bureaucrats are not smart enough to know how to spend your money. it's based on the principle of individual liberty. we get our rites in a natural way or got-given way. our life and our liberty. we ought to be able to keep the fruits of our labor under those circumstances. it's a blessing, it's a help. the money would be spent more wisely. and the al case of credit would be the same thing. to their friends in the bubble formation and their friends when they need their bailout. people who don't want to speculate in the stock market, and they want to assume

responsibility and save money. what do they do? put their money in a krflt d. bernanke laughs at people and they say that's unfortunate, but we have to take care of those who are going to stimulate the economy and give the money to the bankers. so what we need the allocation of credit should come from the marketplace and people should be encouraged, but there's no encouragement today. they say we'll take care of the elderly when we retired and have social security benefits. at the same time they're wishing for and deliberately debase the currency, which is a moral and economic issue. so the people receiving benefits right now, are they keeping up with the cost of living? >> no. don't worry about it. but what if your inflation -- that's congressman ron paul speaking in minnesota.

i want to britain in john ralston he's interviewed all four candidates. john, it was in second position four years ago, but if the polls going in are accurate, that's not where he'll end up later tonight. >> i'm not so sure about that. from the numbers we've been getting early on, there's been precinct numbers that have been release released he's probably going to win bigger than he did here in 2008, maybe with 55% of the vote or so, a very tight race between john mccain and ron paul, between newt gingrich and paul right now. paul has a slight advantage now, i think, because some areas in rural nevada, where he's very strong have yet to report.

>> john, speaking of governor romney, it would appear then that the not concerned about the poor comment in the end was not a serious blow in nevada, and you interviewed him after that statement. i think i saw an interview with you, you were sort of taken aback in a pleasant way that very quickly he acknowledged having misspoken. >> i was stunned, but yes, in a pleasant way when he did that, but it's clear what happened, right? his campaign or romney himself realized he can't leave that out there, saying it was taken out of context wasn't working, so we immediately said i misspoke. once in a while i'm going to make a mistake. the problem he has is it's not in the republican caucus, but the fall, right? when the democrats will put up a lot of ads with that sound bite and they won't put up the part unfortunately for me from my program where he said i misspoke. they'll use it to create a

mosaic, a narrative that mitt romney is out of touch, the wealthy guy from bain capital who makes $20 million a year, who is not concerned with the very poor. we could even write them ourselves right now, couldn't we? it would be easy. >> yawn, months ago when i was looking at the colonel garr, ply simplistic analysis was to say, well, nevada, a state that nominated sharron angle, i would imagine a conservative candidate will capture the gop nod. what has happened in the last two years if in fact it's governor romney who's your nominee from nevada? >> it's an interesting point. some of the entrance and exit pollings shows this is a conservative electoral that's voting in this republican caucus, so what happened? how do they nominate a tea party darling, as you mentioned two years ago and now go to mitt romney? the answer is it has nothing to do with ideology s. i don't think as much as it does with

hominy who is the only one that's essentially played here the last four years. he spent money on the ground, spent a ton of money on tv. the only other person who spent money is ron paul. he as been on tv a little bit, but the romney super pac, and listen, romney has the troops on the ground. he's been ready for this for a long time. >> the mormon vote is substantial in number and monolithic. >> it is. it is certainly monolithic. some of those entrance/exit polls show about 90% of the mormon vote. that's exaggerated a little in that only about 7% of the population is mormon, but disproportionate in the republican caucus, probably about a quarter of the vote. again those polls -- that's a nice base to start from, but that's not why he's wins so big. he has so much money and so much organization here compared to the rest of the candidates. >> john ralston, thank you, we appreciate the time.

he mentioned some vote totals that his sources have been telling him about. what he's reporting is not official and we've not been able to verify it, and we intend to stand by the nbc policy to not project a winner until the doors are scheduled to khaled. while ron paul was speak, steve co core knacki. >> and michael said, yeah, but know people are listening. >> he's been saying it for a very long time and i took away something that's significant. he's talking about cutting a trillion in one year. you know the old washington trick. we do it over ten years. what he's talking about is a fundamental change in the way the government manages its money. that resonates with lot of

voters. i've said for a long time i think there's a synergy that captures that tea party and that occupy wall streetesque feel on the economic side, includes why you see those 20-year-olds galvanizing, 1,000-plus college kids in an auditorual on a saturday night? >> he seems to be the only candidate that's made a play for the youth vote. he's done well in iowa and new hampshire, for example, among youth voters, though i would be curious to see in terms of nevada how that helps in terms of his goal of doing better in the caucus. the last cycle, the republicans didn't make the effort to go after the youth vote, because there was the assumption that president obama would get the youth vote, but what pew is reporting is that in the course of the last four years, young voters, millennials are becoming more frustrated about the role of government.

