on saturday at red state conference in south carolina. his speech is expected to focus heavily on the texas economy, half of the jobs created in this country. the perry people will point out in the last two years, were in texas. republicans are going to point to that as a success story. democrats say, not so fast. most of those jobs are low-wage jobs. the democratic source told me earlier today. governor perry is all hat and no cattle but after the speech in south carolina, anderson, he heads off to new hampshire. he taped an interview with one of the tv stations up there today. so he's making all of the moves of a candidate tonight. >> he's also headed to iowa this weekend but he was not taking part in the aim straw poll is he. >> that's right this announcement in south carolina was designed to steal the show from the aim straw poll this weekend. that's where argument the other republican candidate the are right now and what's become a gop beauty pageant but the story will be perry's announcement on saturday. you will recall sarah palin just yesterday said she number iowa this weekend with her bus, she sort of stepped on rick perry's story and now he's stepping on hers. welcome to 2012, anderson. >> yeah just the beginning. >> yeah. >> jim, thanks very much. the front-runner former massachusetts governor, mitt romney, his remarks today on the campaign trail set off a storm of sorts. and you can decide for yourself what to make of them. keeping them honest. saying one thing and then boasting about doing on the other. criticizing president obama for wanting to strengthen the deficit with mix of spending cut and new revenue and yet when romney was governor of massachusetts that was precisely the case that he made to standard & poor's after they downgraded his state's credit. governor romney's in iowa tonight for a debate leading up to saturday's straw poll today while apparently trying to discredit the idea of raising taxes to save social security. he made headlines, listen. >> and if we're ultimately, not just this year but over the coming decades, going to be able to balance our budget and not spend more than that we take in, we have to make sure that the promises that we make in social security, medicaid and medicare are promises that we can keep and there are various ways of doing that. one, is we can raise taxes on people. of course we are. everything corporations earn ultimately goes to people. where do you continuing goes? >> huge bonuses. >> you can make of that what you will. it is a matter of opinion. in, on the other hand is a matter of fact. mitt romney was the first to criticize president obama when standard & poor's downgraded america's and he persistently is critical of making new revenues as part of reducing the debt and restoring our aaa rating. he pushed for a new tax solution. cap and balance bill. and slams the president as a tax raiser. watch. >> the president to agree to cut federal spending, to cap federal spending and to put in place a balanced budget amendment. >> are there three mathematical ways that you could fix the deficit. one is that you can raise taxes a lot and for some reason that's what the president always thinks about. let's just raise taxes. >> instead of lowering taxes, he raised them. did you know that our employers pay the highest taxes in the world. >> come on, mr. president, you can by yourself cut the spending agree on cut spending, cap the spending and put in place a balanced budget amendment. >> so governor romney says he favors the plan to cut the deficit without raising revenue and it's not for us to say whether that's a good or bad thing. you can make up your own mind about that but keeping them honest that's not case that he made back in 2004 when he was lobbying s&p to raise massachusetts' credit rating. in a 50-page presentation, the governor's staff gave to s&p. they say it's unclear whether mr. romney personally took part in showcasing it, but knack in april, he said he was proud of his role. >> the president really ought to personally sit down and meet with s&p. i did that when i was governor. i met with the relegated season and talked about our future and instill confidence in our future because look, how they rate our debt and how they rate our future as a nation will affect the interest costs that we end up paying and will affect homeowners and borrowers all over the country. >> now there's absolutely nothing unusual about a governor lobbying a ratings agency or his administration trying to make their case. the issue is boasting back then about doing almost precisely what he's slamming president obama for advocating today. take a look at some of the points in the governor's presentation. the state, it says "successfully managed revenue and expense positions in 2002 and 2003." increase tax revenue by more than a billion dollars a year. a tax amnesty and a tax loophole legislation worth $269 billion. the confidential discussion also highlights increasing fees $271 million yearly starting fiscal year 2004. now the irony is that, with the exception of those higher fees, the are tax items became law before mitt romney even took office. it didn't stop him though for taking credit of them with s&p. also ironic that mixes taxes and spending cuts got results. credit upgrade. the one that governor romney benefited from back then is precisely is the samem that president obama is wrong to pursue now. joining us to talk about governor romney, perry and rest of the field, democratic strategist paul begala and eric edison. so, paul, how much will this kind of flip-flopping hurt romney in the primaries given all of the other flip-flops that he's done over the years? >> eric knows his party and his movement better but i do think in the last 30 years the anti-tax position in the republican parent has become an article of faith, so much so that ronald reagan aide once said to me reagan can't make it today because he raised taxes as governor of california, he raised taxes as president so that's