scott rasmussen is president of rasmussen reports.com. at difference there, scott? "real clear politics" averagess lots of national polls, they have a very tight race. yours not so much, why? >> i suspect it has to do with timing. "real clear politics" takes the polls and combines them over a week or so. anything we know that the republican race this year, it is volatile and changing on a regular basis. if you compare the numbers to what we have do to over a week ago you see a huge surge for rick santorum. i think the more significant factor, though, is that compared to just before santorum had the victories in missouri, colorado, and minnesota, mitt romney has now lost seven points, this is support is especially week now among somewhat conservative voters. the very conservative voters have always had doubts about romney. among somewhat conservative, it's rick santorum 37, romney 34. jon: newt gingrich seems to have faded a little bit. you asked if you had a choice between mitt romney and newt gingrich in the republican par party, 47% pick

independent pollster scott rasmussen is president of rasmussen reports.com and joins us now.fore yesterday's results mr. mitt romney took something of a drubbing, would we expect to see something different as a result of what happened yesterday in those three states? >> there mighting changes. we'll find out in a few days when we go back and poll. i wouldn't expect it to be a total reversal, the way it was after the south carolina results. the romney campaign should be a little bit concerned here, it's just a very soft frontrunner position. that's what this poll shows, last night's results showed. even when we asked head-to-head, would you prefer gingrich or romney, gingrich or santorum the frontrunner can't get above 50%. he has an awful lot of work to do if he wants to wrap-up this nomination. jon: you didn't just poll voters about how they felt about the republican candidate, you asked how they feel about mitt romney versus president obama and there are some interesting changes in that poll. romney down 47-43 against the president in that poll. >> that's right. we track th

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. >> sean: joining us want williams and scott rasmussen. scott, we'll start with you. juan and i going after something tonight. >> i'm quaking. >> sean: polls are pretty accurate going on. as a result i've never seen a topsy-turvy. gingrich behind in south carolina and week he turns it around and romney wins by double-digits. it's almost unprecedented? >> it is a strange cycle but one constant, the republican primary want somebody who can beat president obama. in south carolina, they thought it was newt gingrich because debate performances. when they moved to florida, gingrich didn't do as well and there was lot of advertising to tell why gingrich wasn't so electable. had electability is driving this race. >> sean: here is the problem. you have been on this program again and again telling us the economy needs recovery. it's getting better. michelle obama we made remarkable progress on the economy. we've got $5 trillion in debt, $4.1 trillion deficits in a row a record. cbo comes out with a report. unemployment is going back up to 9%. that is their projection and maybe

let's talk with our next scott rasmussen. scott thank you for joining us. we appreciate it. am looking at the latest polling, if you will out of nevada. and i'm not sure what your organization is reporting, but the last one i saw had mitt romney with a 20-point lead there. romney looks pretty good in nevada. what was. your p plili indndatat r the r rtt o t t rara?? >>vevewhere we'ree' lookingki right noghno it's g gdd news for mitt romney. he is up in michigan and arizona. mitt romney is like a football team that has a big lead in the first quarter. he should win but there's a long way to go and there are times that he just can't a very good candidate. forget whether conservatives trust him or not. he says things that get him in trouble. >> is there anything you see in the polling that might help newt gingrich down the road? any signs if it breaks this way or that way, if he could pull in the santorum supporters, et cetera? or is it pro romney right now? >> it's pro romney right now. if gingrich or santorum dropped out, there is no way all of the support would go to the othe

. >> ladies and gentlemen scott rasmussen, founder and president of rasmussen report. >> thank you. you know, before you -- before you clap, you should remember that part of my job is to tell you things you don't like to hear. we're going to have some of that discussion as we talk about the electoral 2012 landscape. we've got a great panel here, but i want to begin with a question for you first and i want you to be honest about this. how many of you have ever mocked or made fun of the president's call for hope and change? raise your hands. with all due respect, i'd like to say that's really stupid, and the reason for that is simple. the last three elections, 2006, '8, and '10 voters have voted against the party in power. they are unhappy with both sides. voters are looking for hope and change as much today as they were in 2008. they do realize that if we have to count on the politicians for the change, there's no hope, but they are looking for that hope, and you ought to be encouraging republican candidates, people you support, to offer that positive step forward. now, as we talk ab

joining me now independent pollster scott rasmussen.hat the romney camp would like. and nonetheless, you are showing santorum has a legitimate lead. >> if you focus on people who say they are absolutely certain they won't change their mind, the race is dead even. it's among those who are still considering their options. those are the people the romney campaign is hoping to sway with the ad campaign. other important thing to keep in mind is we have seen other races swaying in the final races. megyn: when you ask who has got the best chances in the general election. romney or santorum, 43% said mitt romney. he's got the best chances. only 29% says rick santorum has the best chances. and yet ander to number fleegd michigan according to your polls. explain that. >> first of all, to some people electability isn't all they care about. they want to make sure whoever wins the white house is able to bring about change. megyn: how do you win the white house if you are the most electable. >> two out of three voters in michigan believe rick santoru

