candidates participate in their sixth debate with five days to go before south carolina primary. but even if he does revail, is romney just the most popular out of an unpopular field. 43% favorablety. president obama fares slightly better with a rating of 49%. but a look inside his numbers show he has an uphill struggle. joining us now is former ohio governor, ted strickland and gop strategist, trey harden. gentlemen, it's good to have you. comparing this year to '08 when president obama and senator mccain had higher ratings, isn't there just something about these two men or is this a referendum on politicians and politics in general? >> well, thomas, i think that people's expectations of politics, politicians, elected officials, washington, beltway politics, has certainly gone down on a daily basis. i'm not sure this is really a