mitt romney is weak. ron paul is out of the mainstream, almost a freak show in the republican party. how can you claim you're stronger if you keep losing to the candidate you call "weak" or "glooirk?" it's hard to make that argument. >> we had a spirited debate about whether it was to the party's advantage, the republicans, to have an extended battle. i remember when barack obama and hillary clinton went for months on end and they were the only story in town. obama appeared to get better as a campaigner as the months went on and that seemed to play well for him against john mccain. couldn't we see the same thing happen here? it goes on and could romney not become a more formidable opponent? >> there are those that believe that. that he'll hone his skills. he was much better in his speech tonight than we've seen him in the past. i think that was the best speech he's given this year so there is that argument but with barack obama and hillary clinton, then largely, the same things. they believe largely the s

mitt romney is weak. ron paul is out of the mainstream, almost a freak show in the republican party. how can you claim you're stronger if you keep losing to the candidate you call weak or freak. it's an interesting argument. >> and we wonder whether it was to the party's advantage, the republicans, to have an extended battle. when barack obama had a win after months on end, they were the only story in town. obama appeared to get better as a candidate as the months went on, and that seemed to play well for him against john mccain. couldn't the same thing happen here? could romney become a more formidable opponent? >> there are some who would argue that. he was much better tonight than the speeches he gave in the past. it was the best speech he had all year. there is that argument. you have to remember with barack obama and hillary clinton they believe largely the same things. you got to be very personal about which one you preferred. in this case, mitt romney has a fractured party on his hands with differe

not because mitt romney is the front-runner, because mitt romney was ahead or mitt romney had a goodpaign. mitt romney winning new hampshire was a foregone conclusion because historically speaking, new hampshire couldn't have been won by anybody other than him. because he's the guy from massachusetts. the guy from massachusetts, whether a republican or democrat, always wins new hampshire. in 2004, john kerry, in 1992, paul songas, 1998 michael dukakis, henry cabot lodge, john f. kennedy. when a massachusetts politician is running for president it's a safe bet they will wine in new hampshire. they will win. there are two exemptions to the rule. two exceptions to the massachusetts guy winning in new hampshire in modern political history. 1980, jimmy carter got a primary challenge from the left from inside the democratic party from ted kennedy, ted kennedy was from massachusetts, he did not beat the incumbent president in that new hampshire primary. that is kind of an exception but it wasn't incumbent president, so not really. the only other exception to the massachusetts guy not winnin

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a lot of people are talking about mitt romney -- florida being mitt romney country. newt gingrich could do very well down in florida. he's already cultivating ties with the cuban-american community and mitt romney will have a tough time explaining his opposition to the dream act, which is a bill that would lead to a path to citizenship for young latinos in this country. newt gingrich said he's in favor of portions of that bill. mitt romney said he would veto that act and newt gingrich would be very popular in the central part of the state. that's sarah palin country and sarah palin, she sort of endorsed newt gingrich here in south carolina. so buckle your seat belts. >> candy crowley is at romney headquarters. it was interesting to hear governor romney's speech tonight, talking a lot about obama, but he did throw a few references towards newt gingrich, though not using the candidate by name. we anticipate that is going to change in the next couple of days. he's squarely got to go after newt gingrich, right? >> reporter: and it's clearly one thing he told me and talki

mitt romney doesn't get it. he doesn't get it because actually he believes that the american people are just jealous of rich people. listen to what he told matt lae lauer. >> anyone with questions about the distribution of wealth and power in this country is envious, is this about jealousy or fairness? >> i think it's about envy, class warfare. >> are there no fair questions about distribution of wealth without being seen as envy, though? >> you know, i think it's fine to talk about those things in quiet rooms and discussions about tax policy and the like. >> in quiet rooms? you folks down here on the blue line, be quiet, go behind closed doors, don't say anything about those vultures up on top who have seen their income go up over the last 30 years, 340%. don't do that. of course mitt likes quiet rooms and closed doors. held, he hell, he doesn't want to show the tax returns. 66% of the country say there is a conflict between the rich and poor. mitt romney doesn't want to talk about it. he said they are filled w

