dropping 204 points. a reaction to fears of a global slowdown and a possible greek credit default. doug cass helps make sense of all of it, and, of course, it's some tuesday. voters in 11 states are determining who will be the republican nominee. but, first up, the polls have just closed in three states. nbc news has declared newt gingrich the projected winner in georgia. nbc news is also declaring the vermont primary as too early to call, and in virginia nbc news also says the race is too early to call. let's break down the numbers. cnbc's amman javers with all the details. good evening. >> good evening, larry. we are looking at a race across the board here. newt gingrich winning in georgia. that is a big deal for newt gingrich in his home state, of course. the question is going into tonight will it be enough for newt gingrich to continue on in this race? one of the things we want to be watching for here as the evening

unfolds is whether or not mitt romney can seal the deal tonight. a lot at stake here for mitt romney going into all of these states across the country. romney really looking for a big win tonight. whether or not he can seal the deal across the country, that's going to be the big question that we're all watching, larry. that's going to be the big issue that's on a lot of people's minds tonight. back to you. >> all right, amman, thank you very much. we will see you later. now, other other top story this evening, and it's a big one. the first triple digit drop in the stock market all year. let's get right away to our stock market mavens. we bring in dougy cass, and mike holland, chairman of holland and company, and cnbc's own kelly evans. doug, let me just ask you. there's a lot of things going on here. i just want to ask about the potential of a credit default event in greece. if they don't get to 90% bond swap, then as i understand it, credit default swaps will kick in. that's not good for ebanks, and that's not good for the market, and that may be a key part of today's sell-off.

what is your take? what can you tell us on this? >> i don't think that the greek debt situation was particularly relevant to today's decline. after all, i believe the yield on one-year greek paper is in excess of 750%. that to me -- now, i didn't go to harvard like miky -- i went to the a school, not the b school, wharton. that means that greece has basically defaulted already, so i think it was totally a nonevent. i think it there were other influences that led to the decline. >> what's your biggest influence? what's your biggest influence? >> i think a combination of negative data points, more ambiguous economic statistics, both here and abroad, abroad meaning china, europe, and india, and here the income and spending, personal spending numbers late last week combined with the national ism actually ended up having goldman sachs'

economics department reduce the first quarter gdp quarter price by 2%. >> on the other , mike, if you take out the greek credit event or the potential there, we've had a tremendous run-up for five months. something like 25%. we are due for a pullback, are we not? has your thinking changed now after today's 200 point sell-off? >> my thinking has not changed, larry, and hello, doug. the answer to the original question, what took the market down toes, as doug said, was not greece. greece has been basically in default for a long time, and everyone knows. this question of how we get out of it, the collateral damage, we think it's going to be ring fenced by the european central -- the ecb has said they would do whatever it takes, as did ben bernanke here. that's not the question. last week we already talked about china's slowing down all the way to 7.5% gdp. big whoop. second largest economy in the world growing over 7%, and, by the way, that's their target.

we use the number because they had already given, it so people used that as an excuse today for the market going down. the answer to the question, why did the market go down? because it was up 25%. >> i mean, it was due for a pullback. kelly evans, let me bring in -- welcome, by the way. dougy cass will make the case that the economy is slowing down here in the u.s., but i just want to ask you, ism's look fine to me. chain store sales -- >> i don't know about fine. well, there were some bright spots. >> they sound fine to me. jobless claims look fine to me. >> but, larry, think about it this way. even though we have vehicle sales at a 15 year annualized growth, we're talking about a broader growth rate of 2%. >> it's got to be closer than 3%. >> it's not enough. >> ism's don't get you to 3% in the fourth quarter. >> we've had higher than 50 ism, and that hasn't gotten us anywhere. >> 52 or 53? >> we've been ut higher than that in the past couple of months. what we've seen is a slowing from where we were, and where we were wasn't enough to get that strong gdp growth rate rsh. >> you've slowed down to 2%

