to me, the name santorum is synonymous with leadership. and nothing else. [ laughter ] but of course the left is always looking to stick a knife in this good man. criticism he is now getting because at a florida town hall on monday he did not correct this person in the crowd. >> i never refer to owe balm why as president obama because legally he is not. and he is an avowed muslim. [ applause ] and he has no legal right to be calling himself president. >> stephen: now, rick could have -- i agree -- i agree gooooob job rick. he coffin ford him that obama is not an vowed muslim. s a secret muslim. [ laughter ] but today on morning joe with joe morning rick explains -- [ laughter ] -- that he had a good excuse for not correcting her. >> this was an elderly there there leaning on a cane, quite wobbly. i'm not going to sit there and slam on older lady because she has some way out, bizarre beliefs. >> stephen: bravo you cannot correct an old person every time they say something offensive. you would never make it through thanksgiving dinner. as it

what does rick santorum have to say? >>> any future administration that tried to punish people for doing the right things i think would not have the support of the american people. it's true that theoretically a future administration could do something, but i think it would be very damaging. it's not likely politically that they reverse everything that we've done. >> oh, please, the president says republicans wouldn't dear gut his executive action on things like illegals. to rick santorum, former presidential candidate, who knows, maybe future presidential candidate on what he would do if he were president. you wouldn't have the guts is what he was zblag very insightful the president. the president's whole analysis is what? politically. it's all about politics. it's all about winning votes. and that's how he looks at things. i don't. i look at things as to what the constitution permits the president to do. and the constitution does not permit a president to do what he's done, and any president, i hope, republican or demo

santorum told "the washington post," he'll be an underdog in the race, he knows that.but the republicans promise that his campaign will be different than the one he ran in 2012. santorum said he wants to reach out to blue collar voters. >>> and democrats are showing support for assemblywoman perez. they chose to to hill the seat of donald norcross. perez is seen in the white in this photo. new jersey first latino lawmaker resigned in 2009. democratic leaders will officially appoint cruz-perez this weekend. >>> and part of a plan for friendly friendly attractions at gardners basin and also failed casinos to make way for green spaces. >>> riverfront promenade park will overlook the delaware river. >>> well, a decades' old patco station means franklin square could soon reopen. yesterday, the delaware port authority approved $500,000 to examine the so-called patco ghost station. it's been closed for 35 years. the cost to reopen it is estimated at $12 million. the station would be the first stop in philadelphia after traveling the ben franklin bridge if it reopens. >>> if y

host: do you think rick santorum will run? guest: i don't know, i suspect he may well. he did extremely well the last time i thought he was an excellent candidate. thing i think rick santorum showed in the last campaign as he can go out there and say what he thinks as a conservative and people will be inspired by that. before rick santorum one out there, people would not have predicted he had the campaign he did. i think he connected so well on the conservative grassroots with people he met one-on-one in small rooms. i think that is why he won the iowa caucus. about the great things american presidential politics is we have an iowa caucus and is a new hampshire primary. those are small states where candidates that do not have a ton of money and is not backed by the establishment or wall street or people who run major corporations can go out and meet people personally, people who are very schooled at studying presidential candidates because they do it every four years. i personally believe that iowa and new hampshire did a good job presidential candidates and they are go

we have santorum exploring, huckabee, there's 22 people. >> is that the actual number? >> it was 23 until rob portman said, i'm not going to run. but there are 22 who are talking about it. virtually every one is taking steps that would indicate they're seriously contemplating it and doing things -- maybe haven't gotten into the final decision. >> because you're so closely aligned with the bush family and you served george w. bush, are you supporting jeb bush? >> i'm sitting on the sidelines. i do know this from my association with the bushes. he said i will not make a decision -- i was at the beginning the one employee of the bush prepresidential campaign, our chairman was james a. baker iii, a young houston attorney. but the senior bush said, i'm not going to make a decision until after the 1978 election. and he didn't. then george bush said i won't make a decision after the 1998 election. and it wasn't until the time between christmas and new year's that he went away and made the decision. if jeb bush says i'm not going to make a decision until after the first of the

one of his many tweets was this picture of rick santorum.ow having a fashion forward campaign is important to success as rick santorum showed us in 2012. he had a picture of a shirt with a rand paul 2016 logo. of course, everyone has to be themselves. i have my own style. one of his later tweets was this one where he was holding up a puppies. politics doesn't involve enough puppies. people like puppies. #airingofgrievances. >>> from boston, i'm joined by politico reporter, kevin robillard. i see you don't have any puppies with you. we will talk about some good news. the dow passed a record 18,000 yesterday for the first time ever. gas prices are down. the president's approval hits what, a 2014 high. is this a turn-around movement? >> it is a little too early to say that. the white house has done this before. it is a little too early to say that. clearly, a lot of things are going well. americans are now approving and saying the economy is headed in the right direction for the first time in a very long time. consumer confidence is as high as

