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>> because he is a fake. [laughter] >> this week on "inside washington," front runner blues. >> there is no reason we cannot get gasoline to $2.50 a gallon. >> the lead story in a newspaper said "gasoline prices are on the rise and republicans are licking their chops." >> these laws are simply mean- spirited. >> the bloody crackdown in syria and the violent protests in afghanistan. >> the decision to bring this material had nothing to do with it being religious in nature or related to islam. it was a mistake. captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org-- >> we had the 20th debate

starring the remaining candidates for the republican presidential nomination. this time it was rick santorum's turn to be the front runner, which gave him the privilege of being chomped on by the other candidates. >> while i was fighting to save the olympics, you were fighting to save the bridge to nowhere. >> i voted for that. it was against the principles i believed in, but sometimes you take one for the team. >> "you take one for the team," just what the tea party was waiting to hear. there was a lot of talk about santorum winning in michigan, but his lead it seems to be shrinking. did he hurt himself in the debate, mark? >> he did. give him credit for admitting a mistake, something very few candidates can do. he hurt himself by being on the defensive and falling into senate-speak.

the motion to recommit with the amendment to table -- >> without objection. >> eyes glaze over. republicans ought to be grateful that 305 million people did not watched the debate on wednesday, because not a single one of these candidates is more impressive, commanding or sharper than he was 10 months ago. >> nina? >> this is a classic example, santorum, of trying to explain intricacies of a votes. was for itkerry's "i before i was against it." it is sat at that is where we are in our political was where you cannot have that conversation. >> colby? >> santorum was the victim of a

tag team match by it romney it and ron paul hitting him from both sides. one served a balloon, the other knocked it right into santorum's head. he was off balance the whole two hours. >> charles, can santorum take michigan? >> i think the debate will have a negative effect. santorum's strength is tea party. he wanted to claim the mantle of the tea party, small government guy. romney being a sort of an inconsistent, and reliable conservative, if you like. the problem with santorum is that he has quite a record of being a big government conservative. it does not mean he is not a conservative, but he got into the bush compassionate conservatism, he supported stuff like no child left behind, which he had to defend and say i did it because of the team, which is

not -- the whole idea of tea party is acting on principle, even against the majority of the establishment. what is being discovered is not a tactical error on santorum's park, but the fact that tea party is not cwhom he has been in the past and he is adopting it to be anti-romney but it is is not a perfect description of who he was. santorum starter in his home state of michigan -- i mean, romney? >> why is it his home state? romney is from massachusetts, a liberal republican. >> ooh, those are fighting words. >> now he is trying to adopt a michigan with lines like "i love the trees, i love the lakes."

he is not very authentic as a candidate. >> why is it he stronger there, mark? >> i think colby is right. time has passed from the days of his dad. he ran in michigan successfully against john mccain in 2008 as the conservative. now he has three candidates to his right, one in particular in santorum. >> what is going on between ron paul and roromney? >> they are objectively allies, and it is not because of conspiracy or because their wives are close. you are ron paul, you are 76, you are not going to be president, but your entire movement is to acquire of legitimacy.

his goal is not to end up number one and eight delegates in tampa, but number two. what he needs to do is exceed the total of the guys who are his rivals. he wants a strong romney, he wants to be the leader of the internal opposition, a guy who gets a speech in primetime and hands over to his son as the leader of a strong and legitimate movement inside the republican party. >> let's say something about ron paul's ideology as well. it is in libertarian movement. one of the things that santorum has consistently stood for in his public talking points is that government, in fact, should do certain things about people's private lives. that is not a libertarian movement. to be fair, i think it is offensive to ron paul's

ideology. he does not go around and say "i am pro-choice" or anything, but he said during this debate "pills aren't morality." >> it does not explain why ron paul went so heavily against newt in iowa. the most effective ad against newt was by ron paul. it is not ideological, it is he wants to be no. 2. >> if you want to be no. 2, you have to take on no. 1 at some point. >> no, you don't. >> mind if i speak? we had an interesting sight political discussion of what he wants. i have no idea what he once did i know what he has done great rick perry was the leader, he went after rick perry.

newt gingrich was the leader, and he went after newt gingrich. at no point has he gone after mitt romney, was also intermittently been the leader. it is a legitimate conclusion here that there is something going on, that it is deeper than wanting to give a speech at the convention. >> romney is the only one among those who has been the consistent front runner, and the presumptive nominee. i think it makes eminent sense that you do not want to go after him and go after all of your rivals. >> there have been 11 changes in 2011 in leadership in the polls -- >> the only guy who is still there is from the. > -- romney. >> poor rick santorum. he cites his support for all inspector -- arlen specter and arlen specter turns right the next day and says that is not true. >> they are dusting off their three-point plans for $2 gas.

