i'm joined by erin mcpike, good to have you with us tonight.h trouble right now in florida that he can't recover? what does it feel like down there? >> it feels like he's headed for a loss in florida. i have to tell you, ed, the race has been up and down all the way through. two days ago we thought newt gingrich was headed for a win in florida, so who knows what could happen on saturday and sunday and if the dynamics can change you're right, mitt romney is pulling in endorsements, mccain has been campaigning for him the last two days, campaigning with him again this weekend, and mitt romney just got the endorsement of the puerto rican governor, who is a huge rising star in the republican party, will help with the hispanic vote in florida. >> bob dole said positive things yesterday as well. watching tv in florida, does it look like it's 5 to 1? is romney all over the place and newt is kind of just there? what does it look like? >> actually, ed, i have been driving over the state on the radio all i'm hearing are mitt romney radio ads. i've heard

joining me now live from south carolina is erin mcpike from the real clear politics. b franken, who has covered newt gingrich for years. thank you both for joining me. >> good evening. >> thank you. >> erin, you are down there. what do you expect to see tonight? >> just as you said, a big fight between newt gingrich and mitt romney. they've been going at each other, mitt romney's finally starting to talk about newt gingrich in his stump speech which he hadn't done in about a month. i think we're also going to see a little bit about newt gingrich's three marriages come up tonight. as you know, another network had an interview with his second wife marianne in which she bashes him for essentially asking her if she would be open to an open marriage with him while he was carrying on an affair with his now wife calista. but, you know, i think, al, that we're seeing a lot of overconfidence from the gingrich campaign. he was talking today at an event in walterboro, south carolina, and saying if he wins here in south carolina on saturday, that he thinks he'll be the republican

joining me from tampa, erin mcpike from real clear politics. and bob franken a kings feature syndicated columnist. bob's covered newt gingrich for years. thank you both for being here tonight. >> thank you. >> erin, let me start with you. what are you expecting to see from both mitt and newt tonight? >> i think it's going to be a fight about character. at least that's what both of the campaigns are telling me. mitt romney's been saying gingrich needs to release his contract from his consulting fees with freddie mac. earlier this decade and -- or i guess six, seven years ago and newt gingrich's campaign, his lawyers are releasing that contract tonight which we talked about that last week, al, as you remember. newt released his tax returns going into that debate. he's doing the same thing again as a preemptive strike at mitt romney. >> now, you know, bob, you learn from lawyers. i've never been a lawyer, but a lot of my friends are. you never -- >> more power to you, al. >> you never ask a question you don't know the answer. and it seems to me tha

joining me now "new york times" columnist charles blow and real clear politics reporter erin mcpike. good morning to both of you. >> good morning. >> good morning. >> you can hear the white house right now, charles, four straight now five straight months drop in the unemployment. they weren't expecting this 8.5%, lowest in three years. which happens to be just about the amount of time that he's been president. does it help him? >> of course it helps him. this is an election about the slope of two lines. one is the unemployment rate and the other is his approval rating. if he can get the unemployment rate down below 8%, which is what he said the stimulus package would do, it helps him tremendously. and if he can get his own approval rating above 50%, no incumbent in recent history has lost re-election with an approval rating above 50%. it is about the slope of those two lines. they're both headed in the right direction. he starts 2012 with an approval rating of 46%. that is a big improvement above that 39% we saw last year which was his lowest point. >> i have to tell you it was so in

rod smith and erin mcpike, thank you for your time tonight.ght back. [ male announcer ] drinking a smoothie with no vegetable nutrition? ♪ [ gong ] strawberry banana! [ male announcer ] for a smoothie with real fruit plus veggie nutrition new v8 v-fusion smoothie. could've had a v8. try bayer advanced aspirin. it has microparticles so it enters the bloodstream fast and rushes relief to the site of your tough pain. it's proven to relieve pain twice as fast as before. bayer advanced aspirin. >>> finally tonight -- we know politics can be ugly. but arizona congresswoman gabby giffords gave us a true moment of unity. today in an emotional ceremony, she delivered her letter of resignation to speaker boehner. so that she can focus on her recovery. members of the house who rarely see eye to eye on much of anything came together to honor their colleague on the floor. >> though gabby may be leaving washington today, i know this won't be the last we see of her. >> you will be missed in the house of representatives, but your legacy in this congress and y

