mr. romney. i want to talk about the president running against congress, but let's talk about specifically mr. romney. it will not work for the obama campaign? >> i think they are going to use it. we think about the focus on his wealth and what lovain did in destroying -- whether he created or destroyed jobs. i think is going to be very difficult if you look at the 2008 and the 2010 results for them to make inroads into that working class community. it is not their coalition anymore. what do these up for middle- class suburbanites think about? how do they interpret the gain experience? if you look up polling that has been done in swing states like florida, pennsylvania, ohio, romney does well among college- educated whites who know about the economy. as a process this, do they see it as the class warfare as republicans wanted to see it? or do they see it as a wall street maneuvering that has hurt them? i think they are the key audience. and i honestly do not know. how of voters in jabr that exper

mr. romney's campaign right now and what he's working hardest to fix. mr. romney lost a number of contests to not only newt gingrich but rick santorum. the santorum thing is not a fluke. we put a national poll that rick santorum is leading. gallup, rick santorum is climbing fast as newt gingrich fades away. mr. santorum in second place in gallup's national polling ahead of mr. gingrich. rick santorum is rising and the exit polling over the last month showing that it's the most conservative members of the republican base who are turning against mitt romney, and so now, having lost south carolina to newt gingrich, and a trio of states, sort of, to rick santorum this past week, now you have mitt romney trying to really hard to connect with the conservative base. not only getting introduced by the head of the american conservative union. but listen to how he spoke to the crowd today once he did get the mike. >> this must be our greatest hour as conservatives. this is our moment. this is why we're conservatives. we conservatives aren't just proud to cling to our

mr. romney managed to screw this one up as well. because according to mr. romney it's not just people who receive welfare benefits who should be drug tested, not just people getting welfare benefits, listen to what he says. >> it's a great idea, people who are receiving welfare benefits, government benefits, we should make sure they are not using the benefits to pay for drugs. >> people receiving welfare benefits, government benefits, anybody receiving government benefits according to mitt romney will be forcibly drug tested. even if you're not suspected of using drugs. anybody getting money from the government. mr. romney, you want to drug test people who get farm subsidies? >> people who are receiving welfare benefit, government benefits, we should make sure they are not using the benefits to pay for drugs. >> government benefits. you want to drug test bankers who got bailed out by money? executives of oil companies, they get $4 billion in subsidy, should they be drug tested? government officials get paid. all of congress, how about the supreme court justi

mr. romney. this is the graph we showed last week i still think is the most important thing in the horse race. the navy blue line is mitt romney's unfavorability rating. then there is michigan. the primary a week from tomorrow being cast as a do-or-die moment for the romney campaign. mitt romney grew up in michigan. his dad was a popular governor there. mr. romney the younger won the primary in the '08 election, campaigning there intensely this year. if he can't win in michigan it will be a shock to the system. the most recent polling in michigan shows mr. romney behind rick santorum. closer than he was but still trailing. hence, michigan mitt romney ads featuring mitt romney with his dad, also ads showing mitt romney driving a car, he has been doing that as well. do we have the car ad, too? he's driving a car, notable thing about the one he's driving the car it's him driving a car made in canada. but still you get the idea. he meant it to look american. what can mitt romney do in michigan to turn

mr. romney speaking today in sparks, nevada. the most interesting thing about mitt romney making no sense and flailing on the basic question, dude, how's the economy, the most interesting thing when he says that the president made things worse, he knows that is not true. i'm not saying i can read his mind or that i surmise that he must know it's not true. what i mean it he has said, he has explained that he knows it's not true. >> you've also noted that there are signs of improvement on the horizon in the economy. how do you answer the president's argument that the economy is getting better in a general election campaign if you yourself are saying it's getting better? >> of course it's getting better. the economy always gets better after a recession, there is always a recovery. >> isn't that a hard argument to make, okay he inherited this recession, took steps to turn the economy around now we're seeing more jobs, but vote against him anyway? isn't that a hard argument to make, is that a stark enough contrast? >> have you got a b

mr. romney keeps falling into that trap. we have the flap this week he was talking about he can't really care about the poor. i mean, this was a bungled message and actualically what he was trying to say is he wanted economic growth. and it's determination not to only talk about his love for the middle class and plays to obama. >> paul: what do we learn about romney during the primary run so far. we've been critical, but what have we learned about his, his-- >> well, i think we've learned that he's very smart. very skilled. he's articulate, he's a fast learn her, respond quickly and a lot of energy and one thing we've learned, paul and i'm beginning to find this quite, kind after concern. he is supposed to have this vaunted organization, and this strong team. we opened with the excerpt from that victory speech in florida, i watched it and read through it it last night and you know, it's pretty funky, it's a big moment and the the whole nation is watching and nothing special in that speech. you think someone would have reflec

