the socks. >> thank you, that's how fox report on this sunday, february 26th, 2012. i'm harris falkner, thank you for watching, in about six seconds, huckabee starts. have a great week. >> . >> tonight on huckabee, all of that campaigning, all of these contests and still, no clear front runner. what happened if voters can't agree on a candidate? is a brokered convention inevitable? plus, what do voters want? >> they want to be inspired, they want to be entertained. led. >> candid talk from the former candidate, from exceeding expectations. >> i wasn't supposed to win it, but i did. >> and the criticism. i was held to a different standard. >> tonight, bachmann, cain and pawlenty look at their race for the white house. >> ladies and gentlemen, governor mike huckabee. [applaus [applause] >> hello, everybody, thank you, thank you very much.

and welcome to huckabee from the fox news studios in new york city. the race for the g.o.p. presidential nomination is a sport to many of the commentators and pundits heard around the clock on the radio and tv. and who filled the pages of the blogs and traditional newspapers and magazines, but to the men and women who are the gladiators on the field, who announced their candidacy and run for the highest office in the the world, this is no game. the stakes are high, to risk one's reputation, privacy, personal assets and future are far greater than imagined to the public and it requires every ounce of emotional, mental, and political stamina that one can muster, i've often said, do not run for office if you can't stand to see the sight of your own blood. what does it take for the side to get in a race for president? and equally important, what does it take to decide to get out of the race when one determines there is just no pathway forward. even if you don't support, agree with with or like one of

the candidates, you ought to be mindful of the sacrifices they and their families have made in order to make a run. now, i just might be in a position to appreciate and understand a little better than most, what it means to walk the high wire of candidacy. and it's why that i get more than a little irritated with people who smugly and contemptuously speak of the candidates as if they are objects. now, i've been on both sides of the process, and let me tell you, it is a whole lot easier to talk about candidates than to be one. it's much less dangerous to pontificate on what government ought to do than it is to actually govern. we're going to talk to several office seekers about their quest for the office of president. we will he get their perspectives and insights what made them start and what made them stop. and we'll explore the process that is going to shape this the entire election cycle and explain what could happen if none of the candidates get 1144 delegates to clinch the nomination before the

republican national convention in tampa this summer. i think you're going to love tonight's show and i hope it causes you to respect those who give you and your friends so much to talk about during an election year. well, that's my view, i welcome yours. and feel fro to contact me, get in touch at mike huckabee.com. there's a link to the fox news feedback session and also at mike huckabee.com, you can join up for my facebook page and follow me on twitter, and get a copy of "a simple government", it's now out in paper back and a new york times best selling book, it was in hard book, but now in paper back, not as heavy to carry around. and the race has been unpredictable at the start. back in may as republicans started to throw their hats in the ring. the focus wasn't on who was running, but rather, who wasn't. >> donald trump was not

running. i will not be running for president. >> sarah palin wasn't running and a couple of others, too. >> all the factors say go, but my heart says no. >> i said what do i have to do short of suicide to convince people i'm not running. >> in fact, the first republican debate last may showed a line of candidates who were virtually unknown to american voters. businessman herman cain, former new mexico governor gary johnson. texas congressman ron paul. former minnesota governor tim pawlenty and former pennsylvania senator rick santorum. later that spring and summer the field filled out with mitt romney, john huntsman, michele bachmann and newt gingrich in the race. the first test was the iowa straw poll last august and the results were historic. >> the winner of 2011 iowa straw poll is congresswoman michele bachmann. >> american had the first republican female winner of a presidential contest edging out ron paul by only 152

votes. >> we're stunned and humbled and grateful and thankful and the rest because this is really the people of iowa that did this. it wasn't us, this was the people of iowa. >> the next day the first republican candidate of the 2012 race would drop out, joining me now is former candidate and minnesota governor, tim pawlenty. >> good to be with you. >> i have to ask and don't mean to dispute. where the heck are you, looks like you're in a locker room or something like that? >> i am he' in traverse city, michigan, and i know that this is not the normal huckabee back drop, but i hope you understand and could throw in a mouth guard and hockey helmet if that's helpful to you. >> you're one of the guys who could do that and put on the hockey regalia, you've done it. i want to ask you, having played hockey, which was tougher, playing hockey or running for president? >> running for president for sure, although you know, i

