the des moines did not. ative in this race is. >> joining me from davenport, iowa, steve grubbs. steve, good morning. >> good morning, alex. >> what do you make of what newt gingrich was saying earlier on cbs. that he thinks this endorsement by the des moines register will not appeal to the conservative base there? >> well, i think in iowa, it may finally be time for a romney surge after all this time. not because of the des moines register editorial or endorsement, because frankly, among republicans, they don't carry a lot of weight. but a lot of republicans are finally coming to the conclusion that romney may be the candidate who can best peat tbeat the pre in the fall. as i go to cocktail parties, christmas parties, whatever the case may be, that's sort of the buzz that's started occurring this week. largely, i think due to the shear volume of negative mail and tv coming to iowa, going after newt gingrich. >> so you think that bob dole's endorsement, that spells out good reasoning there, that endorsement t

i mean, "the des moines register" is picking mitt romney. the past, t.j. and in this year, this unconventional year with a lot of tea party activists, conservative activists and whatnot say we don't want an establishment pick, this might not bode that well for the governor. on the other hand, the track record for the people that "the des moines register" has endorsed, hasn't been that good. only three people have gone on to win the iowa caucus. only three people have gone on to get the gop nomination. only one person, george w. bush in 2000, won the white house after being endorsed by "the des moines register." you know, if t -- it's an influential pick, largest paper in iowa. but it doesn't necessarily spell success, t.j. >> shannon travis from des moines. thank you as always. >>> we're coming up on eight minutes past the hour. we've been talking a lot about iraq. and we'll ton do so this morning. historic moment after the last u.s. military convoy pulled out of iraq overnight. happened while you were sleeping. many of you. we'll look back a

the "des moines register," which is a liberal newspaper did not endorse me. i think that indicates who the conservative in this race is. >> schieffer: all right. i want to talk to you a little bit about this whole business... you really turned up the heat on what you call "activist judges." he talk about this the last time you were on "face the nation." yesterday, you had a telephone conference call with reporters because you want to put this out front and center. in fact, your folks said to me, be sure and ask him about judges, so i know this is something you want to talk about. basically, what you said was that, sometimes in the past, presidents have paid no attention to the supreme court when it made a ruling, and you said there might be times or there would be nights now when a president should just ignore the supreme court. i'm not sure i understand how that works. >> bob, i think part of the advantage i have is i'm not a lawyer, so as a historian i look at the context of the judiciary and the constitution in terms of american history. the fact is... and

. >> mitchell: turning next to campaign 2012, the des moines register has endorsed mitt romney for the republican presidential nomination. with just 16 days to go before the iowa caucuses, the paper says in its sunday edition, "rebuilding the economy is the nation's top priority, and romney makes the best case among the republicans that he could do that." for more on that endorsement and the rest of the republican race, we turn to john dickerson from washington. john, good evening to you. >> reporter: good evening, russ. >> mitchell: how important is this endorsement? >> reporter: it's a nice piece of news, but iowa republican insiders say it won't change many minds. the des moines register doesn't have the sway among conservativetives that the union leader does in new hampshire, but the paper does frame the choice between the two republican front-runners. it talks about romney's stability and criticizes newt gingrich for his lack of discipline. the paper is the latest to raise those issues about gingrich. iowa's governor, a popular republican, wondered whether gingrich had the tempera

so, you know people -- >> "the des moines register" poll is coming out saturday, right? what time? >> 7:00 p.m. >> the whole world will know who's going to win, right? >> it's going to predict it. >> i hear you're good. it's great to meet you. good to have you on. >> thank you. >>> up next, we've got the most revealing moment of the presidential race so far. the one that said more about the candidates than they ever intended. this is very fun, coming up here. very fun. if that means anything. "hardball" from java joe's in des moines, only on msnbc. >>> are you for romney? >> yes. >> tell me why. >> i was for him the last time. >> do you think he'll do better this time? >> yes. >> what's changed from '08? >> i don't think anything's changed from '08. i think we now know what's out there is not working and we're looking forward to a change. ♪ [ man ] we've been in the business over the course of four centuries. [ woman ] it was a family business back then, and it still feels like a family business now. the only people who knew about us were those in new england, that momen

