if rick santorum can drive that, he'll stay alive. i agree with what up in the last hour which is fundamentally, that mitt romney is probably going to be the republican nominee. one fascinating thing that emerged tonight is really the romney campaign is now saying, look, we're not sure we're going to wrap up and acquire the number of delegates we need for a majority by the end of the election season. that was a sort of admission that they floated out there earlier tonight, which is really kind of interesting news. they hadn't been saying that before. now they're trying to admit that in advance. they have a big event tomorrow in bott. the top romney people will sit down with reporters and go through the delegate numbers and go through them all to try to show that they, the romney campaign, is inevitable. but i don't think they're going to pound the table and say we're going to get the delegates we need by june. they probably aren't. >> howard, and by the way, i believe in the romney strategy as much as i don't like the way it works. it

rick santorum did. which is the kind of thing that might not be as bad a blow to the the romney campaign if mr. romney didn't keep predicting out loud he would win these things he cannot win. the website "buzz" mitt romney always thinks he's going to win. will romney did not win in alabama or mississippi. both stateses being called by nbc news for rick santorum. in both cases at this hour, mitt romney is not even just losing to rick santorum. in both of these states, mitt romney is running third. joining us now at great peril to hid e and eugene robinson, and our political analyst. thanks for staying up and being with me. i appreciate it. >> happy to do it. >> john, you said earlier a bad night for newt gingrich in alabama or mississippi might render him a nonfactor in the race after tonight, fine he didn't formally drop out. no that it looks like he came in second in both states, does that still seem true and what are you looking at to figure out if that's happening? >> what other conservative leaders

can rick santorum really win this thing? if so, he'll have to start by taking tomorrow's illinois primary. romney is terrified of another upset loss and he spent the day referring to santorum as another economic lightweight. santorum said romney would be like tweeddlum versus tweedlede. should we stay in afghanistan? should we go? romney admitted yesterday he's not ready to take a stand. i guess it's easy to criticize president obama from the cheap seats until they come up with a coherent plan. plus oil consumption is up but it's actually down this year. make no mistake. the obama camp itself is very worried about gas prices and the potential fought this november. it was two years ago this week when president obama signed his health care into law, putting an exclamation point on the most controversial battle in congress. tonight we're talking about congress and brown do for you. i'm talking about scott brown, the senator from massachusetts and his dirty little joke about santorum and contraception. we begin with the battle i

it is rick santorum. i would be afraid of that. >> i'm going to enjoy watching you, mike dewine, you were for romney and then you went to santorum and some time around tampa time, i guess you will be back with romney s that gonna be a sweet reunion or what? >> i hope i'm not. i hope i'm with rick santorum. the race is long from over, we don't know what the results will be in ohio. i think we have a fundamentally flawed candidate in governor romney. look at the exit polls i saw a few minutes ago in virginia, those are not ron paul, pro-ron paul votes, all of them, some may be. a lot are anti-mitt romney. if we ever could get this race down to mitt romney and rick santorum, rick santorum would whip. >> mike dewine, the attorney general of the state of ohio, former seine to thank you for that none too subtle shove to mr. gingrich on the way out. nice to have you here. howard fineman also talking with the santorum campaign directly. howard what are you hearing from them in terms of their initial responses ton

they don't want a rick santorum conservative because they are not themselves a rick santorum conservative. the presentation around romney saying he is a little phoney and that's okay with us. they like that. >> but they don't mind the deceit in his campaign? >> i think they are sophisticated enough and a lot of voters that say it's all right that he is laning to the right, but he will come back to where i am which is closer to the center. >> thank you mark halperin. we will break down that president obama is personally and politically to blame that you're looking at those kind of numbers at the gas pump. you're watching "hardball" only on msnbc. >>> mitt romney won all 20 of puerto rico's delegates last night. they carried 80% of the those there adding to a string of victories in island territories. romney has won them all. he is great off shore. we'll be right back. right theru why you fell in love with her in the first place. and why you still feel the same. but your erectile dysfunction -- that could be a question of blood flow. cialis for daily use helps you be ready anytime the momen

