but we won by enough. >> break the rules, rewrite the rules. that's not the way republicans and conservatives do it. but he's new to the conservative cause. so i'm not surprised he doesn't know that. >> i think i'm going to get the majority of the delegates out of that process. i sure hope so. >> this is a big election. ohio can make the difference. this is a game of survival. >> i have to win georgia, i think, to be credible in the race. >> i need your help. georgia could be a huge, huge state on election day. >> boy, i'll tell you, georgia turns out for free pancakes, oh, my goodness. >> i believed in you. i placed my bet on the american worker. and i'll make that bet any day of the week. >> every time i hear mr. romney talk about this, i think his daddy must be turning over in his grave. >> i'm here today to tell you that i'm endorsing mitt romney in his candidacy for the presidency of the united states. >> moderates do not have the best chance of winning because they don't inspire with

conviction. >> rick santorum is a nice guy but he's an economic lightweight. >> i'm the one candidate on our side who runs on really big ideas. romney was the kind of guy who would have fired christopher columbus. >> what do you feel like when you hear 4,000 people chanting your name? >> i almost feel embarrassed. i wonder why they come. >> good morning. i'm chris jansing. and after that wild week, can you believe all that was just in the last week? it's here. super tuesday, biggest prize so far in this tumultuous republican presidential contest. voting is under way right now. 11 states holding primaries or caucuses. 424 delegates are at stake, as well as the all-important perception of who is best equipped to challenge president obama in november? mitt romney has fought back in ohio and tennessee, both now too close to call. if he pulls out wins there, they could finally provide the knockout punch he's been waiting for. here's what the candidates are saying this morning, starting with mitt romney, by stall from aip

aipac. >> i'm sorry i can't be with you in person. >> this is a somewhat important day in my life today. we have a whole lot of primaries going on all across the nation. >> somebody once said i was the bruce willis character in "the sixth sense." i was the only guy in the room that didn't know i was dead. >> joining me now, dan rather and chuck todd, nbc's political director. and major garrett, the white house correspondent "the national journal". >> i think i said the bruce willis line about -- i think i did do that, yeah. >> chuck, since you just got called out, i'll call you out first. how much of tonight is about delegates? it's the biggest prize so far and how much of it is about perception? >> it should be about the delegates. this is what it's about. >> but do you think the folks back in zanesville, ohio, are looking at the delegate count? >> no, they're not.

and i think that's what's the challenge for romney tonight. if he somehow has as good of a night on delegates as i think he's going to have, winning over the majority of them but somehow loses ohio and tennessee. it would be fitting the way this race has gone. romney does the methodical things he needs to do to get the nomination but he always seems to lose the perception battle with whoever he is running against in that moment. so he certainly needs one of those two tonight if not both to just sort of end end this so that he can both have a delegate win which he is going to have and the perception win. >> he's exactly right. it should be about the delegates. it is about the delegates. but perception at this stage of the race trumps the delegate count, which is to say, if romney should lose ohio, the perception is going to be he didn't do well. whatever else he does, i'm afraid. if he should win, ohio in particular, if he wins ohio and tennessee, it's not over, but

the fat lady is beginning to warm up. >> and i think the thing about ohio is if santorum wins, the money changes because he's been talking this whole time about how he's been doing remarkably well, given the fact he's been so significantly outspent. let's hear what he has to say about that disparity in cash spent in this race and in ohio in particular. >> if i had the opportunity to have a 6-to-1 spending advantage given where we are in this race right now, this race wouldn't be close. but that's not how it is. give credit to governor romney and what he's been able to put together, an enormous amount of money. >> major, let's taub talk a little bit about the money and what it would mean if rick santorum somehow pulled out this win in ohio. he has been leading but clearly the momentum has been with romney. and for romney, it's not a question of does he have the infrastructure, can he still win? but the perception and will some other donors, small and big donors, start going the way of

rick santorum and help to close the gap that's been so significant? >> i look at super tuesday tonight as two doors. one door says, effective control. one door says, long slog. if romney wins ohio and tennessee, a lot of republicans in his campaign will begin to say not only with the delegate count but with the perception count or the perception that chuck and dan referred to, he will now have effective control of the republican nomination, not in pure delegates but in all the atmospherics and the underlying delegate mathematics. but if he loses ohio and tennessee, he faces a long slog. the money moves towards santorum and next week's calendar moves in santorum's favor, mississippi or alabama next tuesday. those states don't set up well for romney. romney would have to wait two weeks, three weeks to get into illinois, newark, even longer to get to california, those other big delegate-rich states that would make him the likely and

