>>> i love my brother. man of integrity, courage and honor. and during incredibly challenging times , he kept us safe. mr. obama it's time to stop blaming your predecessor for your failed economic policy.
>> that was jeb bush on stage defending his brother and delivering a stinging indictment to president obama . this morning in lakeland mitt romney told the crowd they'd gotten to know him a little more during this week's convention in tampa.
>> last night you got to know me better with some friends that talked about my life, the things that have been part of my life in the past. i talked to you a bit about my family. i was embarrassed from time to time with the nice things people said. some people were overly generous, but i appreciated it.
>>> joining us the author of "the real romney ." and ron reagan . scott , i'll talk with you. you covered mitt romney 's political rise since 1994 when he ran for senate in massachusetts against teddy kennedy . last night how did he do? did we see the real mitt romney ?
>> i think we definitely saw more of him. he opened up a little bit. i was struck by the emotion that he showed in talking about his sons in particular and sort of almost being wistful about how fast the time moves. i thought that was pretty effective. it wasn't that personal of a speech. so -- and i don't think anyone is expecting that doesn't know mitt romney . for him, someone who was very buttoned up and reluctant to get too much into his family life and certainly his faith, i think it was an opening up. i thought the most significant part of it was the degree to which he was willing to let people into his church life, both through his own words and then the very moving words, i thought, of the people who spoke from his congregation.
>> one of the major tasks for republicans at this convention was to re-introduce romney to voters for ones that have gotten to know him over the past five years and certainly the ones that have been defined by the obama campaign as this plutocart. a reshaping of this candidate?
>> well, it's a curious thing to me, thomas. scott is the expert here. he's written the book on mitt romney . i know mitt romney from his public utterances and what i see on television out on the campaign trail. it's striking to me. this man has been running for president since dinosaurs were young and still we're asking the question who is the real mitt romney ? is the real mitt romney pro choice or anti-choice? is he pro gun control or anti- gun control ? does he believe that humans are causing climate change or does he not believe that humans are causing climate change ? and i'd be interested to hear scott 's take on this. where and at what point did mitt romney suddenly embrace with real fer vensy dishonesty? his campaign is a remarkably dishonest campaign. he's literally going out and lying about the president. when did he decide inside himself that that was an acceptable behavior?
>> scott , let's get to that. because in your book you talk about the fact that romney started out in 1994 as a political independent . a strong supporter of abortion rights , outspoken in favor of gay rights . he has now said that he is opposed to gay rights . he is opposed to o woman's right to choose except in case of incest, rape and where the mother's life is in danger. but when we get to his core beliefs, where are they? and where is the center of that core?
>> unfortunately, i think the only way to answer it is you're right, he was a very, very different candidate when he ran in 1994 , up and down the line. you mentioned some issues. you could keep going. there are a whole host of them. the mitt romney that we see giving the speech at the republican convention in tampa would be unrecognizable to the mitt romney who ran in '94. the way we have thought about it is that at heart, mitt romney is a pragmatist. he has looked at these elections and figured out who he needs to be and what he needs to do to be successful in them. in '94 running against a liberal ted kennedy in a liberal state, it was to be pretty liberal or moderate. now trying to court the republican party 's nomination, you know, he's had to move to the right. this is an endless debate, which one is the real one. is he really secretly this. the only way to really know, i guess, is to see what happens if he actually wins the white house because i think it remains an open question .
>> ron, i need to ask you before we go, last night we saw clint eastwood take the stage at the top of the prime time hour. a lot of people speculated that maybe your mom, nancy reagan , might be that surprise guest, or they could beam in a hologram of your father. should they have gone with that as opposed to the empty chair?
>> first, i did not watch the tribute to my father . i was of a mind to originally but then after hearing paul ryan speak, i just decided that i didn't want to see my father associated with this republican party , which is not his republican party , or these republicans, which are really nothing like him. as far as the hologram goes, my understanding is they thought the hologram of my father would overshadow mitt romney . i think they were probably right.
>> ron reagan , scott helman, thank you, gentlemen. appreciate your time today. also want to point out, i don't want you to miss chuck todd 's documentary on mitt romney , "the making of a candidate." the rebroadcast is 10:00 p.m . tonight on msnbc. chris matthews takes an in-depth look at the presidency and candidacy of barack obama . that debuts monday night at 10:00 right here on msnbc. the place for politics. [ dad ] i'm usually checking up on my kids. but
>> that was jeb bush on stage defending his brother and delivering a stinging indictment to president obama . this morning in lakeland mitt romney told the crowd they'd gotten to know him a little more during this week's convention in tampa.