still have all of my teeth. and unusual for a hockey player. >> let's talk about the pathway, what we're doing in the show is trying to explain to people, how this process work works and one of the things that as we look back, the first debate happened, the fix week of may and then after that, the field got very crowded, romney came in, ron paul came in, newt gingrich came in and santorum, huntsman, bachmann after that date. was your strategy always based on how many candidates would be in or did it have nothing to do solver with the number of people on the stage with you? >> well, you know, you make as you know, gov, assumptions how the race might go, but as you know, people might get in and might not get in and a lot of variables, you can't control that, you have to have a good clear vision why you're running and what you bring to the race as a candidate and then have trust and faith that that's going to carry the day and bring value to the debate

and you can't control the other variables, you wish and hope that you could, but in the end, you can't. >> governor, the straw poll in iowa obviously was a turning point for you, you dropped out of the race the day following, it doesn't have any significance in terms of delegate selection, it's symbolic, but it's extremely expensive. you spent a lot of money there, a lot of effort there, then if you can't win, you said, you didn't see a pathway forward. is the iowa straw poll becoming too much of a challenge and maybe becoming irrelevant or see that it has a place in the future of the republican process? >> well, i think what you saw during this campaign so far a lot of these straw polls, iowa, being one of the earliest and prominent, a benchmark, but for us we put down a lot of chips early on that aims straw poll and as it turns out. three days later, a week later, the media, pundits, observers, the voters moved on

and didn't have any sort of lasting effect. so, if you rewrite the history of my campaign one thing we probably should have done is not put so many chips down early on that contest, that really didn't have any lasting impact. i think it will still be a benchmark in the future, but it wasn't the kind of heavy or weighted or dispositive benchmark it's been in the past. >> you have since the race endorsed mitt romney. you're campaigning for him now. what was the decision point to go with governor romney? >> well, for me, there's a number of things you want to look at. one if you're going to be president of the united states, we want somebody who's actually run something and accomplished something, not just given speeches, not just pushed yes or no, so as a former governor, as a former leader of bain capital and run businesses, started businesses, grown jobs, somebody who turned around the olympics, and somebody who's led a life in terms of personal behavior and conduct that you can be proud of, his values in that regard line up with mine and mary's, those

are some of the characteristics, i think are important for a successful nominee and successful president. for governor romney he's somebody i've gotten to know and i know you know him as well. he's somebody who is a very very effective leader and a good person and there's not going to be a day and read that he's done something scandalous or stupid or embarrassing from a personal standpoint. he's a grounded, mature person, who, also a great leader. >> well, thank you for joining us today. by the way. you ran a very, i think, effective campaign in terms of just maintaining an equilibrium that a plot of candidates don't, you ran it with honor and dignity and my congratulations to you and mary being able to walk away with your head high after a tough battle. good to be with us here, gosh. >> thank you very much, governor (applause) >> up next the debate takes the candidates, the messages and mud slinging. that's where it all starts. and the republican race for

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at the (applause). >> mike: the we're back and we're looking at the republican race for the white house. and from the straw poll in iowa to the caucuses, they had 20 weeks to convince, they are the right person for the nomination. 20 weeks, a lot of time to debate and face some very tough scrutiny. >> how do you respond to people who say that your campaign has been a mess so far? >> i took seriously injunction to put aside the talking points and i wish you would put aside the gotcha questions. >> commerce, education and the-- as they would say in china. [speaking chinese] >> and to the curb, that dog went hunt. >> i don't try to find who is

rich and not rich. i want everybody in america to be rich. i want people in this country to have opportunity. >> the american navy picked up a bunch of fishermen, iranian fishermen held by the pirates. >> well, ron, if we had your foreign policy there wouldn't have been a fleet. to pick up the iranian fishermen. >> i would take the federal education law repeal it and go over to the department of education, turn out the lights, i'd lock the door and i'd send all the money back to the states and municipalities. >> and i can't-- >> joining me now is herman cain. great to see you, thanks for doing this today. [applause] >> governor, it's my pleasure. thanks for having he me on, good to see you. >> the strength of your campaign seemed to be the simplicity and the attractiveness of the 9-9-9 plane and that's when things really took off for you. would you say that's the center piece that gave you the

