floor fight at the convention in tampa in august is a recipe for victory in november. on the contrary, i think it's a recipe for disaster. >> can rick santorum broaden his support and make the case that a bruising convention fight won't hand a victory to president obama? we'll ask him. plus, president obama's historic health care legislation in critical condition. a skeptical supreme court questions whether it's constitutional. what affect will the fate of health care have on the fall campaign? member of the judiciary committee, chuck schumer joins us live. finally, a special "meet the press" roundtable led by joe scarborough, insight and analysis on the politics of 2012. with tom friedman and david brooks from the "new york times." contributor editor for "time" magazine, jon meacham, former democratic congressman harold ford and msnbc's mika brzezinski. captions paid for by nbc-universal television good morning. the final 48 hours before the key wisconsin primary. >> this was an uphill battle foç me if you look back three or four weeks ago. now we're looking like we're going to win this thing. >> the next three days, shake this place up. >> well, tuesday could be rick santorum's last chance to shake up the race and he joins us now from wisconsin. senator santorum, good morning and welcome back to "meet the press." >> thank you, savannah, good to be with you. >> you have spent the week shuffleboarding your way through wisconsin yet our poll has romney ahead by seven points. you call yourself the candidate of the rust belt of the midwest. can you afford to lose another midwestern state and still make that argument that you are the candidate who can win these battlegrounds in this election? >> you look at the voters that we're attracting. they were the key to the reagan coalition of winning indiana, ohio, wisconsin and places like that. they're lower income, folks who are blue collar workers that were the reagan democrats and the reagan moderates, if you will, that joined us. that's the kind of votes we're getting here. you look at the crowds and even the polls, we he feel very, very comfortable that we'll do very, very well in wisconsin. we're being outspent four or five to one. not as bad as we were in ohio and uhl ill but still, the fact that we're hanging in there despite the fact of the barrage of money and insiders and washington folks saying this race is over, this race is over, i think it's amazing, frankly. i'm so excited and so thrilled that people of wisconsin are standing by us. >> reince priebus had this to say, whoever wins wisconsin is going to have serious bragging rights. i think the election on tuesday is going to be pivotal in making the determination on ending the nomination fight. would you agree? is wisconsin do or die for you? >> i don't think wisconsin is do or die but i think he is right. i think it's going to be a strong signal. look, i keep coming back to the fact that when, you know, you look at the odds that are against us. i mean, i think david would like to have these odds versus goliath, i think. this is a herculean task that we're involved in. it's going well. we have -- we've made record numbers of phone calls out of our victory -- our campaign offices. we have volunteers flowing in like we've never seen before, really since iowa. the grassroots effort has been spectacular and the response that a lot of folks don't want this race to be over. there's one thing worse than a convention, a convention site and that's picking the wrong candidate, not picking the best candidate to give us the best chance to win. >> let's look ahead to april 24thç. the pennsylvania primary. the latest poll has you in a statistical dead heat with mitt romney. would you be willing to acknowledge as newt gingrich did with regard to georgia if you can't win in your home state, you have to business in this race? >> i think we're going to win in our home state. there were two polls out since then that have us up 20 and 17. the one that has us up 2, governor corbett, the governor right now was running the primary, that poll had him dead heat with his challenger and he won by like 30 points that poll is always, frankly, an outliar. i just laugh because it's never right. >> but you agree, pennsylvania is a must-win for you? >> pennsylvania, we have to win pennsylvania. we're going to win pennsylvania. i have no doubt about that. >> okay. senator rubio said this week that the moment you acknowledged that you can't get to 1,144 delegates with be that magic number, quote, the primary is over. you have said it is likely you won't get to 1,144. my question to you, if romney has more delegates by your math and everyone else's math, he's won more states, won the popular vote and even by your own admission it's the longest of long shots for you to get to 1144, why isn't it time to step aside? >> first off it's not the longest of long shots. so many of the delegates who are coming to the convention are unbound delegates. this idea that governor romney has all of these delegates and this huge lead, the numbers don't bear that out. >> would you acknowledge he's the most likely nominee as newt gingrich did this week? >> well, he's ahead right now but less than half the votes -- half the delegates have been selected. you know, just go back four years ago. governor romney was still in the race at this point. in other words, when this percentage of delegates had been selected governor romney was still in the race and he wasn't doing nearly as well as we were. i just think we have a lot of panic among the establishment. the establishment has tried to convince the republicans across this country and conservatives across this country that they need mitt romney shoved down their throat and they're trying everything they can. they're not making the sale on the money, on the endorsement, on the policies on what he's standing for because he's all over the map. they have to make the case of inevitability. the poll came out that 60 plus percent of the people in this race don't want me to get out of the race. >> you mentioned party leaders panicking. the question is at what cost is your continued presence in the race? marco rubio said i think it would be very excited to watch a contested convention. i thinkç it will be exciting f the obama campaign to witness and catastrophic for republicans. this is the judgment of your colleagues in the republican party. are you blind to the potential damage of a contested convention? do you really think it will not cause harm to your party come november? >> all i'm saying is