>> production assistance for "inside washington" was provided by allbritton communications and politico, reporting on the legislative, executive, and political arena. >> two months ago i said don't pay attention to polls. the >> this week on "inside washington," the remarkable surge of rich santorum. >> i remember going to the auto show with my dad. >> general motors racks of the biggest profit in its history. >> he got hundreds of months of

dollars from labor bosses for his campaign, and so he is paying them back in every way he knows how. >> merkel -- republicans and democrats come together on the payroll tax cut. >> we would not allow the democrats to continue to play political games and raise taxes on working americans. >> china's future leader provides for a friendly visit. >> when i look at this panel, i don't see one single woman. >> the birth control debate comes to capitol hill. wasn't that settled last week? captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org-- as of this weekend, mitt romney and has as many delegates but rick santorum has as many

wins. if you believe the most recent polls, santorum is leading in michigan. michigan! mitt romney was born in michigan. his father was governor of michigan trip how can romney be in trouble in michigan? >> unlke governor romney, we have a track record. >> an authentic conservative. at the cpac last weekend in washington, romney went to great pains, 24 times, to define himself as a conservative. he said he was open " a severely conservative governor" of massachusetts. "the atlantic's" molly ball wrote that romney and "made it sound like it was a disease." nina, what happens if romney loses michigan? >> if he loses michigan, he is in such dire trouble i don't know what he does.

there really are not that many alternatives. you cannot even get on the ballot most places anymore. it is too late. the republican party really has an interest in having him win. if he doesn't, they are stuck between santorum, paul, and gingrich. >> if romney loses in michigan, charles, then what? >> well, he is not going to lose the race. he will accumulate delegates. it will be a blow. and let people said that the primaries and caucuses last week, missouri, minnesota, a cala colorado did not count because there were no delegates. it out because it gave momentum and showed how weak romney is and took santorum -- he ran unopposed, essentially, against romney because gingrich's not on the ballot. it showed he was the remaining alternateive.

it will be like reagan and ford and hillary and obama. >> colby? >> it depends on how he loses in michigan, if he loses at all. if it is a narrow loss, it will not be a fatal blow. he gets blown out in michigan, he has a problem on his hands. the problem generally is his likability. it shows up in the polls. his super pac goes after santorum with the negatives, negative adds, it is is going to hurt romney in the long haul. >> mark, early in this season he seemed to be running a smart campaign. what happened to his campaign? >> romney as never really connected with the voters either at an emotional level or given them a case as to what the vision, mission, emotional connection as to why he wants to be president and how he is going to be a different kind of

president. the others have at different times and emotional connection, established an emotional connection with voters. it is not unimportant. before they vote for you, and they have to like you. that is, i think, romney's -- romney's campaign has always been a concept. he has the best campaign, more money, the most electable, the most likely to wind. there was never a sense that he is going to be president and he is going to do these three things and that is going to make america better or satisfy marriages. > -- satisfy my it urges. >> the candidates were going after each other and romney was left untouched for a long period of time. he had at invincible air to him. as soon as the field narrows and they can concentrate on romney -- >> the flip side of that is the

case of a whack a mole. mr. shields will remind me, because i cannot remember what happened in the musky campaign. he was supposed to be a fabulous candidate, and he fell apart early and got out early. that left time for a different field to coalesce. >> he cried in new hampshire and at times, men didn't cry. today they cried all the time, and all too much, if you ask me. [laughter] >> alan alda for president. >> there is a lot to cry about. >> be that as it may -- >> rick santorum has emerged as this interesting figure, appealing figure, made the connection. there are couple of things about santorum that have gone unnoticed. he served in the house of representatives or two terms, served in the senate for two terms. during that time in the house, there were 21 to 29 republican

house members with them, 89 republican senators who served with him. how many of them have seen fit to say, "this is the man i would like as president"? zilch, nada, zero. those who know him best, and i'm not basing endorsements -- they mean something and to the person doing the endorsing and being endorsed. they don't matter to voters, but they tell you something about the individual. >> that is not what is going to hurt him. i agree with that, but what has hurt him is the fact that he seems to want to talk about contraception. that is not a burning issue in the minds of the american people. it is a settled issue, and yet he says other presidents will talk about it, "i am going to talk about it," and he goes on and on about how it hurts woman and causes disillusionment in society. he ought to say, "as a catholic i believe in the dark of the

church and people will respect that i believe their teachings on this, but i'm not running to be the pope or a bishop. i am running to be president of the united states and what matters is that dr. but the constitution of the united states," had to shut up about these issues, which are going to destroy him in the general election. >> something i thought i would never say -- it is deeper than that, charles. this is a man with no perceptible in july. there is no joy with rick santorum, no optimism. >> i don't agree with the of. > -- don't agree with you. >> i saw him at the detroit economic forum this week. it was it different? santorum. it was not direct santorum of at -- different rick senator webb. it was not the rick santorum of

economic issues. one speech does not make a candidate or even an nomination, but it was a different rick santorum on display. >> he actually gives a good speech, a somewhat optimistic speech about america. we in the media have not really examined them carefully and that is what is about to happen. >> it is coming. general motors, and democrats and republicans have a deal. amazing. >> talking about a payroll tax break or extension of on the planet and its is because the president's economic policies have -- extension of unemployment benefits is because the president's economic policies have failed. i believe that to be the case today. the agreement to stop a tax hike on middle-class americans is a fair agreement that i support. >> the man with the toughest job in washington.

