super tuesday, contests in 11 states. over 400 delegates up for grabs. biggest day in the republican race. does mitt romney put it away today on again snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. ohio, tennessee, georgia, three states to watch today, but the pressure's on santorum tonight to prove he's still viable. romney may have a perception problem, but santorum has a math problem. we'll break it down. and israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu makes it clear to an american audience he's through with waiting on iran. president obama affirms he's got israel's back as we move a step closer to an armed conflict. it's super tuesday, march 6, 2012, this is "the daily rundown," i'm chuck todd. packed show. let's get to it. ten states, five time zones stretching more than 4,500 miles cast ballots today. the closest americans get to a national primary. an 11th state, wyoming, elects

delegates at county conventions. two battles tonight. a perception and delegate battle. we know who wins the delegate fight. mitt romney poised to walkway from tonight one step closer to the 1144 mark he needs to secure the nomination. the question, though, who will walkway from tonight's contest with momentum? three states will tell the story. ohio, 63 delegates at stake. tonight is the symbolic prize. >> we have been all over the state from a to z. all right? akron to zanesville. >> it's gut check time. who wants it the most? what do you say? it always comes down to ohio. but usually not in a primary. >> if romney wins ohio and tennessee, 55 delegates at stake he moves closer to being inevitable in shutting this race down. newt gingrich poised to win his home state of georgia. if that's the only state in his column, does pressure grow for him to get out of this race? if one candidate wins two of

these big three states they come away a perception winner. romney needs half the delegates at stake and can do that even if he loses ohio and tennessee. 221 delegates. good night for santorum, 115 to 130. he should be able to win half of what he's eligible for. even if santorum were to win every delegate eligible for his ceiling is, sitting at 369. ineligible for all 46 of virginia's delegate. not on the ballot and forfeited in ohio, three districts where he did not submit a delegate slate. the irony, he's going to carry two of those three congressional districts in ohio. every time romney has been on the ropes, after south carolina, before michigan, he pulls off a big win. every time we think he's wrapped up the race, after new hampshire and florida, we discover it's not over. last night in ohio romney made clear what's at stake for his candidacy last night. >> i hope that i get the support of people here in ohio tomorrow,

and in other states across the country. i believe if i do, i can get the nomination. then we can start organizing our effort to make sure that we replace president obama. >> tonight the pressure is on rick santorum to perform. if he loses ohio calls into question a central argument, that he can challenge obama in the central midwest. santorum plays off those rust belt roots. >> we relate. you know, pittsburgh and cleveland, really, you know, sister cities, that's the environment. that built this strong, backbone of america through what they now call the rust belt. well, ladies and gentlemen, i believe in this area. >> while newt gingrich said expectations for his performance in his home state. >> it looks now like in georgia we will carry the state by four or five times the margin romney had in michigan. >> by the way, gingrich won't cast a ballot in the state where he's actually registered to

vote. that's virginia. why? he's not on the ballot. finally, rick santorum begins his day actually in washington, where he's addressing the apec senate right now. live pictures. mitt romney speaks to apec by satellite later in the hour before heading to boston to both vote in the massachusetts primary and wait for returns. with israel warning of a possible military strike on iran's nuclear facilities, the president urged israeli prime minister netanyahu to give diplomacy a little more time. >> my policy here is not going to be one of containment. my policy is prevention of iran obtaining nuclear weapons. we do believe there is still a window that allows for a diplomatic resolution to this issue. >> though the president said all options are on the table, he did not mention military force, and he has pointedly not agreed to israel's red line. the military action come before iran acquires the capability to build the nuclear weapon? last night netanyahu made clear

