captioned by closed captioning services, inc. thanks for watching the fox news channel. >> chris: i'm chris wallace reporting from des moines. game on for the iowa republican captioned by closed captioning services, inc. with nonstop campaigning and a barrage of tv ads, there is a charged atmosphere in the hawkeye state. we will talk with three candidates who have a lot riding on what happens in the first contest of the 2012 race. congressman ron paul. governor rick perry and congress woman michele bachmann, be live only on "fox news sunday." also, is it message or ground game that will drive, iowa,ns to the caucus sites? we will ask our sunday panel

including the iowa governorly candidate will have a big night tuesday and cap tour intensity of the fight for iowa when we go on the trail, all right now on "fox news sunday." >> chris: hello again and happy new year from the iowa state capitol in des moines. we are broadcasting today from the or nate house chamber inside the capitol building and joining us live are three candidates who have a lot at stake in the caucuses here tuesday night. congressman ron paul, congresswoman michele bachmann and governor rick perry. with just two days until we hear from the voters the race here in iowa is still up for grabs. take a look at the final poll out today from the des moines register. over four days of polling, mitt romney leads with 24% with ron paul close behind and rick santorum in third with 15%. newt gingrich, rick perry and michele bachmann round out the field.

but if you look at the final two days of polling there is a big change. romney holds on to his lead but rick santorum jumps into second with 21% and ron paul slips to third. for more on this final weekend of campaigning let's get the latest from fox news is chief political correspondent carl cameron. carl? >> good morning, chris and happy new year. with two and a half days left of caucus campaign time left for the candidates and up to 41% of likely caucus goers still likely to change their minds according to the des moines register and many other polls it is indisputable the iowa caucuses once again are coming right down to the wire and anybody could pull off a victory here. after only nine trips to iowa in all of the last year a confident mitt romney's position for the iowa caucus wen he was denied four years ago. his organization is well respected and for months he has been in first or second place in dozens of iowa and national polls. ron paul has the iowa

republican establishment rattled. he has led some polls in recent weeks and has a strong get out the vote operation. yet, paul has been under withering attack for a foreign policy they say is dangerous and out of step with the gop mainstream. rick santorum is poised to far exceed them with a come from behind groundwell of support in the final weeks from religion conservatives. newt gingrich after millions of dollars of attack eds against him could place fourth. he is already looking past iowa and new hampshire and planning for his comeback in south carolina. rick perry has spent more money on tv ads than any other candidates and a properry super pack has spent more than it any other group. michele bachmann's final campaign week in iowa has been rough. here state chairman defected to paul. then she fired another top iowa deputy. she could become the first republican ever to win the big

ames, iowa, straw poll and then come in dead last in the caucuses. and on this sunday new year's day there is likely to be another are crucial series of developments across the hawkeye state. as we said burks half of all iowa likely republican caucus goers self-described christian conservatives and today pastors at pull pits all over iowa talking to their parishonners and if they decide to get loud behind any one particular candidate it could have a profound impact on the results tuesday night. chris? >> chris: car lam l, thanks for that. now, congressman ron paul who comes to us from texas. congressman, happy new year and welcome back to "fox news sunday." >> tank you, same to you, chris. >> chris: four years ago you were returning for president and got 10% of the vote in the iowa caucuses. in the latest des moines

register poll you are at 22%. why do you think you are getting so much more traction here in iowa? >> it wasn't because i have changed my message. the world has changed. the economy has changed. i have talked about financial bubbles and the connection that was coming and that arrived and people are saying the economy is a big deal. spending is a big deal. the debt is a big deal. this is what i worked my whole career on trying to warn people about. also in foreign policy i get tremendous support on my position which the other candidates say it is dangerous believing in the constitution war you shouldn't go to unless unless you declare the war. 70% of the american people want us out of afghanistan. it is bankrupting us. we spent $4 trillion and went into debt in the last ten years. i'm deeply concerned about civil liberties injuries issues strike a chord with the people and that is the reason.

