this is kind of a race for third place right now with rick santorum and rick perry, kind of the battle of the ricks. three tickets out of iowa, if rick santorum has one of those ticks, it's going to be very interesting to watch to see how he does in the coming weeks. >> it will because lots of times, i think when we look at these candidates and we think, you get a ticket out of iowa, but you have to have the money to back it up. and i think that's where the santorum campaign, if they believe they're going to get one of those three tickets, must be looking now saying, this is great, but moving ahead, certainly in a state like south carolina, certainly in florida, you've got to have some money to put down so that you can do the ad wars. is there any sign -- i haven't seen it and i'm sorry to ask you this because i don't know if you have the answer. any sign that his fund-raising his picked up at all? >> reporter: he has said and i saw a local interview here in iowa just last night where he said that he's raising more money online now than he has at any point during this campaign. and as

>> i like rick santorum. i will be supporting him in the iowa caucus on january 3rd. >> were you of that mindset before you came in? >> i was leaning towards him. i hadn't quite made my mind up yet because there are other candidates very similar to him. but from what i've seen that was enough to put me solidly in his corner. >> so he closed the deal today? >> yes. >> just a flavor of the crowd in iowa. musketine, iowa. a city with a rich, progressive history. congressman steve king. everybody wants his endorsement. the iowa congressman good friends with michele bachmann. he says today that ron paul is dangerous and rick santorum will surprise. but when you go to these meetings, they're not rallies. these folks are serious. they show up. they're curious. they're looking for information. they want to be sold. they want to ask questions. they're not there to rah, rah at all. they are really inspecting and overhauling all of these candidates when it comes to information to find out exactly who is the best choice.

gwen: is rick santorum surging? >> you've got the moderate primary, which mitt romney are scrumming for and three folks running as strong conservatives. gwen: is newt gingrich fading? >> you don't have to have a nasty, negative, mud-slinging, consultant-driven campaign? i refuse to engage in that kind of politics. gwen: is time running out for michele bachmann and rick perry? the polls tell the tale but finally so will the voters. we preview the iowa caucuses with karen ue multiof "the washington post," jeff zeleny of "the new york times," susan davis of "usa today" and christina bellantoni of cg roll call. >> award-winning reporting and analysis, covering history as it happens frfment our nation's capital, this is "washington week" with gwen ifill. produced in association with "national journal." corporate funding for "washington week" is provided by -- >> we know why we're here. to connect our forces to what they need when they need it. >> to help troops see danger before it sees them. >> to answer the call of the

rick santorum. a full spectrum conservative rick santorum is rock solid on values issues. a favorite of the tea party for fighting corruption and taxpayer abuse. more foreign policy credentials than any candidate and rick's made in the usa jobs plan will make america an economic superpower again. rick santorum a trusted conservative who gives us the best chance to take back america. >> i'm rick santorum and i approve this message. >> and in the end electability is almost everything when people go to those caucus or new hampshire go to vote in the primary, key on the minds of republicans who can best beat barack obama. it used to be candidates spouse who sit in a chair and clap when their husbands said something applause worthy, smile at him. that time is well gone. we now see the spouses becoming an integral part of their husband or their wives campaign. coming up next the spouses speak out. nyquil (stuffy): hey, tylenol. you know we're kinda like twins. tylenol: we are? nyquil (stuffy): yeah, we both relieve coughs, sneezing, aches, fevers. tylenol: and i relieve nasal co

rick santorum is third at 15%. newt gingrich was moved to tears at one event today, has fallen to fifth place. nbc's peter alexander is in des moines with more. peter, good evening. >> reporter: harry, good evening. as you noted the frontrunners mitt romney and ron paul are so confident tonight ron paul said he plans to take the weekend off. mitt romney is already campaigning in new hampshire tonight, the next state to vote, trying to shore up his support there. mitt romney continued trying to position himself as the presumptive republican nominee, directing much of his fire at the president. >> do you want more of barack obama? >> no! >> reporter: today turning to popular new jersey governor chris christie to help seal votes who offered a playful jab. >> you don't do what you're supposed to do on tuesday for mitt romney, i will be back jersey-style, people. i will be back. >> reporter: romney deflected a question from nbc's andrea mitchell over whether he would release his tax returns. >> you know, if i become pre

