>> it was a nail biter tonight. >> super tuesday turns into super wednesday, super, it was. i'm jamie kol bee. it's great to have you here. rick santorum and mitt romney, running neck and neck in the buckeye state it was the closest race since the first contest in iowa. >> what is amaze is that rick santorum two weeks ago, had an 18-point lead in the state of ohio. it circumstancey vanished. it simply vanished. >> interesting to see how many people turned out for each candidate. we want to take a look at the other super tuesday states for you. mitt romney has won his home

state of massachusetts. really, gregg, no surprise on massachusetts. we are showing that now because he was the governor there. it was a race that wasn't considered that competitive. but it is a win, nonetheless. romney also won vermont, a state that none of the g.o.p. candidates visited, still important. it's a state where they had new rules for the first time, that required a majority win or the result would be a proportionate delegate award. and former governor romney claiming victory in virginia. remember this controversy, gregg? only romney and congressman ron paul met the requirements necessary to appear on the ballot. some think, gregg, i know you will bring up with our panel, if you can't get the paperwork going in a particular state, what do you learn about the candidate? one more race for me to take a look at out west, romney take idaho, where there is a large mormon population. so it was predicted they would turn out for the candidate. but it's also where in 2008, ron

paul took 23% of the g.o.p. primary vote. >> let's take a look at what rick santorum did today -- or yesterday, to be more accurate. he has not gone home empty handed. take a look at this. he won the state of oklahoma, now 40 delegates at stake, though proportionately divided. rick santorum won fairly handily, 34-28%. let's move to tennessee, 55 delegates there, proportionately divided. and rick santorum 37 to mitt romney's 28%. north dakota's caucus, not a primary, 28 delegates there, and rick santorum 40% to ron paul's 28%. >> maybe there were some surprises, but one surprise i think we can agree on, gregg, is georgia. newt gingrich won his home state of georgia. he spent a lot of time there, meeting and greeting and hoping for a win there. he takes georgia tonight. and alaska, of course, has not

yet been called. >> but it could be called fairly shortly. so we will wait and see. wait for that. let's go to carl cameron from mitt romney headquarters in boston. hi, carl. >> reporter: hi, gregg am once again, first in and last out. most of the romney celebrants took off a long time ago. for mitt romney, a big night. 10 contests and he won half of them. that's what the romney campaign hoped for. there were mosts in the last 12 hours that they were worried. there were moments in the last four or five hours where they were impatient for the media to call the races they believed they had won and the number crunchers and lots of media were unable to come to the conclusion as fast as the romney camp were. in addition to the five states romney won, it appears he will take second in most of the rest of them. although at this point, it's an open point as to whether or not ron paul might take second in

north dakota and we are waiting for alaska. five states for romney. three states for santorum. one for gingrich and one outstanding. strong night for mitt romney, who had wanted most to win ohio and does so. it is a imel whether, rust-belt state, adjacent to rick santorum's pennsylvania. not a home state for mitt romney. so tonight's victory gives him an opportunity to say that he can connect with blue-collar voters. ats one point, the romney campaign was pointing out with voters who made under $50,000, romney was exceedingly expect eggs and was leading santorum at one point with that block of ohio voters. romney has a big head of steam now, winning half of tonight's contests in the wake of five consecutive wins in the last five contests. romney has big momentum. so now, the battle moves on. when it does, it goes into southern states where romney is

not said to be strong, alabama, mississippi and kansas, followed by alabama and mississippi on tuesday. there, watch for romney to thoroughly encourage a blood bath between santorrum and gingrich there. will be increased pressure by newt gingrich to get out of the race. the romney campaign loves the idea that gingrich and santorum continue to split the conservative part of the party and romney could over-achieve in the southern states, where gingrich expects to win, having pulled off the victory where he began his political career, georgia. that's it for super tuesday. it's in the books. the next big, big delegate colossus will be in april. there are in the next few weeks, a lot of states, not many, particularly favorable to romney. but he has the wind in his sail, the momentum of being a winner. >> carl cameron, your reporting on camera was magnificent. i wish people could appreciate

