primary in illinois right here. we'll be back at 10:00 with a live update on that, as well and current.com/theyoungturks. >> oops. >> i don't care what the unemployment rate's going to be. doesn't matter to me. >> or? >> of course i care about the unemployment rate. i want it to go down, but my candidacy doesn't hinge on whether it goes up or down. >> as the primary vote comes in, romney agrees with santorum on the freedom thing. >> i'm wondering where you suggest that the millions of women who receive their health services such as mammograms, the h.p.v. vaccines go? >> they can go wherever they'd like to go. this is a free society. >> here is the dumbest idea from newt gingrich.

we ought to debate on pay per view and charge $10 and it should go to a charity of choice. >> yeah, maybe lincoln will coffer the primary in his land. and the republicans hell bent to phase out medicare and fed cade in their new budget for mini america. >> the penalty's budget is putting us on a path of a debt crisis, of decline, and these are the deficits that are in store for america if we stay with the status quo. >> including the debt limits deal the republicans agreed to last year on which they are now reneging. >> people have limits on credit cards. that doesn't mean that you're required to spend up to the limit. >> the killing of treyvon martin by a was want to be cop. >> are you following him? >> yes.

>> ok, we don't need you to i had that. >> the feds are finally investigating, but his killer is still not under arrest. >> we have lived in this world long enough to know that the more time goes by that he's not arrested, the less likely it is that he will ever be arrested. >> the latest atrocity in the war on women. the senator who believes rape and incest victims are lying so they can get abortions. and what's wrong with this campaign bus picture? the wheels on the bus go round and round now on "countdown." >> nice set of wheels! >> good evening this is tuesday, march 20, the polls just closed in the republican primary. there are no votes counts yet.

it is suggested a 45-35 margin. rick santorum can stop explaining. illinois polls put romney in the lead. dog owners nationally having second thoughts about the former massachusetts governor. illinois having second thoughts about their paper ballots. many reported their ballots will have to be trimmed down or counted by hand, meaning results should be delayed. romney hoping to add to his lead in delegates. gingrich and paul showing he should do that with ease. a public policy polling tally gingrich and powell far back. rick santorum telling an

audience that his campaign is bigger than the issues that define the election. >> i don't care what the employment rate is going to be. my campaign doesn't hinge on it. it's something for foundational that's going on here. >> gas king romney springing on santorum's error like a dog on a car roof. >> people running also for the republican nomination today said he doesn't care about the unemployment rate, that doesn't bother him. it does bother me. i want to get people back to work. >> after saying he wished he had a do-over he did it over. >> of course i care about the unemployment rate, i want it to go down, but my candidacy doesn't hinge on whether it goes up or down. it tran sends that. it's about freedom. >> santorum spokesman moaning that this is another example of the romney campaign trying to deceive voters.

santorum's wife karen tried to make sure her husband's campaign is about more than just women's rights. >> women have nothing to fear with when it comes to contraceptives he will do nothing on that issue. >> after saying he hoped to defund planned parenthood. >> i'm wondering where you suggest that the millions of women who receive health services mom mow grams and health care vaccines go? >> they can go wherever they like. this is a free society. >> a president should be able to send his do your vacation anywhere, even in mexico, even if lonesome roads beck and rick santorum should disagree. >> do you send your daughter as president of the united states to a place where the state department, your own state department says don't go on fringe break, it's a danger? at 13? >> he should set an example. that's what presidents do. when the government is saying

this is not safe, then you don't set the example by sending your kids down there. >> alas that's not what the state department said. parts of mexico have travel warnings. mr. roads beck doesn't understand there are more than one part to mexico. >> newt gingrich has this idea he'd like to try with you. >> we ought to debate on pay per view and charge 10 bucks to watch the debate and it ought to go to a charity of our mutual choice. >> tiffany's? hmm, $10 a viewer. so they'd raise -- $10? looking ahead to november, winning in a major swing state not looking good at $10 or more. president obama is shown winning over mitt romney by eight points over rick santorum by

nine, over gingrich by 19. mean time, vice president biden announcing he's hit the campaign trail hard and: >> especially a dog name of shamus romney penned on top of the car for a drive to canada. is it humane or inhumane to put your dog in a kennel on the top of the car for a long trip. 68% insisted it was anything but, 35% also saying it would make them less likely to vote for romney, 55% saying more likely. when asked who they thought would be a better president for dogs, president obama with a commanding lead. for more on tonight's illinois primary, i'm joined by david