look at rick santorum's numbers in the other poll, they(siow no movement whatsoever in rick santorum's numbers. so caution. if you are rick santorum, this kind of surge in one poll at this late stage in the political calendar, has got to be very excited. what better timing for the emergence of the rick santorum super pac? it's called the red, white and blue fund. today they launched this pro-rick santorum ad in iowa. apparently they're spending a quarter of a million dollars on it. for the other top tier candidates in iowa is a drop in the bucket. for rick santorum, that's a huge deal. i would say next things to watch on rick santorum are probably whether or not any other candidates take him seriously enough to go negative on him. and also whether or not fox news gets onboard with mr. santorum. they have postally ignored him thus far. but i think those two factors we've seen make a big difference in the durability of other candidates' non-mitt romney. the two factors will be worth watching. what do i know? i've been dismissing rick santorum all along. all right. one candidate who is no

if you peel off the skin deep, deep down he'd be rick can trurnl -- rick santorum. not like romney who is somebody else hiding somewhere. >> rack can strsantorum would he better without the "brokeback mountain" jacket on. >> you are really making connections. >> what mark said is true, he,s spent all this money on television. >> is that a secret code? >> he's not had a consistent message so all of the money that he's spent on tv has not rebounded as much to his benefit as it might have been, on jobs sometimes, on culture, all over the place. >> santorum hardly ever talks about the economy. >> he does. gotten no scrutiny. perry's gone after him in the last 48 hours a little bit, but rick santorum record is not going to be scrutinized between now and tuesday. >> you write history but let me ask you for a preview. suppose the headlines in all the papers, "des moines register" and "new york times" is, let's see, paul edges romney, santorum finishes strong. is that a good prediction? >> it's -- it's certainly plausible. i don't think it's most likely. >> i think it's pla

the answer, rick santorum. rick santorum has more foreign policy credentials than any of the candidates. >> all right. you want to disagree with him on that last point? >> well, i'd have to draw the spirit of pat buchanan in saying this, wolf, but i'm not sure that time spent in an international house of pancakes necessarily qualifies for foreign policy experience. >> in fairness, he spent a long time as the member of the armed services. >> rick's a terrific xwi and i respect his service. i've lived overseas four times, been an ambassador three times, including man imagining the most difficult relationship of the 21st century. that of china. i think the american people will recognize that and in the end, i think that will be an important consideration on their part because the world is complex and confusing. it's not getting any less so. and i think the american people are going to want someone who knows intimately well the chinese, when you look at our most important economic relationship going forward an our

rick santorum white hot right now in iowa. rick perry, michelle bachmann fading, herman cain out of the picture entirely. rick santorum is picking up support from key conservatives and evangelical voters. >> we are going to do better than everyone thought we would do a week ago, much better. that is all i can say. i'm grateful to the people of iowa, we've had great crowds here and a lot of great response waoefpl feel like we'r we feel like we'll get that spark, how big i don't know. we keep working hard. we don't have the resources all of the other candidates have, that is changing too. heather: right now the undecided vote in iowa, a key par ge target for all candidates supporting mitt romney, but rick santorum gaining ground. we have the secretary for the national republican congressional committee and doug schoen a former pollster, and a fox news contributor. happy new year in advance. looks like the new year is coming a bit early for rick santorum and it looks like it's working out for him. jonathan. >> good iif you go bac

rick santorum's rivals are already on the attack. rick joins us tonight to defend his record. >>> also, if facebook doesn't come to mind when you think of washington's big power and elite, i think again. >>> and if you pay your verizon wireless online, listen up. they're about to hit you with a convenience charge just for taking your money. we'll tell you,000 avoid it. good evening from des moines. we are coming to you from the historic supreme court chamber here in the capitol building. tonight rick santorum's once little noticed campaign is riding into attention. thanks to the poll here in iowa, santorum is basking in the political spotlight at just the right time, five days before iowa's public caucuses. joe is trying to keep up with a man who is suddenly very money in demand. joe. >> hey, candy. i think you call it steady. that's the word he uses. he's had steady events, a steady flow of people coming out to see him. and rick santorum has been here for a long time, 99 counties, pretty much the only one to make 99 counties until m

