but huckabee exceeded all expectations. gave him a real boost it led to him winning the iowa caucuses in january. >> governor branstad, thanks very much for being with us. we'll see you in august and either november, december. [laughing] >> all of the above. >> appreciate your time. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2011] me turn to our two guests after this conversation to get your perspectives on this first of all, i want to start with issues. the governor made the point that ethanol was no longer the be all and end all, as he used the phrase. from traveling the state, from talking to people who are in, what are you learning about the appeal to the voters on the g.o.p. side this year? >> well, i think that the most important issues there are the same ones that are important to the rest of the country. and i think it's jobs and the economy. and for republicans it is the size and role of government and the need to cut spending. so economic issues, i think, are more dominant. and i think it's big economic is

like our friend governor mike huckabee. god bless you, mike huckabee.thers. reminds us that americans are the people whatthat the world depends on time and time again. make sure you join us for another live huckabee 8:00 p.m. and latest on the debt negotiations in washington . thanks to all of you for being with us and i hope you had a great night. see you live tomorrow night from new york. this is mike huckabee from the fox news studios. more from the gatlins. ♪ ooh. [ jon ] we don't just come up here for the view up in alaska. it's the cleanest, clearest water. we find the best, sweetest crab for red lobster we can find. yeah! [ male announcer ] hurry in to crabfest at red lobster. the only time you can savor three sweet alaskan crab entrees all under $20, like our hearty crab and roasted garlic seafood bake or sn crab and crab butter shrimp. [ jon i wouldn'tut it my table at home, i wouldn't bring it in. my name's jon forsythe, and i sea fd differently. i wouldn't bring it in. purina cat chow helps you well-being. we're all striving for it. nurture i

we'll see you for more news breaks and huckabee in about seven seconds. tonight on huckabee. both sides are bickering. >> they show me a serious plan and i'm ready to move. they've been unwilling to put anything on the table. >> the clock is ticking, but with mesh america's credit rating. >> i don't know what message they missed during the election. >> and a suicide bomber in iraq, took his-- >> at one point we thought that scotty might be better dieing. >> now he sees life in a whole new life. the army's first blind active duty officer. captain scott smiley. >> then don't let the baby faces fool you. these brothers play some pretty mean blue grass. ♪ youtube stars the sleepy man ban joe boys. ladies and gentlemen, governor mike huckabee. [applause] welcome everybody, and thank you very much. what a great audience, we've got here tonight. here in new york and welcome to huckabee, from the fox news studios. and well, i begin today with a most important message, this is my wife's birthday, and i better say happy birthday. i better do that, so, happy birthday. [applause] >> i kn

huckabee starts now. both sides are bickering. they show me a serious plan. >> and the clock is ticking. will america's credit rating at risk, there is no deal in sight. is this government accountability tea partiers demanded. >> i don't know what they miss in the last election. >> a suicide bomber in iraq. >> you thought it might be better dying. >> now he sees light this a new light. first blind active duty officer. captain smiley. >> and don't let the baby faces fool you. they play some pretty mean bluegrass. youtube tars and the sleepy man banjo boys. >> ladies and gentlemen, governor mike huckabee. [cheers and applause] welcome everybody. thank you very much. what a great audience we have here tonight in new york and welcome to huckabee in the fooksfox news studios. an important message. this is my wife's birthday and i better say happy birthday. [applause] >> happy birthday janet. some of you ask how many for her. she was born in 19 -- none of your business. a big buzz about a gall up poll showing that president obama would

