>> romney outspending santorum 5 to 1 in ohio. his opponents have to feel good that maybe this is a moral victory, right? >> reporter: absolutely. when you look at that margin, outspending his rifles 5 to 1, romney won 6 of the 10 states, that means he still lost four. you look at that razor thin margin here in ohio, the rivals say this is a guy that cannot excite republican voters. they think there's a passion out there they can still capture. >> all right, scott, live in ohio. thanks for that report. >>> another major political story from ohio. long-time congressman dennis kucinich will not be headed back to capitol hill. >> the win over that race faces a high-profile battle in the general election, she faces joe the plumber. >>> sarah palin weighed in on election 2012 and the soup tuesday results. she said she voted for newt gingrich in the alaska primary. will she run for president in 2016? >> i don't discount any idea or plan that -- at this point is not in my control. anything's possible. >> you can see the 2008 election all

don't tell me that romney is outspending santorum? are some ads that are released by campaigns that are really brutal, and they hope that the media will get a lot of free play. but this one it's getting a lot of paid play. the romney campaign bind with the super pac is outspending santorum 6-to-1 or maybe 7-to-1. when you look at the fine prints on that ad, they not only call him a lightweight they call him illiteracy and it's inexcusable. that's coming from the rupert murdoch publication. another reason why rick santorum is not happy today. >> and in rockville illinois, here is how he responded. >> governor romney called me an economic lightweight. because i wasn't a wall street financeer like he was. do you really believe this country wants to elect a well street financeer. that's the kind of experience we need? someone who is going to take and look after as he did his friends on wall street and bail them out at the expense of america? >> he's angry. and the wall street feed is back. is this because he's angry or because he thinks i

thank you so much. [ applause ] >> reporter: illinois, mitt romney's big victory outspending rick santorum 7-1 and won with 47% of the vote. a crucial step, romney says, defeating president obama. >>> it's time to say these words. this word, enough. we've had enough. >> reporter: exit polls show superconservatives both for santorum have identified themselves as evangelical or born again. >> if we get romney we're getting obama all over again report those most concerned about it voted for romney. >> we need something to do about the economy. so many are unemployed. >> reporter: santorum applauded his second place have been. >> we won the areas and we're happy about that and happy about the delegates we'll get too. >> reporter: he's banking on romney being forced to give up some of his delegates if florida and arizona are forced to split theirs. today, he's focused on the next contest. >> we're feeling very, very good about winning louisiana on saturday, i might add. >> reporter: it shows him up by 13 points in louisiana. now, after louisiana, we've got a ten-day break. after that wisconsin,

santorum's momentum is meeting romney's cash, doing so in a big way. the romney campaign and his super pac have spent a come pined $2.6 million. that means romney is outspending santorum by a ratio of 5-1. with that much money invested, why is this race neck and neck with the people of illinois? it's not that close. it's an economic message. this state is on the verge of going off a financial cliff. the people in the state want some change. 70% of the vote is north of i-80. it fits governor romney perfectly. senator santorum is not on the ballot in the congressional districts. he can only get at most 44 delegates. i think he's going to win and he'll continue to win after illinois. it will be a big decisive state for him. >> you talk about rick santorum only has one paid staffer, 400 volunteers. they would tell you he is waging a real battle there. and his super pac spent 300,000 attacking romney in illinois. >> meet the real mitt romney. supported the wall street bailout. raised fees by $700 million. leaving massachusetts over a billion in debt. his health care takeover, the blueprint for obama care. >> pat, a sharp message coming from the santorum campaign.

romney did win it. >> a win is a win. how much money do you spend for that win, however? we know the santorum campaign said they raised $9 million in february. we've been talking about romney outspendingantorum himself and then you include the superpac there. he even made a direct appeal, right, on his speech on tuesday night. his campaign is running low on cash. so looking forward, do you think this is a problem for romney? >> i don't. i don't think money is really a problem for romney. first of all, let's remember, he is fairly wealthy himself. if he needs to, he can cut a check. i don't think he's done that yet in his campaign. he did it in 2008 race. i don't think money is an issue. he also has a lot of establishment backings from republicans who can continue to feed money into the superpac account. i don't think money is an issue. santorum has to worry a little bit more about fund-raising. he doesn't have that wealthy establishment or backing or that rich pocketbook that romney has. >> romney has to worry that conservatives are not really rallying around him. jeb bush is still considered as a possible last ditch candidate. he repeatedly said he's not interested in running. forget