more so now than even 20 years ago, because right now the evidence is loud and clear that government is failing in what they pretend they are going to do for us and that is why the people are looking for different answers. >> chris: on the other hand, congressman, in the latest des moines register poll it shows some evidence of a slide and in fact santorum passes you and you you fall into third. what can you do about that slide, sir? >> well, i think the dye has been cast and the ups and downs of the other candidates has been characteristic. they come and they go and they all belong to the status quo. the one thing is the people who make a commitment to the campaign for liberty and constitution and limited government and going after the fed, once they put this all together how liberty and free markets and a sound foreign policy come together they don't dessert. so our numbers aren't going to go down. a number of people aren't going to leave us as they have on the

other ones they come and they go, i think our numbers will grow the next couple of days. the real test is going to be on tuesday night so we will have to wait and see how it turns out. >> chris: with the new strong standing in the polls has come new strut any especially about nuce letters that came out under your name in the '80s and '90s in which there were comments made that were quite frankly racist and homophobic. i want to ask you about a book you wrote in 1987 called "freedom under siege." you wrote this, the individual suffering from aids certainly is a victim of his own lifestyle but the same individual victimizes innocent citizens by forcing testimony to pay for this is care. question, congressman, do you

still feel that same way? >> i don't know how you can change science. sexually transmitted diseases are caused by sexual activity and when it is procue with us it spreads diseases. if a fault comes to people because of their personal behavior and in a free society people do dumb things but it isn't to be placed as a burden on innocent people. why should they have to pay for the consequences. that is a sort of a nationalistic or socialistic attitude but in a free society people are allowed to act the way they want but they are responsible for their actions and in addition they should be rewarded -- they should be -- >> chris: congressman, do you think that someone who suffers from aids should not be entitled to health insurance as opposed to let's say somebody who has a heterosexually

transmitted disease? >> no, no, i never said that. i'm just saying that people -- >> chris: when you talk about they victimize other people by making us pay for them, what do you mean, sir? >> depends on what the insurance company does. they are the ones who determine that. there shouldn't be a law that says they are denyd that, no way. the market should handle this. people who are pregnant nine months can't go in and buy insurance. insurance is supposed to be insurance. if people are smokers don't they have to pay more. sometimes you get your insurance cheaper if you are a nonsmoker, that is all i'm talking about and let the market and insurance sort this out. but not having dictates by the government and saying thou must do this and your behavior doesn't matter. if you drink too much and you you go out and do harm to somebody you have to suffer the consequences. the same way with health matters you don't have a right to demand that somebody take

care of you because of your habits. that doesn't mean that you don't have laws. >> chris: let me interrupt. i'm sorry but we have limited time and we want to get to the other two candidates as well. i want to ask you about one other thing that you wrote in your book in 1987 about sexual harassment in the work place. you wrote this. this is about the victims of sexual harassment why don't they quit once the so called harassment start. obviously the morals of the harasser can't be defended but how county harassee escape some responsibility for the problem. you said that sexual harassment should not be a violation of someone's employment rights. >> the whole thing is you have to get a better definition of sexual harassment. if it is just because somebody told a joke and supersonics was offended they don't have a right to go to the federal government and have a policeman come in and put penalties on the individuals. theyster to say maybe this is not a very good environment and they have the right to work there or not work there. if sexual harassment involves

violence as libertarians we are very opposed to any violence so if there is nivea lens any p. e involved you still don't knee a federal law against harassment, you need to call a policeman and say there has been an assault or attempted rape. because people are are insulted by, you know, rude behavior i don't think we should make a federal case out of it. i don't think we need federal laws to deal with that and people should deal with that at home. >> chris: congressman, you have an ambitious agenda. you say you could cut $1 trillion in spending in the first year. you would shut down five cabinet level departments. i want to look at your record of effectiveness as a member of congress for more than 20 years. the washington post found you have sponsored 620 measures over your 20 years in congress. just four made it to the house floor for a vote and only one of the 620 measures only one was signed into law to sell the