what do you with us in the computer system with all kinds of valuable insight and information. many thanks as always. >> reporter: thanks, man. >> it's so true. steve brown doing a great job tonight at santorum headquarters in ohio. so, how are the santorum folks feeling tonight, steve? >> reporter: they're not as gracious perhaps as the romney folks tonight. we are hearing from the romney campaign in the person of ryan williams who says that mitt romney's campaigning is pro-jobs and pro-growth message, rallied behind him in the days before the primary and helped to push him to victory. the santorum folks having a completely different tone, both senior strategist john brabendert and senior adviser, hogan giddily, both referred to mitt romney as obama-lite, specifically, hogan gibly said that if there was a worst nightmare for mitt romney, it

would be that the field would be winnowed down to two people, rick santorum and mitt romney. the santorum folks definitely feel in a one-on-one matchup, based on how badly they have been outspent and still managed to just lose by a razor's edge, they feel in a one-on-one matchup, collecting votes that might have also been for newt gingrich or for ron paul, that they could easily turn that around, turn those losses back around, into victories. now, what they specifically say is this is want a call for newt gingrich to get out of the race, but rather, it is an appeal to those who might support newt gingrich, the tea party folk, social conservatives, other institutional conservatives in the republican party who have coalesced around newt gingrich. they are essentially appealing to those folks saying, hey, if you come over here, there is a possibility that we can do what it is a lot of folks in the republican primary so far have been wanting to do, find the

anti-romney candidate that can beat mitt romney that. person really has not been found, at least not in a -- a reliable quantity for a reliable length of time. but the santorum folks say they are going to fight on. their next stop is in kansas, where they have a weekend contest coming up. they will continue forward. they like their chances very much in the southern states of alabama and mississippi, just around the corner. back to you in new york. >> how, steve, will the santorum camp use the wins they did have tonight, going forward into those states, many of which do carry substantial number of delegates? >> yeah. their argument is that they have won all over the place and mitt romney didn't have a favorable footing in places like alabama and places like mississippi and texas, where you have a greater number of social conservatives, greater number of evangelicals or conservative christians,

where you have a greater number of folk who is valid more natural constituencies of rick santorum or perhaps even a newt gingrich. so they believe those are places where they could go, compete, win and win handily. they like their odds against mitt romney, in those contests coming up. as carl pointed out, these are territories which are not favorable to the mitt romney campaign, what they have going for them most of all is that they have the wind in their sails and a winning streak of recent note that does help a great deal with some of the undersided -- undecided voters. >> it's an important note. steve brown continuing with us. thank you, steve. >> let's bring in our political panel to talk about it. a republican political ananist and national correspondent for talk radio news service. and a former aide to senator chuck schumer. good to see you both. chris, let me start with you,

santorum had almost a 20-point lead, a mere two weeks ago. it evaporated. one could argue, he blew a 20-point lead. what does that sayh about his ability to close out an important swing state, battleground state race, conversely, what does it say about romney's ability to come from behind? >> romney is the better financed, better organized candidate. in politics, organization matters. in presidential politics, what separates a campaign from a book tour is organization. when you talk about santorum not having the ability to qualify for ballots, how could anyone in america trust this man to be commander in chief of the united states military when he can't qualify in virginia and fully qualify in ohio? it makes no sense to me. >> i suspect your reference to a book tour was gingrich. >> yes. >> people have said that is what

gingrich is doing. he would vigorously deny that. >> look, tony, romney comes out of this thing, winning more states, more popular vote, more delegates in all practical terms. is he not only a win or super tuesday, but the very clear frontrunner for the nomination? >> he always has been the frontrunner, but it's a matter of how strong or weak -- >> i could count three other frontrunners for a while? >> he's been the presumptive frontrunner since the start. there are the anti-romney, but romney has kept a cadence toward the top. here's the big thing. if you take all the delegates of all the anti-romney candidates, mitt romney has a commanding delegate lead. as everyone has referenced until us, this is a delegate acquisition contest. in that respect, mitt romney has shown dominance. he had a great night with narrative. he swung 15 points in michigan two weeks ago. he swung 20 points in ohio.

