tv Piers Morgan Tonight CNN January 31, 2012 9:00pm-10:00pm PST
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>> thanks. i'll come back to our team in a minute to see what it means. florida, 50 delegates in his column, and it gives romney a lead over santorum and paul. a . romney sounding like a man who expects to win. >> a competitive primary does not divide us. it prepares us. and we will win. >> romney clearly has momentum tonight but this race is far from over. up next are the nevada caucuses on saturday with 28 delegates at stake. then a handful of contests in february. then march 6th when 11 states vote. tuesday and beyond will be john king. another crack night of political
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entertainment. where are we, kol wolf? looks like a thumping campaign for romney. he had a great week of debates. seems to got his mojo, i guess, in a way he maybe lost it the week before. what's your overview? >> it's a big night for mitt romney. no doubt about that. he seems to be well positioned right now for february. most of these contests whether in nevada or arizona or michigan, he's got some major advantages even in colorado let's say. he's going to do well in february. but you correctly point out march 6th assuming all four of these candidates remain in the contest, march 6th super tuesday. it's called super for a reason. it's going to be significant. and the other three gave absolutely no indication whatsoever piers, that they're thinking of dropping out. newt gingrich in fact in his remarks and speech tonight he didn't even congratulate mitt romney which is traditional.
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the other two candidates did. there was no phone call between the two of them. he's pushing on. he is determined to do what he can to get this nomination. even if it means going against the traditions. >> john king, you are the greatest television number cruncher in political history. >> that's a setup for failure. >> put it into context for me. someone who's covering this campaign for the first time, i'm looking at the number of delegates that have been allocated. how significant is romney's position right now? >> well, look. after losing south carolina and getting beat pretty badly in south carolina tonight to win tonight is huge for mitt romney. florida is the most diverse date. so psychologically this is a huge boost for romney. he already has the most money in the bank. this will help him raise more. now he has to prove it. he's the front runner.
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now he has to prove it. you need 1,144 to clinch the nomination. he has about 84 at home. he's a long way from 234e finish line. most races are settled by momentum. we lose count because a nominee wraps it up early. going into june fresh in our minds. win nevada, win colorado, maine, michigan. those would be the exclamation points. then does gingrich's money dry up? then does santorum say it's time to get out? this question. they're in at least through the month of february. speaker gingrich says he's in march and beyond. that could change. but they're happy tonight. they're a little nervous about these caucus states. they look at maine, nevada, minnesota and think maybe ron paul. they look at missouri a bible belt in the southern part of the
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state. could be a surprise there. they're back in the lead. they need to protect it. february is a huge month to prove. >> dora, on a great roll leading up to florida. one stage ahead in the polls after the thumping win in south carolina. you're feeling pretty deflated tonight i would imagine. i found his whole demeanor in the week a bit curious. he behaved like he wasn't the front runner. what went wrong do you think? >> it's interesting. i don't think gingrich could decide who he was or what he was. was he still the insurgere or we front runner? the interesting thing about newt gingrich is that he's so much more comfortable as the back bencher throwing the bombs at the establishment than he is as a leader and somebody who would
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be the front runner. and i think we saw that play out very much in the state of florida. the voters weren't clear who they were getting. does he have the temperament toll go the long haul and finally beat barack obama? as polls showed, electability was the issue here to the key voters tonight. >> and finally a much more important battle raging this weekend. i've got to ask you for a one-word answer. giants or patriots? wolf? >> i'm a buffalo bills fan. so i got to stay neutral. >> gloria? >> i'm standing next to john king, so i have to say the patriots. >> and john, i know your allegiance. i'm going to lay my hat with the new york giants. >> piers, my friend. you know what? we can disagree without being disagreeable. the patriots will win.
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>> thank you all very much. fantastic job tonight. thanks, guys. >> thanks. >> joining me now is the gop power company representative connie mack of florida and mack of california. they both support mitt romney. welcome to you both. >> hello. go to see you. >> hi, piers. >> good night for mitt romney. in almost every sense really. looks like his campaign is back on track and in some style. >> you're right. it's a big style this week. i think it was a great week for romney. he performed well in the debates. tonight was just a great night. >> connie mack, clearly been a bit of swings and round abouts campaign with peaks and troughs and different people winning in different places. i suppose the thing we saw with romney this week we saw the lion within him beginning to roar. was this a character you were familiar with?