huckabee starts now. stay tuned. have a good week! >> tonight on huckabee, phone numbers keep rising and so does the scrutiny. michele bachmann's doctors say she can deal with the headaches, can she handle the mainstream media. >> we knew it would be like this, but it's worth it. >> the republican presidential candidate goes one-on-one with the governor and our closest ally in the middle east. >> and the one country where you have wall to wall americans-- >> under constant threat from neighbors. >> this is the country of size of new jersey, can you imagine rockets pounding new jersey city. >> do israelis feel like we have their back? president benjamin netanyahu with a huckabee exclusive. plus, they may be small in stature, but big on talent. back by popular demand. the sleepy band banjo boys. ladies and gentlemen, governor mike huckabee. [applause]. [applause]. >> thank you, thank you very much. great audience. welcome to huckabee from the fox news studios in new york city. well, some nut group called freedom from religion has their

if you want to sign up, go to mike huckabee .com and click on the huckabee report. two months ago benjamin netanyahu got a huge reception while speaking to a joint session of congress. israel's leader made his case for why any peace agreement between israel and the palestinians should not include a return to the borders, but does he feel our full support? i traveled to jerusalem for a wide ranging exclusive interview. >> why does israel matter to the typical american family? what difference does it make? >> i think most americans see a parabalance -- pairable of the struggle of mankind and humanity to lift itself up to a brighter future. it is the people of israel, the jewish people. we were left for dead, sthroan out of our land several how years ago and thrown into programs and we come back from the dead and we rebuild our life. our life in our ancient homeland. we build an enterprising economy. it tells people there is hope. there is hope for a free people with enough guts and with enough courage. there is hope for everyone. americans in tan tane yusly identify w

huckabee. >> mike: thanks for joining me.ill take birthday wishes from liberals. >> lin, you pay your bills and mortgage, right and electric and gas and car payments. >> mike: no, we do. >> and you understand as washington seems not to that bad stuff would happen if you didn't. why is it that your republican colleagues on the campaign trail and house seem so blindd and frankly reckless about that? >> mike: i don't think it is that they don't want to pay the bills. but we shouldn't run up the bills we can't pay in the first place. it is the problem with government. not that we default. but quit borrowing money to pay back. >> but there are so many republican members in the house are saying let's default and it is okay to not pay our bills. we have to get past playing politics and legislating. when president obama said let's find a balanced approach and then talk about eating your peas. it is not daddy telling them to eat their peas. but mom saying take your medicine. new house republican members who are so reckless and in the

like our friend governor mike huckabee. god bless you, mike huckabee.thers. reminds us that americans are the people whatthat the world depends on time and time again. make sure you join us for another live huckabee 8:00 p.m. and latest on the debt negotiations in washington . thanks to all of you for being with us and i hope you had a great night. see you live tomorrow night from new york. this is mike huckabee from the fox news studios. more from the gatlins. ♪ ooh. turn left. you have arrived. sweet belt. e-reader for textbooks. gps. video camera for lectures. game pad. have you considered this ? it's got all that and more than 200,000 apps. technology to learn and play on-the-go. only at verizon. android powered. playstation certified. the xperia play by sony ericsson. only $99.99. ♪ our time is short ♪ this is our fate ♪ i'm yours [ singing scat ]

it's his daughter, sarah huckabee. she was a close confidant to huckabee.ck luck in iowa. >> huck luck. that's cute. see you tomorrow. the next political update in an hour. you can go to our website, cnnpit

prime minister netanyahu in a huckabee exclusive. >> plus. they may be small but back by popular demand. sleepep man bango boys. >> and good evening. governor mike huckabee. >> thank you . thank you very much. great audience. welcome to huckabee from the fox news studios from new york city. some nut group called freedom from religion has the antenna up because the governor of texas is calling for a day of prayer. even thope the taxpayers are not paying. this group is suing to stop it. it is one thing to express the cynicism as the timing of a prayer event is a precursor to announcement that the governor is running for president. but i can't understand why people who don't believe in god and hate religion are afraid of it. if they think prayer is a exercise in futility. shouldn't they want believers praying more. that would keep them doing something harmless instead of screaming for pedestrian to repent. i plan to mess them up. i will pray for them. they need the prayers and i need the practice . another story this week gave me a headache. som

