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Lawrence on passion in politics

President Obama fired back at his Republican critics on Sunday, saying he's ready for whoever emerges from the Republican race.

President Obama fired back at his Republican critics on Sunday, saying he's ready for whoever emerges from the Republican race. Obama defended his nearly three-year record in the White House, though many seemed less than sold on his answers in the 60 Minutes interview.

The Last Word host Lawrence O'Donnell said Obama's answers "made sense." Obama's "saying, look, he understands why Americans are dissatisfied with where we are, economically especially, and that's going to be reflected in presidential poll numbers," he told msnbc's Andrea Mitchell. Basically, there's only so much the president can do in this situation.

"Passion in politics, according to Lawrence," is the "worst way to grade the performance of politicians — especially politicians who are actually active in government," said Lawrence, emphasizing the need to cut Obama some slack. "For the challengers out there, who are running for office and don't have governmental responsibilities, maybe it's all about passion. But he is an executive trying to run the most difficult executive exercise that exists in the world."