that for israel, time is maybe already run out. >> israel has waited patiently waited for the international community to resolve this issue. we've waited for diplomacy to work. we've waited for sanctions to work. none of us can afford to wait much longer. >> the confidence with which netanyahu gave his speech last night with not only what he said but how he delivered that speech, a lot of people reading a lot of body language into that meaning maybe the meeting with the white house actually went as well as he wanted it to go. all right. outside of ohio the most important state to watch tonight is tennessee. mitt romney and rick santorum are in a tight race for the state's 55 delegates. newt gingrich is making a late run there. held three events there monday. congressman marsha blackburn join meese to break it down. congresswoman, let me ask you this when it comes to tennessee. one of those southern states in state-wide races when i look at

lamar alexander, the current governor, each had a conservative challenger and in each case the establishment candidate won. what makes tennessee a little different in republican primaries maybe than these other states where we've seen mitt romney struggle? >> i think one of the things that makes tennessee different and significant, chuck is the amount of grass roots voter participation. our people are a little bit ahead of the national curve. they started into a grass roots activism about ten years ago, because ever this they followed the issues very closely. you've got jobs and the economy as issue number one. you've got national security as issue number two. i kind of sum it up, freedom, free markets, free people. and the focus of the voter on the specific issues, i think, is what makes our state a little different. they want to choose the best person to go beat barack obama. >> but it seems if not the sort of, just an easy ideological

decision where no matter what the conservative candidate wins in a republican primary that it seems to be a little different. does that mean, would it surprise you tonight if mitt romney won the primary? >> it would not surprise me. i think the vetting process that people go through in tennessee is, who is going to be the one that can win in november? and santorum had about a ten-point lead. i understand it's tightened up. gingrich has been very active with a lot of the state legislative delegation and across the entire state, and in tennessee, what you see is basically a good microcosm of america. you've got west tennessee, middle tennessee, east tennessee. more establishment-orienteded in east tennessee. activist oriented in west tennessee. kind of the reagan democrats and then in the center part of the state you have the tea party organizations that are very active around nashville and the suburban areas there. >> so let's break it down for me. in east tennessee you expect romney to do well. why he was in knoxville sunday,

but you expect santorum to do well around nashville? >> i do. i think so. and then west tennessee, when i was there last weekend, you're going to hear some santorum and gingrich that is coming there, but less romney support that is coming out of that end of the state. >> any reason why you haven't endorsed yet in this primary process? pretty active the last time? >> yes, indeed. i've been working with the chairman of the rnc focusing on making certain we have the money raised for whomever is the eventual nominee. we want the resources to there be to go beat president obama when we get to the polling places in november. >> would you like to see the race come to an end tonight? >> you know, i'm one of those that thinks that -- i guess this is because i'm an old county party chairman. you're served well by having competitive primaries. i've not enjoyed some, the language and personal attacks in the primary, but i don't think it hurts us if it goes a little

further. people are more engaged. they're showing up at the ballot box. i like that. i like that they're investing in this race by casting their ballot. >> marsha blackburn, congresswoman from tennessee, hasn't endorsed. thanks for coming on this morning. >> good to be with you. thanks, chuck. for more at stake with candidates tonight joined by moderator of "meet the press," partner in crime here. david gregory. >> hello, boss. >> you've been bringing up the map. it's facingating walking through this tonight. we already know romney's going to win the delegate contest tonight. may get a majority of delegates and lose ohio and tennessee. if you're stewart stephens, how do you spin that? >> they'd say momentum is in the math, starting to choke off the road to the nomination, and barack obama did that in 2008. david plouffe put out the. oh, have to win 77%. difficult to do. but you and i both know that the symbolism here is less about the math and more about the states.

