where's mitt? i thought he was going to -- i thought he was going to stay and maybe we'd have a little debate here this morning. >> will south carolina crown newt the new comeback kid? >> gingrich's late surge has romney lowering expectations. >> do you think you can beat newt here? >> it's always -- it's always an -- it's always an uphill battle for me in south carolina. i came in fourth last time. i would love to come in first, but we're making progress. >> that's what he told me yesterday, and what about ron paul and rick santorum? are they already looking beyond south carolina? and good day. i'm andrea mitchell, live in washington back from south carolina and polls are open in the state that has picked the republican presidential nominee in every election since 1980 and mitt romney is now acknowledging what only days ago was unthinkable. he could lose to newt gingrich today. chris alisa is managing

contributor, and eugene robinson is a pulitzer prize-winning columnist for "the washington post" and the south carolina's "native sun." what is the vibe today because the momentum anecdotally seeps to be in newt gingrich's direction and he has the more enthusiastic supporters. >> first of all, the vibe today in charleston is wind. you picked the right day to go home. it is that it's probably newt. everybody at this point expects him to finish first in the primary and with the as terrific that south carolina sometimes delivers surprises. it has since 1980, as you know, delivered the eventual nominee, but this is a weird year, and if i had to bet five bucks on it i would probably say that newt is just going to finish first

tonight. >> chris, we've been watching all week and in fact, for several weeks that mitt romney in two debates this week alone did not have an answer for the tax returns. today he was sharpening his attack against gingrich suggesting that gingrich shouldn't release any reports he gave to freddie mac going back to the old freddie mac issue. this was romney today. >> he said he had told him that what we were doing was somehow not going to work. i would like to see his report and i would like to see what he told freddie mac. this is a big issue. a washington insider talking about freddie mac, let's see what his report was. >> another thing that was noteworthy in looking at this eugene and chris is the amount of money in television. you're down there, jyou've seen it. the guy at the counter at us air said you're lucky you're leaving. when is this going to be over?

i can't turn on my television. look at ad tracker, $4.7 million combined for romney, almost two times as much as gingrich in his super pac, 2.4 million. santorum and his super pac, $1.7 million. ron paul and his pac, 1.4 million and that number is what makes it hard for -- mitt romney is clearly lowering expectations and the clip you just played and i hope to finish first and it's always a hard state for me. that's absolutely true. he's clearly to the ideological left to the average voter in the state. that said, if you combine super pac, and spinning it 2-1, if you're outspending the rest of the field 2-1. the idea that mitt romney wrote it off, remember, he's the popular governor of somewhat popular in the republican party, and the governor of south carolina, and nicky haley with him and this is a state that

they believe before the debate monday night. it just shows you how volatile this race has been, without the debates monday and thursday i am 100% convinced weir not talking about newt gingrich because he has no ability to compete with romney on paid television. and to drive the conversation and i think we're looking at we thought he was going to be looking at. >> eugene, besides the wind down there, the other thing that's change side that newt gibbing rich seems to have played so well off of the interview that abc did with his second wife, maryanne in the debate and his comeback in the first five minutes of the debate. that seems to be a net plus rather than a net minus. hard to say until we talk and look at the exit polls afterwards as to how it really affected perhaps differently men and women who go to the polls. >> yeah. you know, andrea, actually yesterday evening i did talk to

a couple of women voters who said they would vote in the primary who were -- who did not think this was a plus for gingrich, and who were appalled by his behavior and who said they'd never vote for him. they take that with a grain of salt. in fact, newt gingrich has always done better in the polls in the state with male voters, and if he loses some female support, that's not his main source of support, andn the other hand, that response in the debate the other night when he went after the media the way he did, i wt was enormously effec effective. if not for those two appearances we would be talking about a romney cornation and now we're talking about a horse race and not because we in the media like a horse race. it's a genuine horse race, i think. >> this has been such a roller

