. >> republican strategist kevin madden is a romney campaign advisor. anne conway is a senior advisor to the gingrich campaign and greg abbott is a gingrich supporter. kelly, let me start with you, you were at the texas conclave if you will over the weekend, a decision by the key evangelical leaders to rally around santorum. how influential was this vote? >> it was really important to vote that it was not an endorsement and it certainly was not anonymous. so there was a nine-vote difference in the first ballot. it's hardly an anonymous. but on the third ballot, there was a consensus, we're really happy that speaker gingrich went into that with a lot of support and came out of that with the same support. it does go to the sound bite, that there's still divided support among conservatives, but the nonromney vote is well above 16%. the question is whether south carolina voters are going to lean into this issue of electability or if they're going to go for ideas and bold reagan type solutions. >> i understand you're with governor perry, but is it -- in list

kevin madden, romney's 2008 campaign adviseor. kevin, great to see you.u think that sort of talk is the right way to go? i mean, you and i have been talking a lot over the past couple months. you have managed expectations you. don't expect to win iowa. not a big deal if you don't. but now it seems things have changed do you think he is going to win? >> well i think there is a lot of moef men tum on the ground in iowa. you know? i think governor romney goiz out to these events, davenport, or des moines, he has had incredible turnout of people out there showing support for him that he does feel warmly now about his chances. but i think what governor romney is talking about is his ability to win the nomination. it starts in iowa. that's something that we have to remember. iowa is not where the clock end but where the clock begins on this campaign. he is going to work hard in iowa, new hampshire, south carolina, florida across all the early primary states to earn the nomination. >> if he comes in second or third is that a romney loss? or do you see it as long

thank you both, kevin madden.ly ann conway, next, we will talk about how wall street is starting the week. >>> plus -- >> i will step down this week. >> just an amazing video to hear how much actual progress she has made, more than a year after attempt on her life what is behind congresswoman gaby giffords' decision to step down and who might step up? first, today's trivia question, which state was the first to adopt a primary process? çñ ♪ i have abeen working on the railroad all the live long day ♪ ♪ i've been working on the railroad just to pass the time away ♪ >> well, my good friend mark murray would say, warren buffett was not -- was trying to sing the texas fight song, but that was billionaire investor warren buffett wishing the people of china a happy new year. apparently, the oracle of omaha is also an avid u ka malely player and a heavy investor, of course in chinese companies well, how about that? opening bell just rang on wall street. time for the market run down. come on, beck kim. i have a question f

hello and happy friday to you an -- andrea. >> the romney campaign's kevin madden and president obaman andrea mitchell reports. woohoo! why put up with drips? gimme that. let's foam in those tones and highlights. [ gigi ] try nice 'n easy colorblend foam. get permanent dimensional color in a drip-free delight! oooohh! [ gigi ] our foam penetrates hair and locks in color. for tones and highlights that last. drips? dropped! grays? gone! why put up with drips when there's foam at your fingertips. [ gigi ] try nice 'n easy colorblend foam. no other foam color lasts longer. [ female announcer ] from the color experts at clairol. so i used my citi thank you card to pick up some accessories. a new belt. some nylons. and what girl wouldn't need new shoes? we talked about getting a diamond. but with all the thank you points i've been earning... ♪ ...i flew us to the rock i really had in mind. ♪ [ male announcer ] the citi thank you card. earn points you can use for travel on any airline, with no blackout dates. at liberty mutual, we know how much you count on your car, and how much the people

kevin madden joins us, still a romney supporter and a pollster and senior advise tore the gingrich campaign. kevin, could it be a mistake for the romney campaign to push the freddie mac attack when the campaign might be caught in the crossfire? >> i think it's an important part of the contrast before vote earls in florida. right now, i think voters will have to decide whether or not they want a nominee for the party and whether or not they want a president of the country who's been somebody who's been a washington insider, made their career in washington, d.c. or whether or not they want someone like xwofr nor romney who built his career outside of washington, d.c. and as a successful governor and somebody who headed the olympics in 2002. so, those kind of contrasts at a time where voters are making that critical choice in florida and through the course of considerations that voters go through the rest of this primary calendar, it's an important distinction to make and let the voters make that decision. >> newt gingrich did work for freddie mac. romney did not. why keep this storyline going

kevin madden, what's your response to that? that steve forbes is saying, look, there are some that did not and mitt romney needs to answer those questions. >> i think in every instance, private equity groups like bane capital, they try to make an investment and then they try to make profit. they try to make an investment to make a company grow. oftentimes, they take on companies that are underperforming and they try to bring potential out of them. i think that's the genesis of every single investment that you're seeing from bain and others in that private equity world. i think it's pretty appalling, though, the language that you hear from rick perry, the language that you hear from newt gingrich, which actually echoes that of the very far left. folks like michael moore and moveon.org who are trying to attack free enterprise and attack economic freedoms. we are not surprised at these sort of arguments would come up during this presidential campaign. we fully expect that these on the left and president obama are going to try to o