galveston custom house to a historical society. with that record why are you suddenly going to become so effective as a president. >> you made my point. people are sick and tired of washington and the people in charge have been passing all of the bills and i have been voting no all the time against these appropriation pills. i am the individual that has pointed this out. now, the people are saying the government doesn't work. to elect me the country has to change and have to go back to believing in the constitution and personal liberties and a different foreign policy which means that congress will change. just the fact that you can elect a president like myself, the pressure is on the current congress. congress doesn't have strong beliefs and as long as the pressure from the people are in the right direction and this is where the campaign is accelling. whether the tea party movement

or discussed among the american people. why would they pass my laws? i wanted to stop this is a long time ago. that is what i went to washington for. the tide is changed and now the opportunity is there and now i'm a serious contender and this is why there is optimism in my camp and so much excitement. >> chris: i want to ask you one question. you and congresswoman bachmann is about to be on got into a flap when her state chair jumped ship from her campaign to your campaign. she alleges that he said that your campaign was paying him to jump ship. simple question. did your campaign or any one connected with your campaign or any one speaking on behalf of it, offer money to kent sorenson to come onboard your campaign? >> no, and if she has the evidence she should bring it

forth. no, that did not happen. >> chris: she will get an opportunity right now. congressman paul thank you so much for talking with us today. happy new year again. we'll see you back here in iowa tomorrow. thank you, sir. >> thank you very much. >> chris: congresswoman michele bachmann won the ames straw poll here in august and just finished campaigning in all of iowa's 99 counties. congresswoman welcome back to you. >> thank you, chris. >> i want to ask you about the des moines register poll which has you quite frankly 7% running last among the six candidates seriously contesting iowa. do you have any hard evidence that the poll is wrong and that you will do much better than that on tuesday night? >> the evidence that we have is of the 99 county tour that we just completed was very ambitious. we would have huge crowds, 250 or 300 people come out at a stop. we saw literally thousands of people making conversions on the soft and it was frankly after the fox debate in

sioux city. people were very grateful. i think they saw in me someone who can take it to barack obama in the debate, hold him accountable and whistling particular when i was questioning ron paul on his dangerous policies on allowing a nuclear iran, that turned a light switch on for a lot of voters across iowa and people who weren't decided decided. and we have a lot of people who are going to come on tuesday night who are undecided and what they have seen in me is a champion who is stand up for them. in particular, they see that of all of the candidates in the race i'm the only one with current national security experience. our next president will be tested almost immediately. look at what it happening in the strait of hormuz right now with iran. i'm prepared to be able to meet that challenge. that is what our next president will have to do. >> chris: but don't you have a business disadvantage. your rivals are spending millions in campaign. you have not run a single tv commercial since iowa in ames

back in august until today when you will run commercials the last two days before the caucuses. isn't your campaign running on fumes? >> what we are doing is running on the power of meeting with iowans directly. we made a smart decision. we he put 6900 miles on the campaign bus and met with people across iowa. living rooms including the dinky cafe in. we have been iowa. people told us no other candidate that's come here here. you are the only candidate. that is not reflected in polls and that is what people are going to see on tuesday night. we saw a lot of enthusiasm. >> chris: talk about something that is reflected in the polls. you and governor perry and former senator rick santorum all going after some of the same voters, evangelicals and social conservatives. specifically, why would you make a better nominee and better president than rick

santorum who as we see in the des moines register poll is making a big late move? >> i have very strong support among evangelicals. of all of the candidates i have more pastor endorsement than any other candidate and we had a caravan of pastors going across iowa making the case. i have a record of protecting marriage. i was the only person who stood up this last summer and said no, we can't allow barack obama to increase the debt ceiling. in other words, increase the amount that we are putting on the credit card of our nation. >> chris: why does that make you better than santorum who is strong on those issues, too? >> take a look at senator santorum. he lost his last election by a wider margin than any other sitting republican senator. he lost that race. i won four races in the last four years in the toughest

years for republicans in a liberal state like, minnesota, i won. also if you look at the spending issue, senator santorum voted for the bridge to no, no where. he defended ear marks. he is spending which is the number one issue, he has been a big spender in washington, d.c. that is not what the american people are looking for. they want someone who is a fiscal conservative. i'm a tax lawyer who has gone to washington to fight the out of control spending. my record is one of being a fiscal conservative as opposed to -- and i'm not trashing the candidates. it is just a point of clarity. senator santorum as stood for ear marks and stood for spending. that is not what we want. we have to look at our records. >> chris: since you came to congress you have gotten almost $4 million in ear marks for your district and when republicans the republican leadership wanted a moratorium on ear marks you were one of the few who said no, i want an exception for transportation projects. aren't your hands clean? that is not true. >> chris: aren't you hands also

