what did rick santorum, self-proclaimed family values guy, what did rick santorum do with that information about a serving senator in a sex and ethics scandal after he was tipped off to that scandal? what did he do about it? oh. he tipped off john ensign. he tipped off his friend who had the sex scandal to let him know that he was about to be exposed. this exhaustive and damning report by the senate ethics committee into the ethics scandal around john ensign broke this down. "on june 15th, 2009, doug hampton forwarded a copy of the letter and e-mail to rick santorum and asked senator santorum for help with the matter. senator santorum forwarded mr. hampton's e-mail and letter to senator ensign at his g-mail address that evening at approximately 10:20 p.m. the very next day was when senator ensign realize he had to get out ahead of this. he held a press conference admitting to the affair and explaining he was going to try to hold on to his senate seat. so you may recall us on the show talking about rick santorum's role in the john ensign sex scandal last summer. because last summer mr. sant

rick santorum also got a huge boost. he's in second place now down there with 19, followed very closely by newt gingrich in third. that one. we also have a poll from up here. romney is in the lead at 40%, followed by ron paul at 17. rick santorum is at 11. romney leads nationally at 29 b 21. so, joe klein, it looks like rick santorum is slowly edging up to be the number one challenger to romney. >> the south carolina number is interesting. i don't want to break any news here, but this new hampshire primary isn't all that interesting this time. you know, the next really big deal is south carolina. except for the two debates here this weekend, i might add. >> doesn't what happens this weekend set up what happens on tuesday? that sets up what happens in south carolina. it's dynamic. >> but in the past, you could see the dynamic asserting itself in the week between iowa and new hampshire. i don't see all that much happening out here and you can see that in the polls. >> it seems like such a short chasm between the two. i rem

>> he hasn't been anticipating a rick santorum victory. and jon huntsman, as you are correct in pointing out, is playing to a more libertarian, more moderate republican electorate in new hampshire where in a contest as you know, independents will be able to vote. that is a contest that rick santorum is not well positioned for. he is well positioned for south carolina. jon huntsman is conservative on several issues. he has an unquestionable pro-life and pro gun record. and he touts himself as a fiscal conservative in his time as governor in utah with balanced budgets, et cetera. he will have to take that case to the voters of new hampshire and south carolina and say that he is as conservative fiscally at least, and on a life and gun issue as rick santorum. i don't think he was ready for the victory last night but he'll be his speeches in the days to come. >> politico is reporting exclusively that there has been an invitation sent out to conservatives to meet in texas, a part of it says you and your spouse are cordially inslighted to a priva

>> mitt romney. >> i voted for mitt romney. >> tonight my choice is rick santorum. >> rick santorum. >> the biggest thing he is lektability. that is between santorum and mitt romney. i chose romney at the very end. >> what do you like about romney? >> i like the lektability. >> governor romney can raise $3 billion. i think he can match obama dollar for dollar. i believe he can definitely defeat mr. obama. >> what is it about mitt romney that attracted you? >> i think like his family values. i just feel like maybe he could be the one to beat obama. he might be the best at get along in washington. >> and he's the guy who can win? that seems to be the overarching argument tonight, right? >> right. >> if santorum come out and be the nominee, do you think he can beat president obama? >> i think. so. >> and santorum won in precinct two. >> i could live with rick santorum. >> do you believe he can defeat president obama? >> i hope he can. yes. yeah, i do. he is one of america's choices and his ideals and his beliefs. >> and is rick santorum a candidate you're happy with, somebody you can li

rick santorum is, if you peel off the skin, deep, deep down, he'd be rick santorum. he's not like romney, who could speak french but wouldn't show it in the daylight. right? he isn't some other guy hiding somewhere. he is rick santorum. >> let's say one thing about that ad. it would have been better if he had done it without the brokeback mountain jacket on. that's the first thing. but the second -- >> you are making connections i never would have thought of. >> but the second thing is, this is true, what mark just said is really true, he has spent all of his money on television -- >> was that a secret code that we missed? >> he has not had a consistent message. so all the money that he's spent on tv has not rebounded as much to his benefit as it might have because he's been on jobs sometimes, culture sometimes. he's been all over the place. >> but santorum never talks about the economy, or hardly ever. >> he does -- look, he's gotten no scrutiny. there's been -- perry's gone after him in the last 48 hours a little bit, but the rick santorum record is not going to be

