you said in the rose garden the day after the attack it was an act of terror. it was not a spontaneous demonstration? the polls are tied. the election is 15 days away. voting is already underway in ne nearly every swing state. and it is because of that shear competitive need that america s longest war still grinding on and our veterans and our diplomacy and our role in the world is thrust back to center stage. msnbc s coverage of the third and final presidential debate begins right now. happy debate night. thanks for spending it with us. the contenders will face-off in a neutral setting to try to earn the vote of the few undecided voters in the last few swing states. with 15 days until election day, four million americans have already cast their vote. the race could not be closer. i m rachel maddow here in new york city along with ed shults. lawrence o donnell is in the spin room for us and we re joined by chris matthews who is at the debate site. it s tied. where do yo
these are the people we know best in the republican party, given the vacuum at top and given that the people who are the natural leaders, say mitch mcconnell and some others, they re not necessarily tv or radio ready. the last one for the troop it s, ms. palin likes to say. she does have a following. could she come back into the fold in time for 2012? well, i don t know about yours, richard, the people who love sarah palin and find her charismatic and she does have that if thing, they are passionate about sarah palin. there may not be enough of them. we opened with that poll. there aren t enough of them, perhaps, to drag her across the finish line, but she is going to be a formidable presence, because the people, there s nobody else in the republican party that stirs passions right now. she s the only one, and she s likely now to do it, to stir those passions even more. and briefly, for those palin backers out there, should they be worried by those poll numbers? wel