>> the president says that those of us who believe in $2 gas is just politics. that is baloney. it was $1.13 a gallon when i was speaker. that is a historic fact. it is $1.89 a gallon when he became president. that is a historic fact. >> actually, i checked. it was, and in some places a little less. let's say gasoline is $5 by election day. what are the president's chances of reelection? >> gasoline prices are like a big tax in that they take money out of people's pockets, particularly at the lower income levels when the they have to go to work, for example. i think we have seen enough of this for the last 20 years that people have some sense that politicians don't control this. there was a study recently that showed it to the united states actually was accountable -- made all of its own gas, all pumped

in the united states, it would only reduce the price of gas internationally at about a few cents a gallon. we don't produce all the gas in the world. >> i understand, but we're taking more oil out of the ground than in years, refineries are at full blast, gasoline consumption is down. why are prices going up? >> because of like when newt gingrich was speaker, you did not have china, a growing consumer of gas, the problems we have now with iran withholding protection. there is so much uncertainty in the world now. you are going to have this increase in the price of gas. the other thing that is true, we are never going to be energy independence. we are not going to be free of fossil fuels. that is a fact.

we will have to learn to reduce our dependency, and that will take a variety of things -- coming up with alternative sources. >> newt gingrich will put a 30- minute infomercial on gasoline prices on television. are you going to watch that, charles? >> if jeremy lin it is playing, i probably won't. [laughter] >> if he puts jeremy lin in a half hour? >> then i might watch. >> newt gingrich said to his staff when he was in congress, "my job is not to win reelection, my job is not to pass a a law. my job is to save western civilization." this man's vanity is unlimited. "when i was speaker, gas was $1.13." is the first time we have had the speakership affect international policy at the global level --

>> bill clinton was president. >> i don't hear him give it to o'neill credit for the reagan revolution in any way. when gas what is at its highest in july 2008, did the democrats exploit it politically? you better believe it. if gas rose to $5 a gallon in 2012, you better believe the republicans will do it. that is exactly how the game is played. >> i am all for saving western civilization, but can the president with gasoline is $5 a gallon? >> it will hurt his chances. win or lose is a big question. there are other factors on election day. generally the two numbers that tell the most on election day is unemployment and the price of gasoline. it has a direct effect on the mood of the country because it takes money out of your paycheck. it has an indirect effect

because it slows the economy. it is a tax on the economy, money that ends up in the pockets of the saudis and the russians. it has the secondary effect on unemployment. if it begins to rise in stays high and depresses the economic recovery, that is the most important element. >> is it not true that when ronald reagan was running for reelection, the price of gas also went up? and he won? and when george w. bush was running for reelection, the price of gas went up -- >> reagan experience dominant question of unemployment, and there was a tremendous drop in unemployment, and the growth rate of the country was 6%. it is today to 1.7%. >> which makes my point that gas prices are not determinative election. >> we agree.

>> that's nice. >> i have a body, which is my right to control. >> she was furious about proposed virginia legislation that would have required women seeking abortions to undergo all for sound imaging by way of vaginal insertion. that part of the bill died after gov. bob mcdonnell came out against it. across the river in maryland, the maryland senate approved gay marriage. something happens in either direction when you cross that river. >> one is a red state, what is a blue state. except, though, on the question of reproductive rights. virginia has been very, very good on this subject. although the governor move in one direction, he had to step back on the curb as well when he got a real reaction to the kind of stuff they wanted to do

there. maryland it was going to do same-sex marriage, but that will be pushed to a referendum. >> during the debate, they seemed to shy away from birth control, it seemed to me, anyway. >> they may have shied away from it, but my view has always been that if abortion is the question, the republicans win. if contraception is the issue, the republicans lose. by making title x, which provides equal access to contraception, this has become a big issue. for women, i think this is a sleeping giant kind of thing. i had this quotation courtesy of congress marcus of "the washington post." ruth of "thes washington post." george w. bush when he was governor -- "if that family

planning is anything, it is a public health issue." i don't understand this. if you are against abortion, why would you be against birth control? >> look, the only reason it has become an issue among the republicans is that santorum is living in the 1950's and he makes it an issue. i don't see any of the other candidates who in an issue -- who make it an issue. remember the earlier debate when abc's stephanopoulos asked about contraception, romney said what the hell is this about? this is a settled issue. santorum, instead of saying that john kennedy thing, i am a catholic, but it will not influence how i covered, i don't take orders from the vatican, in a story -- end story -- he does not say end of the story, he