. >> all the good of rand paul -- i like rick santorum, by the way.alk to rick santorum, the only politician on the planet that mentions manufacturing and jobs. donald trump makes a lot of sense. i think the one -- neil: you left out george pataki. >> i love him. he's been on this show. neil: are you sort of nice to everyone? >> you know what, i take the high road. try to to be positive. watch christie. i have to give my listeners credit, watch it all fall apart -- neil: the money guys are getting leery. they could easily coalesce around a different guy. right now it's not christie. >> not bush. neil: i don't know who it will be. >> look at the other side. who can fight the other side? it's not going to be hillary. neil: when are you going to the 40th reunion? >> february 15th. in the beacher section. >> you are so kind. between you and i, i didn't know if i would be invited or not. neil: are you kidding? if they didn't invite you, that would be the lead story on this show. disan italian, it's going to be a long day. >> and chris christie, watch him,

but santorum puts his own pressure on conservative candidates to make a decision. this is a time when staff and operatives begin to sign on to campaigns, and there is some advantage to declaring your intentions early. >> any news on the democratic side? >> yes, the hillary clinton camp expect that she'll make an announcement. but the clintons are worried about the praise heaped on senator warren. she has served as an outspoken opponents of wall street. al franken spoke this afternoon on msnbc. >> i think that i'm ready for hillary. i think that we could--we have not had someone this experienced, this tough, and as she is very, very impressive. >> now franken, who is more closely aligned with senator elizabeth warren pointed out that warren is not running. that's why he supports hillary. that may sound wishy washing, but that is why elizabeth warren is draw something much attention. she spoke on npr. >> i'm not running for president. >> you're putting that in the present tense. are you never going to run? >> i'm not running for president. >> you're not putting a nev

rick santorum in an interview with the "washington post" makes clear he's running for the republicanntial nomination. a former pennsylvania senator. this time he says it will be different. he was the social conservative knt knd. he said he'll focus more on how he got his start in application. i remember when he ran an campaign on lunch bucket blue collar steel country pennsylvania, said he'll have a mix of both. >> he would talk about his i guess it was his father who was you know, worked in the coal mine and you know, his forbearer who is were blue collar workers, he's always been the blue collar moralist. sort of combining that working-class ethics with religion. and he was a favorite among that he's going to have a crowded field. >> during the dark days of romney's primary campaign against santorum. the one thing that scared romney people the most was that santorum could connect with blue collar working class voters the way that romney could not. santorum could not resist overstepping on the social issues, had he kept it in check, he could have won ohio, he could have won michigan

you have people like rick santorum a cash and carry candidate.ike a foster who writes a check for the million dollars. >> you could keep him in play for a while. who will be the republican nominee >> i have one answer and then i change it. i don't know. the nominee is going to have to be someone that you can put against whoever we have nominated on the left. and i think that we are looking at hillary clinton but i also think that elizabeth warren is clamoring around. >> hillary clinton will not be the democratic nominee. >> we got o'malley. we have elizabeth warren. we have biden. you never know -- >> you don't listen to me. i can't do your job and mine. you know more about this. something is going on because everyone is in. among those who might be in, tomorrow scott walk terrify governor of wisconsin who many say may represent that bridge between the super conservatives and that so-called rhino wing of the party on what he mostly cloudy skies of that and bridging that twid. my special guest tomorrow scott walker. executive actions are unconstit