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are you surprised he's beginning to beat his chest a bit? >> i'm not surprised at all. in fact, i think what we saw in the first here in florida was romney saying that america is worth fighting for. and he is going to put everything out there on the line to do it. and his job -- his message about jobs and the economy and the private sector know how to do it. his professionalism, his character, his ethics. i mean, this is someone we can believe in. i think that was on display on the debates here in florida and as he traveled around the state. >> congresswoman, this got nasty. 99% of mitt romney's advertising in florida was negative. he's going to try to metaphorically bury newt gingrich. gingrich says he's going to continue on through it. >> you contrasted the speeches we saw. one was a positive uplifting
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message and the other was pretty emotional about really not accepting what happened here tonight in florida. so there's no doubt. i think tomorrow the smoke might clear a little bit more perhaps for newt. when you look at the state of florida, it's a diverse electorate. i think it's a good example of what the company will bring to bear with future elections. >> connie mack, let's talk about your own role in this. you've turned up at gingrich rallies and heckled him. you're clearly one of romney's attack dogs at the moment. you going to tone this down? are you going to bare your teeth in more places? >> now, piers. come on. we've done this dance before. i did what all other candidates or campaigns do. that's called bracketing events. i went to the events quietly, stood in the back and offered perspective to the press as newt was speaking. this is nothing new in
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campaigns. to try to paint my as an attack dog is misguided. what i did do is try to make sure mitt romney's message was being heard. and what really the people in the state of florida were saying, we want a candidate who knows how jobs are created, who knows how this economy works, who has been in the real world, who has had successes. that's who we're looking for. the people in the state of florida spoke loudly this is the message they reacted to. >> if i can just jump in here a bit. there was no heckling whatsoever. connie explained it well. it was bracketing. we made ourselves available to the press who were there in the back of the room as they're much here tonight for the mitt romney event. what really happened was that newt ran later and later and later to his own events. the press was, i think, rather bored and started asking questions of not only connie but myself and jason as well.
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>> the one thing i wish you would bracket is mitt romney's singing voice. we can't have more of that. >> i thought it was fantastic. you should have heard the crowd singing along. i think it was an amazing way to end this primary campaign in florida. mitt last night was confident and relaxed. the crowd sang along. it was a beautiful moment. i mean, it wasn't american idol. >> if i was still judging america's got talent and barack obama did his al green impression and then mitt romney did what he did last night, one guy would get through to the next round and it wouldn't be your guy. >> i'd want the america's got courage guy for singing a cappella for that many people. >> that is true. i give him credit. because knowing he clearly isn't the best of singers, to do what he did did show courage. i agree with that. tell me this. what is the biggest challenge for mitt romney going forward? if you believe newt gingrich that he's going to keep going,
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going, going, attacking. ron paul presumely won't pull out either. this could run for months and months. what is the big challenge for mitt romney do you think? >>. >> i think for mitt it's just to continue to put himself out there, continue to show he's got a plan to get america moving forward. that he understands how jobs are created. that it's not government. but it is the individual -- the risk takers. the people sitting at home right now who are watching who are willing to take risks every day to create jobs. he knows how that works. america is looking for work. and he knows how to deliver that. >> well connie mark and mary bono mack, thank you for your time. my bark is worse than my bite i assure you. >> thank you very much. tonight newt gingrich lost big in florida but he vowed to stay in the race. fighting for the gop nomination
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to the bitter end. i spoke to two gingrich supporters. his daughters jackie gingrich and kathy gingrich. it was a bit more cheerful last time i talked to you. you came off a thumping victory. it was a huge party erupting around you. it looks a little bit quieter there tonight. >> well, piers, it's a little quieter because our father has already left to go to nevada. we're here, we have the american flag behind us. we're here to talk about what's important to the american people. we appreciate your time tonight. >> look. let's cut to the quick, ladies. you took a hell of a shellacking as my colleagues have been saying earlier. i imagine knowing the man as i do now, he wouldn't react well to a big beating like this. how is his mood? >> oh, it's great. i don't know if you were able to watch the speech that he gave tonight. but that is exactly how he feels. to be perfectly honest, we had a
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huge victory in south carolina. we won by 12 points. governor romney endorsed us. michael reagan's been on the trail with us the last few days. you've got a lot of grassroots guys behind us. we know with all the media and money spent here, we knew this wasn't our state or town and place. but we also know that there are 46 more states to go. that we have lots of delegates to get. dad was really passionate in his speech tonight. he talked about the america we could have together and the bright future we can work towards together. i think the people were excited to hear that talk. >> tell me this though. clearly you've had the kitchen sink thrown at your father by mitt romney. he's been spending millions and millions of dollars pounding your dad into submission. 99% of romney's ads in florida were negative. 95% of your father's were negative. it's getting very nasty and very personal.