this, that four years ago, we had a nominee in march, how did that work out for us when we didn't have the right nominee? the democrats went into the middle of the summer fighting out, slugging it out. the democrats establishment was saying the same thing, we have to end this, it's going to hurt us. no, it doesn't. what hurts us is not getting the right candidate. i would make the argument the shorter this campaign, the shorter this campaign in the general election, the better advantage for the republican nominee because you neutralize president obama's huge money advantage going into the fall. no matter who the candidate is, president obama will have a huge running advantage going into the fall. >> fair enough. but you would acknowledge that there will come a time or place where you might be able to recognize that it's time to step aside? is there any point before tampa where you think you'll be able to see that? are you capable of knowing that? that you're potentially doing more damage than good? >> well, you know, all i would say is that, you know, last time around, mike huckabee stayed in the race until john mccain got the required number of votes and then he got out. it was important to go out and give conservatives the best chance to have a conservative nominee. we're going to go out and fight to make sure that we have the best chance to win this general election and the best chance is to do -- remember, savannah, only one time in the last almost 120 years has a republican defeated a democratic incumbent for president. one time. almost every single time, the establishment said let's run a moderate, he have to win by appealing to moderates. we have to get this horrible president out, no matter who it was. the only one time we won was ronald reagan. the moderates were saying we have to win, we have to win. we can't win with a conservative. it's the only time we won. that's lesson we have to learn in 201. >> is there any scenario you can see where you leave the race before tampa? >> i would say, you know, i go back to what governor huckabee's motto was, if governor romney gets that required number, then without a doubt, if he's at that number, we'll step aside. but right now, you know, he's not there. he's not even close to it. like i said, less than half the delegates have been selected. we have a long way to go. we'll fight the fight to make sure we can win. this is about winning. this isn't about a cause. this is about making sure we have the best candidate to take on barack obama, not the author of the first government takeover of headti care that led to the second one at the federal level. that's the major problem with governor romney's campaign is that he has -- he takes the biggest issue in this race and takes it off the table. we can't, as republicans, afford to let that happen. >> let's talk about some of the endorsements that mitt romney has gotten. paul ryan this week, senator marco rubio. he has all the leading members of the republican party, past and present. you've been dismissive of these endorsements. at what point does this not reflect on you somewhat? these are members of your party who have made a judgment that it's romney, not senator santorum who has what it takes to win. >> if you listen to the endorsements, you know, they all say that, you know, the race has to end. same argument we've just been discussing here. it's not a great endorsement of governor romney. it's saying we need to end this. i would say this, everybody's entitled to a mistake in their life. rubio and ryan are pretty young. they'll recover from it. >> their endorsements were a mistake? >> well, absolutely, of course. anybody who endorses my opponent is a mistake. they should be endorsing me. we're getting the endorsements of people across the state of wisconsin. we're picking up key senators and house members, former speaker of the house here. the grass roots folks. people who will go out and work, put their organizations in place and help us out as opposed to, you know, the folks who aren't even here in the state of wisconsin, many of them won't have a vote on tuesday. >> senator, you talk so much about the establishment, are you not a member of the establishment? you have spent almost your entire career in elected politics in washington, d.c. let's put your reputation as a straight talker to the test here. are you not a career politician and member of the establishment? >> well, if you go back and look at my record, i was sort of the guy mixing it up when i was in the house and in the senate. i don't think anyone would call me a member of the establishment when we were the person who put in term limits, for example, for committee chairman and for leaders, something that had never been done before. someone who exposed scandal after scandal when i was in congress. someone who took away the subsidized haircuts and the subsidized meals of members of congress. we were someone who went out there and fought for the little guy. i was always a big manufacturing guy, energy guy. we were the conservative fire brand, not someone who was a go-along, get-along politician. look, i understand a lot of these folks who were inside the bubble in washington, d.c. you know, look, i can understand it because i was there at one point in time. you lose perspective. it's a group think there. it was a great blessing for me to be out in the last six years, see and feel what's really going on across america. we're reflecting that in this campaign. >> well, we have to leave it there.ç senator rick santorum, thank you for your time, sir, we appreciate it. >> thanks, savannah. coming up, the president's signature health care legislation faced tough constitutional questions this week in the supreme court. will the lobby upheld and if not, what's plan "b" for the president and democrats? chuck schumer joins me live. plus, the wisconsin gop primary two days away. we'll have a key endorsement in the republican race, right here when we come back. i'm good about washing my face. but sometimes i wonder... what's left behind? 