rick santorum is a great campaigner. everyone forgets he beat an incumbent democratic congressman in suburban pittsburgh. he beat harris wofford, a popular incumbent to get the senate seat and when he points out he lost in the 2006, it was obviously a terrible republican year. i was on the top of the ballot. he was running against bob casey, which is a madgeal name in pennsylvania. he's a very good campaigner. they're not going to have time to negatively vet him. i think this surge is real. i'd say something cautionary about the polls. polls as you know, are tough to gauge turnout even in real elections. in caucuses, it's almost impossible to gauge turnout. so i believe there's a good chance rick santorum will run ahead of what he's polling ç because the evangelicals will turn out with a lot more passion than the romney voters. i think the surge is real and i think it could happen. >> it seems to me that he has been very consistent throughout his career in the way that the evangelical voters want a republican to be con

jay from ames. >> rick santorum. >> right. santorum grab bed for a billion in earmarks until voters kicked him out of office in a landslide. >> there's rick perry going for the jeopardy theme. how does he keep momentum up there with only four days to go? >> i think in this case, it may be an eternity. the fact is while he's done the 99-county tour, he has not had a lot of contact. only 40% of the people have had any contact with his campaign. whereas i think you're going to see rick perry, who is the one doing the negative advertising, who also knows how to run a campaign. he has good people. >> it explains why he's targeting rick santorum. >> and has the money to do so. i think in the end of the day, you're going to see perry leapfrog santorum for number three. >> really? interesting. julian, chris christie, who is a darling for the gop party. he was with mitt romney this morning. let's just listen to a little bit of what he had to say. >> let's be clear. president obama came out to iowa three years ago. he talked to you abou

rick santorum is in iowa. newt gingrich is about to take to the podium there in the center of your stream. and mitt romney is in mason city, iowa. we are certainly learning all the names of the towns in iowa as well. we'll monitor all these events and bring you clips from them as we hear from the candidates. >>> speaking of iowa -- i hope you are sitting down when you hear the latest numbers from iowa, you may be shocked. this be brand-new cnn/"time"/orc poll for choice for nominee. newt gingrich has faded, mitt romney is on top. followed closely by ron paul. rick santorum has surged into the top three. with just five days to go before the caucuses, it is looking like a brand-new ball game and it is all fair game today right here. let me bring in republican strategist ron bonjean and cnn political analyst roland martin. rick santorum's climb in the polls was described yesterday to wolf blitzer. >> it is like any small business person, if the money's not coming in, you just have to work hearder. we're up in the

except for rick santorum. nobody's going to vote for rick santorum. come on. >> he said he will have a big announcement in iowa. there are no indications that the announcement is he's quitting. but it's never a good sign when you say you have an announcement the first thing people ask is are you quitting? >> his role is -- i'm sorry that was actually my own typo. rick santorum does not have a role. he's just rick santorum. >> it has never been more clear that mitt romney will get the nomination and it has never been more clear that republican voters prefer almost anyone over him. i mean, not rick santorum obviously but aside from that, really, anyone. >> rick santorum. in the past few weeks and days have gotten a bunch of support from leaders in iowa. calling itself huk's army who are mike huckabee supporters the last time around in iowa when mike huckabee won iowa. today huck's army declared rick santorum is their man. i have been wrong. he's getting his bubble. google it. joining us now is a man who has covered every iowa caucus. mr. yepsen, thank y

