shocked american politics. what she dthinked of campaignin today. this is "piers morgan tonight." we again with our big story, mitt romney's speech, he took the stage in manchester, new hampshire. mitt romney versus barack obama. tonight, mitt romney went on the attack against his opponent in november. >> four years ago, barack obama dazzled us in front of greek columns with sweeping promises of hope and change. after we came down to earth, after the celebration and the parades what do we have to show for 3 1/2 years of president obama? is it easier to make ends meet? >> no. >> is it easier to sell your home or buy a new one? >> no. >> have you saved what you needed for retirement? >> no. >> are you making more at your job? >> no. >> do you have a better chance to get a better job? >> no. >> are you paying less at the pump? >> no. >> you know, if the answer were yes to those questions, then president obama would be running for re-election based on his record. and rightly so. but because he has failed, he will run a campaign of diversions and distracts and distortions. that kind of campaign may have worked at another place, and in a different time. but not here. and not now. it's still about the economy. and we're not stupid. >> people are hurting in america. and we know that something is wrong, terribly wrong, with the direction of the country. we know that this election is about the kind of america we will live in and the kind of america we're going to leave to future generations. now, when it comes to the character of america, president obama and i have very different visions. government is at the center of his vision. it dispenses the benefits, borrows what it can't take, consumes a greater and greater share of the economy. you know, with obama care fully installed, government would have control of almost half of the economy. and we would have effectively seized to be an enterprise society. this president is putting us on a path where our lives will be ruled by bureaucrats. commissions and czars. he's asking us to accept that washington knows best, and can provide all. we already see where that path leads. it erodes freedom. it deadens the entrepreneurial spirit. and it hurts the very people it's supposed to help. those who promise to spread the wealth around only ever succeed in spreading poverty around. other nations have chosen that path. it leads to chronic high unemployment. crushing debt and stagnant wages. i have a very different vision for america and for our future. it's an america driven by freedom where free people pursuing happiness in their own unique ways create free enterprises that employ more and more americans. because there are so many enterprises succeeding, the competition for hard working, educated, skilled employees is intense. so wages and salaries rise. i see an america with a growing middle class, with rising standards of living. i see children even more successful than their parents. some successful even beyond their wildest dreams. and others congratulating them for their achievement, not attacking them for it. >> this america is fundamentally fair. we will stop the unfairness of urban children being denied access to the good schools of their choice. we will stop the unfairness of politicians giving taxpayer money to their friends' businesses. we will stop the unfairness of requiring union workers to contribute to politicians not of their choosing. we will stop the unfairness of government works are getting better pay and benefits than the very taxpayers they serve. and we will stop the unfairness of one generation passing larger and larger debts on to the next. in the america i see, character and choices matter. and education, hard work, and living within our means are valued and rewarded. and poverty will be defeated. not with a government check, but with respect and achievement that's taught by parents, learned in school, and practiced in the workplace. >> this is the america that was won for us by the nation's founders and earned for us by the greatest generation. it's the america that has produced the most innovative, most productive, and most powerful economy in the world. as i look around at the millions of americans without work, the graduates who can't get a job, the soldiers who return home to an unemployment line, it breaks my heart. this does not have to be. it's the result of failed leadership and a faulty vision. we will restore the promise of america only if we restore the principles of freedom and opportunity that made this nation the greatest nation on earth. today the hill before us is a little steep. but we've always been a nation of big steppers. many americans have given up on this president, but they haven't ever thought of giving up. not on themselves, not on each other, and certainly not on america. in the days ahead, join me in the next step towards the destination of november 6th, when across america we can give a sigh of relief and know that the promise of america has been kept. the dreamers can dream a little bigger. the help wanted signs can be dusted off. and we can start again. and this time we'll get it right. >> i thought that was a pretty good speech by mitt romney, sounding very presidential and you know i think the overriding theme, game on. >> yeah, it was absolutely an excellent speech from his perspective, because it looked like sort of unofficial acceptance speech of the republican presidential nomination. we all know it's over, ron paul's not going to get the republican nomination, newt gingrich is not going to get it. mitt romney has the republican nomination, all about sewn up right now. he had to deliver an important speech and the lean he delivered, the words his wife ann romney ended with, a better america begins tonight, the general elections campaign absolutely it's on right now, mitt romney versus barack obama, and let the games begin. >> seemed a personal speech, and he certainly suggested he's going to be a lot more personal now, maybe more include inwith the american people, a lot more about his vision for america, and basically saying, i think, look, america's got big problems right now. barack obama's failed you. i am the promise land. is that how you read it? >> yes. and he also has to sort of reintroduce himself as much as all of us, you and me, and all of the political news junkies out there, were obsessed over these past several months with what's going on, a lot of americans weren't paying that much attention. right now, he wants to reintroduce himself and as much as he says and advisers say he's not going to do