jet boost during the the fall? >> the answer is yes. it was the simplicity of the 9-9-9 plan that average americans may get it. secondly, it was the simplicity of my message relative to energy independence made in america. and simplicity of my campaign relative to national security. peace through strict and clarity and that's what i believe my connected with so many people and you're right. that's when my campaign started to take off. >> well, it took off with so many people who loved the idea of a simple tax plan, especially as we get closer to the tax day of april 15th, but not as your colleagues were as thrilled as you and the american people seemed to be. let's take a look. >> go to a sales tax and fix to give them you one. they're not interested in 9-9-9. >> the fact of the matter is now 84% of americans would pay more. >> it's a regress seive tax,

very, very dangerous and will raise more revenues. >> when you take the 9-9-9 plan and turn it upside down, i think the devil is in the details. >> mike: a lot of interesting criticis criticisms, let's ask, what was unfair about some of the criticisms of the 9-9-9 plan. >> all of the criticism of the 9-9-9 plan was wrong. let's start with the one who quoted that 80% of americans are going to pay higher taxes, no, they're not. that study was flawed. mike. we know exactly the study that they got that conclusion from, because as you know, mike, in mathematics, you if you change the assumptions you'll get a different result and that's what they did. the rest of the criticism, i believe was sheer envy because all of their tax proposals rearranged the chairs on deck of the "titanic," caused the current tax code. i, along with speaker gingrich, were the only ones

who said let's get rid of the the tax code and let's put in a new structure. now, i'm in georgia today campaigning with speaker gingrich because as you know, i endorse him. he hasn't gotten all the way to 9-9-9 yet, but at least he's at 12.5. 15, and 0. and he's the only one that's close. >> at least he's not at 6-6-6 which would be problem for him at this point. >> exactly. and that's what i admire about him. he understands jobs, jobs, jobs. the others want to still tinker with the tax code and that will never boost this economy and one of the reasons i'm supporting speaker gingrich in this race. >> mike: let' talk about the fact that you're now endorsing him. where does he have to get his traction back? i mean, he was soaring after south carolina and then things came crashing down after

florida. so, what is his pathway back? does he need to take 9-9-9 and adopt it as his plan? that what you're telling him? >> i'll tell you, exactly what i told him a few hours ago, because i made three stops with him today. we rode on his bus and i'll tell you exactly what i told him. now, to his credit, mike, he asked me for my advice, go figure. number one, be specific, be specific about your tax proposal. most people don't know that his plan is 12.5, 15.0 and zero. so, he's got a great idea and secondly, i said just focus how you're going to create jobs, energy independence and national security. and people will get, get sick of all of this other stuff. and he took my advice. by the time we got to the second stop, you would have thought that herman cain wrote that speech that he gave to the audience. (laughter) >> so he needs to be specific, which he is now

doing, and focus on three things that connect with the american people. i'm optimistic, mike, because you know some people want to say that what newt has lost his swagger. no, he has not. at the three events we were at today i just left the last one, we had to turn people away at each one of them. they are here for newt gingrich and we believe that this is going to continue to grow all over the country. so, i believe all he has to do is stay on a specific, simple, targeted message on those three topics and i think he'll be just fine. >> herman, we want to keep you and talk a little about the progress from iowa straw poll i was with you on. and give our viewers a chance to understand how this thing all works and by the way, we had to turn people away from a lot of my events and it wasn't because there were too many of them. just there to throw things at me, just to let now. i know at that experience. more with herman cain when we come back. stay with us. [applause]. i habe a cohd.

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>> we are back with herman cain. i remember when i was (applause) >> back to herman cain and i remember when i was with you at the iowa straw poll and saw the candidates that day and you came in fifth and a lot of people sort of wrote you off and said, well, herman is a nice guy, and an interesting individual to be in the race, but he has no chance of getting there. a couple of months later you're riding the top of the rocket. what happened between the straw poll, not talking so much message now, process-wise? what did you do within the context of your campaign that helped you to get people's attention that weren't paying attention to you before? >> let's start with the straw poll. see, what sot people in the media didn't get is that i

woke up the next morning with no headache and no debt. and so, we didn't try to buy the iowa straw poll. we continued to stay on message and get as much media exposure as we could and it started to connect with the american people. but when we went from the straw poll, we then went to florida for that florida straw poll. mike, what a lot of people don't realize is that i was out there with my message of simplicity relative to those issues even before i ever declared myself as a candidate. and what happened was, that message started to connect with people and that's when we started to build that momentum. now, jump to the florida straw poll. and it was an upset victory. and that was because i wasn't supposed to win it and i did and that made a lot of people believers in my campaign and you know the rest of it from there. for a full week, i was number one in the national polls.

