susan mcginness reports for wjz from capitol hill. >> reporter: president obama is putting the finishing touches on a speach he hopes will convince americans he should keep his job. his third state of the union address is expected to center on the idea of economic fairness. it is not a new theme for the president but his top aides say the speech includes new proposals to help the middle class. >> these are common sense ideas, investing in american manufacturing, making sure that we are seizing a new era of american energy, working on the skills and education for our workers and a renewal of american values. >> the president is also going to offer new plans aimed at shoring up the housing market. >> republicans say they are more of the same and house speaker john boehner called them pathetic. >> he said it is about politics not policy. >> it is like that. >> he faces an uphill battle. on capitol hill, susan mcginness, wjz eyewitness news. >> see his third state of the union address right here on wjz, complete coverage begins tonight at 9:00. >> at the state house the governor is making go

here is susan mcginness with the latest for wjz. >> reporter: florida voters are casting ballots for the republican they want to see challenge president obama. >> i am a mitt romney fan. >> why is that? >> i like what he stands for. >> hey you guys, hi villages, how are you? >> mitt romney has a big lead in most polls. and newt gingrich is trying to prevent a landslide. he keeps telling voters his rival is too liberal. >> we nominated a 1996 and he lost, we nominated a moderate in 2008 and he lost. mitt romney is more liberal than either of those candidates. >> romney sounds more confident by the day, even poking fun at his rival. >> i know speaker gingrich is not happy. he is not feeling excited. i know it is sad. >> republican party leaders expect a record turnout. more than 2 million voters early and absentee voters have already cast more than 600,000 ballots. >> this has been an exciting time and i think it is going to be an historic election. >> after florida romney is expected to do well in the next five contests, nevada, maine, colorado, and minnesota, all have caucuses coming

here is susan mcginness with the latest for wjz. >> reporter: mit romney hopes to continue his winningtreak down south. >> we made history. >> reporter: he will head to south carolina today after scoring another victory last night in the new hampshire primary. he briefly soaked up the win before launching an attack on president obama. >> this press has enacted job killing regulations. i will eliminate them. he lost our aaa credit rating. ill will restore it. he passed obama care. i will repeal it. >> reporter: he leads the polls in south carolina but faces a tougher crowd there. >> he had a clear-cut victory but we are nibbling at his heels. >> ron paul played off attacks. >> they are telling the truth because we are dangerous to the status quo. >> after spending weeks campaigning here in new hampshire john huntsman came in third. like the rest of the candidates he is promising to take the fight to south carolina. >> third place is a ticket to ride, ladies and gentlemen. >> i think just the fact that he is moving forward to south carolina is going to cause a lot of people to take anoth

susan mcginness in washington, coming up a wrap up of the debate and a look at mitt romney's tax return. >> for the second day in a row fog played into your morning commute. we will tell you what the problems are. over to marty. >> thank you. they are hot on the blue grass scene. they will join us on coffee with. you stay tuned. the morning edition continues right after this. ,,,,,,,,,,,, >>> this is wjz tv, wjz hd, and wjz.com, baltimore. >> good morning, maryland, now don scott, marty bass and the latest breaking news from wjz's news team, your first warning weather and wjz traffic roll control with sharon gibala, it is wjz maryland's news station. >> here at the bottom of the hour that ring of lights is around the harbor place, you can't see it because of the fog between that building and our harbor cam. by this afternoon people are out there eating outside. it is warm outside, sharon has traffic right after marty's first warning weather. >> a high of 54 with sun, let's go ahead, sharon will be with you in a second and take a look and how much warmer it is than at this time yesterday

. >> here is susan mcginness with the report on the president's speech. >> reporter: he is taking his message straight to voters. >> time to apply the same rules top to bottom. >> reporter: fresh off his state of the union address he is kicking off a three day trip that will take him to 5 key states. he will visit iowa and arizona today to talk about boosting american manufacturing. the key ingredient he says for building an economy that will last. >> it is time to stop rewarding businesses that ship jobs overseas and start rewarding companies that create jobs right here in america. >> reporter: last night the president proposed tax breaks for businesses and helping more struggling homeowners refinance their loans. he also called for higher taxes on the rich. >> you can call this class warfare all you want. but asking a billionaire to pay at least as much as a secretary in taxes, most americans could call that common sense. >> the president may have a tough time getting his proposals through congress. republicans lashed out at his plan, calling it another attempt to divide americans.

pick perry, but rick santorum tried to crush that momentum, accusing him of acting erratically, susan mcginnesswjz eyewitness news. >> gingrich released his tax returns showing he paid nearly a million dollars on taxes on 3 million in income. parents here are demanding an investigation into an elementary school saying it is making their children sick. at edge waiter ater children are falling. >>> they are asking for help on detecting cheating. >>> more on the story we first brought you, thieves drilling into pump in gas stations and into your car -- in your car, derek rail derek valcourt has the latest. >> reporter: hundreds of gallons stoles after thieves pried them open. this shows the heist with car after car fueling up without paying a dime. >> these gas prices you never tell what people will do. >> several other gas stations in prescription george's county report similar large scale rip offs, police there aware of the gas theft problem and say they have made arrests in similar cases before. not just the gas station, some of them will steal the car right out of your tank and you won't belie

susan mcginness has more from washington. >> reporter: mitt romney had more to smile about as he ralliedporters. a new poll shows romney pulling ahead of the competition, among primary voters nationwide. >> reporter: if there's ever been a time the nation needs a real leader who knows how to turn things around, it's now. >> reporter: with just just three days until south south carolina's primary, the other candidates are returning out of time to catch the front runner. they're taking jabs at the multimillionaire's admission that he pays a rate of 15%, a rate much lower than many americans. >> we're going to name our tax, the mitt romney, 15% flat tax. >> reporter: others argue that mitt romyne is too-- romney is too moderate to beat obama. >> newt gingrich says he has the best chance of beating romney and says rick santorum and rick perry should drop out. >> if conservatives band together, we will beat him. >> reporter: but santorum argues he has a better shot than the former speaker. >> the arrogance of speaker gingrich to suggest that i don't have the experience to run a campaign, to w