good organization on the ground and that could bring donors in one direction or the other. who has the most to win or lose today? >> you look at michele bachmann. she's the front-runner here in iowa according to the polls. now that rick perry is in the race, he would have a strong showing in iowa. she needs a strong showing here to keep that front-runner status. tim pawlenty needs some really good news. he had a very disappointing fund-raising haul and a disappointing debate performance back in june in new hampshire. a better one on thursday night. he needs a very good story to tell to convince donors that he can be the first to go toe to toe with mitt romney once 2012 begins. >> and mitt romney has -- he raised almost $30 million this cycle. he still has almost $13 cash on hand and he has a personal fortune.

what's really interesting about rick perry that people out in the rest of america might not know is that he is a tremendously prolific fund-raiser. there are people who say he's the best fund raiser texas ever seen and the bushes come from texas. he's somebody who just by the power of his contacts is a threat already, isn't he? >> well, right. that's why a lot of people believe that he could be the eventual anti-romney, the alternative to romney once we get to february, march, april, because of that fund-raising prowess. but one thing to keep in mind in texas is a much different fund-raising rules. you don't have the federal campaign limits that you do when you're running for president of the united states. the most somebody could raise from a primary is $2,500 and $2,500 from the general election per donation. it's one of the obstacles to him making the move, could he raise the $40 million, $50 million he

needs to do before the new year begins to be competitive with mitt romney? obviously his team thought so. that's why they're in this field. he's going to be a tough fund-raiser and could be mitt romney versus rick perry at the end. we have a very, very long way to go. whoever ends up winning here tonight could end up having a say on how the race shakes out. >> first of all, presumably these folks who have been huge donors in the past would have their own set of contacts. maybe they could do sort of the bush model before where they had these bundlers. but couldn't these folks who are limited under federal law give significant amounts to the super pacs? >> right, the super pacs is going to be one of the best stories this whole campaign cycle. we thought this was all about the general election, but now all of these candidates, there's a pro mitt romney super pac.

there's a pro michele bachmann super pac. there's a pro ron paul super pac. we're going to see a tremendous amount of money spent from these super pacs during this primary season. so if you live in iowa, new hampshire, south carolina, you're going to see a lot of tv ads. >> thanks so much, mark murray. i know you'll keep us posted. i want to bring in richard goodstein, democratic strat jik, and republican strategist brent littlefield. brent, we just talked a lot about the fund-raising prowess of rick perry. but what else does he bring to the table? >> he brings a lot of credibility with fellow republican governors. they know him well and they like him. he also brings a degree of confidence. you see some of these other candidates, except for michele bachmann, struggling to gain that confidence on stage.

i don't think we have any problem there when it comes to rick perry. so i think he shakes up the field, it's fascinating that he's choosing to make this announcement today and will be interesting to see how it plays out tomorrow. >> people are going to be looking, as they were when barack obama was elected, for someone very different than barack obama. you could make the argument that rick perry is a lot different than the man in the white house right now. >> you know, i heard paul begala say that rick perry would be a fabulous candidate. if you thought george bush was a little too cerebral for you. it's true. rick perry is definitely different than barack obama. the question about rick perry is, can he really speak to and relate to people outside the core base? look, it's no coincidence he's going to south carolina. he spoke in alabama last night. again, even in texas, this jobs record of his is a loser, what

he's brought in is illegal immigrants taking low paying jobs or government jobs. this is not something that anything he did really had anything bearing on. so i think he's got a lot of explaining to do. is he going to go outside the fox news audience? if he does, i hope you get a good whack at him. >> let's talk about what's going on in ames, iowa. brent, what are you looking for when they announce the results around 6:00 tonight? >> i'm thinking about everybody that ate the greasy food at the state fair yesterday. >> this is just the start. >> i think there's going to be indigestion. i don't think you're going to see a lot of people switching to rick perry at the last minute. >> we should remind people that people can write in. >> that's correct. they can write in rick perry, sarah palin who showed up in iowa yesterday. i think that there are some candidates who spent a

tremendous amount of money on the straw poll. you look at someone like tim pawlenty, and the question is, is he going to get a return on that investment. and it remains to be seen. if they don't do well, it's going to hurt them quite badly as they come out of tomorrow. >> richard brought up sarah palin. she's walking around the cattle barn at the iowa state fair talking to the folks from "the des moines register." here's what she says. they asked her whether she would consider endorsing rick perry. oh, you know, the process hasn't even played itself out. so no on premature endorsements. and i haven't decided yet if i'm going to jump in or not yet. what do you make of that? >> you know, sarah palin, i pray that she gets in this race, because she's a source of fascination. the camera loves her, and remember when michele bachmann first started flying high, palin