jennifer jacobs is the chief politics reporter for the "des moines register," the key newspaper here,e the guy that could have come through here without even stopping was mitt romney. he doesn't need to do better than top two or three, fine. but bachmann and perry, do they have to prove that they can hold on to some of that vote against the very strong performance now of rick santorum? >> those are the two that are probably the most in peril. you know, michele bachmann, this is her home state, so if she doesn't make a case here, she's going to have a hard time after she moves on. >> why is it her home state? >> she was born here. yes, native here. so, you know -- >> is that known? >> iowans definitely know that. she's made a very big point of that. if she can't do well in iowa, how is she going to do well elsewhere? she's still trying to inspire confidence. her crowds today in iowa were just minuscule. they were just small, disinterested crowd. no more than 30. >> i was there yesterday, at one of those crowds, it was very small. let me ask you about this, jennifer, the same question t

yo must have seen the latest, "the des moines register" poll. it's not encouraging. 6%, tied for last. >> it's better than it was before. in every poll, we're moving up slowly. but we're within the margin of error of both rick perry and michele bachmann, both of whom had enormous attention by the media. i'm actually encouraged that the people of iowa, as they go down to the end here, start looking at all of the candidates, we think we're going to do very, very well. we have a very consistent conservative message that matches up better with iowans than anybody else. >> you talk about a strong, consistent, conserve sieve message. lot of people do say, yes, he does, however, we're very concerned, he lost his election in pennsylvania, by a landslide, 20 points, he's not electable, everybody has had a boomlet but not you. >> that's a great thing. we still have a month to go before the election. and, as you know, christiane, that's a lifetime in politics. so if you look at all of these little boomlets, they last about four to six weeks, newt is in abou

in terms of the des moines register endorsement, it is bragging rights. people are waking up this morning seeing the newspaper, saying, oh, mitt romney won the endorsement or what have you. there are a lot of undecides here, the polls are fluctuating. some people be with swayed before the caucuses. it is bragging rights and they're saying very strong positive things about the governor. at the same time, the paper itself hasn't had a good track record in terms of pick -- endorsing people who are going on to win. only three of its endorsees have gone on to win the caucus. only three have gone on to win the republican nomination and only one, that would be george w. bush in 2000, has gone on to win the white house. in terms of the iowa caucuses, there is a debate about how much the iowa caucuses matter at this point, fred. some people say, you know what, it still is very important in terms of momentum, absolutely. even if the winner isn't the eventual winner of the presidential race, but will win some press. other people say, you know what, maybe iowa is not

. >> the "des moines register" has endorsed mitt romney. editor was a guest on today's "washington journal." host: let's begin with your endorsement. i will read from what you have written, "sobriety, wisdom, and judgment, those of the qualities romney has demonstrated in his career -- can you elaborate on those points? guest: this has been a fascinating exercise of democracy here in iowa. we are honored in the chance that if the register were able to see these candidates, we go to their campaign event, we go es for 13 or 14ne calle months. for mitt romney, we have had a chance to spend time with him for five years. he is a different candidate today than he was four years ago. we did not endorse him four years ago. in this field, he is a different candidate. he is more polished. he is more articulate. as we pointed out, there are so many issues that are percolating around the country and around iowa. for us, the most important issue is centered back on job creation, the economy and have you get people back to work? how'd you do things that w

the des moines a major paper, the what impact do these have on the electorate?> i think a lot of people pay close attention to it. what i will tell you is that we write this endorsement, we share this endorsement, it's not an attempt to tell someone who to vote for. we pay no attention to the polls. this isn't a popularity contest. for us this is a responsibility of saying we have had this unique opportunity for the past 14 months or so to spend time with these candidates and things as formal as our board meetings but there's been plenty of evenings where we've attended different church services and republican events when we've heard the candidates articulate themselves. we off local opinions 365 days a year and this is an important endorsement and editorial for us. we're saying that in this time, in this field, who is the best candidate who we think coming from the republican side of the ledger would be best equipped to be in the white house? and this isn't perceived to be any kind of a rah-rah campaign endorsement in that regard for governor romney but this is

the des moines reg sterks largest paper in iowa endorses iowa. >> we thought he knew the issues better than he did four years ago. he goes to washington, focuses exclusively on how to bridge this great divide which is affecting washington. >> reporter: the des moines washington did not endorse romney four years ago, so this was a show of support the romney campaign hope also help with the iowa voters. >> the final week before christmas, the last chance for voters to connect before the first primary. so where are they hanging out? >> reporter: let's take a look at twopt front-runners. they are -- mitt romney is trying to shore up his spomplet knew the -- support. newt gingrich will be spending three days before christmas in the hawkeye state. >> joining us live from washington. thanks for that live report. >> one of the candidates spending time in iowa ahead of the christmas holiday is rick perry. while campaigning, he called the wall street bailout the largest act of theft. as part of his efforts to tap himself as an outside. perry said values he learned grok up in rural -- growing up

