MSNBC "Hardball With Chris Matthews" -Transcript   By:  Pete
King Date: Oct. 1, 2007 Location: Unknown  MSNBC "Hardball With
Chris Matthews" -Transcript  MR. MATTHEWS: A small group of
Christian conservatives met in secret over the weekend to
discuss the possibility of fielding a third-party presidential
candidate if Rudy Giuliani gets the Republican nomination next
year. Is there a division on the Republican right? Will pro-
lifers bring the GOP down? That's the "Hardball" debate tonight.
Tony Perkins was at that meeting in Salt Lake City. He's the
president of the Family Research Council. And U.S. Congressman
Peter King is a Republican from New York State. He's a Giuliani
supporter.  So let me ask you this right now, Tony Perkins. Are
you running for president?  MR. PERKINS: No, Chris, let's take
that off the table.  MR. MATTHEWS: Are you available the way
that, say, Dick Cheney was available after he headed up a search
committee for a VP and ended up the person he discovered?  MR.
PERKINS: No, not hardly.