mike huckabee stayed positive and beat mitt romney. mitt romney, peaking.his polls read like an e koe cardiogram for someone who has flat lined. >> one of his supporters was on yesterday and made this argument, which is that, yeah, he stayed at that level. but he's the one that's been consistent. everyone else has peaked and fallen. so that's not a bad place to be. wouldn't you rather be where mitt romney is? >> getting them to nominate him is like getting a wildcat to a trash can. they have tried everybody else. and they have done something here to try to bust up the conservative vote. they have helped rick santorum now to peak and leaders have endorsed rick perry. he's a solid guy. but a vote for rick perry is a vote for mitt romney. >> but to your point, let me show you something else. tea party support is really splintered. 20% forç santorum. 17% for romney. perry 15%. when you look at that split, i'm wondering why are they having so much trouble settling on a candidate? is it to their disadvantage? >> what it reflects is a couple things. the strength

mitt romney.i think it's unlikely because perry bachmann and gingrich, they are still all in that field and taking some of that vote, splintering enough that frankly mitt romney may wind up winning with 26% which is remarkable. >> that is the point susan page, you're in des moines, we'll join you there tomorrow. the whole point is that mitt romney is benefitting from this division of theç conservative libertarian evangelical wings of the party. >> he sure is. i interviewed mitt romney yesterday on his campaign bus. i have to say he is about as optimistic as i have seen him. i remember four years watching his campaign collapse at this point with the surge of huckabee, there's none of that sense now. i think the romney people are in this to win. we've never had someone who won the iowa caucuses and then the new hampshire primary and then failed to get the nomination. >> susan, also usa today and gallop have a poll an political ideology, this is your poll on a scale of 1 to 5 with 1 being very liber

newt gipgrich ngrich is trying past mitt romney in iowa. but new reports showing his kind words in 2006 for the massachusetts health care law could be another setback. former pennsylvania congressman bob walker is supporting the former speaker's presidential run, and he joins us now on the phone from pennsylvania. congressman walker, that was gail gitcho, romney's communications director. she offered the following critique of speaker gingrich. washington insider. these are her words, not mine. washington insider, unreliable conservative. and that he shilled for nancy pelosi's global warming plan. what say you to any or all? go ahead. congressman. >> excuse me? >> i'm sorry. go ahead. >> no, all of which is ridiculous. the fact is that newt has been a part of the washington scene for a long period of time, but he's always been regarded as the guy who is challenging the washington establishment. and there's a long history of the washington establishment being very unhappy with newt gingrich and what he was doing because he does in fact presen

. >>> also tonight, mitt versus newt. with herman cain's exit, the republican race comes down to this. on one side, the perfectly presented if not sufficiently conservative mitt romney. on the other, the gladitorial former speaker of the house. newt's surging in iowa right now and closing the gap in new hampshire, and that's got romney sweating, if he could sweat. >>> and that leads to this, which candidate, newt or mitt, does president obama and his people want to run against? would the obama campaign rather face a flame thrower like newt, who has a ton of baggage, or the genteel romney who has trouble with consistency and connection with people. >>> and later, the penn state scandal, the sex scandal has come back. jerry sandusky, the former assistant football coach accused of sex crimes against young boys speaks out, again. in another incredible interview, sandusky says he was a father figure whose actions have been twisted by prosecutors. but amazingly, he says, he was attracted to boys, adding, "and girls," before his

i'm mitt romney.e of iowa. joining us from des moines nbc correspondent peter alexander. good morning. >> reporter: good morning to you, willie. welcome back. sorry not to see you with joe and mika's slippers on this morning. >> that was a sight. we'll fill people in on that later. "way too early" joe and mika jamies and slippers on national television. we're a week out now. where do we stand and who are you following? >> reporter: well, you know, i think what's interesting is that all of these candidates took a break over the holiday to be with their families, which is tradition often times but here everybody we've spoken to says this doesn't have the same intensity that iowa has had in past years. obviously the state as some headlines have said is still iowa, the undecided. a lot of people as we've noted throughout the course of the morning on your broadcast really haven't fallen in love with any of the candidates yet. what happens here could really dictate, be determinative of who becomes the gop n