this etch a sketch pivot if you will, to the center, he's going to have no choice. he's going to have no not only appeal to the right of the republican party, but he's going to have to go out and win independent, moderate republican, moderate democratic votes out there. so you're going to see a little pivot. it happens every time, whenever a race like this goes forward and i'm sure it's going to happen this time. the democrats, i will say this, it's interesting, they're going to try to paint him as an extreme conservative, if you will. they're going to make that case that he isn't going to be able to come across as a moderate. he'll try to present a moderate image, now that he has the republican nomination all but sewn up. >> again, very little talk of social issue, that is almost nonexistent, maybe the reason for that what you've been saying, he had go more right wing than he would have liked to take on rick santorum, also my guest, get his react later. tonight's speech nothing to do with that no social issue stuff. much more about america, jobs, people suffering, and his record as a businessman and a man whose family worked their way from nothing to run hugely successful businesses, that their track record is right one to lead america incorporated back into the good time $. >> that's precisely why this was an effective speech member didn't deal with tan gengle issues. he dealt the economy and jobs and a lot of americans nervous. they've lost their job or they have a job but they're not sure they're going to have a job in six months. he was telling them, you know what? i've been successful. i know how to deal with the economy. i know how to deal with job creation, give me a chance because this president, he says, is not doing a very effective job. so that's why this was a much more effective speech than presumably would have had to give if he was only concerned about winning the republican nomination. now that he's achieved that goal, he can do exactly what he did tonight, speak about the economy and more mainstream issues, if you will. >> playing to his strengths. right now, wolf, who would you say is the most likely candidate to be his running mate? there have been all sorts of people suggested, very, very different types of personals. if you were mitt romney who would you be looking to go for now. >> i think ron portman, he's not well known outside ohio, the republican senator from ohio. a lot of romney's top people, people close to him have suggested a guy who served as budget director in the bush administration, the special trade representative, former congressman, he's well-liked out there, he's not necessarily all that dynamic but he's extremely intelligent, there you see him, he introduced romney when romney was out there campaigning in ohio. ohio's a key battleground state. no republican in modern times has won the presidency without carrying ohio. i think he's got a good chance. if you want to go to florida, i don't think marco rubio, the republican senator from florida, by romney's definition, is necessarily ready to be number two, vice president of the united states, and obviously had to be ready to be president, god forbid in an emergency. i think, and others disagree, i think the former governor of florida, jeb bush, who is very popular in florida, florida key battleground state, someone who speaks spanish, can appeal to the latino vote out there, i think he would have a shot. but we'll see if the romney folks decide that he's going to be vetted fairly. i would say those two guys have a very good chance of being at top of the list. >> i think jeb bush is a good choice. i think one thing's for sure, they won't be taking any risks after what happened with sarah palin. wolf, thanks for now. when we come back, the obama campaign fires back at candidate romney in the form of ben labot, the campaign security for president obama, he'll be here after the break. c'mon dad! i'm here to unleash my inner cowboy. instead i got heartburn. [ horse neighs ] hold up partner. prilosec isn't for fast relief. try alka-seltzer. it kills heartburn fast. yeehaw! are connecting here. linkedin connects with the big board. ♪ [ male announcer ] remember when you were a kid? you liked getting dirty and building things. there were no limits -- you could move mountains. the john deere 1 series subcompact tractor -- the way grownups move mountains. and with auto-connect implements, it's the easiest tractor to use yet. what will you create? learn more about the affordable 1 series at johndeere.com/1series. we paid more in student loans than we paid on our mortgage when we finally did buy a condo for the first eight year of our marriage. we were paying more in student loans than what we were paying for our mortgage. >> the number of college graduates that can't find work or that can only find work well beneath their skill level. i fully support the effort to extend the low interest rate on student loans. >> president obama versus mitt romney on student loans. now more on our big story, the obama campaign reacts to rop's speech tonight. joining me is the campaign spokesman, ben labolt. mr. labolt, what's your reaction to the speech? that because the president has failed, he will run a campaign and you are effectively running the press for that campaign, full of diversions, distractions, and distortions. >> there he goes again. the fact governor romney knows this election will be like any other. it will be a choice between two candidates. two visions for the country. he's had a monologue over the the past year. tearing down the president on the campaign. ultimately, this will be a choice between a president that brought us back from the brink of another depression, who bet on american workers to revive our auto -- the auto companies. to revive our manufacturing sector. we've created 400,000 manufacturing jobs in this economy when we've been slipping for years. and a governor -- >> but tell me this. what happens, what happens if a large number of americans do exactly what mitt romney said tonight? they ask themselves, is it easier to make ends meet? is it easier to sell my home or buy a new one? have i saved enough for retirement? am i making more at my job? do i have a better chance to get a job? do i pay less at the pump? what happens if a large number of americans, come november, conclude that actually most of the answers to that are no? >> well, the fact is a better title for governor romney's speech tonight than a better merng should have been back to the future, because he's proposing the same economic policies that