shuster. problem with paper ballots and the machines, we've reached the apex where both things can go wrong? do we know how much which a delay this might mean? >> election officials in illinois say it affects as many as 24 different counties, almost a quarter of the state. the largest county being dupage county, which is west of chicago, including naperville, wheaton, downer's grove. there may be as many as 300 ballots from a couple of different locations were affected. they do not believe it will delay things too much. election officials will have to count the ballots because they can't go through the machines. results from some precincts may take a little longer, but the polls have not been kept open any longer. they do expect to have results before too long. >> the only results we have now were exit polls cnn45 ore 35

romney over santorum. between that and his big lead in the pre-vote polls of yesterday and earlier where is the support coming from, chicago and the upscale suburbs? is there a different expectation down state when you get to virtual indiana? >> absolutely right. when you look at interstate 80, the suburbs of chicago, a little farther out romney should roll up the numbers there but everything below interstate 80 is santorum country. the key challenge for santorum is because delegates are rewarded by district, can he make up enough in terms of the congressional districts in the southern part of the state to make it competitive in the delegate map where romney is expected to sweep in the counties around chicago. >> not in four counties, can he possibly make enough to come out

for this not to be a disastrous night for him? he got 15 delegates awarded in the state convention in june, but if you're not eligible for 10 of those you're not going to do well even if you take 15. >> that's right. the santorum campaign thinks a good night for them, if they can get totally maybe 35, they would be thrilled. again, they feel feel like they've got a plan for being able to go after the delegates awarded on a state basis but again you look at the number of delegates that santorum has available a total of 44 available if you take away the 10 that he's not eligible for, of those 44, realistically feel like they can compete maybe nine, 10 or those areas congressional districts, so you're looking at maybe 27 if they get lucky maybe up to 35, but out of a total of 69 that

will ultimately be awarded because those 15 delegates will go to who wins the plurality of the vote, and santorum's looking at some tough math. >> santorum's tough math obviously applies to the subject of discussing unemployment. that unfortunate gaffe and or revelation, any expectation that that did anything in blue collar illinois to him or was essentially just bought out again by romney's money? >> the gaffe on unemployment came late yesterday so at least the campaign felt there wasn't time for romney to turn that into an attack ad as they probably would have. the romney campaign that spent more money in you chicago and illinois than a lot of people have seen in this state in a long time, including in general election for presidential election. the amount of negative ads the cycle of the frequency was astounding to political observers here in illinois. even santorum supporters say

there are some things you can't compete against. if we get 30-35% of the vote in the wake of these ads we'll be happy. it gets to the strategy of tearing down your opponents. >> david shuster in chicago many thanks, david. >> drilling a little deeper as the kids say into the primary race, we are joined by craig crawford. good evening. >> we got enough shovels to dig that deep. >> in choosing our shovel of choice, what are the demographic differences between what we saw in alabama mississippi and why those early numbers that you go romney should do 10 points or better than santorum tonight? >> we have half the percentage

in these republican illinois primary voters, half the percentage saying they are very conservative or evangelicals that you had in alabama or mississippi. the pattern we're seeing is santorum annual wins in states that are as crazy as he is. in the south the rest of us aren't exactly proud of alabama and mississippi and their political past. it's often said alabama and mississippi are too small to be nations and too large to be mental institutions. >> once said of every state in the south just before the civil war, as i recall. santorum has been the gop leader when voters have been asked who best understands average american's problems. if he hasn't already will he poke a hole in that with that statement that unemployment, sort of implying that

unemployment is not the most important thing even for those who are unemployed. >> i think another reason he's having trouble in illinois and probably future states, they're seeing the gaffe machine that he is. he takes one step back and back flips another three or four and is always explaining himself. on the substance of this one the argument he was trying to make and it's a pretty good one if he'd beenar particular let about it, romney is a one note candidate, all about the economy. his whole resume is about being the candidate in the fall with a bad economy. santorum is trying to say that he can speak to more issues than romney. he didn't articulate it that way at all and it came across like he didn't care about unemployed people. he's making romney look like his words are the gettysburg address

by comparison. >> unless he does that, what time does the drum beat begin to raise tomorrow that he should drop out and gingrich should drop out and everybody should just get out of romney's way? >> i'm beginning to think it doesn't matter anymore. i'm going to retire my tin foil halt tonight. in that race is winding down, because these opponents gingrich and santorum just couldn't take advantage of what was right in front of them. in particular, santorum in ohio, in measure be michigan now illinois, he had the opportunity to prove