it's his daughter, sarah huckabee. she was a close confidant to huckabee.ck luck in io

remember, the straw poll was won by romney hromney huckabee exceeded expectations -- but huckabee exceeded expectations. >> governor, thank you for being with us today. we will see you in august, and we might see in november, december -- >> come early and often. >> let me turn to our guests for your perspective. what are you learning about the appeal to iowa voters on the gop side this year? >> i think the most important issues there are the same ones that are important to the rest of the country -- jobs and the economy. and for republicans, it is the size and role of government and the need to cut spending, so economic issues, i think, are more dominant, and i think it is big economic issues, not particularly iowa-centric economic issues. >> where our social conservatives in this? >> i think the size of the government. there are talks of social conservatives seeing this as a moral issue. they are tying the economic issue back to morality. i think you do have single issue voters in iowa and conservatives, evangelicals focused on what we would call wage issues, right? but at the same time,

>>guest: governor huckabee's favorite dib. eat your heart out governor huckabee. into the smoker. we have smoke going. look at that. hold that door for me, clayton. >>clayton: i have smelled this before. >>guest: i will take this roast and put it on the bottom rack. notice what i will do here, inside if you hand me the blue glove over there, clayton, what we will do is show you how easy it is to put inside of the smoker, we will take this prime rib and put that robe right in there because in a prime rib you want to have the recipe for the internal temperature at 145 for a medium rare. look, how good does that look? can you get that? right there? that is prime rib at its finest. >>clayton: we promised macaroni and cheese and we will have smoked macaroni and cheese later. slice some of this up. >>clayton: i can see why this is governor huckabee's favorite meal. >>guest: look at the outside cut? the juice inside of the prime rib? that is as good as it gets. this is a rib in roast so smoke that just a little bit longer. you have all the smoke-infused player, no intimi

>>governor huckabee: well, that is what ads do. it is like if you don't buy this product your teeth are going to fall out. if you don't buy this car, chances are you will not get to your destination. the federal employees make it sound if this is a reduction in anything in the federal budget, you will be drinking sewage, you will probably not be able to experience that lovely massage called a pat down at the airport, and there will be so many horrible things. >>neil: i think you still will. that is one of the ... your next pat down will be a humdinger. we tried to reach out with witho response from the other side. these are the fear tactics when we get close to government shut down. where do you think it goes? ings it is so unpredictable. when you had bob from the hill on, if any anyone is a good observer, i listened to him, and i thought, bob is in tune with what is doing on in the underlying dynamics and he may be right. but what we really have and this is unfortunate, president obama is, to be blunt, a poser. just to be blunt. t

see you this weekend on huckabee. hollywood actor rob low think of the antics of his childhood buddy sean penn? >>> this may surprise you but not everyone in hollywood is a far left nut. rob low is one actor who moved to the center has he has gotten older and a little wiser. recently he sat down with bill to talk about his best selling book stories i only tell my friends. >> you say in your book that hollywood is a one party town and we all know that. a liberal democrat town. is there a reason for that? >> i think that and i don't know what it says. it is not meant to be a judgment but seems to me like creative people end up being democrats and i think it has been that way forever. >> do they feel sorry for the downtrodden? i consider myself a creative person around i'm a traditional guy more than a liberal guy. >> i think that democrats are very long on empathy. artists have to be long on empathy. republicans are long on logic. in my view. >> okay. that might be a little over simplifying. >> i was trying to simplify.

