuts to defense. ttd# 1-800-345-2550 >> i don't think he'll have to ttd# 1-800-345-2550 at charles schwab, we provide worry about it because i think it's going to be a very hard ttd# 1-800-345-2550 a full range of financial products, sell for conservative house ttd# 1-800-345-2550 even if they're not ours. republicans who want to keep the ttd# 1-800-345-2550 and we listen before making our recommendations, budget cuts in place. it's going to be a hard sell to ttd# 1-800-345-2550 so we can offer practical ideas that make sense for you. get them to reverse that. ttd# 1-800-345-2550 they may shift around what gets ttd# 1-800-345-2550 so talk to chuck, and see how we can help you, not sell you. cut, but that overall level of $1.2 trillion, i'd be shocked if ttd# 1-800-345-2550 you saw something move out of the house that lifted that and allowed for more spending. premier of the packed bag. i think it's something the you know organization is key... president wants -- it's good politics and he's going to win that argument. and so is having a trusted assistant. >> he's going to stick to his guns and go strong into the and you...rent from national. general. because only national >> defend the manage airs and lets you choose any car in the aisle...and go. defense contractors. >> i think he can win this fight right now. you can even take a full-size or above if you guys want to cut spending and deal with cutting spending and still pay the mid-size price. and don't want to cut defense, here we are... cut something else. [ male announcer ] and there you go, business pro. or, by the way, pay for the there you go. military, something you don't go national. go like a pro. want to do. anyway, thank you, dana and jonathan. coming up, last week mitt [ knock on door ] cool. you found it. romney tried to make us think wow. nice place. yeah. 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[ male announcer ] progresso. you gotta taste this soup. that is better than today. since 1894, ameriprise financial has been working hard for their clients' futures. never taking a bailout. helping generations achieve dreams. buy homes. put their kids through college. retire how they want to. ameriprise. the strength of america's largest financial planning company. the heart of 10,000 advisors working with you, one-to-one. together, for your future. ♪ i've tried it. but nothing helped me beat my back pain. then i tried salonpas. it's powerful relief that works at the site of pain and lasts up to 12 hours. well, the gingrich surge is salonpas. on in south carolina. let's check the "hardball" scoreboard. republicans in the first in the south primary state picked fellow southerner gingrich over his rivals by two to one. he gets 31%. wow. in a new poll from kelly conway's polling company. herman cain is next at 17. romney third down at 16. look at that lead. south carolina has been the primary to pick republican winners for president. right now gingrich is the leader. we'll be right back. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 let's talk about fees. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 there are atm fees. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 account service fees. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 and the most dreaded fees of all, hidden fees. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 at charles schwab, you won't pay fees on top of fees. let me finish tonight with tdd# 1-800-345-2550 no monthly account service fees. this. i'm glad we could discuss tdd# 1-800-345-2550 no hidden fees. tonight this new photographic evidence from the kennedy tdd# 1-800-345-2550 and we rebate every atm fee. assassination. i think i understand why people tdd# 1-800-345-2550 so talk to chuck are so open to the possibility tdd# 1-800-345-2550 because when it comes to talking, there is no fee. that lee harvey oswald was not the president's lone killer. it's hard to imagine such a small personç being responsibl for the loss of such a beloved and important person. we've been taught through years of shakesperean lesser dramas to expect a serious villain as the match for our heros. othello with jag.o and sherlock holmes with dr. moreiaty and superman had lex luther. i could go on. the good guy has to have a bad guy with brains and some vision, a grand scheme to take over the world or whatever. he has to be a mastermind, a fiend worthy of our contempt. lee harvey oswald, back from and disillusioned with his belief in soviet russia, infatuated with castro doesn't live up to our grand notions of evil, so people look for some grand explanation, grand being the key word. we want it know that we were right, that kennedy was a great and only a great force of evil could take him from us. a half century later the evidence turns to something small, something dull and banal, a little loser got himself a gun and saw his opportunity to become someone important, someone who killed a person so many people loved. i've always thought long before this new evidence came to us that the most impenetrable obstacle to all the conspiracy they're sis that oswald had that job at the texas book depository