ron paul's message really resonates. they don't see government working as much as -- the sort of optimistic about. >> it sounds like the speech he's been delivers for a long time and he'll keep delivering it for a lost time. >> the most interesting thing to me was this. did you make up your mind in 2011 or the month of january. just 3% went to ron paul. all of his voters have been with him, because they've heard the speech. the speech resonates with them. he's not jab been his opponents. he's -- he's not going to bring on a lot of people as the campaign goes along. steve kornacki thank you very much. karen and michael will be back with us after at break. chris matthews will have coverage of all the results starting at 8:00 p.m. eastern.

first we'll get the latest from the las vegas strip and talk about what's coming up after nevada. you're watches msnbc's special live coverage of the nevada gop caucuses. ♪ ♪ what started as a whisper every day, millions of people choose to do the right thing. there's an insurance company that does that, too. liberty mutual insurance. responsibility. what's your policy? i'm here to unleash my inner cowboy. instead i got heartburn. hold up partner. prilosec can take days to work. try alka-seltzer.

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welcome back to msnbc ease special live coverage of the nevada caucus. we're getting closer to the moment where results of the first in the west contest will be officially released. as we await that, joining us this hour, or panel karen finney

and msnbc political analyst michael steele, and matt lewis is a senior contributor to "the daily caller." but first we want to hit the vegas strip where of the campaigns are get ready for the news. peter alexander is following the romney campaign. ron mott is with the gingrich campaign. romney has been afforded secret service protection now. i must tell you, watching television from the sofa, he looks more presidential. there's a subliminal effect i think that takes place with this. >> reporter: yeah, i think it definitely does add valuable, his campaign may say it makes him look more presidential, but it also poses a big challenge. we traveled with them the last six weeks, and i noticed yesterday when they were in sparks, nevada, it's more challenging for him to get up close and personal with his supporters, as they gather to hopefully shake hands, hand over

a baby to take pictures with. it causes the potential for grandmothers to get nudged accidentally. for a campaign that's so meticulous -- recognize when we flew in on their charters one of the advance guys even pulled the red carpet out beneath the staircase, because they didn't want it to appear as if he was some imperial list arriving. they're specification to detail. while it makes him look more presidential, he's also ability to interact with the individuals and not appear out of touch. >> in other words, the buffer that comes with it makes him that much more inaccessible, and i'll say authenticity have become an issue for the romney campaign. >> the challenge is to be an everyman to relate to the conservatives, to the middle-class americans throughout this country.

his strongest support has come from wealthy voters, his weaker support has come from those who make the least, so he really has to create that relationship with average americans, and obviously with the secret service protection, it can be a little more different to do that. >> peter, thank you for your report. let's go to ron mott. i look at the calendar ahead. if not tonight, when? can they look to a particular state and see pre-super tuesday, that's a state we can circle. >> i'm not sure they're looking beyond. there's six other states that are going in february. i think michael steele pointed out pretty well they're counting on super tuesday, march 6th, to really turn this thing around for them. month is an object, they have to start picking their spots. i think you'll see on super tuesday, he's got georgia, obviously his home state, he should do well there. neighboring tennessee, you might see the speaker spend a lot of

time in ohio, and if he's able to put out a victory that could turn everything around. the risk to that kind of strategy if they're not going to ignore the six states caucuses in primary races here, but the risk is the narrative changes every day. conceivably going into march 6th we could see gingrich sitting on the one victory, and if if he runs the table romney may have nine victories. who knows what voters will think about the electable of speaker gingrich at that point. there's a risk to that. he obviously has a money issue. >> great observation. ron, thank you. nevada has the worst unemployment rate and one of the worst housing markets -- what are democrats doing to get their message to voters? joining us from las vegas is the congressman javier becerra of

california. the economy is not out of the woods yet, congressman. we know that. but in particular nevada still getting stung, which makes it a difficult prize for the democrats in the fall unless something changes in that state. >> michael, you're right. that's why i think someone like mitt romney who said we should let the foreclosure process work its way and have more nevadaens and americans lose their homes will not play well in november. i think that's why the president's creates jobs and -- will help, compared to mitt romney's remark about -- having trump be an endorser recently, and so i think the contrast is going to become very evident should mitt romney become the nominee. >> governor romney said, and i'm paraphrasing, the housing market, of primarily concern, it's got to the hit bottom before it can bounce up. do you buy into that characterization?

