snob. it's tuesday, february 28th, 2012. it's a super tuesday here at msnbc. and next week may be officially super tuesday, but it may not get bigger than this for mitt romney. let's get to the first part of the morning. mitt romney's future is on the line today. this is the third major do or die moment. he survived florida with another big win. can romney survive tonight at the day he was born in? there's no overstating the loss tonight. s no just the handwrittening over whether the establishment tried to find another candidate. but there will be financial issues for romney, which is already bubbling beneath the surface. which leads to whether romney is forced to write his own check. republican heavyweightses, at least publicly are trying to put the best fate they can on romney's problems. >> i know a lot of people in d.c. are ringing their hands. the establishment wish they could pick a candidate earlier in the process. a contested primary is a good thing. >> i don't think there's going to be a strong rallying. >> for what's it worth, we have a republican governor calling for a new candidate at this point. he isn't somebody you would exactly call the republican insider. but there's the first break in the dam. the good news for romney, no matter what happens, he will win more delegates. it's a winner take all states. in michigan 28 of the states will be awarded two at a time to a winner in each of the 14 congressional districts. wost case scenario is there will be a slit many michigan. if romney loses, delegates will not be tonight eels story. another good news of news. a win is a win in michigan. now romney said repeatedly he does expect to win tonight in michigan. a state he won by nine points four years ago. at the closing royal in royal oak, michigan, romney returned to the core message, the economy, saying he could beat the president in the fall. >> my commitment to getting america working will be second to none. that reason i'm going to win in michigan and i'm going to win across the country. to get to that spot, of course, i have to first be our nominee. >> meanwhile, he's trying to down play expectations all of the sudden. telling, conservatives, though, not to compromise when it comes to romney. >> governor romney supposedly is the outsider. well, the outsider acts pretty much like an insider when it comes to public policy. you have a chance to be the point in the race. don't miss the opportunity to stand up. >> now romney's advantage is the votes. santorum's advantage will be democrats crossing over in michigan's open primary, where some union members are encouraging democrats to make the mischief. it's happened before in in the state. santorum's campaign is running 11th hour robo calls asking for democratic votes. >> romney supporting the bailouts for his wall street billionaire buddies but opposed the auto bailouts. on tuesday, join democrats who are going to send a loud message to massachusetts' mitt romney by voting for rick santorum for president. >> now romney is not happy about the calls. called it a dirty trick. >> i wasn't too concerned about what the democrats were putting out there because i figured it wouldn't have much impact. but senator santorum did something which i think is deceptive and a dirty trick, which is he put an ad out there sounding like a labor ad, telling labor folks and democrats to vote against me and vote for rick santorum. so confusing em people. it's a new low in this campaign ch. >> it's amazing how this stuff always gets aired out. 12 years ago the same robo calls were happening for mccain. santorum, by the way, fired back at romney on that charge. >> you mean, when he runs a robocall of my voice from four years ago saying good things about him, that's not a low moment? it's interesting he criticizes me for attracting democrats because one of the things that governor romney's people says is, oh, he can't attract democrats. we'll wait and see. >> the most striking thing about the campaign is how both santorum and romney are limping to the finish line. now santorum's able is he has to win with the democrats. he wrapped up his michigan campaign with an all out attack on the presidents. >> tha how they see you. a group of people to be hooked. like fish. like mindless finish who can just be snagged, and then pulled around. wherever they want to take you. >> and while santorum doubled down on his snob comment. what's been astonishing is that romney is acting as if he's so concerned about alienating some conservatives, he hasn't challenged santorum personally on what some would call gaffes over the last four or five days. >> college is not right for everybody. some folks have other ambitions and want to go in different directions. we want people to freedom and opportunity. it's appropriate for the way people think for them. i'm not going to worry about this language. this is the time for us to come together as people. listen to that caution. if somehow mitt romney is not the guy accepting the nomination, the issue of caution and fear alienating any part of the conservative base will be a part of any analysis of what went wrong with romney, if indeed, this thing ends badly for him. again, a win is a win tonight. poll closes