you know, if romney's having a hard time closing the deal he wants to win ohio to say i won the big battlegrounds we'll face in the fall. show he has strength in the south, can unite the republican party. that's the hard thing for him now. how does he unite a very difficult republican party this go around from the republican standard bearer. >> i was struck. i've heard it from the romney people, win ohio, michigan -- i remember hillary clinton making that argument. >> it is sort of hard to make the argument, but he has the additional help of the -- >> helping obama in 2008, he was getting all of this energy not just from the party but from the country about making history, reversing years of president bush in office, and i just think that's been a tougher job for romney to do thus far, because he has not connected as well as a candidate, and face it. i mean, the republican party has big problems in the collation they're trying to put together on the electoral map. whether it's latinos, women, a

lot of head wind. >> what do you make of the president's press conference tonight? >> perfect sense. you're president of the united states. the one thing over the nominee, you're the president. all the trappings of the presidency. what's he doing today? having a press conference. by the way, he has to actually solve this, not just talk about like the nominees are doing. meeting with business leaders how to get the economy working. he's trying to build all the trappings that look good to win the voters and to americans by and large thinking about the economy, about things like iran. >> i want to do more in the primary, but i was reading speech excerpts the mitt romney and what struck me, the rhetoric is very much different, frankly, hotter rhetoric than netanyahu. but what is the policy differences between mitt romney and barack obama? i'm having a hard time finding actual policy distinctions

between them on iran and syria? >> those who say romney will say anything to get the nomination or get elected should look at the apec speech. this is pure pandering to apec, to jews in america and to israelis. there is nothing distinguishable in their approach to iran. by the way, there's really nothing that distinguishes what president obama is doing from what president bush did. this is a very difficult problem, and if mitt romney wants to be the presidential candidate who says, basically, we should get on a faster war footing with iran, just after we got out of iraq and while we're still in afghanistan? i wonder where the american people will be on that. >> two striking poll figures, from the "wall street journal" poll on syria and iran and asked, first, one in five on both cases what to see no military action. 21% wanted direct military access on iran. only 11% wanted military action in syria. a war weary country. isn't it? >> no question about it. even if the united states were

more inclined to take on these threats, you have to build a case over a long period of time to take the country to war. and nobody's laid the groundwork for that. frankly, there's such difficult and complex questions from a national security view it would take a president a long time to get at that. i don't see the incentive to, in either case, a couple more southern primaries coming up. alabama, mississippi next tuesday. i think they keep on going and -- >> newt may try to go one more week. >> to see if he can go. >> sweep the neighboring states. >> and a candidate. the dynamics between santorum and gingrich is one i want to watch. if santorum could just get a one-on-one with romney, he might look more significant. >> super tuesday. anything, not as big as before but pretty good.

you'll like it. up next, the docto "the dai" buckeye battle. ohio the big perception prize of the night. straight to the source. influent ohioans backing each major candidate square off. that's next, and still to come, the deep dive into super tuesday super delegate states, charting what could be mitt romney's path to becoming the inevitable rominee tonight. first a look at the president's schedule, as you heard, big press conference today. then also a roundtable with a bunch of business leaders. he's got that bully pulpit. you're watching "the daily rundown" only on msnbc. [ male ] wouldn't it be cool if you took the top down on a crossover?

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this is an election about liberty and economic freedom. this is a question about whether the stresses on families are going to be alleviated where you've got a mom working a day shift and a dad working the nightshift and the kids not sure who's home when. >> we're growing up in a steel worker town, having to fight for everything that you got is exactly the kind of person that we need to have. not just in the white house with the big problems that are facing this country, but in this election. >> mitt romney and rick santorum their pitch to ohio's working class voters. could decide the bellwhether are state of night. and with me, former ohio

congressman bob mcewen, leading the state's campaign effort for newt gingrich and university of miami guy, believe it or not. and ohio congressman jim ra naysy rick santorum. gentlemen, thank you. some still bitter an ohio state. mike, let me start with you. tonight rick santorum could win the primary and lose the delegate battle. doesn't that only underscore the problem rick santorum has going forward where he's got a math problem and he's got an organization problem? how do you convince republicans if he can't fully engage and try to compete for every delegate in the state of ohio that he's ready to take on the president? >> there's only nine delegates he can't get. he was at 2% in the polls when that was taking place when in was filed back in december or january. i think the significant thing is that the momentum, the energy on the ground is for rick santorum,

