ron brownstein is back with us now. and he published the poll results in "the national journal" and wrote about what people are thinking and feeling about the future. joining us again from manchester, where, my goodness, it is starting to look dark there in manchester, new hampshire. >> yeah, yeah. >> so, ron, you know, people are assessing the future very differently based on racial and social economic lines, no surprise there. but what is different about the results from these studys? >> well, i think the big point overall about this is that we're looking at a public now that is reel really racked by a series of anxiety that has to do with downturn, the overall direction of the economy's ability to provide good paying jobs. we have done over 12,000 interviews over three years in this poll and if there was one sentence that sums it all up, to me, it is that americans believe they're navigating much more tumultuous financial waters than earlier generations. they're exposed to much greater risk and they're fundamentally

thanks so much, ron brownstein, appreciate that. romney is in highleah, florida, not far from where ron brownstein is, south of flan ta plantation. this is a significant community, not just in dade county, but as it pertains to the entire nation. it is the second largest cuban-american population in the entire u.s. there in hialeah, the sixth largest city in florida. peter hamby is there. peter, how is mitt romney crafting his message for the community there in hialeah? >> yeah, he's got a lot of support from the establishment cuban community here in hialeah, fred. he did a rally here and it is a cuban restaurant, that is usually closed on sunday. they opened it especially for this event and jammed it here. there is probably 500 people. ileana ros-lehtinen was on stage with him. mario lincoln diaz-balart, a congressman from the miami area spoke for him. craig romney, romney's son, spoke spanish and introduced his father. he said in spanish, you know, my father doesn't speak spanish but can talk about the economy. look, ron talked ab

ron brownstein in d.c.on and editorial page director of "new hampshire union leader." nice to have everybody back. let's get right to rick santorum as he rises in polling. as he rises in focus, everyone starts to parse his every single word. here's a little bit of what he said about a week ago on the campaign trail. listen. >> i don't want to make a lot of people's lives better by giving them someone else's money. i want to give them the opportunity to go out and earn the money. >> okay. you know what, guys, cue that up, again. i want to play that one more time. that is the $64,000 thing. many people said, i don't want to make black people's lives people. >> i don't want to make black people's lives better , i want o give them a chance to go out and earn the money. >> when rick santorum was talking to john king usa yesterday, he said that very thing. here's what he told john, listen. >> i've looked at that quote. in fact, i looked at the video and i don't, in fact, i'm pretty confident i didn't say black. i

congressman paul, ron brownstein.tly as this week, he does not believe the famous griswold case was wrongly decided and that means that in his view states should ban private sexual behavior and maybe even contraception. what do you think of that view of senator santorum? >> i think he's very confused. most of these problems should be solved out of state. he is rejecting the ninth and tenth amendment. they should be resolved that state level. i would say if poverty rights and individual liberty and the fourth amendment doesn't protect privacy, what does the fourth amendment do? that is privacy. you're not supposed to have the government come in and invade our houses and that's what the patriot act has done. that's why they repealed the fourth amendment and rick santorum is completely wrong on that. >> congressman ron paul joining us this morning. congressman paul, thank you, congratulations on your third place finish as you head into new hampshire. we appreciate you being with us. >>> still to come on "starting point"

roland martin is with us, ron brownstein is with us again.tum because he had a strong performance in last night's debate. lots of cheers for him. the audience was very into what he was saying. his most power full response was right in the beginning. he blasted the media for talking about his ex-wife's claims that he wanted an open marriage, allegations that he said were false. there are two reporters who have interviewed marianne gingrich. james grimaldi and john richardson is a yieter at large for esquire magazine. i want to begin before we get to questions with a little clip of brian ross's interview that aired on "abc news." listen. >> been married a long time, and he said, yes, but you want me all to yourself. callista doesn't care what i do. >> what was he saying to you, do you think? >> oh, he was asking to have an open marriage, and i refused. >> let's begin with you, james. walk me through anything that's new in the story. as we mentioned coming in, parts of it were in the "washington post," already in "esquire" magazine. what was dif

ron brownstein back with us, again. shannon, update us here on what happened and what the implications could be. >> this is a bombshell. let's say that. this was already, soledad, the closest vote in iowa caucus history and mitt romney, we thought he claimed iowa and then he went on to claim new hampshire. he was the first nonincumbent to claim both those races in history. this reverses that. does it reverse, would it reverse the general momentum that mitt romney has? let's think about this for a second. if this had been the case that rick santorum won the iowa caucuses by 34 votes, by all intents and purposes, mitt romney was still looking very, very well in new hampshire. yes, santorum might have had momentum going into new hampshire, but probably still going to be mitt romney's race and the race, still, as it is now, largely decided between those two people and maybe even throw newt gingrich in the mix in south carolina as it is now. would it change the story art? likely not, but it definitely changes the historical

