alice stewart, thank you for joining us as always.orward to convincing you to come back on the show in future. >> thank you. >> we will take a look at why the republican party may be out of dated, maybe and we will -- in america, we believe in a future that is better than today. since 1894, ameriprise financial has been working hard for their clients' futures. never taking a bailout. helping generations achieve dreams. buy homes. put their kids through college. retire how they want to. ameriprise. the strength of america's largest financial planning company. the heart of 10,000 advisors working with you, one-to-one. together, for your future. ♪ together, for your future. this one's for all us lawnsmiths. grass gurus. doers. here's to more saturdays in the sun. and budgets better spent. here's to turning rookies - into experts, and shoppers into savers. here's to picking up. trading up. mixing it up. to well-earned muddy boots. and a lot more - spring per dollar. more saving. more doing. that's the power of the home depot. show the yar

joining me is alice stewart, national press secretary for rick santorum's campaign. >> i don't know why i am heed here. you pled my case. you said that rick is the conservative candidate. >> the official position of the show is anybody but romney. i share that view with the majority of republican voters. but possibly for a different reason. i think some will have the same reason i do and we will get to that before we finish talking. i'm wondering if you and the santorum campaign and republicans generally in elected office have kind of overestimated the conservatism of the republican voter and that is one of the reasons why mitt romney is doing as well as he is. i want to consider some elements of polling information we have here. for example, 56% of republicans opposed the medicare vouchers in the ryan plan according to an abc news poll last year. that indicates, right there, that on medicare republican voters, the majority of them, are more liberal than the santorum side of the party, let's call it. 55% of republicans oppose the idea that social security is unsustainable and needs to b

not islamic and i spoke to alice stewart tonight.nd that this was an innocent mistake, shep. >> islamic and environmental are really quite easy to mix up. the democrats seem thrilled by the prospects of a rick santorum opponent here. >> they do because they now believe for the first time rick santorum is a plausible republic nominee. if he were to win michigan, for example, he could get the momentum to get the nomination. democrats think that's good because mitt romney would be focused on the economy which could be the president's achilles heel while rick santorum talks about some of the social issues he seemed delighted to jump on, this take a listen. >> i can't help but think that those remarks are well over the line. >> it's wrong, destructive makes it virtually impossible to solve the problems that we all face together as americans. >> so basically the obama campaign thinks rick santorum would be more polarizing. >> he wants to talk about the economy but reporters keep asking him about social issues. that's why this keeps blowing

. >> and coming up next, alice stewart, her first interview since joining the santorum campaign.e to say about santorum's record on women's issues? plus it's do or die for mitt romney in michigan. and president obama is expected to speak in milwaukee just minutes from now, stay with us, live coverage ahead on "andrea mitchell reports." okay... is this where we're at now, we just eat whatever tastes good? like these sweet honey clusters... actually there's a half a day's worth of fiber in every ... why stop at cereal? bring on the pork chops and the hot fudge. fantastic. are you done sweetie? yea [ male announcer ] fiber beyond recognition. fiber one. hey, i love your cereal there-- it's got that sweet honey taste. but no way it's 80 calories, right? no way. lady, i just drive the truck. right, there's no way right, right? have a nice day. [ male announcer ] 80 delicious calories. fiber one. whose non-stop day starts with back pain... and a choice. take advil now and maybe up to four in a day. or choose aleve and two pills for a day free of pain. way to go, coach. ♪ spark card fro

joining me now is alice stewart, national press secretary for santorum for president, jackie gingrichior adviser to newt gingrich, and thaddeus mccollum. alice, that was your guy leading into the segment, making a point, just because i have private thoughts and a personal morality about certain things, it doesn't mean that i want government to do anything about those and enforce those. but in today's "new york times," maureen dowd made the point in her column that that still worries her. he understands that distinction, but she has seen too much of politician's own moralistic thinking seep into their governing when they get into office. >> in that particular instance, he was talking about how we're getting away from the family unit and we are seeing families that are single parent family. and while he respects and admiring single mothers, we're seeing a growing number of children having children and children having their children, more and more unwed people having children. but he also made the point when they were talking about contraception, he has his own personal belief on that. h