here what governor huckabee has to say about that.ines. is that a political liability? ok, people. show me the best way to design a vacation on a budget with expedia. make it work. booking a flight by itself is an uh-oh. see if we can "stitch" together a better deal. that's a hint, antoine. ooh! see what anandra did? booking your flight and hotel at the same time gets you prices hotels and airlines won't let expedia show separately. book it. major wow factor! where you book matters. expedia. on our car insurance. great! at progressive, you can compare rates side by side, so you get the same coverage, often for less. wow! that is huge! [ disco playing ] and this is to remind you that you could save hundreds! yeah, that'll certainly stick with me. we'll take it. go, big money! i mean, go. it's your break, honey. same coverage, more savings. now, that's progressive. call or click today. >>dave: and now headlines, the f.a.a. is shut down this morning after congress failed to extend the operating budget. 4,000 employees will be furloughed

coming up tonight on huckabee, tea party members and talking about the debt ceiling mike huckabee ise house have been a thorn in the side of rebound and speaker boehner. >>governor huckabee: the republicans know they went with a message. and a mission. to shut the spending done. they are holding everyone's feet to the fire. at some point we have to resolve this and that has to be that there is a solution but what is interesting president obama has not put anything specific open the table. he talks about coming to a solution but he has given concepts but nothing con crete. the only real solutions are mcconnell and the house republicans and that is one thing that people need to realize. if the president is interested in solving it, be specific. put down, on paper, what your proposal is. >>dave: the republicans vote on tuesday on cut, cap and balance amendment and here is what the "washington post" said about that yesterday "a an ban deprives policymakers of flexibility they need to address national security and economic emergencies," and "gives dangerous power to congressional minority

tim pawlenty is upping the iowa stakes with a huckabee. he's hired sarah huckabee sanders.ee who helped her father win the iowa caucuses back in 2008. in here, inventory can be taught to learn. ♪ machines have a voice. ♪ medical history follows you. it's the at&t network -- a network of possibilities... committed to delivering the most advanced mobile broadband experience to help move business... forward. ♪ our girl's an architect. our boy's a genius. we are awesome parents! biddly-boop. [ male announcer ] if you find a lower rate on a room you've booked, we won't just match it. we'll give you $50 towards your next trip. [ gnome ] it's go time. >>> hi i'm andrea mitchell. coming up next on "andrea mitchell reports," president obama summons lawmakers to the white house for a deficit summit tomorrow. will they hammer out a compromise or keep hammering each other. plus, it's twitter time at the white house today. while politicians are trading barbs in 140 characters or less. the white house gets ready for an audience of you guessed it, 140 people. >>> and the real facts are st

governor huckabee has a long memory. governor perry is going to face some serious challenges if he does decide to run. he's got a jobs message in texas. he's got a pretty pure conservative record on a lot of issues that i think will appeal to both pragmatic minded and more true believers in the republican party. that said, in a general election scenario he's going to have to answer the question of how he can play in swing states, the pennsylvanias, the ohios, the wisconsins, the michigans. that's going to be a taller order for him. how to make the case for why he's going to be a strong general election candidate. i do think if he does good in this primary, you'll see that message used against him by his gop rivals of yes, governor perry can win a primary, but how can you play in the fall. >> do you get this from some republican king makers that it's anyone by michele bachmann in iowa candidate to go up against mitt romney? >> they're definitely looking for a bachmann alternative. you see the first sort of signs of a stop

sarah huckabee is in the room behind knee now.he is running that iowa straw poll and, of course, her father, mike huckabee, did well in that four years ago. and this is one of the whittling events. it he had a terrible showing that might endanger the future of his candidacy. they're counting on coming in in the top three with m michele bachmann and ron paul. we'll see if they can pull it off. >> checking with all the campaign, thanks very much, john harwood. checking in with all of the campaigns. cnbc's chief washington correspondent, all around iowa. fun to follow and track. >>> all right. here we go. coming up, it's the age-old question since the watergate days. what did rupert murdoch know and when did he know it? that's going to be what the british parliament wants to find out. the media mogul, his son and former editor of "news of the world" all set to testify this morning. this ain't a congressional testimony. a little different. we're expecting that hearing to begin any moment and we'll bring it to you live when it happens.