joining us is jennifer jacobs, the political reporter for the "des moines register." a piece about the state of play in iowa, a strong article, i must say. is newt gingrich likely to pull this out in iowa? what's the sense 15 days and counting? >> the sense is that he has the momentum here. our last poll showed that there is a lot of intensity, of passion for newt gingrich, but it seems like he's slipping a bit in the polls and taking a serious pounding from a lot of different directions here. >> a very serious pounding from ron paul. ron paul, as you know better than most, as an excellent ground operation in iowa, throughout iowa. a lot of devoted supporters out there. i wouldn't be surprised if he pulls an upset. would you? >> it would not be a surprise at all. and we know that newt gingrich's ground game is quite a bit weaker than ron paul's. ron paul is really appealing to those independents and democrats so he definitely has a shot at the lead here. >> what about mitt romney, he sort of ignored iowa for a long time. lately he's paying a lot more attention to it, b

being broadcast on the day he got the nomination of "the des moines register." they said he's matured as a candidate. and unlike his rivals has refrained from reckless rhetoric and moralizing. the former front-runner defended his record. and then went after the new front-runner. >> he's been unreliable. and zany. i wouldn't say mirrors in space to light highways at night particularly practical. >> reporter: gingrich appeared supremely confident. >> i'm delighted because the manchester union leader endorsed me. "the des moines register" a solidly liberal newspaper did not endorse me. >> reporter: one said that the impact lasts for a day or so. but that the impact stop there is. >> a lot of people that are not sure might follow it and say, that makes sense to me. i don't think it will fund mentalmean amentally change things. >> reporter: they're trying to reach as many voters as they can before everyone's attentions away from politics for a few days. >>> despite some progress on capitol hill, your paycheck could still come up short. a makeshift plan passed in the s

but that didn't stop the democratic leaning "des moines register" from endorsing romney. citing his "sobriety, wisdom and judgment." half a country away romney tweeted "looking forward to being back in iowa soon." others are blanketing the state. >> good morning. how are you? >> reporter: call it the holiday dash. >> i got to have those. >> reporter: candidates believing that voters won't pay much attention after thursday or friday when they shift into holiday mode. that's where we saw rick perry's bus. oh, there goes michele bachmann's bus crisscrossing the state and each other's paths. they were even asked to sign this same piece of paper. >> get michele on that side. i'll get over here. >> reporter: but romney all the while was in south carolina, hoping to capitalize on the endorsement from the governor there. >> what an endorsement that is. >> reporter: he attacked gingrich again for the money that former speaker made from freddie and fannie. gingrich says it wasn't for lobbying. romney says "if it walks and talks like a duck, typically it's a duck." the attacks seemed

. >>> mitt romney is hoping to use big money and a big endorsement from the des moines register, and ron paul expected to finish big in the state. they have put the gingrich camp on the defensive. jennifer, the des moines register has not always picked the winner in iowa, but it's been a good recent indicator who the republican nominee will be. so do you think the romney cash infusion is going to give him the boost that he need. >> there is definitely a lot of insiders that say it going to make our most conservative linemen, so you determined the political rate. i want to highlight your last point, which is lack of organization for gingrich. how does this work in two weeks? >> you have to have the right message, but if you don't have the names and phone numbers of those people on caucus night and call those people and say, we're counting on you to be there, you're going to disappoint us if you're not there, it's really hard to win the caucuses. and it's not all that clear to us how good gingrich's ground game is, but we know he only has about 20 of those precinct captains, and those a

we'll talk with rick green of the "des moines register" on how the race is shaping up.agriculture secretary and former iowa governor tom vilsack will give us the democratic perspective. john nicholls is in iowa, and he'll join us with the latest from the trail. >>> ron paul is running away from a controversial pastor who says gays should be put to death. we'll have more on the latest scandal to plague the paul campaign. >>> and with just five days to go, who will come out on top in iowa? msnbc political analyst richard wolff, vice chair of the dncr.t. rybak and dr. catherine hellman will join me to assess the candidates and their chances in iowa and beyond. >> good to have you with us tonight, folks. thanks for watching. the focus tonight on "the ed show" starting out is going to be on rick santorum. now, you know my political persuasion. but i bring this story to you tonight completely objective from iowa. on the stump, rick santorum is impressive. he is well versed, schooled up, and very strong in his conviction. it was town hall number 358 today in musketine, iowa. s