he has the story that he can rally. but he has to learn from the lessons that the exit polls are showing, evangelicals and conservatives are not convinced he's their guy. >> here we have it, chris. romney wins two huge battleground states in november -- ohio and michigan. he just won washington. he has won a bunch of other states as well. got more delegates. at what point in time, do neutral party leaders begin to come out, as a couple did over the weekend and endorse him? >> you know, kantor -- >> i think the problem is there are not the kind of neutral party leaders there used to be in the republican party. the party is very fractured. i think the tea party has a lot to do with that. you look at washington, on the transportation committee, the speaker of the house had to remove john mica from being involved in the bill because of a revolt on the right within his own party. that has never happened in my recollection ncongressional

history. the same thing is a problem here in the presidential race. there is noledder statesman to say, look, it is not your turn. wait four years. >> you know, tony, neither santorrum nor gingrich inclined to quit the race. call them stubborn, egotistical -- >> arguably. >> that's great for mitt romney, isn't it? >> sure. romney has a week or two to really enjoy the fact that newt gingrich and rick santorum both have not resolved their own inter-party fight. newt gingrich claims to have a big night. he won the biggest state, 70 delegates, his home state. in fact, he came in third i. 2-18, so far. >> he came in third in two other southern states and claims to run a southern strategy. that won't hold up. so you are going to have the more conservative, pro-santorum wing of the party really go to newt and try to get him --

>> even though it's good that it's splitting the vote, it's bad for the general election, it is forcing him further and further to the right every day they are in the racism he is not take the base. >> you are going to be around for a couple of hours. hold your thoughts. >> really, i was going to say, talk amongst yourself. we will get back to you because mitt romney's already looking ahead tonight, as he spoke to supporters in boston. take a listen. >> tonight, we are doing some counting. we are counting up the delegates for the convention t. looks good. we are counting down the days until november. and that looks even better. we are going to take your vote, a huge vote tonight in massachusetts and take that victory all the way to the white house. >> well let's get more insight, robert o'brian was a member of the foreign policy and national

security advisory team, serving as co-chair of the international organization's working group. good early morning to you. >> good morning, jamie. >> thank you for joining us. tell us what you think about -- i guess what mitt romney has said today and at that point in massachusetts, the state that really wasn't a surprise that he take tonight on super tuesday? >> tonight was a big night for the governor. he won at least five states. he has won more delegates than all three of the other candidates combined. it was a stunning victory. he now has almost 400 convention delegates towards the 1150 or so that we need to take the nomination. and this race, after this evening, it's coming down to the simple math. the simple math is, it's going to be almost impossible to catch the governor. he is on his way to becoming the nominee. >> one of the really important criteria for so many voters and we are going to be talking a lot about exit polls is they-- the

g.o.p. members, the republican voters want someone that they feel confident can go in and beat barack obama. yet, it's interesting that mitt romney was in boston there because when it comes to the health care and obamacare, many people fault him for his own health care plan in his home state? do you think there will be more discussion about that? and what will the governor continue to say that could sway though the voters? >> i think that's a charge that senator santorrum and speaker gingrich have leveled at the governor t. hasn't gone anywhere. what we have to focus on is that the governor has run a national campaign. he has won in every region -- in new england, in the south and florida and virginia and he has won in the midwest. he has won heavily in the west. so he has a message that's resonating. the attacks on romneycare have fallen flat. the fact of the matter is he had

a pro free enterprise health care program in massachusetts that the people of massachusetts and republicans in massachusetts clearly approve of. he had a huge victory tonight. he is going to take every delegate from the state of massachusetts, his home state. so, you know, in the general election, we need a republican candidate that can stand up to barack obama that, can talk about health care that, can talk -- >> but, robert, what about the southern states? you know, rick drick well tonight, as well in the southern states. what do you expect -- what can mitt romney do to really get those voters to believe in him and his plan, especially with the vanish issues that face -- with the issues that face them? >> well, it's a good question. and i think we have to recognize and i don't think the media's pointed this out, we have two regional candidates. we have senator santorum, who has had wins in the midwest and the plains states and the border states in one area.