every day john boehner house to put together a new coalition in that group of republicans, and he did it because he understood that it was nothing but a killer for his party, at it got out of the last minute again. this was done almost two weeks before and was going to expire, which was practiced by washington standards. -- washington standards. -- miraculous by washington standards. >> i don't think it was a hard sell at all. republicans realized they could not have a repeat of last year. >> not if you like your job. >> approval of congress is 12% -- >> in the latest gallup is 10%. >> tell that to the republican

house caucus. it was not easy. >> it was a raucous caucus. >> a raucous caucus? >> boehner's speech -- >> raucous : this sounds like a rock band, charles. >> everybody here is so delighted that we have a bipartisan agreement and are celebrating, over what? $16 trillion in debt. we've just added $100 billion on a payroll tax cut that every economist will tell you is not going to have any influence on creation of jobs are helping our economy. you know how we are paying for some of the goodies on that? we auction off the spectrum. you want to auction off spectrum any way. but the idea that you are doing that with a priceless commodity that the government is selling

off. it is selling crown jewels to buy crack. >> let me add one thing to that -- >> hold on -- we are selling an option to do that but that is the state of our politics today, and we are happy that it was done on a bipartisan basis? >> everybody agrees that the best thing to do economically that does have an effect on the economy is to keep going with the unemployment stuff. they cut back on that a bit so that they can do what charles calls the crack. it is a politically untenable position for republicans to be opposed to this. >> general motors had a great year. mitt romney in 2008 published an op-ed in "the new york times" called "let detroit go bankrupt." he had a follow up in "the

detroit news" this week. >> santorum says the same thing. >> it is a primary, but who are they talking to? >> timing is everything. six by $7 billion profit for general motors. at the brink of bankruptcy, was the intervening event? taxpayers, o by citizens of the united states. who opposed it? the native son of michigan, on the eve of the michigan primary. >> he says obama sold out to the union bosses. how does that help him in this primary? >> it doesn't. >> look, i supported the bailout, it had to be done. the bush administration set it up so that it would allow obama to make that choice i supported tarp as well. the romney argument -- it is

complicated, and he is losing because it is are complex argument. he is arguing that it should have done it to preprogrammed bankruptcy, and the government interfered in a way that was lawless. the bondholders got screwed and the unions were benefited. what it is a distorted the settlement so that you didn't get the radical changes that would really have made it healthy. but that is a complicated argument and it is not going to work and it will hurt him in michigan. >> it is not as of the unions haven't given back a lot. >> he recommended a managed bankruptcy is what he called it. >> that's right. >> but he cannot have it both ways, although he always tries to have it both ways. he was opposed to the bailout and everybody knows he was opposed to the bailout. >> 1 and in michigan -- every

voter knows, thrid shi --third shift. >> visitors from china this week. >> we want to work with china to make sure that everybody's going by the same rules of the road with the economic system. >> rules? what rules? the vice president was in town this week. what rules, colby? >> there are rules that observed and rules that gets stretched. what underlies the relationship with china is trade. there is a trade deficit, but the united states exported something on the order of $20 billion of exports to china last year. you talk about general motors. you go to china -- i was there a couple of years ago -- and business is big in china.

general motors profitability is in large part because of the china market. you have a lot going on with this -- the united states has a lot going on with this relationship with china. it is more than foreign policy and defense policy. the trade relationship is underpinning between these countries. >> what could be more american than an open " inside washington" coffee cup made in china? couldn't they make these in maryland or toledo or someplace? >> they could or should. >> we would pay more. >> we are american consumers, citizens, i hope. this conversation seems to take place every time there is a chinese leader with an american leader. we talk about the currency, to talk about intellectual property. this time as well they have let

us down in china. in the un, the resolution on syria, the security council. i just wonder when it will take their place as the leader of the plan at. >> never. their conception of their place is to promote china, a civilization a lot older than ours. they think they are older, wiser, and more civilized and it will outlast us. their conception of the world is not to follow the american league and to expect it is naive. why should anybody be surprised, with that kind of -- that china would act on its interest vis-a- vis syria and iran? in the 20th century, our task is to handle china in the

