"state of the union" with candy crowley begins right now. mitt romney has math. rick santorum has momentum. neither is inevitable. today -- >> it's pretty sad when all you have is to do math instead of trying to, you know, trying to go out there and win it on sfans. substance. >> presidential candidate on mitt romney, illinois and the rugged road to tampa. ambassador to the u.s. getting a grip on a complicated region with former u.s. ambassador to afghanistan, zalmay khalilzad and former director of national intelligence, dennis blair. then, the push toward november with former white house communications director anita dunn and former republican national committee chairman, ed gillespie. i'm candy crowley, and this is

"state of the union." rick santorum understands he needs cochange the dynamic. >> the republicans are thinking about putting someone in the same positions as president obama up. if this election is about tweedle dee and tweedle dum, we will lose. >> as the focus changes to illinois where polls are close and romney is loaded for bear. >> santorum's real weakness is the economy. he's never run a business or a state. his plan, economic illiteracy, inexcusable, the worst idea of any gop candidate. >> joining me now, former senator rick santorum. thanks for being with us. i want to start out by asking about the new ad that mitt romney has up and running in illinois where you two will next meet after puerto rico. and in it he basically says,

listen. you've never run a business, and you've never run a state. and so how can you possibly be an executive? and both of those things are true, are they not? >> well, i've never run a state, that's for sure. i have worked in business. i worked with a small technology company for three years after i left the united states senate. >> this is about running -- you know, sort of managing something. >> well, no, i was the number two guy at a small technology company and did, in fact, help manage and try and get this company off the ground and as a startup and it was a great experience and one that i learned a lot through that process. so that's not completely accurate. i served on the board of a public company. you know, i have some -- obviously was a lawyer and practiced law for a while. so i've had a fair amount of experience in the private sector. but the real issue is, you know, running -- running a business is not the same as being president of the united states. look at what governor romney did

when he was governor of massachusetts. 47th out of 50 states in job creation. raising taxes by $750 million. imposing a huge government-run health care system on the people of massachusetts with taxes and fines and fees and mandates. that's a record that i understand he's running from. but it's the public record that really is at stake here and if governor romney thinks that he is the ceo of america and can run and manage the economy, he doesn't understand what conservatives believe in. we don't want someone in washington, d.c., to manage the economy. we want someone to get washington out of our lives, to reduce these mandates, get rid of things like romneycare at the federal level which we call obamacare and do things to get this economy going by believing in the private sector. >> let me ask it to you this way. because you do have to manage a very large executive branch. you are kind of the ceo of that. so when we look at illinois, you

are ineligible for ten of the 69 delegates that are at stake on tuesday because you didn't file enough signatures. you're not going to be on the ballot in the district of columbia. you weren't on the ballot in virginia. not full slates in tennessee and ohio where you could have picked up some more delegates. what does that say about your ability to manage if you can't get these process things done to run for president? >> that's pretty funny, candy. governor romney spent about $70 million, had huge amounts of resources, huge staff. you know, during the time that these delegates had to be filed for these states, i was driving around in a truck with a guy named chuck in iowa breathing through a swizzle stick and running a marathon. the amazing thing is, we're on as many states as we are given the resources that we had and the lack of attention that we had from the media and yet we devoted resources in december. when i was sitting at 2 and 3% in the national polls, i decided

not to spend money in iowa. i decided to get on the ballots in all of these states, use the very scarce resources we had, not to put television ads to invest in iowa but to invest in getting on the ballot. and we had to use volunteer efforts in a lot of states where they required a lot of petition signatures and we did an amazing job except for the small handful of states where we came up a little short in some delegates, we were able to get volunteers and organize a campaign. can you imagine -- think about what we've done in this campaign with the limited resources. we're now here. no one gave us a chance. we didn't have any of the resources that any of these other candidates had and yet because of our organizational ability, our ability to take limited resources and turn them into votes and winning ten states, that's amazing with the fact that we've been outspent 10 to 1 just in our campaign and with the super pac, more ten to one. and here we are.

the real question you should ask is with governor romney, why hasn't he been able to do anything to get this nomination even close to cemented away. >> but that's a political question as opposed to a -- that's a political question -- >> no, it's not. it's not a political question at all. no, i disagree with that. when you have this amount of resources, this amount of advantage, you can't imagine and deliver the mail and win this nomination, that shows a real weakness in his ability to be able to govern. >> let me move you to this delegate race. we're now in the race for the nomination. if there comes a point that it is clear you cannot get 1,144 delegates before the end of the primary process, would you stay in to deny mitt romney that nomination? if he could still get it and you could not. >> first, candy, number one, our calculation of the delegate count is very different than what is out there.