and you know, romney's come in here. he spent more money in ohio than has ever been spent in a shorter period of time. $12 million in two weeks. it's phenomenal. and yet, despite just unbelievable number of negative ads, santorum is right in there, and to me the most important thing is, if you look towards the fall and you ask the question, who has the energy? who has the ground game? who can reach out to those people that we used to call the reagan democrats to win ohio, which you absolutely have to do in ohio. clearly, that person is rick santorum. governor romney -- just not having the appeal. there's just no appeal. >> respond to that a little bit, congressman, because it's clear the romney campaign has outspent santorum anywhere from 3-1, to 4-1, depending how you measure

it over the past two weeks. romney can't win the popular vote. can't win the popular vote. doesn't that underscore the main problem some republicans argue he has on the electability front? >> it's interesting, because, you know, just last friday i introduced governor romney at an event in cleveland. i took some blue collar union people there who really had never met him before, and it's amazing when you get to meet the gentleman how much they said, wow. what a likable guy. so it's part of the process, and for me it's really about washington being broken. i'm really supporting a guy who is not part of the washington establishment. when i ran for congress, i said, we need people down here who are not part of washington. we need people down here who have made a payroll, who understand what it means to balance the budget. clearly, when i made my decision and people started asking me when i was doing my town halls, i said, these are the reasons

why i support mitt romney. >> congressman if he doesn't win tonight after having all receipt sources in the world, that doesn't concern you about his ability to carry this state against president obama? >> again, it's all an continuing to get delegates. what i've said all along, whoever wins, we have four candidates. whoever win ice do believe the republican, going to get behind a candidate that wins overall. so it's about delegates. it's about getting as many delegates as possible and in the end the republicans are going to come together, because i know that the republicans do not want to have four more years of president obama. >> bob mcewen, there's every possibility tonight are newt gi doesn't come out of highway with a single delegate. what's striking about that, i remember a month ago, newt gingrich skipped all of those early february contests that santorum swept and was in ohio to make that point. what happened? >> well, we're going to do very well tonight across the country. j.c. watts in oklahoma, fred

thompson in tennessee, as you know, michael reagan and the others are supporting newt because of his understanding that 37 months ago when the president took over he has racks up more debt than the first 42 presidents combined in only one person from the time that calvin coolidge left the white house until this morning, america never balanced its budget for 24 months except when newt was driving. for 48 months paid af half a trillion in debt. so you had david there a moment ago. you know, chuck, whenever you get people together and they start to talk about who would actually be the best prepared in this moment of crisis to take over america? everyone agrees, you know, newt is really the best and knows what to do i'm looking here. the bottom line is you're coming out of ohio with no delegates, and this is not exactly a state you didn't campaign in. what happened? >> the largest votes tonight will be the state of georgia. and we'll do very well in tennessee elsewhere. but when the -- when it's racked up, as you know, this is only

the first week of march. and we love john mccain and bob dole and these people, but this snags at a crossroads. we can't just have someone. we need snaun knomeone that kno to do. >> the state of georgia, isn't that a problem tonight? >> well, as you know, it's a compilation because the changes -- this isn't a sprint like it was four years ago, after the 100 yard dash you had all the other 32 states left out. this is a 4.40. we're going to add to the total. >> if santorum doesn't win ohio tonight is it time for the republican party to unite around romney? >> you know, it's strange yet. democrats fight and fight and then they get together and go win. look at obama and hillary clinton.