at 9:00 p.m. eastern time in michigan and in arizona. but we might not get the arizona ruls for an extra hour. we'll explain that later. sometimes you have to be careful picking a fight with a guy who is in charge of the executive branch. the president took a swipe at santorum for the snob comments yesterday. >> i have to make a poin here, when i speak about higher education, we're not just talking about a four-year degree. we're touking about somebody going to a community college and getting trained for that manufacturing job that now is requiring somebody walking through the door handling a million dollar piece of equipment. >> the administration will get a new pipeline as soon as it is submitted. >> the decision the president made earlier had nothing to do with the merits of a pop line proposals. it was simply because of the decision by republicans to play politics with this, forced the administration to deny the permit request because there wasn't a pipeline route identified. >> and then they approved another pipeline from oklahoma to the gulf. now republicans on the announcement saying the white house can't have it both ways. this is a case where they may just have. and reminder that congress can't necessarily force things to happen when you're in charge of the executive branch, you get to do that. mitt romney is predicting a sweep in michigan and in arizona today. knowing that if he fails, he could end the entire candidacy suddenly is in jeopardy. peter alexander is in detroit, michigan, this morning. and peter, it's interesting. you sometimes watch the body language of a campaign. two days ago a lot of confidence. we're not seeing the same confidence this morning. >> i think he was trying to show some confidence. romney did try to feel loose and rally the crowd last evening. chuck, as just a quick indication of what we may experience over the course of the day. five minutes ago i smoke to a small business owner and his wife. this is a registered democrat. the child of an autoworker who moved to the state to work in the autoindustry. he said he came out today to vote for rick santorum, and he made it very clear he's not sure who he's going to vote for in the general election this fall, but he didn't think mitt romney, a man worth as much money as he did, needed to be in the white house, and really couldn't understand the issues that he's dealing with right now. not the story line the romney campaign wants to hear. another narrative that they pushed back against reporters is the narrative of this out of touch wealthy presidential candidate, mitt romney. in recent days with coverage about the nascar comments, the coverage at ford field where they specifically refer to the number of cadillacs that he had. the strategists and -- right now there's concern within the campaign. i've reached out to advisers who get back quickly. they're really waiting and seeing what will happen over the course of this day. >> peter, it's going to be one of those fascinating days to watch things behind the scenes. keep us informed what you see, buddy. >> rick santorum's campaign says no matter what happens tonight, their campaign will come out a winner. ron moth is with the campaign in grand rapids. we didn't think it would be that blatant. >> yeah. i mean, it's pretty clear, chuck. they're going after this very hard in michigan. they very much want to win here. and some of this things that rick santorum has said over the past three or four day, head scratching kind of stuff. for whatever reason he decided to stay away from the things. these tr the type of comments that they love to exploit. these comments, people are scratching their heads about it. what is striking, a lot of folks think that it's still going. he is chucking polls in his own hole, and yet he could get a victory here tonight. he is not backing down from the comments about the snob comment, attacking john f. kennedy's speech in 1960, saying it made him wan to throw up. the kind of language most people would turn around and say this person isn't ready for prime time. yet he's energized the folks in michigan. not just republicans versus democrats. but for us, we against the republican strategy. his base is quite energized. and the democrats go out and poll for him today. we should have a whole different story to talk about come tomorrow, chuck. >> it's going to be a wild night. could be a long night. ron mott in grand rapids. thank you, sir. up next, michiganer who knows a thing or two about running for president. thaddeus conner. we talk to him about whether romney's roots can help him pull out a win. mischievous primaries in the past where history proves anything can happen in the wolverine state. first a look ahead at the president's schedule. as you can see today, he has a busy one. speaking to the uaw. wonder what he'll have to say about the auto bailout. man: 1939 -- my parents ran across an ad for a hot dog cart. my mother said, "well, maybe we ought to buy this hot dog cart and set it up someplace." so my parents went to bank of america. they met with the branch manager and they said, "look, we've got this little hot dog cart, and it's on a really good corner. let's see if we can buy the property." and the