the tear-party flavored candidates, like mike huckabee and rick santorum, and one of them would be doingy well in that state if the other one wasn't involved. a lot of this depends o. who -- on who will pull at the trigger. >> talk about the other side of the political aisle. you're seeing -- we saw some new polls looks like hillary clinton has picked up support within her on democratic party. however you have the group, democracy for america founded by howard dean. and i know he has already put his weight behind hillary clinton but interesting. his group is backing elizabeth warren and raising $250,000 to put her name on the ballot, yet he has already endorsed hillary clinton. is that a split within the democratic party? >> i think there's a split within the liberal movements and some folks who didn't like hillary because of iraq have warmed up to her or decide she has the best chance of holding the white house. so they're probably going to hold their noses and maybe chev is not their favorite but will back her. a lot of groups clamoring for elizabeth warren down. think she's going to r

when do we see regular chips from anybody like somebody like rick santorum?n do you think that activity starts? >> we have seen that on the part of a lot of people for quite some time now. the trips are easy. they are testing trips, not the kind of thing you have to do to put a campaign together. i think it would be a little earlier than we might have thought two weeks ago because i think jeb bush in the same way barack obama accelerated hillary clinton eight years ago jeb bush puts pressure on everybody to show when little activity earlier than they might have been willing to. if they are going to raise the money, they have to do it -- they have to get at it pretty quickly. >> happy holidays. thank you both. in a minute, one of the rock stars from downton abbey. ♪ >> that's right, ladies. the finest in silk undergarments. >> he is one of the richest men in england. >> perhaps he should meet ed ith? >> aw, heck. >> that was a downton abbey holiday charity video with jeremy piven and george clooney. it'll air across the pond for series five. that's what they c

. >>> looking ahead to decision 2016, former pennsylvania senator rick santorum confirms he will runagain for president. he called himself and underdog but promised his campaign will be different this time around. told the "post" he wants to better reach out to blue collar voters. he says they're being left behind in the struggling economy. >> top jersey democrats are showing support for a former assembly woman. they chose her to fill the state senate seat. you see her in the white coat. she's the first latina lawmaker. she retired in 2009. now she directs the office of constituent services. democratic leaders will appoint her to the state senate this week. >>> there is a new plan to help thousands out of work as a result of folding gaming halls. diane al when wants to retrain employees. she would set aside $1 million of state money for the effort before taj mahal workers could take part in the program. the taj threatened to shut its doors on the november 20. it would be the fifth to close in the past year. >>> headline says wilmington is murder town usa. but the city says that's not

and rick santorum takes fire from the left.nce on the show. one more and i'll let him talk. a dentist used paper clips in a root canal. so that is what he has been doing. this is the "colbert report." captioning sponsored by comedy central ( theme song playing ) ( cheers and applause ) >> stephen: thank you, everybody. welcome to the report. thank you for coming. thank you so much, everybody. [cheers and applause] folks thank you so much. [cheers and applause] folks, we've got to get to it. folks begun everybody knows it's january 24, 2012, day two of what some are calling the colbert super pac hostage

. >> signs that rick santorum, even mike huckabee. >>> a woman at the center of the bill cosby fire storms breaking her silence. his wife of 50 years. camille is addressing the allegations against her husband. more than two dozen women are accusing cosby of sexual assault. she's assuring the public he's the man you thought you knew. >> for months camille saturday silently as her husband was allegations he drugged and sexual assaulted women were true. >> there is no comment about that. >> she defended bill cosby. in a statement saying the man i met and fell in love with, whom i continue to love, is the man you all knew through his work. that man appeared to be the ideal husband on tv. but more than two dozen women have come forward to tell a much different story. most recently, super model beverly johnson. >> i most certainly didn't think of my legacy as being first african-american model to grace the cover of vogue and drugged by bill cosby. camille said that portrait of a man she doesn't know. painted by individuals and organizations who many in the media have given a pass. she compares

contributor arrangements with former house speaker newt gingrich and former pennsylvania senator richard santorumom have signaled possible runs are for the president. >> what the-- what? (laughter) >> stephen: suspended? with these two off the air how will i ever know how conservatives feel about taxes. who careses if they're signaling they're running for president. you know how i signaled i was running for president? i ran for president. in the hail to the sea nacho cheese presidential campaign. okay. i didn't suspend me from my show. (laughter) whenever i reported on it, i just added the word, coverage. to distinguish between when i was speaking as a candidate, speaking as a journalist and speaking as a corporate schill. i think are you setting a bad precedent here. because a lot of your contributorses have signaled that they might be running for president. if you suspend these guys next you're going to have to suspend mike huckabee, sarah palin, john bolton. luckily this does not affect glenn beck because base on his show he's looking past 2012 and running for archduke of the post apocalyptic