>> what he forgets too often, it seems he's talking about americans hitting the bottom. i don't think most of us believe that. that's why the president put together a program that is around a million americans, homeowners keep their homes, and what he's trying to do now is get the banks to finally participate the way they promised to, so we can see more homeowners hold onto their homes. >> to be fair to governor romney, i don't think he's praying for them to bottom out. i think he's making the observation that the market is not going to turn unless we reach that point. after we reach that point, then we can legitimately be on the path to recovery. >> true, but the difficulty is this -- how you take people on that glide path has a lot to do with how people recover.

and what the president is trying to say is that there's a lot of very responsible homeowners that will hit bottom if we do what mitt romney says, if they were given a chance to renegotiate what are still high interest rates on loans when right now interest rates are at the lowest level inonto their homes, so the president is saying there's no reason why -- we bailed them out, now it's time to participate in proelgts those responsible homeowners. >> joe velazquez of the latino alliance pac made an observation, that they don't -- rather, in a handful of states they just need to cut in ever so slightly and they can change the balance of the 2012 election. your response to that is what, sir? >> in a way that's right. the difference, of course, is that every election year the

size of the latino vote grows everywhere. i think your comment about authenticity and the problems that mitt romney has in looking authentic will hurt him in the latino community's well. >> thank you very much, congressman congress m congressman becerra. matt, allow me to begin with us and we'll pick up with where my conversation ended with the congressman. is it up for grabs that it could make inroads? 2012? >> i think it can make inroads. i don't think they'll win the majority this time around, but i definitely think it's up for grabs. i think it depends on how republicans portrayed themselves. i think it's very important for hispanics to realize there are a lot of issues where republicans and where conservatives are really on the same, you know, on the same path, very much

simpatico there, and also how they talk about immigration, stressing the need for i would say more legal immigration. so i definitely think it's possible, but a lot of it is messaging. >> i saw newt gingrich out on the stump, and he addressed the subject, something that cost him with the hardcore of the base. yet, as i heard him and thought he's losing points with the base, i said what gingrich is saying is what would help him in a general election. >> absolutely. i would submit he didn't lose as much as people would think with the base, not like perry did when he came out. their positions are fairly similar, but when you look at the swath of the vote and the broughts in, yeah, we can cherry pick here and there, and cobble what we need to offset obama's strength in a state, but in two years? four jeers? that dynamic changes

dramatically, as i want as chairman, the party needs to get outside its comfort zone, get to people in a language that they understand, communicate in a real sense, what conservatism means to them. the value of that connection is so important. we can't wait, as we always do, ten months, 12 months out from an election. we need to demonstrate that ongoing from cycle to cycle with real effort. if we don't do it, if mitt romney doesn't do it, if he doesn't get comfortable having that conversation, we won't be able to cherry pick those a bit. >> and i might be wrong, i thought i saw you emoting for lack of a better word when i made my observation about the secret service. did that occur to you as always? >> absolutely. there's always a tension, both on the candidate's side and the white house side, and there's always that tension, you're trying to figure out the candidate, the secret service is trying to figure out how to protect the protectee, but remember the voters experience

when you go to an event with secret service, there's different procedures when you check in. it all kind of reinforces that narrative, that it feels less like they're connecting with the candidate. i think that's part of why you've seen in the romney events they try to put a lot of real people, you know, in the background behind him. that's one of the ways they'll get around that. >> matt lewis, if i was gingrich campaign, why request protection. >> by the way, herman cain was actually the first. it didn't help them out. but -- >> well -- >> speaking of gingrich. think what he has to do is clear. the whole month of february is a public relations problem, but not a delegates problem. he has to talk about the delegate race. he'll be picking up delegates as we go. at the end of the day, mitt romney may have six or seven states under his belt, but he's only going to have a fraction of

the 1,144 delegates that he will need to actually be the nominee. >> there's been all this conversation about how there's only one debate in the month of february. correct me if i'm wrong, more delegates will be selected in february than in february. we're in a more important month. >> but it will happen one night in march. >> remember at this point so much of the game is about the media game, about the perception of momentum -- >> part of the spin that gingrich will probably put out too is look at the number of people voting, so, for example, 400,000 registered republicans in nevada, only a fraction will caucus. a lot of them -- maybe 5,000 or 10,000 people will be voting. >> that's a good point. >> that's a point that he should probably bring up. >> hold that thought.

we'll ask them what the future holds. plus wee go inside the numbers about who is voting and why they're coming out. you're watching msnbc's special coverage of the nevada gop caucuses. look! the phillips' lady!