i think, are somewhat staggering, if you look at politico reporting in illinois mitt romney outspending rick santorum 7-1. chicago, he's outspending santorum 21-1. i want to unpack the chicago numbers first because why spend that mump money in chicago? isn't that romney territory already or is this a sign of a campaign not letting anything go? >> that's a good question. the one thing to know about illinois is that 70% of the vote in the illinois primary comes from north of the interstate 80 that cuts the state in half. or the bulk of the vote comes from, it comes from that region. that's why you spend more money in television in that neck of the woods. there are all kinds of different parts of the state, some are more conservative, some more independent and moderate. spending that you're talking about from the perspective of advertising reflects tactical decision of the super pac and the romney campaign where they should be driving their message. >> folks on my left, bill, you're a money man. i said the word carpet bombing, there's a tally somewhere, in the tens if not 20s. this is again we've seen r

(applause) but in recent polls santorum is eight points behind mitt romney in part because romney and his super pac are outspending rick santorum 50 to 1. 50 to 1. also, the ratio of wives romney's great grandfather had. (laughter) that's why i am so glad i have colbert super pac. you know-- (cheers and applause) it is-- come on. you know our motto. making a better tomorrow, tomorrow. and one of those two tomorrows may be any day now. because my super pac is having a superimpact. according to the "houston chronicle", more texans have donated to americans for a better tomorrow tomorrow than to the pro romney super pac restore our future. (cheers and applause) martial, do you hear that romney? put that in your pipe and don't smoke it because tobacco is strictly forbidden by your religion. apparently more texans respond to my message corporations are people than romney's message m itt is a person. and according to none other than the congressional newspaper the hill, a super pac craze is sweeping the nation. and the explosion of super pacs is lightly being fueled by a surge of media interests because stephen colbert

i think when you have a race -- i mean, mitt romney's outspending rick santorum 7-1 in this state. almost all of it is negative. you know in florida, your home state, the story was much, much the same. you cannot put, dispirit people when all you're offering is a negative argument against your opponent, and i think we see it on their side. on our side we don't have an opponent. i've been very happy with the turnouts we've. using them as opportunities for the fall. it's been a very good exercise for us. >> you're not concerned -- >> something that will help -- >> you're not concerned it's been belew the '96 marks? >> no, i'm not concerned about that. what i see around the country is organization building, and it's been a phenomenal response in terms of activities in the precincts and so on. so i'm not worried about that. and i'm looking forward to the fall. i think we're going to have a robust turnout. those numbers were interesting you mention in the nbc/"wall street journal" poll, because there's been a real collapse. at the last, last summer, the story going into last summer was

even though mitt romney has been outspending rick santorum by a wide margin, santorum has managed to keep things close, even winning a few races. but not in illinois. this time, it was a big win for romney. mitt romney added to his delegate lead by winning a decisive victory in illinois. >> what a night. thank you, illinois. what a night. wow. >> reporter: this is romney's third, big state win in a row, after the candidate squeaks out victories in ohio and michigan. in his victory speech, romney shifted his attacks back to president obama. >> after years of too many policies and not enough jobs, historic drops in energy and historic rise in gas prices, it's time to say these words. this word, enough. >> reporter: exit polls show that romney was lifted to victory by voters with households earning more than $100,000 a year. and voters who see him having the best chance to defeat president obama. the candidate continued to struggle with voters who described themselves as very conservative. they broke for rick santorum by a wide margin. santorum is hoping to rebound in louisiana on saturd

romney is gaining some momentum, that gap between santorum and romney and ohio is narrowing. >> yeah, basically -- >> is it big money? advertising dollars? you're right, the romney campaign greatly outspending the santorum campaign and throw the super pacs in there. that's the true story this cycle. the pro romney super pac, greatly outspiending the pro santorum super pac. people turn on their tvs and that's a factor of why romney has closed the gap in ohio. >> i wonder if this -- if some pressure is being relieved so to speak for romney because this isn't a winner take all state, 63 delegates allocated proportionately. but as we heard from our peter hamby, santorum could lose out on some of the proportional delegates. >> yes, he could. he's outspending santorum by 6 to 1. we have seen this work effectively for romney in florida and it worked for him in michigan it is really also going to boil down to the economy. that's where we saw in the exit polls from michigan, so i think that while it was an uphill slog for romney, i think in the end he's showing that money matters, organization matters, and people really want to hear about the economy. they don't want to hear about the wedge issues a