. >> it's ron brownstein, "the national journal." good morning. >> good morning. >> you know, tax policy center which does comprehensive analysis of candidates going back several years put out their assessment of mitt romney's tax plan yesterday and said 99% of million nears would receive a tax cut averaging about $150,000. people are lower, middle class, only one-third would receive any tax cut as all. maybe 1/6 or 1/5 would see their taxes increase. do you dispute this and if so will you release your own analysis with specifics how you think your plan will affect people at the different income ladder? >> thank you, ron. mitt romney's plan does not raise taxes. let's be clear about that point. he has proposed not only -- >> on anybody? >> not on anybody. he's proposed dramatic spending cuts that will reduce the deficit, of course, and he's put on the table some very pro-growth tax policies, permanently extend the bush tax cuts. dramatically cut the corporate tax. target relief to the middle class. i think what the tax policy center

[captioning made possible by kcet public television] tavis: ron brown skin is a two- time -- ron brownstein is a two- time award winning journalist. he has been covering this race. good to have you back on the program. >> good to be back. tavis: you just got back from florida. these numbers referenced suggest that mitt romney is going to pull this off. do you believe that? >> inouye gingrich has had a difficult week. -- a new to gingrich has had a did a good week. he has been kind of lethargic on the stump. this has been arguably the most unsettled primary race for either party in the modern era. in 2011, there were more people had in the voting in the national polls than any previous at a year's election. we have never had a race where different people one of iowa, new hampshire, and south carolina in the republican race. this could reestablish mitt romney as the front runner if he wins, but it does not feel like the last act of this play. tavis: if i say to you that mitt romney is going to win and you say, so what, newt gingrich has already said he is going to win. if mitt romney wins in

with george will, ron brownstein from "the national journal" and abc's political pros matthew dowd and amy walter. >>> good morning, everyone. and overnight, it is a brand-new race for the republican nomination. after finishing fourth in iowa and fifth in new hampshire, former speaker of the house newt gingrich surged to a strong win in south carolina. look at those numbers. 40% of the votes to mitt romney's 28%. rick santorum third at 17%. in his victory speech last night, gingrich struck a populous chord. >> the american people feel that they have elites who have been trying for a half-century to force us to quit being americans. the reaction, people completely understand what's going on. it's not that i'm a good debater, it's that i articulate the deepest felt values of the american people. >> mitt romney attacked after congratulating gingrich. >> president obama has no experience running a business. and no experience running a state. our party can't be led to victory by someone who also has never owned a business and never run a state. >> yesterday's vote wasn't the only loss for r

cnn's senior political an it ron brownstein joining me for some context here, i want to ask you aboutman cain, in just a second, but, ron, you and i were watching it in the past 45 minutes. your reaction to this incredible moment for gabby giffords as she turns in her letter of resignation. >> you know, as you were talking about, this is a very polarized time in washington, the level of party-line voting in congress is the highest it's been since the 1890s and, you know, we tend to think of these legislators as almost a physical embodiment of ideology and institutional interests. it takes a moment like this to remind us that they are human beings, they are people. and the emotion you saw on the floor i think was very real. not likely to spill over and affect the legislative and ideological disputes they have, but a good moment to remind us that cover, to think about and talk about that these folks are people that are not simply embodiments of one point of view. it's good for them to remember as well. >> point well made. i think without a doubt everybody inspired by that today, ron. ok

ron brownstein joins us, a cnn senior political analyst.lso editorial of the national journal, kay henderson, radio iowa. thanks for coming in, and a cnn political contributor joining us. nodding your head what matt was saying, it is not the death of what people call retail politics. the face-to-face, hand-to-hand, get to know the candidate? really? 13 debates hasn't changed this? >> no. we're living in a very different way to run for president. gone to the invisible primaries, burrowing into what really is more of a national audition. voters exposed to the same media and those tides are shaping the campaign across the country. having said that, the fact santorum is doing as well as he is is a throwback campaign to what we saw in the "70s and '80s. you can't see it, but alex sa said -- why say that? ah -- >> the importance of iowa. iowa is not the super bowl but a playoff game for conservatives. this is where the right, the evangelicals, twice at many here as in new hampshire, pick the candidate like santorum. he's run a patient race, let's