such an article of faith that flip-flopping that when you flip-flop abortion rights, gay rights and all of the other flip-flops i think it does make romney vulnerable. >> eric, what about that? he's not really darling of the tea party. does his track record on taxes make it winning them that much more difficult. >> i think it, does it's an accumulation of things. it's not just that his health care position. flip-flops on immigration, flip-flop on abortion positions. flip-flops on, you name it. hef he can say that most of these tax increases came before he was governor and he was just being governor and saying what the governor had done but it's not going to buy him in the primary. he's gotten a lot of criticism of being in what people have mockingly called the mitmus protection program for a few more months and might have stayed there for a few more weeks. >> paul, let's talk about rick perry, what do you think about his entering the race, this by the way, this weekend. do you make of his entering of the race, how does it change things on the gop side and for president obama? >> first off, good for him for going to eric's place. i'm all for sucking up and eric's got a powerful movement down there. i read redstate.com. i read it every day, eric. it is indispensable and governor perry showing eric the power in his movement but i think as a texan eye knew him a little bit million years ago when he was first starting out in the texas legislature. i think that he brings three things. first, he can fire that up base, i think, almost as effectively as michele bachmann who i think has been the most exciting candidate in the republican party. he can raise money i think as effectively as mitt romney who is the best funded candidate and perhaps most important, he will do or say anything, anything. he's already flirted with us isition which that didn't work out quite well for the south that we tried that, 600,000 people dead in the civil war. he's flirted with succession and this is the the. a lot of good reporting. a lot of good scientific evidence that the man was innocent when that evidence came to rick perry, he ignored it, had the man executed anyway and then when it was being investigated by one of his own state boards, he's accused of removing three members of that board so that they couldn't finished investigation properly. >> so, paul, when you say he will do -- that he will say anything, are you just saying he's a pure politician? that he doesn't really have strong ideals that he stands up for? >> yeah, he's certainly very conservative and i don't think that he's going to move off of those. i just -- he doesn't seem to have the kind of guardrails though, left or right, or that most politicians seem to have. i mean, to me, at least, it's really striking. i think that it can be effective thing in a politician and he's going to be very formidable. if i were mitt romney i would be quaking in my guchis but there is something about him. spinal tap, turn the speaker up to 11. he will turn that speaker up to 11. >> eric, what about that? for a conservatives and particularly in the primary, how do you think he will do against the others in the field? >> well, i think he'll probably do very well. when you look at the polling, mitt romney seems to be capped out of a quarter of the republican primary about he can't get much more support than that nationally. maybe up to 1/3 up in new hampshire. so rick perry has the potential because of a huge funding base from texas and being a popular conservative governor to really consolidate the field quickly and make a two-man race. i think the romney folks are fearful of that, but you know, paul is doing himself a disservice on full disclosure for begala he won't say this but i will say it on his behalf that paul begala's personal dislike of rick perry has nothing do with his partisan politics. it has everything to do with rick perry being an aggie and for that i can't blame paul at all. >> that is true, i would root for like iran state against texas a&m, believe me. >> i can root against them in my own conference. >> we finally agree on something. >> paul, do you see -- paul, do you see rick perry, though, changing -- if rick perry got the nomination, how does he change in a general election? he just had this big prayer rally. do you still see him -- i mean, how does he change? >> i think -- >> to gain independents. >> i think that governor perry has left dpooft move to the center than say a romney does and i think that he could be trapped on the far frid fringes of the right but he's been astonishingly successful in the second largest state in america. but he doesn't have that same maliability or flexibility as say a mitt romney. conservatives will say that as a good thing, as a more principle thing but i've never been within to say i'm a using opponent. but i don't believe in like saying -- i remember the carter people when i was a kid saying, we want ronald reagan. well, by golly, we got him so i'm a little bit more humble now. >> yeah you know, anderson -- >> eric -- >> i would say in that regard. >> i'm sorry. >> if you look at his record. jobs and job creation, more than half of the jobs created since tim geithner declared the summer of recover neaugust of 2009, were created in texas. he was got a very strong message on that front. he signed the balance budget. he's gotten a lot of flack for running the deficit and actually scaled back the size and coach is texas government and thren they give the democrats some avenues to attack him for what he cut but he's signed a balance budget and created a lot of jobs -- at least texas does. he was a governor and he'll get credit for that the same way that president obama got blamed for the national economy. >> paul, stick around, i want to talk to you next. if so, can he win back his base? 