governor mike huckabee, the host of "huckabee requests -- huckabee on fox news channel just interviewedenjamin netanyahu, and that event still very much on his mind r mind, right, governor? >> for good reason. this was a direct attempt to sort of test the backbone of the israelis by bring anything a ship full of weapons to gaza. this is absurd. and the real tragedy is that so many people in the international community acted as if israel sort of overreacted. are you kidding? imagine what would happen if in some way some boat filled with explosives sailed into new york harbor. i'm pretty sure that americans would say whatever you have to do, you have to sop that boat. -- stop that boat. in in the interview we pretty much cover everything, and one of the things that we'll with talk about is exactly why this flotilla and the attempt to once again penetrate the security border is really a threat not just to israel, but to the united states and to everybody in the west against, really, a radical view of world events. jon: israel, obviously, a very small country surrounded in large part by nat

back to huckabee.lines go to fox news.com. . >> 46-year-old kristen rhodes mother to two teens died in a snowmobile accident on february 27th. two-days later march 1st her 14-year-old son bradley came up with a special tribute for her scoring 46 points in his high school basketball game. let me begin with you. that had to be a tough decision to play right after your mother's death. why sdpu decide to play? >> she always went to my basketball games. she was there for every single one of them. even if it was 45 minutes away she would still go to every game pretty much unless she had work. she was always there for me. >> when does you decide you would score 46 points each for every year of her life. >> i told my uncle i was going to score 46 points. i didn't even know i was playing in the game until probably two -- i didn't know i was going to play. i slept forever. i decided at like two. i was like i am going to do this. >> did your team decide you were going to score 46 points. >> they didn't know i was

. >> pawlenty snagged a huckabee. what is the story?rah huckabee was instrumental in his 2008 campaign. tim pawlenty is trailing in iowa. he's trying to make that what is going to save his campaign. i think a lot of eggs are in that basket. i think he hopes mike huckabee's daughter is going to help. it could result in huckabee's endorsement, himself. there's a transient policy. she knows a lot of reporters. she's going to spearhead it. she knows how to do that. the reality, between tim pawlenty and michele bachmann, they are going to duke it out. there's a big battle going on for who can latch on to the 2008 huckabee magic. >> put up the iowa poll. if you look at the percentages among the des moines register voters. top tiered cant. the poll was taken a couple weeks ago. what does he have to do to break into the upper echelon. >> he's got to break into the threshold. where is he at, do you think in the straw poll? who looks good to you. michelle bachmann got in late. she's got tremendous fire and energy. >> i think you are right. michel

then they move on to mike huckabee and mitch daniels. huckabee out, daniels out. >> a part of this is unfair to the candidates that are in the arena, running. they are all good men and women, capable. they've made the all-in commitment in yearning for something else is flattering for someone if you are that someone else. in reality, i think this race, we have qualified candidates. as it gets closer to the primaries, to the caucuses and primaries i think people will begin to see the mettle of the men and women that running. >> sean: i agree. i don't like this media narrative this is a weak field they can win that obama is certain to get reelected. >> i agree with youé and disagree with the pundits that form conventional which is come that are always wrong if you recall, my dad in 1992, had an approval rating that was double what president obama has rate now. he was running against the seven dwarfs, i think. one of those became president. president clinton. the know shun that somehow these -- the know hunt that somehow these aren't folks

take it from mike huckabee, the host of "huckabee" joins us live from jerusalem today. hello, sir. you. >> hello, steve. well, the president definitely has a jewish problem in the united states. he also has a jewish problem here in israel. among israeli jews, his support, his favorability is down to 4%. sometimes it can range as high as 15% but he's basically in single digits and that's how much there is a disfavor of the president and his policies here among israeli jews. so they may not vote for him, but they may have a big influence on their friends and neighbors back in the united states and those numbers aren't looking good either. >> sure and governor, if you look at a reason to explain that, a lot of it has to do with the fact that months ago, the president came out and suggested, you know, ok, let's both sides get together and the palestinians and the israelis and as a starting point, let's go back to the way the lines were drawn back in 1967 with some mutually accepted swaps and when he said that, he said this is a great idea. however, the people in israel are horrified be