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on a human level, how do you as his daughters feel about the bombardment coming his way? >> well, it's never fun to experience that. i'm sure you can imagine it's not a pleasant place to be. it's disappointing because it does keep other people who would be good in public service out of the opportunity because they don't want to endure it. it also means we're not addressing the important issues about what we need from an american leader. what we need is someone like our father who has governed and done the things president barack obama has not yet done. he's reached across the aisle. while he was speaker he was able to balance the budget four times, deal with entitlement reform. they actually helped create 11 million jobs and we were at 4.2% unemployment. that's the message that you're going to be hearing more and more about as we go forward. because that's what resonates with the american people. >> the other thing is what we hear from your father calling mitt romney is liar.
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he says he's dishonest, he's lying. do you ladies think that mitt romney is a liar? and is it helpful if mitt romney ends up being the nominee that the message is that he's a liar? does that help the republican party? >> i think part of the process of the primary is to go through this and to go through all the different things you'll see in the general election. i'll give an example. you talked about his position and what he's done. as governor, governor mitt romney raised taxes and fees $700 million. that's not a conservative message and action. dad has cut taxes. he's cut spending. he's worked on welfare reform and passed it. part of what we saw in florida to your point of negative ads, mitt romney didn't ran in a record as governor. he ran against. dad. he did well in florida. he clearly won florida. but i think we'll see as we go forth into the next phase. as i talked to dad after the speech, i said terrific speech.
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it really resonated with people. i've had so me mails and facebooks and people saying it was an incredible speech. dad said you know what? welcome to the next phase of the campaign. this is where we focus and where we're going. it's going to resonate with the american people. people want to know what they're getting and what to look forward to. they're going to get that with newt gingrich. >> you're both very polite young ladies. you're always very polite to me. your father wasn't very polite tonight. he didn't congratulate mitt romney. he hasn't phoned him as far as we're aware. didn't even mention him in his speech. little bit graceless, wouldn't you think? >> i'm not really sure i'd say that was graceless. i think what that is is the reality he's moved on and we're looking on to the next 46 states. i think that sends an important message because people want to know what he's doing next, i think he laid out what he's doing next. that's what he wanted to make sure everyone heard including the people in medialand. >> have you booked your tickets
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to the moon colony yet? >> not yet. but my two children are really looking forward to it. >> i wouldn't mind coming myself. count me in. thank you again very much. much appreciated. >> thank you. >> pleasure. when we come back, a man who knows what it takes to win in florida. rick scott. this new at&t 4g lte is fast. hey. did you guys hear... ...that mary got engaged? that's so 42 seconds ago. thanks for the flowers guys. [ both ] you're welcome. oooh are you guys signing up for the free massage? [ both ] so 32 seconds ago. hey guys you hear frank's cat is sick? yeah, we heard. wanna sign the card? did you know the guys from china are in the office... [ speaking chinese ]
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[ man 2 ] yummy. i got that wrong didn't i? [ male announcer ] want great taste and whole grain oats that can help lower cholesterol? honey nut cheerios. if barack obama gets re-elected, it will be a disaster for the united states of america. make no bones about it. if he can have a record this bad, unemployment this bad, deficits this bad, policies this bad, gasoline prices this high, and still get re-elected? you can't imagine how radical he'll be in his second term. >> newt gingrich blasted president obama a little while ago. now a man who knows how tough it can be to win in florida. rick scott. with the giant victory tonight, all that changed. a moment ago i spoke with him. governor, why do you think mitt
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romney has such a thumping victory tonight? >> it was a big night for florida. i think our voters voted based on,down, what they thought was going to happen in the economy. this is the biggest issue we have. our unemployment's dropped 2.1%. the second fastest in the country. we still have people out of work. we're reducing taxes and regulation. floridians want somebody in washington that's going to do the same thing and be a great federal partner. reduce taxes, reduce regulation. we want more jobs in america and we clearly want more jobs in florida. >> why do you think they believe that mitt romney is the guy that's going to provide that for them? not newt gingrich. because newt gingrich until ten days ago was actually ahead in florida. suddenly this huge turnaround and it seems to be based around romney's better performances in the debates and the relentless negative advertising.