said, we really need somebody with executive experience, clearly a dig at michele bachmann. now she said about rick perry, he should have been here in iowa. sarah palin loves the spotlight. i hope she gets in. i don't think she will. whether she'll endorse perry or not, i any that's a function of what it does for her. i think if it doesn't necessarily elevate her, she may choose to stay out and have her own following and keep it like that. >> gentlemen, here comes rick perry, heading to the podium. let's listen in on this official announcement. >> thank you very much. it is great to be at red state, but it's better to be the governor of the largest red state in america. [ applause ] sure good to be back in south carolina. i enjoy coming to places where people elect folks like nikki haley, true conservatives. [ applause ] and also where they love the

greatest fighting force on the face of the earth, the united states military! [ applause ] and i want to take a moment. i want to take a moment and ask you to just take a silence, think about those young navy s.e.a.l.s, the other special operators who gave it all in service of their country. just take a moment to say, thank you, lord, that we have those kind of selfless, sacrificial men and women. their sacrifice was immeasurable, and their dedication profound. and we will never, ever forget them. [ applause ]

i stand before you today as the governor of texas, but i also stand before you, the son of two tenant farmers. ray perry, who came home after 35 bombing missions over europe to work his little corner of land out there. and amelia, who made sure my sister and i had everything that we needed, including hand sewing my clothes until i went off to college. i'm the product of a place called paint creek. doesn't have a zip code. it's too small to be called a town along the rolling plains of texas. we grew dryland cotton and wheat. and when i wasn't farming or attending paint creek rural school, i was generally over at troop 48, working on my eagle scout award. [ applause ] and around the age of 8, i was

blessed -- didn't realize it, but i was blessed to meet my future wife, anita thigpen, at a piano recital. we had our first date eight years later and she finally agreed to marry me 16 years after that. nobody says i am not persistent. you know, there's no greater way to live life than with someone you love. and my first love is with us today, my lovely wife, anita. [ applause ] we're also blessed to have two incredible children, griffin and sidney. and they're also here with us today and our wonderful daughter-in-law, meredith. i would just like to introduce those, too. [ applause ] thank you.

you know what i learned growing up on the farm was a way of life centered on hard work and on faith and on thrift. those values have stuck with me my whole life. but it wasn't until i graduated from texas a&m and joined the united states air force flying c-130s all over the globe that i truly appreciated the blessings of freedom. paraphrase lincoln and reagan, i realized that the united states of america really is the last great hope of man kind. [ applause ] what i saw was systems of government that elevated rulers at the expense of the people. socialist systems that cloaked maybe in good intentions but were delivering misery and

stagnation. and i learned that not everyone values life like we do in america. or the rights that are endowed to every human being by a loving god. you see, as americans, we're not defined by class and we will never be told our place. [ applause ] what makes our nation exceptional is that anyone from any background can climb to the highest of heights. as americans, we don't see the role of government as guaranteeing outcomes, but allowing free men and women to flourish based on their own vision, their hard work, and their personal responsibility. and as americans, we realize that there is no taxpayer money

that wasn't first earned by the sweat and toil of one of our citizens. [ applause ] that's why we reject this president's unbridled fixation on taking more money out of wallets and pocketbooks of american families and employers and giving it to a central government. spreading the wealth punishes success, while setting america on course for greater dependency on government. washington's insatiable desire to spend our children's inheritance on failed stimulus plans and other misguided economic theories have given us record debt and left us with far too many unemployed. of course, now we're told we're in recovery. [ laughter ]

but this sure doesn't feel like a recovery to more than 9% of americans out there unemployed. or the 16% of the african-americans, 11% of hispanics in the same position or the millions that can only find part-time work or those that stopped looking for a job. 1 in 6 work eligible americans cannot find a full-time job. that is not a recovery. that is an economic disaster! [ applause ] you think about it, for those americans who do have full-time jobs, they aren't experiencing economic recovery with the rising fuel costs and the food prices that are going up. recovery is a meaningless word if the bank has foreclosed on your home, if you're under water on your mortgage or up to the max on your credit card debt.

