[ male announcer ] fiber beyond recognition. fiber one. tonight on "nightline" -- barn burner. it's super tuesday. and the republicans are still at war with each other. and conservative rick santorum is giving the front-runner, mitt romney, a stunning run for the money. we'll tell you everything you need to know about the latest in this historic primary. and game on. who can beat obama? while the republicans vote, president obama tried to steal the show. >> now, i understand there are some political contests going on tonight. >> what did tonight's results tell us about how a race against the president could go down? plus, palin versus hbo. it's the game-changing tv movie that's got sarah palin fuming. and demanding this film about

her swift rise be labeled fiction. we'll tell you why she's crying foul. >> announcer: from the global resources of abc news, with terry moran, cynthia mcfadden and bill weir in new york city, this is a special edition of "nightline," super tuesday showdown. good evening. i'm terry moran. tonight it was a rollicking super tuesday with ten states and 437 delegates up for grabs in what now seems like a marathon republican contest to take on president barack obama. tonight saw mitt romney and rick santorum locked in a dead heat in the critical fight for ohio. right now abc news can report romney has the lead of about 1 percentage point over santorum with romney looking like the apparent winner in. and that razor-thin victory means he's still poised to win the nomination, eventually. with such a tight race it won't be easy. romney took virginia, vermont,

idaho, massachusetts. santorum won in tennessee, oklahoma, and north dakota. newt gingrich took only his home state of georgia. we're not going to be projecting a winner in the tenth state, alaska. where results from the caucuses this evening are still coming in. in a race that is just now still too close to call, the way it's gone all night. here's a closer look at how the republican races went down tonight. >> thank you. >> reporter: they were cheering mitt romney in boston tonight. but super tuesday was really only okay for him. sure, he won five states. including apparently the big prize of ohio, by a razor-thin margin. once again, he didn't seal the deal. >> i'm not going to let you down. i'm going to get this nomination. >> reporter: but his opponents aren't going anywhere. >> we're ready to win across this country. >> reporter: rick santorum won three states and almost grabbed ohio. and he was clearly feeling strong. >> i just came from our war room

which doubles as the weight room for the high school. pumping a little iron to get myself psyched for coming out here. >> reporter: newt gingrich, who won his home state of georgia -- he's still in. >> we're going to go on to tampa ask win the nomination. >> reporter: but the math is merciless. after tonight, santorum needs to run the table, win every one of the remaining contests, to amass enough delegates to win the nomination. almost impossible. but not so fast, fat lady. this fight is far from over. and there's a sense of desperation in the gop tonight. president obama seemed to be enjoying it today. he just happened to schedule his first full press conference of the year as republicans were voting. >> now, i understand there are some political contests going on tonight. but i thought i'd start the day off by taking a few questions, which i'm sure will not be political in nature.

>> reporter: and his competitive juices flowing, he even gave a shout-out to his likely opponent. >> what would you like to say to mr. romney? >> good luck tonight. >> no, really. >> really. >> reporter: so, what's up with the gop? but simply, the base of the party does not want romney. no matter how much money he spends or how many negative ads he runs. we heard it on the campaign trail in ohio this week. >> wanting not someone who can just pound their opponent into the ground, but someone who can lift up the country. to something better for our future. >> reporter: in westerville, outside columbus, rick santorum rallied his voters with his impassioned social conservatism. his vision of a nature in moral and political crisis. these people, the heart of the republican party, they speak his language. >> i think there's a moral decay in america. and he was hitting, speaking to that.

>> reporter: tim perry says the country's lost its way. >> it's definitely on the wrong track now. before we can turn it around, what has to happen as individuals one by one, is they get themselves right, through the right relationship with god. >> reporter: it's a moral regeneration? >> it is. >> reporter: that idea is right in santorum's wheelhouse but you didn't hear it much from romney. each man quotes the same line from the declaration of independence but differently. listen to what santorum emphasizes. >> we hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal. and endowed by their -- >> creator. >> with certain inalienable rights. >> reporter: romney lingers on the last part, what those rights mean in daily life. >> among them are life, life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. in this nation, free people pursuing their dreams, working hard. >> i've settled on rick santorum because i think he's a man of

principle. >> reporter: david and joan have been together 48 years. what's the biggest difference in america between when you guys got together and today? >> i'd say lack of morals. >> i think -- my personal big difference is i appreciate our country a lot. >> yeah. >> a lot more today than i did when i was 25. >> reporter: that kind of passion fuels american conservatism. romney must tap into it. but his style on the stump is cooler, more calculated. to his detractors, robotic. >> he's out of ideas. he's out of excuses. and in 2012 we're going to make sure he's out of office. >> reporter: and what do you hear from romney voters, is totally different. they want victory and a problem-solver to lead them to it. >> i'm looking for change. i'm tired of obama. i'm looking for the next best

