can mitt romney make super tuesday into super duper lock down the nomination tuesday? or will rick santorum and newt gingrich get in his way again? it's tuesday, march 6th, super tuesday and this is now. joining me today maggie habarman and the man of so many titles, nbc political director, chief white house correspondent and host of "the daily run down" chuck todd. if you are playing at home tonight, there are three super tuesday state that can change the race. the buckeye state could keep us late showing a dead heat so far.

chuck i'm going to throw it to you. it ain't over until it's over. right? >> there's a whole museum dedicated to yogi bear, i tweeted it and they tweeted me back. >> it's a wonderful place. >> my work is done. >> and that is the challenge tonight, mitt romney he will win the balts for delegates he would like to shut down the perception battle here. the irony is that santorum has the pressure. he has to win ohio and tennessee to continue the case that he has a path to the nomination. losing one of them hurts them. losing both of them would seal the deal. but by the way, if romney does it, if we are totaled muddled it's the first super tuesday in the republican party that we will not have ended the nomination on super tuesday. >> that is not quite a super tuesday then, is it for the

party? >> we will find out soon, alex. and i think chuck hit it right, although you did not mention oklahoma which i think does matter. i mow you are smiling at that. >> it doesn't matter if santorum did not win it. >> if santorum according to the polls he will hopefully win it. >> hopefully. >> santorum in oklahoma and gingrich in georgia, obviously and romney in massachusetts and virginia, and then it comes down to ohio and tennessee as key states. republicans would like to see it come to an end. we have been engaged in trench warfare for months and it's hurt the party and our candidate. >> you are one of the few of the party that have said it. and the voters are saying this is not making me like the candidates more. >> it has hurt the party and the candidates. on the on the part hand, be i want to be fair. mitt has grown as a candidate during the course of a struggle, he is more relaxed with people

and more comfortable in the retail campaigning and he obviously has been involved in a lot of different back and forth in the debates and i think it's all possess positive. the fact that we have been negative towards each other and allowing the president free reign to govern as opposed to being a candidate is a mistake and i think that has hurt us to this point. if it's over tonight, then we can change, focus on this president and the difference between his policies and ours and i think still, the republicans have have a chance to win the race. >> a big if, it's over. maggie, let's talk specifically about ohio, you know, this was sort of rick santorum's too lose kind of maybe coming out of michigan, we know he has gone down in his support among catholic voters, that has surprised lots of voters says. chuck said i think insightfully that this is as much about mitt romney as it is about rick

santorum. >> yeah, i think that is right. coming out of michigan it was harder for santorum, the momentum was on romneromney's s. there are demographics that favor santorum but he is getting out spent. one of the x factors is that early voting is way down from 2008. that has been a help to mitt romney in other states. he has banked significant early vote in arizona and florida, that will not be the ways here. that is why it's so tight. based to trend line, romney is favored tonight even with the polls showing it tied up. >> howard, you are no stranger to a long race. i want to bring in, we talk a bit about, we have talked about georgia where newt gingrich is riding high in the polls. that said, we have, i think in a lot of ways discounted him in the conversation in the last week because we have been focused on santorum and romney.

i want to play a bit of sound from gingrich and romney going back and forth on gas prices. >> i would like to get gas prices down, that is number one, we do not want to see them go up. i'm not going to pander to you and tell you this is the gas price. >> romney is rich enough that he hasn't noticed how big a problem that is. >> newt gingrich who is not voting today. we have breaking news that he may be getting secret service. if in fact rick santorum does not perform and does not get the numbers he needs to, could it go back to a gingrich/romney race? >> hard to tell. i find it interesting that there are primaries in which the candidates do a good job if they are going up and focusing their fire on the incumbent. thises a prime where the opposite occurred. i do not hear them talking much about president obama anymore, you is saw the clip, they are talking about what the other guy