former communications director from the michele bachmann campaign, the lovely alice stewart. the winton churchill of political analyst, msnbc's martin bashir, and "daily news" columnist, s.e. cupp, who is not wearing her democrat hat today, or maybe she is. it's noon on the east coast. in 3 1/2 hours, nbc can report that donald trump will place a bet in vegas and endorse someone probably named mitt romney. the donald has had a thing for the presidential race this past year. let's take a look. >> if i run, and if i win, this country will be respected again. well, this is very serious. i wish i didn't have to do it. i wish this country was running so great. i will not be running for president, as much as i'd like to. the equal time provisions don't allow me to run until may, when i'm a free agent. i never really looked at it seriously until this year. i would rather endorse somebody and have that somebody beat barack obama. you may get into this thing after all. >> i hope i don't have to, but i may. the number one thing for me is this country. our country is in a lot of trouble

alice stewart is the national press secretary of santorum 2012 presidential campaign.ly it was a close race. when you look at the delegates, nine went to romney, seven to santorum and there are still some outstanding. how do you feel about the race there? >> we were tremendously satisfied with the results last night simply because we came into a state, as rick just said, it was mitt romney's backyard. tremendous name i.d. father was the governor. tremendously outspent more than six to one and we gave him a run for the money. his back was against the ropes for the past couple weeks and we're very satisfied with that. the key take away message of this is the delegate count. we gave him a run for his money in that regard. this is not about necessarily who came in first here, it's who's walking away with the most delegates. the numbers are still being crunched. there are still some congressional districts with the way this is being allocated proportionally by congressional districts. there is a good chance we will tie with him in the delegate count and quite possibly even

. >> alice stewart called back and said he is didn't mean radical islamic policies. meant radical environmental policies. needless to say, a.b., this has been a couple of days of talking about this statement. >> well, as byron points out, if the santorum surge begins to fade it's because of what he is talking about in the last few days because the republican primary electorate voters in michigan decide it might make him unelectable in the general. i don't think they care. i think he will win michigan. things could change but right now they are headed in one direction. mitt romney has often attacked his surging rivals from the right. but it's hard, he did attack perry from the left once when he said social security is not a ponzi scheme. he knew that would be headline. but it's tough to attack santorum right now and defend prenatal testing to talk about his over the top line about theology. from -- it's not, he can't. so who is going to? so the question becomes a media beating up on rick santorum in the republican voters will love that. he looks well positioned. the t

alice stewart. we will hear from the romney camp and arizona as well as michigan after this. >> the question is there a misconception. >> you get to ask the questions you want i get to give the answers i want. >> i drive a mustang and chevy pickup truck. ann drives a couple cadillacs actually. >> can you understand why some voters who be put off by those things? >> i can't be perfect. i am who i am and i can tell you this with regards to the cars we have that is something that tauz talked about. we have a car we have in california. we have a car we have in boston where our other home is. that's the way it is. if people think there's something wrong with being successful in america better vote for the other guy. >> mitt romney trying to dig himself out of an i will add vised comment. he governor brew enjust endorsed him. romney is over santorum by over 10 points. 39.5 to 28.8. scott rasmussen has him 42-29. tom more see the chairman of gop and former senator gym cal lynn for mitt romney. welcome. how

and for more on in, i'm joined by alice stewart, national press secretary for the santorum campaign. alice, great to see you, thanks for coming on. i know the candidate is talking about the economy and he is in michigan and you had a big debate with mitt romney about the auto bailout and the like. you have to acknowledge that the media is looking at santorum as he is now the front-runner. let's me play more of robert gibbs and the obama campaign's response yesterday. >> it's just time to get rid of the mind set in our poll particulars that if we disagree, we have to question character and faith. >> the question is, when rick santorum disagrees with the president profound approximately, why make it an issue of values and an issue of theology, why not just say we disagree with economics and taxes? >> certainly, rick has said it and we all said it before. robert gibbs took it out of context. he was not questioning the president peace character or religion. as he has clarified, he is talking about the global warmists of the country, he was referring to the president's policies in terms of

