tavis: good evening. from los angeles, i am tavis smiley. the old adage that republicans fall in line behind their presidential nominee has been turned on its end this primary season, and so first up tonight, and look at the ever changing and unpredictable gop primary process with the senior reporter for politico, jonathan martin. in addition, r&b singer anthony hamilton is here. he is focused on helping young people develop better business skills. if we are pleased you could join us. >> every community has a martin luther king boulevard. it's the cornerstone we all know. it's not just a street or boulevard, but a place where walmart stands together with your community to make every day better.

>> and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. tavis: jonathan martin is a senior reporter at the politico, falling politics for a hot line and "the national review. thank you for having us -- joining us. let me ask you about mitt romney. what does it mean that he won maine? >> well, i think he had not won maine, it would be a bigger

story. he barely edged out ron paul, and i think what that bigotry does for him, it's sort of stops bleeding some after the tough losses he had in minnesota, colorado, and missouri. to get any victory at all, as he did in maine, helped him out in terms of perception. now, a bunch of national polls have come out in the last couple of days, showing that rick santorum is really moving now, but getting that victory in maine does help to stabilize some. the big question is what is going to happen in michigan two weeks from now, tavis. the state where he grew up. is rick santorum going to be a competitor there, and can actually win that state? if rick santorum wins michigan, this race will really be turned on its head. tavis: talking about rick santorum and mitt romney being

the two front runners, a few days ago, it was mitt romney and newt gingrich, and now we see "national review online" calling for newt gingrich to get out of the race and to leave it for rick santorum to carry the torch for conservatives. what a difference a few days makes, asking newt gingrich to get out and leave it to rick santorum. >> i think it is because the editors there are much more fond of rick santorum than they are of newt gingrich. there is some home cooking at work. i think it is also what happened on tuesday, where you had on one day, three states. now, granted, the steeds -- states were not binding due to the arcane delegate map, but with him winning those three states over mitt romney, and you see him moving in the polls, so you have got some folks who are more pro santorum than they are prone newt gingrich, saying,

"let him carry the torch." if you talk to the rick santorum folks, and they really want this to be a one on one race and want newt gingrich out of the race and to better a clean shot with mitt romney. it probably will not happen for the super tuesday. in their mind, it is going to be very hard for mitt romney to win this thing. tavis: tell me why i should not believe that the only reason rick santorum is having this kind of burst at the moment is because there are still so many people in the republican party who want anybody but mitt romney, so it is not about his appeal, is not about his intellect, is not anything other than the fact that it is an anti-mitt romney vote. tell me why i should not believe that. >> well, i am not going to totally disabuse you of that notion, tavis, but i think that

rick santorum in his own right does have the appeal of conservatives in the party because of his long years in labor negotiations, issues like abortion and gay rights, his sort of role in the 1990's and early part of 2000, so i think he does have been falling in the party, but you are right, there is no question that is overwhelmingly the question of who can we find that is not mitt romney. tavis: having covered this race, what do you make of the fact that rick santorum is hanging around? he was on life-support. how has he done this? you are right not to disabuse me, because i would have not gone anywhere with it, respectfully, so let me take your argument. rick santorum is in the race because he does have some appeal. what is that appeal?

>> the appeal is rooted in the fact that for a lot of cultural conservatives, a lot of folks who care passionately about the issue of abortion, who are strong conservative catholics who are in the home schooling movement, he does have appeal within those blocks that make up an accord coalition in the republican party. there is no question that his appeal is that he is seen as the most viable and latest non mitt romney, but you cannot say it is only because that he is brand x to romney's brand y. he has his appeal in his own right. if we were betting, we could lose a lot of money in this race because this has been so topsy- turvy, going back to one year ago. how many different candidates have we gone through in that period of time? we all thought it could not have

gotten better in 2008 when we had that epic obama-clinton raise, but in terms of surprises and in terms of unpredictability, this is not about a race at all, tavis. tavis: to the extent that it has, and i am not sure, you tell me, but what about the president's catholic contraceptive issue aiding and abetting mr. rick santorum? >> it is a great point. it is extremely helpful to him. that issue, and to a lesser amount the federal ruling on gay marriage in california came when it did, right when rick santorum was getting back in the group, and he could seize on that and say that this administration and this democratic party is trying to lead the cultural war a certain way. i think that helped rick santorum, combined with the improving economic numbers, which is the big issue for mitt

