who is like him out there? well, i think people like first of all, i think each of the candidates had their moments last night an did very well. and people likehe fact that ronald reagan told it likeit was. i was an early rean supporter here in 1976. i m proud of the leaderip that he provided for this country under the malaise that we were under back under jimmy carter, and we had president that brought america back, and we built our economy, and we need a presidt that has that kind of courage. not somebodthat s going to divide the american pople one agait the other. wneed to reduce the tax d regulatory burden. when i was governor before canada, the canadian dollar was wor 65 cents to the american dollar. nd we were able to bring canadian companies here. now the canadian dollar let me get their financial system is stronger. good points, all. i will say that i think govern romney lost a lot mo than 10,000 bucks last night and newt gingrich won a lot.
you go back 100years. there was no saudi arabia. there was no iraq. there was noordan. as a historian, i think speaker gingrich needs to be a little more accure. this is newtonnian. newt gingrich is radioactiv material. if they get to close he could kill every republican on the ballot. the voters look at it and go, wow, what great power. mike murphy tweeted toys in your poin put it up on the screen, mitt, meaning romney, msed an opportunityto clobber newt as reckless college professor. politics is not a cture hall. that s the argument he s making is, look, you re president of the united states. you talk like that. you may notursue the two-state solution, but you re going to roil a region that s alrdy going through revolutionary chnge. david, it s not only tha think about this, newt gingrich was a taking a pro-israeli position than any recent israeli prime minister. there s hardly any leader in israel tay who would allow himself or herself with the
climate change, when he cut an ad with nancy pelosi. you never specifically go after romney. are you more comfortable with romney as the standard bearer of the party should it come t that, should you not beatim? well, i think the philosophies are pretty close. but you kno i think the answer that was given last night, i think romney comes back a little more diplomatic. i think that he handles himself a little differently than newt. and newt, you know, newt s living up to this. matter of fact, he s addressed the subject. he is a very detmined peon, and can rub people the wrong way. i don t think he s sayg that he doesn t do that. i think mitt has a little bit of a more diplomatic tone to his voice. well, who represents more change? who represents change in the way that republican primary voters want? you mean out of the out of those two. well, but start withish- i don t know, you have to go through.
with us, the majority leader of the senate senator chris bourbon, democrat of illinois. and senator lindsey graha republican of south carolina. finally, our political roundtable, on what s changed in the gop race for the white house this week, and what distinguishes romney from gingrich. with us, specia correspondent ted koel, republican strategist, alex castellanos. nbc s senior investigative correspondent lisa myers. and nbc chief white house correspondent chuck todd. also joining the conversation this morning, iowa s republan governor, terry branstad. good morning. what a difference a month makes. newgingch is now the undisputed fronrunner in the republican race, he s atop the polls in iowa and new hampshire, and look at this, this morning we have new results from our
contrast. lisa myers. well, i think clearly governor romney needed to blunt gingrich s moment last night and he didn t accomplish that. this is newt gingrich s wheelhouse. verbal combat. no one is better at it. no one enjoys it more. you know, the key for him is not to appear too mean. not to go totally off message. and he didn t neither hapned last night. soery successful evening for him. so you know, unfortunately i think for governor romney, the clip that will be played a lot is himtrying to make the $10,00bet. u don say. here was the fight with rick perry over the individual mandate in health care. watch. i read your first book, and it said in there that your mandate in massachusetts, which should be the model for the country, and i know it came out of the reprint of the book, but you know, i m just sayg, you were for indidual mandates, my friend.