so then, if you look at the two names that you said, rob portman i think is someone who you can certainly present to the american people as someone has served in government, who has an understanding of the fiscal issues, who clearly has been through enough vetting processes. to play off what steve said, g about national issues. with senator rubio who i don't know his record as well, no, you would probably want to do some i think at the end of the day, decision, it's going to be republican nominee's decision and given the fact that the republican nominee is mitt romney, the guess is that he probably does want to pick someone who offers him regional diversity and who offers something to fill up his governing resume, something he . i would also add, though, that the idea that a vice presidential candidate brings their state or brings anything to the ticket i regard as by and large just not true, maybe occasionally they can helm you on an individual state. at the end of the day, you pick the person that you think can be president. >> i think clinically, mike, too, it's that the only criteria

>> if not and romney is the nominee, the finalist will çbe rob portman of ohio. >> the new york giantsll beat the new england patriots this sunday in the super bowl. >> next sunday. >> effectiv

. >> i'll tell you -- romney and rob portman of ohio. tune in again next week. appens every year: fall turns to winter and brings in the cold. because of our economy, millions more will feel that chill than ever before. they're the forgotten ones. the big boys have abused the system to enrich only themselves, while workers are still hurting. it could be a layoff after 22 years of working for the same company. or choosing between food and heat for a sick chk d. or after working your whole life, you don't have what you need to stay warm. you played by the rules, but who chchanged them? even though oil prices are soaring to record levels, in washington, fuel aid for the poor was cut in half. citizens energy asked big oil companies and oil producing nations to help. they all said 'no,' expect for citgo and the people of venezuela. for the last 7 years, citgo has helped struggling families in the united states in good times and in bad. so if you need help staying warm this winter, give me a call. because no one should be left out in the cold.

rob portman, ohio. another state that's critical for the republicans to win. experience, senate experience. paul ryan, young, wisconsin. author of the medicare plan. >> the interesting thing about this is all of these folks are handling their own national personas carefully. rubio is the textbook example of rolling out that national profile. he was very careful not to be overexposed. his team has guarded his image and the amount of time that he spends in national media and he he's benefitted frd that. i think the front runner at the moment. he's the person that all other candidates for vice president really want to be right now. they want to be in his spot. >> okay. it's never too early for us to speculate about vice presidential choices. thank you very much. >> thank you. >> which political stories will be making headlines. chris joins us. looking forward to the next 24 hours. where are we looking? the gingrich ads that are now up. the attack ads on the bain capital. >> i'm upset that reid beat me to the speculation. >> you want to be the first guy to name.

senator rob portman from ohio. he's advised dick cheney, george w. bush, john mccain. a few miles from here, senator portman decided to throw his support to the former massachusetts governor mitt romney. senator port man with mere in charleston. you endorsed governor romney today. i want to get behind the curtain of your past experience helping people with debates. but as you look at the gingrich surge here, a lot of people trace it to a not-so-sure-footed performance by governor romney monday night. what does he need to do tonight? >> i think he'll be fine tonight. he needs to be relaxed, be himself. he needs to be sure he gets his message out. as the moderator this frustrates you i know. but you've got to be sure regardless of what the question is you got to be sure your positions are getting out there and communicated clearly. so i think he'll do well tonight. he seemed very relaxed when i saw him earlier today. this is going to be a very close contest. but i think a lot of folks will be tuning in. >> as you look at the polling state in south carolina, governor romne