coaster year and this is only continuing the same. thanks so robinson. thanks, chris. see you later and joining me now is south carolina democratic congressman, the assistant democratic leader in the house. thanks so much for joining us. >> thank you for having me. i saw you yesterday that we were sitting next to each other and as we were playing sort of the debate clips from the night before with the republicans just mashing at each other, and you were grinning from ear to ear. this is something that the democrats do not mind watching. >> well, as i said yesterday, andrea, thank you so much for having me, incidentally. eugene is absolutely correct. you picked a good time to go back to washington except that it may be snowing there, but, you know, yesterday we saw the aftermath of what was a pretty good show. i think that so much of it was theater. i think that newt being the good actor that he is, answered the

question very, very well and it benefited the whole lot. and there is an element here in south carolina who is still rejoicing over his putdown of juan williams before so here is newt putting juan williams in his place and then bashing the media, and that was good red meat for his base. >> congressman, who is a tougher opponent, d maybe they underestimate newt gingrich. it was assumed that mitt romney would be coronated and he seems

have a broader appeal than was first generated. >> that is conventional wisdom, but as eugene mentioned earlier this is an extraordinary year, and i would not put too much faith into wilson. i do believe that the election this year is going to be a tough election. and the campaign all of the way up to november and we have to vie for various or competing visions for the future. i think that president obama is prepared to wage a campaign against either one of those two front-runners, both of whom, i think, are fundamentally flawed in some basic ways. i think they're prepared to have a real good competitive campaign and we believe we'll win it because we think the vision for the future is enunciated much,

much better than either one of those candidates. >> democratic leader jim clyburn, thank you very much. we'll see you at the state of the union, and even before the first vote was cast today, mitt romney listed ten potential running mates. during a telephone town hall with south carolina voters last night, iowa now declared that he came in second, and romney is behind newt gingrich. is he jumping the gun a bit? one of the republicans on everyone's list, virginia governor bob mcdonald. he's from the key swing state, he's a good campaigner. i caught up with him in south carolina after he formallien dor endorsed mitt romney and asked him about romney. >> there's been such an increase especially after the debate. do you think romney can still pull it out? >> oh, absolutely. a couple of months ago everyone

said south carolina, the first southern state will be tough for mitt romney and they said that in iowa, too, and he's done nothing, but shown people strength and consistency and not only debates and in the results in the poll. i think mitt romney is the one person that can unify social and economic conservatives and that's why i'm here today. >> you don't think newt gingrich can do the same? >> well, listen, i have a lot of respect for the speaker. he has been a star during the course of these debates with some of the ideas and some of the way he's handled the questions including last night. on balance, the best person to lead this country that understands free enterprise, and understands the military and has actually been a governor who has balanced budgets and cut taxes is mitt romney. his record is unparalleled. i'm saying any of those candidates would be far better president than president obama when it comes to restoring the american dream. i just say mitt romney is the

best. >> what do you say to people in the party who say met romney has not handled questions and has not shown that he can handle the blows on the stump? >> i'd say it's false. he's been a great performer every step of the way. there's been the more debates in the history of the free world over the last couple of months, 17 and counting. there's more to come, and you know, every once in a while there will be a question that you don't get an a-plus on. the reason mitt has con sittently been at the top of the polls is he's been steady. he's been prepared and his answers are thoughtful. he's not into sound bites and he's got a plan to restore american greatness. this is a person who is deep, thoughtful, substantive and has got a plan to restore american greatness and the country has to decide between a guy that has created jobs and balanced a budget contrast with president obama is so stark that i think he's got the best chance to win

independent voters. >> thank you so much. >> good to see you again. >> joining me now is chad connelly, mr. chairman, thank you very much for being with us. what are you hearing in terms of how the weather could be affecting turnout down there? >> yes. it is good to be with you, and i just talked to my wife a bit ago and her parents live in grier and it's raining heavily out there apparently and tornado watchers may damp it down a little bit and i've been getting text messages in a bit. one of the big republican boxes has just near record turnout for primary already and there will be places with big time turnout and maybe the weather does keep some people in the polls this afternoon. >> what about some of these e-mail? there have been dirty tricks played and negative e-mails sent out in the gingrich campaign's name suggesting that there were some issues, and we don't want to go into it because they're