a little dirty when it comes to ear marks. >> that is not true. i took an ear mark pledgemy first year in office and i have been ear mark free. >> chris: you haven't gotten almost $4 million in ear marks. >> the first year i came in i put the request in and then i found out what the ear mark system is about and took a pledge in the first term i never requested another ear mark since and i want. the bigger issue is are we going to continue to increase the credit card limit in washington and i'm the only voice in washington that has said no to increasing the credit card limit. >> chris: several, iowa pastors appealed to you and to governor perry and to rick santorum one or two of you to drop out so that all of the social conservative vote could coalesce around one candidate. now, you all have your rights and you all decided no, you wanted to pursue your campaigns. will it be a big defeat for social conservatives and their issues on tuesday if as a result of the splintering of

this vote a mitt romney or ron paul ends up winning, iowa. >> i think we will see a coming together of people on issues. they want not just a single issue candidate. they want the full complement of the candidate. if of all many asocial fiscal conservative. i'm a private business woman and i have a ne federal tax lar and have a proven record in congress. the strongest candidate on international security. i started the tea party caucus in washington and led 40,000 americans to washington to object to obama care. i have the best record of any candidate on fighting illegal immigration and its effects. i'm the full complement candidate and that is what people want, someone with a firm resolve and that is what i have brought to washington. i'm proven, i'm tested and they want someone in a legacy of regan and i proved that in

washington. >> chris: i don't mean to interrupt but i want to give governor perry some time and ask you about the issue i talked to congressman paul about. your chair jumped ship, went to work last wednesday for ron paul. you claim that he told you it was about money. when your deputy campaign manager said that is not true, it wasn't about money, he was let go. is your campaign in disarray? >> absolutely not. the other part that you failed to report is that there are other people outside the campaign who said that he also told them that he had received money. this is clear. the bigger issue in all of this is the fact that after the fox debate we had tremendous momentum which continues to this day because people saw how dangerous ron paul's policy is. if he would allow iran to have a nuclear weapon that would put the american people at risk. we saw thousands jump ship and

come aboard my campaign and that is what we will see reflected on tuesday night. >> chris: thank you very much for coming in on this first day of 2012. >> happy new year to you and all the fox viewers. governor perry holding over 75 events. welcome back to "fox news sunday." >> happy new year. >> chris: same to you. the des moines register poll has you at 11%. how you do you think you will do tuesday night? >> the momentum is headed in the right direction. we have traveled 44 cities in a ten day bus tour. we are seeing great crowds. again, people who are excited about an outsider coming in to washington d.c. as we rock at all of the candidates they are either, washington insiders or wall street insiders, that is their choices and we tell them you got a choice. you have a choice of a governing executive who for 11

years has operated 13th largest economy in the world and created more jobs than any other state in the nation while america lost two million we were creating a million. so they are very interested in having an experienced executive in the white house that has not only got the foreign policy background but also has the social and fiscal conservative message. >> chris: as i say, you campaigned hard here. you have spent almost $3 million on tv ads here, more than any other candidate. more than any other super pact and yet as i say you are in fourth or fifth place. why don't you have more are to show for your efforts? >> i think we got a good bit to show. we got in the race late ob obviously in august and some of these folks have been running for years in iowa and multiple times in iowa. for to us come in, nobody has a better ground game.

nobody has the ability to go past, iowa, on into the other states with a fund raising, with a national fundraising ability with the message that we have as an ec executive whos run major state. we will go forward. some of the other candidates will do okay in iowa but when it comes to running a national campaign they are going to falter. >> chris: reporters here are buzzing over a story on the politica website in which the new campaign staff hammers the group that you came in with. i don't know if you had a chance to read it but let me put up on the screen. that is what one of your senior aides said. sounds like they are laying the ground work to explain your defeat, sir.