a lot of people are talking about mitt romney -- florida being mitt romney country. newt gingrich could do very well down in florida. he's already cultivating ties with the cuban-american community and mitt romney will have a tough time explaining his opposition to the dream act, which is a bill that would lead to a path to citizenship for young latinos in this country. newt gingrich said he's in favor of portions of that bill. mitt romney said he would veto that act and newt gingrich would be very popular in the central part of the state. that's sarah palin country and sarah palin, she sort of endorsed newt gingrich here in south carolina. so buckle your seat belts. >> candy crowley is at romney headquarters. it was interesting to hear governor romney's speech tonight, talking a lot about obama, but he did throw a few references towards newt gingrich, though not using the candidate by name. we anticipate that is going to change in the next couple of days. he's squarely got to go after newt gingrich, right? >> reporter: and it's clearly one thing he told me and talki

, mitt, mitt! >> -- and tonight, tonight, we're asking the good people of south carolina to join the citizens of new hampshire and make 2012 the year he runs out of time. >> and you're right, wolf. two wins in a row, first iowa, and now of course, new hampshire, but two very different evenings. iowa was a very, very flat, sort of celebration. here, there was energy in the room. you could really feel that in terms of the one thing a lot of people thought mitt romney was lacking, which was the energy, he was able to get it here in new hampshire, and he it use it in south carolina. >> all eyes will be on south carolina, january 21, the primary there. thanks very much. let's go to john king, taking a closer look at how mitt romney did it, john paul, impressive in second.n huntsman, third. this is an important number. 38% and the number could go up. >> could go up a bit. mitt romney is doing well. let's echo candy's point. this was an impressive win for mitt romney. he was polling in the last few days.

mitt romney is weak. ron paul is out of the mainstream, almost a freak show in the republican party. how can you claim you're stronger if you keep losing to the candidate you call "weak" or "glooirk?" it's hard to make that argument. >> we had a spirited debate about whether it was to the party's advantage, the republicans, to have an extended battle. i remember when barack obama and hillary clinton went for months on end and they were the only story in town. obama appeared to get better as a campaigner as the months went on and that seemed to play well for him against john mccain. couldn't we see the same thing happen here? it goes on and could romney not become a more formidable opponent? >> there are those that believe that. that he'll hone his skills. he was much better in his speech tonight than we've seen him in the past. i think that was the best speech he's given this year so there is that argument but with barack obama and hillary clinton, then largely, the same things. they believe largely the s

mitt romney by far spending the most. this is mitt romney on television ads. $2.7 million. to buy 30 seconds of advertising in south carolina is $300. now, here are our four candidates, going on to florida. mitt romney's campaign has already spent $2.4 million on television ads in florida. when you d in the superpac, $4.9. that's going to buy him a lot of ads. some of his ads are already playing in florida. he's got an ad airing in spanish. the real question is, you go to newt.org tonight, what does it say? we want a million dollar money bomb, trying to get more money to buy advertising in florida. but right now, mitt romney is the only one with the television presence in that state and it's an expensive state. >> it's not cheap to buy those 30-second commercials. i want to go over to peter right now, one of our political reporters, doing an outstanding job for us. take us inside, peter, the romney camp right now. they must believe so upset, so frustrated. a few days ago they were poised to win in south carolina and didn't happen. >> reporter: that's right. i can tell you r

he's coming after mitt romney.n we get to new hampshire, as long as newt gingrich does the job on mitt that we all anticipate he's going to do, anybody can bounce including santorum. >> well, mr. burton, i said it's going to be saturday night in the alley with this debate coming up here this weekend. >> broken bottle and all. >> maybe so. where is santorum in this? i mean, could he make a serious run in the long haul? could he develop enough infrastructure fast enough and get enough people onboard if the money comes in to make a run and spoil this for mitt romney? a lot of people think he is the nominee. >> well, like you, i'm not a big santorum supporter. i will say, he did something smart last night. he had a chance to introduce himself to a much larger group of voters, he used that opportunity to say, look, i'm a blue collar guy, i come from a blue collar state and if you pick me as your nominee in places like michigan, wisconsin, pennsylvania, i can be a lot more competitive than the hedge fund guy. basically.

