undermined domestic energy production through their epa and heavy handed regulations. the plan on friday will be how to change that dynamic, how to create jobs, and create technology, energy, and a momentum for our economy going forward. i want to talk a bit about immigration. everywhere the governor went this weekend in iowa, it came up. it came up and the governor had the same answer he s given before. how concerned are you simply as a strategist trying to help governor perry get the nomination that conservatives are going to have a hard time accepting his immigration position. chuck, we ve got 90 days until the first votes are cast. the governor s been in the race about seven weeks, as you pointed out earlier. this is something the voters care deeply about. we plan on listening to their concerns, responding to their concerns and making sure they know that of anyone in this race
right now herman cain is the new flavor amongst the conservatives that don t like romney. someone has to organize the vote es around someone else. romney s not really trying to win in iowa. if you get to where they divide up the vote, romney could do well in iowa as well. liz, one of your folks put together a piece noting that maybe perhaps the field is starting to target mitt romney. romney faced relentless criticism four years ago for changing his positions on abortion and gay rights and gun control. this year the massachusetts governor has largely escaped such attacks. that might be changing. certainly starting to change. up until this point what you ve seen is the candidates, the republican rivals tepidly, tentatively trying to do this line of attack. but nobody has really had any success. and nobody has really gone full blazing at him on this issue.
about and done that in iowa and south carolina, you hear a yearning for a romney quote, alternative. do you hear that on the ground in new hampshire? well, you hear it less here at this point. but i think that the race is not yet fully formed. you know, we are way ahead of the average voter. you mention david broder. one of the things dave taught me is no matter what they re talking about in october or november, real people don t really keen in on what they re going to do until after new year. i think until that point, we won t know exactly what the race looks like. romney is in good shape in new hampshire at this point. but there is a lot yet to happen in this debate. there are tv ads that haven t begun to hit air waives yet. we have a lot of activity that s going to play out before most voters decide what they really intend to do. we ll be tuning in tomorrow. dan balz, good to have you in
endorsement of rick perry into a religion debate. mitt romney is a good moral person but he s not a christian. mormonism is not christianity. it s considered a cult. romney responded in his speech saturday denouncing religious bigotry. it s never softened a heart or a mind. the task before us is to focus on the things that unite us. let no agenda tear us apart. on the trail in iowa, romnpe was forced to distance himself. do you believe mormonism is a cult? i told him no.
some of his rivals. particularly those he eclipsed over the past few weeks. is new hampshire in play? at what point does romney s lead become insurmountable? new hampshire is always in play. we have never seen a campaign yet in at which some point new hampshire did not become competitive. every time we ve come into these elections, someone often has a lead and a substantial lead particularly at this time of the year. by the time you get to the voting. by the time you get to iowa in the final days, many things can happen. we ve seen things people come from behind and win and come close. i think no lead is ever safe in new hampshire. i know one of the things you love to do is you take the panl from the you talk to more people on the ground in new hampshire than the average reporter does. in these other states when you do that and when we ve gone