. >> i will tell you -- romney and rob portman of ohio. to in again next week. -- tune in again next week. venice seems to be every italy connoisseur's... prague has always been beautiful... germany... the irish civilization... the eiffel tower was built... hope you've enjoyed the magic of... [ lilting flute music playing ] the beauty of the highlands is powerfully felt in the vast rannoch moor... hundreds of desolate square miles much enjoyed by hikers and lovers of nature. [ flute music continuing ] [ bagpipes playing ] the windy expanse of the highlands -- this is where piping feels right. roadside pipers entertain travelers for tips on the road into glencoe. boy, that's great. thank you. can you give me a quick tour of your -- of your gear and everything? yeah, surely. you've got your bag, hand-sewn -- hide bag. lovely. then you've got your two bass, your tenor drone. the blowpipe. to fill the -- to fill the bag. yeah. and you've got your standard keyboard. it's where your music comes from. so is you can play the recorder, you can actu

rob. happy new year to senator portman., doesn't mean we don't keep drying. we are part of a big family, the american family. the state of the union is a serious evening. we should treat the speech seriously. and i think particularly in the context of the terrible shooting last year that occurred in tucson, to honor and support the way in which gabrielle giffords works in the congress. i think we have to keep at it. the feeling i have is that it does make a difference. over time, you get to know the people that you work with. it's hard to demonize a fellow legislator if you know something about his or her background and their family and so on. so we have to keep at this. in the spirit of tip o'neill and ronald reagan as well, who fought bitterly during the day but 6:00 came around and they sat down and had a drink, got to know each other. >> let me play a little bit of what gabrielle giffords said as she also told folks that she was going to be leaving her position. here's what she said. >> but i know on the issues we fough

nikki haley, rob portman, and tim pawlenty. despite having all of the gop fire power, it was a very sparse crowd outside of his offices here in charleston. it was striking to see that he made only brief remarks. he worked in a dig on newt gingrich right out of the romney play book and we heard this over the last couple of days when we heard that obama was down in disney world. he said that's fitting because he's been living in fantasy land and he may run into the speaker because newt gingrich does not understand how the economy works. washington does not create jobs. jobs are created in spite of washington, is what mitt romney had to say. he's going after newt gingrich. that's the message they want everybody to take from today. the other stuff, they are just not going there, suzanne. >> we'll see if they address any of that on the debate. what do you think is going to be the focus, romney's focus that he hopes to convey at the podium tonight? >>. >> reporter: i think the focus tonight is do no harm. if you look at what happened

rob portman has endorsed mitt romney today. are two big names in the mix nor mitt romney, folks considered either of one of them as a vice president on the ticket with them. >> reporter: absolutely, absolutely. the biggest thing for mitt romney right noise surviving south carolina and getting down to florida, getting his feet under him and making sure he is ready to use his support from all of these well-known, well respected figures inside the national republican party and a significant cash advantage to turn florida into the stopping place for any sort of neutmentum. martha: there is a lot of buzz about an abc interview with newt gingrich's former wife. we are waiting. they just released a piece of sound from that interview. as soon as we get it we will play it for u. ahead of that, chris, how significant is it. >> reporter: it was going to be very, very significant today. rick perry is considerably helping newt gingrich out by coming out and making the endorsement and sort of changing the discussion about. it's going to be l

. >> the establishment has been trickling towards romney, the rob portman and bob mcdonald, senator fromu think it speeds up for him or suddenly do they stop and say, maybe we ought to wait and look around? >> i think it could perhaps stall it a little bit. i think there's considerable unease in the establishment. we're talking about elected officials. >> even major fundrazors. >> who look at newt gingrich. where are the big backers of newt gingrich? they are not there. >> one guy. >> casino mogul. >> right they have not been there. i don't think they are necessarily going to show up. they may be impressed but there's a great deal of consternation about the prospect of him becoming the nominee. >> they remember the 1990 mid-term elections which they blame on newt gingrich. you'll have newt gingrich tomorrow? >> yes, we'll have special results and analysis on what tonight means and where we go with the campaign. >> all primaries should be on saturdays -- >> i know. >> makes "meet the press" so much better. >> we want to clarify something on our trivia question, who was the last presidenti