. >> kevin madden is the former press secondary during mitt romney's presidential campaign in 2008. welcome, congratulations. a bwin is a win. you were so disappointed last time in iowa and that -- as a result, mitt romney didn't go in early in iowa. but he had been there all along. he had sort of a shadow campaign. how -- to use dan balz's term, how dented is he by the fact that this was a virtual tie? >> oh, no, i think we're very encouraged by the fact that we believe that iowa was going to be a very competitive state, a tough state to win. so we're very heartened by the fact that so many people did respond to mitt romney's message and did support him enough to win that state. it provides us a great deal of momentum as we go to -- as we arrive in new hampshire and try to take the same arguments about why he's in the best position to take on obama in the national election and address the number one concern, which is who's going to put the economy back to work? governor romney's resume has us positioned towards the nomination. so we are feeling very good, but we're by no means taki

kevin madden, what's your response to that? that steve forbes is saying, look, there are some that did not and mitt romney needs to answer those questions. >> i think in every instance, private equity groups like bane capital, they try to make an investment and then they try to make profit. they try to make an investment to make a company grow. oftentimes, they take on companies that are underperforming and they try to bring potential out of them. i think that's the genesis of every single investment that you're seeing from bain and others in that private equity world. i think it's pretty appalling, though, the language that you hear from rick perry, the language that you hear from newt gingrich, which actually echoes that of the very far left. folks like michael moore and moveon.org who are trying to attack free enterprise and attack economic freedoms. we are not surprised at these sort of arguments would come up during this presidential campaign. we fully expect that these on the left and president obama are going to try to o

kevin madden, romney's 2008 campaign adviser. kevin, great to see you.o you think that sort of talk is the right way to go? i mean, you and i have been talking a lot over the past couple months. you have managed expectations you don't expect to win iowa, not a big deal if you don't, but now it seems things have changed. do you think he's going to win? >> well, i think there's a lot of momentum on the ground in iowa. i think governor romney goes out to these events, whether it's davenport, dubuque, des moines, he's had incredible turnout that he does feel warmly about his chances. but i think what governor romney's talking about is his ability to win this nomination. it starts in iowa. i think that's something we have to remember, is that iowa is not where the clock ends but where the clock begins on this campaign. he's going to work very hard in iowa, new hampshire, south carolina, florida, across the early primary states to earn the nomination from republican voters. >> if he comes in second or third, is that a romney loss or do you see it as long as ne

kevin madden is former romney adviser and penny is the ceo of concerned women of america.you spent some time with rick santorum where he chose not to attack mitt romney. why? is he thinking about a future ticket? >> well, he might be, erin. i mean he might be thinking somewhere down the future that maybe he'd be that values conservative who could help mitt romney out, but i think, look, what i was asking him about was, you know, newt gingrich has said publicly that mitt romney could very well be the weakest front runner in the history of the republican party. and santorum wasn't willing to characterize it that way. he does disagree with him on a bunch of issues and i guarantee you in the debates here over the weekend, you're going to see mitt romney have a big red target on his back because, as you were just saying, the polls in new hampshire show mitt romney way ahead. that puts him in a formidable position going into south carolina and giving him the potential to really lock this race up pretty early. so they have really got to go at him. >> kevin, the polls in south car

and plus mark halperin, kevin madden, they're with us and full analysis.that, plus president obama's speech live from ohio. that's in less than 15 minutes. major medical, boyyyy! [ beatboxing ] ♪ i help pay the doctor ♪ ain't that enough for you? ♪ there are things major medical doesn't do. aflac! pays cash so we don't have to fret. [ together ] ♪ something families should get ♪ ♪ like a safety net ♪ even helps pay deductibles, so cover your back, get... ♪ a-a-a-a-a-a-a-aflac! [ male announcer ] help protect your family at aflac.com. [ beatboxing ] you walk into a conventional mattress store, it's really not about you. they say, "well, if you want a firm bed you can lie on one of those, if you want a soft bed you can lie on one of those." we provide the exact individualization that your body needs. it's really shaping to my body. once they get our bed, they're like, "why didn't i do this sooner?" at the sleep number year-end closeout event, save up to $800 on selected 2011 bed sets. only at the sleep number store, where queen bed sets now start at just $89

kevin madden is former romney adviser and penny is the ceo of concerned women of america.pent some time with rick santorum where he chose not to attack mitt romney. why? is he thinking about a future ticket? >> well, he might be, erin. i mean he might be thinking somewhere down the future that maybe he'd be that values conservative who could help mitt romney out, but i think, look, what i was asking him about was, you know, newt gingrich has said publicly that mitt romney could very well be the weakest front runner in the history of the republican party. and santorum wasn't willing to characterize it that way. he does disagree with him on a bunch of issues and i guarantee you in the debates here over the weekend, you're going to see mitt romney have a big red target on his back because, as you were just saying, the polls in new hampshire show mitt romney way ahead. that puts him in a formidable position going into south carolina and giving him the potential to really lock this race up pretty early. so they have really got to go at him. >> kevin, the polls in south carolina