cnn senior political analyst ron brownstein is in charleston as well. ron paul says he's neck in neck with newt gingrich. polling says otherwise. there's quite a gap between gingrich and romney. gingrich is way out in front. >> reporter: the formula that has worked for mitt romney through the first two contests has been divide and conquer. he consolidated the center of the party behind him more than anybody consolidated the right of the party against him. what you're seeing here in south carolina is the beginning of that changing, especially as the field gets smaller. gingrich's opportunity here is to coalesce more of the evangelical tea party and blue collar vote that has been much more resistant to romney in the first two states. if gingrich wins tonight we would have an unprecedented scenario. different winners in iowa, new hampshire and south carolina. >> this is a pivotal state. it was before we saw this neck and neck race historically looking at how south carolina traditionally might pick that republican nominee. nuclear program that you've got, yo

let's bring in our friend ron brownstein, who is not with us in person. >> in spirit. in washington and en route to florida. >> south beach. >> heading south. might hit south beach somewhere along the way. >> might hit south beach. >> he's going. >> he's like, but don't tell my boss it's south beach. who wants to start with the president and the arizona governor because what's really going on here? i mean -- >> publicity. >> no, that's not good publicity for anyone, is it? >> no, so ledad, the back story is the federal government is suing the state of arizona over its very tough immigration law and the state of arizona, virtually like every state is suing the federal government to block president obama's health care law. there is a lot of systemic conflict between the two sides that is kind of baked into this confrontation. if you look across the board, i recall writing about this a couple months ago, compared to the 1990s much more conflict between this administration and republican governors between bill clinton and the republican governors in the 1990s. the governor

ron brownstein joins us, a cnn senior political analyst.f the national journal, kay henderson, radio iowa. thanks for coming in, and a cnn political contributor joining us. nodding your head what matt was saying, it is not the death of what people call retail politics. the face-to-face, hand-to-hand, get to know the candidate? really? 13 debates hasn't changed this? >> no. we're living in a very different way to run for president. gone to the invisible primaries, burrowing into what really is more of a national audition. voters exposed to the same media and those tides are shaping the campaign across the country. having said that, the fact santorum is doing as well as he is is a throwback campaign to what we saw in the "70s and '80s. you can't see it, but alex sa said -- why say that? ah -- >> the importance of iowa. iowa is not the super bowl but a playoff game for conservatives. this is where the right, the evangelicals, twice at many here as in new hampshire, pick the candidate like santorum. he's run a patient race, let's not give him m

. >> rick, ron brownstein from the "national journal." the speaker made an argument yesterday on several of the sunday shows that essentially the republican party cannot trust mitt romney to implement a conservative agenda. do you believe that in the end, romney -- that the real romney is the one who governor of massachusetts or the real romney is the one, in fact, offering agenda amount indistinguishable on policy grounds as newt gingrich is today? >> my goodness, you would have to ask him. let romney be romney, but who would that be? all we have are people's records. ledge lative records. newt geingrich has four years o records. he created them but they were created. tax cuts, welfare reform. what we know about mitt romney is that he was a supporter of rowe v. wade, he let's judges overrule parents in terms of letting children get abortions by their parents. he raised taxes on business and gave us romneycare. he doesn't want you to know his record or newt's record. if i wanted a conservative, i wanted someone like a mark arube you in fl

from -- we will go inside that critical contest with our political analyst, gloria borger and ron brownstein, campaign cash, who's spending and how much? we're following the money trail. plus, chilling new allegations by a syrian defector. he says the government in damascus spent so much money slaughtering its own people, it was forced to make huge budget cuts. did you say pie? pie. she said pie. pie. [ male announcer ] get back on track with low prices on everything you need. backed by our ad match guarantee. walmart. i love the fact that quicken loans provides va loans. quicken loans understood all the details and guided me through every step of the process. i know wherever the military sends me, i can depend on quicken loans. you walk into a conventional mattress store, it's really not about you. they say, "well, if you want a firm bed you can lie on one of those, if you want a soft bed you can lie on one of those." we provide the exact individualization that your body needs. welcome to the sleep number year-end closeout event. not just ordinary beds on sale, but the bed that can change y

i don't want to leave without showing what ron brownstein has for breakfast.ent. and it is covered in some clearly. >> candy apple. i thought i was getting out easy. >> i went for the cake. i bet my cake is healthier than your smoothered in sugar oatmeal this morning. we have to take a short break. you want to stay with cnn for the best political coverage on tv. >>> straight ahead we'll keep talking about it, tonight at 6 p.m., john king one on one with rick perry. piers will talk with newt gingrich. >>> soledad, an iranian nuclear scientist killed in an attack in tehran. government officials say a magnetic bomb was planted on his car. it's the latest in a series of attacks targeting scientists working on their nuclear program. >>> this morning dive teams in waterville main will search ayla reynolds. police say they do suspect foul play in that case. >>> and core dove varks alaska, can't catch a break. a tiny fishing village getting a foot of fresh snow. that's on top of the 18 feet of snow that's already fallen there that we told you about yesterday. to top i

