theory. all of that lies straight from the pit of held. these are the extreme, extreme statements. extreme statements. and, again, you know, it s a political calculous here where you cannot possibly be too far to the right for most of these members of congress running in these districts. i think it s very interesting to note that in the senate, there were very few republicans who defected from the fiscal cliff bill vote. because they have to run for the whole state. so they have to represent a broader constituency in the house, totally different situation: because it s a narrower these districts where they only have to worry about how far to the right can they get. and there s another interesting thing at play here. i went back and took a look during the summer, 2011. research did a poll asking people if they want to see a
he is the preferred choice for 17%, the name recognition, the money. why are others even this close to him. david fromm, a former speech wrat ter for president george w. bush. welcome. thank you. why isn t the gop establishment saying mitt is our guy? they are saying he is our guy. he is raising money on a huge scale. he has been in first or second place in the polls since 2009. when he is second, he has been behind mike huckabee. he is not in the race anymore. he is now very consistently in first place. less he has a problem with the establishment and more with the press. he thinks we don t want this to be 1996 all over again with bob doyle and boring first place all the way through. we want a little more drama. in previous races, the front-runner had a higher percentage than what mitt romney does now, isn t that true? that s true. like all candidates, mitt romney comes with a lot of negatives.
it s more than advanced technology. it s the at&t network a network of possibilities, creating and integrating solutions, helping business, and the world.work. rethink possible. welcome back to hardball. the president will host republican leaders for lunch at the white house tomorrow, but it may be moderate democrats he needs to corral, a handful of democrats are challenging what some people believe is the heart of the health care bill by president obama. senator ben nelson joins us from capitol hill. reminds me of one of those old time married jokes, can t live with them, can t live without them. how do you have a health care bill if you don t force people to join up and share the risk? this is a government mandated approach. but you can also look for market-based approaches as well. take a look at the medicare part
nominated on the republican ticket and have four democrats coming back next year. i m just kidding, howard. let me tell you what, can i just tell you something? i get more press releases about tea party grass roots candidates from the democrats than i do from the republicans. for just that reason. we will talk about that next time. howard fineman, thank you. i am so excited about the announcement in philadelphia with the vice president today. they are really doing it. they are really building a railroad system like abe lincoln started in the 1860s. we might be a united country by rail. be right back on hardball. [ male announcer ] how can rice production in india, affect wheat output in the u.s., the shipping industry in norway, and the rubber industry, in south america?
joining me, de-roy murdock. and sam stein from the huffington post. this is a poll taken among republicans and says they want a a cnn opinion research poll, 68% prefer a candidate that can beat barack obama even if that candidate doesn t meet up to all their issues. 29%, 3 in 10 says they want a candidate that squares with them idea logically, but may not be a good candidate. it seems to me i want a romney, someone like him, executive, business experience with some appeal to the right but they can t find that mitt romney, whoever it is. seems the actual mitt romney won t work as the mitt romney. interesting. i think in mitt romney you have a very interesting character. i think i ve seen mannequins in less empty suits. i think the thing about mitt romney, he looks like the