growth. >> we're hanging in there. you want to know where the global growth cat lites is. it's not just the u.s., which is okay, but it's not going to lead the global recovery. we're not seeing it in china. you are looking at europe in a recession that's getting potentially worse. you can understand why there's some worry out there. you are just looking for what's going to drive us higher from here. it's hard to find. >> kelly disagree with me. i still think we're running closer to 3%. i don't want to cheerlead the economy. i'm just looking ism's above 50. those car sales. doug, what about profits and pristine corporate balance sheets and the fact that the u.s. federal reserve and the ecb and the bank of china and the bank of japan, you've all got easy money wherever i look, and i'm glad that gold is falling and the dollar is rising. that means it's not inflationary. what's wrong with that scenario, doug? >> that's a very -- >> how bearish have you become? >> sir larry, i discussed on "fast money" and on barron's on saturday i expect a garden variety 5% or 6% decline, but remember, many stocks will

decline 10% or 15%. i think the key question that investors have to ask themselves is in light of the fact that there's going to be a $500 billion fiscal drag on january 1st, 2013, in light of the fact that we have structural unemployment and large fiscal imbalances and we seem to have a frozen political situation where no one is going to institute pro-growth fiscal policy, is the stock market cheap or expensive at 13.5 times 2012 corporate profits when after tax margins are at 60 year highs, and that's the real question. can we stir the animal spirits, as i suggested to you on the show in december, and take the s&p close to the record in late 2007, and i think we can. the most interesting part of this rally over the last two months is that -- >> let me just clarify that. you think we can. >> yeah. >> i think after this decline --

>> there's 5i% pullback, which is very hard to file, but you are basically a bull in this. is that what i'm gathering? >> i think the -- i think stocks should be bought on weakness. i don't think yet. we've only had a 2.5% decline. we probably have another 2%, 3%, 4% to go. as i said, many stocks will fall far greater and provide a far more interesting entry point. >> mike holland, what do you think about doug's fiscal concerns with which i generally share, although the outcome of the election is unknown. that could change a lot of that. there is a tax hike, by the way, january 1st, 2013 that would raise tax revenues by about 3.5 trillion dollars. how does an investor play or worry or deal with that, mike holland? >> companies, larry, around the world, not just in the u.s., have figured out how to survive and even prosper with all the craziness that the politicians have stuck in front of them. i believe that in the coming two years companies even with some of these fiscal drags will

figure out ways to continue to eek out better and better profitability than the good companies. not all of them. for some there will be a darwinian process. the more important thing, back to doug's point about the bull market, if you will, is that the valuations are so low they reflect a lot of the very ugly stuff that we've talked about. i have to take some exception, though, to something kelly said earlier about leaders in growth around the world. the second largest economy in the world, billion and a half people, china, is not about to give up its medal of growth leadership around the world, and today's decline in commodities around the world, including gold, i think, was directly related to people selling on the concern which we've had for two years now about hard landing, soft landing, whatever. i've told you that i keep going to china, i keep talking to companies, i keep not hearing about any landing at all. >> asian markets are dropping, but what's your response to that repost from michael holland? >> 7.5% growth is enviable for

any industrialized nation, but for china it's slowing from where eve they've been. if you want is going to be the next driver or what's going to take us forward where other major economies is slowing, is china's growth at that rate enough? i don't know. >> how about india's growth? >> strong, but not as strong. >> how about brazil's growth? >> slowing. >> how about mesh's growth? i'm going to give you a second pass. >> it's barely holding in. >> barely holding in. >> larry, may i mention two points? >> yes, i want to you put in two points. then tell us where to invest. >> the first point i want to mention is that kelly has only been at cnbc for a couple of days now, but i will tell you today she's the hardest working person on cnbc because at 6:00 in the morning we were exchanging e-mails about a margin story that she did at 11:00 this morning. >> yeah. we've been arguing about this point all day. >> the second thing i would take -- in response to kelly, kelly, even in a muddle through economic environment of only 2%

growth, which appears to be the case in the first quarter, american corporations are extraordinarily well positioned to profit. you saw how they faired in corporate profits in 2011 with less than 1.5% growth, so i think we're well on the way to 103, $105 a share. >> the corporate profs are at historical highs, not just for the s&p 500, but broadly speak, if you look at how profitable companies are related to their share of growth into the economy -- >> didn't i say that to you at 6:00 this morning? >> yeah, and i guess we're saying that, yeah, you're right. they're amazingly profitable. is this all good news? is the labor share continuing to fall, or are people bidding up wages? is this a self-sustaining cycle we want to see going forward? >> the most profitable they've been in our lifetimes and they're trading as if they're almost unprofitable. 10, 11, 12 times earnings. some of the world's greatest companies are trading at ten times earnings. apple and google and johnson & johnson. so far down the list.