keeps talking about it. once santorum is out of the race, unless he wins the nomination, i hope it will die as an issue. >> santorum had his golden opportunity. this is a chance for him to talk about manufacturing, speak to blue-collar republicans. instead, a series of unforced errors, from "phony theology" to contraception to these questions of prenatal testing. it took the focus from what was working for him to issues that don't work for him. i could not agree more. abortion is a serious, grave decision. contraception is a settled matter. >> the bloodbath in syria and protests in afghanistan. >> anyone who gets on the street, if they are not hit by a shell, there are snipers all

around. the sickening thing is the complete reversal as nature. -- merciless in nature. >> that was marie colvin, an award winning journalist was killed covering the carnage in syria this week. is there anything the united states can do to stop the bloodshed, or should do? >> you heard this week suggestions that maybe we will find a way to intervene as well. there will be intervention in syria. i said last week and i think that every sign suggests that there will be some kind of call le -- coalescing of international forces to do something, to get support in there for the antis. the international community is really embarrassed and humiliated by what is going on. >> the american people are pretty war-weary. >> they are, but they are looking at the slaughter --

unadulterated slaughter of innocents. you cannot say there is a garrison in there or this is collateral damage. the strategy of the younger assad is to do with the father did it in 1982 where he killed 20,000 people in three weeks and he paved over the city. this is what we are dealing with. the problem is that the united states government is speaking about humanitarian aid went it is complete irrelevance. you cannot get food in or out. either you give military aid or you do empty words. what i hear are empty words. >> the difference between what assad's father did and now is that we have pictures contemporaneously. the united states cannot be policeman of the world. this is the hardest kind of moral question to face, and i don't have an answer. >> first of all, shame on china,

shame on russia. second, 70 nations will meet in tunisia this weekend with the pressure building. i am reluctant, as somebody with a press pass, to idealize the lionize journalists, but but for the courage of people like marie colvin and those who paid with their life and limbs for the coverage, we would not know what was going moderate they have forced the conscience of the world to -- what was going on in. they have forced the conscience of the world to address the devastation of human beings there. >> it is not enough to say shame on russia. russia is acting in its national interest. it is not as if it is is not living up to expectations. the obama administration made the point that the great success and its foreign affairs is the reset with russia. he has done nothing. >> in afghanistan, military

people it for to lead b -- inadvertently burnt the koran. all hell has broken loose. two of our people were killed. >> their reaction is not surprising. the president's statement of apology is not going to end what is going on there. the karzai government has urged to seize in the violence. >> this is an example of cultural clashes when we get involved in a country like afghanistan or syria. >> mark, your thoughts on afghanistan? >> after 10 years, we might have learned that burning korans is not helpful, is harmful, threatening. there is no question that on both sides we have people in afghanistan who want as o-- want us out, anti-americans who are

exploiting this. it is what it is. the reality is that afghanistan is a loser and the quicker we are out, the better. >> newt had the best word on this. he said we are going to apologize for the burning of koran, ok, but let's demand from the government of afghanistan an apology for the killing of two americans. i agree that is in rages -- this enrages americans. we have people dying in afghanistan said that women can have the dignity and girls and go to school and people can have the freedom and democracy. clearly this is a culture where that is not welcome. again, i think that the two- parties share the problem and the responsibility, because it was the democrats, i will remind you, in 2004, for about five or six years who argued that

afghanistan was the good war, the real war, iraq was a distraction. it was obama who tripled our troops and doubled our spending. this is america as a country which has made a decision and it is a quicksand and it ultimately out and i am not sure how much we've changed. >> i guess you can agree with general-admiral gingrich that if we don't get the apology, we ought to just get out. >> no, i don't agree. >> saw the else happened in afghanistan, it to -- something else happened in afghanistan,. decimating al qaeda was the purpose for going into afghanistan t. we also used to be area to get

osama bin laden. how do we disengage -- >> how do you and keep tabs on pakistan at the same time? >> that is the problem. >> the idea that people think of pakistan as a problem in our dealing with afghanistan, but it is the opposite. afghanistan has strategic value only as a place where you can intervene in pakistan. evacuated it will be a problem. the only answer is to have india take our role in be area, because it worries about islamic radicalism. >> indian and pakistanis have always been close. [laughter] after iraq and afghanistan, and now the war drums for iran, it is it too much to insist, to demand of the president of the

united states, members of congress, that before we send americans into peril in combat and death, that we have debate in the congress of the united states, and that you vote up or down that we are going in? >> we had that -- >> we have not. >> the resolution -- what are you talking about? >> iran -- will there be a strike on iran from israel? >> if i am not mistaken, the constitution requires a declaration of war. we've not had that. don't talk about a debate on the eve of the 2002 election, where the opposition was cowed. >> you get the last word. see you next week.

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