completely false. >> right. >> is this -- this is unusual, and how does this happen? does it happen in south carolina more than other states? we know there is a long tradition of rough-and-tumble politics down there. what effect might that have and what can you do about it? >> well, i think people mostly discount stuff that comes in late, like you said. those allegations were totally false and it's kind of what we saw in the past and up until today i would have told you this has been tame to be honest with you. i remember as a young man watching reagan and bush go at it over the whole trickledown economics that bush called voodoo economics and low and behold they became running mates. i don't think it's unusual with south carolina politics and the backyard brawl is on. >> are you surprised by how turbulent it's been and the impact of the debates this time? we all anticipated that super packs would have a big impact and that other changes in the way elections are run.

this time the debates have been the driver and newt gingrich is clearly the champion of debating and he's done really well in most of the debates and we've got more coming up on nbc on monday night in tampa moving forward with brian williams and we're all looking to see where -- where the drama is there and we certainly saw that these debates this week seem to be a game changer for gingrich. >> you nailed it. it's always a puzzle looking at how the pieces fit together and how much the mail played and how much the tv ads played and it's about television and in talking with my own family to be hobbest with you, they didn't watch full debates, until they watched the entire debate and there's no question about it, and they've been game changers and a lot of people have been watching because my, mail is exploding with people's responses and the speakers have had a good week in

the debates and are we right or wrong in the takeaway that in fact, the late interview with the second wife of newt gingrich which is controversial, and her accusations which he denies that that actually could be a net plus for him with voters. maybe men and women are reacting differently, but it seems to have propelled him rather than dragged him down. >> you know, i don't know how that net plus or minus will work out, but i believe you're right that the tickaway didn't have much impact on the negative side. most people kind of shrugged their shoulders and why did this come two days before the primary and they see this as kind of out of bounds and a little bit less than coincidental. >> chad connelly, certainly less than coincidental in terms of the primary. we'll talk to you later and following the returns right here. thank you, mr. chairman. thanks so much. up next, who are the tea party voters supporting in south carolina. we'll talk to amy cramer from

the tea party express. stay with msnbc throughout the day for nonstop coverage of the south carolina republican primary. prime time kicks off on chris matthews and ed schultz, lawrence o'donnell and the whole team. that's tonight only right here on msnbc. mitt romney is the best candidate if they have -- we need someone with his qualifications badly right now. >> newt gingrich. i just felt like he's the person that will be able to lead our country in the right direction. have you met your skin twin?

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south carolina helped spur

the tea party movement that then surged through the nation, giving conservatives big gains in the 2010 midterms. today the tea party members seem to be divided in south carolina unable to rally around one candidate. >> amy kraemer chairs the tea party express and joins me now. amy, good to see you. where do you think tea party voters will end today in the voting in south carolina? >> well, i can't -- i don't think you can deny that people are really starting to coalesce around speaker gingrich. i've always said that south carolina will be a game changer because of the strong tea party network here, and i think we're going see it today. >> how has newt gingrich managed to make that appeal, because, on some of the subjects and some of the core tea party issues on spending he doesn't have a perfect record going back. >> well, right, but, you know, none of them have a perfect record. at the end of the day they're all individuals and none of them are perfect. the individual voter has to decide what's important to them, and i think one thing about

speaker gingrich that, you know, is appealing to people is that he is willing to push back on the establishment to get the job done, and he proved that in 1994 when everybody was screaming about shutting the government down and he said shut it down. so, you know, the people want somebody who is bold, strong and has a spine and is going to stand up and say this is what we need to do for our country. and he's the one that shows he can do that and that's why people coalesce around them. >> what about ron paul? he's been more consistent on the subject of closing down the divisions of government and cutting government spending. doesn't he have some core group that overlaps with tea party members? >> oh, absolutely. i mean, ron paul is great on his monetary and domestic policy. he always has been and there's a lot of supporters in the tea party movement that are ron paul supporters, but honestly, and i've said it before, the problem with ron paul that a lot of