gingrich was riding high romney comes into town spends a couple million bucks and all of a sudden gingrich gets trashed santorum is riding high romney comes in addition outspend them six to one suddenly santorum gets crashes because that means that when obama is riding high and romney comes in and he's got thirty forty billionaires behind him on wall street and he's already he's already raised you know had fifty eight thousand bucks in the super pac romney had over thirty million i mean you know will they will will that work is he going to be able to track obama's kind of more and more tools of those to watch to deal with. your pain into a box not the super pac tool or even not to but i think i think we'll see what we're watching right now i think you'll see these these candidates sort of unify let's just processes well here's the thing that mazes if you look back at the primary the hillary clinton barack obama primary everybody was saying this made both these candidates stronger candidates and the reason why was because they were talking about the issues and saying well i want national healthcare no i want national health care medicare party oh no i want to

romney in ohio. again, that's the big crown jewel of super tuesday, is outspending rick santorum. mney and his super pac i should say. outspending rick santorum 4 to 1. he comes in with momentum, he comes in with money. he's going to raise more money after this. you know, you have to say the obvious. >> he's got momentum, hilary, going into tuesday. >> he does. because he has a significant financial advantage, the stakes are higher for him. you know, the fact that santorum and gingrich are still ahead in a significant portion of these super tuesday states means there's still a nagging dissatisfaction with mitt romney and the fact that he is spending maybe 5 to 1 means that he's going to underperform if he doesn't win the states. >> he doesn't wrap anything yet but he's moving certainly in the rye direction. >>> stand by. we're going to continue our coverage. we have now projected mitt romney the state of the washington caucuses. much more of the coverage and analysis right after this. [ man ] gillette wanted to see how far one proglide cartridge could go. so they sent me around the

romney is still on top. they are outspending rick santorum by seven-one. in chicago, an eye-popping 21-1. >> if you want a conservative as the nominee of this party, you must vote for mitt romney. >> for mitt romney it is all about staying the course and focusing on the economy. >> i do carry about the unemployment rate. it does bother me. i want to get people back to work. >> his target is consistently the president. you will not feel anything. it could add another delegate count of a ham on pace to win the nomination in june. >> the problem plaguing rick santorum has been organizational. he is already unable to win 10 of the 54 delegates available. newt gingrich's and louisiana. ron paul making an appearance on tv in california. >> the battleground state of virginia, president obama is back on top according to a university poll. he leads against all the republican candidates. despite the governor's popularity at home, the poll finds that an obama-biden ticket wins. all eyes will be on illinois for like election results. watch results on our sister station

santorum would win. what polling there had been in louisiana prior to the race suggested he had a big lead. mitt romney did not outspend rick santorum in louisiana the way he has in many other states. dollar for dollar, the super pacs that support both of them spent about the same. the romney campaign didn't spend a lot. this is a state that had a very, very significant evangelical christian vote, and voters that called them conservative overwhelming went for santorum, larger numbers than in a state like illinois where romney won just last week. it's a boost for santorum. he does get the majority of the delegates tonight. he will be able to go on, as you saw there in wisconsin, that's where he's looking for the next real strong standoff and face-off with mitt romney. it's interesting to hear mr. santorum make reference to mr. reagan's 1976 run against gerald ford. at that time it was determined that ronald reagan couldn't win the nomination and he stayed in the race. santorum making the same argument that he'll remain on the campaign trail potentially until the convention because he believes that romney won't be able t

. >> reporter: santorum claims romney is outspending him 10-1 ahead of tomorrow's pry appear in illinois. >> it's mit rom my who is systematically has gone out there and run a negative campaign, has had no positive vision for this country, and spends billionaire dollars to tear down every single opponent that's in his path. >> reporter: the battle for illinois has shaped up as a head-to-head fight between romney and santorum. ron paul and newt gingrich essentially left the state to the front runners to focus on contests down the road. randall spirchgston, cbs news, the -- pinkston, cbs news, the white house. >>> congratulations are in order for maryland senator barbara mikulski. over the weekend she became the longest serving woman in the history of congress. between her time in the house and the senate, the 75-year-old democrat has served more than 35 years on the hill. the senate will be honoring her accomplishment coming up on wednesday. >>> thanks to our warm temperatures, the cherry blossoms have already reached their peak and visitors and locals are scrambling to enjoy the sight be