>> i haven't read it but that is inside the beltway chatter that happens on a fairly regular basis. i'm focused on campaigning in iowa so i will let the pundits have their fun and run their stories. >> that was a quote from your campaign. >> did it quote an individual or is it -- >> chris: a senior aide. >> name names and then we will have a conversation but this concept of just pitching out a story and expecting people to believe it and get any attraction i think is kind of a waste of time. >> chris: is there some truth in it, did you and did your staff get into the race back in august, you say you got in late, without sufficient planning, without sufficient thought about what it would take to run for president, quite frankly, without sufficient preparation for debates? >> not at all. i think we had some bumps and grinds but most campaigns have pumps and grinds injuries the campaign is smooth and iowa is a great ground game for us and i feel comfortable we will do

good on tuesday. wednesday morning we will find out whether or not who was right. >> chris: we will, indeed. as i discussed with congresswoman bachmann you and see and rick santorum are all going for the same base of socially conservative voters. i'm going to ask the same question i asked her. why should the voters caucus for you tuesday night and not for rick santorum who at least according to the polls is making this big late move? >> i'm not just focused on that set of voters. we are reaching out to everyone who wants to see america back working again and i have got a track record of doing it. a lot of folks who are running here. we have 63 years of collective united states congress time and a wall street insider. and we basically are saying listen, you got a choice and it is not just the evangelical vote which obviously i have got as good a prolife message and anybody and i don't just talk about it,. >> i signed bills. parental notification and

parental consent. we require a son kno a a sono a woman can get an abortion in texas. it is not talking about what you are going to do. that is a track record of getting things done. >> chris: is that your pitch against santorum, he talks you do? >> there is a lot of differences. as michelle talked with, he has a spending problem and an ear mark problem. he voted eight times to raise the debt ceiling while he was in the united states senate. i will let him explain to people why did you vote to raise the debt ceiling and why did you vote for the bridge to no where. which was it important to vote for a montana sheep institute? those are questions that people in iowa will look at and go wait wait a minute, you are telling us you are a fiscal conservative. people are scratching their

head when they look at him and his record. >> santorum notes that you have a paid lobbyist for the state of texas in washington to try to get ear marks and he notes that back in 2006 your state government bragged about getting more than $600 million in highway ear marks and $500 million in transit projects. so again, aren't you hands unclean here, too? >> that is the process that they put in place in washington, d.c. and i will tell you that the reason that states have to go up there and play that game is because washington is broken. we have a $15 trillion debt because both political parties have been involved in this obvious let me scratch your back and you you scratch my back on the ear marks and all they are doing is fleecing americans. >> chris: finally, less than a minute left. let's be honest one of your big problems from your rise in august to now were the performance in the debates. what do you say to the voter

out there who says, gee, i like him, i like what he stands for but gee, i can't get past whoops. >> tell them to look at the debates in sioux city and i think our debate performance has been not only excellent but i look forward to debating barack obama. i will come early. i want to talk about this president and his failure economically and foreign policy wise and we will take it to barack obama. >> chris: governor, perry, we want to thank you. thank all of your candidates for making time for us. happy new year to all of you. thanks so much. up next, independent analysis of what is going to happen in the caucuses and what it means in the race for president. our special iowa edition of the sunday panel including governor terry branstad as we break it down and we continue from the

i need your hope, you you guys. this is a real battle. a battle for america. a battle for the future course of america. >> when you have a country this big in this much trouble it takes a fair number of ideas to be able to fix it and get it back in shape. >> make sure when you are voting for that candidate that you vote for someone that you know can do the job that makes the fundamental changes that are necessary. >> chris: some of the other candidates running in iowa trying to rally their supporters for tuesday night's caucuses and we are back here in the house chamber in the state capitol in des moines. and it is time for the sunday group. bret baier, anchor of special report. jennifer jacob, senior political reporter for are the des moines register.

