i've been trying to think what else could go wrong, go out and say he roots for mr. potter over george baily, bad banker over the good banker in "it's a wonderful life"? it's not just stuff has come out, it's romney's own responses just haven't been good, suggesting that $375,000 is not very much money, the way they've sort of tried to say well, yeah, sort of on the cayman islands, but he's not really taking any tax breaks. i think it's about his personality and how he thinks about this as much as any of the specific revelations. >> it just reminds me of the clinton/dole campaign back in 1996 and after bill clinton won, he beat bob dole, bob dole did some commercials and at the end said you know, i just can't win. in this case, it seems like mitt romney, you know, i just can't close. i mean, he just does not -- he's not the closer that he needs to be. jonathan alter, e.j. dionne, great to have you with us tonight. thanks so much. remember to answer tonight's question there at the bottom of the screen, share your thoughts on twitter. i want to know what you think. >>>

santorum, who is from them, or romney, who is desperately seeking enthusiasm?" well put, mr. will, and on target i think. the santorum surge is really very real. very real when it comes to social conservatives. if he has any problem drawing a contrast between himself and mitt romney, he should take this john mccain ad from four years ago out and play it over and over again and attach his name to it. ♪ >> i believe that abortion should be safe and legal in this country. >> i will preserve and protect a woman's right to choose and am devoted and dedicated to honoring my word in that regard. >> i am pro life and favor that legislation. >> you will not see me wavering on that or be a multiple choice, thank you very much. >> you can go back to youtube and look at what you i said in 1994. i never said i was pro choice. but my position was effectively pro choice. i said that time and time again. >> there is no doubt new hampshire is in an uphill battle for santorum. in the latest new hampshire poll he has moved into third place behind romney and ron paul but still at just 8% but h

. >> well, it just wasn't surrogates, mr. mccain. that is what john mccain told "the new york times" about mitt romney back in 2008. as head of his investment company, he presided over the acquisition of companies that laid off thousands of workers. pretty good surrogate work there, senator. mccain is singing a different tune about bain capital today. >> to go after him on really what is the essence of what we republicans believe in about economy, i think is a serious mistake. and, frankly, i think it's the last resort of a very desperate campaign. >> but that's not what you said in 2008. mccain says romney's tenure at bain capital is the essence of what the republican party is all about? here's the essence, john mccain is defending. robbing hardworking americans of their pensions and putting the excess dealt on the back of the united states taxpayer. in 1993 bain capital became the majority shareholder of a kansas city steel mill, according to reuters, the mill was pad locked and some 750 people lost their jobs. workers were denied

. >> well, mr. burton, i said it's going to be saturday night in the alley with this debate coming up here this weekend. >> broken bottle and all. >> maybe so. where is santorum in this? i mean, could he make a serious run in the long haul? could he develop enough infrastructure fast enough and get enough people onboard if the money comes in to make a run and spoil this for mitt romney? a lot of people think he is the nominee. >> well, like you, i'm not a big santorum supporter. i will say, he did something smart last night. he had a chance to introduce himself to a much larger group of voters, he used that opportunity to say, look, i'm a blue collar guy, i come from a blue collar state and if you pick me as your nominee in places like michigan, wisconsin, pennsylvania, i can be a lot more competitive than the hedge fund guy. basically. >> no other republican talks like that. >> that's right. that's why i think south carolina is a great state for him because he can go in there with a message that's