sunday's edition of "the des moines register" called romney the most qualified candidate. romney got the endorsement of former republican presidential nominee bob dole. earlier this week romney won the backing of south carolina governor nikki haley. >> and the southwest is bracing for a major snowstorm tomorrow. dangerous holiday travel conditions are expected across much of region. the forecast calls for up to 18 inches of snow. we're keeping an eye on it in the cnn weather center and update you throughout the day. i'll be back one hour from now with all things politics. just two weeks away until the iowa caucus and mitt romney picks up two endorsements in the last 24 hours. can the evangelical conservatives find a way to back him as the republican nominee. lenny mcalister and danielle bellton are my bests. hope you can join us at 4:00 eastern hour. "your money" starts right after this. 3 grilled combinations all under $20. like our maine lobster with peppercorn sirloin, or our new bacon-wrapped shrimp with blue cheese sirloin for $14.99. i'm john mazany and i sea food di

the des moines register picked him for the gop presidential nomination. the sunday edition of the paper will also include an ad from the campaign that taughts an endorsement from former senator bob dole. dole and the des moines register passed over romney in favor of john mccain. >>> we are one week before christmas eve now. have you finished your christmas shopping yet? not this guy. the rush is on, as shoppers look for last minute bargains on a day that's been dubbed super saturday. darcy spencer joins us live from tyson's corner, where she's been checking out the deals. what do you see, darcie? >> reporter: it's close to impossible to come out here to tyson's corner and not buy something pip got myself a pair of $10 gloves and took care of one item on my list. for many we spoke to they wanted to finish up all their shopping tonight. >> at tyson's corner center, the rush is on. people taking advantage of the last full weekend of shopping before christmas. >> it's been great. we've done a lot of shopping. >> are you hoping to get everything wrapped upton

the thing at that stood out to me about the des moines register endorsement was the slam that the desoines register took against the other candidates. >> dave: absolutely. >> clayton: notably newt gingrich. >> dave: i would totally agree with that. and they all have the sense that we look back at new hampshire and we've got the new hampshire leader and think that mitt romney is a slam-dunk and they're slamming him and iowa far more socially conservative, you can he see them choosing michele bachmann or rick santorum, they slam newt gingrich. and interesting for romney. >> alisyn: it's interesting because they say we basically owe you transparency, we owe awe window into our thought processes and how we come to mitt romney and they had the sit-down interviews with the candidates and it's interesting the light they shed on michele bachmann, newt gingrich. >> clayton: ron paul. >> alisyn: why they didn't endorse them. >> clayton: listen to this. they said sitting down with speak are newt gingrich, the board called him an undisciplined partisan who would alienate and not unite and if he r

host: that is a live picture of the iowa state capitol in des moines, on the east side of downtown des moines, and you can see the christmas lights are still up and the capitol is let as well, and our temporary studio is in downtown des moines and there on your screen is bob vander plaats, president and ceo of the family leader. what is the family later? guest: it is a conservative organization, statewide, whose mission is to strengthen families. we do it through church engagement, marriage matters, a family nurturing ministry, as well as civic engagement, which is why we are heavily involved in the iowa caucuses as well as other legislative matters here in the state of iowa. >host: what are the issues important to your group? guest: anything that in past the family, peter. a lot of people say that has to be the sanctity of human life -- it is. we believe life begins at conception and ends at natural death. marriage, one man and one woman. but also we are very much about the economy, limited government, free enterprise, national security, energy policy -- anything that impacts the fami

this is what the des moines register writes this morning, observation about michele bachmann. overall impression, an impressive fireball who can absorb and regurgitate tons of information, even if some of it turns out to be inaccurate. >> well, and the des moines register doesn't say what that inaccuracy would be. they don't point that out. and also, regarding what you just said prior, politifact was regarding my statement regarding health care. i had made a statement regarding health care. they said that that was accurate. i wasn't saying that it was regarding freddie mac. but my comments regarding freddie mac are accurate. >> let me ask you about discussion of the future of the judiciary. this has come up as a big debating point in iowa and on the stage the other night. here is what you said as that discussion went forward in the debate the other night. >> what we need to do about it is have the -- both the president, and the united states congress, take their authority back. and i would agree with newt gingrich, that i think that the congress and the president of the united