is lacking in. you have seen president obama's numbers go up during this period because of that. he is out there all on his own, he is president, he is doing positive things. he is having events that people are responding well to. and the republicans are just firing each other. their not focusing their attention on obama, they are focusing on one another. the govern is right, this does need to end soon for the republicans to get their focus back on president obama. >> i think they are focusing on obama. i just do not think it gets picked up. because we are seeing -- >> it ain't getting picked up, it's not happening. >> it's not been the case in the debates. it's been shooting at each other. and that clip represents what the republican ares have been doing to each other instead of hits the president on gas prices where he is weak. it has to stop now. i think it can stop now. and i'm just optimistic as a republican, for all of the rea s

problems of the last six months, the president is still not getting 50% of the vote. i believe the republicans now are at the low point. we have had a horrible flap over contraception, we have been shooting at each other for six months. the president had free reign and i think hoping tomorrow, i hope that tomorrow, whether or not the nominee is settled, that those candidates will start to focus on the difference between their view and the president's and we can go into november with confidence as a party. >> and the pleas are not falling on dead ears. but is newt gingrich going to pack up his toys and go hope if he wins georgia and he has southern primaries this weekend? >> i think his candidacy -- you know, there's santorum and gingrich if they don't do well tonight.

and if romney looks more inevitable after tonight, then they both is have diminishing returns to watch out which is their own personal earning power, they look like spoilers at a point and that they will not go away, that can hurt them on their own personal bottom lines. both have potential to you know, whether it's sell books or speeches, i think in newt's case, why if he wins georgia, he -- what is wrong with letting him go another week before sort of the party leaders pushi ininm out. see if he can sweep alabama and mississippi, he can say he is a southern candidate. let him go an extra week. in santorum's case, let's see what he does tonight, but there's going to be a case where, all right, he can maybe make the case to go to april third if he wins three or four states tonight. but then after april third you have to start asking questions. >> there was a moment in 2008, chuck will remember this, when

you began to hear voices, then senator clinton to get out of the race, and there was push back from her supporters saying this is not over, give her a chance to go on to the future primaries. i do not think that if santorum and gingrich perform badly tonight, that there will be a lot of push back to voices like the governor saying you is have to get out of the race. >> that is right. >> all of the party will say enough is enough, get out of the race, these guys do not want to kill their future in the republican party. >> they will have to look out for their future professions. a slow clap you think perhaps tonight if they do not perform as expected. we will see, coming up there's brand new data indicating that the economy could improve by election day and recent polling has suggested that social issues don't necessarily equal victory at the ballot box, so what should republicans be running on? we will debate that next "now."

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>> just focusing in on whether we want a man who can stand up and paint a very different vipgz for this country, all of the issues not just how we manage the economy better. >> if you think this campaign against president obama is going to be about the economy, jobs, and government being too big, then i'm the guy you need to

nominate. >> those were two different views of what is needed to send a republican candidate to the white house. governor we have news this week an ap january survey shows that unemployment may be 8% on election day, the december survey had it pegs at 8.4%. this would seem to complicate the job of running against the president's economiced record to some degree. >> it may complicate it but it does not change the economy, it will be the issue this november. it has been for the last three and a half and it will be for the next eight months. the president is weak on this, you gave statistics, the projection is maybe by november the unemployment will be down to 8%. well, his economic advisers in 2009 said pass this stimulus program and it will never hit 8%. so, three years later, we are

getting down to what his people thought would be the cap. his policies have failed. more importantly, gasoline prices every american, except for here in new york city where you can take a cab or if you work here a limo, this president five years ago was saying how my energy price it is are going to make you have to pay more. and they have, he is weak on that. >> and certainly the estimate of where the unemployment rate should be and where it is, post is stimulus, has been discussed quite a bit in republican circles, i wonder how much the public is blaming the president for that. to the degree that the economy is improving, they see the unnumbers going down. -- the unemployment numbers going down.

>> you look at the optimism of the public, it's four straight months where the optimism has gone up in the survey, the pessimistic has become politicalized. so the more hard core obama opponents, in our polling are the only ones now saying the economy is not getting better. it's interesting that that has become politicalized a bit. the president, if it continues, he points to energy and i this i the white house know s they are vulnerable on it. everything has been connect to energy right now. they have more meetings coming up later this week. both are energy relaeted. how they used to worry about housing last year, they are very, they know it's a soft spot for them. simply because on one hand, you talk about the gas prices, though that as we know, the gas price hits it's sugar high politics, you have a nice hit and then it changes.