we are honored to have iowa governor terry branstad and jeff, national political correspondent of the new york times. not so honored to have jeff. happy new year, first of all. >> welcome to iowa. >> chris: thank you, sir. governor, you watched the campaign and now the final des moines register polls. what is going to happen tuesday? >> it is very fluid. any of the candidates potentially could win here 86 think everybody has had the lead at some point or another. i predicted all along, rick santorum who has done it the old fashioned way, gone to all 99 counties, worked hard, built a great organization. he is coming on strong. romney got a late start but he has come back. i think governor perry is going to do better than some people think and obviously congressman paul has a strong organization, a lot of people committed to him here. it is a wide open race. it all depends upon who turns out. i think we will have a good turnout. i think people are unhappy with

the direction of this country under obama, the national debt has gone up $1 trillion every year. and the president is attacking the very people that we need to invest and create jobs and revitalize the american economy. americans want a leader that is going to bring america together and somebody that is going to -- we don't want to be the next europe. we don't want to have the debt crisis go out of control and it is going in that direction. >> jennifer as a senior political reporter for the des moines register, what do you want to add, especially romney steady at 24 or 25%. santorum you guys were struck by how well he did in the last two days of the poll. if you had to pick one of them who would you pick. >> not a question of whether rick santorum is going to do well. it is how much he is going to grow in the next 72 hours. they think he is personable and a nice man and has leadership qualities but he doesn't lead

on any of the positive attributes. they are not sure exactly what his strength are. a little bit of an unknown. typically in iowa a surge comes on the back of another candidate's collapse. that is what see are seeing here, newt gingrich and michele bachmann. that is who rick santorum is picking up voters from. >> chris: the romney camp feels that if they win or ron paul wins or basically almost anybody wins except for rick prosecutorry or newt gingrich that they worry about being able to run and sustain unable campaign they think they do well on tuesday night. does it look like a good night for them one way or another? >> sure, one way or another. the top three, mitt romney, rick santorum, ron paul, right now you paint a picture that the romney campaign could come out and say this is good for us in the long-term. they as the governor has said want to fight the battle long-term down the road. internals in the poll are

really interesting. the fact that 41% still say they could change their mind. the fact that you have a surge in the back end of the polling for rick santorum where he is basically second and the fact that you have so many people out there that are now first-time caucus goers. according to this poll, 27%. how does that play? perhapses it is a benefit for ron paul. perhaps, though, it is a benefit because there is a bigger caucus turnout and it is a benefit for mitt romney. >> chris: let me ask you about that, jeff. are you surprised. romney had a tentative relationship with iowa. first was going to be involved and then not going to be involved. are you surprised that the romney people finally decided to commit to heavily to iowa. in. >> not surprised at all. i think the history of this will show that the romney

campaign was engaged from the beginning in iowa. they had the biggest organization. he won second place four years ago. he won 25,000 votes he started with the biggest organization. the romney cam pin is surprised by what is happening on santorum. hearing some advisors saying it wouldn't be the first thing if he won in iowa, at least we sort of got rid of newt gingrich and rick perry but they were surprised by the head heline this moring because they have been confident. the long-term thing here is of the poll, 48% of people say that mitt romney is the most effectible. him staying here on wednesday morning is a sign if he is the nominee that he will try and run strong in iowa in the general election. so it is hard to slice it for governor romney. he is in a position to do pretty well regardless what have happens.

>> chris: governor, branstad, an old political cliche, how many people get tickets out of iowa. your best guess, how many of the section candidates actively contesting iowa do you think -- i mean they can all decide to keep running but how many do you think come out in a viable fashion? >> historically we have said there is three tickets out of iowa. we winnow the field to about three. i don't think more than three. but it will be real interesting. has been such a volatile situation to see what is going to happen. also i think iowa voters around americans generally are washing and participated, watched the debates and following this closely. i'm encouraged by what i think will be a big turnout and i think people know that we cannot afford to continue the direction we are going, that obama has failed this trillion dollars increase in national debt every year, the fact that instead of being a president that brought people together he

