apparently mr. romney could only leave a message for mr. santorum. here was rick santorum addressing his supporters earlier foent in missouri. >> kwefconservatism is alive an well in missouri and minnesota. your votes today were not just heard loud and wide across the state of missouri and minnesota, but they were heard loud and louder all across this country, and particularly in a play i suspect may be in massachusetts. they were heard particularly loud tonight. >> if ever it was more clear this race is not yet over, that republicans are not satisfied to just pick mitt romney, here is yet another night of proof. joining us is the political news editor at salon.com. in your column today you wrote there's a real chance that tonight will belong to rick santorum. how did you know this might happen? >> that's sort of an understatement. i was expecting best case two out of three. maybe if just things that at that point happening, he wins all three. at this hour he's ahead big in colorado, and we don't know where the votes are coming from. it's a big story

apparently he could only leave a message for mr. santorum. here's mr. santorum addressing his supporters earlier tonight in missouri. >> conservativism is alive and well in missouri and minnesota. your votes were not just heard loud an wide across the state of missouri and minnesota but they were heard loud and louder all across this country. particularly in a place i suspect, maybe in massachusetts they were heard particularly loud tonight. [ cheers and applause ] >> if it was ever more clear that the race is not over that republicans are not satisfied to just pick mitt romney, here's another night of proof. joining us is the political news editor at salon.com. thank you for coming in late tonight. >> sure. >> in your cole lum, you wrote there's a real chance tonight will belong to rick santorum. how did you know this would happen? >> that was an under statement. i was expecting best case two out of three. things that are almost unimaginable at that point he wins all three. at this hour he is ahead big in colorado. we don't know where the votes are com

what mr. romney has been doing very effectively is taking those 16 years of votes that mr. santorum has and using it to undermine his argument he's the real conservative in this race and painting him as a bush era big spender, and mr. santorum didn't necessarily needed to in the debate to disabuse voters of the idea. >> a very smart strategy on the part of romney. rick santorum was in the leadership and the senate, probably regrets it now, but he was in the leadership. and he does bear some responsibility for that spending and the romney campaign determined that part of the santorum surge is fueled by the tea party which cares about spending and ear marks and the attacks have been effective. >> paul: what about his argument on earmarks it's right for congress to assert itself and have the power of the purse after all. rather than let the president just say i'm going to dictate policy, he's saying sometimes we have to overturn the president's priorities because he's wrong. he's right about that, and he's also right about just not being where the money is, which is entitlemen

she confronts mr. santorum with this. mr. santorum scoffs at her. literally scoffs at her question, laughs at it and then proceeds to make an example out of her for the audience. it is kind of hard to hear her here, but here is that exchange. >> these kids in the hospital in the on call ward dying because they can't afford the same treatments. >> here's the -- this is the point she's making. these drugs are really expensive and therefore we should not make drug companies charge that. he's alive today because drug companies thought that they would make money and in providing that care and if the drug company didn't think they could make any money, for providing that care, i hate to put it in these terms, but that drug wouldn't be here. >> people have no problem going out and buying their ipads for $900, but $200 for a drug, got a problem with that? what was just posed to the candidate by the mother of a sick child is the problem of kids she knows dying in cancer wards because they cannot afford care. mr. santorum laughs at her, and then tells her tha

santorum and mr. romney are tied with three each. mitt romney has all the money in the world, tim pawlenty, that doesn't seem to be buying him love including in minnesota. right now the main dynamic in the race is mitt romney is losing states everybody expects him to winning, and rick santorum is winning states people don't think he has a chance in. it's not impossible rick santorum could end up being the republican nominee for president. here is rick santorum speaking about one of the issues which he has staked his political career, speaking in october. >> one of the things i will talk about that no president has talked about before is i think the dangers of contraception in this country and the whole sexual liber tine idea, many said contraception's okay. it's not okay. >> it's not okay. that is rick santorum explaining how if elected he would use power of the presidency against birth control in america. in 1965 the supreme court ruled that states could not ban birg control, in a state called griswold versus connecticut he said sta

quote, mr. santorum doesn't come with the type of political baggage that gingrich had, said one obama adviser. he has the ability to go farther and much more likely to be a potential nominee. direct i directing attacks against mr. santorum is under discussion at the headquarters in chicago, he added. it doesn't sound like they're moving very fast. >> no. >> my hunch is that they want santorum to do all the damage he can, right? >> exactly. >> rough up romney. maybe at best beat him. but at least rough him up as much as possible between now and tampa. >> and drag it well into the spring, if not the summer. i think the posture right now is, go, rick, go. they want him to do well in michigan. michigan is an open primary. democrats can vote there. they are going to have to say that they are republicans at the polling place, but they can show up there and vote. if a couple thousand democrats show up in michigan, i think it could help. >> the country is dropping the debates like flies. the cnn debate