i want people to remember that when he was candidate long before the president's travel route was set. obama, that he said he was going he was in that spot before there to get this economy going, he was going to bring people was any reason to believe the president would be passing right together, be a realç leader fo there below him. change in america. it was, i believe, a crime of so i'm going to run an ad that shows him and the things he said opportunity, a small man with a here in new hampshire in a political hatred got himself a speech here and the contrast rifle and took the training he'd gotten in the military to shoot between what he said and what he did is so stark, people down the most beloved president recognize they really do need to of my lifetime. we remember, most of us, from have someone new lead this that time where we were when we country. >> that was mitt romney last night previewing his new tv ad heard, and many of us at least that will run in new hampshire in heart, mind and soul are still there. today. it's getting all kinds of attention for being misleading, we have never gotten that ad is, and what it portrays. let's watch. >> thank you, new hampshire. i am confident that we can steer ourselves out of this crisis. we need a rescue plan for the middle class. we need to provide relief for homeowners. it's going to take a new direction. if we keep talking about the economy, we're going to lose. >> wow, it sounds like a devastating ad, doesn't it? here's the context. >> senator mccain's campaign actually said, and i quote, if we keep talking about the economy, we're going to lose. >> so he's quoting mccain in person there in 2008 and in this new ad by romney, romney's ad maker is suggesting that those are his words about his own campaign strategy. a completely dishonest distortion. michael steele is the former chairman of the republican national party and msnbc political analyst and bob shrum is a democratic strategist. michael, was that on the level, that use of the quote from candidate obama to the effect that if we talk about the economy, we lose, was that a fair take from him? >> well, i don't know if i'd use the word "fair" but you said the word that's most appropriate. you said devastating and that was the point. look, this isç politics. and you know, chris, you've been in it a long time, as i know bob does as well. this is hardball. beginning to step it up. we're six weeks away from the first votes being cast and romney is beginning to lay down some tracks and he wants to lay those tracks on the back of the president. so yeah, in terms of the politics of it, it's absolutely a fair play ad. >> but did candidate obama ever say in regard to his own strategy if we keep talking about the economy, we're going to lose? >> clearly not if you've got the complete quote there, but that's not the point. the point is -- the point is that what he said then, quoting senator mccain, is applicable today because he's absolutely right, the president doesn't want to spend a whole lot of time talking about the economy because it reminds people of the fact that there's 14% -- 9% unemployment and $14 trillion of debt. >> bob, this is a take from something he was quoting mccain in. the way they portray it in the romney campaign, he's talking about himself and his strategy. >> michael's double talk steemz equate hardball with lying. this is a lie. michael during the campaign last year was out there saying that the democrats believe america is in decline. if you clip that and put him in "america is in decline" he would have screamed foul. you can do this to anybody. you can take lincoln's first inaugural address and clip it and you can have a sentence that says "slavery is right and must be extended." now, i think this is as phony as romney is and people will see through it. i also think he's going to pay a price for it. because you don't have to clip his stuff. he's pro-choice, anti--choice pro-gay rights, anti-gay rights. you can use real quotes. >> go ahead, michael. 2 c1 >> you played this game, bob, a long time. >> i never played that game. i never once did anything like that. >> don't act like this holier than thou attitude. >> michael, michael. >> another example, michael. >> bob, i'm not the moderator. >> do not act as if the democrats have never done this themselves. >> michael, michael. >> name an example. give an example. >> i can go back to an rnc chairman who gave a speech in new england last year about afghanistan and watched the democrats clip that speech. >> what was it? what happened? what happened? tell me. >> can we not surprise, the liberals have gun to use romney's tactics against him. here's a spoof ad. let's watch. >> we should just raise everybody's taxes. >> there's nothing unique about the united states. >> government knows better than free people how to guide an economy. fiscal responsibility is heartless and immoral. let us just raise your taxes some more. america is just another nation with a flag. >> i like it! michael, that's fair game by your definition. >> yeah, exactly. so why -- why is everybody getting upset. >> that's a spoof, not an