could it be a rick santorum? >> well, i mean, it's going to be whoever wins the republican nomination and you know, to sell rick santorum short now would be committing the same error twice. here are a couple of things. first is, it looks like two candidates are about to get out. rick perry and michele bachmann. if you take their 15 points and put them on either rick santorum or newt gingrich, they become the front-runner in this thing again. i don't know if those 15 points go to one place, but that's the play here for both newt gingrich and rick santorum. they both want to become the single, lone alternative to mitt romney. that's how mitt romney gets defeated. and it's probably the only way he gets defeated. the field needs to get winnowed, the fracturing needs to stop, conservatives need to unite behind one candidate or mitt romney will be the nominee. 3 out of 4 voters in iowa last night went in to vote for somebody other than mitt romney in every single alternative was flawed in some way. so the conservatives

mitt romney is trying to out 1/2 newt gingrich, and trying it out-rick santorum rick santorum. he knows better than that. mitt romney knows better than that to say this is like the worst something in american history. i mean, the president needs to lead when anybody running for president like him calls what he's saying. he's not ready for primetime, period. i repeat, the president did the right thing. he was the adult in the room. he did what needed to be done so we could enforce consumer protection, protect main street against wall street abuses, so we can strengthen the middle class. all the kinds of financial shenanigans we have seen in this country in the last five years. just undercut the middle class. this is a step back. this is a step to turn this around and do it right. the president did it today and i'm proud of him. >> it's called presiding as president. >> exactly right. >> senator, thank you for your time. >> of course. thank you very much, reverend sharpton. >>> ahead, republicans challengers are racing to new hampshire, and all have a plan to take down mitt romne

i'll tell you, the whole discussion you had in your piece there about rick santorum, i watch rick santorum develop. a lot of people voted for him in pennsylvania thinking he was like any other moderate pennsylvania republican. the long tradition going back to bill scranton and the eisenhower republicans and hugh scott, they all thought he was one of them. then they got in there and watched him for a while develop into this guy who's a home schooler, extremely pro life, extremely anti-gay in terms of gay rights and gay being. they said, this guy isn't the kind of republican like tom ridge. he's not a suburban regular republican. he's different. in new hampshire, you're seeing the realization he is different, he's not a regular republican. i'll say this in his favor. he doesn't change. it's always been rick. rick will have problems with modern mores. the trouble with the kids when he meets with young people, he doesn't want to listen. if he wants to hear -- has he ever said, you know, you're right? barry goldwater, who everybody thought was a principled man, a wonderful man in many ways, ver

and after last night, rick santorum could be their man. i'm joined tonight by john nichols, washington correspondent of "the nation" magazine. i know you're still doing work in iowa deciphering through all this. i want to focus now, as i said, moving forward, and this attitude that newt gingrich, i mean, he's the new pit bull. is newt gingrich, is he ready to go after mitt romney point by point? what do you think? >> oh, there's simply no question he's ready to go after him. newt gingrich in addition to buying a full-page ad in the "manchester union leader," the biggest circulation newspaper in new hampshire, detailing his differences with romney, did a round of all the conservative talk radio shows, hannity and others, today, to do exactly what we're talking about here. going out there, reinforcing his attacks, not backing off in any way. and the interesting thing is that he probably said the most important thing last night, that in his concession, he spent a huge portion of that speech talking about what a great guy rick santorum is. >>

whatever you think of rick santorum, he gives you rick santorum. he is not mitt romney! >> but the problem is that bad luck isn't ideologically convenient for republicans. >> no. this time he needs to make up ground and he's not making it up this day. thank you, howard fineman. thank you, joe klein. >>> coming up, my interview with newt gingrich. he's taken on mitt romney and it's getting personal. you're watching "hardball" from manchester, just four days before the new hampshire primary. we'll be right back. [ male announcer ] to the 5:00 a.m. scholar. the two trains and a bus rider. the "i'll sleep when it's done" academic. for 80 years, we've been inspired by you. and we've been honored to walk with you to help you get where you want to be. ♪ because your moment is now. let nothing stand in your way. learn more at keller.edu. and hello to "whoa, yum." use campbell's cream of chicken soup to make easy enchiladas, cheesy chicken & rice, and other chicken dishes that are oh...so...whoa. campbell's. it's amazing what soup can do. flavored with real honey. powerful cold