branch manager said, "all right, i will take a chance with the two of you." and we've been loyal to bank of america for the last 71 years. i knew it'd be tough on our retirement savings, especially in this economy. but with three kids, being home more really helped. man: so we went to fidelity. we talked about where we were and what we could do. we changed our plan and did something about our economy. now we know where to go for help if things change again. call or come in today to take control of your personal economy. get free one-on-one help from america's retirement leader. wait. ♪ it's morning in the himalayas... [ male announcer ] it's sweet. it's nutty. it's absolutely delicious. kellogg's crunchy nut. it's morning somewhere. there was a time when not one but two of michigan's native sons were running for president. >> the republican party standard in the fall. if honored enough to serve in the honor of the presidency, i honor you this. i will not work for the pundit. i will not work for the bund lers. i will not work for the powerful. i will work for the people. i will work for you. >> with me now, former presidential candidate turned romney supporter michigan congressman thaddeus mckocotter >> happy national pancake day. >> there you go. it's now my daughter's favorite holiday. how did romney get to this this point? how is he on the verge of frankly a coin flip between winning and losing the state of michigan? >> well, there's two things. there's the general and there's the specific. i believe through no fault of his own on quote/unquote, the establishment candidate. we've seen individuals try to come forward and be the anti-romney candidate. as you in florida after south carolina it was speaker gingrich. now he is the candidate. so i think mr. romney in many ways is running against a perception that is difficult to get past, no matter what he does or doesn't do. secondly, i think what you saw in michigan is the absence of speaker gingrich in this race is going to be critical to determine where his voters go or done go. much as his absence was in the other three states. that gives us a clearer shot at going forward and the ant anti-romney. >> you made the case that he may never win. in time there's a one-on-one situation where there's another folk splitting up if vote. if he's not able to win here, at some point, santorum could drive newt out of the race then how does romney get to 50% of the republican electorate? >> i think the case is made that you're going to continue to see mr. romney continue to run well. while people may not like the fact that there are other candidates in the race, he's likely to have a head-to-head race. if rick were to drop, all would go to one person. the majority of republicans think that mr. romney is going to be our nominee. i don't think we can ascribe to individual candidates leaving the race that they're automatically going to go somewhere else. >> there's one part of it, the part you represent. the part where we think mitt romney is going to be the strongest as the heart and soul of the auto industry and and around the suburbs. but the other parts of michigan are the santorum message on life and on guns. this is a pro-gun, pro-life state. is that how the state is split? the suburbs of detroit versus the rest of the state when it comes to republican voters? >>. >> well, the reality is the economy of michigan is something that links everybody together. it's an automotive state. it's a manufacturing state. in many ways there are fewer differences economically between detroit and grand rapids as michigan and any other midwestern state. when it comes down to what's happening in michigan today as a republican, you can look at the primary, and they're all on record being opposed to the auto industry bridge loans, which i trust that's what president obama will call it, and doing that in the primaries. the concern many of us have is what's going to happen in the general election. the president and his team were very smart about this. when i was running about my 15 minutes of blame for president, he was working in manufacturing places in iowa. he was working manufacturing places in ohio. and when you come into the general election and come back to michigan as an individual that was referenced from my home state as a democratic wife and he's upset about mr. romney at the present time, he's going to be upset with the republican nominee on this issue, unless we can get people looking forward to the future of manufacturing, rather than backwards. >> you were somebody that was critical. you support romney now. what others refer to as the auto bailout. >> all four of the current republican nominees have the same on the issue. so for me it was not really a consideration since they were all equivalent. >> are you going to be one of the republicans who think it's inevitable? paula page is on the record saying it's time for a fresh face. >> look, i'm against a broker orchestrated convention. our nominees should be one of the four people who are currently there who will bring the extra delegates to the party. as for the powerfuls, those people who got me out. i hate to see them go in there and pick a nominee not turnly in the phrase. every