i've watched mitt romney for about five years. he built a good organization in this state four years ago and good media organization. that hasn't happened to the extent this year. but i think mitt romney was unjustly marked down for his religion last time. i hope that's not happening this time. he's a better candidate this time than he was four years ago. but sometimes, you can measure all the pieces, where they are on issues and how they are on debate. and the list of those things goes on. but sometimes, it's just an intangible. i don't know that iowans have warmed up to him in the fashion that one would think, given his positions on the issue. he has a great family too, bob. >> schieffer: what about newt gingrich? he does carry some baggage. even newt gingrich would concede that. could it drag down the party if he got the nomination? >> there is that risk. newt has shown himself to be very, very strong in these debates. i think that's the foundation of the strength that he has in the polls. then, you'll see some things come out

more and more come to mitt romney.a voters more than anyone had a touch and feel and more attention than any other state. more and more are coming to mitt romney and the numbers are surging. there is an evangelical base that has gone from michele bachmann to newt gingrich and rick santorum. at the end of the day, mitt romney will finish strong in iowa and far above almost everyone's expectations. and on the flip side, do you think he would be more mot rate to reach consensus and washington and why would democrats who washed them stonewall nearly everything, why would they want to work with mitt romney? >> being a conservative does not mean they wouldn't go with the voters. one of the strongest presidents we had and an uncanny ability to work with the super majority democrat-controlled house to pass the tax cuts and theç reduction in spending and the economic reforms. this is a perfect example of someone who built consensus even among independent and democrat voters and lawmakers. people look at washington, d.c. and se

mitt romney has a problem in an earlier debate when rick perry was flailing all over the place and mitt was trying to get him to calm down. he comes off as the unlikable boss and the guy. he has got smp self control issues and persona issues. that could make it hard for him to come out swinging. if newt wants to be above it all and take it, that will be interesting to see if romney punches himself out. there ways i think for him to not decent to a disgusting level, but make clear -- i think the whole pay for play, my opinions are based on who is paying me this month issue with gingrich is very powerful. it doesn't involve nastiness, but fact. there still things you can get in. >> better than nfl sunday night football in anticipation. thanks very much. coming up, is bane the four-letter word haunting mitt romney? >> doesn't the speaker understand not all businesses succeed? fortunately most were able to be successful and i'm proud of that record. frankly very surprised that he would attack conservatism and free enterprise and capitalism. this is the party that believes in free enterprise

could mitt be gone by february? and we learned over the weekend that the key witness in the penn state scandal told a very different story when he talked to his relatives. why did he not say he saw that boy getting raped? >>> let me finish tonight with the republicans' deal with the devil. and you know who that is. we start with newt, the bomb thrower. howard fineman is "the huffington post" media editorial director. david korn is mother jones washington editor. both are msnbc analysts. in south carolina, gingrich leads the pack. these numbers are growing, 42%. romney comes in a distant second, 23%. ron paul, down at 9%. in florida, a state that was supposed to save mitt romney, gingrich's lead is also strong. he's up to 44% to romney's 29%, with paul at 8%. gingrich's huge lead in these new polls is testament to his willingness to be a bomb thrower. he showed it in that debate when he refused to back off his assertion that the palestinians are an invented people. let's listen. >> is what i said factually correct? y

. >> mitt romney is not a true conservative. >> they don't view mitt romney as one of them. >> no one is getting a mitt romney tattoo for next summer. >> if you cheat on your wife, you'll cheat on your business partner. >> do you give someone you acknowledge is a bomb thrower a nuclear weapon? >> electromagnetic pulse. >> you don't want a president throwing grenades left and right. >> impacts would be so horrifying. >> i am not a bomb thrower, rhetorically or literally. >> 21% of republican voters say they believe the current field of candidates is a strong one. >> it is a disaster. complete disaster. a complete and total disaster. a complete and total disaster. >> president obama played to his political strength giving a speech at fort brag to mark the end of the war in iraq and highlight his administration's military accomplishments. >> around the globe as we draw down in iraq, we have gone after al qaeda so that terrorists that threaten america will have no safe haven, and osama bin laden will never again walk the face of this earth. >> according to the new nbc news and "the wall s