there's people out of work because of what mitt romney and bain capital did. >> you're mad at mitt romneye republicans e-harmony ad, and now you're saying it's unfair. >> it's very weak. maybe like got 37% in '92 and lost to clinton who got 24. he didn't meet expectations. >> where does ron paul stand on zombie preparedness? >> me dad said never get involved in politics. if you have to win an election to pay mortgage. >> what a relatable story. mitt, remember only run for office when you're rich. >> we're drifting to a society where millionaires buy office and it's very dangerous. >> this is make or break moment for the middle clasç class. >> the new hampshire primary is tomorrow. if romney sees his shadow, six more weeks of campaigning. >> why is mitt romney so far ahead of you? >> he's been here for a whole lot of years. >> you're the first person who ever called mitt romney a home boy. >> the home boy with the freshly minted mba. joining me is melissa harris perry. soon to be crowned with her own show on msnbc. from washington, jonathan capehart along with republican strategyist tray

he has enacted -- >> mitt mitt mitt mitt mitt mitt mitt mitt mitt mitt mitt mitt mitt mitt mitt mitttt mitt mitt mitt mitt mitt mitt mitt mitt mitt mitt. >> this president has enacted job killing regulations. i'll eliminate them. he lost our aaa credit rating, i'll restore that. he enacted obama-care, i'll repeal it. and when it comes to the economy, my highest priority as president will be worrying about your job, not about saving my own. internationally, internationally, president obama has adopted an appeasement strategy. he believes america's role as leader in the world is a thing of the past. i believe a strong america must and will lead the future. he doesn't see the need for overwhelm i overwhelming american military superiority. i will insist on a military so powerful no one would ever think of challenging it. he criticizes our friends like israel. i will always stand with our friends. he apologizes for america. and i will never apologize for the greatest nation in the history of the earth. our plans-our plans to protect freedom and opportunity and our blueprint is the cushio

mitt's got to win here. think by no means is he assured to winning here. >> gentlemen, it could be very interesting. more interesting thank than we thought. primary calendar, big contest after south carolina, is florida. more people requested absentee ballots there than all voters in iowa and new hampshire lenny c chairman in florida. a huge state, 370,000 republicans have requested absentee ballots how different is florida from other early states in what do folks need to know about your state? >> well if you take iowa, for example, it's obviously not the media markets that we have. there's an opportunity for candidates that aren't well-funded to do retail politicking, which is good and healthy for the process. but when you goat floriet to fl million republicans, 10 media markets, and we, as a state, truly reb what america represents. we are a melting pot where people from all backgrounds and socioeconomic backgrounds, ethnic backgrounds come together and try to make a better life. we represent the vision th

, mitt, mitt, mitt, mitt, mitt, mitt, mitt, mitt, mitt! plans protect freedom and opportunity. and our blueprint is the constitution of the united states. together we will build an america where hope is a new job with a paycheck, not a faded word on an old bumper sticker. [ cheers and applause ] let me be clear. the path i lay out is not one paved with ever increasing government checks and cradle to grave assurance that government will always be the solution. if this election is a bidding war for who can promise the most goodies and the most benefits, then i'm not your president. you that president today. but if you want to make this election about restoring american greatness, then i hope you'll join us. if you believe that the disappointments of the last few years are a detour, and not our destiny, then i'm asking you for your vote. [ cheers and applause ] i'm asking each of you to remember how special it is to be an american. i want you to remember what it was like to be hopeful and excited about the future, and not to dread each new he