scott rasmussen has him 42-29. tom more see the chairman of gop and former senator gym cal lynn for mitt romney. welcome. how did santorum win in your state? you endorsed romney. what happened? >> well, geraldo, i said at the time it was like an exhibition game where only one team showed up. we picked the delegates and the caucuses next march. that's what we are focusing on and what all of the dance are focusing on. >> i bet he would have been proud of it. if he won you would have been saying great. >> the primaries, we are in the primary we are not tipping it but we are going to focus on the topic. governor romney's message beating obama and turning the economy around will be a strong message. >> good to see you tom. unlike michigan you are a winner take allstate and romney looks like he's going to win it all unless something happened in the last few hours. is that the polls that you are seeing romney well ahead in arizona? >> yes. in most of the polls, geraldo. good to see you again, too. you know, this has been

jon: jenna: we just talked about this a little bit with scott rasmussen but mitt romney is tapping into gop candidates gear up for tuesday's crucial primary. the race appears more of a toss-up, brand new polls showing rick santorum has a slight, slight lead. steve brown in lansing, michigan, with more. if you're slight anything you might as well be slightly in the lead. >> reporter: slightly ahead is better than slightly behind but this is a very tight race. if you look at "real clear politics" average of polling in the republican primary here in this particular state, rick santorum at 33.8%. mitt romney at 33%. ron paul and newt gingrich further back. this is a state because of romney's roots here that set up to be a romney winnable state. keep in mind he won the michigan primary in 2008. his father was governor and ran amc so the romney name is pretty well-known here. romney led in polls here for months. now it is a toss-up and possibility of losing is a very distinct one and romney backers are playing down those consequences. >> if he loses he is clearly hurt. i don't think he will l

gregg: scott rasmussen, always good to see you. thanks. >> thanks, gregg.ert right now. israeli diplomats targeted in apparent bomb plots overseas. both of these incidents take place outside embassies in india and in georgia. israeli prime minister blaming iran and hezbollah for these apparent attempted attacks. leland vittert joins us now. he has more on the story live from jerusalem this morning. leland, how bad is the situation? >> reporter: martha, simply put it could have been much, much worse. sources in the israeli ministry, the wife the israeli attache to india will survive the car bombing inside the capital of india. you look at the video, it is pretty bad what happened to the car. interestingly the bombers in india and georgia where they were able to defuse the bomb were able to drive up alongside the cars and attach a bomb from a motorcycle. that is exactly the same technique that assassins used in tehran to hit the iranian nuclear scientists over the past couple of years. now these were coordinated attacks. very clearly they required a lot of pl

bill: that is the latest polling from scott rasmussen.to you. >> good morning it's great to be with you. bill: arizona mitt romney last the lead. >> this is lead is way down from where it was before santorum's sweep a few weeks ago. rick santorum is surging as he's become the alternative to mitt romney. the other thing worth noting here, romney support is down nine points, and the combined support for newt gingrich and santorum is up 9, that is something we've seen all across the nation. bill: you did a poll 17 days ago, santorum shot up like a rock. it's really phenom malto see what he has done. head-to-head when you put romney and santorum together this is a dead-even split. look at that 46-45%, scott. >> if you compare it to the first numbers what you see is santorum has gained 14 points, romney only picking up 7. gingrich supporters overwhelmingly say if their guy is out of the race we are going to vote for rick santorum, or maybe another way of saying it, is the gingrich people are going to vote against mitt romney. those positions s

larry sabato and from asbury park, new jersey pollster scott rasmussen. ing at the fox poll and i see that obama beats everyone handily. 47, 42 for romney. santorum 50 to 38. gingrich 51 foe 38. scott, let's start with you since you run your own polling shop. is this just the result of the infighting in the republics? a little bit of the good news on the economy? or is this a lasting move for obama up in the polls, approval rating is going to stay there? >> it's not the republic infighting. in fact, our numbers do show some similar trends fox polls. we show mitt romney down by 10 right now. over the last couple nights, rick santorum doing better. is he only down by 4. the reason president obama is doing well is because people are feeling better about the economy. right now, 36% say their own finances are in good shape. that's not a great number. but it's up 9 points since last summer. and not coincidentally his job approval rating is also up 9 points to 51% in the rasmussen poll. what we are see something people feeling better about the he economy. feeling

joining me now to break it down, bret baier, the anchor of special report and scott rasmussen of rasmussen reports. i don't mean to ignore ron paul who is now beating the president in that head to head match-up, 43-41. and so as these contenders go to the polls, we'll start with you on it, scott. they have some reason to be optimistic on the gop side. >> well, they do, and i think what these numbers really tell us is it's still all about president obama. whether it's ron paul, rick santorum or mitt rom think, the president's getting between 43 percent and 46% of the vote, essentially the same, and the reason republicans are gaining ground is because the president's job approval has slipped back from its peak at valentine's day. more than likely this has to do with gas prices that are causing some economic jitters. but again, it's more about the president than it is about the republicans at this time. megyn: you're reporting that the president's strongly disapproval number is now above 40%, strongly approve just above 20% giving him a net negative unlike any you've seen so far. what account