>> in support of that price earning ratios have averaged over the last five decades 15.5 times while the yield on the ten-year was 6.7%. we're at 13.5 times multiple with the yield on the ten manufacture year at 1.956% today. >> what's your favorite -- >> >> by the way, dougy, multiples play a role. it's a pristine balance sheet, yes, but its earnings in relation to interest rates also. not just government bond rates, but corporate bond rates and corporate bond credit risk spreads which are all low and narrow. >> indeed, larry. >> junk bonds are down -- >> a great signal. >> risk premiums -- larry, risk premiums are down to -- are up to 1974 levels. they are so high, and i will remind you that the s&p rose in

1975 by 32%, and, again, by 19% the following year. >> all right. we're going to leave it there. i hear a lot of bullishness, and kelly, i'm sorry this time. next time. doug cass, thank you. mike holland, thank you. kelly evans, thank you. let's go to our other big story tonight. the super tuesday primaries and caucuses. they're taking place in 11 states. perhaps the most closely watched prize of the night will be ohio where polls close at 7:30 eastern time. pre-primary polling suggests it will be a squeaker with romney in a one-point lead. make the case for mitt romney, ohio republican senator rob who i just saw yesterday in canton, ohio. i think it was canton. welcome back. let me just ask you the difficult question. okay. >> okay. >> what if governor romney loses in ohio? if he loses the popular vote,

senator, how does that shake up the race? that's the question that a lot of people are asking this evening. >> well, rick santorum has been ahead in the polls in ohio consistently, as you know, as recently as last week. rick santorum was up by double digits in the polls. now, as you say, the average of all the polling is dead heat. it's -- we'll see what happens. if mitt romney wins, it will be a come from behind victory. if rick santorum wins, it will be consistent with the polling that we've seen. really for the past couple of months. what i liked about seeing you in canton, ohio, larry, is we talked about the same message that's going to be very compelling in the fall for mitt romney. it was about jobs and the economy. i thought you did a terrific job at that rally that you saw and he talked about the issues people care about. health care, energy, taxes, budgets. you know, the economic issues. i think it sets us up well for the fall. >> senator, let me just ask you this. i'm not making a prediction, but it just seemed to a lot of people that governor romney won come from behind in michigan.

why is he still not in the lead in ohio? was there a disconnect? is he having trouble making the connection with blue collar workers and so forth? a lot of people thought he would go on cruise control, but here is santorum nipping at his heels again in ohio. senator, what happened? how do you evaluate this, please? >> well, again, rick has been up by double digits in the polls as recently as last week, and rick is from pennsylvania right next to ohio. as you know, particularly in eastern ohio where we were, north eastern ohio, there's a lot of influence and pennsylvania media and so on. they know rick santorum. wee have a natural advantage there. i would say even if governor romney does not win ohio, he is likely to win the plurality of delegates because it turns out that rick santorum did not qualify to get delegates by congressional district in three of the congressional districts and a few others he didn't as well get all the delegates, and he is 18 delegates down to start with. i think it will be a good night

for mitt romney, whether he wins or not. the exit polling indicates that mitt romney may win, but i think i going to be very, very close, but i think mitt romney will end up with more delegates than anybody else, and that will just adds to that delegate. he has twice as many as anyone. at some point it becomes inevitable that mitt romney is the nominee simply by the delegate count. >> ohio senator, we appreciate your time, as always. >> thanks, larry. good to be with you yesterday. >> the polls close at the top of the hour. a strong kwfsh base. rick santorum has found strong support in oklahoma. premarket capitalism, it's still the best path to prosperity. the stock market correction tomorrowed may not be so fwad, folks. i'm kudlow. we'll be right back.

sxwlirchlgts welcome back. in case you are just joining us, the polls have closed in three states. northbound news has declared newt beginning rich the projected winner in georgia.