so rick santorum is not shrinking from the fight. he also had a little bit of a shot at mitt romney saying to iowans, don't settle for something less just because you think that is what is going to win in this upcoming general election. so he's starting to sharpen the edges just a little bit. but he's sticking with the retail politics kind of message. he's hoping that's going to deliver him on caucus night, candy. >> jim acosta, i should point out one of the reasons reporters love iowa is that in general, you can show up at an event with a candidate and say, come on over here and talk to me and they actually do. after this, they get much bigger and it's hard to get to them. >> reporter: that's right. that's true. we'll take what we can get. >> thanks so much to jim acosta. you're absolutely right. thank you so much to jim and to joe. >>> coming up, political analyst ron brownsstein joins me to talk more about mitt romney's day. >>> welcome back to "the contenders 2012." we're taking the time this afternoon to let you hear from the 20

text "c" for rick santorum to 622639. go to my blog ed.msnbc.com. >>> new polls are showing last minute surprises in iowa. bob shrum will join me next to break down the strategies as we head into the caucuses. >>> mitt romney says health care mandates are a good, conservative principle, but only if he does it. not if barack obama does it. stay with us. we're right back on "the ed show." m@n@=@sñññ >>> coming up, a rogue element in iowa is urging people to caucus for sarah palin? more iowa headlines with bob shrum coming up. >>> rick perry spent $6 million in iowa. he may want to spend a few bucks on a map of the united states. wait until you hear his latest gaffe. it's a dandy. >>> justice department threw out a voter i.d. law in south carolina last week. now republicans are claiming it's the obama administration that's playing politics. á5)uá thoughts during the show, throughout the program using #edshow. nature fusion cold & flu syrup. flavored with real honey. powerful cold medicine that leaves out artificia

bust cycles you but rick santorum. if he comes in sect or third, that may be what we're talking about. does he have it in him to do that? >> well, you know yesterday's "the washington post" had a fascinating analysis of what's happening in iowa. people said to you, for example, i liked rick perry until i saw him in the debate. i liked newt gingrich until i was reminded about his ethics violation, i like michele bachmann, but her voice gets on my nerve. i'm going with the conservative, and that's rick santorum. i think this is his time to shine, at least in iowa. >> we'll see. >> those voters are looking for one like rick santorum. >> shameless plugs, mike. >> i was just driving by chris hitchens' apartment on columbia road, there's still flowers and johnny walker red. read his book, argue reply, it's out there. >> my wife, who does a better job for christmas each year. thank you, honey. >> howard university and howard university hospital lane frederick, they are doing fantastic work. >> that's nice. mine is savannah gu

rick santorum. mitt romney and ron paul are the front runners with santorum now just nine points back in third place. gingrich falling to fourth. >>> u.s. navy warning iran not to shut down the strait of hormuz. the most important oil shipping artery in the word. iran said it would shut down the strait if the u.s. imposes sanctions on iranian oil exports over iran's nuclear program. experts say a blockade could double the price of oil overnight. >>> violence erupting in another syrian city this morning as peace monitors arrive. syrian forces reportedly firing on protesters in the city. critics now questioning the credibility of arab league teams on the ground there because of the recent surge in violence. >>> north korea warning its late leader kim jong-il, the second day and final day of memorial ceremonies in pyongyang. kim jong-il died nearly two weeks ago from an apparent heart attack. >>> iowa lottery is looking for the winner of a $16.5 million jackpot. they have until 4:00 p.m. today to claim

rick santorum today, i'm sure you heard the news. he is making a strong move in iowa and talking about his credentials. let's listen on to what he had to say. that's one of the reasons they are looking at us. >> you heard him make that point. running as a conservative. is that a hitten or not so hidden shot and does governor romney have to worry about selling his conservative values? we got home late and will tell you every stop we went to had bumper crowds of people flowing out into theç streets. at one time we had to take over two restaurants in iowa. the overflow had reached far capacity to have the fire marshall shut down. in a conservative state to see that outpouring of support t really shows the argument that he is the only conservative that doesn't hold water. more and more come to mitt romney. iowa voters more than anyone had a touch and feel and more attention than any other state. more and more are coming to mitt romney and the numbers are surging. there is an evangelical base that has gone from michele bachmann to newt

