>>> now let me bring in chris mathews host of hardball on msnbc. let me ask you for a big picture question now. what are you looking for at this convention? what do you got your eyes on?
>> well, i think it's going to come down to romney's acceptance speech. all this talk about the weather is just preview. i think the question is, can he connect to the american people in a way that -- in a way that says this guy can help me deal with my challenges. i know he's smart, i know he's rich, be i know he has a nice family, i know he's god fairing and religious and all that, can he connect with the problems i have and help me out in life?
>> does he have it in him, i don't mean that to be harsh or anything, but if he hasn't connected with so many people up until this point can one speech turn the tide?
>> that's true, what you said is true. he has never connected. he's not the nominee of the party because he's ever connected to the american people . he's the nominee of the party because he's very well funned, run an effective campaign, but personally no one has picked this guy to be a nominee for either party if his name hadn't been mitt romney and had the background that he had of course as a moderate governor of massachusetts . personally, i think it's a great question. will he come through as a human being , as a good guy, a square even. nothing wrong with being a square if you're helpful. he doesn't have to be hip or something he's not, but there has to be some sense of a person behind that face. and nobody knows there's a person there yet. he's into -- somebody said he was interested in faith, family and business. is this guy interested in anything else? faith, family -- and now he's currently in the business of running for president. if he weren't running for president would he care about these things he's talking about? does he have any natural curiosity about people's problems? natural interest in what they face as individuals or simply facing the fact that to become president he has to seem to do that, seem to be interested.
>> you know he's gotten out this --
>> the performance.
>> this question a lot, and you and i both remember it's a question that was asked of john kerry , a question asked of al gore , but let me play for you one of the things he said when he was asked about this over the weekend.
>> you know, all i can do is be who i am. remember the poppy line , i am what i am. i'm trying to get this country back on track to help the people who need to be sure they can find a good job.
>> to be who he is and capitalize on that, what is this speech about then? is it about his business experience? is it about his success? does he say the word bain? what do you think, chris?
>> i think it has to be the olympics . i think that's the one sterling quality or quantity in his whole biography where he went out to utah and turned that thing around, to the advantage of the country. i think it's exciting. we're coming off the olympics coverage. i think people would like to hear that. they don't want to hear about how much money he's made. they're not interested in his personal successp. but if he can show he had an example where he did something for the country it's the olympics . it may not be great but it's true, worth while and people will like it. that would be the flag i would fly. personally i have a real problem with the republican party the last couple of days. i think they've been playing the lan was tonight to bring donald trump in to talk about that birther stuff of his. romney told that terrible joke recently about birtherism. they're running this ad saying obama administration is getting rid of the work requirement for welfare which is another old racial canard. i see this pattern here about calling him a foreign and constantly doing that. i think that's beneath the party of lincoln, way beneath it, and i hope to hell for the good of this country we don't fight an election on whether or not obama is an american but whether either can be the best president . it's about time they got their best out there and not their worst. we've been seeing a lot of their worst. i had a fight with reince priebus on " morning joe " because he's doing that this morning, saying that the entire obama health care plan was something brought in from europe when in fact teddy roosevelt of the republican party was advocating national health a century ago and franklin roosevelt and harry truman . is it american to have people waiting in the emergency room ? is that the american way to do health care ? i think that's ridiculous the health care plan brought in from the heritage foundation and republican party is now being branded by the republican party as european. i think this is zen phobia, bad news and probably racial.
>> we're going to watch it all very closely.
>> okay.
>> chris mathews , there live from the republican national convention in our prime time coverage and of course at 5:00 and
>> well, i think it's going to come down to romney's acceptance speech. all this talk about the weather is just preview. i think the question is, can he connect to the american people in a way that -- in a way that says this guy can help me deal with my challenges. i know he's smart, i know he's rich, be i know he has a nice family, i know he's god fairing and religious and all that, can he connect with the problems i have and help me out in life?
>> does he have it in him, i don't mean that to be harsh or anything, but if he hasn't connected with so many people up until this point can one speech turn the tide?
>> that's true, what you said is true. he has never connected. he's not the nominee of the party because he's ever connected to the american people . he's the nominee of the party because he's very well funned, run an effective campaign, but personally no one has picked this guy to be a nominee for either party if his name hadn't been mitt romney and had the background that he had of course as a moderate governor of massachusetts . personally, i think it's a great question. will he come through as a human being , as a good guy, a square even. nothing wrong with being a square if you're helpful. he doesn't have to be hip or something he's not, but there has to be some sense of a person behind that face. and nobody knows there's a person there yet. he's into -- somebody said he was interested in faith, family and business. is this guy interested in anything else? faith, family -- and now he's currently in the business of running for president. if he weren't running for president would he care about these things he's talking about? does he have any natural curiosity about people's problems? natural interest in what they face as individuals or simply facing the fact that to become president he has to seem to do that, seem to be interested.
>> you know he's gotten out this --
>> the performance.
>> this question a lot, and you and i both remember it's a question that was asked of john kerry , a question asked of al gore , but let me play for you one of the things he said when he was asked about this over the weekend.
>> you know, all i can do is be who i am. remember the poppy line , i am what i am. i'm trying to get this country back on track to help the people who need to be sure they can find a good job.
>> to be who he is and capitalize on that, what is this speech about then? is it about his business experience? is it about his success? does he say the word bain? what do you think, chris?
>> i think it has to be the olympics . i think that's the one sterling quality or quantity in his whole biography where he went out to utah and turned that thing around, to the advantage of the country. i think it's exciting. we're coming off the olympics coverage. i think people would like to hear that. they don't want to hear about how much money he's made. they're not interested in his personal successp. but if he can show he had an example where he did something for the country it's the olympics . it may not be great but it's true, worth while and people will like it. that would be the flag i would fly. personally i have a real problem with the republican party the last couple of days. i think they've been playing the lan was tonight to bring donald trump in to talk about that birther stuff of his. romney told that terrible joke recently about birtherism. they're running this ad saying obama administration is getting rid of the work requirement for welfare which is another old racial canard. i see this pattern here about calling him a foreign and constantly doing that. i think that's beneath the party of lincoln, way beneath it, and i hope to hell for the good of this country we don't fight an election on whether or not obama is an american but whether either can be the best president . it's about time they got their best out there and not their worst. we've been seeing a lot of their worst. i had a fight with reince priebus on " morning joe " because he's doing that this morning, saying that the entire obama health care plan was something brought in from europe when in fact teddy roosevelt of the republican party was advocating national health a century ago and franklin roosevelt and harry truman . is it american to have people waiting in the emergency room ? is that the american way to do health care ? i think that's ridiculous the health care plan brought in from the heritage foundation and republican party is now being branded by the republican party as european. i think this is zen phobia, bad news and probably racial.
>> we're going to watch it all very closely.
>> okay.
>> chris mathews , there live from the republican national convention in our prime time coverage and of course at 5:00 and