former trail blazer kodak has filed for bankruptcy and republic first, emma tweets in that senator rob portman in ohio has endorsed mitt romney for president. roy is a republican in richmond, virginia. hello, roy. caller: good morning. i love the way democrats call you a do-nothing congress, but whenever you pass a bill, harry reid refuses to vote on it and president obama says i'm all ready ready to veto it. now, you take the pipeline, and that's an example of the way we can create jobs and lower energy prices. gasoline at the pump, $3.25 a gallon. fuel oil, $4.50 a gallon. america has just fallen to economic freedom. canada has -- 10th in economic freedom. canada has moved up to sixth. nobody seems to care. america has no jobs. nobody seems to care. it seems like it's all good as long as obama's president even though it's not really good because he is the do-nothing good president. good day and good luck in the future because we're going to need it. guest: i am very proud of richmond, virginia. we're also proud of eric cantor, our leader, and that's why with eric cantor's leadership we have

i was with rob portman of ohio the other day who serves on the super committee would meet and we were chatting about it and he reminded me that you only lost the presidency by half the people in the ohio state study on saturday. i said thanks,. [laughter] i'm counting on you to cut a deal. we will get this done. this is very, very special. i cannot tell you how special it is for me to be here with my pal john mccain. he sent me a photo of the two of us sitting at the state of the union address and on that he wrote --"the two losers, together again." [laughter] it was really sweet. so being here in new hampshire actually is very special because here in new hampshire, john mccain and john kerry are three and zero. - 3-0. [applause] tonight we're as winners and that a special. john and i got here this evening and took one of the john hulsman flights, bypassed iowa straight to new hampshire. [laughter] i was listening to governor and congratulations on an extraordinary -- it will be an extraordinary year. everybody here is appreciative of your public service. [applause] john was talking a

i was with rob portman the other day.e reminded me that i only lost the presidency by half of the people in the ohio state stadium on saturday. i said thanks. "you better make it up to me." we are going to get this done. i cannot tell you how special it is for me to be here with my friend john mccain. if you days ago, he sent me a photo of the two of us sitting at the state of the union address. on it he wrote, "the two losers -- together again." [laughter] it was real sweet. here in new hampshire, john mccain and john kerry are 3-0. so tonight, we are here as winners. that is very special. [applause] john and i got here this evening. we took one of the jon huntsman flights. bypassed iowa, straight to new hampshire. [laughter] governor, congratulations to you. it will be an extraordinary year as you get there and i am sure everyone here is appreciative of your public service. [applause] john was talking about the new media and the social media and tweeting and facebook. i do not tweet a whole lot because i think it is muc

romney, would you advise him to pick marco rubio of florida or rob portman of ohio? >> if i was in the room with him, i would say remember the two most important things are one, that you believe this person is prepared to be the president of the united states if, god forbid, happens and you have that confidence and can go out. as steve says, it is your first presidential decision. can you go out, let the american people in the eye and say this is the person. second, do you have a personal comfort level and trust this person? the role the vice-president -- the role of the vice president has evolved. and has become an operational role and a very engage role, and that's a good thing. but that means the president has to have a certain degree of trust. can you set this person is preparedif you look at the two s that you said, run portman is somebody you can present to the american people as somebody who has served in government who has an understanding of the fiscal issues. it somebody who has been through enough vetting processes to playoff what steve said. he has the ba

[applause] before i get started, i want to see if the chief of staff, center rob portman, is here. i know he came in for a minute. >> with current staffers and former staffers, there were some that just graduated law school. what we are really striving to do is to -- >> thank you for your kind words. since your announcement just went out on c-span, i'm sure you get a lot of applications. [laughter] this is a time when our country needs fixing and there is no other group of americans more qualified to understand what is wrong with america and what needs fixing that our country's black citizens. the state of black america is the reflection of the moral and monetary state of our great country. we are in crises. we are a critical crossroads, similar to the 1850's, where we cannot go on half slave and half free. half takers. there is no other ethnic group in america that has suffered more from the misuse of government, the misuse of politics and political power and has more to gain by restoring traditional values and individual responsibility, free market, limited government, and a stro