mr. romney nationwide. this is the story the beltway media cannot get enough of right now. dynamic in the world right now. yes, mr. santorum has come from nowhere to meet or exceed mr. romney this week. but before this week, mr. romney weathered the exact same storm from rick perry. see him there? that was rick perry back in september, and then mr. perry went away. after mr. perry, mr. romney weathered the exact same storm from herman cain, and then herman cain went away. then from mr. gingrich, and he went away and came back and went away. so though it is exciting in the moment, a rival candidate to surge and pose a challenge to mr. romney, it's not the most novel story in the world. if in all the breathless rick santorum coverage today you feel like you have seen this movie before, it is because you have seen this movie before. and it might end up being a big deal, but it might not. if chart really does imitate life, here's what i think is a more important thing to keep an eye on. and it's not getting nearly as much attention. we don't vote nationally. we vote state by sta

mr. romney this week. but before this week, mr. eathered the same storm from rick perry, see him there, that was rick perry in september, right? then mr. perry went away. after mr. perry, mr. romney weathered the exact same storm from herman cain, and herman cain went away. then after herman cain, mr. romney weathered the exact same storm from newt gingrich and mr. gingrich went away and mr. gingrich came back and went away again. though it's exciting in the moment, a rival republican candidate coming from no where to surge it's not the most novel story in the world. yes, mr. santorum has come from nowhere to meet or exceed mr. if in all the breathless rick santorum coverage today you feel like you have seen this movie before, it is because you have seen this movie before. and it might end up being a big deal, but it might not. this is what's going on in the republican rate for president. the more happens in the race, the more voting, the more campaigning this year, the more voters have decided nationally that they cannot stand mitt

mr. romney in michigan. part of the problem in michigan is that mr. romney undermine his greatest asset in the state with his dad having been both a governor and car company auto executive there and undermine that asset with a famous op-ed that let detroit go bankrupt that if gm, ford and chrysler get bailout from the federal government "you can kiss the american automotive industry good-bye." mr. romney wrote the auto industry's demise would be guaranteed by bailout. now in another op-ed, this one in "the detroit news" mr. romney is trying to sort of defend and sort of walk back the whole let detroit go bankrupt thing. he's now saying that he still thinks it would have been right to let the auto industry in america go bankrupt. he also says that mr. obama saving the industry in the short-term actually made things much worse than they would have been for detroit. that was a hard line for mitt romney to be toeing a couple lines ago when he wrote that op-ed. it's a particularly hard line to be toeing today. >> full year general motors made a record profi

mr. romney's heavy reliance on a small group of millionaires and billionaires for financial support. so that's the headline the romney campaign woke up to this morning, then the appearance with this man. and what is the beltway media takeaway from all of this, the message of the day for the mitt romney for president campaign? according to the belt buckle of the beltway, politico.com, today's mitt romney campaign message was that nobody remembers mitt romney saying like a gazillionaire. >>> mitt romney's dad ran for >>> mitt romney's dad ran for president too. in 1968. he was favored at one point in the race seen as a safe choice. he was a governor of a state that starts with m. a successful corporate executive, square jaw, great hair, kind of reminds you of somebody, right? also he had no foreign policy experience, none to speak of. which is part of why not mitt, but george romney had a fatal error in his presidential campaign. his fatal error was flip-flopping and then getting way out of his depth on the issue of an american war. >> governor, shifting to vietnam in november of 1965 w

mr. romney does not win there. a senator telling jonathan carl, "if romney cannot win michigan, we need a new candidate" he believes he will ultimately win but publicly call for the party to find a new candidate if he does not. "we'd get killed" the senator says, if he wins the nomination after failed to win the state in the which he grew up. in other words, if mitt romney can't win michigan and ends up the republican nominee, the republicans have no chance in november. also in other words if you're mitt romney you really, really need to win michigan. otherwise some senators will say publicly how they need to 86 you off the ticket. >>> so michigan, very important. if you're mitt romney you really, really, really need to win michigan. how do you do it? you bury rick santorum under a tidal wave of negative ads. this week the romney campaign plan to spend $1.2 million on ads in michigan. want to know how much rick santorum and his pac plan to spend on ads this week? $42,000. that's it. rick santorum leading mitt romney

mr. romney. government brewer's last minute endorsement i hope you won't mind me noting is not exactly a profile in courage given so much the state has voted it looks like mitt romney is going to run away with the state of arizona. so governor brewer waited long enough to figure out who was going to win and said i'm with that guy. jan brewer, always brave and classy. if you believe the polls. mitt romney has lead in arizona right now. if you believe the curse, maybe gentleman brew brewer endorsing him might turn it around. having the establishment on your side has not been a good omen in that state's republican politics. the biggest thing that happened in the last year in arizona is the recall of the most powerful republican in the state. now the most powerful republican politician in arizona has not been the governor, the head of the state senate, russ sell pierce, he's no longer in the senate because he was recalled from office by his district voters in november. that is after he championed the