candidate looks great on the sidelines, and then when you put them in the game, on the field, you're all going to get a little bit dirty. that's a panacea that a lot of republicans have. our nominee is going to one of these four people. as a romney supporter, i hope it's him. i'm prepared to support any of them. >> i don't think you can sit here and say that santorum has kept momentum going. he sort of stepped on himself at various times. but romney has, too. what would you like to see romney do differently with how he's dealt with the santorum challenge? >> i think governor romney is trying to stay focused on the economy. that is the number one issue. if mr. romney wins michigan, which i believe he will. they'll say it was the intense focus on the economy that got them the delegate this is that he he required. it's a volatile electorate, as you no from following it and covering it. that's not going to change as we head into november. the american people are taking their time, making sure they do the best they can to make the right decision. and they'll do the same thing in november that they're doing now. >> thaddeus mccotter, thanks for coming on this morning. >> thanks, chuck. >> all right. is it an unlucky 13,000? wall street can't seem to get over that hump. the market rundown is next. plus, the international community is trying to mobilize to help syrian people. explosions continue to pound the city. we're giving you a second chance at this one. i botched the reading of it. who won both the republican and democratic primaries in michigan? there's more than one right answer here. tweet me the answer @chucktodd. molly created the girls on the run sometimes, i feel like it's me against my hair. 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[ male announcer ] try the new 360 investing dashboard at e-trade. live pictures here. it's mitt romney stopping by for a visit with michigan headquarters. this is the only event on romney's public schedule until tonight. they'll actually being taking some questions. the first media unveil in three weeks. now an update on the tragic shooting yesterday in ohio. a student wounded then, now declared brain dead. 17-year-old russell king jr. was declared dead. that would be the second fatality in the violence that e are upped. russell king jr. was one of five students shot as they waited for a bus ride. former senator bob kerry may opt for another senate run after all, but we're not sure. after initially saying he was interested, and then saying he wasn't interested, kerry is now taking a second, or is that a third look, and he'll announce a decision this week. the filing deadline is march 7th. so he has to dd this week. and voters in the battleground stat of illinois are already casting votes three weeks before the state's primary. nearly a million people cast early ballots in illinois back in 2008. we're just minutes away from the opening bell. what do you have for us? 13,000, is this the floor that does not speak the name in the elevator. >> began and again and again. every day we're looking for 13,000. this morning we looked like we were well on the way there. the dow would open up by 45 points, and then we started to get these economic dmurms. they were not what we were expecting. first of all, durable goods game this. this has generally been a pretty good number. we got a look at them. they dropped by h%. that was the most in three years. things like a refrigerator, a washing machine. that was concerning. we got numbers half an hour ago. there's been a lot of signs that the housing market is turning. warren buffett says this is one of the best investments. in december we saw a drop in 1 out of 20 markets actually ending 2011 at the lowest levels we have seen in some time. the markets, again, 18 to 20 were in atlanta, chicago and detroit. only two city where is you saw increases. that was miami and phoenix. so we could have some time to go before we really see a turn in housing. >> miami and phoenix were probably the biggest way to go when it comes to the foreclosure world. >> that's right. >> thank you very much. we're taking a deep dive into michigan's messy primary past. the daily rundown will be back in 30 seconds. >> well, it's time for today's deep dive, and we have two big fights today. one is in arizona, but the real matchup is in michigan, waiting to see in mitt romney can pull through and win in his home state, or if he'll lose to rick santorum, who are running now with a full head of steam. romney hows how important a win is here. he's been talking about his love for michigan for weeks. >> this feels good being back in michigan. you know, the trees are the right height. the streets are just right. i like the fact that most cars i seed are detroit made automobiles. i was born and raised here. i love this state. it seems right here. trees are the right height. i like seeing the lakes. >> romney won here in 2008. he beat john mccain by nine points. >> you know, only a week ago a win looked like it was impossible. then you got out and told america what they needed to hear. >> well, the pressure is on again to make sure romney doesn't lose in his state of birth. h knows if he loses the low rumble in the gop