decoding 2012 with ron brownstein plus our panelists as well.ttle bit about the tone of the audience, which i thought was way over the top. the candidates, you could see they were totally wrong, pandering to the audience. i think partly because there was no time limits helped that along a little bit. what did you make of the audience? >> well, south carolina's a much more conservative place than new hampshire. 70% of republican voters in the primary called themself conservatives. you heard that in the hall. it was a very raucous crowd. they were particularly raucous at one point. ron paul underscored the ceiling that he faces in his republican support. his worst answer wasn't even the one you showed, it was when he got totally lost and i thought befuddled trying to explain whether the u.s. should have gone into pakistan to take out osama bin laden. and where he was asked a series of questions about whether republicans were being insensitive to racial minorities. he was openly jeered by the crowd. newt gingrich returning to that role i think as w

ron brownstein. criminal defense attorney with us.ck perry talking about this what is now a scandal with the marines who were caught urinating on the dead bodies of what is believed to be taliban fighters. here is his reaction. take a listen. >> the idea that this administration would go after these young people for a criminal act is -- again, i think it is over the top, and did they make a mistake? absolutely. should they be reprimanded and appropriately punished? yes. but going after them as a criminal act, i think really bad message. >> it was john mccain, though, who disagreed. vehemently. listen to what john mccain said. >> i don't object to the commandant of the marine corps looking into this. it's ooa breakdown in disciplin is what it is. i can't tell you how wonderful these people are. and it hurts their reputation. >> this is absolutely fascinating. he is channelling theid. >> what does that mean? >> a ton of military veterans. perhaps he is thinking, there's a gut instinct on these people. wait a second, slow down. are you g

i'm sure ron brownstein will be looking into it.ack to you. >>> we still have a lot more to cover on this important night. quite a few iowa republicans say they could still change their minds before the caucuses tuesday night. we're going to talk about how this volatile race could turn, one last time, when the voting begins. >>> let's talk about the santorum surge right now. the rest of our excellent panel is here. eric, you heard the interview with rick santorum. did he convince you he's the guy? >> he's a nice guy, but, no. 0ñ@ [oinking] [hissing] [ding] announcer: cook foods to the right temperature using a food thermometer. 3,000 americans will die from food poisoning this year. check your steps at foodsafety.gov. will be giving away passafree copies of the alcoholism & addiction cure. to get yours, go to ssagesmalibubook.com. >>> let's talk about the santorum surge right now. the rest of our excellent panel is here. eric, you heard the interview with rick santorum. did he convince you he's the guy? >> he's a nice guy, but, no.

>> as ron brownstein, a mutual friends of ours writes in this cover story, there's a back to the future quality going on here. here's a guy in 1994, '95, talking about a book that ron did, looking back, he says, someone was willing to fight, and that militant style is what he's brought to the campaign. it's what risen him up as a candidate and brought him down a couple times. and today you have newt gingrich calling mitt romney a liar, a hypocrite, and someone who treats his competitors as if they're stupid. that's not the kind of language you usually hear on a presidential campaign trail. it's certainly not the kind of language that will do well in the fall, but it's typical of newt gingrich. >> it's red meat. it was successful in south carolina. is it going to be as successful in florida? >> it will be interesting to see how it plays. florida is a much bigger state. it plays a little bit more to mitt romney's style, a bit more of a republican, i think we heard somebody in your show earlier calling it more of a nation state. i think it's going to be tough for him to break through just

i'm sure ron brownstein will be looking into it.till have a lot more to cover on this important night. quite a few iowa republicans say they could still change their minds before the caucuses tuesday night. we're going to talk about how this volatile race could turn, one last time, when the voting begins. multi-policy discount. paperless discount. paid-in-full discount. [yawning] homeowner's discount. safe driver discount. chipmunk family reunion. someone stole the nuts. squirrel jail. justice! countless discounts. now that's progressive. call or click today. ♪ sing polly wolly doodle all the day ♪ ♪ hah will be giving away passafree copies of the alcoholism & addiction cure. to get yours, go to ssagesmalibubook.com. >>> let's talk about the santorum surge right now, erik ericson. the rest of our excellent panel is here. erik, you heard the interview with rick santorum. did he convince you he's the guy? he's a nice guy, but no. he hasn't been in elected office since 2006. he was a senator. he wasn't an executive. he hasn't been in t