senator rick santorum. doing well in the polls. >>> newt gingrich says his third marriage is as strong as they come. can kcalistlista gingrich help win the house? >>> and my interview with mitt and ann romney. the interview coming up in our next hour. let me tell you about a very important phone call i made. when i got my medicare card, i realized i needed an aarp... medicare supplement insurance card, too. medicare is one of the great things about turning 65, but it doesn't cover everything. in fact, it only pays up to 80% of your part b expenses. if you're already on or eligible for medicare, call now to find out how an aarp... medicare supplement insurance plan, insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company, helps cover some of the medical expenses... not paid by medicare part b. that can save you from paying up to thousands of dollars... out of your own pocket. these are the only medicare supplement insurance plans... exclusively endorsed by aarp. when you call now, you'll get this free information kit.

for rick santorum, that's a huge deam> i would say next things to watch on rick santorum are probably whether or not any other candidates take him seriously enough to go negative on him. and also whether or not fox news gets onboard with mr. santorum. they have postally ignored him thus far. but i think those two factors we've seen make a big difference in the durability of other candidates' non-mitt romney. the two factors will be worth watching. what do i know? i've been dismissing rick santorum all along. all right. one candidate who is not getting any headlines out of the polling from iowa today, not only not getting any headlines but not getting sub headlines out of the new polling from iowa today is rick perry who comes in fifth in both the ppp and the cnn polls that are out today. of note in the rick perry campaign right now is a new rick perry stump speech. "the des moines register" reporting today the perry campaign revamped his stump speech in what they're billing as his closing argument to iowa voters. the new vamped speech "the register" observed, quote, ends with a religi

they're torn among rick santorum, rick perry, romney, gingrich and michele bachmann. together, the religious-oriented candidates, that's santorum, perry, and bachmann, get 35% in a new poll, but apart they're giving romney a real path to victory through their division. and how many tickets are there out of iowa? how many people would come from here to other parts of the debate and the campaign? who's out of the race if they don't have a strong finish on tuesday night? we're going to answer that tonight. we'll look at which of the candidates are most likely to quit after the iowa caucuses this coming tuesday. and tell me what you really think. we've got the most revealing moments of the republican race so far. the statements that really tell us more about the candidates that even they ever intended to tell us. finally, let me finish with the role of politics and human tears. >>> we start with mitt romney going for the kill. howard fineman's an msnbc political analyst and "the huffington post" media group editorial director. and susan page is the washington bureau chief

if rick santorum wins, you lose. >> rick santorum obviously decided today that the candidate that he should be trying to stop is ron paul. >> the problem with congressman paul chrks is the thing most people like about çhim, his bo economic plan and cutting the government are the things he has proven he's been incapable of rallying any support to do. he's passed one bill in 20 years. but the thing that he can do when the president has authority unilaterally is to actually pull our troops back. iowa needs to send a message. we want a candidate not in the dennis kucinich wing of running for president. >> michele bachmann is clinging to her campaign in iowa, no longer talking about what she'll do as president, but rather explaining why her iowa campaign chair kent sorensen, abruptly deflected to the ron paul campaign. >> clearly what that reflected was the nervousness on the part of the ron paul campaign that they were losing steam in iowa. they told all of our campaign that he was on board and got in his car and announced he was going with the ron paul campaign. he told me specificall

santorum's rise and gingrich's fall. the x factor? rick perry. the complete results of this morning's revealing nbc news/maris poll straight ahead. romney's acting like the front-runner again turning his fire back toward the president. but how intense is his support in iowa? will the i guess i'm for romney voters show up on tuesday night? the other secret to romney's success? tea party support divided among all of the other candidates. and what happened to michele bachmann? four months ago she won the iowa straw poll and now it's looking like she may come in dead last come tuesday. it's friday, december 20th, 2011. i'm chuck todd. this is a special edition of "the daily rundown" coming to you live from java joes very early here in des moines. you guys can clap. it's okay. let's get right to my first reads of the morning which is four days left until the iowa caucus, our new nbc news/maris poll showed newt gingrich's cratering, rick santorum is surging and conservatives are splitting and mitt romney is the one benefiting. romney gets the support,