a surging rick santorum. >> you've got rick santorum who's talked about being a fiscal conservative but has voted eight times to raise the debt ceiling. he's raised it more than obama has. >> so here's santorum kind of making a joke out of the whole thing. >> i love these candidates who get these huge applause on, i'm goegt rid of this one and this one and one other one! hey, he's running the negative ads, not me. >> santorum's surge in the polls loading up to tomorrow's caucus is motivating a lot of undecided conservative voters to take another look. >> i'm going take a closer look and just see what he is really, truly about. i'm not really satisfied the other candidates right now. >> joining me now, iowa republican governor terry branstad. governor, good morning. >> good morning. great to be with you. >> what's going on in your state? love your state. i have family there. but 41% of voters could still change their mind? why? we've never seen anything like this. >> well, you know, the lead has changed hands just about as many times as you can imagine. in fact, rick santorum's the o

whatever you think of rick santorum, he gives you rick santorum. he is not mitt romney! >> but the problem is that bad luck isn't ideologically convenient for republicans. >> no. this time he needs to make up ground and he's not making it up this day. thank you, howard fineman. thank you, joe klein. >>> coming up, my interview with newt gingrich. he's taken on mitt romney and it's getting personal. you're watching "hardball" from manchester, just four days before the new hampshire primary. we'll be right back. [ male announcer ] juice drink too watery? ♪ feel the power my young friend. mmm! [ male announcer ] for unsurpassed fruit and veggie nutrition... v8 v-fusion. could've had a v8. >>> welcome back to "hardball." newt gingrich is campaigning hard in new hampshire, following a dramatic fall in the polls, due in large part to a barrage of negative ads run by a pro-romney super pac called restore our future. i caught up with the former speaker in meredith, new hampshire, late last night and i got his criticism of his two chief rivals now, mitt romney and rick santorum

yes, susie from des moines. >> rick santorum? >> correct. santorum voted for the bridge to nowhere, and a highway bill full of pork. >> quick turnaround on that ad? is it too late? >> it's way too late for rick perry. negative ads take somebody down. ask newt gingrich, who has gone down 10, 12 points. you know, remember a month ago he said, it's obvious i'm going to get the nomination. today it's obvious he's not going to get the nomination. what they don't do is bill up the person who wants to. when you have this many people running it's whack-a-mole, one goes down, the next one pops up, it's unpredibabctable. >> chris matthews you have a tough guy on the stump or in interviews but you look at his ads, you know there's a lot of -- i think i'm misrepresenting him -- anyway, his closing argument, about him being this nice guy, about him quoting all of these patriotic songs and you have this on the airwaves. let me show you. the mitt romney ad, do we have it? no. don't have it. but they show, you know, cornfields and, you know, the waving flag

rick santorum. >> yes. >> this of course brings in a different element to the whole deal. >> what if they all decide newt gingrich is their guy, that newt gingrich now roused from his i'm going to only be the positive guy is now going to go after not only barack obama but also mitt romney and that newt gingrich can be the guy who can win why couldn't he be the guy who coalesced them? >> personally i don't think newt can win the south as well as santorum could because of the conservative base and his track record. i mean, these ads we were talking about earlier, i mean sooner or later newt is going to do a newt. a lot of that stuff that was in the super pac ads, it's baggage stuff. but moving forward for santorum, this is great news for him tonight. now will the capitulation of a couple other conservatives help? would the old conservatives who hold a lot of money embrace rick santorum? they can't stand romney. he told me not mitt now or ever. >> there will be a constituency of people out there that r

rick santorum doesn't. can he perform well in new hampshire, come up a little bit, then go to south carolina, go to florida? he's going to have to make a lot of decisions very quickly if he comes out on top of this tonight but he's going to have to scale up very quickly and have the challenge. he is going to have to be drinking water out of a fire hydra hydrant. >> are there enough people that can help him scale up? everybody is sort of committed aren't they? >> i think he's done it with a skeleton staff, a lot of his kids are working on the campaign. they don't have a lot of people who have done this professionally. so i think that he is going to have a lot of challenges over the days ahead. but he may well emerge after tonight as the chief alternative to governor romney. if you look back four years ago, in south carolina, the single most important thing that happened to john mccain in terms of winning the nomination was the fact that fred thompson didn't get out of the race after a disappointing finnish i