primary season extended out probably several more months than he would have if newt gingrich and rick santorum weren't around. do you expect in 2016 on the republican side that that's going to play out in a different way? >> guest: i don't think it will. i don't know how that could happen. you know, they've embraced the system. there are hundreds of super pacs out there. if you're a candidate that has a bad few days but you're, you have the ability to raise $10 million through a super pac, you're going to do it. so as much as they'd like to have a short, you know, this is our candidate primary season, it's not going to happen for them. they're going to end up being in may or june, you know, still fighting it over the last few delegates. and that is because of the money involved. so poor them, but it's our democracy now. >> host: the book is "political mercenaries," it's a fascinating read, and thanks a lot. >> guest: thanks for having me. >> host: appreciate it. >> guest: thank you. >> that was "after words," booktv's signature program in which authors of the latest nonfiction books are interv

he's more of a rick santorum figure and kane without that outside street cred. >> when you travel tok of the bush family. they're tired of the republican establishment and they're looking for an outsider. and they like someone who is blunt like carson, who has the intellectual background and the education that carson brings. award-winning neurosurgeon and someone with intellectual heft. they like that because they think it counters the base. >> you mentioned the bush family. a lot of would-be candidates and rubio is waiting for bush. he would have an establishment waiting for him, both the fund-raising establishment, friends of the bush family, campaign aides and operatives. jeb bush was at a wall street journal conference this week and he sounded like a candidate but he says he's not quite there yet. >> i kind of know how a republican can win, whether it's me or someone else, and it has to be much more uplifting, much more positive, much more willing to, you know, to be practical now in a washington world, lose the primary to win the general without violating your principles. it's n

. >> reporter: still with signs that rick santorum, mike huckabee, even mitt romney might run again, that could make hillary clinton or jeb bush look positively new. andrea mitchell, nbc news, washington. >>> throughout the ebola scare it was said the nation could use a surgeon general for public health advice. now over after a year in the waning days of the democratic senate majority, the senate voted narrowly 51-43 late tonight to confirm dr. vivek murthy. he faced fierce opposition from mostly republicans over his support for obamacare and for gun control. >>> still ahead on this monday evening, childhood viruses like chickenpox and mumps affecting more and more adults including some very famous names. >>> also, if you're waiting for a fedex package on this busiest shipping day of the year, we've got a good idea as to where it might be. s to where it might be. to where it might be. to where it might be. o where it might be. where it might be. where it might be. >>> there is evidence out there right now you don't need to be a kid to get sick with what we usually think of as childho

christie, scott walker of wisconsin and then rick perry from texas, and then a number of senators, rick santorum who ran last time is probably going to run again, marco rubio from florida, rand paul will also run and then of course as we talk about, ted cruze probably so really strong field and now we have to see who really decides to throw their hat in. >> glor: the discussion continues to pick up whether mitt romney will run again. >> that's right, he said publicly he won't but in private he seems a little bit more open to it, telling one person i talked to that if jeb bush decides not to run, romney might think about it, so like the rest of us he is waiting to see what decisions are made. >> glor: john dickerson from washington, thank you very much. former vice president dick cheney says he has no regrets about harsh interrogation techniques the cia used after 9/11, he defended those tactics on nbc. >> we did capture bin laden and a lot of senior members of al qaeda who were responsible for 9/11, i would do it again a minute. >> reporter: he says the interrogators deserve praise and should be

. >> reporter: still with signs that rick santorum, mike huckabee, even mitt romney might run again, that could make hillary clinton or jeb bush look positively new. andrea mitchell, nbc news, washington. >>> throughout the ebola scare we heard it said that our nation could use a surgeon general for public health advice. now over after a year in the waning days of the democratic senate majority, the senate voted narrowly 51-43 late tonight to confirm dr. vivic murphy. he faced fierce opposition from republicans over his support for obamacare and for gun control. >>> still ahead on this monday evening, childhood viruses like chickenpox and mumps affecting more and more adults including some very famous names. >>> also, if you're waiting for a fed ex package on this busiest shipping day of the year, we've got a good idea as to where it might be. the sleepless night. (cough). (baby crying). sorry. robitussin dm max nighttime's dual action liquid instantly soothes your throat and delivers fast, powerful cough relief. robitussin. don't suffer the coughequences. what are you doing? the dis