>> sure. sure. but this is just a hypothetical. >> we are undercounted. >> sure. i take it that you think the counting is different than his counting. just if you should get to a point where you no longer -- you look at it and your math says to you, i can't get enough delegates in this process, would you say, but i'm going to stay in and deny it to mitt romney and go for that brokered convention? >> well, obviously we are in this to win. we're in this because we think that we're the best candidate to take on president obama, and we believe that governor romney is not. in fact, he's uniquely disqualified on some of the biggest issues of the day such as obamacare and bailouts and cap and trade and government control of your lives that there's very little difference in some of the big issues of the day and that's a great vulnerability. and so i think -- what i'm hearing is from people across this country is we want a conservative nominee, that the establishment is trying to push a moderate like they did in 1976

against ronald reagan, like they did in 1996 with bob dole and what they did four years ago with john mccain. i think conservatives would like an opportunity to nominate a conservative and that's an opportunity. >> is that a yes, that you would stay in it to force a brokered convention, rather than your get out when your chances of winning through the primary process is over? >> well, i guess you have to -- the hypothetical also presumes this. that governor romney cannot get there. through running this entire process. if he can't get there with the huge advantages he has, i think it tells you something about his support within the republican base, which is vitally important to be energized, and his likelihood that he will be successful, with the overwhelming advantages he's had in this primary, for him not being able to be successful, he's not going to have those overwhelming advantages in the

example. and if he can't win a state, that would tell you that would not object the strongest candidate. in fact, he tells you he would not be our strongest candidate. >> i'm not sure i got a totally direct answer to that so i want to move you to something that's been on your website that's gotten a lot of buzz and your position on pornography and one of the things you say in promising a tougher crackdown on pornography is, quote, the obama department of justice seems to favor pornographers over children and family. i just need to ask you to back that up, do you honestly believe there are people in the department of justice who favor pore noth pornographers over children and families? >> you have to look at the proof is in the prosecution. under the bush administration, pornographers were prosecuted much more rigorously than the obama administration. you draw your conclusion. >> what's your conclusion? >> the administration has not

put a -- my conclusion is they have not put a priority on prosecuting these cases. and in doing so, they are exposing children to a tremendous amount of harm. and that, to me, says that they are putting -- they're putting the unenforcement of this law and putting children at risk as a result of that. >> i want to play for our listeners something that you said at a rally last night. this was in mt. vernon, illinois, talking about the president. >> we need a president that's going to go out and -- presidential nominee is going to go out and draw a clear contrast between president obama and his failed policies here at home and, of course, his failed policies where he's been the weak horse, the appeaser in chief around the world with evil. >> appeaser in chief around the world with evil. where is, for instance, for that, for our listeners, where do you think that the president has been an appeaser with evil?

>> iran. is the principal place. that is the principal problem that we're facing on the national security front right now. a nuclear iran. and he has repeatedly sided with the government of iran. in the green revolution in 2009 when people were pleading on the streets, holding signs up, asking president obama to help overthrow this theocracy, a nuclear weapon that is killing our men and women in uniforms with improvised explosive devices, american troops through the surrogates and terrorist organizations and yet we have an opportunity to overthrow and side with the persian people. >> there's new sanctions coming up, he's gathered world opinion. isn't that better than going in with troops or whatever, what is it you're suggesting he should have been doing? >> well, first off, he should have been aligning himself with the persian people and the

pro-democracy noouch pro-democracy movement to topple this regime, the weapon that is spreading terror around the world and did not do that and here he says i'm going impose tough sanctions after he denied that and tried to stop those sanctions from going into place. only his own party got him in the senate and house got him kicking and screaming to impose the sanctions. what has he done since then? there will be no negotiations with the iranian until they stop processing nuclear material. what did the president do? he overstepped those things. he ignored that precondition and has been negotiating directly with iran as iran is continuing to develop their nuclear weapons. boying time. this is exactly what the iranians want him to do. this is the weak horse in this region and the israeli people, benjamin netanyahu came here and said, time is up. we need your help. the very next day he started negotiating with iran without precondition and allowing them the opportunity to continue to