and we were doing just great. until my character was assassinated, deliberately, because i was being too successful u were you surprised. >> involved in the process. >> mike: were you surprised in the intensity of attacks and the level of how personal they were? is that something for which you could have ever prepared yourself? >> i could never have prepared myself for that. i was surprised at the intensity, mike. consider this, after the first false accusation, the second false accusation, the third false accusation, they were three weeks in a row. my wife used to say she hates to turn on the tv on monday morning and the fact that they kept bringing another one out week after week after week, that's an intensity, mike, i never anticipated, no matter how dirty politics can be. >> mike: did she ever just get to the place she said, herman, for the love of pete, end this

thing. stop the pain for me, for the rest of the family, for yourself? what kind of conversation did you guys have? >> you know, mike, that friday night after i got moment after he three weeks after firestorm. my wife, why i love her and have been married to her for over 43 years, never asked me to drop out. she never did. and it was totally my decision. that's how supportive she has been and that's how supportive she will always be. but i know that she was relieved he when i said, i'm going to put family first. here is what he we were convinced of, mike. the onslaught against me was not going to stop. because like you said. we couldn't anticipate that level of intensity and because it wasn't going to stop, i made the decision that i was going to end my campaign and i did. but, here is the other thing, mike, just because i'm not in

a position of president, i'm still on a mission and that is to defeat barack obama in november of this year. and they have it-- >> herman cain, always a pleasure to visit with you, god bless, take care. great to be with you, governor, a pleasure. >> well, up next, primary voters finally take to the polls. we're going to have some highlights and talk to former candidate congresswoman michele bachmann when we come babbling. come back. (applause). you have tough pa, do you want fast relief? try bayer advanced aspirin. it has microparticles so it enters the bloodstream fast and rushes relief to the site of your tough pain. it's proven to relieve pain twice as fast as before. bayer advanced aspirin. align can help. only align has bifantis, a pantented probiotic that naturally helps maintain your digestive balance. ♪ ooh baby, (what) can i do for you today? ♪ try align today.

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>> live from america's news headquarters, i'm harris falkner. days of rage now in afghanistan over the burning of copies of the muslim holy book at a u.s. air base. n.a.t.o. and president obama said it was accidental, but still more violence as our cars are targeted more than ever. an angry mob lobbing grenades at a base from the north. seven american troops wounded in that and two afghans dead

and dozens died, including now four americans in the days of violence. a sham, that's what western nations are calling a referendum on a new constitution inside syria. secretary of state hillary rodham clinton describing the vote as a cynical ploy for president assad will use it to justify what he's doing to syrian citizens who do not support his regime she says. as the voting goes on. so does the military shelling of the opposition city of homs. 20 people died this week alone. i'm harris falkner, now back to mike huckabee and the race for the white house. [applause] >> 2012 began with most of the remaining g.o.p. candidates focused on the iowa caucus, that eventually ended in an upset and the rest of the primary races have been anything, but predictable. >> you're saying that romney is going to win the iowa caucuses by 14 votes. >> guess what we defeated mitt romney in iowa. >> the polls have closed in

new hampshire, and mitt romney is the first republican since 1976 to win the first two nominating contests. >> thank you, new hampshire. tonight, we made history. >> this race has degenerated into an onslaught of negative and personal attacks. today, i am suspending my campaign for the presidency. >> i ran for president because i love america. i've come to the conclusion that there is no viable path forward for me in this 2012 campaign. >> newt gingrich a big winner in south carolina, thank you to every one in south carolina who decided to be with us in changing washington. >> mitt romney will triumph in the sunshine state. >> thank you so much. republicans in nevada pick their choice for the top of the presidential ticket. >> thank you guys, wow. what a great show, thank you,