nbc news has declared the vermont primary as too early to call. in virginia nbc news has also said the race is too early to call. all right. our next guest, distinguished senator tom coburn, republican from oklahoma, recently endorsed governor mitt romney for president. senator coburn, as always, welcome back to the show. >> good to be with you. sflo who is going to win the oklahoma primary tonight, sir? >> oh, probably rick santorum. he spent a lot of time there and, of course, being from oklahoma it represents a very socially conservative state. >> you know, you made news almost the same time that house majority leader eric cantor came out and endorsed mitt romney. you came out and endorsed mitt romney, and it raised some speculation that some of the senior people in the republican party are now coalescing behind romney. is there any truth in that? >> well, it's the first time in my life i have ever been called

an establishment republican. i find it rather hilarious that somebody would categorize me that way. no. what i told people in oklahoma for months is i'll make a decision when i make the decision, and i'll let you know, and i voted this past saturday in oklahoma's primary, and then i wrote an op ed on why i was supporting mitt romney. >> by the way, let me just interrupt, senator. i beg your pardon, but nbc news now declares mitt romney as the projected winner in the virginia republican primary. that's romney in virginia called by nbc news. senator coburn, let me come back to this. one of the albatrosses around governor romney is, of course, romney care in massachusetts. do you think it would be a good thing, advisable for romney, to come out with a detailed plan how he would replace obama care? in other words, to get out from under romney care in massachusetts would it be better for mr. romney to say here's how i'm going to do away with obama

care? would that quell some of his conservative opposition and critics? >> well, i think you can do that, and i would be happy to help him do that. we have multiple plans and ideas, but, larry, would i remind you of one thing. we have the tenth amendment of the constitution, which says governor romney didn't do romney care. the state did romney care. he either signed it or didn't sign it. the fact is that the states have the right to do that. that's something totally different than the federal government mandating what states will do. >> would it be better to go -- just last few seconds, sir. i'm sorry we're tight for time. better to go a step beyond that? >> absolutely. i agree with that. i agree with that. i don't think you can be critical of obama care unless you are willing to say what would you do to fix it and make it better, and it's not a hard thing to do if you trust markets and you create a true safety net, we can do it and lower the cost of health care in this country. >> all right, senator coburn, i hope you'll come back on and we

can pursue that because it's a great thought. we appreciate it. >> coming up, folks, more of our special coverage of the crucial super tuesday primaries. we release our exit polling. we have interesting data. our own amman javers has it next. i'm larry kudlow. be right back. [ tom ] we invented the turbine business right here in schenectady. without the stuff that we make here, you wouldn't be able to walk in your house and flip on your lights. [ brad ] at ge we build turbines that power the world.

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one question we're watching closely tonight is whether mitt romney is able to expand his support beyond the base that he has built in the early republican primaries. one thing, is he getting more votes among low income voters? all right. to answer that, let's go straight now to cnbc's amman javers with the numbers. good evening. >> good evening. our nbc news exit polls find mitt romney remains weakest among lower income voters in republican primaries. here we've combined the results of all seven states with primaries tonight and compared them with combined data from the five states where we've conducted exit polls in primaries earlier this year. romney has made no gains among voters with 2011 family income of less than $100,000 across the seven states today. he gets 37% of the vote compared to 40% previously. he is getting 47% today among those earning between $100,000 and $200,000. about the same as he has done before with that group, and as in the earlier primaries, romney

does best among voters with income over $200,000. he is getting the majority of them, 54% across the seven states, with polls today. >> all right. thanks very much. appreciate it. now, rick santorum is making a play for those blue collar republican votes. sometimes called reagan democrats. this exit poll data suggests mitt romney isn't making great inroads with that group. in fact, he may be losing ground. again, still had to stop mr. romney from winning the earlier primaries, and appreciate cnbc's ayman javers, thank you very much. coming up on kudlow, super tuesday. the biggest prize of the night is ohio. polls close in this key state at 7:30. we're going to have the results for you live the moment those polls come in. i'm larry can youed loy. americans are always ready to work hard for a better future.