people have is this foreign policy, and that's where i think he loses some people. >> and nicky haley won her own race with tremendous tea party support and she's been attached at the hip practically to mitt romney. how does this cut for her with mitt romney who does not have tea party support. >> well, the tea party movement of south carolina will have to determine that. nicky haley, i know she endorsed him. she has one vote and there are millions of votes with the tea party movement and they're educating themselves on the issues and they'll make the decision for themselves without xhb else telling them who to vote for. and i think that's what we're seeing here. >> amy, if mitt romney does become the nominee, will the tea party members fall in line behind him? >> i think whoever wins the nomination, they'll have to do

it with the support of this movement because the nominee cannot be president obama in the general election without the support of the tea party movement, so whoever wins the nomination the tea party movement will get behind them and work to defeat president obama, we cannot have four more years of this out of control spending. >> amy cramer, thanks so much. good to see you down there, the wind gusts in charleston, south carolina and up, in, the politico briefing. what about rick and ron? this is andrea mitchell reports only on msnbc. [ female announcer ] did mr. intern forget how his boss takes her coffee? just cover your bases. bring her the all-natural sugar in the raw and the all natural, zero calorie sweetener stevia in the raw. then learn that she doesn't drink coffee, just tea. it's only natural. i'm giving you the silent treatment. so you're calling to tell me you're giving me the silent treatment? ummm, yeah. jen, this is like the eighth time you've called... no, it's fine,

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the spotlight in south carolina is shining brightly on newt gingrich and mitt romney, but there are other can ats on the radar each with different strategies and expectations for the south carolina voting and

beyond. politi politico's david kantme joins me from charleston. what about ron paul and rick santorum? no question ron paul is going on and he's a movement propelled by very passionate supporters. rec santorum was asked today. let's see what he has to say. >> this is a wide open race and this race will go on for a long time and i'm excited about the prospects of it doing so. i think it will be a good thing for the process. i think it will be the best thing that can happen for the republican nominee. >> does he have the money to keep going? >> you know, it's unclear that he does, but the santorum campaign's percentage tonight will be very important, andrea, if he's in the low teens or lower than that, will be tremendous pressure him from conservative leaders to get behind leaders especially if he wins and the question is does rick santorum have the funds to go on?

that's what his campaign is saying. we're going florida and he's scheduling in florida next week and we know the results of these races can change the dynamic. >> and we've been very surprised on the amount of mono pep. >> everybody's on television and they are now hearing a lot of personalized robocalls from mitt romney. there's a lot of money being spent in this very small state. >> absolutely. i think one talking point that the newt gingrich campaign will roll out tonight if they are successful or even if they come close is that romney and his super pacs outspend gingrich 2-1 here and when romney's campaign tries to down play this and we say we're never going play well in south carolina, i think that's when the gingrich campaign will respond to that number and that they put a lot of money into south carolina. >> our tracking shows that those numbers are correct, it is 2-1 and romney's advantage in terms of the advertising. thanks very much. >> thank you.

up next, the ground game in south carolina. what are voters saying about the candidates, the issues and the vanity attacks. plus the history and what it tells us in politics south carolina style. monday, we'll do our show on the road again. tampa in advance of monday night's big nbc news republican presidential debate moderated by brian williams from the university of south florida, monday night at 8:00 central on nbc and romney said he will be there. they fit! okay-y... okay??? i've been eating progresso and now my favorite old jeans...fit. okay is there a woman i can talk to? [ male announcer ] progresso. 40 soups 100 calories or less. [ woman ] i was ready for my trip, but my smile wasn't. [ female announcer ] new crest 3d white intensive professional effects whitestrips. it goes below the enamel surface to whiten as well as a five-hundred dollar professional treatment for a transformation that's hard to believe. ♪