overall math mematical nominee. he gets this idea by that perception and momentum he has effective control of this nomination. >> you've said that tennessee is the second most important state. a vanderbilt professor said, santorum doesn't win, it's the death nail for him. certainly ohio, tennessee, those two very important states. what's going to make the difference there, do you think? >> over the last decade, there have been republican primary battles in tennessee between the business establishment wing of the party and the conservative wing of the party, the tea party, the social conservative grass roots. tennessee's been one of those southern states where establishment has trumped the grass roots. it's why of all the southern states, counting virginia here because of -- with not everybody on the ballot -- but with the deep south states, that are deep

red, that are not swing states, tennessee was the place that romney could sneak in a win. and that's sort of how he could do well in east tennessee, sort of the heart of the old business line of the republicans and then maybe with the nashville business community, that sort of -- the suburban vote in nashville, that's how he could pull off a win. and if newt's gone up a little bit, then he takes votes away from santorum. >> santorum needs to make ate two-man race. he's hoping to knock out gingrich. >> even if -- it doesn't look like there's any way, at least if the polls are right, that newt gingrich -- even if newt gingrich -- he's going to win georgia. but if he only gets 40%, if he doesn't hit 50% -- >> yeah. i think that -- look, this is what happened. i remember howard dean, all he won on super tuesday, i think, was vermont. and he kept trying to say, i'm going to go to wisconsin. it's tough, i think. if that's all you're doing in your home state and it's not even that decisive, i know he

wants to go to alabama and mississippi, it's just one week later. i don't think there's anything that keeps him out from going one week later because of those two states. but i think it's hard. if he's third in oklahoma, third in tennessee and he's under 50% in georgia, what's the path? >> and then does the pressure start to come from somewhere on gingrich to say, really, it's time? >> well, i think he's already facing some of that pressure. i don't think that would tell on him. what he's going to argue, let's say his margin in georgia is not much. he's going to say, my margin in georgia, my home state, was greater than mitt romney's margin in michigan. that's going to be his argument. he'll go on to alabama and mississippi. but gingrich at this point politically in terms of ambition to get the nomination, he's what the mafia calls a walking corpse. his chances are dead but he refuses to accept it, refuses to know it yet. he doesn't want to admit that. i don't think he'll get out if he wins georgia by any margin at all. but it's only a matter of time. my point is this works against santorum.

santorum is aching. he badly needs a one-on-one race with romney. that's what he's hoping, praying to get. i doubt that he gets it this time around. >> he knows it, he has said it. as i was watching those little clips of this previous week that our staff put together, i was looking at the energy and the passion of barack obama, frankly, compared to the other candidates and thinking, wow, if i'm mitt romney, i want this now, i want this badly, i want all of the beating up that's happened to me to be over with so if santorum doesn't win, if he doesn't take ohio, he doesn't take tennessee, how much more pressure can the establishment of the republican party put on to say, guys, it's time, end it? >> well, it's not going to be the establishment. it will be the voters. i have a piece on our website right now that tries to separate the rational voters in the

republican primary ranks from the notionals. the notionals have gone in order, donald trump, michele bachmann, herman cain, rick perry, newt gingrich and now rick santorum. the notion that's always going to be this perfect conservative alternative to romney. and they've all fallen. and romney's had the rationals, those who look at him and see him as the most likely to be the nominee and the best republican available who is currently running to take on president obama in the fall. what needs to happen for romney tonight is in ohio and tennessee, the motionals to give up the notion of a perfect or even semiperfect alternative to romney and say, you know, the rational choice is romney. we're better off ending this sooner rather than later f. that happens, it will be the voters who will decide because they will have looked at santorum, they will have seen his momentum and said, you know what, that's nice, maybe inspires me to a certain level. but my rational mind is telling me we need to end this process. it's bleeding romney of support among independents right now the longer this goes on. and it's a subtextual dynamic of

tonight, of super tuesday and of the entire romney message. >> if rick santorum wins ohio, he can say not only, i am the alternati alternative, but i am the person who can fight on obama's battleground, which is hay peeling to middle class, blue-collar americans, because he's going to say, look at what i did in ohio. and i'm wondering -- i'm going to play this clip from ann romney. and we're going to play the whole thing. but it plays into this perception that mitt romney is out of touch, whether you call them notionals or whatever, going in part for somewhere other than him. let me play the ann romney clip here. >> i don't even consider myself wealthy, which is an interesting thing. it can be here today and gone tomorrow. how i measure riches is by the friends i have and the loved ones i have and the people that i care about in my life. that's where my values are.

