i talked to john braybender, rick santorum's chief strategist, he is saying we have to stay focused on the economy in illinois. >> thank you, have a nice weekend, john, up in new york. and david corn, thank you so much, my buddy. >>> coming up, republicans insist there's no war on women. of course, they don't see it that way, the democrats do. and this is hot, hot politics. gender politics. >>> then why are republicans by the way out in arizona about to pass a bill that would require women trying to get reimbursed for birth control to prove that they're taking it for medical reasons, not to do with birth control? this is strange. we're going to try to explain it. this doesn't help the republicans but it's ahead and you're watching "hardball" on msnbc. tired eye relief with hydroblend™, only from visine®. just one drop instantly soothes and revives tired, overworked eyes. and comforts them for up to ten hours. visine® tired eye relief. try now and save $3. wheeeeeeeeeeeee! whee! whee! wheeeeeeeee! ah heads up. wheeeeeeeeeeee! everything you love about geico, now mobile. download the new

john braybender joins us. it's great to have you here once again. let's get to it. your candidate came up short, but very close in michigan. mitt romney is on a roll. five-state it winning streak. the latest cover of "the new yorker", fst santorum in the dog house on the roof of mitt romney's car. talking about the family pet on the top of the car. does rick santorum have to win ohio or an ohio loss the beginning of the end for your candidate? >> i don't think so. there were new numbers that came out today that showed that between mitt romney and his super pac that they have spent over $11 million in ohio. rick santorum's campaign and his super pac have spent approximately $1 million. so we're being outspent there. yet the polls show it's dead even. in light of that, the bigger question is what's wrong with mitt romney that he can spend all that type of money and can't do better? everybody said if you don't do well in iowa, you're done. the truth of the matter is, this is still the first quarter. i'm sure that the romney people would love to call the game after the

i talked to john braybender, rick santorum's chief strategist, he is saying we have to stay focused on the economy in illinois. >> thank you, have a nice weekend, john, up in new york. and david corn, thank you so much, my buddy. >>> coming up, republicans insist there's no war on women. of course, they don't see it that way, the democrats do. and this is hot, hot politics. gender politics. >>> then why are republicans by the way out in arizona about to pass a bill that would require women trying to get reimbursed for birth control to prove that they're taking it for medical reasons, not to do with birth control? this is strange. we're going to try to explain it. this doesn't help the republicans but it's ahead and you're watching "hardball" on msnbc. [ male announcer ] capri sun has 25% less sugar than leading regular juice drinks. because less sugar is a better way to fly. ♪ just not literally. capri sun. respect what's in the pouch. [ speaking in japanese ] yeah, do you have anything for a headache... like excedrin, ohhh, bayer aspirin... ohh, no no no. i'm not having a heart attack

john braybender tried to walk that back. do you think that's the kind of message, that post apocalyptic america is an accurate representation of the policies of president obama? and furthermore, do you think that's the kind of imagery this country needs right now in a time of economic duress? it's that kind of video that the country's been asking for? >> i think a lot of people, a lot of families in this country are living that imagery. it shows with the unemployment right, high prices. all that ad did was outline the if this president gets reelected, there's going to be more of the same, more hurt, more hurting with families. i think that's what the ad tried to show. of course we did set it to that "amityville horror" type movie trailer and that's going to be provocative but it reminds people what's at stake with this election and that's freedom. i think with president obama another four years at the helm, we have a serious problem and there's going to be a serious threat to our freedom. >> let me ask you, do you think it r

john braybender is the chief strategist for the santorum campaign, and thank you for joining us. >> illed to be here on an exciting night. >> are you excited because there is a possibility to win ohio, or are you excited because even if you don't win ohio, you have had a good night? >> well, all of the above. we had huge wins in tennessee, and huge wins in oklahoma and huge wins in north dakota, and now after being outspent $11 million to $1 million, we are in a dead heat in ohio, and whether we come up a couple thousand ahead or short, it is a big night for rick santorum and declare him a winner for the entire night. >> i keep hearing the argument for everybody who is a santorum partisan, it makes a difference that mr. santorum be losing after having been outspent so greatly, but isn't having the money to spend part of electability argument, and he comes from a lot of money, but there is not his money to be spending, be because he has a giant war chest to outspend your candidate 11 to 1 in ohio. isn't that a case for mr. romney's electability, and not your candidate's? >> well, it is

i talked to john braybender, rick santorum's chief strategist, he is saying we have to stay focused on the economy in illinois. santorum wants to talk economic message to rebut those ads. he has had a hard time staying on the economy. we will see in the next few days if he does. >> does he get any free media. here is the pro-santorum red, white and blue fund, they have another ad on romney. let's watch. >> meet the real mitt romney. supported the wall street bailout, putting america trillions in debt. raised taxes and fees, leaving massachusetts over a billion in debt. his healthcare takeover, the blueprint for obama care. romney, more of the same. rick santorum, a bold plan for the middle class. create jobs and cut wasteful spending. red white and blue fund responsible for the content of this ad. >> saw it the other day, reminded me of "the wizard of oz." all black and white until you get to rick santorum, then it bursts into color, chris. it is like the polar opposite of the romney ad. >> except it seems a little more fact, point by point, not just derogatory. >> can you imagine if m