andee have newt gingrich who has run as a favorite son in georgia and a next door neighbor in south carolina and has two victories in an area where he served 20 years in congress. governor romney has run a national campaign. heel compete in the south. he will get deet delegates in the south and win primaries in the south. governor romney's going to be the nominee. republican voters in the south, when we have a nominee that is going up against barack obama, are gel going on rally around mitt. we will come to tampa. the other canned days are going to support mitt. and the party will come together. it's a tough primary fight and speaker gingrich is from the south, he doll well in the south. santorum has shown some strength there, but at the end of the day, g.o.p. voters, whether it's the south, west, north, northeast, south, they will rally around the governor. he has won in swing states. the states that we have to win as trons defeat president obama. i -- i think republicans across the country are going toeral

leally around him. >> it's great to have you, an adviser to former governor mitt romney. thank you so much. >> thank you. have a great morning. >> thank you. >> well, it is considered the crown jewel of super tuesday. >> without a doubt. mitt romney declared the winner in ohio, just a short time ago, just beating rick santorum by 1 percentage point. oh, yeasm we are going to have analysis and what the big win for romney means to the race, for the white house. >> i stand ready to lead our party. and i stand ready to lead our nation to prosperity. >> we have won in the west, the midwest and the south. and we're ready to win across this country. ♪

our machines help identify early stages of cancer and it's something that we're extremely proud of.

you see someone who is saved because of this technology, you know that the things that you do in your life, matte if i did have an opportunity to meet a cancer survivor, i'm sure i could take something positive away from that. [ jocelyn ] my name is jocelyn, and i'm a cancer survivor. [ mimi ] i had cancer. i have no evidence of disease now. [ erica ] i would love to meet the people that made the machines. i had such an amazing group of doctors and nurses, it would just make such a complete picture of why i'm sitting here today. ♪ [ herb ] from the moment we walked in the front door, just to see me -- not as a cancer patient, but as a person that had been helped by their work. i was just blown away. life's been good to me. i feel like one of the luckiest guys in the world. ♪

>> welcome back. 419 delegates at stake tonight on super tuesday. let's take a look at where things stand right now, mitt romney has 386 delegates. rick santorum right behind with 156. newt gingrich has 85. ron paul has 40. of course, 1,144 delegates are

needed for the republican nomination. >> jamie: looking ahead to what's next, after super tuesday, 12 presidential contests from march 10 to the 24th. the big ones at stake -- illinois and alabama, to name a few. we have the director for the super for politics at the university of virginia. great to see you, larry. thanks for being with us. >> good evening. >> jamie: it ain't over -- until it's over at 11:44, without a doubt. which are the ones you are most closely watching coming up? some candidates are talking about kansas. they are not waving a moment. >> no. they are all important because they all have delegates attached. we will follow each and every one and we will probably be following them right until the final primary in utah in june. having said that, i think after tonight, it is even more obvious to people who will be the

nominee. at the same time, the other candidates had decent to very good nights. there is no reason for them to drop out any time soon. they won't be dropping out. so this process continues for better or worse, at least for the foreseeable future. >> what are the biggest challenges, first for mitt romney in and then for rick santorum, givenna what we have learned about where the voters showed up and voted in their favor, going forward? if you were advising them, where would you tell them to go? >> well, look, mitt romney wants to get delegates everywhere. we will compete almost everywhere because he has a national campaign and the ability to do so. as the prospective nominee, which eventually he will undoubtedly be, he's got to pivot relatively quickly to president obama. he is trying to do t. he's been trying since the night he won the new hampshire primary.

more and more, i think he will be allowed to do that. i think republican base voters will expect him to do it, even if they're pressing him hard in additional contests. for rick santorum, obviously, he has to press his advantage in the south and the border states, and the midwest. headz winning most of those contests there. he could continue to gain influence at the republican convention by accumulating those delegates. newt gingrich has to hope that rick santorum fails in that effort and that gingrich can become laz ruth for the third time. and rise from the -- lazarus for the third time and rise from the dead. that's a tough challenge. ron paul, it's simply a matter of accumulating enough delegates to have some presence on the platform in tampa. >> jamie: the issues that are important, social issues, the economy... it's pretty uniform

that people are concerned about the pocketbook, especially with the gas prices and the jobless numbers right now. is that what these candidates should focus on? or should they bring up the side issues of contraception? should they add anything to the list of what they are talking about to get as many of the independent voters, let's say, for example, to start thinking their way? >> an election is a mosaic. think of it that way. each issue is another little piece of the mosaic that the candidates are placing on the -- the big screen. but it's important in the end for that mosaic to spell out, to paint out for voters, the central issue or issues of the campaign. look, social issues are important. loads of base voters and independent voters consider them important. but there is no question, the election's about the economy, at