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msnbc's special live coverage of the nevada caucus rolls on straight ahead. tomorrow morning don't forget to join david gregory for "meet the press." he'll be speaking with former house speaker newt gingrich. more from nevada as we await the results of the gop caucuses. you're watching msnbc.

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the zero gas, 100% electric nissan leaf. innovation for the planet. innovation for all. welcome back to msnbc's live coverage of the nevada caucus. i'm michael smerconish. we're moving to the big moment. the first in the west of this nominating season, romney hoping for a big win. we're getting some insight on what's on the minds of nevada republicans, as they headed into the caucuses earlier today. msnbc's tamron hall is here with the voice of the voters. >> nevada is the first state in this contest that has a significant population of mormons. as you know, mitt romney is

mormons and he's getting substantial support from that group tonight the the largest number of voters, 27% are property assistants, but about the same number, 26% are mormon. and there are some interesting differences emerging for mormon voters in today's caucuses. among them, the economy is the most important issue. for 65% compared to just about half for non-mormons. the federal budget deficit was more important. and take a look at this. voting for a candidate who can beat president obama was most important for both mormons and non-mormons. electability yet again a big deal. but mormon voters were more likely to emphasize the importance of a candidate's moral character. take a look at that number there. 32% to just 15% to others.

there was no real difference on a candidate's experience, but when it comes to conservative credentials non-mormons placed more than mormons on that issue. so we'll keep an eye on all these numbers, michael, and bring you more information through the night. >> thank you, tamron hall. newt gingrich is vowing to stay in the race until the convention. this despite a loss in florida. joining us this evening from nevada is the former nevada goch chair and current ging ri67 supporter sue lowden. has he lost the big mo? it seemed like he -- but it's been downhill ever since. >> well, he's the comeback kid. he's been down and out once or twice before. i'm sure he's planning to make a big comeback. >> tamron hall showed us -- and

she stressed the economy, debt and electability on the minds of your fellow nevadaens any surprises in that? >> not at all. i was a presignature and site manager, so i heard firsthand from people who got up and spoke at our precincts. the economy is very much on everybody's mind here. we're the highest unemployment, the highest in foreclosure. people are really hurting here, and they spoke about that in the caucus. they also spoke about electability a lot in our caucus today. >> i recognize your state has been hard-hit i'm won't serious, has that economic message, will that have to change? i'm thinking the fact that 243,000 jobs were added in the last month. the dow had its best close since 2008, and nasdaq had its best clo since december of 2000.

all of a sudden the dynamics appearing to be shirting. >> you're absolutely right. everyone is delighted that the numbers are on the uptick, but here in nevada we haven't felt those numbers yet. we're the last probably to feel it. as the nation gets better economically, people start coming back to las vegas, coming back to nevada. tourism in our number one economy. we just haven't felt it yet. is your support for the former house speaker dependent upon you seeing a path where he can secure the gop nomination? i'm asking that, because if tonight goes the way as folks seem to think it might go with a romney victory. at some point i would think the supporters would have to say, let me look at the calendar and convince myself there is a path toward victory. what meant process are you going through? >> there's never a question that governor romney wasn't going to

win. there was a state he won big in. i was the chairman of the republican party in 2008. he won big. there was no question he was going on come in and win again. the question is who will come in in second, because our delegates are proportional for the first time ever. whoever wins places and shows tonight will go home with a pocket full of delegates. that's very important with the delegate count. yes, we are looking at the future and where he can win, remember what's coming in in march. tennessee, oklahoma, texas, texas would be a very big win for the speaker, especially since governor perry came out in favor of the speaker. >> sue lowden, thank you so much for your time. michael steele, maybe i ask you a question i was just putting to our guest. is the message against the obama white house now going to have to change by the gop candidates? i ticked off just what's in today's news.

it's headed in the right direction for all americans, we hope. >> so the narrative that has been built for the last several months, what now if unemployment continues to guideline? >> i think that's a very good question. from my perspective, the gop doesn't have anything to worry about here. i still think you make the arguments, you look america in the high and say we're excited for those americans who got back into the marketplace, but let's have the real conversation about the fact that we still have an underemployment situation, still a lot of people who stopped looking. we have policies that we want to put in place that this organization has ignored, to really begin to bring the economy back full-throated for those people who have given up and stopped looking. so i think the message is still there. romney, gingrich and others have to continue to pound that point.