those americans know that this president and his big spending, big government policies have prolonged our national misery, not alleviated it. [ applause ] and what do we say to our children? do we say, well, you know, y'all figure it out, don't worry. washington created 17 debt entitlement commissions in 30 years, but the fact of the matter is, they just didn't have the courage to make the decisions to allow you to have the future that you actually deserve. that washington wouldn't even make modest entitlement program reforms in this last debate, and the president even refused to lay out a plan for fear of the next election.

how can the wealthiest nation fail so miserably to pay its bills? mr. president, you cannot sell america off to foreign creditors. [ applause ] we cannot afford four more years of this rutterless leadership. last week that leadership failed. tax and spend and borrow agenda of this president led to the first-ever downgrade of credit rating of the united states of america. in reality, this is just the most recent downgrade. the fact is, for nearly three years, president obama has been downgrading american jobs, he's been downgrading our standing in the world, he's been downgrading our financial stability. he's been downgrading our

confidence. and downgrading the hope for a better future for our children. that's a fact! his policies are not only a threat to this economy, so are his appointees a threat. [ applause ] see, he stacked the national labor relations board with anti-business cronies who want to dictate to a private company, booing, where they can build a plant. no president, no president should kill jobs in south carolina or for any other state for that matter simply because they choose to go to a right-to-work state. [ applause ] you see, when obama administration is not stifling economic growth with

overregulation, they're achieving the same through their reckless spending. debt is not only a threat to our economy, but also to our security. america's standing in the world is in peril. not only because of disastrous economic policies, but from the incoherent muddle that they call foreign policy. our president has insulted our friends, and he's encouraged our enemies. thumbing his nose at traditional allies like israel. he seeks to dictate new boarders for the middle east, and the oldest democracy there, israel, while he's an abject failure in his constitutional duty to protect our border in the united states. [ cheers and applause ]

his foreign policy seems to be based on alienating our traditional allice and basing our domestic agenda on importing those failed western european social values. we don't need a president who apologizes for america. we need a president who protects and projects those values. [ cheers and applause ] it's pretty simple. we're going to stand with those who stand with us, and we will vigorously defend our interests, and those who threaten our interests, harm our citizens, we will simply not be scolding you. we will defeat you! [ applause ] our nation cannot, and it must not endure four more years of aimless foreign policy. we cannot endure more more years

of rising unemployment, rising taxes, rising debt, rising energy dependence on nations that intend us harm. it's time to get america working again. [ cheers and applause ] to get citizens -- to get our citizens working in good jobs and getting the government to working for the people again. you know, page one of any economic plan to get america working is to give a pink slip to the current residents in the white house. [ cheers and applause ] we just got to get back to the basic truths of economic success. as governor, i had to deal with the consequences of this national recession. in 2003, and again this year, my

state faced billions of dollars in budget shortfalls. but we worked hard. we made tough decisions. we balanced our budget. not by raising taxes, but by setting priorities and cutting government spending. it can and it must be done in washington, d.c. [ applause ] we have led texas based on some just really pretty simple guiding principles. one is don't spend all of the money! [ applause ] you know, two is keeping the taxes low and under control. three is you have your regulatory climate fair and predictable. four is reform the legal system so frivolous lawsuits don't

paralyze employers that are trying to create jobs. [ applause ] and over the years, over the years we followed this recipe to produce the strongest economy in the nation. since june of 2009, texas is responsible for more than 40% of all of the new jobs created in america. think about that. we're home to less than 10% of the population in america. but 40% of all the new jobs were created in that state. i cut taxes. i have delivered historic property tax reductions. i was the first governor since world war ii to cut general revenue spending in our state budget. we passed lawsuit reform, including just this last session, loser pays laws to stop

the frivolous lawsuits that are happening. [ applause ] and i know i've talked a lot about texas here in the last little bit. i'm a texan, and i'm proud of it. but first and foremost, i'm an incredibly proud american. [ cheers and applause ] and i know something. america is not broken. washington, d.c. is broken! [ applause ] we need balanced budgets, less regulation, our country's most urgent need is to revitalize our economy. stop the generational theft that is going on with this record debt. i came to south carolina because i will not sit back and accept

the path that america is on. because a great country requires a better direction. because a renewed nation needs a new president. [ cheers and applause ] it is time to get america working again, and that's why with the support of my family, and unwavering belief in the goodness of america, i declare to you today, as a candidate for president of the united states! [ cheers and applause ] amen, brother. thank you. thank you very much. >> perry! perry! perry! perry!