romney is outspending santorum in most of states.hings will impact such as obama's ground game and such as guess what also their messages. that might have an effect as well. >> those messages? who? you have to argue money doesn't matter even though mitt romney's money doesn't matter as much as it should be right now, right? but it still matters. the super pacs seem to be raising money for republican candidates but the super pacs on the democratic side don't seem to be doing as well. >> i'm just going to say we are not under any threat of underemphasizing the effect of money in politics. i'm not worried about somebody thinking, oh, money doesn't have an effect. it's contributing but not determinant. >> last word, lz. >> the super pacs, president obama kind of hurt himself saying he didn't want one and now he does and lagging behind what the swift voters are initiating for the gop. i think you'll see the fund-raising numbers and fund-raising i think you'll see with the super pacs and enthusiasm for president obama resurge itself. >> lz

. >> as we close, we have romney being -- he's outspending santorum 29 to 1. i believe we have a graphic about this. where's my monopoly guy, uncle money bags, wherever he is. look at that, 29 monopoly men to one of rick santorum's. where do you come back from that if you're rick santorum? >> look what he's done already. there's rather a staggering story, the success of rick santorum, given the fact he's been so outspent, that he's been so out organized in each and every state. that's a story. erick erickson is about to get his wish. that's going to be one on one. >> and that's still with gingrich in the race. which is interesting. >> well, erick's number one wish is he wants the brokered convention and mitt romney said there will not be a brokered convention. but we shall see. >>> coming up, there are new rumbling that hillary clinton could make a presidential run in 2016. how strong a candidate would secretary clinton be four years from now? and how good would the republican field look? we'll ask the panel, next. always leaning forward here. . you know when

. >> romney is outspending santorum 55 to 1. >> it's going to be virtually impossible if you look at past states where romney has spent like that for santorum to win. it's a decent state but there's plenty of romney voters in that state as well. >> did you see david pluf yesterday? >> i saw haley barbour mispronounce his name on purpose. and i don't fall for that. it's just stupidity. >> that's like when george bush called him saddam. >> i have seen someone do that all the time. >> let's not talk about that here. but david pluf yesterday was talking about mitt romney. >> alex is trying to find the bite. we don't have it. >> he was dragging mitt romney in and said he was -- what did he say? he was the godfather of health care reform. >> david pluf yesterday showed a lot of cards on a lot of issues, and shows why the romney people have to be worried about a general election. not just on health care but on simpson bowls and on medicare, the ryan plan. david pluf is one of about 100 people working for the president's campaign who has the research down, who knows how to run against mitt ro

now on to illinois where romney and supporters are outspending santorum 7 to 1. no question who will win the delegate fight tomorrow. santorum is only eligible for 44 out of illinois's 54 delegates but santorum says he can squeak out a surprise victory in the popular vote. >> if we're able to come out of illinois with a huge or surprise win, i guarantee you that we will win this nomination. >> this morning on "morning joe," i asked santorum about how he plans to convince republicans he has got it together enough organizationally to challenge president obama in the fall. >> chuck, you know that the organizational issue that i had in illinois and ohio and a couple other states, these delegates had to be filed in november and december. i'm in the state of iowa and i have as you know limited resources going around driving around in a truck with a guy named chuck in a dodge ram pickup truck doing town hall meetings. >> still, it is a problem for him. he could lose as many as -- he could only get as many as 20 delegates tomorrow. 21. the way this system works in illino

santorum, another economic lightweight. >> let's just give this illinois primary some perspective. how critical is the result tonight? >> well, it's very critical and ads like this in which mitt romney is outspending1 are very important because it is a very large state that mitt romney needs to win. people expect him to win, and when you run this kind of advertising all over the state it has a great deal of impact because the state is so large it can't be everywhere. you can also target these kind of ads wolf, so you know what voters occupy what part of the state and how responsive they'll be to any kind of an ad, so if you have the money to carpet bomb your opponent which is what mitt romney generally does, you have a good chance of winning. >> why is newt gingrich mia in illinois? because he's not going to win. he knows he's not going win. he's running out of money and he's got a campaign debt and what he's looking toward is his state of louisiana. and that's on saturday, wolf. louisiana could be make or break for newt gingrich. i would argue he has to win louisiana because he hasn't been winning a lot lately, and if you're going continue raising money and have some credibility in this race, you