. >> up next, the romney campaign with romney adviser kevin madden and now are democrats going to counter the republican's message in south carolina. this is "andrea mitchell reports" live in new hampshire. [ male announcer ] wouldn't it be cool if you took the top down on a crossover? if there were buttons for this? wouldn't it be cool if your car could handle the kids... ♪ ...and the nurburgring? or what if you built a car in tennessee that could change the world? yeah, that would be cool. nissan. innovation for today. innovation for tomorrow. innovation for all. ♪ so i used my citi thank you card to pick up some accessories. a new belt. some nylons. and what girl wouldn't need new shoes? we talked about getting a diamond. but with all the thank you points i've been earning... ♪ ...i flew us to the rock i really had in mind. ♪ [ male announcer ] the citi thank you card. earn points you can use for travel on any airline, with no blackout dates. >>> mitt romney is already trying to reach the latino vote in florida, the next primary after south carolina with an ad with his own attempt at s

let's go to our panel, kevin madden, matt louis, thank you, gentlemen. kevin, to you first.he debate starts in just a few moments. will mitt come out swinging? will he be aggressive the way he was on monday night? >> robert costa is a good reporter. i think he's right. i think governor romney will be very aggressive, in drawing the contrasts that are needed for voters to make an informed decision about whether they want newt gingrich or romney as a nominee? you have someone who is is a life long politician, someone who has been in the private sector, been governor and brings an outside perspective to washington. i think he'll be aggressive in prosecuting the case against president obama on the economy. are we going to be a country that puts its faith in the government with regard to spurg economic development or put our faith in the american people? on those issues tonight, governor romney will be very aggressive. >> matt lewis, let me go to you. newt gingrich, an old front, it isn't personal, but i told him directly in the interview how disturbed and disappointed i was he's

steve forbes, kevin madden, romney's former adviser. a good pairing tonight.et me start with you, steve. gingrich was asked today by a santorum supporter about the attack on mitt romney and the supporter was saying hey, go after romney for other things, not this. gingrich seemed to agree, said quote obama just makes it impossible to talk rationally because he's so deeply into class warfare. i agree entirely. it seems like gingrich is backing off romney. should rick perry? >> i think it's first of all, i think you have to make a distinction between equity capital and funds in general. they perform a real service. a few of the companies where they took out dividends, huge management fees then the company went broke. they had a good record long-term, but he should answer those questions. that's legitimate. i think what you're going to see unfold in south carolina and florida is we are going to get real issues with mr. romney. one is does he have a good radical tax proposal to put on the table, which rick does and others have. he has not done that yet. he's also g

you saw that we had her in a, paired in a smackdown for the ages with kevin madden, but kevin's not hereing with a car. >> i sent his car on a detour. >> you know what, knowing you. >> no, i love kevin but we also know what he'd say and romney gets plenty of help by the media so you might as well just have a newt person. >> now you have sarah palin on her side. i can't do her accent but it's almost like fargo. make it a liberal man, vote for newt. >> the extension of the 2010 elections into 2012 would be the classic establishment versus the non-establishment, and the beauty of 2010 with 87 new house members was those people who we probably couldn't pick out of a line-up they ran on a message, they didn't carpet bomb their opponents with the money opinion most of them the underfunded unknown candidates told you can't win because we didn't say you could. we didn't pick you. so this will shape up as that as we move on. >> florida, let's just for argument's sake say that romney wins florida and say wins comfortably. where is the next, what's the word i'm looking for? the firewall for gingric

kevin madden has been adviser to mitt romney's campaign. welcome back to you.n south carolina. scott rasmussen has it this way. it appears the race is getting tight. mitt romney 28, gingrich 21. rick santorum and paul 16 each. uri action initially is what? >> nothing like the iowa vote to remind us that this was going to be a very close, tight campaign. i think the numbers that we see in south carolina are reflective of a very close campaign down there. so, you know, the romney campaign, we are not taking anything for granted. we know that we have to go out and continue every single day to persuade voters. i expect inside mr. rasmussen's poll there are a lot of undecideds. in the next fine days or so we have to make sure we are concentrating on reaching as many voters as we can and making the case for judge governor romney is the best candidate to help fix the economy and why he's best positioned to beat barack obama on that issue in november. bill: were you ready for these hits about bain? >> i think we expected hits on the governor's record to come from democ

let's get back to our conversation whereas democratic strategist and bye-bye and kevin madd madden. a family foundation. i suspect that last slide, romney is having trouble with conservative voters. he should mail it around to those groups. let's get back to the bigger issue tomorrow. the tax returns. it's one of the reasons he started to fall in south carolina. is it the transparency question that causes people to move or he seems unkfcomfortable talking about it. people say the governor is a private person and doesn't like talking about his wealth. >> first of all, i think the campaign was always prepared to have a certain level of disclosure. >> if it was always prepared, at first he said i'm probably not going to release them, then he said he might. don't you need to be consistent? >> related to campaigns. first of all, you have a very robust financial disclosure you go through. related to the tax returns, that usually happens in the spring when you become the nominee. i would say in hindsight, we would liked to have been better prepared and liked to have these ready now. he's n