santorum is remarkably quiet. that's because in 2010 mr. santorum earned almost a million dollars and gave just over 1.7% to charity. during the same period, the president and the first lady gave over 14%. so the devout catholic is apparently a hypocrite. finally, newt gingrich, a man who believes that the christian sacrament of marriage, life long monogamy, actually means sleeping with one woman at a time. so there you have it. the liar, the hypocrite, and the adulter. and remember what c.s. lewis wrote. if conversion to christianity makes no improvement in a man's outward actions, then i think we must suspect that his conversion was largely imaginary. the president of the united states is a christian. but as for those three in the words of franklin graham, i don't think any of us can be categorically certain. thank you so much for watching. dylan ratigan is next. >>> college. you've made the grade, paid the price, and had some fun. but now what? 3.4 million college students will graduate in 2012 into an economy where we already need 30 mi

mr. santorum with 55% of the vote. mitt romney is 30 points behind him. rick santorum is also the projected winner in the great state of minnesota. you can see there, 81% in. mr. santorum in the lead with 45%. mitt romney in third, a distant third after ron paul in second. in colorado at this hour the latest results from that state's equally nonbinding caucuses with 23 persz in. rick santorum and mitt romney are very tight. we'll keep you posted as we learn more. >>> obviously, i lost a bet. this is an eli manning jersey. he's the quarterback of a football team called the new york giants. they beat my team, the new england patriots, in the super bowl. i thereby lost a bet. it seems like a cruel twist of fate that we lost the game and i have to wear this on set tonight. aaron hernandez did score a touchdown on the game, so i have to buy everybody on set a beer. i have to lose the bet in both directions. that's how it goes. it's fine. here in new york city they held a ticker-tape parade, the giants floating down the canyon of heroes. there were march bands

yes, mr. santorum has come from nowhere to meet or exceed mr. if in all the breathless rick santorum coverage today you feel like you have seen this movie before, it is because you have seen this movie before. and it might end up being a big deal, but it might not. this is what's going on in the republican rate for president. the more happens in the race, the more voting, the more campaigning this year, the more voters have decided nationally that they cannot stand mitt romney. if there's polling in politics that might be worth blanket coverage from the beltway media, i would think that this would be it. chart imitates life. happy valentine's day. your finances can't manage themselves. but that doesn't mean they won't try. bring all your finances together with the help of the one person who can. a certified financial planner professional. cfp. let's make a plan. [ kareem ] i was fascinated by balsa wood airplanes since i was a kid. [ mike ] i always wondered how did an airplane get in the air. at ge aviation, we build jet engines. we lift people

romney suggests santorum doesn't know how markets work or how to creted jobs. mr. santorum is saying romney is a republican in name only, and wants to increase taxes on the highest income group. this is not a conservative principle. and i think it's the sort of larger messages resonating with the electorate this year more than the policy tail. >> t: that larger cturis the economy. but let's drill down to energy. in the last week it really has become the campaign issue, not only for republicans but president obama also made it an issue lfrd. could specifically energy overtake the broad economy as the political issue? >> if we get down to talking about gasoline prices it very well could. that certainly is a pocketbook issue. everybody knows how much it takes out of the wallet to put gas in the car. it may be a little much to suggest as mr. santorum did that it was the cause the the market meltdown in 2008. when we see gas prices reach a certain level, the president will have to deal with it, and the republicans will do everything they can to take advantage of it. >>

welcome to the scrutiny, mr. santorum. >>> and the deep dime, taking one of my favorite phrases and turning it into a new segment, today, how romney is both embrace and running away from his father's legacy. it is george washington's birthday, some places call it presidents' day. it is monday, february 20th n honor of chris matthews' obsession with this, we will stay is washington's birthday. get right to my first read of the morning, mitt romney's do or die week. romney now trailing in national polls and in the latest public policy polling, public polling out of michigan, he has got to reverse the momentum, catch rick santorum and stop the gop hand wringing. all comes down to this week for him. wednesday, the republican candidates meet for their only scheduled debate before super tuesday in arizona, which along with michigan voter is a week from tomorrow t is the first debate since santorum swept those con tests in colorado, minnesota and missouri. a weak performance by romney could ensure an upset in michigan a

in that case mr. santorum is the interventionist. many in christian faith have said well that's okay. contraception is okay. it's not okay. it's a license to do things in a sexual realm that is counter to what -- how things are supposed to be. so if these are the two individuals who will face each other in the presidential election then this is what voters will have to decide. it all comes down to this. do you want intervention in the bedroom or in the board room? thanks so much for watching. dylan ratigan is here and ready to take us forward. good afternoon i would be interested to hear more from rick santorum as to how things are supposed to be. it seems he has a clear vision of how sex is supposed to be. do you think he would publish something so we could see what we're supposed to be doing? i thought it was up to the individual but apparently i was wrong. well --