think well as usual, on the one hand they have reservations, on the one hand mitt romney really has to outspend rick santorumo win. on the other hand all he does is keep winning more and more delegates, so at some point doesn't rick santorum have to turn, you know momentum into actual delegates? >> he is turning them into delegates. but as david just said you are winning delegates, but if you are not winning enough then it doesn't really matter. in order to get momentum which is what romney needs, he is going to have to do more than just win by -- here it could be 10, 12 14 points. >> quick percentage question to you guys. chances that we have a contested election, david shuster? >> i'm going to say no. it won't be a contested convention, but it may be close. >> contestant yes or no michael shure? >> 26% chance contested. >> correct answer, 31%. >> romney is winning in places where in the fall democrats are win. and santorum is winning in places in down state illinois where republicans are going to do well. that does mean that the appeal that mitt romney has is not to the classic american voter. >> seriously

mitt romney is outspending is rick santorum 5581 in wisconsin and has -- we talk about coalescing.ornia, kevin mccarthy the house majority whip has endorsed him. he has the endorsement of seven wisconsin state reps. is it buttoned up? 55-1 endorsements. i want to play a few quasi endorsements that happened for mitt romney, comment tritt regarding is him being the front-runner. play that sound. >>ity think at the primary is over is, romney will be the nominee. >> unless romney steps on i an landmine, he looks like he's going to be the nominee. >> he's clearly on his way. i think he's becoming the prohibitive front run irer. is the sooner we coalesce around a nominee, the better off we're going to be. >> a prohibitive candidate. what is that. >>> you know, yes, the wind is blowing very strongly in that direction. after romney wins wisconsin and contrary to what ed rendell said the other night, that esa chance romney will beat santorum in pennsylvania. >> i agree with john. i think it will demonstrates larry summers maxim of economics in politics which is there's a very thin line betw

daily fix today, mitt romney and rick santorum battling head to head for illinois which holds its primary tomorrow. romney has a big advantage. he and his supporters are outspending santorum by 7 to 1. and santorum failed to file delegate slates in four congressional districts. even if romney were to win, would that quiet talk of the first contested republican convention since 1976? chris sill lisa is a managing editor of postpolitics.com. it does seem as if everyone is talking about the possibility of a contested convention. first of all, there was this video, video of arlen specter announcing his candidacy for president, march 30th, 1995. he wasn't exactly on the same page as the man you'll see behind him, rick santorum on the subject of abortion rights. >> i want to take abortion out of politics. and leave moral issues such as abortion to the conscience of the individual. that is a matter to be decided by women. not by big government. >> and then when you take a look back, you'll see right behind him was rick santorum applauding the whole time. santorum is now trying to explain that. we'll show you that video in a moment. here you see what happens when you wid

romney hawaii. even though santorum wins two states, romney is still comfortably ahead. the argument for santorum is i'll see you in puerta rico, and everywhere else. >> he was outspend by o mitt romney super pac and others. a huge, huge night for rick santorum. >> no doubt about it. we're waiting to hear from gingrich. joining us now is the deputy campaign manager for the gingrich campaign. thanks very much for being with us. last week, your campaign said that your candidate had to have a win tonight. he does not have a win tonight. you said, his campaign said he had to have a win to remain viable. by your own logic, is he no longer viable? >> newt gingrich has said he's going to go on to tampa no matter what happens tonight. tonight, we worked hard to win. rick san tomorrow had a good night. congratulations to him, but it doesn't change the underlying dynamic of the race. this is a three-candidate dynamic. this is not ford/reagan. this is a three-way dynamic. this is going all the way to the convention. no one can wrap up the delegates before the convention, and the person who finishes strongest is likely to be the nom2345e. >> i don't understand why last week your cam

decided to award the states to at large delegates to romney even a slight edge so despite being born in michigan and despite outspending rick santorum six to one and despite spending more than two hundred thousand dollars per delegate now romney walks away from the primary collecting only to me easily delegates more than rick santorum as someone who's made a living trying to determine cost effectiveness romney can't be happy with his performance. but look at the big picture the republican race and michigan primary highlights an interesting possible scenario on the horizon what happens if romney and santorum keep splitting delegates like this ron paul keeps grabbing a few his share too and no one in the race ends up with the number of delegates needed to secure the nomination could it be that another bush and is up in the white house before your head explodes was turned over to ross baker investigative journalist and author of the book family of secrets the bush dynasty and editor of the website who what why dot com currently has a piece of explaining how a bush might win the white house this year ross welcome thanks great to have yo