Gingrich vs. Rove: Clash of the Republican titans

>>> now to a clash of the republican titans over the future of their part. newt gingrich is going after karl rove saying he is plain rock with his super pac strategy to pick the most conservative to win. gingrich writes, i'm unalterably aposed financing a boss to pick candidates in 50 states . it should be repugnant to every conservative and republican. a tea party group is apologizing to rove after a fund raising e-mail went out that showed him photo shopped into a nazi uniform. they say it was a vendor error and the image was inappropriate. while we may have strong disagreements with him on future of conservatism, we want to be clear this imagery is absolutely unacceptable and are working to ensure this type of mistake doesn't happen again. let me bring in former pennsylvania governor and nbc news political analysts ed rendell and republican strategist and santorum senior strategist john braybender.

>> the republican party has to understand it's been two months since the election and mourning period is over and it's time to stop the infighting. second of all, a lot of this is miscommunications, he is misrepresenting what karl rove actually said. what rove is saying, we no longer should pick a candidate because they can check off the box they believe everything that the tea party does if they are not going to be a good candidate. we have to find conservative candidates who can win in november. our messaging is way off, instead of fighting each other, we have to show average lunch bucket americans how the republican party will fight for them. we've done a very poor job at doing that.

>> governor, to john's point, one of the things they are fighting over is the past, they are fighting over the election and how many of nine senate races they think they could have won. i think there's a lot of general agreement, even between rove and gingrich that todd akin and richard murdoch may not have been the best candidates. gingrich said it wasn't a candidate problem that they weren't extreme republicans, something else was at work. is it the candidate or message?

>> it's both. sometimes it is the candidate and murdoch and akin and the witch lady, those --

>> christine o'donnell.

>> yeah, those were clearly the candidates themselves that caused the defeat. sometimes it's a message. i agree with most of what john says. i think karl rove is actually -- i'm not sure he said it the right way but his strategy is a good one. but it's not just a message, it's the substance. the substance of what this party has been captured by is totally out of whack with the majority of american people and it appears in substance they've learned nothing from the election results. they did terribly with women and yet in state after state republican legislators and some republican governors have gone after issues that are near and dear to women. ohio has a bill on the floor that would reinstate a personhood amendment, they are appearing to be obstructionists. first time in the history of our country that a cabinet choice of a president was filibustered. it's just a disaster for the republican party and it's more substance than messaging. it's a little of both. substance of what they believe is one of the real problems.

>> i'm wondering who the face of the republican party is or is going to be, john, in the future. ted cruz , marco rubio on the cover of "time" or look at the numbers that came out today for chris christie , 74% approval for what he's doing. is he the changing face of the republican party ? what do you think, john?

>> i think it's too soon to know. if it is somebody who thinks the party is only about tax breaks for the rich or keeping loopholes for corporations, they are not going to get anywhere ever in the party. it has to be somebody who can say, i'm tired of people thinking that's who we fight for. we have to take somebody who is a hard working family, be in ohio or florida, hispanic, african-american, white american and understand we're fight aring for their take home pay to go up and to have the family controls they can to keep hollywood out when they want and not this children interrupted by violence and sex at any moment, and nobody is fighting for those type of things that hard working americans really care about.

>> i think maybe -- don't you think, governor, part of the reason chris christie is so popular, he does articulate those things in a very straight forward chris christie kind of way. on the other hand, they did a head to head match-up between christie and hillary clinton and she wins 49-45% in new jersey.

>> right. none of that is really important because it isn't chris christie who is the face of the republican party , for better or worse, the 27/7 news cycle have made john boehner and mitch mcconnell the face of the republican party to the american people . and john is right, the message is terrible. they are opposing the buff et rule, that has been advanced by senate democrats as getting out of the sequester. it says millionaires should pay a percentage on their taxes no matter what deductions they have and that percentage is about what the average working american pays. what's wrong with that? why don't the republican party embrace that?

>> let me ask you, john, about the piece that kathleen parker wrote in the " washington post ." it's time for rinos,only, to take back the party. rinos need to be defy antly proud and centrist and unapologetically sane. is that what you're saying too?

>> not at all. i think conservative principles have not failed it is the messengers have failed conservatism. where is it that if we're going to be -- we're not just a family -- party that's pro birth we're also pro-life. that means protecting children from this terrible $18 trillion debt that's being placed on their back. where are we in fighting for that and fighting so those kids have a chance? we have to be a party that says every single american can reach the american dream and have that opportunity. that's what we should be focusing on not the labels that everybody wants to talk about.

>> john brabender, governor rendell, good to talk to both of you.

>> we'll be right back. e