Video: Showdown in South Carolina

>> congressman from south carolina . thank you for your time.

>> thank you for having me.

>> why do you believe he had a 23-point lead in the polls, and now it's down to ten.

>> well, there are two things converging in this state. one, mr. romney himself. he has allowed himself to be separated from the ordinary people . it's one thing to be wealthy, nobody begrudges him for that. it's another thing to try and make yourself different because of that wealth. that's what he has done with a lot of his words and phrases. for him to say last night during the debate that he walked ordinary streets, everybody knows that's not true. for him to say he inherited nothing from his father. that everything he got he made it himself. that is absolutely not true. people are beginning to say this guy will say anything in order to get a vote, and he has separated himself from ordinary people . now, you got newt gingrich on the other side putting out his tax returns , showing that he may have paid somewhere around 30% income tax on his earnings. here is a guy with all that wealth and saying he's paid only 15%. he has separated himself from ordinary people in a way that newt only had to go halfway. romney went the other half be.

>> let me ask you, there was this title of the inevitable nominee. people believe it was his game to lose. then another bad debate when it came to answering these financial questions. evenmitt romney , tries to just poex him when has not tried. it's like he's putting the cart before the horse.

>> that's correct. i wondered from day one, what kind of candidate would go out, extend him or herself to the other side without ever consolidatiing his or her own base. they didn't seem to do that. the whole thing was all you got to do was be a hater to obama or an objector for obama and that's all you needed for your base. no, no. voters are interested in what you are going to do with me. how will by table top issues get better if you get elected? you just can't be against the other guy. you got to show me why it is i need to invest my precious vote in you and mitt romney --

>> i want to ask you, is that what newt gingrich is doing in your home state? there's been instances where he's referred to the president as this food stamp president and a woman flattered him by saying it was good that she showed juan williams his place in all of this. there's been a lot of talk about race and how it is, for some people, fuel for fire. making them want to get out and vote against this president for whatever reasons or obvious reasons. it is true you have to put out ideas because what we saw in that debate, he's putting out more fire.

>> what i said was, newt had to do his 50%. his 50% was consolidating his base. that's what he's doing with that kind of language. he does his anti- obama stuff, but newt has done a good job of consolidating his base. i don't like where his base is, but the fact of the matter is, using words and phrases like that tend to consolidate his base. that's what he has done to excite these voters and that's why with romney failing to connect and not talking about his vision for the future and with him consolidating his base, those two things have converged in such a way that mitt will benefit in the a very positive way.

>> let me ask you about the first five minutes of the debate when john king asked newt gingrich about his wife's interview in which she revealed newt gingrich asked her for an open marriage . all of the candidates were asked their thoughts on this issue of a person's character and how it should play into the vote. i want to show you each introduced themselves to the audience.

>> i'm rick santorum , and i want to thank the people for their hospitality for my wife and karen children.

>> i'm married now 42 years. i have five kids, daughters-in-law and 16 grand kids.

>> i'm proud that my wife of 54 are years tonight.

>> i want to thank the people of south carolina for being so hospitable.

>> the other three thanked their lives and brought up their families. when given an opportunity not to do any mud slinging, but to just talk about character. they passed, but then were passive aggressive and bringing up their spouses and how many kids they have.

>> we all do that. i'm proud of the fact that i've been married to the same person for 50 years. i have three lovely daughters and three great-grandchildren. we talk about that. i think it's fair game . we talk about family issues and family values . the question is to the extent of which we value our families. i think it's very good for them to do that. if i were newt, i would have brought up the fact that i've got a wife even though it may be a third one. the fact of the matter is, i think i would have brought it up if i were him.

>> all right. congress clyburn it's great to have you. thank you.

>> thank you so much for having me.

Source: http://video.msnbc.msn.com/newsnation/46074685/

arrested development shannon tweed shannon tweed don lapre aladdin weird al yankovic bling ring