nevada. >> and missouri, colorado could be the biggest night for rick santorum. >> tonight was not just a victory for us, tonight it's a victory for the voices of our party, conservatives and tea party. >> and we would like to congratulate mitt romney on nis win in the caucus. >> joining me now, form candidate, congresswoman michele bachmann. it's great to see you and great to have you back on the show. >> thank you, governor. [applause] >> watching all of these moments from the campaign trail we go back to the straw poll. you won that and became the first female in the history of the republican party to do that. you had to have been on top of the world. i was with you that evening, you had every reason to be. what happened between then and sometime later in the fall that it was hard to gain or to keep that momentum? was it the perry campaign getting in, you know, the process and what changed

everything? >> well, again, it was great that day. you were on the bus with me, your wife janet was on the bus, we had a wonderful day that day. but i think what we've seen from the very beginning of this presidential election cycle it present day and perhaps going forward. the voters have not made up their mind. almost like they have whiplash. they look the one candidate and then turn their heads and whiplash to the other side and almost, governor, like whoever wins one state. you can almost take it to the back that they won't be beginning the next state because the voters want to see who else is out there. who else should they be thinking about? so it's very clear throughout this campaign to the voters have the not put their decisions in cement. and so, the very same voters have been on board with perhaps as many as four or five candidates, even throughout this cycle. >> congresswoman, one of the personal things that a lot of

people never understand how tough it is to make the decision to end the campaign. you put your heart, your soul, your family, everybody is in the middle this have thing. would you walk us through the process, when you finally said, okay, going forward, we don't see a pathway, tell us how you and your husband marcus and family and staff, how did you come to that decision and describe the feelings? because i don't think a lot of people really understand how human this process is and how real the emotions are for a candidate. >> it is real. you're exactly right and the reason that i think, impelled me to make the decision to leave the race are what cause immediate to go into the race. we approached this on our knees and prayer shall the way that my husband and i deal with these things, we fasted and prayed. we prayed and fasted and asked the lord what we should do. and this is it for our country, this is the last exit ramp based on what barack

obama was doing, i knew that the country couldn't survive economically or we couldn't maintain our military strength if barack obama remained in power, someone had to do something, i prayed, it took me six months to make the decision to get in. i know that it's physically, emotionally, financially, spiritually exhausting. it's the most difficult thing i've ever done in my life. i would think that the men in this race would tell you the same thing. it is very difficult. because you can never make a mistake, everything you say is monitored and watched, and you have to be right all the time. and, you have to continue to bring money in. you have to have money in order to be able to go on. after we have lost iowa caucus, that night, on the bus, i had spent 45 minutes in prayer, that evening before the results even came in. and i had asked the lord to give me a deficit sign, should i go on, should i not go on. he gave me a deficit sign and when i got the results of the straw poll, it wasn't even a question, i said, then that's

very clear. we won't go on in this contest. and for me, i didn't shed a tear because it was never about me. i was responding to a call, because i knew that we had to repeal obamacare. i knew we had to repeal dodd frank. i knew that we had to change our tax code and that's what was upper most in my mind. so, i knew that i wouldn't be it at the top of the ticket as president, but that didn't matter. the battle remained. i'm just going to fight the battle from a different perch. i announced that i'll be running for my seat in the house of representatives. i'm still in the fight. i just didn't it from a different side and whoever the nominee is, i'm on board with that nominee. >> mike: congresswoman. >> i will help them to become president. >> mike: let's also talk about though, one of the challenges that i think we all admit you faced was that as a woman, were you treated differently. the cover of news week this ridiculous, i thought it was absolutely shameful calling you the queen of rage.

and trying to depict you as something that all of us who know you know is absolutely not who you are. whatsoever. what was it more difficult? was the media treatment of you different in such a way that made it hard to get past that proverbial glass ceiling? >> well, i'm really happy that you asked the question, because throughout the campaign, i never whined about how the media was treating me because i truly went into it naively believing i would be treated the same as the men in the race and it was made clear through the course of the race it wasn't true. i was held to a different standard and there were negative assumptions that the media had, but it was a good process, it was a tough progress. i defend the process, it beats the snot out of the candidates who go through this process. >> mike: yes, it does. >> and that's a good thing. you've been there as well. and it's good, because our nom

he knee has to be great. they have to be at the top of their game because when they he debate on that stage with barack obama, at that point there will be over 100 million americans that are watching that debate, our nominee has to be really good and pin barack obama to the wall based on his negative policies and what they've done to decimate this country. our nominee has to be ready, that's why it's a good process and i defend it. >> mike: congresswoman, i've said it then and then to you. i thought you entered the race with an extraordinary level of dignity and class and you exited with extraordinary level of dignity and class and congratulations for a valiant effort and a wonderful candidacy, tough, but also, always respectful of the process and the other people. it's a pleasure to have you here and i wish you god's best as you go forward. >> thank you, great respect for you too, governor. thank you. [applause]. >> mike: so what happens. if no one gets enough