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zimplt welcome back to the kudlow report for our continuing coverage of super tuesday

elections. joining us is michael steel and former republican presidential candidate himself herman cain. now, i want to begin with my friend herman cain. >> hello, larry. sfoo hello, herman. supporting newt gingrich, which i totally respect, and i totally respect newt's issues, herman, and i totally respect you, but there is no electability. we're going to find that out after tonight. my big kwu to you, herman cain, is when you regroup, what are you looking for for issues and who will you support in the next round? >> the next round, larry, isn't going to come early. it's going to come a lot later than most people realize, and i beg to differ with you. i think newt is electable, and here's why. i have spent the last several days as well as a week ago actually on the ground talking to people campaigning with newt, campaigning with his daughter,

and sometimes giving speeches, and there's a different level of enthusiasm that's growing for newt that i don't think is being captured in some of the polls. for example, he has already been declared. >> herman, can i just with all due respect, i just want to comment. we have an announcement. the polls in ohio have closed. however, nbc news declares the ohio gop primary as too close to call. not too early to call. too close to call. i beg your pardon, herman. give me one more on why you're staying with newt and i want to get to michael steele and kevin madden. >> the reason i'm staying with newt is because the response of the people and the way he has connected with them is much greater than might be rooek reflected in the poelsz. for example, my prediction for tennessee is that he may finish better than expected. he was expected to finish in georgia. the only question is how much. we will know that shortly. but in tennessee, watch tennessee. i think that is going to indicate that newt might be on another surge, and it's going to

overflow into later states like mississippi and alabama and others. so i think he is electable because of the way that people are responding, especially to his 2-5-0, $2.50 gasoline goal. >> i get that. i get that very much. let me go to my pal, michael steele. michael steele, is it possible? i was reading some notes that i think you talked to somebody. you actually are going to tell me that all these primaries, economic positions don't matter, other positions, it's all about personalities and resentments and some policies of these candidates don't matter, michael steele. say it isn't so. say that's a total misquote. say that's not possible from such a smart guy. >> time out, bro. time out. no, no. first off, congratulations to herman and his support for newt and to newt and his team. i'm sure i'll extend early congratulations to the romney

campaign for their success tonight, but to your point about the economic issues. no, economic issues do matter, but there is a confluence of events and circumstances that sort of start with the idea of gelling around the personality, the person. how do i feel about this candidate? the reality of it is, you know, when you look at this race, herman cain was really the only one who really kind of captured the imagination along with capturing his personality with his 9-9-9 plan. you have not seen that with the romney campaign. you haven't seen it with the gingrich campaign. nor have you seen it with santorum. it doesn't mean that the economic issues don't matter, larry. it's just that in the case of herman cain, you saw a synergy between his personality, how people felt about him, and how he was effectively effective in tying that to his signature issue. i think that's something that a mitt romney should he be the nominee, will have to do almost immediately to put a lot of this other crazy noise about

contraception and women and health rights and all this other crazy stuff that we've gotten off on so that we can get back to the core discussion about the economic health and well being of this country because it doesn't matter if you're going to be able to give access to the good health care if you can't afford it, and that's the gist of the economic argument. >> let me just say, there is only one herman cain, after all. i want to go to kevin madden because, kevin, i think you just got dised with a light death touch by michael steele who is basically saying that your man, governor romney, with all his economic plans, has not captured the economic zitegeist, the economic spirit? i want to get to that. he had a faint and crossover punch. it's extraordinary how he does that. it's extraordinary how mr. steele does that. ken, please react. >> well, there's a reason mitt romney is still in the race, and there's a reason he has the most delegates. it's because he is focused on the economy. look, a lot of voters right now feel that they're over taxed.

a lot of voters feel that washington is spending too much money. they feel that there is not enough of a reform element in washington d.c. the reason governor romney is doing so well in places like ohio, like virginia tonight, like some of the suburbs in places like atlanta, and all these other states like florida that are going to be -- and michigan that are going to be critical to winning in a general election, governor romney is winning those voters because he is focused on the economy, he is focused on cutting spending, he is focused on economic growth, and he is focused on reforms to our entitlements, which are really hurting our ability to grow our economy. so i think i would respectfully disagree. i think the reason you're seeing this success tonight is because governor romney is doing exactly what chairman steele wants to see out of the republican nominee. focus on the economy, jobs, economic growth. >> herman cain, as a gingrich supporter, do you have a problem with mitt romney's economics plan, his new 20% across the board reduction in marginal tax rates, his corporate tax? you got a problem with that

