instead of having to defend himself from the middle he goes against a hard righter? a hard righter. >> what annoys me about you, you always say what i'm thinking before i write it. exactly. >> i'm here. >> president obama is unlucky in the economic circumstances that he's facing. >> right. >> although that's what helped get him elected. economically unlucky. politically lucky. because, as i see it here, jennifer, i'm not sure -- >> lucky at cards, unlucky at love. >> i'm not sure i would make the bold prediction jennifer is making about mitt romney. he has smart people and staying power, perhaps, but rick perry is in exactly the right place. go to the right with tea party and evangelical christians because of background you talked about. >> it's real. >> also, talk about being a governor, a decision-maker, a job creator, more in mitt romney's face. so romney's the wan one -- excuse me. perry's the one in the middle strategically, which is the place to be. we do retail, jennifer said, raking in money. get a lot of the people who endorsed tim pawlenty in iowa. tim pawl

the western most computer mod hall it going over the chesapeake, the righter most over long island and cape cod. as far as the forecast goes, hurricane force winds will be hitting the coast of north carolina tomorrow. about 24 hours from now is when the destruction will begin. >>> stocks stumble, gold rises and the car most likely to be stolen. your business headlines straight ahead. >>> coming up, jim thome is heading home. your fantasy football approach, and a record for the yanks. every time a local business opens its doors or creates another laptop bag or hires another employee, it's not just good for business -- it's good for the entire community. at bank of america, we know the impact that local businesses have on communities, so we're helping them with advice from local business experts and extending $18 billion in credit last year. that's how we're helping set opportunity in motion. >>> welcome back to "first look" i'm lynn berry. here's some of the top stories making news this morning. >>> a new associated president gfk poll shows that americans are not happy with congress in

immigration much at all, they don't like black opportunity or aspirations, they're basically hard righters and now they're calling themselves something new, they have a new name. they've rebranded. >> but they go back even farther than that, chris. we have this idea that the founders created this country where we were going to separate church and state, but a lot of the founders from the very beginning wanted religion in politics and were always judging. there's a strong protestant evangelical culture in this country that took off after catholics. it's not like that hasn't been present where there's a nothing you have to be a white protestant to really embody the values of america. most people don't agree with that. the best news we have is to know the tea party is not to love the tea party. the more we know about them, the more the unfavorable ratings climb. people don't approve of what they're bringing to politics. >> i think i overstated by saying this buy is bull connor with a smile, and i'll take that back. i think i have to be care 68 learning this guy, dave, which a guy keeps says w

there are constituencies within the republican party, gun owners, veterans, home schoolers, states righters, tea party activists, religio conservatives who perry has huge support from. and where governor romney struggles. governor romney is going to have to figure out a way to stand up to what will be, i think, a focious assault from rick rry. and it remains to be seen how he can come back. perry's vulnerabilities in a general election are manifest. his vulnerabilities in the context of a republican nominating contest are difficult to see at this pot. >> i was going to say even when he is at the debate he doesn't really seem like he's debating. i mean last night-- . >> rose: he sort of stood above. >> stood above it. he didn't take the responsibility to respond to pawlenty's crack at him at one point. romney is running a general election campaign up to this point. very methodical campaign. he's running much closer to who he was as massachusetts of governor which is a fairly moderate republican, even though the republican party has shifted to the right over the last few years, romney himself

. >>> all righters. she lost out on an oscar for "the color purple."g recognized by a humanitarian award. >>> and charlie sheen, he's been sentenced to death, the season premier of 2 1/2 men includes a funeral for sheen's character. he was kicked off the show for dangerously self-destructive conduct. >>> and '90s supermodel linda evang evangelista says it takes more money to support her child. a chunk of the cash would go to full-time nannies and driver who is double at security. >>> a mysterious man, a threatening note and a sky dive into the history books. the d.b. cooper hijacking is one of this country's most fascinating unsolved cases. so a few days ago, when the fbi confirmed reports of its most promising lead to date in the 40-year-old case, it got a lot of people's attention. pretty good timing for author jeffrey gray, his book "sky j k jack: the hunt for d.b. cooper." abc's "good morning america" actually had an interview with a woman who claims she's d.b. cooper's niece. here's how she says she found out. >> i was spying on them from around t