Top political quotes of the year

>>> we're back. of all the memorable lines this year, and there were many, which ones proved to be the most notable? well, for the seventh year, yale law school librarian fred shapiro has released his list of the top ten quotes. they are certainly some of the most memorable lines spoken this year. which ones will stand the test of time? you be the judge. to help sift through a few of them we have eugene robinson , columnist for "the washington post " and david corn , washington bureau chief for mother jones . both are msnbc political analysts. so here we go. let's start with you, gene. look at this one. a memorable moment from the spring while we were still in the middle of a tough primary fight that pushed romney to the far right. the question many were asking was could he pivot back to the center in the general election ? and then this happened. the number seven quote of the year. let's watch.

>> he hit a reset button for the fall campaign. everything changes. it's almost like an etch-a-sketch. you can kind of shake it up and we start all over again.

>> impact statement of etch-a-sketch.

>> yeah. it was wonderful because that quote confirmed what everyone suspected about mitt romney . you know, the great thing about it, a gaffe is the truth.

>> if you don't agree with me now, wait two minutes and you will agree with me. one that was much more infamous because it really hurt among women . if one comment crystallized the overwhelm trouble the republican party had with women it was this. take a look at the number six category here.

>> first of all, from what i understand from doctors, that's really rare. if it's a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down.

>> okay. for quack medicine that's got to be the award winner.

>> it's still painful to watch and hear him say that, and i think the key thing is, you know, it got him not to become senator, but remember the republican party turned against him for that remark, but then a few weeks later, a month or two later, came running right back.

>> what was worse, his surmise that most women shouldn't be believed when they were raped or this crazy metaphysics, al kem kemy that said you don't get pregnant if you really don't want to be?

>> it just goes to the whole republican narrative that they don't know science, don't care about science.

>> they make it up.

>> and really don't understand.

>> the former was obnoxious, the second was stupid.

>> the president was looking to come on strong in the last two debates. here was a memorable line from the third debate that ranked as the number five quote of the year. take a look.

>> you mentioned the navy, for example, and that we have fewer ships than we did in 1916 . governor, we also have fewer horses and bayonets because the nature of our military has changed. we have these things call aircraft carriers were planes land on them. we have ship that is go underwater, nuclear submarines.

>> perhaps the most memorable moment from the debates occurred in this second round. take a look at the number four quote.

>> i think it's interesting that the president just said something which is that on the day after the attack he went in the rose garden and said that this was an act of terror.

>> that's what i said.

>> you said in the in the rose garden , the day after the attack, it was an act of terror. it was not a spontaneous demonstration. is that what you're saying?

>> please proceed, governor.

>> so why was that so powerful? i know you're chuckling, but why does it work so well for him to say please proceed, governor?

>> exactly. just continue because you're about to get slammed. and, you know, there's an ominous tone there. and romney had to kind of think, gee, do i keep going? but he kept going.

>> he also has a dismissive tone. there was so much wrapped up.

>> we didn't know in realtime that he had the guy trapped at that point. we only knew that he said don't start pushing me around. here's one that hurt the president. let's take a look at this one. this ranks as number three. you watched the republican kwon ven convention, you might have heard this a few times. let's listen to this one. this hurt the president, i think.

>> if you were successful, somebody along the line gave you some help. there was a great teacher somewhere in your life. somebody helped to create this unbelievable, american system that we have that allowed you to thrive. somebody invested in roads and bridges. if you've got a business, you didn't build that.

>> it was almost a socialist argument, they said. the person is not responsible for the business success because the society did it for them somehow.

>> they claimed he was insulting the small business . he was basically saying everyone in america gets to where they are inside the context. and they spend a whole night at the convention going again and again and again. and all the polls showed at the end of the day , it go to nowhere.

>> oh, come on.

>> you can't build a campaign if you're romney --

>> are you on the giving inch on anything? i'm asking you a philosophical question.

>> yes, i am. i think when he said the private sector is doing fine, that was a much worse statement.

>> i any this was pretty bad, actually. yes, it was taken out of context, but, in fact, he said it. it did hurt him. in the end, it didn't hurt that much. but that's because of the huge pushback. weeks and weeks of pushback.

>> look. here this is. it blew up the network. twitter went wild. he was number 2 two on the list this year.

>> we took a concerted effort to go out and find women who had backgrounds to be qualified. i went to a number of women 's groups and said can you help us find folks. and they brought us binders full of women .

>> what was funny there?

>> it's funny because it's like a fire side theater line, a marx brothers line, you know, binderful of women .

>> he should have said binders full of resumes.

>> kpaktsly. talk about objectifying women .

>> i didn't think that was such a big deal when i heard it the first time. i thought he was submitting brand new resumes.

>> it opened him up to ridicule. here's the last one, the quote of the year. we know it is, but here it is. listen to it. you probably remember a few discussions about this throughout the campaign. it never went away. i don't think it ever well. let's watch.

>> all the money they spent, all the work was undone by probably one waiter in that caterering group that locked in that tv camera and picked it up.

>>> 67 seconds versus a billion dollars from advertising and everything else. one person, on their own -- don't tell your kids at home they can't make a difference. one person, on their own, undid a campaign.

>> what was it? a cell phone? why do you think it had such bounce?

>> i think two things. i think it confirmed the narrative. i think using the term 47%. if you said half the people or a lot of americans. his clinical, passionate, precise description.

>> i think david is right. it was the precision of it. and the fact that he really believes it. he still does.

>> he's been thinking about his post-election.

>> he's found a stat on this he just loved. anyway, thank you. what a great show this has been. when we return, let me finish with the numbers that made a difference in this presidential election . you'll recognize three of them. you're watching "hardball," the

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