advertisement. that's a satire on the corruption of these campaign ads. >> it serves the same purpose and this is going to be a hard-fought campaign. there's going to be a lot of third-party organizations out there that will be running ads. you can call them spoofs, you can call them political, you can call them what you want, they're going to have their intended effect on both sides of the aisle so don't sit here and act like this is something new to politics, folks. >> let me ask you, bob, so you have the high ground here. we've just shown an example of satire, making fun of the dishahn tee of the romney campaign. even in this case michael steele says that's fair game. theç satirical version he sayss okay so we've really lowered the bar here, mr. shrum. we can't all jump over this bar. >> michael can't name a single example of a major candidate for office ever doing something like this. there's going to be a lot of attention paid to it because romney has put it out there. i actually think he's going to hurt himself, voters are not dumb. they're going to see through this. as i pointed out, the irony is you can could this to romney without clipping him. >> let's take a look at rush limbaugh's show. he talked about michelle obama's appearance at a nascar race this last weekend where she was booed by some of the fans and somehow it all went back to the vacation she took in spain several months ago, according to rush. here's rush using an interesting bit of american language here to describe michelle obama. >> the nascar crowd doesn't quite understand why when the husband and the wife are going the same place, the first lady has to take her own boeing 757 with family and kids and hangers-on four hours earlier than her husband who will be on his 747. nascar people understand that's a little bit of a waste. they understand it's a little bit of uppityism. first ladies have not been known to hop their own 757s four hours ahead of their husband when they're both going the same place. >> now here's rush limbaugh going back several months to a trip the first lady took and using it as an excuse, i would argue, to use the word uppity in describing her performance as first lady. michael, you've lived this life more than i have and i've never heard the word used exempt in connection with the "n" word. >> it is never used in a positive way and it is defined asç someone who is acting or trying to be above their station in life. it is being used by certain whites towards african-americans as a reminder that they need to be kept in their place. now, if that is the application of the term with respect to the first lady of the united states, then please tell me what is her proper place other than being at an event where she's acknowledging and welcoming home our war wounded who have served this country. so i think this kind of rhetoric is misplaced. it is inappropriate and is, quite frankly, stupid. so let's get past this craziness and stop using pejorative terms that have no place in conversation unless you're intending some other inference. >> why does a man like rush limbaugh who uses this language that appeals this sentiment command such authority in your party where members of congress will end up kissing up to him after he has spanked them. why does he continue to have this commanding authority in your party if he talks like this? >> i don't know, to be quite honest with you. i think a lot of folks are long past that point. i think, you know, we all move forward. we all have, you know, goals that we set towards, i guess, embracing and sort of making us more relevant than some of us want us to be. i just think that the nascar crowd that booed the first lady and the vice president's wife did so for, you know, political reasons. they don't like the president's agenda but it has nothing to do with the first lady being uppity. that is just baloney. >> good for you, michael. >> there's no debate on this point. thank you for being so well -- well, you made it clear what you michael steele who has battled his way pioneering that altitude in the republican party. up next -- by the way, happy thanksgiving, gentlemen. up next, michele bachmann has something to say about her republican rivals but she saves the best zinger for rick perry. that's next in the sideshow. you're watching "hardball" only on msnbc. ♪ [ man #1 ] i was fascinated by balsa wood airplanes since i was a kid. 