plan? >> it doesn't matter whether i have a problem with it or not. it matters whether or not the american people get it. now, with all due respect, let me say this, first of all. whoever gets the nomination,ly support them, okay? let's make that clear. but when i talk to real people out here, they don't know what governor romney's plan is. it's not specific enough. you say he is talking about the economy, but this has been one of my big criticisms of all of the candidates and newt gingrich, with all due respect, even though i am supporting and endorsing him, has been the one to get most specific. take a message back to governor romney from me. get more specific and talk about improving the economy in terms that the average person can understand. >> kevin, that's -- >> kevin madden, that's a vicious upper cut. you must respond. again, michael steele on one side, and herman cain on the other. they are two of the best in the business, kevin. i can't believe how much heavy

lifting you're having to do. >> don't hit a guy with glasses. you want specifics. governor romney had a 59-point plan at the beginning of this campaign that he released with all of the points about what he would do to jump-start the economy on day one, and since then, i think he has been strong in distillinging that message for the american public in three main points. first, a 20% across the board tax cut. second, cutting spending, cut, cut cap and balance our federal budget, and, third, entitlement reform. the reforms that we need ford to get our fiscal balance in order. i think because of that, because he has distilled down that message, it is resonating with voters, and that's why you are seeing him win and potentially in plays like ohio tonight and why he has won in important states like michigan and florida. >> i think it has something to do with how much money he spends. >> i want to announce to nbc news that they have declared mitt romney as the projected winner in vermont, and its gop primary. this is not earth-shattering news, but i am compelled to report that news. michael steele, you want to inject. kevin madden has given a

spirited event. kevin is -- i've always been a big admirer of kevin, and he is right. what he has said is exactly correct, and i agree with that, and i appreciate romney's plan. i think it's something that the country will need after four years of obama, but my only point is one more of how we sort of get this energy building sooner rather than later around an idea. you can take those three points, kevin, and distill it to 9-9-9. in other words, something people when they say the word or the two or three words that sum up the whole thing, everyone gets it. that's the piece that i think is missing. yeah, it's kind of campy, and it's low politics, but it's the kind of effective politics that helps, i think, inoculate you when all the other craziness starts because you just lead back to that point. >> i must leave it will. we've got -- you're all terrific. michael steele, thank you very much. herman cain, thank you, and kevin madden, you toughered it

out, buddy. thank you for staying with us. >> good to be with you. >> thanks. >> let's come back and do more stock market work midshow. we had a 200 points drop. with us now is keith mccullough, hedge eye risk management. we don't have a zillion hours to go through this, but one thing that occurred to me when i found out you were coming on, the price of gold has been dropping substantially. it got slammed today. commodity prices also slammed today, and the dollar about which you talk a lot and you use that as a litmus test, the dollar is rising. now, is this a bullish group of events? strong dollar, weak gold, weak silver, weak commodities? >> definitely. i mean, look, the reality is that you had a couple republicans kind of gargling through what it is romney should communicate. let me just say this plainly. strong dollar equals strong america. so, again, strong dollar equals strong america. that's all he needs to get

right. any american can figure this out, so, again, it's better than the 9-9-9 thing whatever that means. it's strong dollar equals strong america. it world war ied for reagan. it worked for clinton, and it could work for romney. in the last -- look at the last couple of days really in the stock market. functionally what's occurred is that the dollar has had a 2% move to the up side since michiganing, and that was really a surprise versus romney's expectations. don't forget that he has become an underdog really nationally in our hedge high election index we have obama at 58.4%. that means that romney needs to do actually what herman cain just said, which is articulate a very simple message that resonates with people and has impact in their wallet and the best way to do that is with the dollar. >> look, i'm one of the authors of king dollar wrush know i agree with that. just real fast, though, let me get your investment. after getting back after picking up the pieces of today's stock market decline, because the dollar has been strong and gold

weak, would you be a buyer on that basis? >> yeah, definitely. like today was -- i got as long as i've been since january, so we moved up to 18% net equities, and tend of the day it's our net -- biggest net long position of the year. again, if you keep this dollar strong, you are going to put commodity inflation under attack, and every american loves that from the pump to the food prices. inflation down could win the election. >> all right. great stuff. keith, thank you ever so much. our special super tuesday coverage continues. former ohio senator george boyne vich. we'll have a wee bit of a debate about how to defeat barack obama or not. i love that my daughter's part fish.