right now is a test for him that will make him a stronger candidate in the general election. >> erin mcpikeank, thanks for joining us tonight from new hampshire. >> thanks, reverend. >>> ahead -- newt gingrich and rick santorum's ugly talk about race and poor people on the trail. >> will you stop using blacks in general as a stepping stone or punching bag in order to get your nomination? >> i didn't say what you just said. >> that man who confronted gingrich speaks out. that's next. just ar like a ramen noodle- every-night budget. she thought allstate car insurance was out of her reach. until she heard about the value plan. dollar for dollar, nobody protects you like allstate. in what passes for common sense. used to be we socked money away and expected it to grow. then the world changed... and the common sense of retirement planning became anything but common. fortunately, td ameritrade's investment consultants can help you build a plan that fits your life. take control by opening a new account or rolling over an old 401(k) today, and we'll throw in up to $600. how's that for common sense?

and erin mcpike, political reporter for real clear politics.es are in full effect. jennifer, we know you're very supportive of mitt romney at this point. >> i'm supportive of rick s santor santorum, i think cream rises to the top. >> picking up on your massachusetts theme, it's something i'm surprised we haven't seen sooner. eric erickson is an influential blogger. only the dmc can lose twice and think they should nominate one. >> that was the guy who said rick perry was the savior of the republican party, so let's put his remarks in context. but i think what this shows is a realignment of a reconsideration of this very silly, very counter productive attack that went on all week, that essentially has belly flopped horribly for them, now you have rush limbaugh and club for growth, jim demeant coming to romney's rescue. >> the irony of this is that if there was a singular alternative, mitt romney would be in trouble. the reason he's not in trouble is there's no single alternative. >> there's no mitch daniel, there's no john boone. the expectation

anyway, thank you very much, erin mcpike, thanks for joining us, dana mill bank as always. >>> when wer. these things are not going to be forgotten so quickly here. you are watching "hardball's" coverage of the florida republican primary, live from miami. to see it through. today, while our work continues, i want to update you on the progress: bp has set aside 20 billion dollars to fund economic and environmental recovery. we're paying for all spill- related clean-up costs. and we've established a 500 million dollar fund so independent scientists can study the gulf's wildlife and environment for ten years. thousands of environmental samples from across the gulf have been analyzed by independent labs under the direction of the us coast guard. i'm glad to report all beaches and waters are open for everyone to enjoy. and the economy is showing progress with many areas on the gulf coast having their best tourism seasons in years. i was born here, i'm still here and so is bp. we're committed to the gulf for everyone who loves it, and everyone who calls it home. i want to fix up old houses.

the washington post" who interviewed marianne gingrich about her allegations just yesterday and erin mcpikeitics. thank you for joining us. here's marianne gingrich last night on "nightline" which is on late at night, describing how she found out about newt's conduct. >> i found out during our conversations that it was occurring in my bedroom in our apartment in washington. and he always called me at night. he always ended with i love you. she was there listening. >> right next to him? >> in my home. >> well, i guess -- i'm not here to judge immoral behavior, but i want to ask james about her conduct with you. her reason for coming forth with this just on the eve of this big vote in south carolina. is she out to have an impact or simply being responsive to reporters' questions? grudgingly? how would you describe her participation? >> i would say it would be the latter. i was one of a lot of reporters trying to get her to talk about this. she hasn't talked about it since an "esquire" interview a couple of years ago. and she knew it was inevitable and unavoidable she'd have to do it as newt g