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[ cheering ] i wanna see that again. ♪ or a can of paint, you turned millions of votes, and hundreds of volunteer hours, into a real difference for over 100,000 people. what's next? tell us on facebook. what's next? ♪ sen♪ co-signed her credit card - "buy books, not beer!" ♪ ♪ut the second at she shut the door ♪ ♪ girl started blowing up their credit score ♪ ♪ she bought a pizza party for the whole dorm floor ♪ ♪ hundred pounds of makeup at the makeup store ♪ ♪ and a ticket down to spring break in mexico ♪ ♪ but her folks didn't know 'cause her folks didn't go ♪ ♪ to free-credit-score-dot-com hard times for daddy and mom. ♪ v.o.: offer applies with enrollment in freecreditscore.com back to "hardball." now for the sideshow. first up, word play. last night michele bachmann was the latest in the lineup of republican 2012 contender that say hit up the late night comedy scene. she sat down with jimmy fallon and agreed to play the first thing that comes to your mind when you hear this word game. the topic at hand, no surprise, her opponents. let's see how it all panned out. >> romney. >> hair. no, just a minute. vice president. >> gingrich. >> newt. >> cain. >> 9. >> perry. >> i've got to do three. governor, texas, can't remember the other one. oops. >> bachmann. >> president. >> was that a hint she would pick mitt romney as her running mate? at this point it's not too likely we'll ever find out. more from the bachmann front. how's this for a one-sided show of affection. in her new book "core of conviction" bachmann sheds praise on garrison keeler. quote, his paul licks are very different from mine, but i love his gentle, knowing humor. he understands minnesota and his ability to squeeze laughs out of serious-minded midwesterners makes him a legend. well, do you think he feels the same minnesota bond? not even close. during last year's midterm election season he called bachmann embarrassing to me and a great many minnesotans. what does he have to say in response to the nod in bachmann's book? well, as an old democrat, i wish that michele's presidential campaign were doing better than it is. there are many other democrats who would like to second that one. finally, clarity or more confusion? in the past couple months it seemed that just when gop and abortion under no circumstances. >> no circumstances? >> no circumstances. >> because many of your fellow candidates, some of them qualify that. if one of your female children, grandchildren was raped, you would honestly want her to bring up that baby as her own? >> you're mixing two things here, piers. it comes down to it's not the government's role or anybody else's role to make that decision. so what i'm saying is, it ultimately gets down to a choice that that family or that mother has to make. not me as president. >> so he's not pro-life, he's pro-choice. it's mind boggling to watch. now it looks like the proof is in the pledge. he joined his fellow 2012 republican candidates signing a new pledge saying, quote, i am an associate baptist minister and am 100% pro-life. where my powers in the executive branch are concerned, i will work at all times to oppose government funding of abortion. i will veto any legislation that contains funds for abortion. well, first of all, that happens to already be the law of the land. secondly, i have no idea what this guy believes. up next, why are so many liberals dissatisfied with president obama? john shnathan shade writes the problem isn't the president, it's the liberals that are never satisfied with any democratic president. he joins us next. you're watching "hardball" only on msnbc. last thanksgiving, about 2 million people tried to deep-fat-fry their turkey. 15 succeeded in setting their houses on fire. at christmas, there was a lot of driving over the river and through the woods. and a little bit of skidding on the ice and taking out grandma's garage door. so while you're celebrating, allstate will be standing by. trouble never takes a holiday. neither should your insurance. that's allstate's stand. are you in good hands? ♪ i know you'rrried about making your savings last and having enough income when you retire. that's why i'm here. to help come up with a plan and get you on the right path. i have more than a thousand fidelity experts working with me so that i can work one-on-one with you. it's your green line. but i'll be there, every step of the way. call or come in for a free portfolio review today. i'm brian sullivan with your cnbc market wrap. modest losses as the third quarter gdp is revised down and there is a new enhanced lending program in europe. the dow jones industrial average dropped 53 points, s&p off 4 and the nasdaq giving up just 1 point. the commerce department says the economy grew a little slower than we had originally believed in the third quarter. they revised their gdp annualized growth estimate down to 2% from 2.5%. meantime, the imf beefing up its lending with asix-month liquidity line for countries in who's that? in stocks, at&t finished higher after an unsuccessful but well organize d attempt to hack into its accounts. news breaking moments ago. the federal reserve announcing a new round of stress tests for 19 firms, including america's six biggest banks. that is it from cnbc. first in business worldwide and now back to "hardball." well, this will be fun. welcome back to "hardball." the latest issue of "new york" magazine asks the question when did liberals because liberals on the whole are incapable of feeling satisfied with a democratic president. they can be happy with the idea of a democratic president. indeed, dancing in the streets delirious. but not with the real thing. the various theories of diskauns lat liberals all suffer from a failure to compare obama with any plausible baseline. instead they compare obama with an imaginary president. either an imaginary