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you always have homework, okay? i don't have homework today. it's what's right here is what is most important to me. it's beautiful. ♪ ♪ welcome back to "the kudlow report." our continuing super tuesday coverage. in case you just are joining us, romney has won virginia and vermont. gingrich has won georgia, and the ohio race is too close to call. all right. so what's the best punch republicans can throw at president obama? and what's the president's best punch to throw right back? let's bring in two distinguished contributeors, cnbc contributor

jarrett burnstein, former chief economist for senator joe byte biden and former governor and senator from battleground state of ohio, george boyne vich. senator, it's great to see you again, sir. i want to make this as simple as possible. what is the best punch you think your man, romney, or any other republican can throw at president obama? >> i think the fact that he has the experience and the proven record of leadership to send america in a different direction than it is today, that the president has had almost four years as i predicted when i -- how could i person with no management experience run the largest government in the world and he has proven that he doesn't have that ability to get the job done, and i think that mitt romney has been able to

prove that. i said to people -- if committee do for america what he did at the olympics in salt lake city, if he could do for america what he did as governor of massachusetts, working with a democratic legislature, just think of what he could do for our country. >> you heard senator boinavich. what is your best punch to throw back to life? >> first of all, it's an honor to share the cam are with you, senator. great to hear you. look, i think you have to look at the president's record. the economy that he inherited, how that inherited economy. it got to where it was. trickle down economics. okay. exactly the same plan that i hear from governor romney, and i think that's the big problem, and that's the dividing line. the president has an argument that through his management, i very much disagree respectful wily with the senator. through his management and his

measures, this economy is coming back. the markets know it. you know it. we talk about it here night after night. what mitt romney is serving up is the same trickle down tax cuts on the top, big budget deficits, all many the interest of this supply side fairy dust that never comes to pass. >> whoa. supply side fairy dust, tax cuts for the rich. there's a barrel full, senator. how do you respond? >> well, how i respond is that the president of the united states has a much different view of the role that government should play in the lives of the american people. >> true, true. >> romney believes it should be a much more limited role. if you take a couple of things that the president has done, obama care, which needs to be changed, romney wants to empower the states like we did with a bill i introduced, health partnership act. he wants to give us an opportunity to take. he wants to be

energy-independent. he is talking about a second declaration of independence in terms of energy. find more and use less. president obama is it one who really believes that government should play a much larger role in our lives, and i think most american people believe that government either ought to get out of the way. >> quickly. quickly, my friend. >> i don't think the voters process information that way. they don't look at -- he is for government. he is against government. what you are looking at are your plans and your track record, and here president obama has a real advantage on the track record of where this economy was, the momentum as to where it's heading. >> all right. i'm awful sorry, senator. we appreciate your time very much. this is a tough one for us. special coverage on super tuesday. jared bernstein and former senator george boynovich. is the gop nomination romney's to lose? we turn to the great state of tennessee and the great congresswoman marcia blackburn.

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zirjts tennessee top of the hour, but it could be a photo afternoon. let's talk to tennessee and congressman marcia blackburn, who is not endorsing a candidate yet in this race. glaet graet to see you, as always. i know you're raising money for the republican national committee, so you're not endorsing. can i ask you a question. i haven't asked this all night, ob? i'm saving it for you.

leaving out the presidency, what about vice presidential candidates? i have a poll for you, ms. blackburn. marco rubio, governor chris christie, governor mitch daniels, ask governor bob mcdonald. rubio, christie, daniels, mcdonald? what would be your favorite vice presidential pick? >> you know, any of the above would be great with me. i think the good thing you are pointing out is we have a very deep bench. there is a lot of leadership in the republican party, and i like the activity, the energy, the participation that i'm seeing from voters across the spectrum in our republican primary and the interests with who a vp pick would be. >> but you're not willing to make a pick of those picks? >> i think that we have to see who our nominee is going to be and then look at how that ticket is filled out. >> who do you reckon is going to carry tennessee tonight? >> you know what we're hearing is that it's iffing to be a