rick santorum. economic lightweight. mitt romney ready to lead the nation to a new era with the boldest gop era since ronald reagan. >> i'm mitt romney and i approve this message. >> it sounds like street corner talk. >> how much is that, $100 million for advertising, and they're talking like, hey, you frigging lightweight. lightweight. the kind of the way they talk now. is this when kids were mad at each other in school? you lightweight. is this how far we've gotten in civility, they call each other that stuff? >> yes, i think so. and we discussed this on the program yesterday. neither one of them has a very positive message and they have resorted to tearing each other down. i will note that in. remember hillary clinton. shame on you, barack obama. that was her version of the same street corner talk. when you're tired, you get mean and petty and that's where these guys are. >> let's take a look at rick santorum. he drew criticism last night for saying he doesn't care what the unemployment rate will be. you know what he'

rick santorum. economic lightweight. mitt romney ready to lead the nation to a new era with the boldest gop era since ronald reagan. >> how much is that, $100 million for advertising, and they're talking like, hey, you frigging lightweight. lightweight. is this when kids were mad at each other in school? is this how far we've gotten in civility, they call each other that stuff? >> yes, i think so. and we discussed this on the project yesterday. i will note that in bro. remember hillary clinton. shame on you, barack obama. when you're tired, you get mean and petty and that's where these guys are. >> let's take a look at rick santorum. he drew criticism last night for saying he doesn't care what the unemployment rate will be. it's about bigger stuff than that. but he got trouble, let's watch. >> we need a candidate who is going to be a fighter for freedom, who is going to get up and make that the central theme in this race, because it is the central theme in this race. i don't care what the unemployment right is going to b

rick santorum endorsed arlen specter. rick santorum gave us obama care. >> mitt romney -- let's end on a lighter moment. i've been too tough. mitt romney has been trying to win over southern voters. he calls it an away game. but this seems a little forced. let's listen to what he said about his southern talk just yesterday. and today again. >> he's now turning me into an unofficial southerner and i'm learning to say y'all and i like grits. things are -- strange things are happening to me. >> the governor said i had to say it right. morning y'all. i got started right this morning with a biscuit and some cheesy grits. >> let me ask you, chip is this working. this admission of being a chameleon? if you admit it is it okay? >> it's okay for him to come down south and do that. i think it sounded more texan than southern today. >> what did you make of that line, something seems to be happening to me. what is the guy, the fly? is something happening to his met morph sis? is he growing six-inch hairs on his back? isn't it a littl

despite losing in louisiana, rick santorum may be unraveling, actually. he cursed and used a bad word. you're watching "hardball" only on msnbc. [ artis brown ] america is facing some tough challenges right now. two of the most important are energy security and economic growth. north america actually has one of the largest oil reserves in the world. a large part of that is oil sands. this resource has the ability to create hundreds of thousands of jobs. at our kearl project in canada, we'll be able to produce these oil sands with the same emissions as many other oils and that's a huge breakthrough. that's good for our country's energy security and our economy. monarch of marketing analysis. with the ability to improve roi through seo all by cob. and you...rent from national. because only national lets you choose any car in the aisle... and go. you can even take a full-size or above, and still pay the mid-size price. i'm going b-i-g. [ male announcer ] good choice business pro. good choice. go national. go like a pro. yeah, but the feeling wasn't always mu

the next few states favoring rick santorum. santorum might have a clean shot at romney if only newt gingrich would get out of the way. newt won his home state and nothing else yesterday. why is he staying in the race? meanwhile, over at team obama, they are smiling. i talked to david axelrod about the state of the race. and president obama's great fort nun having mitt and company as his opponents and only opponents. and rush limbaugh keeps losing advertisers, but wait until you hear which big name progress sieve defending him. >>> finally, let me finish with the lack of great innocence the republican presidential campaign. as if you needed to hear about it from me. we begin with mitt romney weak in victory. chuck todd and major garrett is with the national journal. gentlemen, thank you so much. let's take a look at the wicked national press reviews romney has been getting. his six-state win didn't stop the chorus of critics in the conservative press. rich lowry writing for fox news said, for all his technical proficiency and in

they don't want a rick santorum conservative because they are not themselves a rick santorum conservative. the presentation around romney saying he is a little phoney and that's okay with us. they like that. >> but they don't mind the deceit in his campaign? >> i think they are sophisticated enough and a lot of voters that say it's all right that he is laning to the right, but he will come back to where i am which is closer to the center. >> thank you mark halperin. we will break down that president obama is personally and politically to blame that you're looking at those kind of numbers at the gas pump. you're watching "hardball" only on msnbc. [ male announcer ] you are a business pro. monarch of marketing analysis. with the ability to improve roi through seo all by cob. and you...rent from national. because only national lets you choose any car in the aisle... and go. you can even take a full-size or above, and still pay the mid-size price. i'm going b-i-g. [ male announcer ] good choice business pro. good choice. go national. go like a pro. >>> mitt romney won all 20 of puerto rico's