24 isn't about whether you like or don't like the president. it has to do with policies that have taken america and put it on the wrong track. we want to move it on the right track. >> i heard governor romney say earlier today, perhaps it was yesterday, that it should not have taken so long, presupposing we're on the right tack. that's not going to cut it. >> you can't say coulda, woulda, shoulda. that's what obama said making the beginning arguments. the party has to talk about we have conservative principles that are economically sound, fundamental, not how the democrats want to talk, trickle down and all that craziness. it's sound policies that talk to small big owners. >> here's the problem i think the republican party has been increase gill. we're talking about 3.7 million jobs in the last 23, 24 months meaning the president can begin to make the argument we're moving in the right direction. again the policies he and the

democrats put in place are moving us in this direction, v. this time in 2008 we lost 63,000 job. so the point being when we had the republican policies in place, that's how we got into this mess, we're finally getting our way out of this mess, but we can't change course. that's going to be key to the president's message. >> if you had the policies against the democrat-controlled congress, so that's also a big difference. president bush got everything he wanted. >> but and now we're talking about small government republicanism, and the kinds of policies that got us the congress that stood in the doorstep, stoods in the way of some of these things that the government wants to do, which is why you have the fight on health care, cap and trade, a number of policies. those are still legitimate arguments. >> speaking of issues that may be part of the electric con, could it be that the planned

parenthood/komen smackdown becomes an issue. >> i think it will be. >> me too. >> i think it will be an issue. 300,000 abortion by an organization in the course of a year is nothing to blink at or ignore. >> i get the legitimate argument about women's health and services -- the legitimate services that are provided, but there is still that argument to be made about funding and how those dollars are spent particularly with respect to this issue. >> but very clearly, as folks pointed out. this is where it came back and bit komen, planned parenthood is very careful about thousand they spend those dwlars. those dollars go directly to women's breast health services. that politicization is what really angered people. >> can you see this issue as emerges as part of what's -- >> i think the komen issue will fade away. a lot of things will happen between now and the general election, so specifically i think komen will disappear

unless something else happens. but i do think it's very interesting, barack obama, you know, held -- you know, killed osama bin laden. so for a lot of people he's won over -- at least he has a very good argument that he's a strong foreign policy president, national security. the economy's improving, so it seems like that's going in the right direction. all of a sudden we're fighting these cultural wars. i think the biggers issue is catholic charities where president obama is essentially forcing them to go against their conscience, to provide, you know contraceptives and other more concerning products for people who work for them. >> this is why i brought it up. i can see these sort of social issues being used to drive the gop base in the fall. i have to stop it there, because i have to take a time-out. we're waiting for the final

numbers, but first we'll see where rick santorum is tonight, far from the vegas strip. no surprise there. what's next for the man who won iowa. you're watching msnbc's special coverage of the nevada gop caucuses. ♪ what started as a whisper every day, millions of people choose to do the right thing. there's an insurance company that does that, too. liberty mutual insurance. responsibility. what's your policy? there's nothing better. our mission is to make sure when you crack open that bottle of sam adams, you're getting the freshest beer you can possibly get. if it's not fresh, we buy it back. we spend so much time selecting the ingredients and using traditional brew processes. we want to make sure everybody gets a fresh sam.

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rick santorum is setting sights on colorado. that's the next stop in the presidential contest. mitt romney will be watching returns from las vegas, while

santorum will be in greeley, colorado. i'm joined by the embess andrew rafferty. it would seem he needs a crustian conservative base. he didn't get that, we don't think, in the state of nevada. though we don't know that yet. >> reporter: his message on social issues resonates so well. interesting, he was up in minnesota a few days, and the spot he chose to kick off the campaign is about ten miles from northwest iowa. he ended up so well on caucus night. ever since then theres been that fevor around him, and it'sen an achilles' heel. >> what kind of arm twisting do you think is going on between former speaker gingrich and

santorum in terms of one or the other bailing. >> behind the scenes some of the santorum advisers are saying, we're going to wait this out. newt gingrich has a history of being a time bomb. he can at any moment say something that could put him in trouble with the republican base. so we're playing a waiting game. whether you're looking a at the functionally or a delegate countwise. andrew rafferty, thank you for your report. what's bringing caucus voters out to vote tonight? what's driving them? what issues are driving nevada's republican electorate? joining us on the phone is laura myers, on the ground following the caucus. what has surprised you thus far today? >> i'm a bit surprise that newt gingrich and ron paul are duking it out for number two.