rick santorum did it. of course he lost in '06, but a lot of republicans in '06. >> they lost by 18 points in '06. one of the worst senate losses in the history -- >> and in 2006, after six years of iraq. listen, i am not -- i am not making a case for rick santorum's electability. all i'm saying is a lot of great republican candidates have tried to get reelected in pennsylvania and they have failed. i don't think you're going to find a lot of dirt in santorum's record because he represented a swing state like pennsylvania. >> and there are no signs of social issues are going to be decisive this time. >> he's extremely vocal about them and i think it is troubling. >> it wasn't last night, though, was it? >> his biggest problem with conservatives when people start to look at the spending record. that's what perry was hitting him on here. the earmarks, the pork, erick erickson's point. is that santorum has on spending and domestic policy, not social policy, but spending and economics has a very big government

rick santorum, 25%. mitt romney, 25%. ron paul, 21%, newt gingrich, 13%, rick perry at 10% who again we just heard is reassessing his campaign and heading home to texas and michele bachmann placing sixth at 5%, michele bachmann not announcing tonight that she would be suspending or reassessing or doing anything else with her campaign except heading on to the next contest. listening to rick perry there tonight, i'm not sure 50s a foregone conclusion that he would be reassessing his campaign and heading back to texas if he -- if he placed at this -- placed this far down in the standings, but it was not a surprise. the question is what the implications are of this with rick perry out does anything else move. >> well, something has to move. he has votes that have to move but i think more interestingly, the money, there is a lot of rick perry money out there and he has the capacity to raise a lot. a lot of fund-raiser interest. where do those people go, those that wanted to pump money into rick perry go. >> it's an open questi

we saw with rick santorum. what killed rick santorum the fact he got nailed from the right by michele bachmann right away. i think that was the first thing that really hurt the perry then, of course, the debate debacles but on the hpv vaccine and attacked right away. if you're working for romney right now you're pulling research that will go to santorum from the right. how vulnerable do you think he is and do you think that's the first thing we'll see the attack on him be in the next week? >> if you compare santorum to the earlier not romney candidates, on paper he has less positive, not been a successful governor like huntsman or perry. he can speak knowledgeably and fluently about the issues in a way that bachmann and cain and perry repeatedly failed to do. the chief obstacle people didn't think others would vote for him. once he started taking off in the polls they had permission to start voting for him. that dynamic is not over so i think it's going to be actually quite difficult for romney to attack santor

now, rick santorum said that, and you wrote a piece set with the headline, rick santorum is coming for your birth control. that headline was read to him by another denial, and that reporter said that denial is good enough for her. defend yourself against people that are saying that you overstated the case about whether rick santorum is or is not coming for your birth control. >> anyone of the praurngs of s his -- >> he will be showing up at your door and knocking on it presumably. >> it sets the bar, come on. i think he would like to see that world. but it's not an academic question. griswold? that's something that was said it was wrongly decided and that was enough to get him out in terms of the supreme court nominee. it's lawrence versus texas and -- >> of course, the sodomy case, yes. >> we know how rick santorum feels about saw feels about sodomy. >> that was awkward, yes. >> but they have to do for example, defunding planned parent hood, where rick santorum and mitt romney want to do that, and it's opposing the fact that the affordable care act has coverage for contraceptive, and

the last bet, rick santorum. but does newt gingrich or santorum have a chance or could this race be noefr south carolina this saturday? also, republicans insist they are looking for a president that will turn around the job losses, bounce back from depression, cripple al qaeda, and keep health care private. in other words, president obama. the writer andrew sullivan makes a great case for the president's record so far. so how come the president and his people never do the same. and think this is over the top? let's watch. >> if mitt romney really believes -- >> corporations are people, my friend. >> -- then mitt romney is a serial killer. he's mitt the ripper. >> wow. that is from steven colbert's new superpac, which in theory, has nothing to do with him. and in practice has everything to do with steve colbert. ted koppel joins us tonight. and if the jon huntsman campaign tells us anything, it's that the republican party has not much use for a thoughtful campaign of ideas that tries to positively build bridges an