those are where my riches are. >> you can say, okay, i get it. you can also say, if you're struggling or you're out of work, your husband's worth is $250 million. it's hard to put myself in a scenario where at that point it could all just go away when you have a couple of caddies and then you talk about your horses on your various homes. >> i'm of a school that you give the candidates' wives a pass. generally speaking. >> absolutely. >> and i also don't think it resonates with people. i think people understand that she's out there, she's doing her best to speak up for her husband. give her a pass on this. where this fits into the puzzle, if you will, romney needs desperately, as chuck has pointed out, he needs to pivot to the general election campaign. so as long as santorum is biting at his backside, he can't do that. and that's costing him with independent voters and particularly women within the independent voter category. that's where the election is likely to be decided.

and he's hurting in that area. this is why he's so almost desperate to separate himself, get loose so he can pivot and start appealing to those voters. >> let's remember one thing you brought up. santorum says, hey, i won ohio -- hillary clinton won ohio. she made the same argument. she won in a lot of those places and said, hey, i'm winning in all of those rust belt states. she won in pennsylvania. that didn't seem to have an impact on what happened in the general election. and it's funny to watch, in fact -- to see that santorum might actually win the primary tonight in ohio but lose the delegate math. it's like, we've seen this picture before, right? hillary clinton would win some of these states but obama, the more organized and the better campaign, was able to do that. i think even -- the ann romney quote, i think that was an attempt and you could say democrats did a good job pushing that to keep on this narrative.

but this isn't the two cadillacs line. this isn't some of the gaffes that mitt romney himself has made. i don't think it was a -- >> i'm getting the big wrap. major, really quickly, when you look at the exit polls tonight, what are you going to look for? >> i'm going to look for the electability caution. it's been key for romney that he's won in every state. they're going to the polls, number one, and who they're choosing, it will be a good night for romney. >> thank you so much. always great to see you, major, dan. mr. todd who will be working about 48 straight hours or so -- >> we've got to get a ratherism out of him. how tight is it in ohio and tennessee? >> the race in ohio is as tight as some of lady gaga's skirts. >> always count on him. thank you, gentlemen. we know one winner of this campaign already. local tv and radio stations, take the ad wars in ohio. mitt romney has spent more than

$4 million, tv/radio compared to $900,000 by rick santorum and his super pac. the extra money allowed romney to advertise in more remote areas of the state, not just the big cities, cleveland and columbus. ♪ ♪ 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? ♪ imagine zero pollutants in our environment. or zero dependency on foreign oil.

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tomorrow will mark the 47th anniversary of bloody sunday, the day voting rights demonstrators marched from selma to montgomery, alabama, and were attacked by police with billy clubs and tear gas. now reverend al sharpton is leading another march to commemorate the anniversary and draw attention to what's being

described as a new assault against voters' rights. joining me now is marc moriel. >> good morning, chris. >> 31 states, a little math first, require all voters to show id before voting. laws in 27 of those states are expected to be in effect this year, this election year. you've called it an assault on democracy. why is that? >> because the timing is curious. the motivation is curious. all of a sudden after the 2010 elections, in advance of a very important presidential election, you have this tidal wave of states who are enacting a series of new laws to require voters to have a photo id at the polls, to cut back on early voting, to make it more difficult for students to vote, a range of things, curiously, what is the timing? and what is the motivation? it will have an effect on voters.

we are leading an effort and reverend sharpton and others will be in alabama. we'll be here in washington at howard university this entire week will be a focus on voting rights as we release our state of black america report on wednesday night by launching what we call the "occupy the vote" campaign. >> what will that be? >> that campaign is going to be an effort to fight back against voter suppression. it's going to be an effort to educate the public, to say to people in those states where these laws are pending to fight back so those states don't enact those laws, to explore every measure, to repeal restrictive voting laws and really to educate the public that a nation that has gone to war in pursuit of democracy abroad cannot, should not erect barriers to voting here in the united states. it's not consistent with american values. >> let me ask you the commonsense question that i get and i'm sure you get it, too. for example, here in new york,