>> thank you. you know, it's time for america to believe again. it's time to believe that the promise of our future is far greater than even our best days behind us. it's time to believe again in the potential of private enterprise, set free from the shackles of overbearing federal government. and it's time to truly restore our standing in the world. renew our faith in freedom as the best hope for peace in this world that's beset with strife. the change we seek will never emanate out of washington, d.c. it will come from the wind swept priories of middle america. the farms and factories across this land. from the hearts and minds of the good hearted americans who will accept not a future that is less than our past.

patriots, patriots who will not be consigned to a fate of less freedom in exchange for more government. [ applause ] we do not have to accept our current circumstances. we will change them. we are americans! [ cheers and applause ] that's what we do. we roll up our sleeves, we go to work. we fix things. [ applause ] we stand up and proudly, proudly proclaim that washington is not our caretaker. and we reject the state that, in

margaret thatcher's words, she said a state that takes too much from us in order to do too much for us. we will not stand for that any longer. [ applause ] we're dismayed at the injustice that nearly half of all americans don't even pay any income tax. and the liberals out there are saying that we need to pay more. we are indignant about leaders who do not listen and spend money faster than they can print it. in america, the people are not subjects of the government, the government is subject to the people. [ applause ] and it's up to us. it is up to us to this present

generation of americans, to take a stand for freedom. to send a message to washington that we're taking our future back, from the grips of the central planners who would control our health care, who downgrade our future and micromanage our lives. it's time to limit and simplify the taxes in this country. [ applause ] we have to quit spending money we don't have. we need to get our fiscal house in order and restore our good credit. and we will repeal this president's misguided, one size fits all government health care plan immediately! [ applause ] we'll create jobs. we'll get america working again. we'll create jobs and build

wealth. we'll truly educate and innovate in science and engineering and math. we'll create the jobs and the progress that's going to be needed to get america working again. and i promise you this, i'll work every day to try to make washington, d.c. as inconsequential in your life as i can. [ applause ] and at the same time, we'll be free in our families and small business and states, from the burdensome and costly federal government so that those groups can create and innovate and succeed. i believe in america. i believe in her purpose and her promise. i believe her best days have not yet been lived. i believe her greatest deeds are reserved for the generations to come. and with the help and the

courage of the american people, we will get our country working again. god bless you and god bless the united states of america. thank you. [ cheers and applause ] >> rick perry, the conservative governor of texas, with about a half hour speech, officially announcing that he's getting into the race, and he hit all the things that we would expect to hear from a conservative, calling barack obama a tax, spend and borrow president, with a record debt and high unemployment. and promising to, as you just heard him, make washington, d.c. as inconsequential in your life as i can. speaking at the red state convention center there in south carolina. he's a guy who, frankly, is very successful on paper, at least on the jobs front. a quarter of -- as many as 30% to 50% of jobs in the country

were actually created in texas. the question is, what kind of jobs? and at what cost? texas ranks 47th in the country in state spending on schools. they're the highest in the country for the levels of toxic chemicals released into the environment, and can someone like him, the key question is, with such strong conservative rhetoric and conservative credentials, appeal to the broader american voter, particularly all the independents out there a republican will need to beat barack obama. let's bring in richard and brent. richard, what did you hear in candidate perry? >> i bet i wasn't the only person in your audience, chris, who at some point closed his or her eyes and thought if you just change the accent and the twang a little bit, this is george bush 2000. i mean, he's doubling down. he talked about balancing the

budget. bush couldn't talk about that, because he was inheriting a balanced budget from bill clinton. he talked about lower taxes, federal regulations, and dealing with tort reform. remember, it was -- that's what got us into the mess that barack obama inherited. do people not have amnesia in this country? do they not remember what we went through in 2008 and 2009 because the private sector was unregulated. so rick perry, and you point out about his record in connection with environmental protection, is that something he wants to bring to the suburbs of cleveland and detroit where all the swing voters are? he talks about education being something that's going to restore the promise of america. he's cutting the budget in texas on the back of students in texas. so chris, i have to tell you, again, it's an interesting speech. you talk about talking to the base and that red state audience.