thing. which appears to be at this point mitt romney. >> why? >> i think the private sector experience that he talked about. we need that. we don't need some federal guy getting in office. >> reporter: tonight, mitt romney lost in georgia, tennessee, and oklahoma. bedrock conservative states. millions of republicans still prefer someone else. >> it's been a long road getting to super tuesday. let me be honest. and my opponents have worked very hard. >> reporter: as he sets his sights on the fall and president obama, mitt romney needs to rise up and rally republicans. he's got a lot of work to do. >> there'll be good days. there'll be bad days. always long hours. never enough time to get everything done. but on november 6th, we're going to stand united. not only having won election. but having saved a future. >> just now the associated press projects mitt romney will win the alaska caucuses, giving a

tough 6 wins on super tuesday. just ahead, can mitt romney really beat president obama this fall? if he wins the nomination? thanks for babysitting the kids, brittany. so how much do we owe you? that'll be $973.42. ya know, your rates and fees aren't exactly competitive. who do you think i am, quicken loans? [ spokesman ] when you refinance your mortgage with quicken loans, you'll find that our rates and fees are extremely competitive. because the last thing you want is to spend too much on your mortgage. one more way quicken loans is engineered to amaze. ♪

[ male announcer ] you're at the age where you don't get thrown by curveballs. ♪ this is the age of knowing how to get things done. so, why let erectile dysfunction get in your way? talk to your doctor about viagra. 20 million men already have. ask your doctor if your heart is healthy enough for sex. do not take viagra if you take nitrates for chest pain; it may cause an unsafe drop in blood pressure. side effects include headache, flushing,

upset stomach, and abnormal vision. to avoid long-term injury, seek immediate medical help for an erection lasting more than four hours. stop taking viagra and call your doctor right away if you experience a sudden decrease or loss in vision or hearing. this is the age of taking action. viagra. talk to your doctor. uh, trouble with a car insurance claim. ah, claim trouble. [ dennis ] you should just switch to allstate, and get their new claim satisfaction guarantee. hey, he's right man. [ dennis ] only allstate puts their money where their mouth is. yup. [ dennis ] claim service so good, it's guaranteed. [ foreman ] so i can always count on them. unlike randy over there. that's one dumb dude. ♪ the new claim satisfaction guarantee. dollar for dollar, nobody protects you like allstate.

>> announcer: this special edition of "nightline," super tuesday showdown, continues with terry moran. welcome back to our special edition of "nightline." on a night of tight and tough republican primaries this super tuesday. as we told you earlier, mitt romney's the apparent winner of crucial ohio but not by much. only a narrow lead over his conservative opponent rick santorum in this critical state. i'm joined by abc news political analyst matt dowd. good night or bad night for mitt romney? >> i think in the end, campaigns

are always about what happens today. i think this was a bad night for mitt romney. if you had given him this night and said, here's what's going to happen, three days ago, they would have said, that was a good night. as things went on, that did not meet expectations. even though as we've talked about it, he's got the math, the delegate math. he lost this moment. this was a moment that he had to begin to coalesce the party, unify the party. not only to say, i'm going to be the nominee because of the delegate math, but say, i'm going to lead us against obama. he lost that argument. he still may be the nominee, he's the front runner, but he's a weakened front-runner after tonight. >> the delegate math is essentially what the romney people are saying, that it's virtually impossible for rick santorum to get to the necessary number to win the nomination because he'd have to run the table. and so they say, give up, basically. >> i think what rick santorum's strategy is going to be, he's going to say, fine, listen to that thing, but his point will

be, all i have to do is keep mitt romney from getting to 1144 delegates. if he can start winning out, win three in a row as we talked about in the states coming up, win big states like texas, he's going to basically start proving to the party, and other people in the party, do we want to nominate this weak candidate in the fall against barack obama? that will be rick santorum's strategy. >> he'll need help with that. i was out in ohio. one of the things i noticed, talking about this, is that unlike old previous contested primaries, there's not a lot of terrible, fierce, bitter antagonism between the camps. i'm sure there are some people who despite romney or santorum but it's as if romney doesn't inspire people to hate him. >> that's the big thing is there's no connection at any gut or heart level with mitt romney. not a negative or a positive way and that's been a problem through the seven months of this campaign process. this process, this campaign has been mitt romney versus mitt

romney. and will one mitt romney connect? and the mitt romney lost tonight to mitt romney. that's what happened tonight. and rick santorum was the beneficiary of that campaign going on. >> i'm going to put you in the democratic white house for a minute. and what do they think? >> they're enjoying this process very much. they're saying the long they are goes on, the bloodier it gets, the more fierce it gets in the fight going on, the better for them. you've seen in the course of this process mitt romney's unfavorable rating in the course of this campaign has gone up 15 points. counter that with what happened in 2008, even in a tough fight between barack obama and hillary clinton. barack obama's favorable rating went up 20 points in the course of that race. so what they're hoping for as this keeps going, goes till june, mitt romney ultimately wins this in a delegate math sort of way without inspiring anybody, bringing the republican party together, and they have a weak front runner that they just unload on come july.