you don't need to show any id to vote. as long as you're registered and i walk up to the desk and sign my name, i vote. anyone, i presume, could go in and vote for me or vote for someone else because they don't need to show an id. so the question i get asked is, what's wrong with a safeguard to prevent fraud? >> it would not be a problem if there had been evidence of people going to the polling place and voting as though they were you. the idea of voter fraud is a smokescreen. this is a solution in search of a problem. this is an effort by a handful of people to make it more difficult for people to vote. one in ten americans do not have the type of photo id contemplated by these laws. one in four african-americans do not have it. who does it affect? african-americans, students, disabled citizens, senior citizens. many new yorkers do not drive so they don't have driver's licenses. so what we need to understand is

that the idea of fraud is a hypothetical smokescreen being raised by some. there is no body of evidence that voters commit fraud at the polling place. however, elections officials, on the other hand -- there's a case in indiana where the secretary of state was convicted of voter irregularities and voter fraud. so it's important to understand, this is a solution in search of a problem. it's a smokescreen. it's a tidal wave. if you voted for years and years and years in new york and there have been no problems, why all of a sudden would new york want to -- and i don't think they're trying to -- erect a new voter id law? >> marc morial. we look forward to seeing the results of the state of black america report in addition to the occupy vote if you outlined for us. always good to have you. >> great to be with you, chris. thank you. rush limbaugh insists his apology to georgetown law

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former first lady barbara bush is weighing in on this season's gop primary. quote, i think it's been the worst campaign i've ever seen in my life. she was at a first lady's event in dallas and she's supporting mitt romney for president. mitt romney certainly knows how to deliver an introduction for his wife, ann. here he goes again. >> i introduce to you the heavyweight champion of my life.

i don't mean weight. that didn't come out right. she's just a great fighter is what i mean. >> if this goes on much longer, i will be the heavyweight champion. things are getting a little tight. >> and the long-awaited premiere of "game change" comes out this weekend. julian moore talked about her role as sarah palin on "morning joe". >> she was in an untenable situation. she'd gone from local politics into national politics very, very quickly, was vetted for three to five days and was kind of thrust into it. so i say the stress is -- i wouldn't run for office. >> msnbc will have the best super tuesday coverage all day. and speaking of super tuesday, today's primary pop quiz -- when was the last time a republican presidential nomination was not locked up on a super tuesday? that answer after a quick break. losing weight clicked for me when i found a plan

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and we're back with the answer to our primary pop quiz. when was the last time a republican presidential nomination was not locked up on a super tuesday? the answer -- it's never happened. if mitt romney does not win tonight, this could be the first time. the devastation left behind by deadly tornadoes over the weekend have touched off a political debate over federal aid to victims. ron paul has spoken out against it. now ohio governor john kasich is reconsidering his position after tornadoes hit his state. and another remarkable survivor story. stephanie decker used her own body to shield her two children as their home literally crumbled around them. she lost parts of both her legs but saved her family. >> i looked down and looked at my leg and realized either it was cut off or it was barely

attached. i took my phone and made a video to my husband telling him i love him and my children that i love them in case anything what happened. >> but stephanie's 8-year-old climbed out of the rubble to get help, saving his mom's life and the two children she was protecting did not have a scratch on them. iran now says it will allow u.n. inspectors into a secret military complex where the iaea believes nuclear work is being carried out. iran calls it a gesture of goodwill but there are guidelines to be worked out before the inspection can happen. after a meeting with president obama, israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu is meeting with congressional leaders. netanyahu had tough talk for iran during his speech at last night's apec conference. this room has 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. i will never let my people live in the shadow of annihilation. >> this morning, mitt romney and rick santorum both spoke to the crowd at aipac. newt gingrich is expected to speak any minute now, all offering their views on america's relationship with israel. ron paul did not participate. on this day that will shape the presidential primary, we thought we should look at some of the key states, 11 states holding primaries and caucuses today. of course, ohio is the bellwether. it's a state too close to call and it's a critical test of whether rick santorum can remain a credible alternative to mitt romney. nbc's ron mott is live in steubenville, ohio. ron, i love the way mitt romney's political director described ohio. he called it, it's a knife fight in a phone booth. >> reporter: hi, there, chris. it's a graphic description but it's pretty apt considering how hard those two gentlemen have