so i don't think we should get too worried about this. the process will play out. these candidates will continue on for a while. and ultimately what we have to do is unite behind whoever our nominee is and beat barack obama. so much is at stake for this country. >> quickly, do you want to see santorum or gingrich drop out? >> the sooner we unite the better. the sooner we can get together with one candidate the better and the more the delegates start to add up, hopefully the others, whoever that is, drops out and we can get to a point where we unite, move forward to defeat barack obama. >> three buckeyes and three different areas for me tonight. two time zones. you guy, great. mike, jim, bob, thanks for coming on. will it be a super tuesday on wall street? the market rundown is next, plus the beginning of the end. what romney has to do tonight to

actually wrap up this race. that's coming up in our "deep talk." first today's trivia question. how many states have nerver hada president born there? tweet me. the first answer, coming up on "the daily rundown." be careful where you decide andrew jackson was born. we'll be right back. ♪

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welcome back pap few other stories making headlines. sad news to report from the state of new jersey and washington, d.c. democratic congressman donald payne has passed away losing his battle with colon cancer. he was 77 years old represented new jersey for over a decade. one of the longtime democratic congressmen from that state. and maine's independent former governor king announced

he will run for olympia snowe's senate seat after three terms citing disnunysfunction in cong. he did not say which party hints he may not caucus with either party if elected. and calling for an air campaign. three senators claiming targeted air strikes two asit the syrian opposition facing brutal attacks by shelling by syrian government troops. question there, of course, is how much of that is happening, though, on the ground versus in the air? the united nations inspectors will reportedly be given access to an iranian nuclear complex. they were earlier denied access to. an iranian niz agency says both sides would have to agree on the guidelines for the inspection. well, the opening bell just rang. time for the market rundown. my friend becky quick is here. well -- is it going to be a bad day in the markets? my first tweet that i think i read this morning from crazy jim cramer, right in the morning, he

tweets before i do, 4:30 in the morning, he was in a funk. >> in a funk. it's gotten worse since then. jim cramer calmed this early this morning. right now the markets just opening. looks like the dow will open down close to 150 points. chuck, big news, because we haven't seen a triple digit loss on the dow all year long. already march, it hasn't happened. super tuesday looking like a not so super tuesday at least on wall street. right now there are a lot of different reasons that are getting thrown around. some sap the end of the bear market. the end of the bull market and you could see the bears taking over today and sending things lower. other people say it's because of what happened yesterday with netanyahu and that speech he gave last night at apec. i point out oil prices are down. i don't know if that's the best reason. the third reason, greece, again, worried what's happening there because the bondholders in greece have until thursday to vote as to whether or not they're going to take this latest deal. a lot of of questions as to whether or not they'll get 80%

bondholders to vote yes on this. if they don't, it could be one ever those forced, messy credit defaults. that may be the best reason people are worried. >> when in doubt, blame the greeks. >> that what i'm saying. >> deja vu all over again. thank you, becky. after months of campaigning the biggest single day in the republican presidential race is here. super tuesday.

dividing up dep gits. tonight it mitt romney chance to pull away maybe seal the deal for the republican nomination. and taking a look at what a good night for each of the candidates would look like. a good night for mitt romney means anywhere, check it out from 200 and 220 delegates. believe it or not, he can get there without winning either ohio and tennessee. close seconds. he could still get a majority of the 424 tonight. santorum a good night. 115 to 130. honestly, up for 369. fair to say he needs something of half of those, of the 369 eligible for to say it was a great night for him. still, that's the range that will tell you he's having a pretty good night. newt, 70 to 80. got to get, do better than expected in the southern states and get more delegates than right now it appears he's got, and then ron paul, a lot of states he's getting zero delegates but places like idaho, alaska, vermont, where he's going to cherry pick and get delegates. over 35, they'll consider that a

pretty good night. here's how to break it down by state. mitt romney, these are his targets. 35-plus out of ohio. he can get that, win or lose. 20-plus out of georgia. 10-plus out of oklahoma. third place finish, could still get ten. close third. tennessee 15shgs-plus. wins it, close to 20. look at santorum's goals. 30-plus. losing still -- wins the state has to figure out, hope he can get 30. 20-plus out of georgia. the guy that finishes second in georgia, he'd like to be over romney. oklahoma's gat to be a big win. 25 or more. tennessee needs to be a win. 25 or more out of there. as for newt, three states where he's competitive. i told you, likely the goose egg in ohio. one delegate out of there, he could say it was a good night for him. he wants to be the second place guy in tennessee. wants to be the second place guy in oklahoma. he wants a decisive win in georgia. and those are the tart numbers for him. as i told you, ron paul, his