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why is mitt romney seen as the savior economically? >> i think what floridians looked at is they look at he's a business guy. i got elected a little over a year ago. i've been in business all my life. here's a business guy up there that believes he can do what we're doing no florida. reducing litigation risk. that's what they want. and governor romney, he appears to have the message that floridians believed in. that because it's all about jobs. and i think his background and his debate performance. he did a good job. >> republican romney's campaign ran 3,276 ads in florida. 99% were negative. is that really healthy for the american political discourse that is so unrelentingly negative? wouldn't it be good to have some positivity in here? >> i think when people go to the
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polls, here's what they say. what's good for my family? they want their kids to get a great education. they want to make sure they have the opportunity for a job. and they want to keep the cost of living low. i think they look at this and say we can't continue having a country that has the second highest corporate tax rates in the world. more regulation than anywhere in the world. so they say we need a candidate that's going to help turn our economy around. we generate 141,000 private sector jobs. floridians believe in the private sector. they know that jobs are created by companies. so they want somebody in washington and i think tonight they said they believe mitt romney is the person that's going to do that. >> i mean, if the economy continues to improve in the way that it seems to be at the moment, wouldn't that play into barack obama's hands? i mean, if floridians believe that the president is actually turned around the situation, that's good for him, isn't it?
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>> absolutely. i think it's going to come down to who's got the right message this fall to turn the economy around. it's going to be just like today. it's going to be about jobs. it's going to be believing the private sector. it's going to be who do americans say they're going to actually reduce taxes, reduce regulation, streamline the permitting process. americans are smart. they know you can't keep going down this path of trillion dollar deficits. this fall it's going to be about jobs like it was tonight. >> finally you haven't declared an endorsement. following mitt romney's big win tonight, it's all over in florida for now. you prepared to back mr. romney? >> i'm going to support the republican nominee. and i believe the republican nominee will win in november because it'll be about jobs. and americans will know that the party that believes in the free market, that supports the free
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market, that defends the free market is going to be the party that's going to turn this economy around. >> okay. governor, thank you very much indeed. coming up, why one candidate compared the race to mud wrestling. you have to get down and dirty to make it in politics these days? man: my eltrill s king ban
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the american public does not want to see two or three candidates get into a mud wrestling match where everybody walks away dirty and not in a position to be able to represent our party proudly. what we saw in the last few weeks in the state of florida is not something that will help win the election. >> rick santorum tonight. are people tired of mud wrestling?