what is it about mitt romney they can't fall in love with him? >> i think joe's answers are good answers and i do think there is -- this thing of wanting someone, we read in polls all the time that republicans want someone who can beat president obama. that's clear. they care about electability, but they also want someone who can beat president obama up. and we've seen that, whether it's been, like, in the case of donald trump. he got in the president's case. all of these candidates for a moment look like they're the one who can give president obama a bloody nose and mitt romney, for all of his skill, he doesn't have that thing. he's not the brawler and a lot of republicans at the base level want that. >> the white house has long thought mitt romney was the guy. they've aimed all of their planning at him. are they beginning to doubt that or do they think mitt will have the nomination? >> they still think it will be mitt romney but they are loving every second of this. for the last few months when we've been going through all these different candi

with questions that mitt likes. that's in the "rewrite." ♪ when your chain of supply goes from here to shanghai, that's logistics. ♪ ♪ chips from here, boards from there track it all through the air, that's logistics. ♪ ♪ clearing customs like that hurry up no time flat that's logistics. ♪ ♪ all new technology ups brings to me, that's logistics. ♪ >>> the truth is that ginger white and i are friends. and, yes, i gave her money because that's what friends do. seth, you and i are friends, right? >> i guess. >> take some money. >> oh, well thank you. >> now, you know that money ain't free. >> i'll just give it back. ♪ i think i'm falling ♪ i think i'm falling ♪ i think i'm falling [ male announcer ] this is your moment. ♪ for you [ male announcer ] this is zales, the diamond store. take up to an extra 15 percent off storewide now through tuesday. what is this shorty? uh, tissues sir, i'm sick. you don't cough, you don't show defeat. give me your war face! raaah! [ male announcer ] halls. a pep talk in every drop. >>> w

mitt, you've got to run. i held off for months and months as she continued to work with me and say, mitt, you've got to do this. you've got to get the country on track. you're the only guy that can do what has to be done. so i remind her, i saw this morning, we got up early in our room this morning and she said it's a fine mess i've gotten you into, isn't it? it's an old line from laurel and hardy. >> the fact that she is, and you, as a family, have dealt with her illness, what has that taught you, as you talk to americans here in iowa and around the dle? >> i think ann and i recognize that -- that a lot of people in this country are suffering. people suffer from illness, as she has, she's had both breast cancer and m.s. people suffer from financial strain. people suffer when they lose loved ones, when their children are going astray. life is not a bowl of cherries. life has a lot of ups and downs and great difficulty. and being able to experience this on a firsthand basis makes it very personal for us. and y

but what mitt romney has been. thought michele bachmann did a formidable job on the influence- peddling, and saying do not call of lobbying. i think gingrich hurt himself by playing defense and defending freddie mac to republican audience. give him credit for being honest about mortgages being guaranteed by taxpayer dollars. i was most impressed by ron paul. i thought he was energized and well-spoken last night, more than he had been in any other debate. iowa is a state that is pacifist -- democrats and republicans. >> could he be a dark horse? >> the last rasmussen poll, which does republicans, had mitt romney at 23%. gingrich at 20%, and ron paul at 18%. that is within the margin of error. >> as the only woman on this panel, i thought michele bachmann did a really nice job of same to gingrich do not dismiss me. you are dismissing me, and i thought she really stood up for herself very nicely. >> that is interesting. to me, it sounded whitey. >> need to. >> i thought that appeal to women. >> it appears not just to

mitt romney and newt gingrich. or as i keep saying newt romney and mitt gingrich. if i do that on air tonight, i'm sorry. i keep doing it in the office. it's embarrassing. the thing emerging as the biggest hurdle to newt gingrich getting the nomination is the establishment wing of the republican party. today this came out into the open. there are people in the republican establishment willing to voice concerns or out right opposition to mr. beginning risch in recent weeks. today the flood gates opened. conservative columnist david brooks at "the new york times," quote, he has every negative character trait conservatives associate with 1960s excess. narcissism, self-righteousness, self-indulgence and intemperance. he would severely damage conservatism in the republican party if nominated. former reagan speechwriter, peggy noonan, writing in "the wall street journal," quote, those who know him fear or hope he'll be true to form in one respect. you he'll continue to lose to his number one longtime foe, newt gingrich. he is is a human hand grenade who walks around with