develop their nuclear weapons. that is weakness. >> senator santorum, i always wish there was more time. but thank you for joining us this morning. >> thank you, candy. afghan president hamid karzai says there are two demons in his country right now. the u.s. and the taliban. but his words aren't doing any thing to ease an angry public. his ambassador to the united states is next. ating them. how'd you do it? eating right, whole grain. [ female announcer ] people who choose more whole grain tend to weigh less than those who don't. multigrain cheerios... five whole grains, 110 calories. ttd# 1-800-345-2550 let's talk about the typical financial consultation ttd# 1-800-345-2550 when companies try to sell you something off their menu ttd# 1-800-345-2550 instead of trying to understand what you really need. ttd# 1-800-345-2550 ttd# 1-800-345-2550 at charles schwab, we provide ttd# 1-800-345-2550 a full range of financial products, ttd# 1-800-345-2550 even if they're not ours. ttd# 1-800-345-2550 and we listen before making our recommendations, ttd# 1-800-345-2550 so we can offer practical ideas that make sense for you. ttd# 1-800-345-2550 ttd# 1-800-345-2550 so talk to chuck, and see how we can help you, not sell you.

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the american soldier who allegedly killed 16 afghan civilian has been flown to a maximum security prison in kansas. in his wake, an afghan relationship at the breaking point. when army staff sergeant robert bales went on a killing spree through afghan villages, it further poisoned a relationship already strained by 10 1/2 years of u.s. presence in afghanistan and the accidental burning of korans north of kabul. afghan president hamid karzai

met with u.s. defense secretary leon panetta wednesday and he said he was at the end of his rope with the united states. in a statement after the meeting, karzai wrote, "afghanistan is ready right now to take all security responsibilities completely to speed up this process authorities should be given to afghans. but the u.s. is not on the same page." >> we need to stick to the strategy that we've laid out for the future. the campaign, as i've pointed out before, i think, has made significant progress. >> it is an appliance in trouble. afghanistan's ambassador to the united states, eklil hakimi is next. at some pl. ttd#: 1-800-345-2550 they say you have to do this, have that, invest here ttd#: 1-800-345-2550 ttd#: 1-800-345-2550 you know what? ttd#: 1-800-345-2550 you can't create a retirement plan based on ttd#: 1-800-345-2550 a predetermined script. ttd#: 1-800-345-2550 to understand you and your goals... ttd#: 1-800-345-2550 ...so together we can find real-life answers for your ttd#: 1-800-345-2550 real-life retirement. ttd#: 1-800-345-2550 talk to chuck ttd#: 1-800-345-2550 and let's write a script based on your life story.

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joining me now is afghan's ambassador to the united states, eklil hakimi. welcome, mr. ambassador. we appreciate your time. >> thank you very much. >> let me ask you first just a broad question. do you believe, does the president of afghanistan believe, that afghanistan is a better place now than before the u.s. came?

>> well, if you compare afghanistan today to the afghanistan ten years ago, a lot of things happened. from the support that we receive from our international allies, including the united states of america and the taxpayers' money that was invested in afghanistan. whatever you name it, from economic growth to education, health, participation of women in different walks of our society, the free press, our national security forces, our police forces and infrastructure projects, infractions that afghanistan has within the region, within our neighbors and also the role that we play as an active member within the international community, all that happened within ten years' time. having said that, we have been suffering for the last 30 years after the invasion of the soviet union.

so a lot of things happened but i'm not saying everything happened perfectly but we have a lot of challenges and we have a long way ahead of us. >> so i ask you that question because this morning "the new york times" had a story in which they kind of synthesized everything that has been said by president karzai over the past couple of days in response to the koran burnings. and they said, "the americans and afghanistans are demons," a direct quote. "they claimed they burned korans by mistake, but really those were satanic acts that will never be forgiven by apologies. the massacre of 16 afghan women, children and men by an american soldier was, quote, not the first incident. indeed it was the 250 and the 500th incident." you know that -- i know many afghans have died, and these civilians, and this is heartbreaking what happened. but americans have died as well. i think with very good intentions.