>> because gas prices are not pegged to domestic policy but to global politics. >> i disagree with that. >> the larger issue with energy, the first -- they are aware it's a soft spot. >> the gas prices will get more expensive over the course of the summer and this president bares some responsibility for that. he they will say it's all global politics and that is an element and that is a element, but -- >> to -- >> the demand is down because the price is up. the second is the weak dollar, the policy has to have zero interest rates and a weak dollar, the price of on food is up, the price of clothing is up, and that effects every family

and this administration has had a pro found negative effect on the economic. >> i'm thinking it's nice to hear a republican talk about the economy. most of the campaign trail has been talking about social issues. >> santorum, if you listen to that says, hey, this is a relative issue. if you want to just talk good economy -- >> and if you want to know why the president's numbers are going up it's because they are out there talking about issues that americans do not care about and are somewhat frightened by. >> and in the case of mitt romney does not want to talk about these issues, he is eager to get back to the economy or foreign policy. >> and perhaps not romney care. i'll leave us with this quote. romney is on the verge of escaping having embraced a

program his party considers inimical to freedomist. stunning. >> it is stunning. and i guarantee you -- >> it's come late but santorum has tried. >> president obama will keep trying. >> he will -- >> that is right. he will hug him. >> death by a thousand hugs. i did not mean that he would hurt him. >> the irony is thick like a cake. after the break, poll position, if there's one thing we have learned about this race, it's that volatility is the name of the game. we will unpack the latest numbers when one of the experts behind the nbc news polls join us live next on "now." [ male announcer ] chicken broccoli alfredo.

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here today gone tomorrow here today gone tomorrow. here today is peter hart to talk about the polls that is have givens us whiplash this campaign season, he is a pollster and runs hart reference, one half of the group for the nbc wall treat journal polls. thank you for being with us. >> thank you. >> i have a line graph of how the gop field has polled over the course of the last four months, it's crazy. it reminds me that newt gingrich in december was polling you up at 40%, he is now down at 13%, rick santorum was at 3% in december, now at 32%, have you seen -- is this historically, thises -- this volatilitity, is there a historical precedent for it in your years of studying polls? >> in my history, i've they are

seen it like this. it tells us one thing that the republican party is trying to unite behind somebody, they have tried out every candidate, they now appear to be trying out mitt romney to be able to see if he can fill the bill. but, up to now, essentially they have been looking for that alternative, that alternative they have not found. it's hurt the party tremendously. >> we were talking, with we talked about that in the beginning of the show how it hurt the party, there's polling that backed that up a bit, same poll, the nominating process made you more or less favorable toward the gop, less favorable 40%, that is ouch on that one. but, perhaps, i think the one that came out this morning. not from nbc but a fox poll released yesterday shows potential match ups. obama versus santorum, obama versus romney and obama versus

gingrich among hispanics and the president is cleaning up between 69% and 72% among hispanic voters. this does look good for a general election, right, peter? >> it's too troubled for the republicans, the hispanic vote is a growing vote, it's in key states and as chuck pointed out, you look at the african american vote, the hispanic vote, those two things put together, you start to see states like north carolina, virginia, colorado, nevada, all of those places that democrats did well in '08, those become very much in play one more time. >> we talk about going to the general, we know it's going to be a heavy lift for someone like romney. governor, what sort of goes through your mind when you see the numbers on the hispanic vote some. >> it's a disaster for our candidate and the republican party, i think it's reversable. if you turn the focus back on the faed policies of the

president, we have the ability to appeal to latino voters. let me give you an example. they are demographically younger than americans as a whole, they are a strong community across the country, that are interested in their future and their children's future, this president has driven us off a deficit cliff where we are now closing in on a $16 trillion, they did not benefit from the borrowing and spending but their kids will have to pay us off. they want their children to have a good job and have a good educati education. >> they do want the good education -- >> this president has damaged the future -- go ahead. >> it might if up were in the race. one of the things that the governor gets credit for, he made a successful effort to reach out to latino voters here. what you see in the presidential level in the republican party, romney is giving them the back of his hand, he could not be