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[ disco playing ] and this is to remind you that you could save hundreds! yeah, that'll certainly stick with me. we'll take it. go, big money! i mean, go. it's your break, honey. same coverage, more savings. now, that's progressive. call or click today. took await last three summers there is a pretty good chance president obamaed still look his age but angry townhauls the health care food fight, the debt crisis, they're all take a toll not just on the president but his supporters. take a look at the headline on matt miller's column in today's "washington post." why the center left is fed up with obama. it's the sound, he says, of confidence and obama's leadership breaking. he writes, he says that's the way it smells to him. the question tonight is this one of those long, hot summers that have tormented this pre-or is it something more? turn once again top paul begala who worked for another democratic president who frequently got battered from republicans and sometimes center left and also candy crowley on the campaign trail in iowa, joins us as well. so, paul, what do you make about this? is this a real concern about -- there is some on the left even talking about running a candidate against obama in a primary. >> yeah, i think -- that's the kifs death for any president. i can't think of any president who's been opposed in a primary and then went on to be re-elected. i don't think it's happened in the modern era. i see no signs of that. as i tell my kids nhd, not happening, dude. there will not be a primary challenge. in fact, president obama's as strong as he's ever been essentially, among democrats. now there are some thoughtful commentators. matt miller is a smart guy. he used to work for president clinton as well. no left winger, he. i would take it seriously but i don't see tatgrassroots yet. it's kind of at the elite of it. the truth is his problem with voters is among independents. it's not among his liberal base. >> candy, do you agree with paul on that? i mean should the president be worried that he might have reached some sort of a tipping point? >> listen, the folks you're talking about now that are unhappy with the president, have been unhappy with him for quite some time. we're now getting to a crucial point in the election cycle, this fall really does kick it off. may be a year in advance but we're now revving up here. this is the time for those people who've been unhappy to send a message and this is what this is. but you're talking about basically, poor democrats. they're not going to vote for a republican. so should he be worried yes because they're sort of out there countermessaging and all of that kind of stuff but not in terms of, will they go out and vote for him? because i don't think that you're talking about people who will go out and vote for mitt romney or michele bachmann or jon huntsman, whoever it happens to be. there's democrats, they will vote democratic. they may not put a sign in their front yard or might not volunteer but these are voters who will go and vote and they will vote for the president. as they are unhappy they are with him but right now they're sending him a message and that's what this is about. >> paul, i think you tend to like more bare-knuckled political brawl. so if you were advising the president's campaign, which you're not, what would you tell them to do? >> i would tell them, it listen, candy, and to throw a few punches. look, alex castellanos, my buddy he says nothing likes to unite the birth like the democrat from mars. all the complaints that president obama doesn't ride a unicorn and shoot jobs out of his ears, if obama and his team can focus on the republicans. if i were a david axelrod, who i love and admire, the chief strategist for the president, i would put a big picture of henny youngman, who famously said every time he was asked, "how's your wife?" compare to what? those three words ought to be on every democratic's lips. confirmed what? right now confirmed their dreamy expectations that they had a few years ago. i would rather have folks, confirmed what? governor romney or governor perry or congressman bachmann or the other leading republicans. that will bring the democrats back to obama. >> so you're saying make this race, not a referendum on president obama, that would be, for him, a huge mistake. make it all about the republican candidate? >> right, and that's easier said than done. every incumbent wants to defend his or her record. every politician wants to talk about themselves. let's be honest but this truth they'll have to make this psychological shift. to make this a choice and from the a referendum and to spend a lot of their time talking about the other side. it's harder now because there's not a republican nominee but there's a clear field and they all have ideas that are radically different from the president's and i think they ought to be engaging them. >> i want to ask another question, candy, but i have got clarify something because somebody was talking in my ear, paul. did you say they were upset because president obama doesn't ride a uniform and shoot jobs out of his, what did you say? >> out of his ears. i picked the right orefice. i know it's a family child but out of his ears. pronounced ears. that's word i was using. i try flot slip but i'm trying to be good. >> okay. okay. i mean, candy, you know often we hear of threats of challenges from the far left to a democratic candidate. it doesn't seem to materialize. but i mean, do you think this is just -- do you think the white house sees this as a major problem? do you think the white house is as concerned as some on the left are about the state of affairs about where they think the president is? because it does seem like in some of their statement over last couple of weeks that they think that is just kind of like, op-ed writers' board in august coming up with stuff to write about. >> listen, i think you have to always be concerned at most ardent members of your parent are unhappy you and not saying publicly but these are folks who understand where elections are won and that's with independents and so the president