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and we saw earlier today, alice stewart, his spokes person, and santorum himself yesterday backing off the rhetoric, saying it's not about what people think it's about. to call the president a snob and saying that not everyone should go to college the way he did, it's not enhancing his chances being president. >> and attacking jfk to sbragz of church and states. look at this. >> i do not believe in an american with a separation of church and state is absolute. that makes you throw up. >> it seemed that he was setting up a straw man in. >> again, if you want to make the point that's made about both people and what happens with kids in college, even if i wants to say that religion deserves a larger space, to say kennedy's words make you throw up, it is bad politics. it's the things that he have said throughout his career that some people like. but if he is going to be the nominee, he needs broader support. and that type of rhetoric is not politically smart and it's in a lot of ways, both remarks, calling the president a snob and saying kennedy's comments made him throw up is not presiden

this morning we're joined by the santorum campaign press secretary, alice stewart.with us. certainly appreciate it. what do you make of your candidate's recent surge in the polls? >> well, it just goes to show that voters are taking their time and repeated really getting to know the candidates and beginning to recognize that mitt romney is the most liberal candidate we have in this race and rick santorum is the true consistent conservative and that goes for social and fiscal issues. people this year are concerned more than ever about the economy, jobs and they want to create an environment that will help create jobs. with the unemployment rate at 8.3% and a debt and deficit continuing to rise. they want someone in the white house not like president obama who will create jobs and stimulate the economy and restore confidence in our government and economic system more than anything else. >> yesterday we were talking about what i thought was a funny ad that was done by the santorum campaign. we'll roll a little bit of it. which is a guy with sort of the paint gun full o

his press secretary, alice stewart, made a strange comment to andrea mitchell. >> there is a type ofological secular itchsm, that is what he was referring to, the president's policies in terms of the radical islamic policies the president has. >> stuart said she meant to say radical environmental policies, but messed up and said radical islamic policies. ask yourself the question, do they sound similar to you? it might be a happy accident but this kind of rhetoric first up the ultra conservative base of the republican party, just like it did in 2008. >> that guy gets elected hangs around with terrorists. >> who is the terrorists? >> obama. >> obama is a terrorists, don't you know that? >> obama is muslim, a terrorist himself. >> rick santorum can deny any comparison to president obama to hitler. his spokesperson could say she meant to say environment when she said islamic. they know the power of language. what rick santorum said last night in georgia to me was very clear. he compared the challenges the country faces today with the peril the world faced in 1940. to bring up any discus

and alice stewart and cnbc, velma hart and ben white.ve breaking news that the planned parenthood funding will be reinstated. and we will be talking more about that in great depth

and alice stewart and cnbc, velma hart and ben white. we have breaking news that the planned parent

gregg: alice stewart. press secretary for rick santorum.s for being with us. >> thank you, gregg. martha: he made time for a stop at the san diego zoo. questions for the zookeepers there but his favorite animal, he always asks people what their favorite animal. gregg: of course. martha: he says the highlight for him were these guys, the pandas. he got a chance to feed a 2 1/2-year-old male panda. rest assured this panda had a balanced lunch. carrots and bamboo, should not feed the kids bamboo. martha: that looks pretty healthy. gregg: taking a look now at the markets. where are we on the big board? down ever so slightly, 13 points. it has been a mixed bag the last couple days. the dow is down slightly. nasdaq up a little bit. you see the dow down 12 points. investors reacting to all kind of news today. we'll have more on that coming up. martha: all right. lawmakers around the clergy continue this battle over the birth control mandate. harry reid says he now wants to see this go to a vote in the senate. the question is, is he trying to trap

jamal simmons along with alice stewart. let me start with you.ou agree with newt gingrich, this republican contest could go all the way to the end of august, the convention floor in tampa? >> i agree, and i think ever candidate has the right to stay in until the nominee receives the magic number 1144. back in '08 it was governor huckabee. he stayed in until john mccain received the exact number. it's important to do this. voters in all states should have the opportunity to vote until someone has the magic number of votes. this is an important part of the process, important to make sure that all the candidatesing gf after each other on the issues. job number one is to defeat barack obama in november. >> are you among those democrats that believe a long-drawn-out fierce battle bodes well for the president's reelection chances. >> i do they it bodes well and bad for mitt romney. the difference between this year and 2008, in 2008 hillary clinton and barack obama were trying to get to the center, going after moderate voters. right now the republicans