romney, that he could deal with the economy. and has been nice for rick santorum, especially going to michigan. michigan, as you know, on the republican side is a very conservative state, a lot of catholics there come a robust community. i think that the re-emergence of the cultural war going into michigan could really be very advantageous for rick santorum. tavis: i was going to ask you how likely it is for him to lose his home state of michigan, reminding you that al gore lost his home state of tennessee? is it really possible that he could lose michigan? >> well, i think it is possible that he could lose. there is a poll that came out that showed rick santorum up pretty significantly. i would not put any stock in that. it will be a very competitive race. if the election were there

today, rick santorum could pull out. in two weeks' time, the mitt romney resources could roll in and take this thing away from rick santorum, but, again, it depends on a lot of factors here, including how much of a factor is newt gingrich? is he going to be getting 16%, 17%? or will it be 8%, 9%? go ahead. tavis: i was going to ask, how much of this republican infighting, what does it say about mitt romney and his chances to win the nomination and, for that matter, to beat barack obama? and number two, what does it say about the republican party? >> it says that he is somebody who draws the support that he does because he is seen as strong on the economy and strong

in terms of being a candidate to take on president obama in the fall, so i think that he is having this drawn-out primary does undermine the second point, that -- if he is having trouble fending off some folks who had their heyday in the republican party a few years ago, then that is not a good indicator of his strength to become president of the united states, and with the current state of the gop, this is a party that has really moved to the right since 2008. there is no way that john mccain would get the nomination today of the republican party. he was lucky to get it in 2008 because a lot of balances that went his way. with the tea party, the gop, it is a much more. doctrine party, and i think that is the challenge mitt romney is having year, is that they want somebody who is going

to be a double one conservative, and he is having trouble making the case that he meets that test. tavis: why did not the obama campaign draw a line in the sand and say they were not want to play this super pak a game? they know that mitt romney, if he is the nominee, and he will not be the strongest challenger. they do not wonder -- want to underestimate him, but the president stands of one year ago and criticizes someone sitting on the front side of his state of the union speeches, and then one year later changes the issues on super pak? i am not want to play this game, and if i go down, i go down. my legacy will be that i am going to do something to save our democracy by getting serious -- you see where i am going. why did they not draw the line in the sand, seeing that they are up against a weak candidate?

>> voters do not care enough to hold them accountable. there is more to be gained by doing a wink and a nod to the party donors, having the superbad on their side, so they can go toe to toe with the opposition when it comes to money. they just do not think that voters are going to make them pay the price for sort of an inside baseball campaign mechanics, in terms of who is funding the television advertisements. tavis: so it is a decision that is not based on the fact that we need to get money out of our pockets and clean up our campaign system, save our democracy? forget all of that. it is just that they do not think the voters care, and they will go ahead and do it anyway? >> we have to match them dollar to dollar. tavis: i am still not convinced,

but i appreciated. >> i tried to explain. >> -- tavis: jonathan martin is a political reporter for the politico. good to have you on. >> thank you. tavis: up next, a grammy award winning artist anthony hamilton. please welcome anthony hamilton back to the program. he is once again receiving high marks for his recent cd called "back to love." he was working for the united college fund, uncf, but first, we will have more from his single. >> ♪ like

just like delilah say woo-oo-oo-oo oh, girl, you're so bad woo-oo-oo-oo but it feels so good woo-oo-oo-oo i ain't never seen a girl so bad i've been like mr. perfect goody two-shoes couldn't break me down for nothing uh-huh, uh-huh ♪ tavis: so the experience of working with babyface, what was that? >> it was magical. i had to get over being a gritty, you know what i mean? i had to simmer that down, but other than that, i learned a lot. very important. we went up to lake tahoe actually. you can add a song, and you think it is done, and he will come back and say, "we have to

change it." tavis: i am curious, when baby face says the wordplay is important, what is that? >> the words to convey the message. you have to make sure that it is exactly right for the emotional. tavis: i do not want anyone to misunderstand this comment, because i love babyface, and we are from the same place, but you are the most soulful artist out there today. babyface has a hip found, a pop sound, but when you think hamilton, you do not think baby face, and when you think baby face, you do not think anthony hamilton. changed, adjusted anthony hamilton as we know it? >> a natural chemistry that we

had already, just understanding where i am and where he is, what we could do it together. it came about easy. he pulled out a few things. i did not think he had that dirty dirty in them, but he pulled out. he can really play the guitar, too, eric clapton, so just being around him and getting to know each other, you know, me and my life, bringing out the sounds and songs. it was just a natural progression. tavis: i ask this not to cast aspersions on you at all, but i have known some and artists over these 20 years to start out in one place, and what they ultimately want is crossover. it does not come any better than luther vandross. at a certain point in his career, after everybody adores him, he was trying to make that

