two presidential debates in 11 hours. that s got to set some kind of indoor record here in new hampshire. we ll start with saturday night s debate, abc news, diane sawyer, george stephanopoulos. here s the question about mitt romney s time as a venture cap tailist working for bain capital. in december you said that governor romney made money at bane by bankrupting companies and laying off employees. that was, i think, the new york times story two days ago. governor romney, your response? i m not surprised to have the new york times try to put free enterprise on trial. roger simon, newt is invoking the new york times. i thought he didn t like the elite media. well, what is surprising here is that newt won t stand up and make the charge himself. newt has been attacking the mitt romney at almost every stop, attacked him very ungraciously in his own concession speech in iowa. the most ungracious concession speech i ve ever heard of. but here we are in new
rick santorum s political career will be ending soon. he will go to the republican convention next year not as a candidate but as a fox news contributor again. santorum has traveled all of iowa, and he s still gaining no traction. there s a reason for that. then of course, santorum finished in a virtual tie in the iowa caucuses. how could news outlets make this mistake again and fail to scrutinize santorum s record in the process? mitt romney faces skeptical questioning despite winning iowa because his margin was a measly eight votes. what does did say about your candidacy that you actually won fewer votes than but in 2008, and you fought rick santorum to a draw? perhaps the press is just trying to keep this race alive? plus, we ll talk to the political director of the dominant tv station, wmur, about covering the nation s first primary as a local story. i m howard kurtz and this is the new hampshire edition of reliable sources. the media narrative here in new