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republican chair and he said his family is telling him there's a lot of bad rain and bad weather in the country, i guess. how could that impact turnout in terms of the people who are more likely to be gingrich supporters, for instance? >> i think it's going to affect turnout a little bit. it's been raining pretty hard in the upset, i understand, and the band of thunderstorms are headed this way to the midlands and the columbia area. it is a saturday so turnout won't be affected as much and there's a lot of enthusiasm out there. we're already reporting in the columbia area and turnouts are at 2008 levels. >> that's a lot. kim severinson, you've reported extensively also on the economic issues and the way the unemployment question, other questions that didn't seem to be driving a lot of the conversation with the debates, actually, it was more personal than character attacks. what do you think is really driving the voters? >> it's really surprising that

the gingrich train has caught on here in the last 12, 24 hours, particularly among a lot of women who were reacting strongly to the interview with his ex-wife and they were actually on both sides of it. i talked to some women who said they had been cheated on, and they were not going to vote for gingrich other and women who felt like bringing up the score with the ex-wife was a low blow and they liked how gingrich responded. that became the talk of the strunts and the coffee shops last night and certainly this morning at the polls. a lot of gingrich voters said that pushed him into the gingrich camp and they didn't make the decision until they walked into the voting booth today. so that undecided fact added up to a lot of excitement and they pulled more people out to the polls today. >> andy, a lot of excitement and also a good, cautionary note for all of us to be humble about this and not to make predictions

because this election has been so unpredictable and there was a large undecided group of voters and we don't know how they ended up voting. >> that's true. i mean,y saw some polls that were suggesting that as men as one out of three voters said they could change their mind as they hit the voting booths as late as wednesday or thursday. the momentum that gingrich gained after monday's debate seemed to have kept on going even after they came out. they're not going to vote for gingrich because of the family issues, but at the same time i always talked to voters who said they're not going vote for mitt romney because they just don't feel like he's as genuine as they want him to be. >> andy, the record turnout in a republican primary in south carolina, i believe, was 2000, in the year 2000. 573,000, a good bit than it was,

is there a way that we could be having -- in this heavily-contested primary? >> there might be a chance. i have not seen reports from the upstate or charleston. i've mostly been hearing from down here. if that follows through where you're at the base of evangelical conservative voters are, and we might be heading in that direction. there certainly has been a lot of excitement about this race with so many candidates in it for so long and the super pacs have been able to keep folks in it and you might be seeing good numbers here. >> kim severinson, ron paul has a strong economic message and so does rick santorum for that matter, what impact might they be having or is ron paul's potential vote depressed by his foreign policy and the fact that south carolina is such a strong military and veteran state? >> the ron paul voters here, and i am in upstate and have been here this week. rob paul voters are ron paul

voters tried and true through and through and they're very enthusiastic. also santorum supporters were firmly in the santorum camp and stayed there. i think the economy, when you ask people what's the number one thing and what's the most important to you? the economy and it will morph a little into immigration and sending jobs overseas and sending foreign aid overseas and surprisi surprisingly, people don't talk about foreign policy too much, but there is concern that a lot of the jobs that have been lost in this part of the state that went to asia and mexico that that's really something they want the government to stop. >> thank you so much, kim severinson and andy shane. two experts on south carolina politics. will south carolina voters deliver in the past and will they opt for the establishment candidate? they're done that in past candidates. todd, you looked that the, we all went through the 2000

experience with john mccain. which way is it likely to go this time? >> andrea, if you'd asked me five days ago i would have said that south carolina has stuck with the establishment from ronald reagan on and it's picked the eventual nominee in every modern primary, but as we've seen the topsy-turvy events this week, i think they leave everything up in the air and newt gingrich has come out strong and there are a lot of late deciders which are true in new hampshire as well. i think predictions are foolish. it's clearly volatile and what is clear is that if newt gingrich finishes first or even a strong second he's going on to florida, and there's no way that mitt romney apparently is going to be able to wrap this up for good today. >> along extended primary contest helps the democrats clearly. how much does it hurt the republicans? >> well, it can hurt them because they attack each other and they say things that in this case they say things that can