more anti-hispanic if he tried. >> i have to add to that -- >> how anti-hispanic? i understand we have not paid attention but there's a difference. >> if you talk vetoing the dream act, which is about providing higher educational opportunities for focuses who are here and want to go to college. there are people that are doing the right thing, they are trying to live out the american dream. that has broad bipartisan support except in the narrow parts of the republican party. >> in defense here, and i know that is not the argument we are having. there's an issue with illegal immigration and we tried once before, legalization that created a new class of american citizens that was a benefit but in the process encouraged millions more to come illegally. we have to have control of our borders and we do not want to create incentives for people to come here illegally. we want people to have incentive

to come legally. there are legitimate ways to change the dream act that accomplishes both purposes, reward good behavior and assure that the borders are protected. i think there's the potential for our candidate, we will see what happens tonight if mitt wins the key states tonight, i think he will be the candidate. to turn their attention to the hopes of that latino community in a positive way. >> chuck, you seem to think there's a master plan here? >> no, the three candidates running they do not live in, they are not in states with large hispanic populations and i think that they do not know governor came from a state with the largest population. i have a question for peter. what is more fixable the issue with women or hispanics in the short-term? >> i guess you would have to say suburb women but the fact is they have problems on both fronts. one on contraception and the other is really on be talking to the middle of the electorate,

they are talking to the extremes and that is how the voters see it. as you know, chuck, two to one people say the republicans are only talking to their extremes, the democrats are talking to the middle. that is what the primary process has killed the republicans in that respect. >> peter hart, thank you for the wisdom and thank you to chuck todd, host of "the daily run down" and chuck will be part of the super tuesday coverage starting here at 6:00 p.m. eastern and on nbc with brian williams at 10:00 eastern. the hardest working man. >> cloning. >> coming up, we will take a look at the leading ladies how the better halves are besting their husbands. next on "now." ♪ i believe in dreams again

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president obama will hold a press krns and announce a new housing program for have veterans for the first time this year, he will take questions from the press core, is the president stealing the spotlight on the most important day of the republican primary season? we have our guest here, former adviser to former george w. bush. >> i have a lot of angry e-mails. >> i'm sure. let's talk about the president and what he is doing today. it's not just happen stance that the president is speaking on super tuesday. he spoke to the uaw conference on the day of the michigan primary. that said, he had tough questions about his meeting yesterday with netanyahu, how do

you grade his performance yesterday? >> i was not inside the meeting. did the prime minister get a perhaps that if he waits and lets the sanctions play out, will the u.s., if they are not successful, will the u.s. take military action. that is the questions for netanyahu, the whole founding of the jewish state is that the future safety and fate of the jewish people will never been in the hands of another government, it will be in the hands of israeli government. and what president obama is asking netanyahu to do is wait, wait may mean that it takes that option out of netanyahu's hands. and put it in the president's hands. did he get that commitment from obama? and the consecutive question is, if he did get the commitment, did he trust it? >> that is exactly right. we know the deadline, the red line for president obama is in fact november.

and howard, i guess, let's play, let's play some sound from prime minister netanyahu at aipac last night. >> we have waited for sanctions to work. we cannot wait much longer. as prime minister of israel, i will never let my people live in the shadow of destruction. >> a defiant netanyahu, it's important note that secretary leon panetta spoke this morning and said military action is to table. we talk about a lot about the factors that will determine whether the president is re-elected. foreign pause is a huge question mark. >> i've been doing it for 20 years and every election season, there's a debate on the jewish vote if national politics and jewish republicans will say,

like they always do, this election will be different and that jewish votes will be split. and every election, it happens again. that the democrats get 70%, 75% and obama got almost 80%, despite the concerns that some of the jewish republican as wer making about him in the middle east. we are hearing again this time, that president obama is losing jewish support, that whoever the republican is, will do better, i have heard it so many times you'll just have to forgive me for being skeptical. they are important issues to the jewish communities and others in the country, but every two years we hear the same thing and every two years jewish voters come back to the democratic party in overwhelming numbers. >> howard, if i might, i think it's far more than just about jewish voters. because a overwhelming majority of americans believe that we cannot toll are rate a nuclear