again, when he goes out of the deep south and talks to people in swing state areas, he's going to have to sing a radically different tune. >> brent, is this the candidate we're going to see throughout the primaries or is he going to have to adjust if he's going to have a chance to beat barack obama, let alone get the nomination? >> i have breaking news for you after that speech, i don't think there's any chance that rick perry is going after the vote of richard. i'm confident to say that today here on your air. listen -- >> well, you know the problem for the republicans is this, that they have a very strong and active conservative base. the question is, will that fly with the people they need to win an election? >> chris,ky tell you i think the people in the detroit suburbs and the philadelphia suburbs would love to have that jobs record that governor perry just talked about and the number of jobs created in texas. detroit is hemorrhaging and has

listen hemorrhaging jobs. listen, i think the most important part of that speech from the governor of texas, who has been quite successful down there, despite other talking points that groups are pointing out right now, was the fact that he said page one of any economic plan needs to include a pink slip for the current occupants of the white house. remember, that's the whole administration that's pushed things like a trillion dollar stimulus package when they promised unemployment would not go above 8% and it soared up. the president has had a chance to try his programs. we had an all-democratic congress at the beginning of his term. he pushed through his programs and it wasn't worked. that's why we're seeing independents in droves leave the president right you. and once they hear a rick perry, they have a great opportunity to pick up those independents in the november election. >> well, brent, richard, it's good to talk to both of you. thanks for sticking around. let's go back to the iowa straw

poll right now. speaking right now, the iowa governor. >> debt is being racked up under the obama administration. who will make job creation a top priority and restore our state to economic both and prosperity? who has the strong and bold ideas that will beat barack obama in iowa and across america? [ applause ] iowans are hardworking people who expect the same from the candidates that they give themselves. today begins a long and hard toil towards the nomination. this road is filled with great opportunity. our country's founders and others who came before us have risen to the challenges of their time. whether it was during the great civil war that divided our

country or the threat to freedom posed by international terrorists, heroes have risen and answered the call to keep america strong and free. our great country faces grave threats today at home, as well as abroad. we case a ballooning debt and it threatens the fabric of this great and free country. it is clear america is on an unsustainable course. >> that is the iowa state republican chairman. as he continues to talk, the voting is under way in the iowa straw poll. joining me now from ames is a political columnist for "the des moines register." give us a little bit of color of what it's been like. >> it's like a carnival here, chris.

there are i would say well over 10,000 iowans wandering around the grounds at this big complex here at iowa state university. they're eating barbecue, listening to bands, they are hearing some political speeches. but it is a lot more of a carnival atmosphere than an average political event. >> the paper had an editorial today and i'm sure millions of dollars is being poured i'm. basically the straw poll is fun but don't make too much of it. >> i think people do make a little too much of it, considering there's no electoral significance for the straw poll. i don't think an event like this should have the power to drive candidates out of the race, but historically speaking, that's exactly what happens. the one real test here in ames is the candidate's ability to organize. you know, that they load people up on buses and bring them from

all over the state. they have to have the money to pay the ticket price for most of the people coming here. so people pay their own way, but most of the time the campaigns pay it. so it is a heavy lift for the campaigns and the campaigns that do well here are well positioned to go into the rigor of the caucus campaigns. >> there are are all the candidates, waving to the crime. give us a sense of what, though, this might mean, not within your state, but in the bigger picture in terms of the ability, especially the second tier candidates, to get a little buzz and generate some fund-raising. there you see rick santorum, you see ron paul. what does it mean for those types of candidates? >> well, i would love to put tim pawlenty into this category, as

well. this is a way to perform better than their poll results, to make a splash and show they can get people to come out here and support them. they give a lot of good buzz, but what happens is if they don't do well here, they will have spent a lot of resources. they have exhausted their campaigns and donor also back away from them if they don't do well here in ames. it is a very risky proposition for some of these candidates. >> even though she's not on the ballot there, we know people can write in, sarah palin's bus tour rolled into iowa. what can you tell us about that? >> yeah, sarah palin is not on the ballot here, you're right. she does have some volunteers frying to organize for her. i don't expect a big write-in vote for her. she did attract a lot of attention at the iowa state fair yesterday. she had huge crowds, not only of journalists, but well wishers coming up to support her.