never be taken back and the nature of the digital age we live in, all of the attack ads are there and the obama campaign has to go for fair use and put them on their own ads, but i think there's also something to be said for having a long primary season in which the republican nominee gets toughened up. >> obama style. >> and against the champion, hillary clinton. what's interesting is that this week mitt romney did seem to have a couple of times a glass jaw. he did not do well in the debates and he should have known for months, months and months that this should have come up. he should have figured out what he was going to do and it's astonishing that he would be so vulnerable. >> you have to wonder. >> jay carney in the white house briefing room this week laid out the history of george romney in 1968 being the first nationally known and candidate to put out his taxes and setting the standard. that was a pretty big head's up

if they hadn't realized it already and for mitt romney not to be prepared for that question and a really good question from john king at the debate about his own father's record. >> to come back with a kind of maybe or we'll see or a few years, it looks really sloppy and you wonder it does make one wonder what is in the tax returns that they might be worried about. >> and then they came up with this attack against newt gingrich put out yourethecs report. the newt gingrich ethics report is available online. it's available because of the congressional record. so then they updated that to be -- to try to get on the offensive today. put out your advice to freddie mac. >> it's like donald trump saying put out president obama's college grades or something like that. when he gets the birth certificate then he wants the college transcrypt. i don't think it makes the romney campaign look very smart. >> so far for the ability. hey, south carolina, chicago's watching.

we'll check in with the obama campaign next. stay right with us. >> but first will weather play a role as it continues raining. it's raining in south carolina particularly where evangelical voters carry a lot of sway. it's all part of a larger weather system raising showers and severe storms all of the way south to the gulf coast. i have a cold. and i took nyquil but i'm still stubbed up. [ male announcer ] sorry, buddy. truth is, nyquil doesn't un-stuff your nose. what? [ male announcer ] it doesn't have a decongestant. really? [ male announcer ] you need a more complete cold formula, like alka-seltzer plus liquid gels. it's specially formulated to fight your worst cold symptoms, plus relieve your stuffy nose. [ deep breath ] thank you! [ male announcer ] you're welcome. that's the cold truth! [ male announcer ] and to fight your allergy symptoms fast, try new alka-seltzer plus allergy. set out to create a different kind of cold remedy using powerful medicine and natural ingredients from around the world.

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we're going give you an opportunity to tell us who had the worst political leak, the surge from his ex-wife's new interview, and will he ever turn over those numbers? whoa had the worst week? you get to vote coming up on "news nation." the republican race is far from over with south carolina's primary today. florida's vote is on the horizon and no candidate looks like it's going to back down. so what is a prolonged republican primary mean for president obama? >> joining me from columbia, south carolina is the former white house political director and the democratic national committee and thanks so much for joining us, patrick. >> the obama campaign perspective and it is great to see you. how do you gauge this? you all thought you would be running against mitt romney. >> anything goes. this will give hem a better opportunity to create his taxes

in the caribbean. i'll say that it also gives him an opportunity to better prepare their arguments to face president obama who with according to most recent gallup polling is the most admired man in america. it's an interesting time for republicans and democrats alike. the white house has got -- has had all its homework done by the republican opposition and you've watched mitt romney as we said earlier inexplicably not being able to handle the tax issue. this is the president looking forward to tuesday where he will be on the grand stage in congress, and the joint session for the state of the union. this is the president's preview today in his web video. >> this is a make or break moment for the middle class, and folks trying to work their way into the middle class because we can go in two directions. one is towards less opportunity and less fairness or we can fight for where i think we need to go. building an economy that works for everyone, not just a wealthy