>> and rick santorum, one of the things he's trying to do is connect with blue collar voters saying, i am one of you. he's not. >> that's been successful, even in places like michigan that he's lost. he won a lot of those voters. he won a lot of those voters in ohio. he's winning a lot of those voters in the south, throughout the south, when he won those states in the south. that is a problem because those are the voters in the fall that are going to decide this election. the blue collar, white collar voters, middle class voters are going to decide this election. those are the voters that have yet to come to mitt romney. >> rick santorum is going to go after them. >> he's going to go after them until june. up next, we're going to turn to the hbo film that's got sarah palin seeing red. believe the mayan calendar, on december 21st, polar shifts will reverse the earth's gravitational pull and hurtle us all into space, which would render retirement planning unnecessary.

but say the sun rises on december 22nd and you still need to retire, td ameritrade's investment consultants can help you build a plan that fits your life. we'll even throw in up to $600 when you open a new account or roll over an old 401(k). so who's in control now, mayans? when you open a new account or roll over an old 401(k). wheeeeeeeeeeeee! whee! whee!

wheeeeeeeee! ah heads up. wheeeeeeeeeeee! everything you love about geico, now mobile. download the new geico app today. let me get that door for you... [ man ] i loved my first car... sometimes the door gets stuck... oh sure. ooh! [ man ] ...and then, i didn't. um... [ sighs ] [ man ] so, i got a car i can love a really, really long time. [ male announcer ] for the road ahead, the all-new subaru impreza. ♪ experience love that lasts.

while leaving the polls in alaska today, sarah palin said she's not ruling out a presidential bid in 2016. while she may not be running until then, she stopped focusing on the election. the 2008 election, that is. john berman explains why hbo's new film has ignited a fierce feud with the palin camp. >> reporter: the results are in and super tuesday 2012 is pretty much over. does that make you blue? filled with political postpartum depression? well, fear not.

>> we want sarah! >> reporter: the 2012 primaries may be winding down. but you always have 2008 to look forward to. >> i'm not going to washington to seek their good opinion. i'm going to washington to serve the great people of this great country. >> reporter: that's right. the clips we're looking at in the past week are videos from sarah palin's political operation. sarah palin, who isn't running for anything this election. but is very much focused on the last one. and what's more, she's going negative. the object of palin's ire -- the hbo film "game change," based on the book of the same name. a chronicle of the 2008 race, when john mccain, here depicted by ed harris, and his campaign team, woody harrelson, playing campaign chief steve schmidt here, decided to pluck sarah palin from alaska. >> who have we vetted? >> romney, crist, pawlenty. trying to vet bloomberg. >> who can we win with? >> none of them. we desperately need a

game-changing pick and none of these middle-aged white guys are game-changers. >> reporter: in the film that led to this call to palin. approximate this is sarah. >> reporter: played by julianne moore. this ignited a supernova. the problem is, sarah palin doesn't like how she's portrayed. >> the movie is based on a false narrative, as you can see in the trailer. >> reporter: palin hasn't seen it. it's not even out yet. but she doesn't like it already. the trailer depicts her as uninformed on foreign policy. >> it wasn't my fault. i wasn't properly prepped. >> reporter: at times, overwhelmed by the rigors of the campaign. and other times, uncontrollable. famously going rogue. >> i am not your puppet. >> the sarah palin i know is professional, is smart, is a quick study, is intellectually curious. and the person portrayed in that movie is absolutely not. >> reporter: tim crawford is the treasurer for sarah palin's

political committee. he helped put together the response video. why? >> hbo has made a movie that is a piece of fiction. it is not fact. >> hbo has a responsibility to make a movie that's accurate, and they made a movie that's accurate. >> reporter: john heilemann, one of the authors of the book "game change," stands by his reporting. >> the film takes some dramatic license. as any movie that is a dramatization will do. but on the particulars in question, the movie's 100% accurate. >> reporter: this depicts the powerful moment she was introduced to america. >> senator, i am honored to be chosen as your running mate. >> sarah, sarah! >> reporter: it very well may be that sarah palin is something of a rorschach test. >> thank you. >> reporter: people see what they want to see in her, depending on what side of the political spectrum they come from. >> the movie shows areas in which she was an incredibly powerful, magnetic, human

element in the mccain campaign, where she performed extraordinarily well under bad circumstances. it also shows the ways in which she fell short. >> reporter: sarah palin makes clear she'll never like it and never even see it. >> i'm not going to see the movie. neither is the good senator john mccain. we discussed this and realize hollywood lies are hollywood lies. >> reporter: and while team palin and team "game change," might not agree on everything, they do agree on one thing. this brouhaha proves that in this day and age, politics, elections, last forever. >> the funny part about that, john, is it almost felt like that campaign never ended. >> it feels like, at times, a little bit weird to be arguing over long-ago fought battles. >> sarah palin. >> reporter: yes, old campaigns never die. they just go straight to video. i'm john berman, for "nightline," in new york.