i think romney is making this case. i don t think that there is an open question as to whether perry all my life i ve heard thing a umt that democrats love to run against the far right because they can beat them easily. carter thought he could beat reagan. is that your general view? i think the red-hot guy off then wins the general. the next debate is in florida. that s senior country. you go down there saying that social security is a ponzi scheme, you re going to have a hard time winning the message war on that one, chris. we ll see. i m petting on perry. i i ll see it again. i think people vote their gut. anyway, sasha issenberg, you may both be wrong. wait until you hear what i say when we come back opinion i think this will surprise people. you re watching hardball only on msnbc.