she said she's not ready to make a decision about whether she's going to run for president or not. >> rick perry, i'm curious. i know that there are some supporters of his wearing rick perry t-shirts, although again, he's not officially on the ballot, but might he pick up a significant number of write-in votes? >> he, up like sarah palin, rick perry has had an organized write-in effort here at the straw poll. who knows how successful lit be? he has had a tv ad and radio ad paid for by supporters. how big of a turnout that will be today i don't know. but i think any sizable effort will get him some attention today, in addition to his obvious presidential announcement in south carolina. >> cathy, thanks for being with

us. we appreciate it. lots more ahead, because we still have hours worth of voting in the straw poll there. we have the announcement from rick perry, some other candidates now are going to be speaking there. coverage of the iowa straw poll continues next on msnbc, the place for politics. ease of cooking is very important to me. perdue perfect portions is great on busy nights. five chicken breasts individually wrapped, so you can use what you want and put the rest in the refrigerator. and the best part is it only takes 10 minutes. it's my go-to meal. [ dr. ling ] i need to get the results from the m.r.i. see if the blood work is ready. review ms. cooper's history. and i want to see katie before she goes home. [ male announcer ] with integrated healthcare solutions from dell,

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we're back and we have live coverage from the iowa straw poll. we're awaiting rick santorum to come up to the main stage. they're running about ten minutes behind. more crowds have been filing into the convention center, and they have taken a little bit of a break. let's talk about the man who isn't there, mitt romney. surprisingly enough, the republican party's top presidential front runner not in iowa this weekend.

instead he's on the stump in new hampshire. the former massachusetts governor won that straw poll four years ago. this time around, he's decided to take his campaigning elsewhere. let me bring in garrett haake, an nbc news campaign embed with the romney campaign. let mess get your reaction from the campaign to the now joining of the 2012 race by rick perry just a few minutes ago. >> it's been interesting. the campaign has faced a number of questions, almost half the questions last night were about governor perry. all along, mitt romney has said he was a fine governor and would be a fine entry into the race. i think the real fight now will be to determine who is the more pro business, pro jobs candidate, with governor romney campaigning more on his private sector experience and governor perry campaigning on new job creation he oversaw as texas governor. >> and there are so many

big-time republican donors who have been sitting back and watching, who have not made a commitment and we're talking with rick perry and mitt romney, two of the most successful fund-raisers in race. >> sure. and romney is out in front on the fund-raising end of it. he was able to raise funds both for his campaign and for his super pac restore our future, which filed a $12 million return earlier this past month. governor perry being in texas will have no problem tapping into those donors down there. >> the word is he wants to raise $10 million in the next couple of weeks. let me ask about what mitt romney said earlier this week that caused controversy, about corporations being people. i know he's now trying to explain that comment. here's what he said last night. let me play it. >> it's really astonishing to me that the obama folks would try and argue that businesses aren't people. what do think they they are? little men from mars?

it's -- businesses are comprised of people. it's amazing to me that the democrats and president obama are so far behind the times. they're locked in the '60s to the to understand that when they tax business, they tax people. businesses are comprised of people. >> yeah, i'm wondering does the campaign see this as a misstep? >> they really don't. they are doubling down on this idea. the campaign is perfectly happy to have a fight with the president over the idea who is more pro business and pro jobs. as you just heard governor romney say, if you work for a big company or even a small company, you're part of a corporation. so they're happy to have this fight and they're seeing that the dnc released an ad today hitting governor romney for just those statements. >> we also have in another box rick santorum, very conservative senator from pennsylvania. we're going to hear from him coming up.

but one more question to you, for people not follow thing so closely. we mentioned that governor romney won the straw poll four years ago. why didn't he get in this time? >> they have a different strategy. the campaign will tell you that in the last election they were trying to raise governor romney's name recognition. this time around they say he's well enough known. they don't want to spend their money chasing votes that don't count towards the nomination process. they would rather campaign in iowa later and win those caucus votes to get him closer to the nomination. >> garrett haake, thanks so much. good to see you. let's go back to iowa. here's one of the long shots, to say the least, in this campaign and that is former pennsylvania governor rick santorum. he's somebody with a very conservative record. conservative enough that a lot of democratic fund-raisers helped the other side when he ran for re-election. he did not win.

he object has about $148,000 in the last filing in his campaign war chest. so a good showing is very important to him here, although he said this morning right here on msnbc, he would be happy with fourth or fifth place. that would keep him in the race. let's listen to rick santorum. >> as a positive vision for the future of this country, because there is a positive future for this country, if we do what our founders did -- believe in the american people. believe in the goodness of the american people, free people, who government says yes, like in our declaration of independence, which founded this great country, transformed the world because for the first time in the history of the world we had governments that were not run from the top down. not where you had the divine right of kings, where people were given -- the king was given rights by god and then spread the wealth around.