has been divisive and spends his time. he thinks the only way he can win is attacking the very people that we need to rely on to create the jobs. >> chris: i want to ask you. you say three tickets out. assuming that the des moines register poll is right, are you saying that basically gingrich, perry and bachmann would be mortally wounded? >> i think first of all, they all have with the exception of prosecutorry they have financial problems. if you don't do well in iowa and you are not able to raise much money it ising about going to be very difficult because it is all going to come real fast. new hampshire a week later and then you have south carolina and florida and it is going to all come about really quick. if you can do well in iowa follow that by doing well in new hampshire gives yew lot o of momentum. >> chris: we have to take a break here. up next, we will discuss come of the changes in politics this year that may play a big role in the caucuses and whether iowa deserves, dirty words here, to keep its first in the

nation standing. and we will talk about barack obama's chances in iowa. more from the state capitol in des moines on new year's day, when we come right back.

nothing against the good voters in iowa, but i believe that the iowa caucus will be soon foregotten after a day or two and then the bright light will be on new hampshire. they pick corn in iowa. they actually pick presidents here in new hampshire. >> well, those are fighting words here in iowa. but former governor jon huntsman can afford to diss the caucuses because he is skipping them and waiting for what is left of the field to join him wednesday in new hampshire and we are back now in the house chamber with our special iowa panel. governor branstad, you have heard it before, iowa is not a

representative state, too small, too rural, more socially conservative. much low are unemployment, 5.7% than the national average. should your country, should your state, rather, continue to decide or at least begin to winnow who gets to become president. >> yes, because iowaians take the responsibility seriously. jon huntsman is the guy that is the losser. he chose not to participate here. he is not even going to be considered in new hampshire. i went to salt lake city and i talked to him personally and i said you are making a huge mistake and it is going to be romney versus whoever does well in iowa in new hampshire. we all know that. huntsman is not even on the scene. he is trying to make some noise from a distance and he is toast and it is his own fault. because i told him what he should have done. santorum did it the right way,

he did it the wrong way. so take that, jon huntsman. >> chris: then you have the caucuses which are very different and we will be explaining that over the course of the next two days. they are so much more demanding. less than 20% of registered republican voters actually participated last night. just raising the question. i don't want to get the governor mad at me. is this in i weigh to pick a president? >> iowans hear this all the time and the only answer they can give is which state will be better. it will depend on turnout on tuesday night. any one can show up, even if you are not a republican you can come and reregister. the turnout on tuesday will affect the outcome because rick santorum does best with evangelicals lu mit but mitt ry does well with evangelicals. a bigger turn out it will go mitt romney's way.

>> chris: big differences this time around not just in iowa but in the campaign. especially the super pacts which can raise and spend unlimited amounts of money and they have spent almost $6 million here in iowa in negative ads about newt gingrich. do you see ther pacts -- the super pacts playing a big role? >> imagine one candidate getting a barrage of 40% offed ads. the fact that newt gingrich is still on the board is amazing for him as a candidate. two the super pacts, river every candidate except governor perry has been outpetn by the supporting super pact and some to two t two to one. it is will enables some of the candidates to not go negative while the super pacts do. >> chris: jeff, looking at that and looking at everything else as the first chanter in the

primaries and in the whole 2012 election begins as iowa wraps up, what strikes you about this campaign so far? how is it different from other cycles. >> in the sense that super pacts are going to be the story out of this. mitt romney would have had to do most of this dirty work himself. he is leaving iowa and happy holidays without any blood on his happens. his allies have effectively neutralized at least they believe newt gingrich and rick perry and that is going to play out throughout the rest of the election process for the next ten months. the biggest difference in the campaign by far is the super pacts. we will see that influence throughout. the other differences are that if you talk to voters even at the mitt romney events i saw a lot of people who were going out to see him this week saying you know what, he is not my favorite choice but we are still going to unify behind him. i'm struck at the end of this process, at least at his

perceived strength going into tuesday and the tea party which was such a big deal in the mid term elections to me it is not as influencial this time because there is one goal of defeating president obama. and i find a lot of pragmatic thinking from republicans that i'm speaking with here in iowa. >> chris: governor branstad, you were raring to go in the first segment about barack obama. i will give you your chance now. it is interesting, people may not know this but there is also going to be democratic caucuses in iowa. they have to pick their delegates as well and it has been arranged the white house has that president obama will address the democratic caucus goers on tuesday note. obviously trying to mobilize his support. four years ago in the general election. just wait a moment, governor. he won with 54% of the vote. if the vote were held today, how would barack obama do in iowa? >> we launched him and we are going to sink him and the reason for it is this. he came and campaigned in iowa