focus, likely to get delegates. a county convention out of wyoming. idaho, alaska, who knows? that could be the type of state he could win and, of course, vermont, he's likely to finish second. strongest primary there with vermont. so let's look, though, at mitt romney. this is the sketched out path we did, our delegate boiler room team in the political unit, how mitt romney could get to some 220 delegates. win in ohio. 38. 10 our oklahoma. third place. tennessee, second place. virginia, going to sweep. a big 60% plus win in vermont. a couple delegates out of wyoming. second place, strong second in north dakota maybe even a win. a win in massachusetts. a big win in idaho he's expecting there. georgia, a strong second. especially sweeping the atlanta area and, of course, getting out of there. so what does that bring us tonight? if this is the night that mitt romney thinks it's going to be,

well, then, he's looking at 220. now, what will be interesting to watch is if he still gets that number and loses ohio and tennessee. for santorum, he needs this number to be something like 125 tonight for him to be able to start arguing that he actually has a math that he -- doesn't have the math problem we think he actually had. then, of course, newt and paul. newt's going to be interesting to watch. do voters smell a loser and start flocking away from nim? any people that like him? or want to give him a second chance and does he really have the momentum. he likes to think he has like in oklahoma and tennessee. our path for romney if he pulls this off. watch the numbers. remember, this is the real competition tonight. it's about the delegates. our super tuesday political panel joins me next. first, the white house soup of the day. since it's a big day at the white house a big day here, why not just have it a loaded super

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the office of vice president, lied under oath, we wish that had not happened but it did. >> daily flashback, this day in 2007 after ten days of deliberation, vice president cheney's scooter libby convicted of lying in the leaking of an operative valerie plame's identity. in the leadup today each candidate tried to set expect aces and signal a path forward. take a listen. >> i hope that i get the support of people here in ohio tomorrow, and in other states across the country. i believe if i do i can get the nomination.

>> we're competing in every state and we're going to do well. we're going to do well in every state. first or second, every state. right? >> do well in tennessee and oklahoma. we have activities under way in idaho and alaska and a few other places, but i said all along that georgia was the key, because if we didn't do well in georgia, i thought we could not go on. >> there you have it. looking pretty good expectations for themselves. former democratic dong ma from virginia, now the head of the center nor american action causes and nicolle wallace is back. new mom. and joy ann reid, managing editor, welcome all. communications professional here. start with you, nicolle wallace. what did you think of the expectation setting? honest about what they actually had to do. >> rick santorum uses the word winning in a way that is confusing to me as when charlie sheen uses the word winning.

he loses and in this desperation to continue to depict romney as weak he's described as winning. the truth is, he hasn't been winning and i don't think he'll win tonight. >> that's the point. >> and the benefit, i think that's part of people rooting against romney. >> well, no, but if you're in the romney campaign you're going to win the delegate night, but if you lose both ohio and tennessee you have this perception problem. fair? >> fair, but, look, i don't think romney's going to lose ohio. i think he's going to have a good night and i think that -- look, i love barbara bush and i love what she said about being so ready for this to be over. >> you're with her? >> i'm with barbara bush and i think that people being ready for this to be over is also part of the desire to stop comparing apples and oranges. some perceived as weak in the primary, adding strengths for the general. weak in a primary stifens you in