no, our founders believed in a country where we hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal and endowed by our creator with certain inalienable rights. [ applause ] and it was that belief in free people that transformed the world for the first time we said we were going to have a government whose job under this constitution was limited to protecting life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. you know, many people have said the social issues are not important in this campaign. well, i've gn out and talked about all the issues. yes, even the social issues as you saw on thursday night. i will not back down on the sanctity of life and the integrity of the american family. but what people of iowa recognize is america is a moral enterprise.

for the constitution to work, it had to be based on something deeper, something grounded, it came from a creator and the creator has rules, nature and nature's god. that was another phrase in the "declaration of independence." they understood that through reason and through faith we could build a strong country from the ground up with a moral society. john adams said our constitution was made for a moral and religious people. it is holy and adequate for the governance of any other. that is the mission of america. to suggest that the republican party, that we can be a party about just tax cuts and spending cuts and not about strong families and strong faith and strong faith communities, you don't understand, iowa and you don't understand america.

ladies and gentlemen, as you saw from the debate the other night, this campaign is about scratching and clawing for every little bit of recognition we can get. i had to wave my hand and ask for recognition. this is the little engine that could campaign. they told us we had no chance, all they did, all the press does is talk about the shiny engines that keep coming by or maybe -- maybe will come by and help, maybe we'll hitch up and start working hard. we didn't wait around. we started working hard. we started going out and have been to iowa more than any other candidate, been to new hampshire more than any other county, we've been to south carolina more than any other candidate. why? because i can't to be

accountable to you and i want the people who are going to make the decision, the first cut of narrowing this field and selecting a president to get a chance to look me in the eye, to kick my shins in the tires, and hear from me exactly my vision for this country and answer your questions. today is an opportunity, ladies and gentlemen, to strike a blow for the people of the heartland. this is the heartland campaign, not just about wall street, but about all the issues you care about from national security, as you heard me talk about on thursday night, to morally culture issues to, yes, getting this economy going. and even that. look at the plan i put forward. it's about the heartland. it's about energy independence and uses the resources here in iowa, the resources in pennsylvania, the resources in alaska and offshore and energy security for this country that is desperately needed if we're going to fight for the vision.

i grew up in a little steel town outside of pittsburgh, pennsylvania. my grandfather, when he came to this country, came to a little town right outside of somerset, pennsylvania, where i announced for president. he came to this country because he wanted to be free and he believed in the goodness of america and america that believed in him. america that believed in him and what he could do to pro-provide for himself and his family and the god he served. and for 30 years he clawed his way for my freedom in the deep mines of western pennsylvania until he was 72 years old, mining coal in the deep mines. i'm here today standing on his shoulders because i believe right now this country is in jeopardy of losing its freedom. it's in jeopardy because of one man and one bill, obama care.

obama care is the single greatest threat to one generation's charge of handing this country off to the next generation freer, safer, and more prosperous. margaret thatcher when he left the prime ministership in england said she was never able to accomplish what ronald reagan accomplished, never able to turn the tides of socialism, and that's what we're talking about here. never able to turn it back in britain like reagan was, but reagan did, and getting americans to believe in themselves, not some government official to take care of them. but what thatcher said, she was never able to turn it around and she's pegged it right on, the british national health care system. i was in the green room at fox just a couple days before the vote on obama care. they decided to jam it down the throats of the american public

and i was with juan williams and i said to juan, what are you doing? you guys are committing political suicide by forcing this down the throats of the american public when they don't want it. and he said, well, let me tell you what the obama administration told me, quote, we believe obama, we believe that americans love entitlements, and once we get them hooked on this entitlement, they will never let it go. >> and rick santorum hitting one of the things you're going to hear over and over and over again in the coming months of this campaign, and that is about health care. one of the signature pieces of legislation brought forth by barack obama and now being fought by the entire republican field. to say that we h. we has an up hill battle in front of him, rick santorum, is an understatement. in a recent poll he got about 2% of republican voters.

39% had never even heard of him. he has sir chully no fund-raising money on hand. he's been hitting a lot of social conservative issues, though, and has been getting some support from social conservative organizations, even though none of them have handed out endorsements yet. we're going to continue to follow the straw poll today in ames, iowa. rick santorum wrapping up. we have a lot more to come.