candidacy extended out probably several more months than he would have if newt gingrich and rick santorum were not around. do you expect but that is going to play out in a different way? .. >> >> >> i am pleased to welcome shane harris to discuss the new book "@war" the rise of the military-internet complex" in which he chronicles the emergence of cyberspace as a system made of warfare. how government agencies are teaming up with the likes of google and microscope -- microsoft to monitor cyberspace and collected from asian and what that means for us as individuals and as the nation. the second book the watchers with a new york public library book award for excellence in journalism. currently a senior writer and also worked as a senior writer for foreign policy and his work has appeared in numerous publications and a "the washington post" and a fellow at the new america foundation we're pleased to welcome him back for a second appearance at politics & prose. shane harris. [applause] >> thank you for the great introduction. thank you for coming out tonight. queue to be sitting on a veranda

. >> rick santorum throwing his hat into the race for the white house. cat cal senator says he is running for president again but this time with a new message. he wants to appeal beyond his base and reach blue collar voters being left behind in the economy. he came in second place in the 2012 republican primaries plans to go to a summit in iowa next month. >> kate middleton and the prince waking up at home with their son prince george. they also visited the 911 memorial. williams holding an umbrella of h for his wife as she delivered one of the handwritten notes and roses at one of the memorial pools. >> if your mobile web surfing you are apparently in luck. >> loren simonetti is here now so explain, loren. >> good morning everybody. team mobile you tell king the price of its unlimited shared data plan to $100 a month. you can get unlimited talk, text and 4 g data for two lines and tack on more lines for $40 each. just last week rival sprint when it said it was cutting the plan in half for at&t and verizon customers who switched over. >> passengers on de

i think if you look at individual donors, like foster freeze, look at the a e santorum model.ith one big donor, you can survive until pretty far in the process. he had enough money to win at about a dozen states, but not enough to win the nomination. >> i think it's useful because it's very hard to sort of compute matters of magnitude. so $29 billion, you could write a $200 million check -- >> each month. >> so in some ways, what always struck me about what happened is e isn't how much money it is, it's actually how little. these are people that have so much money, they could just drop a billion. i mean, 10 e 1/30? >> proctor and gamble spend $6 billion a year on advertising. the entire campaign of 2012 costs that much. i agree: i'm always surprised at how skin flinty this is. even on air waves, there's a finite amount of inventory on the air waves. >> i think consul tantds are celebrating. nick is right. the air we'ves have only a finite amount of resources. and you're going to have to find out how to spend that money on the ground in an effective way. >> thank you both, gent

talk that her husband may run whether jebb joins or not both will have company include the with santorumhe former pennsylvania senator the darling even now. this state that he actually won the last gore around was i was. good to have you. looking at the crowded field and mitt romney is in the upper tier but you are not does that bother you? >> many is the vehicle it is not how much money you raise is how many votes. money is a way to get the vote. are you ready to know, it is spent on television and in iowa? and $30,000. that is that his city council race in poughkeepsie. we talked to voters in iowa. of lot of candidates who are looking at this race will look at what we accomplished to say meet the people and auditioning with the people of iowa. neil: but what they have learned from your. that they can combine it with a lot of money? >> yes. purring on the competition. i feel this is an important election and i am very different from the establishment. the more the merrier. giving the people of a choice between good people and there are a lot of good people. >> and an elephant helps or h

rick santorum. tim -- neil: you're right. there is support for that. i don't know whether the magic is 1010. a lot of people say that beats the $25 that some protesters have been pushing for. not the ferguson and new york city protesters. that's a race issue. but those who have been pushing for higher minimum wage. you're saying that this would calm everybody down because these riots are born of economic want. is that basically it? >> obviously if you're unemployed, underemployed, and you're desperate and can't pay the rent, it gets you out in the streets. there's a strong argument for being in the streets. and for the most part the protests have been very disprin disciplined and peaceful. because you have to do something about the few police that are out of control. neil: but you look at how bad they got it in ferguson. you're not saying that was calm and respectful, are you? >> look at the mr. garner and the 12-year-old boy. you need to equip these police with these cameras. reform the grand jury so there's some court appointed cross-examiner in this