a general election. we are hungry for that phase. >> tom paerriello, a lot pointig to last time pap bru. a brutal fight between obama and hillary clinton. do you think this process, the long process benefited democrats? >> two powerhouses. two people with serious support, serious gravitas in the campaign going after each other making each other stronger. what you see here unfortunately for the conservative side is a major loss of independence. the number tonight i'm going to look at is not whether romney or santorum wins delegates, whether republicans even show up. one of the concerning things for conservatives, you've seen voter turnout in a year you would think the primary would generate great enthusiasm because of the anti-obama sentiment. you've seen people showing up in lower numbers even than in 2008 when conservatives were a little

upset about the eight years under president bush. so here you have a situation where it's true that the general election in the primary are different, but you've now opened up a 6-1 lead among latino votes for obama over romney and the rest of the field. seen a 20-point gap of women coming back to the democratic fold after three or four cycles of closing a gender gap. not issues driving towards a strong general election for the candidate. >> one of the striking things in the nbc/"wall street journal" poll how it was universal that basically everybody agrees with nicol nicolle. i'm tired of the process, i don't like it. less than more. even had people self-identify in an election year they were not longer a a likely voter. interesting the intensity saying they were going to vote went down ten points from january to now. >> right. >> and by the way, it was, everybody fell. >> right. that's why i agree this is the anti-2008. right? in 2008 you had a battle between two people with strong,

passionate constituencies. they either really desperately needed hillary clinton to be the first woman president or were really strongly behind this new guy barack obama and racing to the finish more passionate as the race went on. what you have now are people really none of whom has a strong constituency that's passionate about them. they're either passionate against barack obama or against mitt romney. you have people becoming more disconsulate over time. i don't think this helps them and running so far to the right. we're debating contraception. this is not smart. >> i don't disagree with that. that's why women are so turned off. >> right. >> you wake up, feel you're in a "mad men" episode. really? a fight about birth control pills? but i think that, don't miss -- mistake what happened in 2008. a race against the legacy of george w. bush in very much the same way republicans remain animated against barack obama's policies. so i don't think we can romanticize what happened in '08. people were excited about obama and clinton but animateed by

their anger from -- >> one thing about this campaign. i want to play this from yesterday. seems it was just -- you brought this up. everything about romney gets picked at and pored over. there's something ann romney said yesterday in a fox interview. i want to play the whole quote, because some of it has been isolated. here's what she said, talking about her battle with ms, also talking about her wealth. >> that's so interesting, because the one thing this disease has been for me has been a wonderful teacher, and with that comes an ability for compassion for others that are suffering. i don't even consider myself wealthy, which san interesting thing. it can be here today and gone tomorrow, and how i measure -- how i measure riches is by the friends i and have the loved ones i have and the people that i care about in my life, and that's where my values are and those are where my riches are. >> tom, fair to isolate the

wealthy part of that as sort of an out of touch moment by the romneys? >> in politics what happens is if when you've already create add concern a statement like that can have more meaning. mitt romney as the candidate has repeatedly made comments that show that she's out of touch with the working middle class,s or at least resonates that way with many voters. talking about the idea that he's unemployed, or making the $10,000 bets. and i actually do think this comes back to policy ultimately, which is that the conservatives have been able to connect previously with animosity towards the working middle class, but when they've gone to florida and nevada to talk about things like foreclosures they don't actually have a policy. as much as we focus on the personalities and how rich the romneys may be, ultimately the question for voters, does this person get me and will their policies make my life easier? what you see is that romney's failing on the policies in terms of offering back that real chance for social mobility that's the core of the american dream. >> nicolle what do you do with

mitt romney now over the next three months? say he has a good night tonight and we see the coalescing, sending signals to santorum and gingrich, this is basically done. he has been a little mistake prone on the trail. he clearly isn't good at calling on -- >> right. >> what do you do? in order to become a man that can connect better he's got to go out there and do it more and at the same time, you don't want to expose him to more gaffes. what do you do? >> reminds me what hillary clinton went through in her primary. barack obama said hillary, you're plenty likable enough and she always -- was very masterful in comments about her likability, which i think were actually rooted in a lot of sexism, but romney has to lean into the fact that he's a little wooden and say you may not like -- >> embrace it? be the nerd? >> you like capitalism, if you like a strong america, if you like all those things that have made us great, then you'll like

