night and they ve said, i m not really sure and they ve been persuaded during that interesting debate process that goes on during a caucus. i do think it is believable. it s what makes us all so fascinating. we heard from rick green earlier, they do take this seriously, iowans, about what it means to the national landscape of having the caucus. john, you tweeted yesterday afternoon that, while you can still conjure scenarios for someone other than romney to win the nomination. none of them you are saying this is romney s to lose, correct? happy new year, tom. yes, i do think it s rom mi s to lose. what everybody is trying to do is figure out what happens if you get something surprising on tuesday night. for example, let s say rick santorum who has the montum at the end somehow wins the caucuses. where could he take that? he doesn t have much going in other states. one of the dynamics, i think, that was hinted at by rick perry s announcement that he s
barack obama, john edwards and so forth going back and forth for the drok nomination and and barack obama became the nominee. this is what no, ma am nags are all about. it s a battle for the heart and soul of the party moving forward. this is no different from what the democrats were experiencing four years ago. anne, we talk about this analysis, there s an interesting nugget from the iowa poll saying that 27% of tuesday s caucus-goers, it would be their first time. what does that tell you? that s a huge number and i will find out on tuesday night whether or not that s accurate. if that s the case more unpredictable than it looks for now. people who are new, there s all the procedural issues of actually getting to the caucus, getting there on time, being a part of the debate process. everything that goes in that, not to mention the weather. you know, newcomers may not be as firmly fixed this their opinions as they say. there s some evidence there are people who support ron paul.
persuaded during that interesting debate process that goes on during a caucus. i do think it is believable. it s what makes us all so fascinating. we heard from rick green earlier, they do take this seriously, iowans, about what it means to the national landscape of having the caucus. john, you tweeted yesterday afternoon that, while you can still conjure scenarios for someone other than romney to win the nomination. none of them you are saying this is romney s to lose, correct? happy new year, tom. yes, i do think it s rom mi s to lose. what everybody is trying to do is figure out what happens if you get something surprising on tuesday night. for example, let s say rick santorum who has the momentum at the end somehow wins the caucuses. where could he take that? he doesn t have much going in other states. one of the dynamics, i think, that was hinted at by rick perry s announcement that he s going straight to south carolina is that some of these candidates
he s a good friend of mine. i would have great confidence him running any campaign for me. but romney has had good debates. last night was not a good debate. i think the bottom line is he didn t lose anything but he didn t make the gain he needed to. gingrich put the spotlight on him for the first time performed very effectively. don t you go ahead. you are right. it was not his best debate. we are not trying to suggest it was. this process is much deeper and more complicated than people give it credit for. just as i have said rick perry ought not to be judged for his qualifications as president from a 30 second senior moment i don t think we should judge our next presidential candidate determine him on the basis of who gives a great 30 second quip or who steps on himself once or twice in the debate process. we are looking for somebody who can solve bigproblems. i think that s what mitt romney is going to convey to people he
he s a good friend of mine. i would have great confidence him running any campaign for me. but romney has had good debates. last night was not a good debate. i think the bottom line is he didn t lose anything but he didn t make the gain he needed to. gingrich put the spotlight on him for the first time performed very effectively. don t you go ahead. you are right. it was not his best debate. we are not trying to suggest it was. this process is much deer and more complicated than people give it credit for. just as i have said rick perry ought not to be judged for his qualifications as president from a 30 second senior moment i don t think we should judge our next presidential candidate determine him on the basis of who gives a great 30 second quip or who steps on himself once or twice in the debate process. we are looking for somebody who can solve big problems. i think that s what mitt romney is going to convey to people he