but i clearly like rick santorum a lot and i think rick santorum will tell you he likes me a lot. we are personally very good friends and have known each other for many, many years. in fact it goes back 20 plus years. >> back in april, you had said the citizens united case and the work that david bossi did there is an extraordinarily important case and landmark. obviously you were the victim of one would argue the unintended consequences of citizens united. any second thoughts? >> no. no, i'm not the victim of that. i'm the victim of one personal person, mitt romney, whose staff decided to run a deliberately negative and dishonest campaign. that's the fact. remember the swift vote model existed in 527s long before citizens united. and in fact this particular approach i think has nothing to do with the citizens united case, it has to do with a bunch of millionaires getting together to run a negative campaign and governor romney refusing to call them off and refusing to be hahn bes it. >> all right. >> so i think this is a matter of political responsibility. >> speaker newt gingrich

who is rick santorum? is he the guy conservatives can rally around to defeat mitt romney, who again last night was rejected by three quarters of iowa republicans or a one-hit wonder, you see this year's mike huckabee? romney has money, the organization and the patience to outrun santorum, but does his side have the passion? also, the right-wing empire is about to strike back. michele bachmann dropped out today. her voters are a lot more likely to stick a santorum sign on their yards than a romney one. jon huntsman is all about knocking off romney personally, and for newt gingrich, it's not business, it's strictly personal. get ready, mitt. the right's coming at you. plus, will the republicans sign an abm treaty, anybody but mitt? can a coalition of santorum, gingrich and perry voters be formed to stop romney? and is team obama happy right now? not as happy as you would think. they love that romney didn't win big out there in iowa, but worry that santorum will be just the latest anti-romney whose bubble is

rick santorum's surge is a big story this morning. he's making five stops in the hawkeye state today and earlier defended his support for mitt romney the last time around in '08. take a look. >> you said governor romney is it the candidate who will stand up for the conservative principles that we hold dear. >> well, i was saying it relative to john mccain, and that's what i meant then. >> does he have conservative values? principles? >> of course. everybody on that stage that is in these debates has conservative values. the question is, are those values ones that you can trust when they become president of the united states? >> nearly two dozen cities will see a presidential candidate drop by today. iowa's current front-runner is also already on the road trying to lock up votes with a clear message, electability. >> i understand how the economy works. and i want to use that expertise to get this country going again. i know that those good times are still out there and we can reclaim them, as long as we have a president who believes in

that was my time with rick santorum. asked whether the country would be better off with less contraception use. mr. santorum as you saw sort of ran out the clock talking about things other than contraception use. fortunately, we do know what rick santorum thinks about contraception. he's on the record on the matter. back when nobody took him all that seriously, in terms of his presidential prospects, rick santorum made his position on contraception, very, very clear. >> one of the things i will talk about that no president has talked about before i think the dangers of contraception in this country. the whole sexual liberty idea, many in the christian faith said well that is 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. >> president santorum's america, birth control is a sexual libertine idea. the moderators tried to nail the contraception issue down. that effort was mostly derailed by mitt romney purporting not to understa

he rick santorum. >> a message, rachel. none of them have come out with any message that will resonate against president obama. >> rick perry a great message, but then let it go his message was going to be job, js, jobs, jobs. >> he forgot it. >> he forgot it. oops. >> you need to talk about somebody defeating an incumbent president, i have got to say this is my plan to america. they make it look like occupy 99% that never happened. they are running in an alternate universe. they are not running in the united states of america in 2012 and as long as they keep this horse race going and not deal with the real needs of people it won't even be a contest. >> rick santorum anticipated your question yesterday, i will true i do get this word for word. rick santorum said, the best isn't always great, but it's the best. we will get his words, it is word for word something like that. and he was describing himself. >> wow. there was a moment like that in "16 candles" with anthony michael hall, hoe was king of. we will talk about that l

. >> the microscope is on rick santorum.