scott rasmussen is president of rasmussen reports. and chris stirewalt.antorum has some great news in iowa. this is something else entirely. to be leading the gop leaderboard on a national level. the real clear politics average. you put it in perspective for us. >> rick santorum's surge has been tremendous. we are showing him ahead in michigan. he is perceived very well by republican voters in michigan. romney's home state. 35% have a favorable opinion of rick santorum. only 22% say the same about governor romney. so it's a present surge. megyn: scott, it looks like -- february 1 santorum was 17%. now he doubled that. this is as of yesterday, 35%. romney is down a little but not a lot. it looks like he's taking from gingrich. is that true? >> what we have seen consistently throughout this year is mitt romney's numbers have been steady. other candidates have come and gone. nobody has been able to stay in that lead. we'll see if santorum can stand up to that challenge. megyn: there is something going on with the romney campaign at this moment with respect t

scott rasmussen joins us to fill you in.on murder trial in alabama, both sides presenting opening arguments with very different accounts of what happened to a young bride on a cuba diving adventure that ended in her death. the latest from the courtroom. a counterfeit version of a very popular cancer drug is on the market in the u.s. a fake, it's all coming up at the top of the hour, "happening now." martha: thank you, we'll look forward to that. jon scott coming up at the top of the hour. and be careful what you say in front of your babies folks. if you think -- look at that cute little girl. if you think she can't understand you, well think again. gregg: but just girls. ♪ teach your children well. ♪ ♪ no matter what small business you are in, managing expenses seems to... get in the way. not anymore. ink, the small business card from chase introduces jot an on-the-go expense app made exclusively for ink customers. custom categorize your expenses anywhere. save time and get back to what you love. the latest innovation. only

polls showing the majority of americans agreeing with this, if you break it down among catholic, scott rasmussenrted 59 percent of catholics actually disagree with this, so there may have been a political calculation by the white house, or at least by the obama campaign, to try to do this and then do the accommodation. megyn: doesn't he need the catholic vote? >> absolutely, and it's such a critical swing vote. he actually won them with 54 percent last time. but if you've got catholics arguing amongst themselves, part of the division actually would serve his campaign. megyn: i've seen polls that suggest the catholic support the accommodation. leaving that aside, though, the larger issue here, i'm going to go back to the constitutional question, we are prone to hyperbole on these matters, but the constitution and very makeup of our country from the very beginning has been balancing religious freedom with lig liberty and choice, and that's exactly what the administration is trying to do. we've always held that, yes, you have religious freedom, you have religious objections and rallies but you want

. >> alisyn: we'll have scott rasmussen on later and talk about the polls right off the press.nd the gas prices, give you a tease, people are not happy about them. >> dave: about the gas prices? >> about the gas prices. you're amazed how many people think it will hit $5. >> dave: some are thinking 6. another thing that rick santorum said that raised eyebrows, look at mitt romney and the consistent criticism he's wealthy, out of touch. he's elite. and rick santorum flipped that around on saturday. listen to what he called mitt romney and alluded to his campaign. >> it is laughable to have a liberal governor of massachusetts and-- we have a republican running for president, campaigning that's occupy wall street-- >> so, occupy wall street, the 99% against the 1%. romney is often knocked as that very 1%. >> clayton: so now romney is now the 99%. >> dave: he is the 99 and again, i think what rick santorum is talking about is romney's tax plan specifically capital gains rate and romney's plan strictly benefits those in the middle class making below $200,000 a year, that's where his

scott rasmussen, president of rasmussenreports.com joins me now.see you. >> good to see you, martha. the big change in these numbers, one of the big changes come from tea party members. on monday before the debate and monday before the romney ad campaign took hold this week, santorum led by 34 points by among tea party numbers. it is down to 11 points right now. martha: wow. >> a little bit of reduced enthusiasm for rick santorum among the tea party. martha: you have to wonder, scott. you think about that debate and think about what it centered on and basically rick santorum saying he had to compromise in the senate when he was voting on couple issues. tea party don't like to compromise. that is not where they live. that may have had some impact, we're not sure. i want to look at this poll. we want to get the numbers up here. this is michigan, santorum versus romney head-to-head. when you take out newt gingrich and take out ron paul, santorum edges out romney by 2%. so romney has got to hope those other gentlemen stay in this race for a while littl

one point, scott rasmussen told me, got a poll recently, half of all families live paycheck to paycheckhere they got no money left much sooner. >> all right. thanks so much for explaining the chain reaction and i will see you later on "varney & company." >> yes, you will. look forward to it. >> i'll be part of the company. thanks, stu. big hour of "fox & friends" ahead. michelle malkin joins us straight up at 7:00 with reaction to last night's debate and brings new meaning to the phrase super mom, this 51-year-old woman completing basic combat training and crushing the competition! where's kilmeade when you need a story like that? @@ >> top of the morning to you. it's thursday, february 23rdrd. i'm gretchen carlson. hope you're going to have a great day. thanks for sharing part of it with us. newt gingrich going after the president and the media. >> not once did anybody in the elite media ask why barack obama voted in favor of legalizing infantcide, ok? so let's be clear here. >> so there. a complete wrap from last night's debate coming up. >> unemployment good for the economy? yes. a