mitt romney maybe?k in 2004 romney was going after a democratic candidate for, get this, flip-flopping. here's what he said about john kerry back in 2004. let's listen. >> when you're running for office, you look at your opponent's record, you find someplace where he or she has changed position and say they're a flip-flopper and that's a pretty standard thing. but in this case, this guy really is. i won't go through that whole list but it's just extraordinary. i've tried to think why it is that he has changed so often. why he finds it so difficult to come down on one side of an issue, instead sort of floats between both issues. if he's with an audience, he wants to identify with and satisfy that audience and will say what he thinks they want to hear. we laugh and joke about that kind of inconsistency and vacillation and yet as we look at the times that we face, it's really not a joking matter. >> well, the pot calling the kettle black. lessons from an expert. sounds more like a personal reflection, does

there has not been one of the anybody but mitts that has fallen and resulted in a rise for mitt.stancy thing. i think his family is beautiful and his wife is an amazing person. i don't think he has had them out there enough and they are a great asset. >> that might be true about his wife but mitt's biggest vulnerability is that he is a flip-flopper. he has said one thing and thing changed his mind to be another for so long. look at the dnc video mitt vmplt r v. mitt. >> should mitt romney step up direct attacks to gingrich? >> you know what? i don't think so. he has staked out this territory. he is a nice guy. you need to step up his fighting. the reason that newt ascended as he did, he earned it. he was taking the fight to obama, not to each of the other candidates. if he would show more fight in a sincere way based on conservative principles,that's what people are looking for. the last man standing strategy which produced no mistakes and no momentum either. >> thanks very much. coming up, my interview with the republican presidential front runner, newt gingrich coming up at the

mitt romney's problem is mitt romney doesn't know how to transition himself from a general election strategyhere he was focused on president obama, to trying to appeal to the so-called self-identified christian conservatives in the state of iowa. his other problem, of course, he doesn't have a big organization on the ground. he's trying to play catch-up. because his goal is not to come in fourth place. ron paul has an organization. and george and i were talking in the green room, if there's a foot of snow and you have to get your people to the 1600 precinct, guess what, ron paul will have a driver to bring you to those precincts. >> kathie, what donna just said, do all of the indicators favor ron paul in iowa right now? >> ron paul has a very strong campaign in iowa. you have to remember that he has the experience of having come in, in fifth place in iowa caucuses four years ago, his campaign never really went away, he kept a presence in the state for these last four years, he had key people on the republican state committee. ron paul has energized new caucus goers. he energizes young caucus

with questions that mitt likes. that's in the "rewrite." >>> the truth is that ginger white and i are friends. and, yes, i gave her money because that's what friends do. seth, you and i are friends, right? >> i guess. >> take some money. >> oh, well thank you. >> now, you know that money ain't free. >> i'll just give it back. the other office devices? they don't get me. they're all like, "hey, brother, doesn't it bother you that no one notices you?" and i'm like, "doesn't it bother you you're not reliable?" and they say, "shut up!" and i'm like, "you shut up." in business, it's all about reliability. 'cause these guys aren't just hitting "print." they're hitting "dream." so that's what i do. i print dreams, baby. [whispering] big dreams. we've saved people a lot of money on car insurance. feels nice going into the holidays. ohhhh.... will you marry me? oooh, helzberg diamonds. yeah, well he must have saved some money with geico. reminds me of the gecko mating call. really? how does that go? shoo be doo be doo. geico

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it may be chilly december, but the mitts are off as mitt romney comes out swinging against newt gingrich. the speaker getting bigger and badder with each passing day. the alpha dog turned super underdog is sharpening his teeth to go after the big bear in iowa. how can he not just look at newt's ballooning numbers. newt taking a full third of the vote in iowa. gaining ground in mitt's stomping ground new hampshire. she is blowing mitt away in south carolina. holy firework, look at florida. newt got nearly double the vote, almost 50%. folks, this is for real. mitt romney has not put new hampshire in hand and behind the smooth veneer, he has given the order to release the dogs of war. in this case campaign surrogates like senator john who who attacked the fabric of newt's conservative character with msnbc's chuck todd this morning. >> do you believe gingrich is a faux conservative? >> i think he is a gingrichite. all he cares about is newt gingrich. he doesn't care about conservative principals. he cares about newt gingrich. >> that comes after mitt's ad highlighting the constancy of his ma