rick santorum will hold a meet and greet with visitors. mitt romney has a rally in iowa and national park police confirmed the vet accused of shooting and killing a park ranger has been found dead near his vehicle. local officials and the fbi has been searching for 24 year -year-old benjamin barnes since the shooting late yesterday morning. the 34-year-old mother was trying to set up a roadblock for a car that failed to stop at a check point. the driver jumped out of the vehicle and opened fire, killing her. clint van zandt is a former fbi profiler and chief hostage negotiator. clint, as we understand it, the latest from authorities is that this individual took his own life, but the shooting and killing of the ranger followed another incident at a house party where authorities say he opened fire on four other people, wounding them. >> allegedly this took place in a new year's eve party that happened about 3:00 new year's eve morning where an argument started concerning a gun. somehow the shooter in this case, 24-year-old benjamin barnes, a

and what do rick santorum and ron paul have in common? apparently at least one supporter. >> i love my nephew. i have 35 niece and nephews. so one out of 35 niece and nephews is pretty good as far as i'm concerned. he's ron paul supporter, god bless him. i mean, it's a phase. i underer stand it. >> pretty good answer to that, actually. mitt romney and president obama are trading attacks almost as if the race is set. first, the president's campaign team is playing offense, calling mitt romney's eight-vote iowa win proof that he is "a weak front-runner." and now, mitt romney has a new ad running in south carolina. >> you're seeing a president adopt policies which affect our economy based not upon what's right for the american worker but instead what's right for their politics. >> richard wolffe is an msnbc political analyst, joanne reid, managing editor of thegrio.com. good morning to both of you. >> good morning. >> richard, should we be surprise it had seems to be the general election here the way these two are going after each other? >>

i would say it's rick santorum. i say it's a longshot but if you're a democrat you would much rather run against santorum than mitt romney. if i was -- you know, if i was a democratic operative two weeks ago i would have been excited about the prospect of newt gingrich. i look at gingrich and i say, maybe this guy has legs. not necessarily the same about santorum, but he's probably your most viable non-romney option at this point. >> santorum -- look, i talked to santorum -- i talked to santorum's people yesterday and they're really, really excited about new hampshire. they say that they have the second most endorsements -- >> they've never been there before. >> forget new hampshire. that's not the game anymore. >> let me finish. they say they have the second most endorsements of any contender, second to romney in new hampshire. 82 county captains spread through all new hampshire counties. i don't believe he has a ground game in new hampshire. >> i don't either. >> he doesn't have a chance in new hampshire. but they

rick santorum may have surge and he's got momentum. surprisingly strong showing in new hampshire and generate more free media and more sense that he has the ability to take romney down. they see the numbers in south carolina move. i will say this does suggest that there is a rallying and that the establishment is pushing for the nominee. >> you want to wonder if mitt romney is able to with stand the evangelical presence in the state like south carolina, you have to wonder whether there is another state and another primary that will be able to stop him. >> who knows what will happen. we had a big surprise in new hampshire, but if romney will win and doesn't stumble, if he wins that, train has a lot of momentum. i would not want to be standing in front of it. south carolina has been a place where the nominee soiledified and george w. bush knocked out general and bob dole knocked it out. there is a history of the establishment. >> no republican candidate has gone on to get the nomination since 1960. thank you, sir. appreciate your time. >

santorum, mitt romney, ron paul -- >> you think rick santorum. >> right, as of now, rick santorum, newt king and rick perry. here's what rick perry made, what i thought was a surprising announcement. >> i decided to return to texas, assess the results of tonight's caucus, determine whether there is a path forward for myself in this race. i believe that this is the greatest nation on the faith of the earth. you've made every minute of this worth it for ourselves. and with a little prayer and reflection, i'm going to decide the best path forward. but i want to tell you, there has been no greater joy in my life than to be able to share with the people of iowa and of this country that there is a model to take this country forward. and it is in the great state of texas. >> all right, we're getting -- we're getting word that an announcement of the actual definitive winner is very, very eminent, actually, in the next few minutes. but what i thought was so great about that rick perry speech was the long pause at one moment where you thought, uh-oh, is he doing the thing again where he forgot wh

listen to this one that goes after rick santorum. >> rick santorum's been in washington so long, he's called the ultimate washington insider. santorum voted to raise the debt limit five times and for billions in wasteful earmarks. >> joining me now, former democratic governor of south carolina, governor jim hodges. you get to play observer. you're watching all this, you live here, have friends on both sides of the aisle. this electability issue, enough to propel romney? >> no. i don't think so. i think he will likely win, chuck, the primary here, because the field is so weak, but the electability issue is one i think is not going to be compelling of a long term for voters. i just don't sense the energy that i saw both with the reagan candidacy and with obama and with bush. it's just not there. i think that's ultimately romney's problem, is the voter are just not in love with mitt romney here. >> what is -- one thing about -- and again, i'm asking you to play observer here, one thing about the south carolina republican party, it's very factlized. i haven't seen that play itself out in