fought here in ohio. this is a big state a big prize to win tonight. it's not got the most delegates up for grabs. georgia gets the honor for that today. but ohio is a bellwether for the fall. so president obama and the democrats will stop just as hard as the republicans and their nominee here to try to win ohio. if you can win ohio, probably have a pretty good chance at winning the white house. leading up to this, rick santorum has talked his blue-collar roots. he grew up in western pennsylvania, particularly why he chose steubenville, the eastern edge of ohio. he's going to meet with a lot of blue-collar workers here. he's sold that around this state. he's connected with those folks. ohio is very diverse. you have the urban and suburban centers. they are probably going to pull for mitt romney tonight. but smaller towns like this one and the rural areas are probably going to go for rick santorum. so we expect a pretty long night. here's a little bit of what some of the voters had to say this morning as they headed out to

the polls. >> i think we view ourselves as the make-or-break state for presidential candidates. >> i think we're trying to bring ourselves back from the down economy. i was thinking a lot about that in voting. >> reporter: this is very much a numbers game. it's all about getting to 1,144. here in ohio, rick santorum could possibly win the number of votes here tonight. but probably will not win the delegate count because he's ineligible for some delegates in certain congressional districts. >> thank you so much, ron mott, in ohio for us. let's go to newt gingrich's home state of georgia where he is leading in the polls. nbc's kelly o'donnell live in marietta. gingrich has always said he has to win georgia. but then he suggested that it would be tough for him to see in the race if he only won georgia. what's going on in the campaign? >> reporter: well, good morning, chris. gingrich is headed off to alabama to try to show that he's in this beyond today. they're going to vote next week. but when you talk about his home state, we can bring you even closer than that.

this was his district when he served in congress for 20 years. and at this polling place in marietta, we're just about a mile and a half or so from his former home. now, on the ballot here, republican voters will have nine names to choose, although the race is certainly narrowed. interesting because in virginia where gingrich now lives, his name does not appear on the ballot. they're voting today, too. he and his wife callista, are sitting it out. not able to cast a vote in georgia where he served for so long. but this is a place that knows newt gingrich well. he has talked about expecting to do very well tonight. it's always difficult with that expectations game. the romney camp does not expect anyone other than gingrich will win tonight. but he is also trying to lay the groundwork that a southern strategy is necessary for any republican to become the nominee. so this could be a very big night for gingrich. what it means larger term for the whole scope of the race will have to be decided over time. but this might be one of those moment where is he gets some of

that sunshine back on his campaign. chris? >> kelly o'donnell in georgia with newt gingrich's campaign, thank you so much. and like georgia, oklahoma is a bible belt state. and there it's a battle between gingrich and santorum. take a look. all right. there it goes. 40 delegates at stake. classic example of the importance of the southern evangelical voter that both men need to keep their candidacy alive. while oklahoma hasn't gotten a whole lot of attention, it is a good one to watch tonight. because of hits demographics, it's looked at as a blueprint for much more delegate-rich texas. and santorum has called it ground zero of the conservative movement. and then, of course, we have the -- finally tennessee. nbc's chuck todd, you heard him earlier, said it's the second most important state today. 55 delegates at stake today. romney's chance to show he can win in a culturally southern state. it would be a big boost to his

electability argument. mike huckabee won here four years ago. santorum is counting on that same christian conservative voter. as in ohio, his lead over romney has been slipping in tennessee. i'm joined by chris devaney. great to see you. you know your state well and the republicans well. how close is this race right now? >> it's gotten very competitive. i agree with your colleague, chuck, that it's important what happens here. we have a brought base of republicans in tennessee, from the eastern part of the state where we have traditional republicans whose great, great grandfathers fought in the civil war to conservative democrats who have moved to the republican party who are maybe a little bit more socially conservative and populist. so you have to appeal to a brought base of republicans. i think that's why you're seeing this very competitive going down to the stretch. keep in mind, too, it's an open primary here. so i expect we'll have a good turnout.