and this is mitt romney talking. i think he's shown a level of unreliability as a conservative leader today. so it's unreliable leader is the new catch phrase. i think he's latched on to what he thinks will get him above 23, by bringing the other guy down from his potential 75, where newt is headed. >> but it's not believable. >> let me go to joan. >> unreliable leader. >> it's not believable because -- because it could be levelled back at him and that's the dangerous thing. i mean, mitt has done a couple of things like this. last week he hit him for his religion, and mitt romney is already in good trouble, not for good reasons but already in trouble on religious grounds so to be coming at newt for his conversion, something that i think people really think is kind of below the belt. even i think it's below the belt and i don't think there's much below the belt when you're talking about newt gingrich. i just want to respond to something that michael said though because i would like to agree with michael on the issue o

in the end you'll have to make a choice and you know mitt romney well. the lead -- >> i don't think he can. first of all, what american voters are looking for, what the conservatives and center right is looking for are the best conservative who can beat president obama and become president. that undeniably is mitt romney, furthermore, when you look at the proportionate vote that comes up, you have to be prepared to sustain yourself over an extended period. mitt has to supply lines, got the organization, the funding and he's got the discipline to stay the course over a long term. i think he is best suited to win the nomination. i believe he will win the nomination. i think he's best suited to beat obama. >> fred, that's a close as you've come to tipping your hand. david winston, what about the argument that newt gingrich cannot sustain this and mitt romney can? >> i think again, it depends on what survey you look at at this point. if you look at the usa today gallop survey, look at the key swing states, newt gingrich and mitt romney were about the same. i

listen to some of what newt gingrich had to say about mitt romney. >> mitt romney made fun of you today. i don't know if you heard. >> no. >> about the virginia snafu and all of that. i'll play the clip, watch this. >> okay. >> you know, i -- i think you compare that to pearl harbor. i think it's more like lucille ball at the chocolate factory. so i mean, you've got to get it organized. >> he was referring to a statement that your campaign manager said this was like pearl harbor. you've learned from it and it's not going to happen again. he's comparing you to lose seal ball. >> i have a simple message for mitt romney. i'll meet him anywhere in iowa for 90 minutes just the two of us in a debate with the time keeper and no moderator. i'd love to have him say that to my face. i'd like him to have courage to back up the negative ads and the things his staff has been putting out. he wants to prove he can debate barack obama, he ought to have the courage to stand on the same stage with me. he's buying millions of dollars in attack ads through a phony super pac run by his former staff, paid fo

i feel the same way about mitt romney. mitt romney flips and flops on the issues. neither one of these people can be trusted. another thing to remember, i want a level playing field when we come up with obama. obama said what he was going to do when he ran for office. after he was elected, he's done his very best to do what he said he was going to do. i want the gop to present an honest candidate that will do the same thing. because i don't think we're going to beat obama if obama is honest and we put some hollow personally driven person that wants power and prestige in the challenge. >> in the state of iowa, will evangelical voters, in your opinion, create a problem for newt gingrich? i mean, he's polling very well nationally, but in iowa, it's different. are the evangelicals making the difference there? >> i believe that they are because the younger voters are paying attention and they're starting to learn about newt gingrich. and, you know, newt, himself, said in the last debate that he thinks it's important -- >> is there anything he can do to change this? is t

mitt romney avoided that.hought michele bachmann did a formidable job on the influence peddling. i think newt gingrich hurt himself by playing defense, and defending freddie mac. give him credit for being honest about mortgages guaranteed by taxpayer dollars. i have to say, i was most impressed by ron paul. i thought he was energized and well-spoken last night. i what is the state that is a pacifist. it is democrats and republicans. >> could he be a dark horse? >> the last rasmussen poll, had mitt romney at 23%, newt gingrich at 20%, and ron paul at 18%. >> i had one thing i wanted to set as the only woman on the panel. i thought michele bachmann did a really nice job of saying to gingrich, do not dismiss me. you are dismissing me. i thought she stood up for herself. >> to me, it sounded whiny parent -- whiny. >> i thought it appeal to women. >> it appealed to people. i thought it was a good job, too. >> there are so many debates. which candidate does this schedule favor the most? >> it did favor mitt romney b