armed iran. not just jewish americans but all americans. dan hit it on the head, be the president in all likelihood said in that private meeting we will not allow a nuclear iran to exist. but the rhetoric of the administration for the first two years is we can contain a nuclear armed iran. it's only been as the americans are starting to oppose iran getting nuclear weapons, now it's 3-1 that the rhetoric has changed to not tolerating a nuclear armed iran. so if i'm prime minister netanyahu i'm saying they are saying it now. but come january, iran is on the verge of nuclear weapons can i count on this president to take over? that is a question only the prime minister can answer. to the point that this is not just about jewish voters. the candidates have taken it up

with gusto as the economy is looking better. and social issues have been deemed a distraction. let's listen to what all the candidates said. >> i have seen a president who has been hesitating, he said he has israel's back from everything that i have seen from the content of this administration, he has turned had his back on the people of israel. >> i will bring the current policy of procrastination toward iran to an end. i will not delayism posing the sanctions we have. and i'll make sure iran knows of the real peril that awaits it if it becomes nuclear. >> the red line is not the morning the bomb goes off, it's not the morning our intelligence community tells they have failed again. the warning and red line is now.

>> at the end of the day, this is campaign season, also known as silly season, how much daylight -- since that is how we like to frame the debate -- how much daylight is between the candidates and the president's in. >> the big question is, is there daylight between the president and the prime minister, that question. the president said there needs to be daylight. he had a phone call with american jewish leaders and said there needs to be daylight, the united states' policy has been hinderred and i agree, every year, trust me my republican friends and i get very excited and talk about this is the year of the jewish vote. it will happen. i will say, this is what makes this cycle different. historically, democrats and republicans have been in the

same place, when hillary clinton ran for president, she was pro israel, and what is unique about the current political environment is there is a bipartisan consensus on israel, but the president stands outside of it. you could not have to hear that from republicans. chuck schumer called some of the things that the president has done as a daggar in the heart of the relationship. there's bipartisan consensus on israel and criticism on the president. >> why is this cycle different than all other cycles? >> well done, howard. >> what i did not hear from the republicans was any sort of clear statement that they were going to begin any sort of policy different from what the president is pursuing. i'm not an expert in foreign

policy, i did not hear in a month, if x did not happen, we will begin the bombing. that may not be appropriate but if you are a person sitting at home, you are not hearing much difference. >> what you are hearing is romney's op-ed, he calling the president effectless and the red line is now. i think foreign policy, that is where the american public do not feel that effective also -- effectiveless is where the president has been. >> you are not hearing any answers in this. i do not think you heard specifics. i think that howard that is a point, that it's not appropriate as a candidate to say i'm going bomb iran. i think santorum came closest to saying what he would do. but it's easier for candidates and this is the argument that

democrats will make is to stand outside and criticize without the knowledge of what is going on in the room. >> would that we were in that room. after the break, the potential first wives club, we will see how the spouses are impacting the race next on "now." i love that my daughter's part fish.

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case of romney and santorum, they might be right. i want to -- we talked a lot about how to win over the electorates and suburb women are the folks that we talk about time and time again here, among women voters, now 48 prs think that the democrats should control congress, last year 40% and that is an eight-point swing. among suburb women, 48% of them think that democrats should control the congress and in august it was 30%. that is an 18 point swing. we talk about the trouble that lies ahead in the gop race and getting women on your side, if you are mitt romney or santorum or to a degree newt gingrich seems to be a problem. how effective are folk s like n romney and karen santorum. >> it's harder to gauge karen's effectiveness. she just started talking. her issue is not just the