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and carol roth best times best selling author. got to be the longest introduction ever. this must be a well qualified panel. let me start with you, amy. this is a big win for mitt romney. whichever way you look at this or try and spin it, he was suffering. he was down in south carolina. he's roared back. couple of great debates. big thumping victory. momentum will take him to nomination, isn't it? >> i mean, a lot are saying if he wins florida he wins the nominati nomination. newt gingrich says he's going to keep battling on. i think the question for a lot of the gop and republicans think can newt still do damage to mitt romney? >> my gut feeling about this is rather like when barack obama took on hillary clinton. the longer it went on, the better obama became. isn't it the same in reverse
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here? aren't we in the position here where the longer if this goes on, the better it is for mitt romney to have this bruising counter with newt gingrich on end. >> i think there could be a fine line. the damage that's being done is not really on issues. it is so personal. that i think it might leave a lot of people sitting at home on election day. but in fact i think it certainly demonstrated just in the last two in south carolina and florida a different man debated newt gingrich. so i do think it has made him a better candidate. >> let me bring in andrew. what does it seem to be, a resounding rejection of the tea party in the sense they have no one left really in this race. what do you make of that? the tea party bursting on scene then disappearing almost just as fast. >> it hasn't disappeared whosoever. it has a hard time defending
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itself because it's a series of small organic grassroots groups at a local level. so they don't have a national organization. they don't have a national structure. so they're good at picking people in local primaries who they want to run. and fighting from the grassroots level. this is the first time they've tried to act on behalf of a national candidate. and it goes state by state by state. and with sarah palin out, there wasn't a true tea party candidate in there that they would have embraced at a massive level. >> carol can be let me bring you in here. you are a pro-romney business strategist. we established that last time we spoke. and from a business point of view, he's getting more and more ruthless isn't he? he's spending more and more money getting nastier and nastier. he wants to not just beat newt gingrich, he wants to destroy the guy. >> well, we talked about this last time. he needed to bring it and he did. he brought it in the debate.
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he brought it in terms of the dollars spent and the type of advertisements he did. but i think it's time he needs to evolve. because i think people were waiting for him to bring it. but now they need to build a connection with him. he's sort of an outsider. he's this privileged wall street kind of guy. i don't think they feel connected to him. so before he needed to have a debate coach. now i think he needs to have a story telling coach and connect emotionally with the audience. >> yeah. i would agree with that. the one who's done that best actually -- the two people who have done it best is rick santorum who did this brilliant speech when he won in iowa. and also ron paul makes regular speeches. and no one takes much interest in ron paul. the way it plays out in someone like nevada, he could do surprisingly well over the next two or three caucuses and primaries. are they out of the equation? is santorum gone and dusted? what do you think of the other two candidates? >> some watchers, they're
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speculating that perhaps rick santorum is staying in in the hopes of being vp on a romney ticket. if he does well in some of these upcoming states, then he can show strength on the ticket and bring conservatives home for romney. tonight listening to gingrich's speech, it was gracious and also charging forward. here's what i would do on my first day as president of the united states gingrich is an emotional guy and does make emotional connections with voters. >> newt gingrich, he was dead on arrival this summer. whole campaign team quit. he went off. that seemed to be it. then he came steaming back. then he went down again. then he came and won in south carolina. now he's gone back again. i wouldn't rule out newt gingrich. would you? >> i've been covering newt gingrich since the late '80s. the man is his own worst enemy. you let him talk long enough, and he'll talk himself out of what he succeeded in.
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in his speech tonight, is there any chance this man could take his people's campaign? remember he said this is not a republican campaign, it's the people's campaign to a third party? he does have the ego for good or bad. he does think in grandiose terms. he's admitted that himself. i wonder if there's any chance -- >> i don't know if he has the organization. ron paul would have the organization for that. >> i don't think that would matter. >> also a question to put to andrew after this short break. which is andrew, realistically, does anybody on the republican side right now with the economy improving have a chance of beating barack obama? i think i know what you'll answer will be. let's get the suspense building up. ..and a touch of sweetness. you'll be delighted to discover how good they taste. get your free sample of quaker oatmeal squares on facebook. gmid graderee sample of quaker oatmeal squares dark roast forest fresh full tank brain freeze cake donettes rolling hot dogs bag of ice anti-freeze
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but it is translated into great enthusiasm and change. the change that we need. >> you know who was enthusiastic? ron paul speaking awhile ago. let me ask you andrew, can these guys whichever one wins the nomination actually beat barack obama if the economy -- and this is the big question. if the economy continues to prove up to november, he's going to hit a home run isn't he? >> that's a big if. i would also say less crappy than crappy is still crappy. the economy is not robust. and i think the american people who voted for obama on a concept of hope and change which was about uplift have experienced occupy. they've experienced wisconsin. they've experienced the economy organizing isn't helping the little old lady across the