it was four years ago in in poll at this time in the des moines register poll that mike huckabee took the lead over mitt romney. the timing of this is important. having said that, however, you really do have lift with your campaign to get people out on caucus night. newt gingrich had his campaign in iowa implode over the summer. he is really scrambling to rebuild that to have enough of an organization so that -- a foot of snow on the ground on january 3rd, he can still get his people out to the caucuses. >> do you think we'll see more of him? he's scheduled to go that way friday. >> i believe mitt romney will put out a serious effort in iowa. he has polling now, had direct mail in iowa. he's making his -- his campaign is making phone calls. he's sending out surrogates, including chris christie coming out. i expect he'll be put a serious effort in iowa. he does have a mature campaign organization. so he absolutely can perform better than his poll is showing right now. >> speaking of the polling, the conventional wisdom has been that a lot of herman cain's support will go, in fact, to n

the des moines register, who they're going to endorse. and who's expected to get it? >> reporter: well, the talk here in des moines awe among republican insiders is that they expect governor romney to get it. they say the des moines register sort of has established senitarian streak that endorsed john mccain, the establishment friendly candidate back in the last campaign in 2008. >> how important is this endorsement? how important is it? >> reporter: i know. well, you know, the media loves to pay attention to this. will it move votes? probably not. will it determine a winner? >> most certainly not. the last time they picked a winner, 2000, when they picked george w. bush. he won in '96. picked bob dole. he won. after that, haven't had that strong of a record. we'll see. it's always good for a campaign to get this endorsement. you want it, you want voters in iowa to wake up sunday morning open the paper over their coffee and read nice things about their candidate. but is it going to change the narrative or the race? probably not. pay attention what the des moines regist

the des moines register's iowa caucuses special website is reporting about the occupy des moines movement that about 250 protesters from at least 11 states turned out on tuesday night for the first event of occupy iowa to influence the presidential campaign. coming up in about 45 minutes or so, we will be live with newt gingrich in one of his four bus tour events today in mason city, iowa. at 1:40, amid romney talking about jobs in the economy in clinton, iowa and at 8:00 tonight, ron paul's salute to veterans at the state fair grounds in des moines. here are comments from "washington journal" your son who is the most conservative candidate. >> why should to settle for a candidate? that is from cbs news. this is from "the hill newspaper this morning this is from "the national journal" -- republicans only for this first segment of "the washington journal." who is the most conservative candidate in the race? will begin with a republican in palm beach, florida. caller: good morning, i think it's gotta be rick santorum. as you know, he was in the senate in the 1990's and was put out by the li

mitt romney got the "des moines register" endorsement, some say doesn't matter because it's not theiras a pickup today in the washington examiner from april 2010 interview from mitt romney that questioning whether he'd repeal obamacare. listen. >> there are similarities and differences. i like some of the similarities but i dislike differences. similarities we have incentive for people to become secure. we have 98% of the citizens ensured in massachusetts. that is working. similarities, differences. make sure we eliminate the differences. repeal the bad and keep the good. >> dana: in some ways it's like, it's the item that repeal and replace it with something else. is that what he is saying? >> eric: first, spiders grow egg, not arm -- grow legs, not arm. >> greg: not if you're a human spider hybrid. >> eric: let's talk about mitt romney. friday, nikki haley endorses mitt romney. now the "des moines register" affidavit has tea party endorsement. it's important that the des moines register, right? >> bob: it's not conservative endorement. but nonetheless, it did halt newt's momentum. t

the oc cupy des moines movement? >> we are tired of the corporate corruption on wall street and political corruption that is part of that problem in achieving a decent thing summit so that the banks that defrauded so many americans are held accountable, not just given a slap on the wrist. our list of grievances is long, and we are articulating it clearly. if people want to say they were not being clear, i do not think they are paying attention. >> what will your group be doing between now and january 3? >> after the presidential preference groups that we broke into yesterday, the affinity groups, each will determine what kind of action it wants to engage the particular candidate with. you could see people go to their headquarters and maybe just showing up and dialing up the dialogue, getting clarity on where the candidates stand on the grievances of the occupy movements, or you may see people staging a sit-in, gathering outside the headquarters, maybe they will be pitching to get -- tents. making that corporate connec