establishment about the need for new candidates will grow into a roar. michigan is not as predictable as you would think. part of the reason is anybody can vote. all you need to do is switch party affiliation on election day. in 1972 michigan republicans helped carry the states for democratic segregation. wallace beat george mcgovern, and the state has been doing it ever since. >> and then i thought i could win the nomination on my own. >> free the people! thank you very much! >> that's right. you saw it there. ted kennedy beat then president jesse carter in 1980. jesse jack san beat the eventual nominee. although the odds are in romney's favors, there's a big chance to pull an upset. joining me now, a man who covered the michigan upset. tom brokabrokaw. >> if you remember, i thought the most striking one in many ways was what happened in 2008 when john mccain was declared doa after south carolina. he wins in new hampshire. but he goes to south carolina. the bush team gets it back together. they think they've got a straight road all the way to the nomination. next week in michigan, mccain pops back up again. we've been talking this morning, and i've been watching a lot. i think that santorum ad reaching out to democrats could be a factor here. because you can show up and vote as a democrat by saying i'm a republican today. and santorum has an ad out. >> none of them led to the winner becoming the nominee. >> no. we're placing the importance, fairly because of his ties to michigan. he should take some idea in the fact that he did recover. bush did recover there, although three of the four never ended up winning the general election, they want their own kind of place in american politics they would assume not revisit. it should be an important state. you have to look at the fall as well. big industrial state. a lot of votes in michigan. i thought when he gave us a useful lesson in what is the real state of michigan, it's not just the detroit area, it's the upper peninsula, for example. you go to grand rapids, and you have a lo of conservative people in that area, many of whom come from a dutch background. they have very strong feelings about soecial issues. so michigan is a mixed bag. >> mike murphy was reminding me. the strongest state chapter is in the state of michigan. >> mm-hmm. >> in gun groups. nra. very strong. this is a place for his social issues. >> that's absolutely true. it's a state of many, many parts. i do think you have to try to project forward what's going to happen here in michigan in the fall as a result of the campaign. by the way, you and i have been talking about this. i think it's a comment on the absence of nimbleness on the part of romney, that he couldn't just seize the santorum comments on college education. he said, he's a snob, the president, for encouraging people to go to college. two of the most cherished institutions of michigan tr the university of michigan and michigan state. with good reason. they're world class educational institutions. and my guess is that 99.9% of the residents in michigan would like their child to go to one of those schools. a better issue would have been affirmative action, which is now back in play. and the last time it came out in the university of michigan. >> i know when you go to the rest of the republican party they say he's not a real conservative. we were having this conversation about the fear factor he seems to have about challenging anything that might alienate a conservative voter. and here is david brooks. whatever you want to call that. it's almosts if he didn't expect romney to have the guts to do it. >> i think it's a big issue. it's troubling to a lot of the establishment republicans who are looking at the possible of a santorum nomination and thinking that it could be very disruptive to the party for a long time. but mitt romney has not risen to the occasion. fit whatever metaphor you want. doesn't rock 'n' roll, doesn't tap dance. doesn't conform to what's going on. when you can see why he was an effective guy. he moves in. he understands what it is. he has to stay on the game plan. >> are you one of that he goes and so goes the obama presidency. >> i wouldn't go that far at this point. there's so many unknowns. what happens in iran is going to have a big impact on the world one way or another. the unexpected natural calamities. what happened in tokyo. what happened in new orleans. and that can have a radiant effect on a campaign. you were talking earlier to becky quick about 13,000 level. can that be sustained? well, what we have learned is almost every year. i was thinking today about fro years ago in 2010 i was at a conference for the president of chase manhattan bank. he said to the conferees, how many of you are hiring? every hand in the room went up. turned out to be a big false positive sign. they were hiring at that moment, but six months later they weren't hiring. >> there's a great piece in bloomberg. iran, afghanistan, all of the international issues become domestic political fights inside this campaign very quickly. >> yeah, very quickly. and they effect not just international policy. but because of the nature of the global economy. they can have a devastating effect on