and so we are looking at over 2,000 -- about 2,500 coalition deaths over the course of ten years. the u.s., at the end of this year, about $550 billion. can you see how americans would read this this morning and think, they don't even like us. why are we there? >> well, of course, these recent very tragic incidents, especially this massacre of 16 civilians killed and also burning of the koran, those are very tragic incidents. but meanwhile, we do understand the sacrifices that our allies, especially our main allies of the united states, they have suffered quite a lot. those men in uniform and women in uniform, those are the things that we are grateful for and we are appreciating that. but let's not forget the bigger picture. we are an ally in war against terror. and we are an ally to make afghanistan a safe place to not

allow terrorist groups to use afghanistan as a base for the security of other countries from there. so having said that, we have a strategic partnership and now we are working on another partnership to define our relationship for the years to come. so this is the bigger picture. we should not forget that. down the road, it's a bumpy road. >> it is. and you mentioned that afghanistan is grateful for some of the help that the u.s. has done and that it's an ally. and yet when you see the president of afghanistan talking about the u.s. in the same breath as the taliban, as a demon, there's a disconnect. why is there a disconnect? is this something -- i understand the anger in afghanistan about these women and children and men, innocent people that were killed. but is the president of the

country in those words, i would think undermine american support which was very much there at the beginning of this war. >> well, our president is doing whatever any legitimate president would do. he's reflecting somehow, whatever our people are saying, the situation there, especially with this very tragic incident is not that easy. so mean whale, he understands very well the relationship and also the partnership that we have with the international community. mainly with the united states of america. he attaches great importance to that. so that's why we are working on a very important strategic partnership with the united states, to define our relationship for the years to come. but to whatever he said, i think sometimes in media they are putting that out of the context but other than that, he is committed to this relationship.

and he will continue to work and serve as a president to the country. >> as a last question, do you trust the united states -- i know you're unhappy that this alleged gunman has been taken out of the country. but the u.s. has promised to follow this investigation, to find out what went on and to deal with it with u.s. justice. do you trust the united states to handle this properly? >> well, we do trust the united states. we do know how important this relationship is and we are working as a partner to resolve all of the issue as a partner. we should coordinate and cooperate with all of these issues, like i described, and the bigger picture is very important. we are in the right direction but down the road, things are happening, and we should manage it in a way that should not deter us from our main objectives. >> afghan ambassador, thank you for joining us this morning. >> thank you very much.

does the u.s. need to drastically alter its strategy? president obama's former intelligence director and president bush's point man on afghanistan are next. >> the war is hell. these kinds of events and incidents are going to take place. they've taken place in any war. they're terrible events, and this is not the first of those events and it probably won't be the last. you know when i grow up, i'm going to own my own restaurant. i want to be a volunteer firefighter. when i grow up, i want to write a novel.

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joining me now, the first u.s. ambassador to afghanistan after the fall of the taliban and dennis blair, president obama's first director of national intelligence. welcome both. let me ask you first what you made of the ambassador's interview. >> well, he has a hard job to do given the situation. i think it shows that afghanistan wants to maintain a partnership relationship with the united states, and that's what is sort of reflected in opinion polls in afghanistan and what took place a few weeks ago, that afghanistan needs the united states and since we haven't finished with the job of finishing the terrorists in afghanistan,

making sure that the terrorists do not come back to afghanistan, that we also need them, and yes, it has been a difficult few weeks, but would like to continue to cooperate with each other. >> you know, what is the effect on u.s. troops? i mean, i know when you read some of these things that the president of the country is saying, comparing the u.s. to the taliban or putting it in the same sentence and calling them demons, it just seems to me that it not only undermines faltering u.s. support for this war, but it must do something to the troops. >> it does, candy. we have to go back to basics, i think. the united states is in afghanistan because it's in the american interest. we sort of have to get off this idea that it's a favor to afghanistan. that 9/11 attacks were planned in kandahar. that's where osama bin laden was. we don't want that to be a place again. so that's basic. but from the point of view of

the american troops, i think what's more important is are we as a country committed to finishing the job we set out to do? we knew it was going to be hard. we knew it was going to take persistence. and the american troops will fight and die if they feel the country is behind them. if they feel they're making progress, if they feel they're well led, and that's what we have to emphasize. >> since you bring that up, i want to show a poll that we have. this was taken after the shooting spree. and the question was, which of the following would you prefer to see happen in afghanistan? stick to the current timetable and withdraw by 2014? 24% supported that. speed up this timetable for withdrawal, 50% of americans, keep the troops as long as it takes, 21%. so can you conduct a war, which this still is very much without the support of the american people, which i don't think it's going to go back up any time soon. >> well, the american people, i think, appreciate the importance of afghanistan in terms of what the admiral said.

