now, the people running his organization are the same folks who have -- and the secret to mitt romney hayes success is having the other conservative candidates. that, so mitt romney can end up winning iowa with just about 25 percent, about the number he's been in all the way, and 25% could win you the iowa caucuses. >> we just heard, by the way, that newt gingrich opened another iowa office. i was in ohio over the holidays, i almost drop off the road when i heard this one, he couldn't get enough signatures to get on the ballot. it's tough, but he thought he would be a write-in candidate. that's a state where he's from, he didn't know you couldn't be a write-in candidate. what does that tell you about the organization if they didn't even know that? >> chris, it tells you this campaign hasn't been built for the long haul. newt gingrich's rise we saw about a month ago, they actually have been runging this campaign by the site of their pants. to their credit, they qualified for an ohio ballot deadline not too long ago, but were unable to make the virginia ballot. virginia is one of the hardest

romney says i am what i am. i don't tend to say outrage just things about other people that i don't believe in order to win political points. where are we do? steven hayes, fox news contributor. senior writer, "weekly standard." what is your take? >> good morning, bill. i think mitt romney is actually right. newt gingrich is the frontrunner. if you look at polling over past several weeks. look at the enthusiasm. he is winning the momentum primary at this point. mitt romney still has the advantage on organization and long term infrastructure of a campaign that you would want to have going into the actual voting period we're seeing a contest between organization and enthusiasm. bill: romney says he has a foundation in place to take him all the way to california which would be june 5th of next year. you say it is to romney's advantage, that it is a smart tactic to put gingrich as the front runner. how so? >> well, absolutely. i think he is trying to raise expectations for newt gingrich calling him the front runner and by terms lower expectations for mitt romney. if he calls the gingrich the front runner says he is the underdog, he being mitt romney there i

romney has gone from 29% in october down to 23 in november and now he's at 17% among likely gop voters. steven hayeshe turns we've seen in the past from mitt romney? is he sliding in a significant way? >> yes, i think that is exactly right, martha. if i'm working for mitt romney right now the numbers i'm concerned about are the back slide. the fact that despite all of the comings and goings of the other challenging to mitt romney he has not been able to increase his support, the way he hoped he could. that i think is the main concern for mitt romney. if he's back sliding and if poll after poll starts to show that he's back sliding, he's not maintaining. then i think they have to be very concerned. i think it's one of the reasons that explains, what you pointed out earlier, it's one of the reasons we are seeing mitt romney far more engaged, willing to have this debate and willing to challenge newt gingrich right away. martha: when you look at new hampshire a lot of folks keep looking at jon huntsman. coming from red state from eric erickson this morning as he summed up how everyone is doing. he says

hayes christopher l. haze himself. mitt romney

jon: we mentioned earlier in our discussion with stephen hayes the mitt romney campaign is trying toewts sudden ascent. they learned something with what happened to mike huckabee last time around where huckabee didn't have much after showing in the polls in october and came on strong. clearly mitt romney, who has a lot of money to spend, will be trying to take on gingrich and for that matter the other contenders in florida where television can buy you a lot of punch. >> yes. that is the hope of the romney forces. they think they can hold onto new hampshire. they're probably right. they don't expect to win in iowa. they will be very lucky to win in south carolina. i doubt the romney forces can do it. so if they could manage to win in that big media state of florida, that would be a big, big plus for romney going forward into the other primaries and caucuses. there are a few in february but mainly in march. i'll tell you, gingrich has also been raising a lot of money. we don't know how much yet but i don't think he will be as outclassed as some of the romney forces think he will be in

hayes." let's take a look at this one. mitt romneyrview, but when challenged, we saw his barely contained frustration when having to answer a question. watch his body language here. >> do you think a mandate, mandating people to buy insurance is the right tool? >> brett, i don't know how many hundred times i've said this too -- this is an unusual interview. all right, let's do it again! >> chris, i've never seen a candidate re-cross his legs in the middle of an interview with great frustration. >> it was an interesting physiological response, because he was clearly trying to contain just barely suppressed rage in that moment. a, it was a question, if you hired a 19-year-old to do a little bit of research or tee up a question to mitt romney, it was one of the first that he would ask. and the fact that he felt so offended by the question said to me that he had not been spending enough time in interviews. i think this shows that his muscles had atrophied. it also shows that romney had a temper. we saw his temper flare during the debate w

caucus-goers.steve hayes says: pll the talk about the ron paul surge - the support that he has out there - the momentum that he has potentially going into these january 3 caucuses is real. mitt romneyhmann, rick perry and newt gingrich kick off iowa bus tours tuesday night - as rick santorum goes hunting with iowa conservatives. aside, the winner of the 2008 iowa caucussss mike huckabee, says the outcome may boil down to the elements.huckabee says: "if the weather is good, mitt romney is in better shape. iff the weather is bad and it's real tough to get out, ron paul would win."on january 10, the nation's first primary is scheduled in new hampshire - where romnny leadd by dooble digits. a new boston globe poll shows gingrich and paul tied for second - just ahead of jon huntsmmn. but the road may soon get rocky for romney. susan says: he will take new hampshire by storm and will do very well there - and thht's goong to really propel him in to sooth carolina where he will have problems. i don't think it's over yet - i still think the southern states are problematic for romney - some people are saying 'he wins iowa, hewins new hampshire - it's a cake walk for him,' i don't necessarily

ultimately, my sense is gingrich, romney and possibly huntsman are the people viable down the stretch. >> and the ones that will benefit from this. thank you, chris hayese it. we will wake up with you tomorrow morning on "on up" and i will be on next. up next, another msnbc doku mystery. have a good one. see you tomorrow.

romney is a former governor. it's a solid field. >> where ais kennedy, where is reagan? reagan is a giant. >> chris hayes be sort of annoyingly serious for a second, i think the big loser this week were the 16-year-old girls in america who are now not going to be able to get plan b over the counter and are going to have to get a prescription. there are girls out there who are going to be terrified and i think dissuaded from actually going and getting this very safe medication the day after and instead are going to be having either abortions later or carrying to term unwanted pregnancies. and i think it's -- >> you're speaking of course of the health and human service decision to override the fda request to make -- >> on plan b. >> plan b available to those under 17. jonathan capehart? >> my winner i agree with robert on newt gingrich for all the reasons he explained. but for meet loser is rick perry for that unbelievably horrible ad he did talking about president obama and his one religion and gays in the military and all of that. spewing hate through a smiley face, i think, is beneath the people of this

romney had a good night last night. might have reassured people who weren't otherwise certain they would caucus for him. bill: stephen hayes>> thanks, bill. bill: we'll see you soon. thank you. martha. martha: over a billion dollars seems to be just gone. former senator and new jersey governor jon corzine is in the hot seat having trouble answering serious questions about his former employer. congressman michael grimm was the person who leveled some of the toughest questions yesterday. we'll talk him live. there he is. bill: lawmakers offering a bipartisan approach to overhauling medicare. congressman paul ryan trying a new approach after being shot down earlier. we'll tell you why the white house is all fired up over this. >> the wyden-ryan proposal could over time cause the traditional medicare program to quote, wither on the vine. it would raise premiums forcing many seniors to leave traditional medicare and join private plans. laces? really? slip-on's the way to go. more people do that, security would be like -- there's no charge for the bag. thanks. i know a quiet little place where we can get some work done. there's