pretty tight finish. you had santorum that had about a ten-point lead a week or so ago. we hear that has tightened up. there were a lot of people that were polling undecided. i think about one-third of the vote was undecided, and, you know, what we hear is that voting has been consistent and steady in the state of tennessee today. we like the way people have lined up to cast that ballot. >> what's the hottest issue in this campaign in tennessee? what are you hearing? >> number one, jobs and the economy. number two, national security, keeping this nation safe. >> what do you think about what president obama said today? he said republican candidates, actually just said republicans in general are a little too casual about the costs of war. i think he is talking about perhaps senator mccain wanting to bomb syria, and i think he was aiming at governor romney regarding iran. what do you think about what obama said? >> i think that republicans understand that freedom isn't free, and that we have to be

diligent in our national security, that we have to be focused on making certain that we are protecting our sovereignty and that we are defending our national interests, and you're going to see that from republican candidates. people are very concerned about the threat of terrorism. they're very concerned about what could possibly happen. we're looking at cyber security now. i think you're going to see a concentrated effort to make certain that we highlight the differences that exist between our eventual nominee and the president on such issues. >> all right. house member marcia blackburn in tennessee. thank you. >> good to be with you. >> we just have minutes to go until more polls close. we'll take a look at what happens next for the candidates after super tuesday. that's after super tuesday. at the top of the hour john harwood and maria bartiromo host a cnbc special "your money, your vote." right here, the kudlow report, is coming right back after this.

r told me i have an irregular heartbeat, and that it put me at 5-times greater risk of a stroke. i was worried. i worried about my wife, and my family. bill has the most common type of atrial fibrillation, or afib. it's not caused by a heart valve problem. he was taking warfarin, but i've put him on pradaxa instead.

in a clinical trial, pradaxa 150 mgs reduced stroke risk 35% more than warfarin without the need for regular blood tests. i sure was glad to hear that. pradaxa can cause serious, sometimes fatal, bleeding. don't take pradaxa if you have abnormal bleeding, and seek immediate medical care for unexpected signs of bleeding, like unusual bruising. pradaxa may increase your bleeding risk if you're 75 or older, have a bleeding condition like stomach ulcers, or take aspirin, nsaids, or bloodthinners, or if you have kidney problems, especially if you take certain medicines. tell your doctor about all medicines you take, any planned medical or dental procedures, and don't stop taking pradaxa without your doctor's approval, as stopping may increase your stroke risk. other side effects include indigestion, stomach pain, upset, or burning. pradaxa is progress. if you have afib not caused by a heart valve problem, ask your doctor if you can reduce your risk of stroke with pradaxa.

welcome back to the kudlow report. joining us now robert costa, the national review. he has a lot on super tuesday. bob costa, i want to ask you one thing. what happens after tonight? what is the next big driving compelling event after tonight? >> first, we have to find out what happens in ohio. if santorum can pull off an upset in ohio, he is still in this race. if he does not, and exit polls seem like romney is going to -- he will have a perilous bout ahead. gingrich may have oxygen, but not much after winning georgia. >> what's next after the primary test after tonight? major test. >> you'll see kansas, alabama. they're going to be coming up soon. really the next test is only going to come in april when you start getting to maryland and pennsylvania, but the real test was tonight, and unless santorum can come up with something at the last minute, this was romney's night, and it looks like he is sewing up this nomination. >> bob costa, exit polling suggests that mr. romney was having trouble with the blue collar workers. i know that's been a matter of

contention. santorum versus romney. you have been reporting on this. who do you think is going to win that? >> i think santorum is going to win the blue collar workers. i'm looking at the ohio exit polls, and is he doing very well, but romney is doing well across the board in ohio and other states. he is winning in almost every single demographic, and he is winning the late deciders. that's the key nugget to look at. the people in the last week are turning towards romney. i credit his focus on the economy on that. >> this is going to strike a major blow for his nomination. is it not? this could be it tonight? >> this could be it tonight. look for romney to sound like a general election contender in his speech in boston. >> all right. last one. give me what happens to santorum? sde stay in the race? >> his advisors said they were outspent in ohio by a 12-1 margin. they think it was unfair. they want to fight on, but they have a long path and tough path. >> thank you very much, robert cost wra. great update. folks, thanks for watching this special "kudlow report." we'll be back tomorrow evening,