9/11 started there. i think there is a loss of confidence in the strategy. do we know what we are doing when these incidents happen and president karzai makes the kind of statements that he has done, it raises questions in the minds of the people, do we know what we are doing? are we succeeding? and i think this poll, in my view, reflects a crisis of confidence, a momentary one, and whether we know what we are doing, are we achieving our goals, are our goals clear? i think it reinforces the point that the admiral made, which is we need to be clear about our goals in afghanistan and what it is we are doing and are we achieving our goals? that needs to be commu s to be far more effectively. >> let me ask you, i've heard the words me lie. there are huge differences.

it was a much larger scale. there were more people involved than apparently this one lone gunman. but really that was, in so many ways, a turning point against this war. do you see this shooting spree allegedly by this u.s. soldier as being a definitive time? in u.s./afghan relations? >> not even close. not even close. i both hope not and i believe not. milie was covered up. by the chain of command for years. it reflected a fundamental rot in the chain of command at that time and in that part of vietnam. this was immediately discovered. all of the right things done in view of the tragic incident. so i don't think they are comparable. >> and mr. ambassador, quickly if you can, do you feel some sympathy for president karzai who really has two audiences here. he has grieving countrymen, and he has an ally that they blame

for what's happened. >> absolutely. and i think when he talks to the victims' families, he reflects their feelings in an immediate public statement. and i'm sure that today if you asked him the same question about do you believe that the united states and the taliban are the same two demons? he would say, well, no, of course, not. and i used to have conversations with him five, six nights a week when i was u.s. ambassador there. in one hour -- >> different times, different things. gotcha. >> a very hostile statement. and i would say sometimes to the president, "i didn't hear that." and then an hour later, he would be the charming, good ally that he was in those years. >> thank you so much, ambassador khal khalilzad and mr. blair, thank you. >> you're welcome. milt romney has twice as many delegates, but he still can't put santorum away.

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the president and vice president are settling into a familiar election year m.o. the top of the ticket takes the high road, albeit one that takes him through swing states. but there's no travel really necessary. while republicans scramble state to state, the president can walk a few steps to command the bully pulpit and the headlines. >> i want to make a few announcements about some steps we're taking to help responsible homeowners. >> the rough stuff is in the vice president's portfolio. he spoke to uaw local 12 in toledo, ohio, about as critical an election state as it gets, and a good place to remember the auto bailout. >> our plan to save the industry was just a giveaway to union

bosses in the unions. senator santorum said, it was, and i quote, a payoff to special interests, end of quote. >> while biden was on his maiden attack dog voyage, the re-elect economy released a 17-minute video, a gauzy look at the presidency through the obama prism, narrated by hollywood power player tom hanks. >> time and time again, we would see rewards from tough decisions he had made. >> paying for all this is the president's job. friday, the fund-raiser in chief raised more than $4.5 million in five stops. oh, to be an incumbent. obama team insider anita dunn and forrer rnc chairman ed gillespie are next. i think it's a cool car. i think it's stylish and it makes a statement at the same time. and i've never had a car like that. people don't totally understand how the volt works. when the battery runs down the gas engine operates.

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joining me now, ed gillespie, former white house counsel and former rnc chairman, and anita dunn, former white house communications director, albeit for different parties. let me start first with the republican scenario now. i don't know if you heard rick santorum kind of dodging the question of whether he would stay in to make sure that romney didn't get enough delegates even if he, santorum, couldn't make it.

what do you make of this? because we know newt gingrich at this point is kind of saying the same thing. >> well, if i were rick santorum, i wouldn't have answered that question in any other way. he's trying to get people in puerto rico to vote for him in the primary, he's trying to get people in illinois to vote for him on tuesday. so to say on national television, yeah, i might get out, that dispirts your potential voters. that's not to say he might not stay through the whole thing. even if he's mathematically eliminated, i think the pressure from the voters would be pretty tough at that point. >> right. is it a bad ideao have a brokered convention? >> well -- >> is it necessarily going to hurt the party? >> i don't think it would be healthy. i mean, i think it's fractuous. we'd be better off to have a nominee clearly identified and making the case against president obama for as long as we can. i think the process is healthy. i think having a competitive primary is going to result in a nominee who is stronger at the end of the process. i support governor romney. i think he's the likely nominee