despite losing in louisiana, rick santorum may be unraveling, actually. he cursed and used a bad word. you're watching "hardball" only on msnbc. >>> welcome back to "hardball." rick santorum scored a big win in louisiana saturday night but you wouldn't know it from his attitude. he lashd out at a "new york times" reporter from a line in his speech calling it bs. could it be time for santorum to pack it in? a prize-winning columnist from the "washington post," and david kopp the owner of a book "showdown." when talking about health care, rick santorum called mitt romney the worst republican in the country to run against obama. let's take a look. >> mitt romney agreed with barack obama on every single thing that he did. because he put it in place in massachusetts, it's the blueprint for obamacare. don't believe me, ask obama. why would we put someone up who is uniquely like any republican in the country. he is the worst republican in the country to put up against barack obama. >> when asked about that comment on the rope line, santorum went off. >> you said

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if rick santorum can't win in ohio, he's probably busted. if he's beaten in ohio and tennessee, he's clearly busted. if gingrich wins in georgia and nowhere else, he saves his dignity but probably only that. after weeks of negative campaigning by romney super pacs, he stands on the verge of victory. it's super tuesday. 424 delegates at stake. four candidates. msnbc will provide complete coverage beginning at 6:00 eastern. rachel maddow joins me along with al sharpton. joining me now is joe skar bow row and steve smith, who is chief star of "game change." he's a star for that. you come across so good at that. 11 states ahead in the polls. over 400 delegates. you can see them on the map. alaska, idaho, wyoming, north dakota, oklahoma, tennessee, ohio, vermont, massachusetts, virginia, and georgia. let me start with joe, my colleague from the early morning. what are you looking at tonight for something to be truly effective, meaning for keeps? >> obviously, i actually think that santorum's one chance to knock out romney, a lot of people have be

up next, rick santorum finds himself in damage control right now. we're going to talk about guam because apparently he said terrible things about guam and now he's trying to get their votes. you're watching "hardball," only on msnbc. [ male announcer ] if you had a dollar for every dollar car insurance companies say they'll save you by switching, you'd have, like, a ton of dollars. but how are they saving you those dollars? a lot of companies might answer "um" or "no comment." then there's esurance. born online, raised by technology, and majors in efficiency. so whatever they save, you save. hassle, time, paperwork, hair-tearing-out, and, yes, especially dollars. esurance. insurance for the modern world. click or call. >>> back to "hardball." now to the sideshow. first up, super tuesday was to be mitt romney's night to get the nomination wrapped up. recall the colbert's report, the countdown to loving mitt clock. then here's what happened to the colbert countdown. >> bring up the countdown to loving mitt clock. oh no. 2 minutes and 45 seconds. reall

rick santorum needs one win to remain mitt romney's chief rival. newt gingrich need tops win one to stay viable. and they can't all win one state, so something has to give down south. polls close in misand alabama in one hour, 8:00 eastern and msnbc will bring you up-to-the-minute coverage as votes come in. at 11:00 p.m. eastern, we'll have a full wrap-up of the day's voting on "the ed show." >> chuck todd is political editor and michael steel, former republican party. there are several possible outcomes, there's two states, how many outcomes can there be from the votes tonight in mississippi and alabama? first, let's say santorum wins both tonight. if that happens, that means newt gets blown out of the race, i think. and santorum secures the position of clearly number-one challenger to mitt romney. let's stop. here's another possibility. gingrich could win both tonight. he's from that area. he's from georgia. that could hurt santorum, which helps romney. it keeps him in the race and keeps santorum from wins. third, you could have a gingrich/santor

and the president leads rick santorum in that bloomberg poll by 6, 50 to 44. and in the general, obama leads santorum 57 to 39. >>> welcome back to "hardball." far away from the political headlines in this country, a humanitarian crisis developing in the north african country of sudan. actor george clooney got back just yesterday from a mission there and testified today before the senate foreign relations committee about the atrocities he witnessed. >> we visited avia in january 2011, and at the time, it was estimated to have 120,000 nokdinka inhabitants. today, there are none. they are either dead or they are refugees all because they had the bad luck of being born on the border, being born in oil-rich land, or being born black. that is a fact. >> well, tomorrow george clooney is scheduled to meet with both president obama and secretary of state hillary clinton. george clooney joins us now along with human rights activist john prendergast, the co-founder of the enough project, a group that works to stop genocide. george, thank you for joining us. you're reall