that very quickly as wel well. >> is this a reset moment? >> yeah, it is. it's a game changer. and i don't know where they go from here. we were on a different cosmos on how the stars line up and who else may be looking at getting in, and how the republican establishment, so-called. i'm not sure what that is. >> whatever haley barbour shows up for lunch. >> and whether they have impact. >> and where has haley been? >> a lot of people thought he was the game maker. i'm not sure that's the case anymore. >> tom brokaw. interesting night. he just spoke to reporters. he called him an economic lightweight. we'll talk about that. plus we're rocking the vote with our super tuesday panel next. but first, white house clip of the day on this super tuesday. loaded potato. you're watching "the daily rundown" only on msnbc. if there was a pill to help protect your eye health as you age... would you take it? well, there is. 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[ male announcer ] ocuvite. help protect your eye health. well t it's primary day. mitt romney not mincing words when it comes the to attacking rick santorum. he spoke to reporters, and without mentioning santorum, he certainly drew a contest. >> it's very easy to excite the base with comments. if you're willing to say really outrageous things that are accusative and attacking president obama, that you're going to jump up in the polls. you know, i'm not willing to light my hair on fire to try to get support. >> let's bring our panel of politicos. let me start with you, ron. so suddenly now romney kind of sort of responds to the snob comment, call of desperation, but didn't go at it the way david brooks went at it this morning. and there's been no challenge by romney. and to me it's the most striking thing about this 72 hours. >> the most hopeful thing is the voters will speak for themselves. and those most interested are going to see that and make their own jums. and romney is realizing he has to press the point. he has to make the case. in part because not all primary voters are fully engaged at all times. messages that viewers of this program are sick of are just now trickling out to the primary voters who are just starting to pay attention. >> i'm just sort of struck by. it also seems like you have to at some point feel comfortable enough in your own skin to stand up to this. and he seems to be always fearing alienating somebody. this has been a campaign of caution. >> that's been the story of mitt romney's campaign. he's not comfortable enough with the base. i think he has enough sort of terror about the base that he doesn't even feel comfortable defending a college education. which is an easy case for anyone to make. you think he would defend himself now. mitt romney is almost an outsider to the republican party, the way it is now. and i think he understands that. but i think he's hurting himself by not standing up to santorum, on something as basic as college. >> all right. all the times when he campaigns is one of these moments. to me, one at this point. it's sort of romney survives and will claw his way to the nomination. all bets are off. >> i think it's both. at the end of the day, this is a message problem. there's no question. there's no one in the campaign able to say to mitt romney this is not the way we need to do things. we need to handle x, y, z differently. we've seen it with the comments on wealth. we've seen it with his taxes. wer going to see a very different race going forward in terms of how mitt romney manages his own campaign if he loses on the. >> he was asked this morning about the state of the campaign. here's what he said. >> i'm very pleased with the campaign, the organization. the candidates sometimes make the mistakes. so i'm trying to do better and work harder and make sure we get a message across. i think in the full-time analysis, i anticipate becoming a nominee. because what people want to be talking about is the economy. >> well, ron, he sort of took the blame. he took one. he took it. you know, and that is what he is ultimately the guy in charge. >> i clearly live in outer space. i find that kind of admission to be pretty admirable. it's the kind of thing you think would connect with someone out there. it's true it's not connecting with enough republican primary voters to get him over the hump. it doesn't make sense to reach out to the campaign. it's not a terrible idea. they've been very effective at mobilizing like the death star. and very systematically achieving these. they need to find a narrative. >> he needs passion. i think i've run across one person anywhere i've gone who will crawl on broken glass for mitt romney. you don't see that. i find people who will vote on broken glass to vote against romney. not for santorum or for newt, but against him. he inspires a negative passion inside the party, but nothing for him. >> but i think what we're seeing is sort of the anti-2008. the 2008 campaign drags on and on because it was so much passion for the front-runners that people couldn't let go. they couldn't let go. here you're seeing the opposite. l no passion for anyone here. people are dragging on waiting for a miracle to happen and mitch daniels to change his