rick santorum tore i am, the former republican who ran for the 2012 nomination and got the third highestevel, he has already declared he will be running again that news was buried by the controversies over the cia last week, and the news from jeb bush, but he puts his own pressure on conservative candidates to make the decision. and there is some advantage to declaring your intentions early on. hillary clinton is expected to announce her intentions early next year, her supporters though including bill clinton are getting nervous about senator warren, and that has served as a lightening rod for progressives. so today the clinton draw is trying to draw attention to democratic senator who spoke this afternoon on msnbc. i think that i am ready for hillary. question have not had someone this experienced, this tough, and as -- she is very very immaterial pressive. went on to note that warren does not appear to be running. that may all sound wishy washy. for her part, warren spoke yesterday. >> i am not running for president. >> you are putting that in the present tense, are you never going to

. >> there's rick santorum, there's probably huckabee, there's likely to be rand paul, so that's a lotpeople on the right. and bush sits sort of comfortably on the right of center. >> but do you know who's not going to be in the republican? >> me. >> sad thing. >> it is because -- >> you don't want to release your e-mails? >> the idea of releasing e-mails, i have lived my life assuming that i wouldn't be in politics so the things i have said in my e-mails are disgusting. my comments about lou dobbs, if it ever got out, it would just crush me. >> all this time i thought you were going to run. i like jeb bush, i like the bush family, all of them. i like what they stand for. we have a couple of disagreements about common core, but other than that, i think he's a man that's willing to listen to reason, is highly capable and skilled, and i just want them to win, i want someone who's going to win and put this country back on the right direction. >> he insisted on an immigration finally gets pushed through and the other one is common core, but i don't think that's enough to beat him. one more

dispatching instead surrogates like former senator rick santorum to campaign for him.m dismissed landrieu's accusations about lsu and cassidy will be bad nor louisiana. >> this is a good man. everybody knows he is a good man. nobody thinks is out there trying to cheat anybody or trying to be an extremist. this is what you get from a desperate candidate who can't talk about the issues because on the issues, she's wrong and he's right and that is why she is losing. >> reporter: if landrieu loses, last vestiges of the old democratic south will be swept away. republicans hold every senate seat, governorship, legislature from texas all the way to carolinas. eric: even with politics something is always certain in new orleans. you can hear the music behind you in jackson scare. >> reporter: absolutely. martha: president obama made his pick to lead the defense department. who is ashton carter and what challenges will he face when we come back? comfort keepers can provide a variety of in-home services for your aging loved ones. we'll assess their needs and create a custom care

>> senator rick santorum. >> it was rick santorum. classic poem in which "not a creature is stirring" htwas the night before christmas. >> 100-point toss-up question. josh earnest said president obama has not ruled out becoming the first president since calvin coolidge to visit which country? >> cuba. >> stop the clock. exciting news for you, mercedes, not only do you get 100 points for correctly answering that question. you triggered our video bonus question. >> here's how it works. this say risk-free proposition, we have a celebrity going to read a famous quote. if you idea who gave that quote originally we'll give you 100 points. turn your attention to the video monitor and mr. norman lehr. >> i'm norman lehr with this week's up against the clock quote of note. which 1970s presidential nominee once said, quote, the highest patriotism is not blind acceptance of official policy but a love of one's country deep enough to call her to a higher standard. good luck with that. >> all right. mercedes, can you answer that? no risk here? >> n

think of the last primary where they were saying, santorum was leading and donald trump was leading atmake anything out of polls at this point in the race. >> governor dean, later on in this broadcast we'll do a story on hillary clinton and her position on keystone which really is not a position that's very defined right now. there's going to be an environmental push by liberals and progressives for 2016. where is this going to come down with the leading democrats in your opinion? >> keystone is going to be decided one way or another probably by the time hillary clinton gets into the race. i would be surprised if keystone were an issue in the 2016 race. i think it's going to be resolved in the next month or two. >> okay. howard dean, good to have you with us tonight. thanks so much. >>> coming up, the new republican congressman headed for the hill, glen grossman joins me. >>> plus nasa is back in the space game. stick around. we're right back on "the ed show." i got it. now jump off the bridge. what? in 3...2...1... are you kidding me? go. right on time. right now, over 20,000 trains a