least so far. if there is a war with iran, then maybe foreign policy becomes the central issue. but right now, it's about the economy. it probably will continue to be about the economy. unemployment, economic growth, gas price. all the different spokes to that economic wheel. >> jamie: sure. >> so the candidates in competing with one another, have to remember that they're also putting that mosaic together for the general electorate? just one note that i was familiaring tonight that tennessee went for santorum, but it's a statesta that historically goes for the business friendly, someone who understands the private sector, mainstream mentality. so you are right, they have to focus on that issue. but the other ones come up. thanks for the insight. we always learn a lot. >> thanks a lot? >> i am not reading anything into the sweater vest because i know you are a fair and balanced guy. >> it's just cold here. >> jamie: i got it.

take care. >> gregg: fox news coverage of super tuesday continues, coming up, we will get insight on why voters voted the way they did. what issues mattered the most to them and more. that's. no -- that's next. [ male announcer ] montgomery and abiil haggins had a tree that bore the most rare and magical fruit, which provided for their every financial need. [ thunder rumbling ] [ thunder crashing ] and then, in one blinding blink of an eye, their tree had given its last. but with their raymond james financial advor, they had prepared for even the unthinkable. ♪ and they danced. see what a raymond james advisor can do for you.

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. the other office devices? they don't get me. they're all like, "hey, brother, doesn't it bother you that no one notices you?" and i'm like, "doesn't it bother you you're not reliable?" and they say, "shut up!" and i'm like, "you shut up." in business, it's all about reliability.

'cause these guys aren't just hitting "print." they're hitting "dream." so that's what i do. i print dreams, baby. [whispering] big dreams. when i'm on overtime. when i'm in over my head. when i have to be sharp... no matter how many time zones i've crossed. when i'm on my feet for hours. when it's game time. when the day's only half over but my energy is all gone. when i need the energy to start exercising. every day. every day. every day is a 5-hour energy day. 5-hour energy. every day. it doesn't look risky. i mean, phil, does this look risky to you? nancy? fred? no. well it is. in a high-risk area,

there's a 1-in-4 chance homes like us will flood. i'm glad i got flood insurance. fred, you should look into it. i'm a risk-taker. [ female announcer ] only flood insurance covers floods. visit floodsmart.gov/risk to learn your risk. to have the energy to turn a "to do" list into a memory. to put more giddy-up in our get-along. to keep stepping up even in overtime. it's time to start gellin' with dr. scholl's... ... and mix a little more hop in our hip hop. thanks to the energizing support and cushioning of dr. scholl's massaging gel insoles, your feet will feel so good... ... you'll want to get up and go. >> jamie: and welcome back.

our continuing coverage, super tuesday. i'm jamie kol bee. >> gregg: i'm gregg jarrett. let's talk about ohio. it was the big story this super tuesday, mitt romney winning narrowly, and i mean 1% or less, over rick santorum. >> jamie: all night long, martha was keeping an eye-- the exit polls. you can learn so much, particularly in the buckeye state. they can be really telling and they were in terms what have makes the winnener each state tonight and what's likely to happen in other states, too. take a look. >> no republican has won the presidency without winning this ohio primary first. and it is tight out there right now. totally different picture than we have seen in the other states. it's an open primary. sometimes it's the independents who can make all the difference in this one. tone, santorum is leading that group. then comes romney. take a look at the numbers right now. romney 31%, ron paul is doing very well with independents

throughout the primary season, in third with them in ohio. let's take a look at tea party vote. tea partyers are torn. they are neck and neck, 39-37% between the top two. evangelical christians are shaking out toward rick santorum, 47% of the evangelical vote looks to be going to rick santorum at this point in the evening. we have spent so much time talking about the women's issues and how women will vote in this republican primary and then in the general election. let's see how it take stacks up. working women in ohio are choosing mitt romney by double digits over rick santorum. perhaps not that surprising, given the conversation that has taken place over the course of this week. married women split between the two in ohio right now. >> gregg: we will check back later on. in the end, mitt romney, winning