john braybender is a senior adviser to the santorum campaign and joins us from washington. hn, first congratulations on last night. but it's pretty clear now that the romney campaign gets it, he's going to be a bit more aggressive. you just heard a little bit there. he called your candidate a light weight. listen to this. this is another interview with fox news where he tries to draw what i'll call a sharper contrast with senator santorum. >> i find it interesting that he continues to describe himself as the real conservative. this is the guy who voted against right to work. this is the guy who voted to fund planned parenthood. this is theperson who voted to raise the debt ceiling five times. >> is that your way of saying -- >> rick santorum is not a person who's an economic conservative to my right. >> if you've got the two-man race you've been looking for is this what we're going to hear for the next we're week or or two? >> white mitt romney was writing personal checks funding planned parenthood, the largest abortion provider in the country, rick santorum was writing the

pennsylvania and his -- keep saying campaign strategist extraordinare what else can you call john braybenderhe is cautiously optimistic he will win a majority of delegates. pennsylvania is a beauty contest in terms of delegate allocation. this is where rick santorum needs to win the popular vote. if he can't win his own state what reason does he have to be in this race. >> i looked at 2008 polling on this because people are making this comparison the last cycle. what you saw in a race that was evenly split is when asked whether hillary clinton should stay in the race if she won ohio at the time was a big state, 67% of democrats said yeah, she should stay in the she wins ohio. that included obviously a lot of people supported obama. to alex's premise, if you keep winning certain pivotal states your party's base, including the people who respect but oppose you, will say yeah, keep running because people do like democracy, they are not in the media mind-set how do we resolve this. keep going. >> i will say if we're talking about coalescing it's beyond jeb bush. the tea party is no longer protes

john braybender for the santorum campaign and he was talking to reporters and he said, look, if we hadone shot at mitt romney, if conservatives out there could somehow pressure newt gingrich to get out of this race, look what happened in ohio end to. look at the margin of victory for mitt romney in ohio. they feel with newt gingrich of the race, they would have won ohio. looking back to michigan look at that margin of victory in michigan. they would have won michigan. they also point out look at the map in terms of their victories tonight. yes, they won in the south. in tennessee. yes, they won out west in oklahoma, but they won out in north dakota. mitt romney played very heavily for north dakota. made a stop in just the last week up there. was sending his son josh romney up there a couple of times over the last week or so. so they feel like they have mitt romney on the ropes right now. you heard rick santorum earlier in the night going after mitt romney on healthcare reform and the individual plan date. they're going after that over and over again. in the campaign stops coming up in

. >> john braybender, thank you for your time. >>> up next, the mission in afghanistan.lus, the war american's veterans can't leave behind, battling stereotypes of ptsd. this is "andrea mitchell reports," it's only on msnbc. ma. now washington, they're looking at shutting down post offices coast to coast. closing plants is not the answer. they want to cut 100,000 jobs. it's gonna cost us more, and the service is gonna be less. we could lose clientele because of increased mailing times. the ripple effect is going to be devastating. congress created the problem. and if our legislators get on the ball, they can make the right decisions. the day starts with arthritis pain... a load of new listings... and two pills. after a morning of walk-ups, it's back to more pain, back to more pills. the evening showings bring more pain and more pills. sealing the deal... when, hang on... her doctor recommended aleve. it can relieve pain all day with fewer pills than tylenol. this is lois... who chose two aleve and fewer pills for a day free of pain. [ female announcer ] and try aleve for

john braybender for the santorum campaign and he was talking to reporters and he said, look, if we hado get out of this race, look what happened in ohio end to. look at the margin of victory for mitt romney in ohio. they feel with newt gingrich of the race, they would have won ohio. looking back to michigan look at that margin of victory in michigan. they would have won michigan. they also point out look at the map in terms of their victories tonight. yes, they won in the south. in tennessee. yes, they won out west in oklahoma, but they won out in north dakota. mitt romney played very heavily for north dakota. made a stop in just the last week up there. was sending his son josh romney up there a couple of times over the last week or so. so they feel like they have mitt romney on the ropes right now. you heard rick santorum earlier in the night going after mitt romney on healthcare reform and the individual plan date. they're going after that over and over again. in the campaign stops coming up in kansas, mississippi and alabama. >> a week from today. let's go over to peter hamby. you h

john braybender is the chief strategist for the santorum campaign, and thank you for joining us. >> ied to be here on an exciting night. >> are you excited because there is a possibility to win ohio, or are you excited because even if you don't win ohio, you have had a good night? >> well, all of the above. we had huge wins in tennessee, and huge wins in oklahoma and huge wins in north dakota, and now after being outspent $11 million to $1 million, we are in a dead heat in ohio, and whether we come up a couple thousand ahead or short, it is a big night for rick santorum and declare him a winner for the entire night. >> i keep hearing the argument for everybody who is a santorum partisan, it makes a difference that mr. santorum be losing after having been outspent so greatly, but isn't having the money to spend part of electability argument, and he comes from a lot of money, but there is not his money to be spending, be because he has a giant war chest to outspend your candidate 11 to 1 in ohio. isn't that a case for mr. romney's electability, and not your candidate's? >> well, it is a