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street. it's a form of war tactics against your own. and hope and change is about accusing anyone who disagrees with president obama of being a racist. that's the opposite of the racial predense of this presidency. >> you say it's raging around america stuff. the reality is it isn't. most people in america are not protesting. 340 million of them actually may feel agreed. but i don't get a sense and i don't have the horse in this race. but i don't get a sense that people in america hate barack obama enough yet to want to really kick him out. >> okay. well, the thing is the mainstream media is not going to report to you the origins of the occupy moving. it was the biggest story of last year according to time magazine. if you look at the origins, it's the same people that organized
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against bush and katrina. same people that organized the anti-war movement. it was even the same exact people that protested the republican national convention in 2008. where two members of these radical groups were arrested for planning to use molotov cocktails against the police. these people are all -- [ overlapping speakers ] >> only you could have brought molotov cocktails into this. let's cut to what my gut senses at the moment. most republicans even if they're conservatives aren't really warm to mitt romney. probably looking at the whole race now thinking a romney/chris christie ticket might be the best way to beat barack obama. has romney done enough? it's interesting in florida with all the problems they've got. they're the worst housing crisis in the whole of america. they decided of gingrich and of romney they preferred romney's view of the economy and how to
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revive it than newt gingrich's. that's an encouraging sign. to me they don't look upon romney as this very super rich out of touch guy anymore. would you agree with that? >> i think it all boil douns to electability. i relate everything back to high school in america. you have to remember when it comes down to it, people want to elect somebody who's cool. not necessarily the smartest kid. so you've got barack obama who's basically the prom king and newt gingrich who's the head of the debate club. so at least romney is going to the prom. he has a chance against the prom king. but everybody realizes if you put newt gingrich against barack obama even if your head says this makes sense, your gut goes i can't do this. >> interesting thing is that a lot of conservatives, they do not really want a mitt romney. so they are going along with
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this reluctantly at the moment. i think this is why gingrich says i'm staying in this to the end. because i think he can represent 4i78s as a genuine conservative alternative. >> i think newt gingrich does believe that about his candidacy and listening to his speech tonight. he said he was the conservative in the race and that mitt romney was the massachusetts moderate. but you asked the question could mitt romney beat president obama? certainly he could. the country doesn't have to hate president obama to tire of his policies and want a new direction. look at the is the country going the right direction, wrong direction polls. it doesn't have to be such extreme polarization. >> the conservative establishment is is business group. very different from the culture social group. right now gingrich is appealing
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to the cultural conservatives. when he went after mitt romney about capitalism and about how he made his money and you saw -- i mean, you saw the establishment talking heads, the politics on capital hill going after him. you have got a business community who is supporting romney for business reasons. >> i'm not sure about that. >> the one thing i know about business people is in the end they will go where they think success lies. >> absolutely. >> interesting thing to me is as always. follow the money. rick santorum is still raising money. newt gingrich raising a lot of money. this may not be over yet. and what happens in places like nevada and michigan and so on can be very significant in terms of their ability to carry on raising money. i think that may be where we get the indication about who stays in and comes out. thank you all for now. i'd love to get you back in this twilight hour. it glams the place up with you in here. apart from you andrew.
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joke. when we come back, did we witness the birth of a new mitt? i'll ask frank brunei. americans are always ready to work hard for a better future. since ameriprise financial was founded back in 1894, they've been committed to putting clients first. helping generations through tough times. good times. never taking a bailout. there when you need them. helping millions of americans over the centuries. the strength of a global financial leader. the heart of a one-to-one relationship.
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job creators. and unlike the other people running for president, i know how to do that because i've done it before. >> mitt romney going on the attack against barack obama tonight. joining me now new york times columnist frank brunei. where are we with all this? it's been a bit of a roller coaster hasn't it so far? has mitt romney made the tipping point move to where he's a genuine front runner? >> absolutely. we've been talking about him as a front runner for a long time. there hasn't been enough evidence at the polls to show it. now it's there. >> he looks and sounds this week in his entirety with the debates and the speech tonight, he just looks more presidential, doesn't he? looks like he found his mojo. >> he looks more motivated. there's that moment in every primary process where you look for a candidate to find the proverbial fire in the belly. he found it this time but at some cost. he went very negative.