crossover, and there was some stuff that he put out that i was not crazy about, because i could tell, but someone as soulful as you, -- where do you take your career? black people love you and always will be, but how do you get to a broader -- and to get there, does it mean that you have to compromise your soulfulness? >> khe sanh from "american gangster," a very soulful song, and crossover. it is about the instrumentation around this long. it would always be anthony, whether it is a pop record. there are things i have done plenty of. i do not think you can take that out of me, and that is what my black fans rolling with me and everybody else throughout the

world, they love the fact that i am a, and you can hear it, so i do not think i have to, you know, get rid of who i am or water it down. tavis: i ask this because of the artists, one of the dangers is it is hard to find people who are willing to be authentically who they are, and thinking in the transcendence that more will be opened up to us. >> do not get me wrong. there are times when i feel like coming here i am. i love country music. i love rock. i love all of that. so how do i do that so it makes sense of people do not think i am abandoning them? paul i would not be honest if i do not look over there in the

pop world and say that is not attractive, adele selling thousands of albums a week. she has been doing it for almost a year. that is attractive. not only am i a musician, but i am a musician and a family man. tavis: with another baby on the way. >> yes, and being a businessman, you what your time and growth and a legacy. going over there and getting it. tavis: when you say you love country, i know that about you, and when you said that, i had the idea of a movie. you all should listen to this. i think you would like this if you give it a try, a scene where his manager was going to bring the house lights down and said the mood. we all know the scene from the movie "ray."

could anthony hamilton to a country project? >> you know what? i think the whole project would take time. to let them know, walk on water. i think gradually, putting a few on an album. slowly. or just do a separate project. this is mike r&b project, and this is my country, this is my blues. >> it sounds like you have thought this out, not just an on-the-spot answer to the question. you have more to this out already. >> i have recorded a few songs. tavis: blues or country? >> both. is buddy guy all of that? i was in chicago about six weeks ago, and, as you know, in january every year, he plays at

a club in chicago, and i have been wanting to get to this club for years to see him. i realized he was actually in town, so i should not say this with a sponsor watching, but i rushed through the speech, got my check, and ran down. can i tell you, i have never had an experience -- when you talk about soulful, i have never experienced anything like that in my life watching buddy. >> and it is more so because he has been living with it. i know that is amazing. i love to see him. i love all of that, ma'am. -- man. beginning. tavis: -- b.b. king. tavis: what was it like working

with him? >> it was amazing. lady, lay across my big brass bed ♪ it was amazing. tavis: blues. could you put out a breeze out -- blues of bomb -- blues album that would work? >> yes. there are a few on the new record. the one that i did with a baby face, it is bluesy, very bluesy. tavis: speaking of this new one "back to love" -- >> i have a lot of songs, and i listened to the ones over and over again that i love. some of them i love today, and

tomorrow, i do not feel that strong. so i will continue to listen and see which ones continue to go over to the i do not think it is the one, so by the end, i have kind of figured it out. this is the story. and the rest of them, i will say, ok, i will put this on the next one. tavis: i am curious now that i think about this. since the project is called "back to love," did the narrative, after babyface or before? >> you know what? i did the song after babyface with another, and in had a kind of overall tone. tavis: you know why ask that, because of the love songs.

>> he will crack a joke on you. he is funny. we were in there, cutting up. we will look -- acting like boys every now and then, snowed in at lake tahoe. tavis: this one? >> i want to do it when people are excited about it. tavis: i saw that. amazing. >> thank you. maybe erykah badu. tavis: holler at me. i love anthony hamilton, as i said earlier. he is as soulful a guy and she would ever want to hear. he is the most soulful guy. if you have not been introduced to anthony hamilton, he is.

his album is called "back to love," and you will want to get it. thank you. doing that could >> yes, and i am up for a few awards for the image awards, so that is coming up. tavis: i am sure you will take comes and statues. >> a brochure. a pamphlet. tavis: good to have you here. that is our show. for next time, thanks for watching, and keep the faith. ♪ >> ♪ i do not know what to do ♪ >> for more information on today's show, visit tavis smiley at pbs.org.

tavis: hi, i'm tavis smiley. join me next time for a look at two of the oscar-nominated documentaries, from lucy walker. that is next time. we will see you then. >> every community has a martin luther king boulevard. it's the cornerstone we all know. it's not just a street or boulevard, but a place where your community to make every day better. >> and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> be more. >> be more. pbs. pbs.