that was the mike huckabee strategy that worked very well for him. the one republican journalist out there, the iowa noted, when bachmann sent out her cards, nothing about the straw poll, making her wonder if there's a way to go when it comes to organization. we're going to have a lot more, including tim pawlenty's new tv ad. >>> in a week, the senate takes its first vote this afternoon on libya. it's something nobody wants to talk about. after 15 weeks of bombing, there's no end to the stalemate. signs of friction within the nato coalition. how this vote goes, what happens today, what amendments get on there over the week? this could actually be the newsier topic of the week more so than the debt deadline, but we're going to go to the deadline. it's on everybody's mind. as we know, the first order of business is going to be the procedural vote on libya. with me now, vermont independent senator, senator sanders. i want to talk about your plan on deficit reduction, but i want to start with libya. how are you going to vote on the libya resolution? >> i

. >> let's listen to mike huckabee. we were talking about how reagan was more of a reasonable conservative. more than the tea party people today. mike huckabee on home court in may that reagan probably wouldn't even make it into the ticket today. let's listen and see if you agree with that. >> ronald reagan would have a difficult, if not impossible time, being nominated in this atmosphere of the republican party. >> how come? >> he raised taxes as governor. he made deals with democrats. he compromised on things in order to move the ball down the field. >> michael, are you the left or right of reagan? >> i stand with reagan. one of the reasons why i joined the party as a young man. >> one of the reasons you're not in it anymore. let's go to joan. it seems like the michael steeles and ronald reagans aren't quite hip enough, crazy enough to bring down the government. your last thought, joan? >> michael still says he's not -- let's leave him where he is. i'm glad he supports ronald reagan. >> let me answer the question. >>

>> huckabee, we were keeping our eyes on him to see if he would run for the republican nomination, andould not. but his daughter is a republican operative in her own right, and she worked on his campaign in '08 in iowa when he won the caucuses there, and tim pawlenty is now saying she will be his political director as he tries to win the nomination. >> thank you, paul. >>> in the latest political news, you know where to go. cnn politics.com. the top of the hour and i am suzanne malveaux. passengers flying to the united states from other countries may have to go through extra security. there is a report that says there is new intelligence pointing to a possible new technique that could be used. but the source says no attack appears eminent. >>> casey anthony may walk out of a courthouse tomorrow free to carry on her life. anthony sobbed and hugged her lawyers when jurors found her not guilty in the death of her 2-year-old daughter caylee. jurors did determine she died to the police, but it's unlikely the judge will give her more jail time since she has been in custody for 2 1/2 years. t

then they move on to mike huckabee and mitch daniels. huckabee out, daniels out. >> a part of this is unfair to the candidates that are in the arena, running. they are all good men and women, capable. they've made the all-in commitment in yearning for something else is flattering for someone if you are that someone else. in reality, i think this race, we have qualified candidates. as it gets closer to the primaries, to the caucuses and primaries i think people will begin to see the mettle of the men and women that running. >> sean: i agree. i don't like this media narrative this is a weak field they can win that obama is certain to get reelected. >> i agree with youé and disagree with the pundits that form conventional which is come that are always wrong if you recall, my dad in 1992, had an approval rating that was double what president obama has rate now. he was running against the seven dwarfs, i think. one of those became president. president clinton. the know shun that somehow these -- the know hunt that somehow these aren't folks