few. >> the bottom line is, though, that the president is facing re-election where he is below 50% on every poll on approval ratings where there's a lot of unhappiness with the way he's handled the economy and he has persistently high unemployment, betting better and still not where you want him to be and you have a lot of head room no matter who you're running against. >> the country as a whole has had a lot of headwinds trying to recover from the last ten years of failed economic policy. from the moment this president took office and his economic policies began to take hold. as you noted we've made steady progress, and i think all americans, democrats, republicans and independents will reward him at the ballot box for the progress that we've made. fortunately for us, the democracy is a comparative exercise and all of the head to head matchups according with newt gingrich and the president fares exceedingly well and we've seen the republican leadership and the republican field

bleeding support from moderates and independents because of the ways they've embraced the most extreme positions of their radical base. and where we stand today with the economy that we inherited and by comparison to the policies of republican candidates that intend to take us right back to the failed policies that we're trying to dig our way out of, we'll do okay. >> the president will launch us post state of the union travel and we're going to the critical states and he'll be in iowa, arizona, nevada, colorado, michigan. those include a couple of states with very high foreclosure and unemployment rates. you've got to nail down your base and nail down some of the important swing states that you won for years ago before you can be competitive with the more marginal states. >> andrea, since you're fond of polling this morning i want to

remind you that pundits who are on your show, and the democratic base and i've seen poll after poll that shows 80% of approval rating from democrats and i have to tell you that when we pause and we've had the thoughtful conversations that we've had in south carolina and across the country today and the ways this president has increased manufacturing by 20%, the first time since 1997. we've had that kind of exponential growth and when i talk to south carolinians, there are 20,000 people in this state who have jobs in the auto industry that they would not have had if they had followed the republican policies and we'll do well not only in arizona and iowa and some of the states that the president's traveling to this week all across this country. >> patrick, thank you very much. good to see you. >> enjoy the republican voting out there today. nice to be an observer and not have anything there at stake. and what story will be making headlines in the next 24 hours?

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today is election day insouth carolinaand we're down to the last minute, so i'm calling again to ask for your vote. >> and which political story will make headlines in the next 24 hours? hello, cillizza family. this is mitchell calling. personalized robo calls. >> look, mitt romney is still a good nominee in a 20-second robo call to 100,000 people in south carolina. look, the next 24 hours, polls close now in about five hours in south carolina. bless them for their early eastern time zone polling closing time. from everything that we've been hearing, and we talk about it the whole show, this looks like

like his to lose. i have to tell you, that rally i was at last night, it was so -- first of all, small, and not enthusiastic. for an election evely. it was startling. >> romney wound up winning new hampshire. if he loses south carolina, he still has the conservative energy passionate base of the party. can you win the republican nomination if people feel like they have to be for you because you have the best chance to beat the guy on the democratic side. is that motivation enough? it doesn't like like it will be in south carolina. the question is over time. does the electability --

inevitably argument, is that enough? he's never going to the be heart candidate. he's a head candidate. >> i love election day exit polls. we will know so much. we'll look at the reporting tonight. it's going to be why. >> not polls. but actual voters. >> that does it for this special edition of "andrea mitchell reports" instead of lockup. stay with msnbc throughout the day for nonstop coverage of the voting in south carolina. prime time coverage kicking off at 6:00 eastern. tamron hall has a look at what's next. >> you're right about the exit polling. i'll be on top of that to find out what the voters were thinking. i really believe it's going to be an amazing evening. great insight into how those southern folks are thinking.

and as south carolina voters hit the polls amid heavy rain and there are also tornado watches in effect for south carolina? i'm joined by michael smerconish. iowa conservative radio host. plus democratic strategist jimmy williams a native of south carolina. and it's been a wild week to say the least. and let us not forget romney's problems answering questions about his money and what he pays in taxes. but i ask you this, who had the worst week of them all? i'm going to tell you how to cast your vote in a special news nation text poll. ♪ ♪ ♪ one too many... [ male announcer ] it's time to reclaim your garage.

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