but now you see he's third in the des moines register poll. that may be settling in. we know romney has a few things in his back pocket, big endorsements, a lot of money and making a play for -- >> you wonder if the endorsements really do carry a lot of weight with the sioux city journal endorsement. >> it was like they were trying to convince people to back mitt romney. >> interesting, yesterday, herman cain and now today, the day after, a number of candidates are saying we want his supporters. how important will it be to get those supporters? does he have a significant number of supporters who have not already gone to newt gingrich, say, a couple of months -- weeks ago, rather, as a result of the many accusations. >> let's be honest here. herman cain's support had started to fall amid all the allegations and what have you. he still has a loyal base and a loyal following. if some of those people go to other camps, bachmann, newt gingrich what have you, that could be a lot of help, caucus cap thens f captains for iowa or what have you. we know the bachmann and cain sta

evangelical leaders, some nationally, but what could consolidate for him in the voters' minds is "the desregister" poll out saturday night. if he's doing well. >> they are smart -- evangelicals will smart, will go with the leader. >> will go with someone they thing can win this thing and send a message. do you agree? >> that's why i said before the consolidation will happen not because one of the other candidates like decides to throw up their hands but because voters decide there's one that has the best chance of winning. >> here's perry trying to stop that from happening. rick perry talking about a war on christianity in this country. let's watch this tough ad. >> i'm not ashamed to admit that i'm a christian but you don't need to be in the pew every sunday to know that there's something wrong in the country when gays can serve openly in the military but our kids can't openly celebrate christmas or pray in school. as president i'll end obama's war on reerligion, and i'll fig for our religion. >> nobody made people gay, god allowed them to serve the country that they love. number two, wh

president of the downtown des moines chamber. anks for joining us. >> thanks for having me. >> tell us how small business benefits from the caucus coming to town every four years? guest: did january is the slowest season. people have spent all their money and assets new year's resolutions. it is cold at that time. , morer the caucuses december people are outdoors. we have seen an increase in business. several other candidates or rather their people come to us. people are always celebrating birthdays or vague are celebrating a rise in the polls with cupcakes. we will be doing a big event on january 3 with google for the media to stop in and pick up a cupcake. host: you have a few employees at your shop today. guest: small businesses like myself are the ones that are hiring. we are the ones creating jobs. i am able to keep my employees busy throughout the slow season because of the caucus. host: the president of the chamber is your position. what has it been like for other businesses? have you seen people leaving des moines or trans

some of the most interesting poll numbers i have seen out of the "des moines register" poll, they askhich candidate do you think is best able to bring about the real change? newt gingrich won that. 27%. to romney at 14%. ron paul had 18%. then on the other hand when they say which candidate is the most experienced, newt gingrich killed that category. 58% to romney's 11%. gingrich ishreading this interesting needle where he has the washington experience on the one hand. then he does seem to voters like this flame-throwing mix it up kind of guy that cain was on the other hand. it's enabling him to bring together i think some different voters in a way that is really working for him right now. >> bret: charles, some say he may be peaking too early. carl noticed these are the first ads on the air, the first big buy in iowa. the latest in decades, a big ad buy. your thoughts? >> if he peaks any later it would be too late. he is peaking exactly at the right time. i'm not sure that the cain withdrawal made any difference. cain's number were so low, the shift had already happened. if you look

just a couple miles from here at the machine shed, a restaurant in suburban des moines. sten to the texas governor trying to jump start his campaign. used to be the front-runner, then he faded. trying to get back in the game. talking tough against the president when it comes to supporting the troops. remember, perry an air force vet. take a listen to what he said not too long ago. >> as a veteran, as the commander in chief of our forces in texas, some 20,000 young men and women who have been deployed multiple times who i have hae the opportunity and the great privilege to go visit in their teeters, welcomed them home, have sent them off with ceremonies, it really disturbs me that nearly after nine years of war in iraq the president wouldn't welcome home our many heroes with a central parade in their honor. maybe it's because this war is unpopular with the democrats. i don't know. but, mr. president, our soldiers come first. and it comes before party politics. we need to welcome our soldiers home, give them that parade, give them that pat on the back. >> reporter: perry al