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>> could have,you'd like to be a part of the studio audience, watch how much fun they're having and you could be, too. and one thing certain about the primary season, the front runner and eventual nominee is uncertain. take a look at the fox news poll since august, looks like the kentucky derby with a new horse in the lead just about every month. beginning of last august, romney ahead, bachmann second. perry. end of august, perry, jumps in, front runner. romney is back in lead and bachman to the back and herman cain gains steam. in october, it's herman cain's number one, romney steady at two and perry falls behind gingrich. november, out of nowhere, gingrich surges to number one, cain falls back to three. santorum is barely on the grid. december, newt ahead double digits over romney. people say two man race and santorum single digits. january, primary season in full swing, romney way ahead.

santorum all after sudden in second place, brings us to february. now, four man race, romney still ahead of the pack. oh, boy, in recent days, polls show a tight race between rick santorum and mitt romney in the state of michigan no less. what happens if the primary season becomes so divided that none of the candidates end up getting delegates that are needed to secure the nomination? joining us now, somebody who might know about it, republican strategist and ed rollins been involved in republican campaigns over about four decades. [applause] >> ed, people are throwing this turn around brokered convention. explain to people what that means. >> hasn't had a brokered convention, since i was five years old. i'm going to be 65. the 1948 was contested not brokered and four candidates and four ballots and basically at the end dewey won. two wings. party.

taft wing and the establishment wing and in this particular case, we're a long ways from anybody having any real delegates yet and with big states ahead. new york ahead, california, texas that's been moved. so, it's a little premature to basically say it's going to be a brokered convention. if someone doesn't get 1144 and go to the convention and struggle and i assume the four candidates will be there until the end and know more after super tuesday and move down the road here. when you get into a brokered convention, unlike the old days the governors controlled their delegations and move them quickly, today it's a real battle. nos states have different rules and most delegates are not bound. if someone jumped in here and people decided that this was not going to beat obama. someone jumped in hypothetically, you or governor bush or someone like that. >> certainly won't be me. >> you could do it, but that's okay, that's another discussion for later, but at the end of the day, if someone

could jump in raise the money and win some of the late states, have to go in with some delegates and at the end of the day. >> mike: that's probably the president calling now, asking for your thoughts. if i were obama i'd he be calling you right now. that's what i'd be doing. and that's what he's doing. tell him to call back, we'll get him on. (laughter) >> it's herman. and so you go into the convention and no one has-- this is what happened with ford and reagan, in '76. neither had the necessary delegates and they jockeyed back and forth and mississippi, haley barbour, the voted for reagan and the other voted for ford and that he the difference at the end of the day. >> it almosts sounds this idea of a brokered convention and pundits speak about it almost romantically. it's a train wreck, isn't it? >> it's a train wreck and at the end of the day nobody has to do it. i had a call from one of the prominent campaigns, mou do

you do that and count delegates and basically keep track of them all the way through here and i think we have he just not had this kind after pro he is is. >> mike: do you see that happening? how realistic. >> i don't think it it happens. i think either romney makes a comeback and continues somewhere super tuesday or start spritting it up. gingrich could come back, i'm not sure he's going to get away from santorum, but all four will have delegates and it's a question, can you keep ones from getting 1144. >> at sop point the campaigns are going to start doing some talking, not only to do delegations, but to perhaps to each other. if you, you know, decide to support me, i'll see that you get front row seating, i'll see that. >> right. >> mike: you get an input in the vp nomination. what are some of the kind of details and deal making that might be taking place, somewhere between the middle of march after super tuesday and the time of the nomination? >> part of the dilemma here, as we found out last time. when you attack your opponents

