for more on the campaign, we're joined by stuart rothenberg of the rothenberg political report, and contributor to "roll call" newspaper. and susan page, washington bureau chief for "u.s.a. today." susan, we have been to this rodeo before. we saw the rise and fall of michele bachmann, rick perry and herman cain. now the rise and slide newt gingrich. what's behind all this? >> i think you have probably at least have maybe a majority of republican primary and caucus goers who want some alternative to mitt romney. they've gone from one of these social conservative candidates to another. each has been found wanting. so they go on to the next one. this could end up with romney's nomination because there are too many of the candidates dividing up this part of the republican electorate. >> ifill: we still see other people who seem to be benefiting. rick santorum got a big conservative endorsement and ron paul does consistently well in these polls. he always seems to be a factor. there's worry that he might actually win in iowa, worry amongst republicans. >> people are falling off gingrich. they didn't

for more on the campaign, we're joined by stuart rothenberg of the rothenberg political report, and contributor to "roll call" newspaper. and susan page, washington bureau chief for "u.s.a. today." susan, we have been to this rodeo before. we saw the rise and fall of michele bachmann, rick perry and herman cain. now the rise and slide newt gingrich. what's behind all this? >> i think you have probably at least have maybe a majority of republican primary and caucus goers who want some alternative to mitt romney. they've gone from one of these social conservative candidates to another. each has been found wanting. so they go on to the next one. this could end up with romney's nomination because there are too many of the candidates dividing up this part of the republican electorate. >> ifill: we still see other people who seem to be benefiting. rick santorum got a big conservative endorsement and ron paul does consistently well in these polls. he always seems to be a factor. there's worry that he might actually win in iowa, worry amongst republicans. >> people are falling off gingrich. they didn't

for more on the campaign, we're joined by stuart rothenberg of the rothenberg political report, and contributor to "roll call" newspaper. and susan page, washington bureau chief for "u.s.a. today." susan, we have been to this rodeo before. we saw the rise and fall of michele bachmann, rick perry and herman cain. now the rise and slide newt gingrich. what's behind all this? >> i think you have probably at least have maybe a majority of republican primary and caucus goers who want some alternative to mitt romney. they've gone from one of these social conservative candidates to another. each has been found wanting. so they go on to the next one. this could end up with romney's nomination because there are too many of the candidates dividing up this part of the republican electorate. >> ifill: we still see other people who seem to be benefiting. rick santorum got a big conservative endorsement and ron paul does consistently well in these polls. he always seems to be a factor. there's worry that he might actually win in iowa, worry amongst republicans. >> people are falling off gingrich. they didn't

latest on the republican field's final push toward the january 3 caucuses, we are joined by stuart rothenberg, editor and publisher of the "rothenberg political report," and contributor to roll call newspaper, and susan page, washington bureau chief for "u.s.a. today," reporting from iowa. hi, susan. let's go back four years ago. mitt romney came in second to mike huckabee. this year he said he wasn't going to compete in iowa at all. how is he doing? >> well, he stayed away for a while but he is all-in now. he'll show up in the state starting tomorrow night, do four days here. he's bringing his wife, three of his kids, chris christie, the governor of new jersey, john thune from neighboring south dakota. it's clear to me that mitt romney has decided he has a shot at winning iowa this time. winning iowa and then presumably winning new hampshire and being an unstoppable force to the nomination. >> ifill: the word out of iowa, the cliche, political cliche is organization is all that counts. is that what is happening here? is mitt romney incredibly organized? >> he does have organization from four

for more on the campaign, we are joined by stuart rothenberg, editor and publisher of the "rothenbergitical report" and a contributor to the capitol hill newspaper, "roll call." and susan page, washington bureau chief for "usa today." good to have you both with us. susan, it's getting hot out there. let's start by talking about that debate on saturday. what is the main take-away from this? >> i think newt gingrich had a great debate because he took a vulnerability and he addressed it in a smart way. people were wondering, could he hold his temper? could he not do something self-destruct stiff. he answered a series of attacks. he didn't like defensive. in contrast mitt romney took some of his vulnerability and he made it worse. the vulnerability vulnerability being he's rich and out of touch. >> woodruff: the $10,000. >> who makes a $10,000 bet? you have to be pretty rich to do that. >> woodruff: does the race change as a result of what happened? >> i don't think so. i think they're all watching gingrich to see whether he would implode or whether he would make a mistake, how he would h