. >>> an impressive win for mitt romney. we want to welcome our viewers in the united states and arnold the world. le's take a look at the vote tally as it stands right now. he's 28,000 votes ahead of ron paul. huntsman comes in third. there is a battle underway for fourth and fifth. rick perry barely did anything in new hampshire. let's go over to mid romney headquarters right now. he delivered a pretty powerful victory speech. >> if the romney people cough scripted it could not have gone any better. a good and solid first place. ron paul, really the candidate they fear the least, the man they don't think will ever be acceptable to the mainstream of the republican party. newt gingrich, rick perry, gone down in the 10% perry. this was bound they wanted going into south carolina where they really believe looking at the polls as we all are, romney is ahead. which is why, when you listen to mitt romney, he is not really talking about his republican opponents. >> we know that the future of the country is better than 8 or 9% unem

i agree with mitt. instead, he's taking a democratic attack against newt and he's borrowing tom brokaw's newscast to do it. >> i saw that. >> the whole thing -- he doesn't get the conservative phase. >> you are on an airplane. let's assume you are up front. who do you want sit with you on a plane right in 1b for five, six or ten hours. stay australia. do you want newt or mitt romney next to you? as a person next to you. >> as a person, i prefer mitt romney, but i think that's pretty obvious. >> i'm strange. i would prefer to be next to newt because -- >> of course you would. >> that's a gender different in the campaign. >> there is a gender break, mika, that's so pronounced in this race among men and women voters. something like a 20-point -- not that you are typical of either one of you, but the gender is matching up with you guys. >> here's the question. who would jeb bush like to sit next to? i wish he'd make a decision. wouldn't that help move this down the road and clean this up? or marco rubio. wh

your sense of why newt is losing, why mitt is winning. >> well, mitt romney came last night to do what he had to do. he was the new combat ready, up armored mitt romney. he gave newt gingrich's tact incompete -- tactics right back at him. he was in newt's face the whole time. it really had the feel of a bully being confronted by a guy who was ready for it. >> let's look at what newt said, one of his worst moments. he was asked by wolf blitzer about a spanish language radio ad his campaign made. the ad calls romney anti-immigrant. romney seized the opportunity to go after gingrich. let's watch. >> is he still the most anti-immigrant candidate? >> of the four of us, yes. >> i'm not anti-immigrant. my father was born in mexico. my mother was born in wales. i think you should apologize it and having differences of opinions on issues does not justify labeling people with highly charged epithets. >> susan page, even when he gets mad and angry, he uses terms like highly charged epithets. i guess he won that round clearly. what do you make of that? he came very formally, as always, but very in

stick around in case something happens to mitt romney or something is done to mitt romney that takes him out. still be in the race when that happens. >> they're all "break glass in case candidate implodes" candidates. and the little elephants break the glass, here i am, you know? and if you're huntsman, you're seeing everybody else has moved up and down and moved up and down. he's still waiting for his moment. so maybe the point is, if he stays in long enough, something happens. >> let me ask you one last question, chuck, you look at rick santorum, jon huntsman, newt gingrich, rick perry, who has not been a factor in new hampshire, but will be a factor in south carolina. all of these candidates who not only have their own campaign resources, but have access to quirky billionaires who may or may not be their dad, who may or may not want to give them money to carpet bomb in the next couple of states. is there any difference in strategy from any of those four toward mitt romney, or are they all on board with the mitt romney corporate raider attack that we've seen newt gingrich play up s

to try to stop -- to make him stop attacking mitt romney, specifically for mitt romney's business record. don't run the when mitt romney came to town attack ad about his economic record in the private sector, stop saying things and get on board. private equity executives our kind of people, shut up, newt gingrich. this is the test. is there an anti-establishment right wing populist insurgency that matters or was the whole tea party story line much ado about nothing. has nothing changed between 2008 and 2012? joining us is dave weigel, dave, thanks for being here i'm sure you're tired after all your days on the campaign trail recently. >> i'm been woken up by watch t tiny heads. >> john mccain's heads are almost this size. >> they are two dimensional. in terms of your thesis, was that the overall point you were trying to make that the same dynamics driving the republican party's decision making last time around are still driving it now, that nothing really has changed? >> that is what was surprising to me. i almost in making the comparison, probably peddled how well mitt romney is doing.