we'll probably know something about 11:00, 12:00 tonight. >> what are the keys to winning your state? what are you going to be looking for tonight to tell you who's going to take these delegates? >> well, again, it's a broad base. we have 58 delegates up for grabs. it's a proportional state. so you have to really appeal to that -- to social conservatives. you have to appeal to mainstream republicans. you have to appeal to tea party activists who are here around in the nashville area. so it's really a broad base of people. also, when we poll here, 33% of the folks describe themselves as independents and they can vote in our primary. so it's a broad base of people. i think whoever wins here tonight or does well can take that and really say, hey, i can run a national campaign here because i won tennessee. >> but democrats can vote as well, as you mentioned. it's an open primary. we know there was some push by unions in michigan, for example, to get more democrats out,

didn't get out in significant numbers. what do you see in tennessee tonight? >> yeah, there's really never been really an orchestrated effort by the democrats or the unions to really get out the democrat vote to affect a republican primary. as a matter of fact, the republican party has voted against closing our primaries because we think it's constructive for conservative democrats and independents to move into the republican party. we see that as an avenue for them to do that. so i don't really think there will be much hanky-panky. >> it's going to be a long night for you. chris, thanks so much for taking the time. >> thank you so much. the president's reelection hopes have gotten a boost from an improving economy. and now a new survey of the nation's top economists is offering yet another more upbeat assessment of the economy. mandy drury is here with that. >> according to an a.p. survey,

the u.s. economy is improving faster than many economists expected. they're seeing stronger growth and hiring than they did just two months ago. all things, of course, if they continue, chris, would help president obama's reelection hopes. now, the findings also show the economists think the unemployment rate will fall from the current 8.3% to 8%, even by election day, which is better than their 8.4% that they gave when they were surveyed back in december. by the end of next year, they predict unemployment to drop to 7.4%, which is better than their earlier estimate. but here's the thing. only one of the 19 economists said that obama should get a lot of credit for declining unemployment. they gave the credit actually to us, the u.s. consumer who account for about 70% of economic growth and also to businesses. >> another key economic number that we've watched, that's gas prices. there have been 27 straight days of gains.

they actually dropped off .3 of a penny lower. still significantly higher than a month ago. >> absolutely. 70 members of congress yet pushed federal regulators to stop what they think is excessive oil speculation, whether or not it will work remains to be seen. >> mandy drury, always great to have you. thank you. tomorrow morning, people will be looking for two things, which candidates won and what's in the new apple ipad. we're not sure what apple will be unveiling but that has not stopped companies have already offering new apps and accessories to go along with the rumored ipad 3. apple also just announced their 25 billion i-store download, paving the way to replace the pc? we'll know more tomorrow. carfirmation.

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so on this super tuesday while the republicans battle on, the obama campaign has been quietly ramping up, putting its army in place, ahead of november. msnbc's richard lui has a look now at the enormous challenge that will face republicans after this long nominating contest is over. >> yes, chris. around the primary corner is a juggernaut called the obama reelection campaign. and no clear example is ohio, while mitt romney and rick santorum swing away in this key swing state, obama's reelection machine quietly building away here in ohio. it's opening its tenth office in youngstown in two days, says real clear politics. and several more dozen in the coming months. its volunteers have led 5,000 events and they've reached 650,000 voters in the process. now, in florida, we're seeing the same. a dozen offices opened there.

3,500 training and planning sessions held. and 5,000 interviews to recruit new volunteers there. another key state, north carolina, the ninth office just opened. this is the story that we're seeing across the country. they even opened a technology field office a stone's throw from facebook and twitter. behind all this, the 2008 obama dream team, michael slaby, is the chief geek. julianna smoot is in charge of fund-raising. and jennifer o'malley dillon is the field mar shl. the president was called the $25 million man. boy, has that changed since '08. its chicago operation, today it is big and tight-lipped.

a ping-pong table is plain in sight. should the gop nominee be scared? well, as candidates close office and move state to state, obama is scooping some of them up and expanding his footing along the way. >> oh, this is so interesting. >> it's going to be good. >> thanks so much, richard. that's fascinating. i want to bring in former arkansas senator blanche lincoln. senator, good to see you. good morning. >> thank you. great to be with you. >> we have spent so much time talking about super pacs and all the ad money being spent, $5 million between romney and santorum just in ohio for this primary. and yet we sometimes forget about that old-fashioned ground game. how important is it going to be this november? >> well, they're both going to be very important and we've made that it way. the ground game is tremendous. and i think the obama administration understands that. they've got their campaign working diligently in putting that ground operation in place. but they're not forgetting about the fact that money is a critical part and those super