joining us jamal system monies, and -- simmons, and alice stewart. jamal, what do you think?equately what he meant by those controversial comments? >> no, he didn't at all. the problem for mitt romney is he's got both a political problem and is you could substance problem. on the subtans. they do, which mitt romney supports, by some estimates some $750 that are not medicare/medicare, but targeted toward the poor. that's a problem for him. and politically it includes a sound bite that the gives campaign ad makers rich material. right now -- let alone a goggle search. the guy has a lot of but if they need some repair, they'll work on it, but he wants to focus on helping the middle class. >> he certainly is doing everything he can to focus on the middle class, and he said that from the beginning of the campaign, but he's certainly not doing that at the expense of the lower income or upper-income americans. he's made it clear that his focus on the middle class. one distinction is that mitt romney has ideas and plans in place to turn the economy around, create jobs, put people bac

we're joined by alice stewart, press secretary for rick santorum's campaign. welcome. >> great to be here. >> alice, i want to start with you. so much of what is happening on the campaign trail is focused on the social issues. do you think, should rick santorum become the eventual g.o.p., and head to the general that will be to his advantage or disadvantage when so much of the country says it's the economy they're worried about? >> we are trying to get the topic of conversation on the economy. in the g.o.p. primary, special issues take the forefront because we are strong on faith, family , pro-life, marriage. but the key, if you go across the country, you have been out there. people talk about the jobs in the economy. steve brought up a great point. gas prices. if we continue to see gas prices go up as the year goes on that is bad news for president obama. high gas prices equal low approval rating for a president. nowhere in the economy do the average american feel a bad economy affects the gas pump and grocery store. with the high gas prices those issues will

alice stewart, former communication director for michele bachmann's former presidential campaign andss secretary for mike huckabee's 08 presidential campaign. welcome to both of you. chris, do you think is a bigger issue or bigger problem than the white house anticipated it would be? >> i don't think it is a problem at all. 9% of catholic american women -- 898% of catholic american women use birth control. 77% of catholic women support having that birth control paid for by their health care plan. there is no controversy here. people have been having sex in america for reasons other than reproducing children forever. and they will continue. martha: you're kidding? >> they will continue to do that. exactly. martha: who knew. >> no reason why that shouldn't be covered. it is a slippery slope, martha. if we're going to say if you own a hospital or operate a nonprofit and you can prescribe your religious beliefs to coverage we'll open up a door to all sorts of people banning this kind of coverage in the workplace a. nobody is saying that the church itself has to provide it if you work in

alice stewart is for the bachmann campaign for president and kiki mcclain is joining us live this morningrk in live television and i talk a lot, certainly according to the new york post, i talk too much. and i make tons of mistakes. i make mistakes constantly. i botched the intro to this. i couldn't even get the newspaper out that had the -- here i botch it again. the reason i am so hyperbolic about this at this point is because i feel like poor mitt romney, a guy i like, is really taking it on the chin for a mere mistake. here is what he had to say, finally admitting in a sit-down interview with ksnv that he just misspoke already. have a listen. >> it was a misstatement. i misspoke. i've said something that is similar to that but quite acceptable for a long time and, you know, when you do, how many thousands of interviews, now and then you may get it wrong. and i misspoke. simple. >> what did you say? >> what i said was that my focus, my primary focus was on helping people get in the middle class and grow the middle class. >> amen, governor. you had me at hello. kiki, here's a question f

. >> let's bring on our political panel and chew on that, alice stewart, former communications directorruben, syndicated columnist, and here in new york city, john avlon, senior political columnist for "newsweek" and "the daily beast." i want to start with you, alice, graceless or not, and does it matter because some say that's just classic newt. >> well, i guess two out of three ain't bad, right? you got two of the three offering their congratulations. it's just customary and it's polite and nice to say congratulations to the winner. i know when michele boughed out she called all the candidates and congratulated them. that just gives you the fiery tone of this debate and this contest. one good point that romney made last night is this competitive primary is good for us. it's part of the vetting process. the competitive primary, it prepares us for what we're going to see against obama. he's got a billion dollars that's going to come out fast and heavy on the gop nominee. this is preparing us to take on the obama machine. >> he's probably none too pleased of all on negative advertising.