since mr. santorum, you like to encourage me to get in his head. listen to what he said about income inequality which is probably the campaign issue of at least this season. he's in detroit. he praised income inequality. let me show you the quote. this is in detroit. there is income inequality and hopefully, and i do say that, there always will be. now he says this in a city where the poverty rate is above 37%. median income of household of less than $29,000 a year. it's also a city with 90,000 abandoned or vacant homes. in this environment, he praises income inequality and says, i hope it always will be. is he tone deaf or is he trying to be confrontational to play to a extreme far right that may applaud this kind of insensitivity? >> i'm not sure what the goal was, al, but that particular comment in my mind, was more damaging than any of the other comments he's made recently. for two reasons. one, as far as mitt romney is concerned it undercuts rick santorum because mitt romney made the comment, as you remember, about not being concerned about th

or is this really the truth about mr. santorum and how he feels? >> reporter: talk about going for the gut with a visceral appeal talk about wanting to throw up when you hear that speech. no, he hasn't backed off. what rick santorum is trying to do -- he's not leading his campaign speeches with that rhetoric, but what he hopes it to do is to touch a lot of the conservative christians, evangelical voters in the western part of michigan. mitt romney is more targeted here around detroit and detroit suburbs. higher income voters. rick santorum is trying to appeal to people who feel their views are disrespected by much of mainstream society. and those voters are key to him getting some sort of a turn out. he doesn't have the organization that mitt romney has, but if he can sort of light a fire among some of those evangelical voters as he has in other places, he could benefit and do better than some polls are indicating. >> whatever you think of rick santorum, you have to say he does say what he thinks as you've said yourself, john. president obama in th

none of the things mr. santorum said are true. none of them. we will verify that with a dutch person in just a moment. he has a leading party politician demanding that he weigh in and tell rick santorum where to go, please. if the ambassador won't do it, the government's foreign minister, the equivalent of their secretary of state, should do it. on his facebook page, this labor party politician writes, this is the translation, according to "the new york times," the dutch ambassador has no comment on the scandalous charge from santorum about our country. how is it possible? i have directed a question to the foreign minister and have called on him to take a public stance. this can't be real. one thing for americans to look at the 2012 field and say, seriously, this can't be real. now we have the rest of the world looking at our 2012 candidates and saying, dude, this can't be real. joining us now is eric mountain. the u.s. correspondent for the dutch rtl evening news. thank you very much for being here and helping us figure this out. >> sure. >> b

the people want to know, mr. santorum, how are you going to create jobs and boost this economy. mr. santorum, what are you going to do about that. the media chooses to go back to a social issue something he said and make the focus of attention. i got to tell you, the american people are tired of prospecting of that. they want to hear about solutions which will make the incidents for candidates that can stay on specific solutions. >> absolutely. i agree with you. all of the pounding is very good in terms of preparing for what president obama and what they have prepared for them. they may have to take incoming from their side and left media because what ex el rod and jarret has ready for them, it will pale in comparison? >> you are absolutely agree with you. unfortunately for the american people, when we get into the general election, regardless of who gets the nomination, it is going to be negative attack against negative attack. since we know that is the way it's going to be, i'm going recommend strongly to whoever gets the nomination of the republican party, you have to rise above

. >> mr. santorum has pledged to repeal funding for contraception and says individual states should be allowed to outlaw any kind of birth control. >> forces of darkness and will collaborate with them must, can, and will be wiped from the face of the earth. >> in reviewing his book, one writer said mr. santorum has one of the finest minds of the 13th century. but i'm not so sure. if you listen carefully to rick santorum, he sounds more like stal lin. thanks for watching. dylan ratigan is here and is ready to take us forward. happy valentine's day. >> and to you, martin. a fine day of love and affection for everyone in america. >> i hope it is for you. >> we have all this time. can you see my pen? >> that's beautiful. >> can you get a shot of the pen. >> i'm slightly jealous of you today. >> put it on the paper. watch. as i write, see that. [ laughter ] >> do you see that the mind of a man or woman is three years old? very simple stipulations are very powerful for adults. it feels good doesn't

yes, mr. santorum has come from nowhere to meet or exceed mr. romney this week. but before this week, mr. romney weathered the exact same storm from rick perry. see him there? that was rick perry back in september, and then mr. perry went away. after mr. perry, mr. romney weathered the exact same storm from herman cain, and then herman cain went away. then from mr. gingrich, and he went away and came back and went away. so though it is exciting in the moment, a rival candidate to surge and pose a challenge to mr. romney, it's not the most novel story in the world. if in all the breathless rick santorum coverage today you feel like you have seen this movie before, it is because you have seen this movie before. and it might end up being a big deal, but it might not. if chart really does imitate life, here's what i think is a more important thing to keep an eye on. and it's not getting nearly as much attention. we don't vote nationally. we vote state by state, right? it's too bad, but the presidential preferences of republican voters in a state like utah really don'