mitt romney, common man. a time magazine reporter how strange it was to be in the room when he was asked a benign question by a little kid about why he wanted to be running for president in order to explain how much he cared about the future of the country, mr. romney started a riff how difficult it has been for him to decide who to leave his fortune to. >> i remember i sat down with an attorney, i said if i have a will i want to make sure and pass along my whatever i have to my sons, and she said well, what do you want to give to your grandchildren? i didn't have any then. i said nothing, i'll give to it my boys, they bill give it to their children. she said you'll change your mind. i said i don't think so. well now i have grandchildren, i saw this lady lawyer of mine i saw her on the street i said by the way, i don't want to give anything to my boys, i want to give it all to my grandchildren. >> the heart warming story about his fortune and the wacky run-ins with the lady lawyer. he told that story at a cam

but, mitt romney showed up early. avoiding gingrich and hinting should he lose the state he'll bounce back in upcoming contests. >> we have a long way to go, join us in florida, and nevada and michigan and colorado and, a long way to go. we need to get 1150 delegates, off to a good start. >> reporter: and, polls prior to the primary, newt gingrich rolled into time's and called out his rival. >> where is mitt? i thought he was going to stay and maybe we'd have a debate here this morning. >> reporter: south carolina insiders, even romney officials say it feels like a gingrich win and will hinge on turnout in greenville and spartanburg the heart of the first southern primary's conservative up state. >> i'm the only conservative who has the opportunity to stop a massachusetts moderate. >> reporter: and romney sent him an anniversary, marking the anniversary of the day, becoming the only speaker in u.s. history reprimanded for an ethics investigation and a gingrich win en south carolina guarantees a long battle. 47 states

john mccain aendorsing mitt romney today. mitt romney already has the endorsement of nicky haley. i predict we'll see other people, maybe lindsey gram from south carolina endorsing romney as well. that means that people are going to have to find a way to beat him in south carolina. s it's true that gingrich and santorum are likely to attack each other. they don't have a lot of money to spend on tv ads. they have to find a way to work together but both of them still want to win. so at some point they're going to have to differentiate as well. and that's good for romney. but he got 25% here. he's going to have to get more than that next time in south carolina with rick perry out of the race. i think he can do it. it's not a sure thing. >> mike, as i walked out of the caucus site last night, i grabbed this as a potential collector's item. rick perry says he's going back to assess the campaign. he is finished? >> yes. you would not go to texas. you have to keep your foot on the gas if you have any hope in new hampshire. he has $3 million left. they had planned to go on. but they're ve

paul and some to mitt romney. you're seeing mitt romney under perform a little bit where he was in the west but over performing in the middle and so i think at the end of the day it's a little bit like 2008 but mostly a lot different. >> in terms of how huckabee put together his iowa win in 2008 and the sort of long bumpy road that lies ahead of all of these candidates who aren't named mitt romney tonight, do you think there is a lesson from your campaign with mike huckabee for how any one of these candidates can get the rest of the evangelical voters that are still out there that may be thinking about who to support, how to get them to coalesce? >> it was the home schoolers, a lot of different folks. his record as governor with transportation issues, a lot of different coalitions. the lesson learned here is you can do this with lots of different coalitions. look, everybody will say it's the evangelical crowd that is going to support rick santorum. he has lots of other supporters just like mike huckabee did four y