everyone always expected romney to win, but it looks like a pretty big win it looks like before the official returns are coming in. >> the entrance surveys that we have done suggests and maybe unsurprisingly the debt is driving people to vote, the economy is driving people to vote. tamron hall also reported there had been a strong showing among activists. i get that was all predictable in nevada? >> yeah, it really was. what may be the unpredictable part is, i think since florida, romney has started to get some of these people and conservatives who might have gone for newt to get behind him. you're seeing that in the entrance polls. romney has won pretty much every single group, the only groups he hasn't won i think are the very lowest income groups and the youngest voters who went to

paul. >> laura miers. >> very much so, going to the entrance myers, do you attribute that to a favorability factor, that they want to win this thing? >> very much so. this look at the quality of the candidates and romney won 74% of those people that make that their top quality in candidate. >> laura myers, thank you. appreciate it. >> thank you. >> laura myers' report is not official and the sources have not been confirmed but final thoughts from two great guests, karen finney and michael steele.

i'm going to drop a bomb on the conversation. i talked previously how i thought the komen-planned parenthood issue is an issue that could go through the fall. >> i think president obama has taken it off the table, between osama bin laden and successes in security and foreign policy. the women vote is going to be important. the choice issue, though, i think in particular, what we're seeing on the democratic side is a harsh gop measure at the state level that is actually bringing women back and recognizing the important -- getting them more engaged. it's going to be a serious conversation with women in the

general election. >> michael steele, i look at the dynamic shaping up and i wonder if on the mind of president netanyahu is the electoral time line. perhaps it suits his interests. it would make our presidential candidate more difficult if it's not lockstep with the egyptian preside israeli president. >> whether it's a preemptive move, it's going to weigh in on the conversation that our candidates have on the republican side and the president has with the american people and i think that right to karen's point, the president has chips in his pocket. the success that he's had, the backing and support that republicans have given him on foreign policy will be able hard to create a point of position.

so foreign policy may be an april issue rather than an october issue. >> matt, go ahead and weigh in. >> if you look at the involvement in the middle east, it's nothing but trouble. even ronald reagan, a phenomenal president, jimmy carter, started off with a very successful camp david accord, ends up with the hostages being taken in iran. it's fraught danger. president obama has gotten off to a very good start in terms of foreign policy it could be who lost iran and it could be his legacy. >> karen finney, thoughts about where we stand right now in all of this? >> i expect that we will see

mitt romney coming out the winner. i've been able to prove myself in all of these places. i don't see it going anywhere but that narrative will be hammered home. >> is it possible one of the reasons why no one is going to drop out soon is they are having fun? >> they are having the time of their life. >> listen, these things have been crafted perfectly for these candidates. yes, money is an issue and messaging can be a problem. right now what we're seeing that i like is a former rnc chair. the base is engaged. they have their fingerprints on this thing and i think you'll see more of that. it's not over. it's just begun. we roll out of vegas and into colorado and you think it suits

the party's interests? >> absolutely. >> again, i think the turnout issue is going to continue to be a problem. you're not increasing your turnout in the way that the democrats are. the longer this goes, the more track tured your party is becoming and i don't see newt any more magnamanous. >> matt lewis, your final thoughts? >> romney wins big but gingrich has to argue. delegates are what matters. the fight goes on. >> the fight definitely goes on. >> michael, you know best of all, behind the scenes, what kind of jockeying for position is taking place for santorum saying to newt, it's me, not you, and vice versa. >> their captains are talking to one another. no doubt about that. the ron paul folks are saying, we don't care what you do. we're marching this way. the establishment right now is going for the maalox and a lot of other things. >> as we get closer to the

convention, also what happens is the side deals, okay, i'll give you my support but i want a cabinet position or i want this position or i want to have a speaking role. >> i'm going to speak tuesday night at 8:00 p.m. in primetime. >> that's right. >> it's about what we give them the platform. >> that's right. thank you. >> you don't give that speech for 30 years and not get something out of it at the end. >> thank you to a great panel. i'm michael. hardball's chris matthews picks up our coverage after a break. you're watching a special coverage of the nevada gop caucuses. sfrz

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