ohio, beating rick santorum by 1 percentage point. but what does it mean for the race for the white house? brad blakeman, former deputy assistant to george w. bush. look, rick santorum won the first in the nation, the iowa caucus and won three states on super tuesday, won oklahoma, tennessee and north dakota -- very close in ohio. is he still a viable candidate? >> he is. but there are two parts to the process. there is the selection process by the party and there is an election process by the people. i submit to you that romney's done very, very well in battleground states. you heard the polling sheikh down -- independent, women, very important. and especially in battleground states like ohio and virginia, like florida, like nevada. states that mitt romney has won. so if mitt romney can keep this

trend going and don't forget, after april 3, it is winner take all. so this race is going to take on a whole new dimension, once we get into the winner take all states. but i'll tell you, gregg, this is going to be a race that will go on for sometime to come. i don't think gingrich is going anywhere. paul is on a scavenger hunt and santorum will stay in the race. >> gregg: santorum got caught up making remarks about several thing it's religion, women, cant roseption. i am worning whether his comments on the social issues overshadowed his economic message at a time when americans care most about jobs and the economy? >> there is no doubt that that happened. look at his lead that he had, just a week ago in ohio, it evaporated when he started talking about social issues. >> gregg: 18 points. >> the american people are worried about their economic survival their family survival. when gas is almost $4 and going

to $5, some predict and unemployment is high, bankruptcies are high. states are going bankrupt. these are the issues, the bread-and-butter issues that the american people want to hear, whether it's the primary or the general election. >> gregg: look, romney, over the last couple of days got two big endorsement, eric kantor and tom coburn, a respected conservative. both are, in fact, regarded as true conservatives, at a time perhaps when some of the in the party are worried that romney is too much of a moderate. does this help solidify the base? >> this certainly helps and after today, romney's got to get some conservatives to endorse. once you start to see the endorsements of party leaders in and out of power and in state where is it matter, governors, legislators, mayors, this will be a big difference in the next couple of weeks as we move into

the winner-take-all states after april 3. >> brad blakeman, great to see you, thanks very much. >> thank you. >> jamie: all right. most of the night, it was neck and neck in ohio, up to the last minute. but in the end, mitt romney did emerge with a victory. we go to the d.c. bureau. peter, tell us what turned the tide for romney, even though it was so close in ohio? >> reporter: it was so close. romney won five out of 10 states with contests tonight, including super tuesday's crown jewel, ohio. when you look at the exit polls, ohio voters think someone with a business background is better prepared than someone with a government background, 65% liked the business background, governor romney, compared to 27% who prefer a government background, in this case, senator santorum. and on the same note, ohio voters whose top issue is the

economy, broke for governor romney in a big way, 41-33%. gingrich and paul way behind. another big demographic for romney. working women by an 8-point margin. 41-35. >> jamie: nevertheless, where you see newt gingrich, you get the sense that rick santorum, whatever he dhe kept himself as close as possible. do we know what it is that put him into that position? >> reporter: in ohio, you have to look at the independents. the independents often help decide open primaries and general elections down the line. they gave senator santorum an edge, 6 points ahead of romney. it is interesting, speaker gingrich, last in ohio among independents. santorum had the support of tea party voters, but it was close. 39% for santorrum and romney had 36 parings and santorum won more

comfortably. 47% to romney's 30. but it wasn't enough to help him win. it was close. but the today it is a win for romney. >> jamie: you are right. but the fox exit polls tell a lot about the story. thanks so much, peter. >> gregg: for more reaction on the exit polls and why voters voted the way they did, scott rasmussen joins us. scott, great to see you. some of our own polling data before super tuesday confirmed what we learned from the exit polls today in ohio and that is, rick santorum doing poorly among women. how do you account for that? >> partly, it has to do with the issues he was focused on and the tone of the conversation. rick santorum has a habit of answering any question that is asked to him and he got himself in a little bit of trouble. the bigger issue is, and peter