obama or a fantasy version of a past president. whoa. john than shade writes for "new york" magazine and joan walsh is editor at large. joan, this man has tapped into our very being here. first of all, joan, i want to ask you, what do you think when you read this article, just to get -- i like you so much i want to -- when you read that it was your psychological condition that is the problem, not the president's track record, what did you think? >> i was very irritated and dissatçis dissatisfied, chris. i got very angry. apparently that's my nature, jonathan says. >> you're one of those professional progressives, right? >> progressive left, always whining, joe biden wants me to stop whining too. okay. look, first of all, liberal democrats, let's be clear, liberal democrats are very happy with this president and they were happy with president clinton too. if you look at the gallup weekly tracking poll, obama stays in the 70s, goes up into the 80s with liberal democrats. >> joan, you have perked me up here. i'm going to challenge you and you can tell me what you're thinking here. here we have the latest nbc/wall street journal poll making that same point. should the democrats nominate obama again. 73%, that's a pretty good endorsement by the disgruntled liberals. only 20% nominate someone else, hillary or someone else. how can you say that crowds like the one who say watch this show and myself oftentimes are disgruntled and permanently so? >> you know, there's a difference between wanteding to dump a guy out of office and being happy with him and liberals are in between there. they're not ready to dump obama. some of them are but most of them aren't ready to dump him. but there is a broad dissatisfaction, right? the people who are approving of him are saying, well, it could be worse. well, things are hard for him. circumstances were tough. maybe it will be better in the second term. no one is saying he's actually done a pretty good job. it ranges from like angry, betrayed, let down, disappointed, dissatisfied. generally he's better than the republican but still it's a let down, it's not that good. >> do you think part of it is age? i'm older than joan, i'm older than you, i'm sure, and yet i think a lot of very young people in their 20s do have idealism up the kazoo and i understand it. they want perfection. is that it or"i&jeñ people my age as well who are just difficult to please by your writing? >> i think it's all ages. you see it in the baby boomers, in the young people. what i try to show in the piece is this historically has always been the case. when there's a democrat in office, liberals spend most of their time complaining. >> let me challenge you because i really respect your writing. i'm going to read this piece a number of times again. when bill clinton came in with all the baggage and the girls, everybody said he might be a pretty good president but nobody thought he's going to be transformative. let me show you a person who was really excited way back in 2004. by obama at the very prospect they would be the first african-american president. here i am, big promotion here, 2008 talking about barack obama and then again in 2004 back when he delivered that amazing keynote address at the democratic convention. let's watch later and then earlier. >> the feeling most people get when they hear barack obama's speech, i felt this thrill going up my leg. i don't have that too often. >> i have to tell you, a little chill in my legs right now. that is an amazing moment in history right there. it is really an amazing moment. a keynoter like i've never heard. dick gephardt, thanks for joining us. a star is broken. amazing reception. i thought the speech remarks, you and i were talking about them, as they proceeded. amazing stuff. >> okay. chill and thrill, not tingle, which is the favorite word of the right wing. it's great, they love to giggle with themselves. they make up words, make fun. words and apply them to somebody else. i have never heard such an amazing statement about our american exceptionalism, if you will, a phrase i like;h!ecauset means somebody can make it in this country based on merit. that's my american exceptionalism. i will proudly salute it and be thrilled when it's spoken well. was he just too good? was it possible that he was so stirring in those rooms we saw up in new hampshire and iowa that you had to expect much more? >> it's a couple of things. number one, people forget how excited they were about presidents in the past. that's part of the cycle of disallusionment. you row -- romanticize the past. people were very excited about jimmy carter when he gave his acceptance speech in 1976. you know, kennedy, you can go back in time. democrats get excited by the idea of a different president. >> are we more romantic? >> i think democrats and liberals are romantic about the style of politics. >> let me go to joan on this. do you want to accept anything in this self-criticism of the center left and the left? >> well, sure. and i'm kind of proud of it because actually reading jonathan's piece he says that there's really nothing very unusual about the situation for