as a unifier, somebody that would work with everybody and bring everybody together. he is just the opposite. he attacked bush for the deficits and it has gone up a trillion dollars every year that he has been president. he attacks the business people that we need to create jobs. made america less competitive. i believe iowa can be a key state in the general election as well is the primary. i think we will unite. one thing we all agree on is the direction is wrong. obama's healthcare is unaffordable and unsustainable. the deficit letts put us in the direction of europe and we need a new leader and i want to do all i can to unite republicans behind the winner that we choose to be the nominee and i want to see iowa in the republican column come november. >> chris: jennifer, i want to go back to the des moines register poll. as bret pointed out, 41% said they could still change their mind. as you look into that, do you

get a sense of where that 41% is headed? >> no, but interestingly, rick santorum, 76% of his backers say they will definitely show up to caucus. they don't say they will definitely vote for rick santorum but say they will definitely show up. no idea where the 41% is going to go. still up in the air right now. >> chris: bret? >> historically, the surging candidate in the des moines register poll which is really the gold standard here has outperformed on caucus night. republicans, mike huckabee, 2.5 more than in 2008 the poll the final days. steve forbs surging. democrats have a different system but that pole is indicative usually of what is happening on the ground. >> chris: are you here now ready to predict that rick santorum is going to win the iowa caucuses? >> of course, not, chris. are you? >> chris: i just asked a question as you would say on

special report. do you want to predict it. >> mitt romney could done sol data lot of support behind him and he could become the antiromney which he has not played that role yesterday. >> chris: thank you, panel, especially you, governor branstad who did everything you could to go after president obama. and don't forget to check out panel plus where the group picks up with the discuss on "fox news sunday"ews sunday" .com. we will post the video before noon eastern time. noon eastern time. up next, we go on t this new at&t 4g lte is fast. did you hear sam... ...got promoted to director? so 12 seconds ago. we should get him a present. thanks for the gift basket. you're welcome. you're welcome. did you see hr just sent out new... ...office rules? cause you're currently in violation of 6 of them. oh yeah, baby? ...and 7. did you guys hear that fred is leaving? so 30 seconds ago. [ noisemakers blow ] [ both ] we'll miss you! oh, facecake! there's some leftover cake. [ male announcer ] the new htc vivid.

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>> chris: with the race here in iowa so wide open the campaign has been intense this week. with candidates going after each other, a key staff defectionion and one key figure actually tearing up. and we followed it all on the trail. looks like there are more cameras than there used to be. >> actually one of the people running for president thinks it is okay for iran to have a nuclear weapon. i don't. >> i love, iowa pork but i hate, washington pork. and senator santorum, he loaded up his bills with pennsylvania pork. >> looks like he is ready for the game. >> oh, yeah. >> bye, everybody, thank you. thank you. >> we are going to take ron paul all the way to the white house. >> he had told me specifically that he was offered money, a great deal of money from the ron paul campaign and that is why he was leaving.

>> that conversation did not happen. >> come indirectly from dealing -- >> from dealing with, you know, the real problems of real people in my family. >> it could be worse. can you imagine hearing that from a pessimistic president, it could be worse? that goes down with marie antoinette let them eat cake. >> coming in first in the caucuses is our goal. >> i am optimistic we are moving in the right direction. >> we think we will do well, again based upon what we saw on the ground. >> i want to make sure that your vote backing me is a vote that leads me to become the nominee. >> chris: and it will only get more intense in the final hours before iowans start to vote.

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>> chris: stay tuned to this station and fox news channel from the latest from iowa. special coverage starts at 8:00 p.m. tuesday anchored by brett baier and megyn kelly. next week we'll be back on the campaign trail reporting from manchester, new hampshire. that is it for today. have a great week. we'll see you next fox news sunday.