just mentioned it and martha mentioned it earlier tonight, the tea party vote was split almost right down the middle between romney and santorum, two weeks ago, when santorum had a big lead in ohio, he was leading by 35 points among tea party supporters, that change in the debate in arizona andig it was the line when rick santorum talked about, you know, you have somebody to take one for the team and vote for things you don't believe in. among voters who are angry at the government, that radical base, mitt romney won tonight. >> gregg: what about independent voters? romney seemed to be fairly strong. >> you have to be careful when you talk about the independent voters in a primary. these are generally republican-leaning independents. they don't reflect the pool who will be there in a general election. mitt romney has consistently led in almost every state among republican voters only, not doing quite as well among the

independents or the democrats, but very safe among the republicans. that has a big advantage to him going forward. and what we are seeing, more than anything else is a reflection of a good campaign. republican conservatives are struggling to embrace mitt romney. many of them don't want to. but have you to sort of admire the tactical skill, when they needed a win in florida, the romney campaign figured out a way to do it. when rick santorum had his big night and won 3 states, then romney wound a way to win the c-pac straw poll and the maine caucus. he found a way to win in michigan and ohio. this is a campaign that knows how to use its resources. it's a really effective campaign. >> it could be an asset in the general election. he is becoming known as the closer [laughter] , we will check back with you later on. >> jamie: glad he's staying with

us. fresh off a resounding win in his home state, newt gingrich said he ed needed to win georgia. tonight, he did. he is pricking a comeback. will the win tonight help? we will take a closer look in 3 minutes. keep it right here on the fox -- he is predicting acom comeback. i'm phil mickelson, pro golfer. if you have painful, swollen joints, i've been in your shoes. one day i'm on top of the world... the next i'm saying...

i have this thing called psoriatic arthritis. i had some intense pain. it progressively got worse. my rheumatologist told me about enbrel. i'm surprised how quickly my symptoms have been managed. [ male announcer ] because enbrel suppresses your immune system, it may lower your ability to fight infections. serious, sometimes fatal events including infections, tuberculis, lymphoma, other cancers, and nervous system and blood disorders have occurred. before starting enbrel, your doctor should test you for tuberculosis and discuss whether you've been to a region where certain fungal infections are common. don't start enbrel if you have an infection like the flu. tell your doctor if you're prone to infections, have cuts or sores, have had hepatitis b, have been tated for heart faure, or if, while on enbr, you experience persistent fever, bruising, bleeding, or paleness. get back to the things that matter most. ask your rheumatologist if enbrel is right for you. [ male announcer ] enbrel. the #1 biologic medicine prescribed by rheumatologists.

>> gregg: newt gingrich speaking after winning his home state of georgia, making it clear he is not going anywhere. joining us to talk about it, j.d. hayworth, congressman, great to see you. newt gingrich is 2-18. one of those is his home state, which was thoroughly expected. what's his path to winning the nomination? >> again, let's remind everybody, gregg, it's about delegates. yes, have you to win contests. but let's go ahead and take a

look at the calendar. immediately now, alabama, mississippi, kansas. but with the delegates tonight on super tuesday, we are only about one-third of the way through the process. now, move on, let's take a look at the calendar favoring newt gingrich, later in this year, may 29, texas, 155 delegates. then on june 5, california, 165 delegates. this is kind of like back to the future. back to the days where you would go on through california to determine through the primary process who would be the nominee. while i can appreciate the efforts of some to spin this as inevitable for mitt romney or that somehow the governor is invincible. that is not the case. one-third of the delegates picked. another third on the way -- >> gregg: congressman, even if he ran the table, he couldn't have enough delegates. on tuesday, alabama and mississippi, they are

distributed proportionately -- arguably, he's only going to get a third, even if he wins both states. that's not enough. >> but again issue this is a process. let's not forget, going into the convention, all the delegates are not pledge pledged. there is a reason for the convention. so a lot has to happen. i think rumors of anyone's electoral demise right now are greatly exaggerated. this process has a long, long way to go. >> gregg: doesn't he think his strength is the southern states, the so-called southern strategy? he has lost three of the southern states. he lost florida and two today, tennessee and oklahoma and he came in third place there. isn't his southern strategy, in a way, already in tatters? >> again, i think what we have to do is look past this kind of notion that we are executing some sort of geographicical strategy and take a look at the

issues that speaker gingrich is addressing, especially when it comes to energy, especially when it comes to economic empowerment and the fact that newt gingrich has a plan that is so aggressive nterms of cuttingtaxes and so cn sense, i think as people begin to focus on this, gregg, what we'll see is that message beats money and this process is still very much a work in progress. so i think, again, it is far too early to write anybody off. let's not discount the win, in terms of the order being the firstest with the mostest. 76 delegates on the line that newt wick picked up. >> gregg: congressman, come back. thank you. >> i sure will? >> the firstest with the mostest. is that a political term? we are learning a lot. the candidates tally up the victories and lament their losses. >> gregg: the outcome of super tuesday is shaping up with mitt romney ahead.