santorum, who's not spending money in iowa. >> the postulation that rick santorum is winning in iowa because he spent very little money would despite into that. >> not because he was such a frugal man and didn't spend it -- >> he didn't have it to spend. but here's the problem, rick santorum wouldn't be anywhere close to where he was if all that romney super pac money didn't beat the living hell out of our very close, personal friend, speaker gingrich. that's where that support came from. the money does actually effect -- rick santorum would have no -- >> i guess the simplicity is -- it's not just about whether -- so the three of us are running in a primary. it's not just a matter of whether susan, jimmy, or dylan spend the most money, it's a fact that money will be used by jimmy and dylan to annihilate each other, and that may benefit susan or whoever else -- go ahead, susan. i can hear you champing at the bit. >> having been involved intimately and having the scars to prove it in make it changes to the primary process the last time around in the democratic primaries, a couple of th

rick santorum is finishing strongly in iowa. the last two days of this poll, he is in second place at 21% overtaking ron paul who has a strong base of support here in iowa. a lot of folks are looking at rick santorum as we go into the last 48 hours of this race. he may be peaking at the right time. he's clearly put his campaign here in iowa. he wants to get off to a great start in iowa because he thinks that that can carry him forward into the remaining primary states. let's look at the number. 24% for romney. 22% for ron paul. 15% thomas as you mentioned for rick santorum. then newt gingrich, rick perry and michele bachmann rounding out the field. there's 41% according to the latest poll that are still undecided. those are the voters who perhaps are ultimately going to decide how this caucus wraps and rick santorum seems to have a lot of momentum. he's getting a lot of press over the holiday weekend. he may be the one that everyone is watching come tuesday night. is he the one? he relates to the evangelicals in iowa. he's visit

the question is, how well does rick santorum do? does he get close enough or happen to overcome ron paul in second place to get close enough to mitt romney that all of the other conservatives consolidate behind him and say, he's the guy that can stop mitt romney and right now it doesn't look like he can do that. >> james, you are there in new hampshire. why are you not talking about jon huntsman? here's a guy that set up camp there. he's been trying to do his thing. do you think he has any potential to pull a santorum like he did in iowa? >> being a big advocate for new hampshire, would you like to say that jon huntsman is ignoring iowa to come and spend a lot of time here is going to work but the reality is it just didn't work. either it was the message or the campaign or it was the candidate but the jon huntsman idea that he could pull a santorum here has been largely buzz and not based on the facts on the ground. >> mark, what's your take on the huntsman situation? >> well, let's let the voters vote and see how he does. there's b

mitt romney and rick santorum are right behind on his heels. the comprehensive "des moines register with romney at 24%, ron paul 22%. santorum in at 15%. the devil is in the details. in the first day of the poll, ron paul was on top with 29% support. four days later he was down to 16%. on the other hand, santorum polled at 10% the first couple days of the polling. on days three and four, his numbers doubled to 20%. so what does that mean? santorum has real momentum. he continues his brand of retail politics on the road in iowa. he was so popular at a pizza restaurant in boone, iowa, the owner renamed the chicken salad santorum salad in honor of the candidate. santorum is a viable alternative for conservative voters. his favorable rating is at 60% in iowa and he's gaining ground as the anti-establishment candidate. santorum played up his me versus the world mentality on right wing radio today. >> i've seen the media just completely try to shape this race. and it's not just the liberal media. i mean, it's even fox news. you know, bill o'reilly ha

santorum, mitt romney, ron paul -- >> you think rick santorum. >> right, as of now, rick santorum, newt king and rick perry. here's what rick perry made, what i thought was a surprising announcement. >> i decided to return to texas, assess the results of tonight's caucus, determine whether there is a path forward for myself in this race. i believe that this is the greatest nation on the faith of the earth. you've made every minute of this worth it for ourselves. and with a little prayer and reflection, i'm going to decide the best path forward. but i want to tell you, there has been no greater joy in my life than to be able to share with the people of iowa and of this country that there is a model to take this country forward. and it is in the great state of texas. >> all right, we're getting -- we're getting word that an announcement of the actual definitive winner is very, very eminent, actually, in the next few minutes. but what i thought was so great about that rick perry speech was the long pause at one moment where you thought, uh-oh, is he doing the thing again where he forgot wh