and i think that this challenge that he's facing right now in the vigorous contest is making him a better candidate. >> let me ask you to look at mitt romney for a minute before i ask you about the president versus whoever they come up with. and that is, what do you think mitt romney is doing wrong? >> well, you know, it's not for me to judge -- >> as an analyst. >> as an analyst, mitt romney's inability to really close the deal and not to get stronger as the primaries go on, i think, speaks to his inability to connect with voters. and part of this process, this presidential nominating process, is really to give these people an ability to get out there and connect with voters. and i think that the difference between romney and some of the other candidates who have had that ability it sort of an authentici authenticity, a willingness to stick to a willingness to stick to principles and say what he believes.

he has not done that during this campaign. people have problems connecting to him personally. that's what this primary process is supposed to do for candidates, to let them grow, and he has actually shrunk in this process. >> let me ask you about a bloomberg poll. this is about independent voters, as to who they would support. mitt romney, 49%. barack obama, 41%. everything at this point seems to me would make you believe that those numbers would be reverse. there's this messy sort of icky primary going on. economic numbers seem to be getting better, and yet the president is polling considerably lower in independents, what gave him the race last time. >> candy, there are other polls out there that show other results. there was an nbc poll at roughly the same time. here's the thing, polls are going to bounce around. it's going to be a close race. i think the poll figure that i find very interesting in many of the public polls is the one that talks about the -- which candidate understands your life. and there president obama consistently polls far ahead of governor romney and, again, it

speaks to an inability of governor romney to really convince people that he gets what they go through every day when they wake up, have to go to their jobs, juggle their schedules, get their kids' homework done. >> conventional wisdom lately has been from some people, like conservative george will, okay, this race is done. the economy is getting better. we need to concentrate on the house and the senate. but these independent numbers might suggest that you have a real race come september. >> i think the republican nominee is likely to be the next president. i think the numbers are against approximate president obama. the unemployment rate has been above 8% for over three years now. it's unlikely to be below 8% by november. people are frustrated by the obamacare bill which is a signature accomplishment. i think he's in real trouble. >> let me ask you both to hold here for a minute. we'll continue with anita dunn and ed gillespie in a moment. [ jane ] how did i get here?

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i think that my party is in an unfortunate place right now as viewed by many, many women in this country who are feeling very anxious about what they believe to be attacks on women's health. >> ed gillespie, anita dunn. let's start with you, ed.

you can't win unless the women are with you, frankly, in this country because they vote more than men do and they vote in larger percentages and numbers. so this is lisa murkowski who is a republican from alaska voicing a concern among republican women that either the democrats have been very good at spinning their message, or republicans have been very good as they have approached some of these issues about contraception and about women's health care. >> i think she was responding to a lot of the media coverage, which i think was quite overblown, to be honest with you. >> sure, but it's out there p. >> well, but candy, if you look at the cbs/"new york times" poll. we teach students in our courses that it's a sin, according to our faith, to, you know, to have abortion-inducing pills or

sterilization procedures and to say that the university must pay for i think most people say no, they shouldn't be compelled to do that. it's not a ban on contraception. not that contraception should be denied to people at all, but should you require a catholic institution to violate the te t tenets of their faith. >> but in the political realm, it would seem to me that at the moment, the democrats have sort of seized this conversation in a way that has framed it as an anti-woman thing rather than a religious versus private -- religion versus the government. >> well, candy, and there's a good reason for that, which is, you know, barack obama agrees with ed gillespie on this. he does not believe that religious institutions should be forced to do something, and that's why when they originally proposed the rule, they had a one-year period where they were going to look at ways to make sure that the concerns of schools like georgetown university -- >> but politically are you going to gain from this, do you think? >> but what has happened, of course, is that it is an issue

of women's health and basic preventative care that every woman in this country should have a right to. we're not going to force people to have them. and i think that the compromise position that president obama put forth, which was saying that these schools don't have to pay for it if it's against their beliefs, but that women should still get access to it is one that the republican candidate as tacked. santorum attacked it, mitt romney attacked it. and of course you have the blunt amendment in the senate. and that does appear to be against women's health. >> on the sheer politics, ed, in the last 30 seconds, are republicans on the losing end of this so far just in terms of how women are viewing this argument? >> the data don't support it. and the fact is, i'm sorry, but these institutions will be required -- and the archdiocese of washington, the schools, the hospitals, the cardinal will be required to pay because they self-insure as do many other archdiocese around the country. >> you're good at communicating, but you need to come back because i like this conversation because i do think that the