we'll be right back. it ou have go insurance. yup, i've got... [ dennis ] ...allstate. really? i was afraid you'd have some cut-rate policy. [ kyle ] nope, i've got... [ dennis ] ...the allstate value plan. it's their most affordable car insurance -- and you still get an allstate agent. i too have... [ dennis ] ...allstate. [ roger ] same agent and everything. [ kyle ] it's like we're connected. no we're not. yeah, we are. no...we're not. ♪ the allstate value plan. dollar for dollar, nobody protects you like allstate. i used to not travel very much, but then i discovered hotwire. now, i use all my vacation days. i can afford to visit my folks for the holidays. and reconnect with my girlfriends in vegas. beuse i get ridiculously low prices on all my trips. you see, when hotels have unsold rooms, they use hotwire to fill them, so i g 4-star hotels for up to half off. now i can afford a romantic trip to new orleans. hi honey! ♪ h-o-t-w-i-r-e...

♪ hotwire.com

>> jamie: our pam is caffeinated and ready to go. we have a republican political analyst, campaign consult an and national correspondent for talk radio news service. and a former aide to chuck schumer and a fox news contributor. all right, gentlemen. what a day. i want to ask but particular groups and what they will take away in the races that may be coming to a state where they live. seniors. tony. >> romney did great with them in florida. he is reassuring. when you think about voters, who

care about the economy or beating president obam amitt romney clearly is dominating. the problem near santorum is going to be the groups he is doing the best with are really isolated through republican primary, born-again christians and social conservatives. it is great for him because he's getting the numbers to make an impact and continue down the road. but that is not a translatable asset, mitt romney has a better story on the demographics. >> >> what about independents. >> it is going to be hard for any republican to capture the independents because the more it goes along, the further to the right it becomes. newt gingrich is campaigning about $2.50 a gallon gasoline. but then he says he wants to go to war with iran. i don't see how you have both. the problem is that mitt romney will have to start talk about going to war with iran. the statements he made this weekend about the president being fec oles foreign policy.

then he quotes the president's foreign policy as his own. it makes no sense. independents are smart enough to see that. and they will not -- >> any time there is a vote on the economy and mitt romney has not taken the bait, to brit hume's point fhe were, he would have rejected what he did with health care in massachusetts and quite to the contrary, he's not giving in to the analysts who say he has to repudiate it. >> he loves the ryan plan and senior citizens don't care for that? one thing that affects seniors is medicare and the health care. the supreme court will be making a decision on obamacare and the reform health care plan. how, tony, do you think that they will change the narrative, the candidates, if we don't have a nominee yet, when that decision comes down? >> we likely will, i believe that decision's going to come in june. if we don't have a nominee by june 5, we have a serious

problem. the reality is that health care is an issue unto itself. it is not mitt romney's record, it's what the american people think the president did itw t. every poll shows that the american people repudiate obamacare. >> gregg: as unpopular as it is, chris, wouldn't it be better for republicans if the supreme court upheld it to motivate them to come out and vote on the promise by romney or whoever the nominee is to get rid of it. >> absolutely. if this is a settled issue, it is hard to come out. and the same thing on the abortion issue. if the supreme court outlawed abortion, how would republicans rally pro-lifers. they want the supreme court to uphold this and have romney say how his plan is not constitutional. >> jamie: all right. more to come. keep it right here. continuing live coverage on the g.o.p. race for the white house, mitt romney coming out on top this super tuesday. we are waiting for results from alaska. it's all here on fox. stay where you are.

aay [ engine revs ]

what makes us number one in motorcycle insurance? we love bikes. we love riders. and most of all, we love to ride. perfect hair every time. leading the pack in motorcycle insurance. now, that's progressive. call or click today.