way. it's never the case that it helps you to walk -- to a cake walk to a nomination. in some ways i think romney may have had it a little bit too easy. will probably be good to have at least one more big scare along the way. >> but he's holding less than he got four years ago. he got 25% of the vote in 2008, and he's now at 23% in the latest nbc poll. >> and this is a fractured field that that is a big number for him. >> did he really slay newt gingrich or did the super pacs spending $3 million to remind everybody about gingrich's baggage slay him? i don't disagree romney has become a better candidate but i don't notice a marked difference in his performances on the stump and interviews based on the graph challenge. i just see a ton of money that got spent to destroy gingrich with the help of bachmann and santorum and others. >> "the wall street journal," you know, "the wall street journal" went off newt, "the new york times" went off newt almost