>> last night you got to know me better with some friends that talked about my life, the things that have been part of my life in the past. i talked to you a bit about my family. i was embarrassed from time to time with the nice things people said. some people were overly generous, but i appreciated it.
>>> joining us the author of "the real romney ." and ron reagan . scott , i'll talk with you. you covered mitt romney 's political rise since 1994 when he ran for senate in massachusetts against teddy kennedy . last night how did he do? did we see the real mitt romney ?
>> i think we definitely saw more of him. he opened up a little bit. i was struck by the emotion that he showed in talking about his sons in particular and sort of almost being wistful about how fast the time moves. i thought that was pretty effective. it wasn't that personal of a speech. so -- and i don't think anyone is expecting that doesn't know mitt romney . for him, someone who was very buttoned up and reluctant to get too much into his family life and certainly his faith, i think it was an opening up. i thought the most significant part of it was the degree to which he was willing to let people into his church life, both through his own words and then the very moving words, i thought, of the people who spoke from his congregation.
>> one of the major tasks for republicans at this convention was to re-introduce romney to voters for ones that have gotten to know him over the past five years and certainly the ones that have been defined by the obama campaign as this plutocart. a reshaping of this candidate?
>> well, it's a curious thing to me, thomas. scott is the expert here. he's written the book on mitt romney . i know mitt romney from his public utterances and what i see on television out on the campaign trail. it's striking to me. this man has been running for president since dinosaurs were young and still we're asking the question who is the real mitt romney ? is the real mitt romney pro choice or anti-choice? is he pro gun control or anti- gun control ? does he believe that humans are causing climate change or does he not believe that humans are causing climate change ? and i'd be interested to hear scott 's take on this. where and at what point did mitt romney suddenly embrace with real fer vensy dishonesty? his campaign is a remarkably dishonest campaign. he's literally going out and lying about the president. when did he decide inside himself that that was an acceptable behavior?
>> scott , let's get to that. because in your book you talk about the fact that romney started out in 1994 as a political independent . a strong supporter of abortion rights , outspoken in favor of gay rights . he has now said that he is opposed to gay rights . he is opposed to o woman's right to choose except in case of incest, rape and where the mother's life is in danger. but when we get to his core beliefs, where are they? and where is the center of that core?
>> unfortunately, i think the only way to answer it is you're right, he was a very, very different candidate when he ran in 1994 , up and down the line. you mentioned some issues. you could keep going. there are a whole host of them. the mitt romney that we see giving the speech at the republican convention in tampa would be unrecognizable to the mitt romney who ran in '94. the way we have thought about it is that at heart, mitt romney is a pragmatist. he has looked at these elections and figured out who he needs to be and what he needs to do to be successful in them. in '94 running against a liberal ted kennedy in a liberal state, it was to be pretty liberal or moderate. now trying to court the republican party 's nomination, you know, he's had to move to the right. this is an endless debate, which one is the real one. is he really secretly this. the only way to really know, i guess, is to see what happens if he actually wins the white house because i think it remains an open question .
>> ron, i need to ask you before we go, last night we saw clint eastwood take the stage at the top of the prime time hour. a lot of people speculated that maybe your mom, nancy reagan , might be that surprise guest, or they could beam in a hologram of your father. should they have gone with that as opposed to the empty chair?
>> first, i did not watch the tribute to my father . i was of a mind to originally but then after hearing paul ryan speak, i just decided that i didn't want to see my father associated with this republican party , which is not his republican party , or these republicans, which are really nothing like him. as far as the hologram goes, my understanding is they thought the hologram of my father would overshadow mitt romney . i think they were probably right.
>> ron reagan , scott helman, thank you, gentlemen. appreciate your time today. also want to point out, i don't want you to miss chuck todd 's documentary on mitt romney , "the making of a candidate." the rebroadcast is 10:00 p.m . tonight on msnbc. chris matthews takes an in-depth look at the presidency and candidacy of barack obama . that debuts monday night at 10:00 right here on msnbc. the place for politics. [ dad ] i'm usually checking up on my kids. but