my leadership style. and he has to acknowledge there are things about his personality that people aren't that into. it's like dating. people are not all that into him. >> seems like the president, is counterprogramming they know what that believe romney's weaknesses simply as a campaigner and think it matches up well. the irony, maybe president obama has been accused of not connecting to the working class but think compared with romney, he's the guy that can connect? >> absolutely. the problem for romney to do eve wlan nicolle said, the only way he survived this far in the primary, artifice. he's had to run away from everything he used to stand for when governor of massachusetts and he's clearly visibly terrified of the republican base. he's so terrified of them he can't even criticize rush limbaugh for the horrible thing hess said about a civilian, about a young woman. i think the problem is, the white house is in a good position. republicans are owning they are the 1%, owning policies -- >> and with the conservatives or

no? >> needed one for seven years. >> romney? >> absolutely. and doesn't need one. he needs one every day between today and the general election. >> hang on. after the break i somehow will merge basketball and super tuesday with how many states have never had a president born there? the answer is 29. come from just 21 states. and the argument, of course, will be andrew jackson of north carolina versus south carolina who was born in disputed territory. we put him in south carolina. we'll be right back. you're watching "the daily rundown" only on msnbc. this one's for all us lawnsmiths. grass gurus. doers. here's to more saturdays in the sun. and budgets better spent. here's to turning rookies - into experts, and shoppers into savers. here's to picking up. trading up. mixing it up.

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since 2006, i've spent a lot of time with our president. i get to work in the west wing. travel to 33 countries. i've done everything from tracking down newspapers,

figuring out what he wants to eat, who he's going to eat with and endless amounts of basketball games. say you're with him. i'd appreciate it and i know he would, too. >> let's bring back the panel. reggie love, former personal aide to the president, going out there -- sort of mixes the sports a little bit with the president trying to humanize him, connect him. younger voters, african-american. effective? >> i think it is because right now, barack obama is sort of in the catbird seat when it comes to image versus the republicans. he's the guy who seems happy, seems sort of positive about the future. and he's the guy that can connect on the level of sports and other things like that whereas mitt romney, not so much. poor rick santorum seems like he wants to go back to 1853. i think barack obama is -- >> this has struck me as watching what could be obama/obama has that bush/gore feel to it? >> well, i think that obama is only beginning to look like he's

in touch with the people compared to the republican field. 12 months ago, he was someone who looked pretty aloof and peevish. >> what does that say about the republicans? >> nothing good. but everybody loves a body man. >> very true. >> everybody loves the body man. these are the unhung heroes in the white house. and reggie love is someone who's beloved. >> you come from a congressional district that you got in on obama coattails with enthusiasm. how much does he need to be tapping into that, that some argue was missing, say, six months ago? >> first of all, duke could have used reggie against unc. no, i think this is a great opportunity to get back to the core question of who's standing up for working and middle class? who's giving young people a chance? when you look at what we've done to make college more affordable, to expand community college access, i think it's the policy that will drive it.

but i think people like reggie are great messengers. >> shameless plugs? >> donald payne, the congressman passed away. we're doing a lot of coverage on him today. >> this brings new shame to shame. ron livingston is the very hunky actor who plays my very cute husband. that's my shameless plug. >> i really do want to put out a prayer for donald payne's family. he was a great member to serve with. we worked on africa issues a lot. i last spoke to him in cairo when he was there observing the elections. he was a great man. >> carried himself with a ton of dignity. that's it for this edition of "the daily rundown." stay with msnbc all day long. super tuesday coverage, tomorrow on the show, we'll break down the winners, the losers and the math. coming up on msnbc, chris jansing. then at 1:15, we'll have live coverage of the president's press conference. andrea mitchell will be anchoring then. have a super tuesday.

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