i'm going to take out mitt romney. benefits it was about selling books and being able to write off vacations we could take and meet people and to maybe increase my speaking fee but now i'm going to do some damage. >> what's interesting, we have seen people -- we've seen people go after mitt romney in debates and relatively hard charging. i mean you know -- gloves off kind of thing but he hasn't really been barraged with negative ads. la is the big test and is anyone going to do that in the next round. >> there's lots of -- >> of course, there is. >> who has the money to do it? that's the real question. rick santorum is going to spend money on clearing the rest of the anti- -- the non-mitt romney people. so no one has the money to attack romney right now. but on these debates that are coming up this week, you're going to see gingrich is going to blow through every question and immediately -- >> frankly, that's whobl what he'll do. he will profoundly and frankly go after mitt romney. >> i read the speech as i will try to

mitt romney's camp is actually running anti-mitt things in florida already. >> we'll have mitt romney and ron paul on this here four-hour program this morning. so put down the clicker because we got a big day and we start with some headlines. >> the mother of the prime suspect in a wave of arson fires in los angeles says her son is mentally ill. dorothy burkhart repeatedly demanded to see her son as she arrived yesterday. she's facing charges unrelated to his case and had no clue he had been arrested and charged with setting more than 50 fires in the hollywood area. he's expected to be arraigned today. his mother who reportedly runs an exotic massage business faces deportation to germany where she's reported for not paying for breast enlargement surgery. two bomb scares on a new york bound flight. the plane diverted last night after someone abandoned the phones in the plane's bathroom. no one claimed them. the pilot landed immediately. later, a passenger fessed up to forgetting the phones. that person was questioned by the feds. no charges were filed. we told you about this yesterday,

so mitt romney is saying that 76% of americans are guilty of the sin of envying mitt romney.wo-thirds of the country see a strong or very strong conflict between rich and poor. we know this about mitt romney. he is very simple minded and he is a liar. he will say anything to get elected. that's why he said liberal things to try to get elected in massachusetts. the man will say anything. so it's hard to tell what he might actually think or if he actually thinks. if mitt romney does think that 76% of americans envy him, his wealth, that we are all sitting here envying him, all of that money, then he needs to listen to someone who actually knows something about our economy. alan alan krueger is the chairman of the and knows about questioning income distribution in any country is called economics, not envy. >> the trends that have taken place in the u.s. over the past three decades are particularly of concern to economists and others. we've seen a steady decline, erosion in the size of middle class. that's not good for the economy. that's not good for all citizens of the american

>> mitt romney. >> why?gards to electability. >> was there another candidate you maybe liked better but thought could not beat president obama? >> i did, and it would be former governor huntsman. having he worked for the obama administration, i just don't see how he can compete. >> who did you vote for today? >> rick santorum? >> why? >> well, i think he's a stronger conservative. >> i voted for huntsman. i think he has the best chance of winning the presidency against president obama. >> what was it about huntsman at the end that put him above mitt romney? >> honestly? he was one of the only ones that sounded like he was speaking the truth that he was going to get in there and try his best. >> who did you vote for today? >> i voted for newt. >> why? >> i just think that he has an answer and a plan. >> what are the issues that are most important to you this time around? >> i think number one would be the economy. >> who did you vote for tonight? >> ron paul. >> what was the single most important issue? >> th

>> reporter: so the point being missed, had mitt romney come to iowa, had mitt romney come to iowa a couple more times, he might have gotten more than 14 votes. the other thing is, we shouldn't be too shocked by the close nature of this race. it was only 11 years ago that the general election ended in a tie in florida. of course, karl rove remembers that quite well with george bush locking it up in the sunshine state. >> all right. here -- i don't know if those are up oners. >> reporter: i don't know what to say about that. >> you might want to check that out. >> reporter: you know, they say the caucus is different. some say it can be meaningless. some say it's quirky. pick your adjective. >> reporter: it looks lying they are cheering somebody named sarah. i have covered the romney campaign for 5 1/2 years. this is america. [laughter] >> carl cameron has been feeding us information all night long. some great stuff. and now to end this like, carl, your evening and morning, it's just not fair. but -- it's funny. >> reporter: thank you. we are doing the all-nighter and will be in manche