21st. >> this is not my field of enormous expertise, but across the board, obama has gotten pretty good marks for his handling of the relationship with china. personally, my fixation is about intellectual property, because if they copy everything you do and then have a population that can produce it en masse very fast and put your companies at a disadvantage, you are out of business. >> industrial espionage, military intelligence issues, a whole list that we don't have time to get into. the birth control debate is still with us. >> what i want to know is where are the women? when i look at this panel, i don't see one single woman representing the tens of millions of women across the country who want and need current insurance coverage for

basic preventive health care services. >> we are looking at government's balance -- bounds -- not is it a good idea or does it save money, but how does it impact religious organizations and people of conscience and faith? >> congresswoman carolyn maloney, congressman darrell issa. the white house was announcing a plan to accommodate religious employers on the birth control issue. as predicted, this satisfied some but not all of the president's critics on this issue. the hearing this week was of great upset to carolyn maloney and eleanor holmes norton. >> it is not a new thing to have a slanted congressional hearing. however, it was not a stroke of genius to have all men talking about contraception that involves principally women. they can get it over the counter

any time they want. >> you wrote a column about this on friday. it is a compromise of sorts. >> it is not a compromise, it is at fayed, an accounting trick. any catholic hospital, like a catholic charity or a catholic school, is required by law to engage an insurer who will, by law, be required to provide contraceptives. i have no problems with contraceptives. this is not about the access to contraceptives. it is can the state compel a religious organization to do something to engage an insurer who is required by law to provide things that are against the doctrine of that church. the answer is nothing can change in the moral sense. however, it was a political stroke. obama got away with it u.

before, he had been opposed by rick warren, a pastor who supported him, tim kaine, the former dnc chairman, and now i guess the opposition who are split. it succeeded, but it is an absolute fraud. >> there are people on both sides of this controversy who want to go to war. the fact that they did win back the catholic health association was not insignificant. but as long as this debate is over religious freedom, obama it was losing. as long as it is and over contraception, which it became in the house hearings, the other side wins because it is and 95-5 issue on the issue of contraception. religious freedom is different. >> the first amendment guarantees freedom of religion. doesn't it also guarantee freedom from religion? >> yes, and the church has to tread carefully.

it is is one thing to talk about the government intruding upon religious institutions. it is another thing altogether to say that contraception is bad at anything that supports contraception we are against. they will lose. >> nobody is -- >> if they try to make that the argument -- thank you. >> nina, is this a debate still with us in november? >> it could be. it would be foolish for the republicans to make this an issue. contraception -- let's be clear about this -- a substantial amount of the prescriptions for contraception are for health reasons, not about not having a baby. you are depriving women of all services if you don't cover this. -- health services if you don't cover this. >> how did we get bogged down in this if the economy was supposed to be the issue?

>> religious liberty is -- the debate over religious liberty is an important one. the debate over contraceptives, with rick santorum, who decides he wants to make it part of the conversation, that is a separate issue. if he does that, it becomes a political issue, which he will lose. >> a couple weeks ago e.j. dionne in "the washington post" said that the president through the people who supported him on the health care bill under the bus. >> yes, and to the credit of, among others, nancy deparle in the white house, the help honcho, made the case against the best wishes of planned parenthood and other great powers in the white house that look, these are people who stood up with you, were crucial, the bishops oppose the health care plan, the catholic held

association did stand with you and you cannot disregard them and ignore them. the reality was the obama administration came up with this incredibly strict constructionist, narrow definition of religion. it can only be sectarian activity basically within the sanctuary. >> it's actually a legalistic definition, but it is illustrative of a greater obama problem, because they had the debate within the white house bid they did not go outside the white house. this is something the obama administration does over and over again. >> paranoid. >> they have a little circle of people and they never go beyond it. >> mark, you are right, the original offense was the narrow definition of religion as what only happens within the church. the church itself is excluded from this requirement, but the

catholic hospitals, charities, etc., are now included tr. nothing changed with this so- called -- that definition of the catholic hospital as being non- religious remains, that is the problem, the liberal, secular idea of religion, that the liberal, secular idea is only what happens within the church and not outside. that is why is such an offense against religion and religious liberty. it is exercise not just in the church but in the good works caring for the sick and the needy. that has not changed with this accommodation. >> colby, sleight of hand here? >> no, the administration always had that definition available to itself. it satisfied in number of people, including the governors, tim kaine, who criticized the

administration's position and supports it now. religious organizations have to provide the coverage, insurance companies have to. it is not just contraceptions -- mammograms, etc. that is why a it is an acceptable compromise for a number people except people who want to make the ideological argument against it and-barack obama. -- bash barack obama. >> it is beyond ideological and bashing barack obama. it is the christian mission in the world to serve those who are poor and immigrant and -- that is as deep as the cross or anything else -- >> mark, you get the last word. see you next week.