specifics of what he talks about, it's the rhetoric, and the way he talks about it. ann romney has been a great surrogate for her husband, she is warm and engaging, she has the characters that people complain that her husband doesn't have. thises where the white house and the re-elect in chicago are looking, right, we had the news that over the week, president obama will be spooking at barnard, that is not a campaign, that has nothing to do with this race. >> right, nothing to do with it. >> call -- >> the republicans will admit it on some level, this has been an unpleasant debate on things like sandra fluke. >> give us historical views at

how big a role the wives play? >> very important, michelle obama was an effective campaigner for her husband, told his story well. we deployed bill clinton all over the country, to get votes. we he went to -- he went to smaller places and was effective in getting votes. the first spouse matters. however in this instance, you can have the best first lady in the country and if the republicans continue to have the debate on contraception, it will not help them get over female voters. they do not have a first spouse problem, they have a policy problem and a rhetoric problem and they need to stop caring the american people about issues that were settled 40 years ago. >> i agree. good news is that is why primaries come to a close. >> that is right. >> and sometimes soon in the

next couple of months we will have a nominee and that nominee will be reintroduced to the american, we are consumed with the primary process, but the vast majority of americans will start to learn about mitt romney and they will look at him fresh and he will get a reset and every nominee of a major party gets a reintroduction and when it happens it will not be about issues of contraception and birth control, it will be on issues related to the economy and the issues in which they want to frame the debate. when you see ann romney on tv, that is the authentic human being that she is. and she tells his story beautifully. >> mitt romney has been given a couple reintroductions and been able to reintroduce himself and his policy positions a few time. but that notwithstanding, thank you. what now, if you think the u.s. economy is on the path to recovery, you may want to consider where most of the

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>> welcome back, time for "what now?" american muslim leaders showing their support for the nypd surveillan surveillance of muslim communities. three dozen rallied yesterday morning the president of the organization said we are not here to criticize but thank you for monitoring the extreme muslims. >> we have had debate about the role of the police. they will continue to do everything that they can that is legal and appropriate to protect this city. we have had attacks that were successful. we know it. we have broken up more than a dozen attack since 9/11 thanks

in part to the work of the nypd, the mayor said clearly that we will continue to protect this city, that we will do everything that we can legally and appropriately and we have done it to do that. >> and interesting, an interestiinterest ing type to be deal be with issues of faith and security. the report finds the u.s. economy has been in recovery, the catch, the richest 1% have been doing most of the recovery. we are talking about income disparity in the country. the top 1% of werers in this country took -- earners took in 93% of all income gains. what do you make of it? >> i think it's without knowing more about the specifics of this report, i mean, i do not think it's a huge surprise, that is generally the way it works. i do not think it will change the way people feel about the economy and their lives going forward. >> this is a weak recovery.

if you look at it in historical context. any time you had a recession this deep, you had a recovery much stronger and the income disparity is one thing, the absence of jobs is another. 8.3% unemployment -- >> you are on your talking points. you are on your talking points. dan? >> look, the issues of economic mobility and inequality are real. but, we have to have an honest debate here. it is not about the expiring or not expiring of bush tax cuts, there's a lot of things going on, putting a higher premium and paying more for elite level, knowledge based jobs. this has been going on. if wec want to have a real discussion, let's have it. >> thank you again -- >> thanks again to maggie,

governor and that is all for "now," i'll see you tomorrow. before that, i'll answer questions tonight live at 9:00 p.m. eastern as the results come in, sign up now, there will be many typos, president obama will address the press in 15 minutes from now. we will bring it to you live when it begins.fa from skagway, alaska. happened to come across quicken loans online. [ chris ] quicken loans constantly kept us updated and got us through the process twice now. quicken loans is definitely engineered to amaze. they were just really there for us.

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weight watchers points plus 2012. oh dear... oh dear! ohh dear... i'm not sure exactly what happened here last night. i was out helping people save money on their car insurance. 2 more! you're doing it! aren't they doing great?! hiiiiiii!! come sweat with me! keep going richard. keep sweating!! geico. fifteen minutes could save you sweat! sweat! fifteen percent or more on car insurance. >> welcome to a special edition of "andrea mitchell reports," big day today, subpoeper tuesda this could cement the nomination for romney or not. given the ups and downs of the season. and the first