fiercely, as mr. romney has done, there's not an inclination to sit down and deal. there's a little hard edge that goes with all of that and that's kind of been the campaign so far. so, i would argue that let's talk about obama and what he's not doing, and let's talk about what we will be doing as opposed to beating each other up. and it's hard, who is going be to be the vice-president and running mate and i'm not sure you want to brocker that away and not sure one of the three that don't win want it, you never can tell. they may want someone else. >> in the event that mitt romney loses michigan, how big a deal is that for him? 'cause that would be-- >> it's a very big deal. in fairness to him he's not lived in that state for 40 years. he won it last time barely, but at the end of the day, i would not be shocked if he lost that. then he's he got to win some other, the problem is you go south, you go to ohio. if it comes down to one-on-one and santorumen him, santorum is the conservative candidate, it's a long hard battle, a

hard battle for romney to get on top. >> mike: he's been a part of many presidential campaigns, including mine. when we come back, are any of the candidates able to beat obama in november? ed rollins joins me again after this. [applause]. sometimes life can be, well, a little uncomfortable, but when it's hard or hurts to go to the bathroom, there's dulcolax stool softener. dulcolax stool softener doesn't make you go... it just makes it easier to go. dulcolax stool softener. make yourself comfortable. i toog nyguil bud i'm stild stubbed up. [ male announcer ] truth is, nyquil doesn't un-stuff your nose. really? [ male announcer ] alka-seltzer plus liquid gels fights your worst cold symptoms, plus it relieves your stuffy nose. [ deep breath ] thank you! that's the cold truth! regiright from your office. you deposit checks thank you! so sitting at your desk is just like going to the bank. see? i'm at the bank. now i'm in the office.

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(applaus (applause) >> back with ed rollins. ed, what should the g.o.p. strategy be to defeat barack obama? >> well, you have to go out and basically indict him on his record. you start with the budget he just submitted. that's sort of the loop for the future, raises taxes, he eliminates capital gains and spending. and i would caution him you can't attack him personally.

people still like him. he's a likeable man and respect what he's done as far as getting elected. but i think that his policies are the thing. reagan's slogan was leadership that's working. this guy could spend a billion dollars and can't put that slogan up there, nobody would believe it. so you basically attack his lack of leadership, you talk about his policies, you talk about how detrimental he'll be to the future. how many opportunities he had to fix it it and didn't. it has to be a positive message. >> there have been good numbers over the last weeks, unemployment. i think skewed by the number of people who quit looking for work. still, on paper there are some signs of recovery. does that make it more difficult and how do the republicans attack that without looking like they're actually not somehow happy. >> you can't cheer for people to be unemployed. you have to cheer for people to get back to work and that's obviously an important part this have thing. i think the key thing here is it will be a very chose election, being an incumbent is very, very hard and only

happened with carter of late and bush, and so i think at the end of the day here, we've got to make sure that it's a very precise campaign and looking at states individually to see with a we can do to make a message that fits. here is what we're going to do and how we can make it better and use that word, leadership, leadership, leadership. >> and is obama, if something goes haywire with iran and israel. >> and many times people rally around their president as they should on a crisis. >> except for carter in '79 with the hostage crisis. >> the way that he did it. if this president ends up with civil wars in afghan and iraq, because of his policies or the iranian situation blows up. how he handles it will be a detriment-- >> how big would it be israel takes action against iran sometime this summer and then the president does not do all he can to give them cover by

standing with them and providing what has always been a historical role for the united states to kind of keep the other countries off their back. does that sink him? >> sure, israel is our most important ally and the only democracy in the region. you have to be good to your friends. they're friends and i think a disaster. and the economic issue is the issue that the meshes are most concerned about. >> have you ever seen a presidential race like this one where the heed changed so often to so many different people. >> i've been around since the 40's and nine presidential campaigns, there's never been anything like this. i've been following politics very closely since the early 50's and there's never been a rice like this one. >> mike: certainly not boring. ed rollins, thank you for being a part of this today. and tell you, thanks for watching, a great joy to have you here and i hope you've learned something about the process from the people who have actually been on the field playing the game. candidates that we've talked to and of course ed rollins who has will led many a

presidential campaign. hope you have a great week, we'll be back in new york, from the fox studios next week. until then, good night and god bless. bless. [applause] captioned by closed captioning services, inc. with thermacare heatwraps. thermacare works differently. it's the only wrap with patented heat cells that penetrate deep to relax, soothe, and unlock tight muscles. for up to 16 hours of relief, try thermacare.

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