that s that lets you watch tv. that s it from cnbc, first in business worldwide. now back to hardball. welcome back to hardball. last night some less than far out republicans prevailed over their more right wing rivals in michigan and kansas. michigan, businessman rick snyder who called himself one tough nerd won against the conservative field and in kansas, after they both joined michele bachmann s tea party caucus jerry moran beat todd teahart in the primary and seven out of ten voters in missouri backed a referendum rejecting the new health care law. is the tea party wave cresting a bit, or will nominees in florida, kentucky and nevada help republicans take over the senate? chuck todd is an nbc chief white house political correspondent and nbc political analyst
mitt romney what is behind these dramatic numbers? well, you know, it is starting to look like a lot like the mccain path to victory in 08, had the divided conservative field like we saw romney this week, where he can skate to whip the primary. this state has been perceived a long time as being this hive of evangel evangelicals and conservative state. [ no audio ] where i am in greenville, yes, a lot of megachurches but also a lot of international companies. romney is a business guy. you go down to the coast there is a strong military and veteran presence. he was there with john mccain today. romney running on a really strong national security platform. got a lot of commuters around the charlotte suburbs, so it s a very, you know, broad cross section of republican voters in this state. as you and michael pointed out, romney is running well among all groups, running well against born again christians, college grad, down scale voters, doing