brought us into the economic crisis in the first place. more tax cuts for millionaires and billionaires, letting wall street write its own rules again. you know, we've tried those same policies before. we passed those tax cuts in 2001 and 2003. they were supposed to unleash growth. they were supposed to unleash job creation. and they didn't. he praised the recovery during that period but it was much more tepid than the job creation we're experiencing now. the number of exports that our economy is producing right now. the number of small businesses that are opening right now. and governor romney made a series of promises in massachusetts he didn't keep. similar promises to those that he's making today. he says he'd make the government smaller. it expanded under his watch in massachusetts. he said he'd keep taxes low. they went up 750 million a year in massachusetts. he said he'd create job. massachusetts slipped to 47th out of 50th in job creation under governor romney. >> let's look at the interesting, strategic move today which was the president's appearance on jimmy fallon's show where he slow jammed the news. let's watch a bit of this. >> do you know mitt romney? >> i've met him. but we're not friends. >> we didn't actually see the slow jam bit there. we did see him denying being friends with mitt romney. would you say that's an accurate assessment? the president and mitt romney are not friends? >> well, i think they've met one or two times, they met along the campaign trail during the primaries last time around. i'm sure they'll be seeing more of each other face to face. i don't think there's any doubt on the policy front we're facing stark differences here. return to the same policies that caused the economic crisis and the president's vision, which is building an economic that lasts, where hard work and responsibility are rewarded, and everybody plays by the same set of rules and does their fair share. >> the president obama on "jimmy fallon" thought the secret service have been knuckle heads. if a large number of the secret service are knuckleheads, is it time for the chief knucklehead who runs the secret service to step down? >> well, i think anybody who's been following the news in the past week, about a very small group of individuals in colombia would draw that same conclusion about those individuals. but the president has expressed his full confidence in director sullivan to get to the bottom of this. many of us have had the pleasure of working with secret service agents in the white house who have put their lives on the line for the president of the united states. and he has confidence that director sullivan will ensure the agency can get back on track. >> the big battle between president obama and mitt romney may turn out to be one not just about the economy, but about charisma. do you back your man to out-charisma governor romney? >> well, i don't think that ultimately that will be the final test. but what's incredible is that after these three years in office, the president has remained the normal guy he was when he got there in the first place. he talked today about the fact he and the first lady just paid off their student loans not too long ago. but what's more out of touch about mitt romney than his statements joking about being unemployed, saying he feared getting a pink slip are his policies and the fact they stack the deck against the middle class. they stack the deck against seniors. and they're under the false assumption if we shower giveaways among millionaires and billions and the folks at the top, that that will restore economic security for the middle class. that's a flawed premise we. that's back to the future policies. >> to be the most brutal race in the history of planet earth. can you reassure me it's a genteel romp in the park or is it going to get nasty? >> i'm not sure, you may have oversold it a little bit there at the top. but, look, i think there are -- i do think that there are stark differences here. this will be a critically important election about the direction of our country. either we can pursue race to the the bottom economics, the false assumption we can cut away prosperity, base the economy on outsourcing and loopholes and risky financial deals. or we can invest in the middle class and build an economy that lasts. where we're outinnovating and outeducating rest of the world. that's what the president is fighting for every day. >> ben labolt, thank you for your time. >> thanks for having me, piers. coming up, rick santorum. will he endorse mitt romney? can he stay relevant in the republican party? my exclusive live interview with rick and his wife karen who are entering the studio as i speak. first time they've ever come into my lair, from what i can remember. welcome to you both. this could be great. after the break. great shot. how did the nba become the hottest league on the planet? by building on the cisco intelligent network they're able to serve up live video, and instant replays, creating fans from berlin to beijing. what can we help you build? nice shot kid. the nba around the world built by the only company that could. cisco. when it comes to home insurance, surprises can be a little scary. and a little costly. that's why the best agents present their clients with a lot of options. because when it comes to what's covered and what's not, nobody likes surprises. 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[ male announcer ] we are insurance. ♪ we are farmers ♪ bum, ba-da-bum, bum, bum, bum ♪ made me decision to get in this race at the kitchen table. we made a decision over the weekend that while this presidential race for us is over for me, and we will suspend our campaign effective today, we are not done fighting. >> rick santorum on april 10th announcing the end of his race for the white house. rick and karen santorum joining me now exclusively. welcome to your both. >> thank you very much. >> thank you. >> there's a mixture here of disappointment that it's had to end. yet i can see on karen's beaming smile, thank god i've got my husband back. it must be a bit of that, isn't there? >> absolutely. it's great to have him back. it's nice to be shifting gears and get family life back and get more perspective with the way things should be. but it was a great time. we had so much fun. >> it was an amazing campaign. i remember in december all the -- every time i interviewed you it was almost like. >> what are you getting out? why are you doing this? when are you getting out? >> you're a crazy man, you're at 2%. then iowa happened and boom.