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when you look at polls, his favorability ratings going in are going to be much worse. >> how damaging is it for republicans they're laying into each other with such relentless negativity? i think in florida for example, thousands were negative. when you sit back you're saying i can play all this against him. >> it's useful. he has a -- a lot of people will have negative thoughts about him. they see him as mean and bitter. thap being said, this happens in every primary process. a lot of people aren't really going to tune in until the last couple months. he can invent himself anew at that point. >> if you're obama, who do you least want to take on? >> probably romney. >> you said probably. i mean, i've been wrestling with this myself. i'm not sure whether you're terrified of romney or not.
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you think you know what? we could probably deal with someone like him. >> i don't think they're terrified of him. but of the people they might go up against, he's probably the fiercest opponent for a lot of reasons. he was seen as the most moderate. that makes him a tougher opponent than gingrich seen as conservative. i don't think obama or his people are terrified of romney. the president has gotten lucky with his field of republicans. >> newt gingrich is saying i'm not giving up. i'm going the whole way. 46 more states and so on. common sense says if he gets hammered in the next five or six, that may be it. but he's got a slight point. the box standard conservative in the republican party does not warm to mitt romney. and so they may be tempted to
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gravitate to him. if they feel that romney can't beat obama. >> it's not outside the rem of possibility. it's not to make assumptions. we have seen front runner after front runner. this has been a crazy pros. and i think any candidate going through it is going to say i'm going to ride it out as long as i can. who knows the next twist. >> santorum and paul where are they in this? >> paul wasn't really competing in florida. paul's not going to get the nomination. >> but he has got a remarkably loyal, young following of people who are very aware on social media and stuff. he leads the twitter, facebook stuff. which is extraordinary given his age. >> and that's lovely to him but he's not going to get the nomination. >> does it make him a valuable tool to whoever wants to be the nominee? >> if he has a lot of delegates in the end and public support, the nominee is going to want every single former opponent to line up behind him. and so sure. paul would be one of those people. but i don't think paul is really
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a factor when we're talking about who's going to get the nomination. >> santorum? >> santorum i think tries to stay in for awhile because there's this block of voters who don't want romney who are more conservative. if you're santorum you're saying something could happen with gingrich. if something happened and he became a nonfactor in a couple weeks, maybe i become the alternative and i have traction. >> i want to talk about the key issue which is who is the better singer? barack obama or mitt romney? >> suddenly i feel like i'm christina aguilera on the voice or something. >> hold your verdict. we have a break. really think about this. people with a machine.
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♪ i so in love with you ♪ america america ♪ god shed his grace on thee there you have it. proof that america's got talent. well, at least parts of america have got talent. i'm back with frank brunei. it's unfair because obama has a better singing voice. >> if this selection on pitch, obama's got it on a landslide. >> what does it say about the men's character? if you're the president of the
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united states and you've got al green in an audience and you decide against the judgment of your aides i'm going to start singing al green, that takes guts. i think it took mitt romney even more guts to sing a whole song, an american anthem knowing youtube and everything else people will see this. >> you've got to have guts if you're going to be president. the time you're in front of the public, you've got to have a lot of guts. this doesn't really surprise me. we learned about their voices but i don't think we learned anything new about thinker gumption. >> why would anyone want to be the president given the stress workload and attention? >> we should say this from time to time because we tear apart the candidates and being critical of them. it is really, really difficult and wearing to run for president. it guarantees we do not have people in the oval office that didn't really want the job. >> i have great respect for all
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the candidates. and the workload, the incredible attention, the goldfish bowl they live in. exposure to their families. it's enormous. i think that people often forget that. and are quick to judge them negatively. but actually you've got to really want this haven't you? >> to go out on the trail and to watch them, this is a very tedious exercise. those of us at tables like this and writing about them, we're really brutal on them. >> i like the american system. we have nothing like this in britain. it's much faster and less forensic. what i like about it is you really get to know these people and can make a proper judgment. there's nothing out there i don't know about mitt romney or newt gingrich come election day. >> we've learned enormous amounts of these men in the past months. when you look at what's happened, we've learned about these men. and we can make a more informed
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