women's vote is going to be key, as it always is. but i've got to cut it off there. anita dunn, ed gillespie, thank you so much for coming in. >> thank you for having us. afreed zakaria is at the top of the hour. first, is it pandering or just politefu politeful? >> what a beautiful island, what a wonderful place, what a wonderful culture you enjoy, what a wonderful people you are. >> up next, "sound of sunday." highlights from the other sunday morning talk shows. a new belt. some nylons. and what girl wouldn't need new shoes? we talked about getting a diamond. but with all the thank you points i've been earning... ♪ ...i flew us to the rock i really had in mind. ♪ [ male announcer ] the citi thank you card. earn points you can use for travel on any airline, with no blackout dates.

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time for today's "sound of sunday." the aaa reports that the average price for a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline is up to $3.84, an increase up almost 17% so far this year. and a nice jumping-off spot for republican presidential contender mitt romney who has been using the campaign trail and today used his sunday spot to blame president obama and company. >> when he ran for office, he said he wanted to see gasoline prices go up. he said that energy prices would skyrocket under his views. and he selected three people to help him implement that program. the secretary of energy, the secretary of the interior, and the epa administrator. and this gas hike trio has been

doing the job over the last 3 1/2 years, and gas prices are up. the right course is they ought to be fired. >> on the president's team, top campaign strategist david axelrod dismissed it as elect n election-year rhetoric, although there's plenty to go around. >> well, i think it's about nonsense is what it's about. we have to have a national strategy for getting control of our energy future. and that involves persistence, not just in increasing domestic oil and gas production -- and we've freed up tens of millions of new acres for exploration and for oil production in the future -- but we have to explore these other avenues. and if we don't do all of those things, we're going to be right back here again every election season, and politicses like mr. romney will pander, and the poor american consumer will be left in the same position. a top republican strategist on this show denied suggestions that some of the rhetoric from

his party is alienating female voters. but across town, senator john mccain conceded issue. >> i think we have to fix that. i think there is a perception out there that the way this whole contraception issue played out, we ought to get off the issue. i think we ought to respect the right of women to make choices in their lives and make that clear, and get back to what the american people really care about, jobs and the economy. >> and that's today's "sound of sunday." while campaigning down south, northerner mitt romney took a lot of grief for his use of "y'all" and his appreciation for what he called cheesy grits. all the fuss was inspiration for today's on the campaign trail, a look at the pander. bill clinton's ability to relate to voters is legendary, but sometimes there's an invisible line between relating and pandering as clinton rivaled the late paul tsongas tried to point

out. >> from today on he's pander bear, p-a-n-d-e-r, pander bear. >> however you see it, it's as time-honored tradition as kissing babies. there is rick santorum in alabama where he has no known personal history or family ties. >> i don't consider this an away game. this is -- this is home for me just like it is everywhere i go in this country. >> newt gingrich in his southern backyard on the subject of grits. just because you're at home doesn't make it less of a pander. >> i have had some acquaintances in a variety of forms, whether it's shrimp, cheese, gravy, i get it. >> and forget the grits. if this is friday, it must be puerto rico, and mitt romney loves apparently anything. >> what a beautiful island. what a beautiful place. what a wonderful culture you enjoy. what a wonderful people you are. >> loving what your voters love is a bipartisan activity, and

sometimes no words are needed. maybe just a couple of hot dogs. attending to matters of state, in this case a visit from the british prime minister, president obama flew the two of them to an early round of ncaa basketball in ohio, about as critical a state as it gets in presidential elections. and the next day he appeared on espn to unveil his tournament brackets. his final four picks were a testament to caution all high seeds is probably just a coincidence that three of the four are from battleground states. >> in the midwest, north carolina, kansas, roy williams against his former team. >> i'm just a sucker for the tar heels. >> and finally, when panders go wrong, massachusetts senator and then presidential candidate john kerry ordered a philly cheesesteak in an unphilly way, with swiss cheese. cheese whiz is apparently the more relatable choice. footnote, despite his pander faux pas, john kerry won pennsylvania. no pander here, just