mind. there's no passion for anyone. one thing to point out, if romney does lose here, there has only been two states where he's been able to outspend an opponent by less than three margin. south carolina and michigan. h goes 0 for 2, that sends a message. but newt gingrich has more money. is it earmarked as pro-gingrich? >> it is. it has what could be really negative nasty contrast by any standards, except for the ones used in the future. this is much more gentle. but it's a largely pro-newt gingrich. >> if he loses georgia, is there any justification for him to stay in the race? >> well, i think the justification is newt wants to position himself as the leader of the populous wing of the republican party come 2013. i think he's betting on a obama presidency. that's the thing a lot of republicans will find discomforting. >> stick around. we have a little kid rock coming up after the break. but trivia, we ask correctly this time, who won both the republican and democratic primaries in michigan? there were two right answers to the question. henry ford and herbert hoover. ford won the republican presidenti presidential primary in 1960. hoover appeared on both the democratic and presidential primary ballots. twon the republican contest eight years later. we'll be right back. you're watching "the daily rundown" only on msnbc. e drink o wate ry? 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[ cheers and applause ] the extended-range electric chevy volt. hard to argue with the facts. ♪ mitt romney and kid rock. not two names that usually go together, but last night kid rock gave him support at a romney rally in michigan. here's how romney explained the alliance. >> he said if you're elected president, will you help me help the city of detroit? i said i would. and then he -- and then i turned to him and said, by the way, given the fact i'm willing to do those things, would you come here and perform a concert tonight for my friends? >> let's bring back our panel now, mag gene, brian, why can i not just get my arms around -- i give romney credit, he was honest. he's not pretending to be a kid rock fan. there was no awkward high-fiving or anything with kid rock, which is a good thing given this. >> that's what he does best. i think that when he's sincere, when he reveals, hey, i'm a dork. so let me at it. i think the best -- that's the way to go. and it's a reflection on the weird mix that kind of -- the cultural politics of the republican primary base. and that whole idea of kind of connecting with people who connect with him. >> maggie, where's ted nougin. it is usually ted nougin who is the musician of choice. but he probably would be a santorum guy. >> i think so. he would be on stage with mike huckabee, right? he would absolutely see him with santorum. >> i have a feeling the president gets to have a little fun at the expense of the republicans today. >> yeah, because at the end of the day, santorum is running this disingenuous robo call saying the other guy didn't support the auto bailout, but neither did he. i think michigan is probably gone for republicans in the fall. so really this is just about romney's viability. the president is in a good place. the bailout worked. >> are we hitting the reset button in the race for santorum? >> i think that's right. it will be interesting to see if gingrich can take some high out of rick santorum because that would be interesting. you have a strange situation where mitt romney is now quoting newt gingrich. >> he did it today. it was stunning. maggie, what's the realistic scenario of a clamber for somebody else, but jeb bush said no, paul ryan said no. >> i think paul ryan is not running and chris christie is not running. he said he's not running and i take his word. >> almost certainly with christie. he has left this door, it's closed, but it is not bolted. >> it is not bolted, it's not sealed. >> i don't believe it. i don't think any of the viable republicans for 2016 want to attach themselves to the brand of the gop as it is today. >> sameless pug -- >> we have an article on the politics of the internet and why republicans need to get on the right side of internet disruption. >> favorite guy to follow on twitter, he always find the technological noug gets. >> we are profiling how one family is taking it personal. >> and we have a story on how incredibly nasty the race is and is it nastier than obama/hillary in 2008. >> i would say, yes, it is. that's it for this edition of "the daily rundown." results of the michigan primary begin tonight at 8:00 p.m. on msnbc. we'll be covering this all day. and it starts as i hand the baton over to chris jansing. have a super tuesday. there's any to help eliminate litter box dust: purina tidy cats. our premium litters now work harder to help neutralize odors in multiple cat homes. purina tidy cats. keep your home smelling like home. spark card from capital one. spark cash gives me the most rewards of any small business credit card. it's hard for my crew to keep up with 2% cash back on every purchase, every day. 2% cash back. that's setting the bar pretty high. thanks to spark, owning my own business has never been more rewarding. 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