santorum, mitt romney, ron paul -- >> you think rick santorum. >> right, as of now, rick santorum, newt king and rick perry. here's what rick perry made, what i thought was a surprising announcement. >> i decided to return to texas, assess the results of tonight's caucus, determine whether there is a path forward for myself in this race. i believe that this is the greatest nation on the faith of the earth. you've made every minute of this worth it for ourselves. and with a little prayer and reflection, i'm going to decide the best path forward. but i want to tell you, there has been no greater joy in my life than to be able to share with the people of iowa and of this country that there is a model to take this country forward. and it is in the great state of texas. >> all right, we're getting -- we're getting word that an announcement of the actual definitive winner is very, very eminent, actually, in the next few minutes. but what i thought was so great about that rick perry speech was the long pause at one moment where you thought, uh-oh, is he doing the thing again where he forgot wh

i'll tell you, the whole discussion you had in your piece there about rick santorum, i watch rick santorum develop. a lot of people voted for him in pennsylvania thinking he was like any other moderate pennsylvania republican. the long tradition going back to bill scranton and the eisenhower republicans and hugh scott, they all thought he was one of them. then they got in there and watched him for a while, develop into this guy who's a home schooler, extremely pro life, extremely anti-gay in terms of gay rights and gay being. they said, this guy isn't the kind of republican like tom ridge. he's not a suburban regular republican. he's different. in new hampshire, you're seeing the realization he is different, he's not a regular republican. i'll say this in his favor. he doesn't change. it's always been rick. rick will have problems with modern mores. the trouble with the kids when he meets with young people, he doesn't want to listen. if he wants to hear -- has he ever said, you know, you're right? barry goldwater, who everybody thought was a principled man, a wonderful man in many ways, ve

the problem with rick santorum is the same problem that everybody else with the exception that rick perry has h.they are underfinanced and underorganized. this is the most peek yar republican primary i've ever seen because you've had a new front-runner every couple of weeks. none of whom have had organizations and rick perry had a big bunch of money and he fell on his face so santorum has to catch up for -- somehow he's got to catch up after romney's been out there organized for six years running. that's going to be a tall order, but i do think that rick santorum can give romney -- probably the only one who can give romney a run for his money and he'll have to win tonight to do it. >> what about this strategy? let's say rick santorum wins tonight and goes right to south carolina and cashes in on all the disgruntled conservatives who will never buy a mormon and never buy mitt romney as their nominee. this is a very unique opening here for rick santorum and can he put it together fast enough in south carolina? >> here's -- not that rick santorum were to listen to me tonight. if i were to wi

it is a statement about rick santorum's challenge now. now mitt romney has john mccain, bob dole, george bush. the old republican party to be sure but that's a big part still even in the age of the tea party, of the republican party. rick santorum will need some people standing by his side. >> you've got newt gingrich going after mitt romney now. hammer and tong. just really preparing to go very, very tough on him. you've got rick santorum proving he could virtually tie him with very little organization, very little money. and ron paul is going to capture some part of that libertarian, some pat buchanan, live free or die sentiment and a lot of young people here, college students as well. so there is a triple threat. that's all you would say plays to mitt romney's advantage because they divide the opposition. >> they divide it up. it would take mitt romney making a series of mistakes for him to leave this state, tuesday's primary, in a wounded position. i think he is likely to be in a strengthened position. then with rick perry in the race

santorum if four people had gone to rick santorum it would have been an all-out tie. eight people, just eight heads made the difference here. so explain why people rallied so heavily around rick santorum and where does he go from here, because he is the story coming out of iowa though mitt romney was the wish. >> that's right. but rick santorum won iowa. he won the mow men tumentum out. mitt romney's in the same position he was in four years ago. yes, you can say that. i think you've got to remember there's an organized movement social conservative wing of the iowa republican party and they started to coalesce. i think if rick santorum had one more day he would have won by two points, had he had two more day he would have won by five points. he was starting to make the case to conservatives that were behind bachmann, behind rick perry and that's another 15 points he could have foengslily gathered there. the question's going to be will will there be a national coalescing? i don't know. i think the jury's still out because conservative lead have to make a decision, if t