very own joy ann reed. one of the biggest questions primary voters have been asking is who is a conservative in this race. let's listen to rick santorum why he gave that title to mitt romney in 2008. >> so romney will stand up for the conservative principles that we hold dear. you didn't say compared to. >> of course i'm not going to say compared to. i'm trying to advocate for his candidacy. >> so you didn't mean that then? >> i was saying it relative to john mccain. and that's what i meant then. >> joining us now from iowa, john heilemann, national fairs editor at new york magazine and an msnbc political analyst, the oracle of des moines, john, thank you as always for being on the show. >> good day, alexandre. how are you out there? >> we are doing okay. we have many questions for you. the first is, we have heard a lot about this proverbial heat in the kitchen and whether or not it's too hot. and i wonder, rick santorum is coming up in the polls as we're seeing from numbers that are out