mr. romney still got crushed there by rick santorum. in minnesota mitt romney lost to santorum but as you saw he is losing to ron paul, as well. he is in third. he won minnesotaer four years ago. incredible. in colorado, a state that mitt romney won in a landslide last time with 60% of the vote, it appears to be out of the question thoont he will get another landslide. he is looking for a win. mr. romney telling supporters he hoped to come in first or second in colorado. romney campaign saying that mr. romney called rick santorum earlier tonight to congratulate him on his victories. apparently he could only leave a message for mr. santorum. here's mr. santorum addressing his supporters earlier tonight in missouri. >> conservativism is alive and well in missouri and minnesota. your votes were not just heard loud an wide across the state of missouri and minnesota but they were heard loud and louder all across this country. particularly in a place i suspect, maybe in massachusetts they were heard particularly loud tonight. [ cheers and appl

mr. romney's heavy reliance on a small group of millionaires and billionaires for financial support. that's the headline the romney campaign woke up to this morning, then the appearance with this man. and what is the beltway media takeaway from all of this, the message of the day for the mitt romney for president campaign? according to the belt buckle of the beltway, politico.com, today's mitt romney campaign message was that nobody remembers mitt romney saying like a zillionaier he wasn't concerned about poor people. >> i like being able to fire people and provide services to me. >> you're fired. gets teeth two shades whiter and makes tooth enamel two times stronger. get dual-action listerine® whitening rinse. building whiter, stronger teeth. was thought up and built and run to save people money? what if that company was born online, with tools and apps to make people feel like geniuses? and what if that company was now backed by the stability and reliability of allstate? well, what if that company was esurance and this wasn't just a bunch of hypothetical questions? could be cool-is

mr. romney's heavy reliance on a small group of millionaires and billionaires for financial support. that's the headline the romney campaign woke up to this morning, then the appearance with this man. and what is the beltway media takeaway from all of this, the message of the day for the mitt romney for president campaign? according to the belt buckle of the beltway, politico.com, today's mitt romney campaign message was that nobody remembers mitt romney saying like a zl nagil distilzillionai concerned about poor people. >> i like being able to fire people and provide services to me. >> you're fired. my sunglasses. people say i'm forgetful. ( car honking ) maybe that's why we go to so many memorable places. the subaru outback. love the road you're on. [ male announcer ] when a moment suddenly turns romantic, men with erectile dysfunction can be more confident in their ability to be ready with cialis for daily use. even if it doesn't happen every day, you can be ready anytime the moment's right, because you take a clinically proven low-dose tablet every day. [ man ] tell your doctor a

mr. romney has tons of endorsements, he has tons of surrogates. f what it means to be the establishment candidate. but these surrogates are not what you would expect, not helping mitt romney. another example, major romney surrogate. telling cnn this week, quote, santorum connects with people. unfortunately, my guy has had a hard time doing that. my guy needs to come out and connect with the people and just lay it out there. i know he can do it, he just has to make the effort. i think he can, i think he can. or new jersey government chris christie. a crowd pleaser willing to beat the bushes for mitt romney. hey, i know he seems reserved, but he's got passion, i know he does. except for chris christie jumping all over mitt romney for being slow to release his tax returns. >> i've released my tax returns every year as soon as i file them. i released them historically when i ran for governor. i just think get the stuff out there, so if governor romney were to ask for my advice, i would just say get the stuff out there. if they're interested in it, let

mr. romney continue to run well.hile people may not like the fact that there are other candidates in the race, he's likely to have a head-to-head race. if rick were to drop, all would go to one person. the majority of republicans think that mr. romney is going to be our nominee. i don't think we can ascribe to individual candidates leaving the race that they're automatically going to go somewhere else. >> there's one part of it, the part you represent. the part where we think mitt romney is going to be the strongest as the heart and soul of the auto industry and and around the suburbs. but the other parts of michigan are the santorum message on life and on guns. this is a pro-gun, pro-life state. is that how the state is split? the suburbs of detroit versus the rest of the state when it comes to republican voters? >>. >> well, the reality is the economy of michigan is something that links everybody together. it's an automotive state. it's a manufacturing state. in many ways there are fewer differences economically be

mr. romney earlier this month. the latest polling out of michigan, he has erased rick santorum's advantage there. mr. romney holding a slim lead in michigan ahead of the vote. the republican governor of arizona, jan brewer withheld her endorsement, waiting until yesterday, two days before the primary to announce she, too, is endorsing mr. romney. governor brewer's last minute endorsement is not exactly a profile in courage. given so much of the state has voted when you look at the polling, it looks like mitt romney will run away with arizona. governor brewer waited long enough to figure out who was going to win and then she said i'm with that guy. jan brewer, always brave, always classy. if you believe the polls, mitt romney has a prohibitive lead in arizona right now. but if you believe the curse, maybe jan brewer endorsing him might turn it around. having the arizona republican establishment on your side has not actually been a good omen in that state's republican politics recently the biggest thing that happened