political reporter karen tim melty, national political director and senior political analyst, ron brownsteinlook at these numbers, in the 40s in new hampshire, congressman paul, 20, to 25 points behind, they all assume romney will win new hampshire, the question, how far can they try to bring them down. are these debates this weekend, karen, maybe the last opportunity for a gingrich or a son -- rum not only to assert them sbifs knock romney down. i know it sounds ludicrous, so early in the process, but -- >> but these moments can matter. most famously four years ago, the democratic side, where, you know, new hampshire voters looked at that debate, looked at everybody kind of ganging up on hillary clinton and decided, you know what, we are going to give her a little more running room. so there's always a possibility for that kind of moment. but you're right. the door does seem to be close. >> doesn't seem to be anybody close enough to get them. the question can they get them down? >> can they establish an effective line of argument change the dynamic going forward in south carolina in the pro

i'm sure ron brownstein will be looking into it.ack to you. >>> we still have a lot more to cover on this important night. quite a few iowa republicans say they could still change their minds before the caucuses tuesday night. we're going to talk about how this volatile race could turn, one last time, when the voting begins. >> announcer: with nothing but his computer, an identity thief is able to use your information to open a bank account... in order to make your money his money. [whoosh, clang] you need lifelock-- the only identity protection company that now monitors bank accounts for takeover fraud. lifelock-- relentlessly protecting your identity. call 1-800-lifelock or go to lifelock.com today. nyquil: you know i relieve coughs, sneezing, fevers? tylenol: me, too. and nasal congestion. nyquil:what? tissue box (whispering): he said nasal congestion... nyquil: i heard him. anncr vo: tylenol cold multi-symptom nighttime relieves nasal congestion... nyquil cold & flu doesn't. [ male announcer ] it's easy to see what subaru owners

yesterday, the waters get pretty politically muddy, here to talk about it cnn political analyst ron brownstein, hey, good to see you. >> good morning. good to be here. >> i'm sure you probably prefer to be in a warm studio but let's heat things up, shall we, ron? >> yeah. not too bad it is pretty warm for the new hampshire primary. >> you are lucky it could be a lot worse. i'm telling you something, i was raking through my past political lexicon and trying to remember when super pacs sort of came to be and they are fairly new for a lot of people. they heard about pacss, now they are super pacs, exactly what is the anatomy? how powerful are they and are they ever going away? >> well, the big picture here, we'd sense that unregulated money was undermining the political system in the early 1970s cull lynn nating in the watergate scandal, we built an entire series of modern campaign finances through limit the influence of money and more importantly, ensure that there was disclosure of who was contributing to politicians. really, the past 15, 20 years, accelerating innovation, legal innovation, the

let's bring in our chief political analyst gloria borger and our senior political analyst ron brownstein romney saying that you're fired, i thought newt gingrich would come back with a line like, yeah, we know you like firing people. but they sort of missed an opportunity there, which was sort of symbolic, emblematic of what was going on. >> yeah, it really was because newt gingrich seemed to have no strategy, seemed to miss a lot of opportunities to get back at romney. and what was interesting to me about romney's point that he was making overall is that he essentially said newt gingrich is a big spender. he said, you know what? you've been traveling around, it's nice to go in certain parts of this state and talk about spending on the space program because you'll get some votes and he said that's what you've been doing throughout the primaries. in portraying him as a big spender, wolf, it was mitt romney really trying to appeal to the tea party there. and it may have been quite effective. >> it looked to me, ron, as if newt gingrich missed several opportunities to strike, but he held ba

. >> let's bring in ron brownstein from des moines in iowa. here's the question.gger force in this campaign than we think? >> well, i was struck as you were by the reference to the coal miner's granddaughter from loretta lynn because rick santorum telling audiences that he is the grandson of a coal miner. this is a different republican party. it has a lot more blue collar voters than it did a generation ago. in 2008, half the electorate did not have a college education. rick santorum says i am one of you. i grew up in a town, steel town in western pennsylvania. mitt romney t you know, is not necessarily as easy a natural fit for those having grown up the son of an auto executive. she's a strong surrogate and as you say, kind of softens and humanizes her candidate. >> a very nice lady. i had a chance to speak to her last week. a lot of the experts believe the only way romney won't get the nomination, if a bunch of the other candidates drop out and one candidate emerges as the main challenger to mitt romney and the republicans rally around that individual. is that c