. >> which is that almost like sarah huckabee's endorsement of tim pawlenty, although mike huckabee hasn'tabout iowa and all the different pieces of iowa. what are you looking at now in iowa in terms of what's happening with romney and bachmann? want to play a little bit of bachmann's first ad which went up today. >> as a descendent of generations of iowans, i was born and raised in waterloo. as a mom of five, foster parent and former tax lawyer, now a small business job creator, i know that we can't keep spending money that we don't have. that's why i fought against the wasteful bailout, against the stimulus. i will not vote to increase the debt ceiling. i'm michele bachmann and i approved this message. >> so that's a pretty potent ad and especially as a signal of where she stands on the debt ceiling talks. where we've just had what the president called constructive negotiations today. you can see how the speaker of the house, if he tries to make a deal, will be squeezed very hard from the right. >> absolutely. two things about that ad that jump out to me. one, for all the talk that we he

. >> mike huckabee did very well with that same constituency. >> speaking of gov. perry, i think the only thing holding him that is good he raise the money and put the infrastructure in place at this date? there is an undercurrent of bad blood between the perry forces and the forces of george w. bush. since this is "inside washington" we should not fail to mention that. >> in terms of the money, the president could rise up to $60 million. i wonder if at some point the american people get fed up? >> i think a certain point, diminishing returns. it will be a referendum on obama, unless a nut is nominated on the republican side -- >> of which there are many to choose from. >> that was said ironically -- to i have to explain the jokes here? if the debt reduction talks succeed, it will deideologize the election. obama will can see on entitlements, republicans will can see on -- will concede on entitlements, republicans will on taxes. it will be about the state economy and stewardship, and as to which it is romney's -- and a storage shed is romney's strong point. >> the

mike huckabee, a conservative finalist in 2008 against john mccain, has taken a shot at him, saying he will be the champion of traditional values and high morals, and then why did he indoors and back to rudy giuliani -- endorse and back rudy giuliani, a pro-gay rights politician? >> i am not sure that supporting giuliani or the gay issue will have any effect whatsoever on perry. he has a lot of money and support. he is not even in the race, and the fox news opinion poll on thursday showed mitt romney at 17 n., i believe, perry attw13. >> there is a letter shakiness with him. >> i think it will end up with perry and romney. >> nobody is responsible to the american consumer. nobody is looking for american families. >> harvard law professor elizabeth warren with abc's jake tapper. she was a prime mover in the wall street reform and consumer protection act. wall street does not like this, charles. >> how was it working out, with 9.2% unemployment? the regulations that i get to be written on this -- that are yet to be written on this take years and years and introduce nothing but uncertaint

and remember mike huckabee won the iowa primary in 2008. buchanan won the new mexico primary in -- the new hampshire primary in 1996. so we'll just have to see. but i would go the conventional wisdom route on this. i think this all helps romney. there's lots of debate. there's lots of high throwing. -- pie-throwing. she probably won't go in the history books. but, again, you never know. chris: there's some spark there, i hear. she seems to have perfect pitch for some people. >> i think there's something interesting about the fact that she's so categorical about it. she's yes or no. and for a lot of back and forth that we've seen in washington, that must be very refreshing. >> chris: she's so crystal clear. i think there's a potential that there will be shifts in the republican party and she's at the center of the real republican heart, like mitt romney, who's seen as a moderate and that party is not run by moderates. >> the calendar is in her favor. if you look at iowa, to a certain extent new hampshire less so, but she's got that geography

certainly, we spoke with mike huckabee earlier this year. i'd think that he did give it a serious look, but he is doing very well financially. this is a guy who grew a poor. he decided not to make the run. donaldson decided not to make the run. no one knows how serious he was. no one knows. he keeps holding out the possibility he could run as an independent and not as a republican, so he continues to have fun. sarah palin, we don't know. it does give people a lot of attention. once you jump into the race, people like me start to ask a lot of questions about your record and start turning over a lot of rocks, so it becomes less fun. host: managing editor of politics for "national journal." she has covered every presidential election since 1980. bob in oregon. caller: the conservative wing of the republican party branching off, i see that happen if they agree to the debt ceing vote. and a potential for hillary clinton to enter the race in order to savthe party if things look really bad for the democrats. guest: i think the debt ceiling negotiat