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[ female announcer ] from neutrogena® naturals. coming up, we'll go back to wisconsin for a live presidential endorsement. then, democratic senator chuck schumer on the fight over health care and the we're back. before we go to senator chuck schumer in new york, we wanted to spend a few more minutes on the republican race for the white house with the high stakes wisconsin primary just two days away now. joining me live from milwaukee is wisconsin's freshman republican senator ron johnson. he was elected with strong tea party support in 2010. until this morning he has remained uncommitted in the republican presidential race. senator, i know you're here to break news this morning. throw your support behind a candidate. so, without further adieu, who will you be supporting? >> mitt romney. good morning, savannah. i'm the business guy from oshkosh, wisconsin. i have 33 years experience in the private sector. i've been to washington now for 15 months. i certainly understand a big part of our problem is the fact that this president and members of his administration have no private sector experience whatsoev whatsoever. and governor romney has 25 years of experience in the private sector, plus, he has executive experience in government. and i never did intend to endorse anybody but i've had the opportunity to meet with governor romney over the last couple weeks,ç had long phone conversations with him. i've come away from those conversations fully convinced that governor romney is the person to lead our party, to lead our nation. he fully understands the gravity of our financial situation. he's dedicated toward solving those problems. he is ready, willing and able to lead this nation, unlike president obama. today i'm happy to announce my full support and my endorsement of governor romney to be the next president of the united states. i'm looking forward to working with governor romney and his team in my new roll. i've been asked by leader mcconnell to lead an effort, coordinate our agenda and our message in the house, the senate, with the presidential candidate, so we can communicate to the voters of america, the very clear choice in our approach. we actually want to rely on the private sector. we know it's freedom in the free market system versus president obama's approach, growing government, growing government intrusion in our lives. i'm looking forward to making sure president obama is a one-term president. >> do you think senator santorum, newt gingrich and ron paul should get out at this point? >> listen, this is nothing negative about the other candidates. i have a great deal of respect for those individuals that love this country, that have actually exposed themselves to this process that's not particularly fun, you know, you're putting your life on hole, you're putting your life under a microscope. this is nothing negative about the other candidates. it's just a recognition of the fact that governor romney has won more delegates. he's the only person that really has a chance to take a winning number of delegates into the convention. we have seven months before the election. our top priority as fiscal conservatives is to make sure president obama has retired. he's utterly failed to lead. >> very quickly, do you think it's dangerous for the republican party's prospects in november to have this primary process continue on, perhaps, into a contested convention? >> listen, we've had a spirited debate. i think it is time to end this so we can spend the next seven months pointing out the fact that president obama has failed to lead. he's had four budgets now. he's not proposed a solution to save social security and medicare. his budget last year lost lost in the united states senate 0-97. last week his budget lost 0-114. america hungers for leadership. president obama is not providing that. it's time to change direction in this country. that's why i'm coming out urging the voters of wisconsin, let's lead. show this a time to bring this process to an end so we can focus our attention on retiring president obama. >> senator johnson, thank you for your time this morning, sir, we appreciate it. >> thanksç for having me on. we will turn now to the chairman of the democratic policy committee and member of the senate judiciary committee, the senior senator from new york, chuck schumer. welcome to you and welcome back to "meet the press." >> glad to be back. >> let's talk about the president's health care law. if a picture tells a story better than a thousand words, we can take a look at the cover in "the week." the supreme court's skeptical scrutiny of obama care. would you acknowledge, sir, that the president's health care law is in peril of being overturned this morning? >> no, i would not acknowledge that. i've been on the judiciary committee for 30 years in the house and the senate. and one thing i've learned, you can't tell by the questioning as to how the court is going to rule. there was a case a few years ago, the voting rights act case, very important, the questioning was hostile. it was supported 8-1. when the courts of appeals looked at the health care case, very conservative justices -- judges, judge silverman in the d.c. circuit, judge sutton in the 6th circuit asked the same kind of hostile questions and then rule for the law. let me say this, savannah, should the supreme court overturn this law, it would be so far out of the mainstream that the court would be the most activist in a century. let's look at it. for the last century, the commerce clause has been regarded as an ability of the federal government to do many things, the height was the wickard case in 1942, 70 years ago, never been repudiated where they told a farmer that he couldn't grow as much wheat as he wanded. just scalia confirmed a different case. >> that brings me to my question, actually, because of those writings, i think a lot of administration lawyers were quite confident they would get perhaps not an easy ride but not so rough a ride in the supreme court as they did this week. here you have justice kennedy, a swing vote on these issues, doesn't seem the administration can win without him, he's openly skeptical and said there is something unprecedented about what the administration did here. >> i would say this, anyone who judges how the court is going to rule based on the questions hasn't looked at the history of the questions before and then the results. >> would you consider a 5-4 decision along ideological lines an activist court? >> with citizens united where they took 100 years of precedence and allowed corporations and others to put so much money into campsigns when they hadn't been allowed before. >> and to uphold it on those same ideological lines, is that just as activist in your mind? >> well, the bottom line is, there is a broad tradition of support for extension of the commerce clause as i mentioned. as recentlies a2005, a very broad case. >> there are two cases in the '90s that reigned in the clause. the lopez and the morris case. >> that is tota