and the president leads rick santorum in that bloomberg poll by 6, 50 to 44. and in the general, obama leads santorum 57 to 39. [ male announcer ] you are a business pro. omnipotent of opportunity. you know how to mix business... with business. and you...rent from national. because only national lets you choose any car in the aisle. and go. you can even take a full-size or above. and still pay the mid-size price. i could get used to this. [ male announcer ] yes, you could business pro. yes, you could. go national. go like a pro. when we were determined to see it through. here's an update on the progress. we're paying for all spill related clean-up costs. bp findings supports independent scientists studying the gulf's environment. thousands of environmental samples have been tested and all beaches and waters are open. and the tourists are back. i was born here, i'm still here and so is bp. free streaming quotes, all your investments, positions, and even your trade ticket are all on one customizable page. see the all-new 360 investing dashboard at e-trade. >>> w

>> i think maybe in the santorum household that's cursing out, but i think it was clear that rick santorum was talking about in the context of health care. but was excessive language. the romney campaign has pounced on this. i was on a campaign call this morning, who said ominously, there is now an issue involving rick santorum's temperament. >> yes, chris, you understand the context, yes. >> i get the irony. here is santorum talking about how carry it's going to be -- speaking of going over the top, gene, you respond to this. it reminds me of the johnson add on goldwater. it's called obamaville, and they're painting a bleak picture of the next two years under obama if he should get reel elected, let's watch. >> madge a small american town two years from now if obama is reelected. small businesses are struggling, and families are worried about their jobs and their future. the wait to see a doctor s is er increasing. freedom of religion under attack. and every day, the residents of this town must come to grips with a harsh reality that a rogue nation is a nuclear threat. welcome to obamavil

rick santorum. another economic light weight. mitt romney, ready to lead the nation to a new era with the boldest gop agenda since reagan. >> i'm mitt romney, and i approved this message. >> that's the most down beat, grim ad. it is dark in color, dark in mood, dark in music. only at the end does it say anything slightly upbeat. john, that's the despicable kind of politics i hate. drives down voter participation. it runs people out of politics. who wants to join a business described like that? who wants to be a young person in their 30s and run for politics if that's the crap you have to put up with. john heilemann. >> it is certainly not inspiring. yet as you know, chris, romney campaign has been successful running negative campaigns throughout this primary season, and they do it very well. they have been successfully doing it, they had big financial advantages, put negative ads on the air through the campaign itself or usually more so through the super pac. it has worked for them in the past. i talked to john braybender, rick s

rick santorum told glen beck that newt gingrich has nowhere else to go. by the way, this is the argument. he wins in his region, kelly ann. he doesn't win outside it. he hasn't beaten third place anywhere else. what's he doing if he can't win in alabama tonight? listen to the logic and then you respond. let's watch. >> i think gingrich has shown no ability to get votes outside the state of georgia. and that's really -- those primaries are over. they will have had had their primaries. illinois is next. the polls there showing romney now running in a dead heat race. and whether he does well or not, i don't think it's going to matter much. he's just not attracting votes anywhere else. it would be great if he would get out of the race. clearly, the vast majority of the votes that he's taking are coming from me. >> how do you handle that, kelly ann? the fact that newt gingrich, smart as hell. everybody knows he has the brains and can talk his way out of anything. how does he talk his way out of the deep south? south carolina his big win and then georgia, he ha

and so rick santorum said he's not getting out of the race. i think he's got a clear rational to keep going in this race and will have one so long as he keeps winning. this is now become a math contest. but the momentum side of this is on rick santorum's side despite romney's math advantage. >> welled is. listen to what mr. santorum said early better his chance of defeating mitt romneyment l. let's watch. >> if we keep winning races, eventually people are going to figure out that governor romney isn't going to be the nominee. and when you keep getting outspent seven, eight, nine, ten to one and win races, it has to tell you that there is something funneledmentally right with what we're doing and the message we're delivering and something fendmentally flawed about the candidate that we're running against. you can't look at someone who has that huge money advantage, all the establishment behind him, all the media singing the song that he is the inevitable candidate and we're stloeg plow process down. all classify is out there told to republican