pacs can make a difference quickly because they can immediately put you on to tv and into the media and do the kind of things that you need to bring a ground campaign into action quickly. so they're both very, very critical parts of the campaign. but you definitely see the president taking it all seriously, getting out there and making sure that he's going to be prepared for whenever the decision gets made with the republicans. >> those super pacs are being blamed, as you know, for really contributes to a vitriolic atmosphere. but it was already there in washington. we heard barbara bush, of all people, saying today, i hate the fact that people think compromise is a dirty word. your good friend, olympia snowe, is going to get out of the game. she seems to be part of what's a dying breed, who are people willing to be in the middle, people willing to compromise. i'm just curious about your thoughts about that and sort of as it applies to this ongoing campaign. is it going to be even nastier in the general than we've seen in this primary? >> what's going to be tough is

to be able to govern. the fact is, when the moderates lose or when they leave town, you have nothing but the extremes left. and the extremes don't look for compromise. they say "my way or the highway." i think what's most important to people right now, the voters that are out there, particularly the incredibly important voters, which are the independent voters, is the economy. it's like, we're on the right track, it's improving. but if we don't keep our eye on the ball, that's not going to continue. and keeping your eye on the ball -- i noticed in your program earlier, santorum made the comment about moderates, that they don't -- i don't know, create enthusiasm or whatever. they don't use inflammatory rhetoric. that's not what moderates do. moderates want to find solutions and they work hard. and it takes a great deal of courage to be a moderate. you look at my friend, olympia. sometimes you have to buck your own party. what happens then if you're not 100% on one side or 100% on the other side, then they both come

at you and it's very difficult. >> you mentioned the economy and we have often gotten a little s accr askew off that topic. but we've learned the president is going to announce every service member wrongly foreclosed upon will be compensated for lost equity, plus interest. and $116,785. obviously a lot of this campaign is going to be about a fight for the middle class. and it's hard to see how the republicans can disagree with that, you know, compensating people who sacrifice -- or who went and potentially put their lives on the line for this country. is that essentially what this is all going to come down to in november? >> i think it's going to come down to taking the focus back to the economy. for those servicemen and women, it is absolutely an important thing to do. to make sure we make them whole. i've always stood for veterans

because they've stood for us. i think that's critically important. but we also have to look at the ideas that we put forward like that and how are we going to pay for them? the american people and those independent voters that are in the middle, those middle income individuals out there, they're looking for somebody that's talking sensibly. they want sensible. one of the things i'm working on right now are these sensible regulations. this is an area where we could give small business, the engines of our economy out there in our communities that create more jobs than anybody else in this country, giving them greater certainty by bringing sensible regulations. their number one issue, their number one challenge that they say in the polls is the uncertainty of regulation. 4,200 in the pipeline right now, new regulations. what's out there. so there's certainty that needs to happen. there's sensible talk that needs to happen in terms of how we're not only going to put the economy back on track but keep

it there. >> former arkansas senator blanche lincoln, always good to see you. thank you so much for coming on. we'll will right back. i have the proven allergy relief of zyrtec®, plus a powerful decongestant. zyrtec-d® lets me breath freer, so i can love the air. [ male announcer ] zyrtec-d®. behind the pharmacy counter. no prescription needed. but i have this new smartphone. and now i can see everything more clearly. ♪ i can organize the analysis. sort through all the data. maybe even rattle some cages. i predict that i'm going to like the future. because the future is where i'll be serving up humble pie. a la mode. [ male announcer ] at&t introduces the samsung galaxy note. phone. tablet. both.

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that wraps up this hour. i'm chris jansing. thomas roberts is up next. open up. we have come for the foul, unholy beast. the one with the red markings. the miracle whip? stand aside that we may burn it. [ indistinct shouting ] have you ever tried it? it's actually quite sweet... and tangy. ♪ i like sweet things. [ man ] shut up, henry. ♪

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together, we lost 71 pounds with weight watchers online. quit dancing. i didn't do it... [ female announcer ] join for free today. weight watchers online. finally, losing weight clicks. hi, everybody. good morning. i'm thomas roberts. great to have you with us today. it is the real super tuesday. i've got msnbc's ed schultz, chris hayes, ron reagan joining me this hour. 11 states, 424 delegates to separate the contenders from the pretenders and a fierce battle for votes across the nation. at stake, these hundreds of delegates up for grabs. a chance for candidates to make a statement with the entire country watching. each republican is looking for strong gains today. and newt gingrich is in his home state of georgia. ron paul in multiple caucus contests. mitt romney across the northeast and rick santorum in oklahoma. the biggest surprise in all, ohio.