i think rand paul's problem is he sounds like rand paul and rick santorum. >> and an angry bodega ownerut what direction he's going in. it's this combination of all of these different sort of positions. it's sort of made him the most interesting man in politics and some ways the most confusing man in politics too. we'll have to wait and see. he's trying to curry favor with the main stream but keep his libertarian street cred as well. >> can you be interesting in politics any more? can you be unpredictable at this point? >> i think it's a good question. the problem for paul is not that he's interesting but he is still searching. i think he is still searching for exactly who he is and what he wants to be. and i think it's very hard to run for president successfully like that. but i do think honestly he will go to that -- he's one of the guys that will go to the convention with a block of delegates. he does inspire some people. >> loyalty, too. >> he's going to build on that group his father had and he's going to build it out and be a force at that republican convention. >> speaking of for

christie accepted along with ted cruz, rick perry, mike huckabee and rick santorum. in less than a month we'll have a first gathering of would-be presidents for 2016 leland. >> the chess match begins. carl cameron in washington covering it all. thanks, carl. >> as usual the presidential race expected to come down to a battle for key swing states. shift in voter demographics could shake things up. jonah goldberg, senior editor at "national review" and fox news contributor. lynn sweet, washington bureau chief for the "chicago sun-times." thanks for joining us. >> thank you. >> we heard a great interview with carl cameron. he went through a is are of all candidates we'll possibly seeing. people start to jump in the next six months or so once 2015 gets here. who do you think will jump in? when they do, who has the best chance at this point in time, lynn? >> i think mitt romney is one who will not jump in. i know what carl just said and i agree with him. to the degree that mitt romney implied he will get in if the field is cleared and you saw those names. no one will back

people like chris christie as rick per i can't understand rick santorum. i am in.am going to do this thick. i need to you be on board back people

and if you are look -- imagine a president santorum, if he's going to decide that, well, he's pro-lifee doesn't necessarily like the laws that make it easy to get abortion, so the president is going to, by executive order, change that. liberals have to be careful about what they embrace when and what this president does. >> except for the fact that president bush, 43, had 43 -- 700 signing statements. that's lot of ways that he wants to interpret the law his way. >> and you know, ellen, white house senior advisor is saying he's predicting that the president's executive actions on issues like immigration, issues like cuba, will stand no matter who is the president -- who wins the presidential election. >> i remember that tony snow said to me before he died that he was still at the white house to push president bush's immigration bill. that's what he wanted to do and he couldn't get it through a republican congress. so i think it's not just president obama that's stuck. >> and for a president who had his entire party running away from him, it's very bold statement to behave as though eve

rick santorum managed to stay the course through the primaries in 2012. some chance that you would get a conservative activist who could come in take the nomination away from the establishment choice. although that conservative field is very divided, very much at odds, even on issues. think rand paul for example, and ted cruz on national security. so if history is any guide, i think we'll have a back to the future election. >> it sure sounds like it. the question now, moving forward, is bush going to be the uniter that his brother said he was? how strong is the faction on the right-wing? would they accept the politically moderate jeb bush, who to me, seems more like a bob dole kind of republican. >> he's actually very conservative governor of florida. he looks moderate because of the nature of this field. he for example, favors immigration reform which would help him in a general election. he can compete for hiss spannic votes. the republicans are desperate to win. they'd swallow hard and accept him just the way they accepted mitt romney. >> well bush 43

two times around you saw mike huckabee, last time rick santorum locked in on that.he last couple cycles, you have seen two candidates emerge like that. then you see the starement candidate pull it out. once that happens shall the money and structure and organization matter a lot more. really, it's not since ronald reagan when the insurgent candidate pulls out. it will be interesting how they branch the divide between the two parts of the gop. >>> give me a quick answer on this one. mitt romney wasn't mentioned he was back in november. will we see mitt romney come out and perhaps be a candidate again? >> you know, i don't think romney has any interest in running again. the people who work for him want him to run again. i don't think he ever really wanted it. i think the fact that jeb bush is giving this serious consideration makes it less likely that mitt romney would run. now, no longer does he have an open lane to kind of fill the type of voters he would need to get in a primary. there's somebody from what i understand he has a lot of respect for. i would be very s