on romney- care. gingrich i think, despite what he said recently about individual mandate, i think he could end up playing that role. i think he will be still be a pretty formidable fund-raiser and have table-stakes. >> i mean, newt gingrich has become a joke. he's become a travesty. he had the rollout that is the worst nightmare of any candidate in history. this is after two months ago he said he had those extra marital affairs because he cared so passionately about his country. >> he's a joke in washington. look, there's no one in this race... of the big three, of the big three candidates there's not one who is a clear social conservative, religious conservative candidate. >> neither is newt. >> he could be. >> he changes. he's adaptable. i agree. he doesn't have a history. >> i'm not saying he's likely to win but i think after bachman and palthe next most likely to shake things up and play a role and ron paul as well. >> charlie: tom, how many republicans are not running because they think this is

linking romney's ideas to president obama's. inciting serious flaws in the republican's candidacy. >> i, in fact, did what was right for the people of my state. >> reporter: by the time he got to a classroom at the university of michigan this afternoon, he was on the defensive. >> a lot of pundits are saying i should stand up and say this was a mistake. but there's only one problem with that, it wouldn't be honest. >> reporter: as governor in 2006, romney signed a law that required everyone in massachusetts to have health insurance. a model for obama's 2010 health care reform. >> one similarity that i know bothers people a lot, is the fact that there's a mandate in the massachusetts plan that i put into place. >> reporter: romney's defense, which he hopes will resonate with skeptical conservatives, it's a state's right. >> our plan was a state solution to a state problem. and his is a power grab by the federal government. >> reporter: but romney didn't embrace the mandate with the same gusto he has in the past. >> if a state cho

people say pawlenty is the non-romney. if you can't take romney and not a tea party you have to go with pawlenty. >> i think the best line on romney is john stuart who said he likes -- looks like the guy that fired your dad and his career was firing people. >> say pawlenty is the second choice so he could be the tortoise in the race. chris: let's put it to the matthews meter. 12 regulars including joe, gloria and andrew which of the three romney, pawlenty or huntsman has the best appeal to beat barack obama? eight this blew owe of the saddle. eight say huntsman including three of you. overwhelmingly lun lly huntsman. i bet you know the least about him. >> that is why. what a statement. >> we didn't say he had the best chance of getting until nated but against obama. chris: let's go to palin. you love palin. some strange way you are fascinated by her, andrew. >> as i said many times she started running the day after 2008 election ended and there is no reason to believe she isn't running. chris: she took a smart break about

romney tried and didn't make it last and i'm. grippinggring invokes images of 1995. ron paul was joking himself that is the third time around. is the party going to have a come to a moment where they have is to make a old -- new or old party decision like the democrats did? if so what do the polls tell you about which way they'll go on that? >> well, every party wants a new face in a situation like this. the fact that romney's been around the track once i don't think is a significant problem because in many ways it makes you a stronger candidate the second time around. newt gingrich has a different problem because he comes with so much history, and p all of it is good. he's been a force in the party, the ideas machine of the republican party, but he carries a lot of baggage both in his personal life but in his professional life as well and how he's conducted himself. gwen: but there are people who are new to most people, like john huntsman and mitch daniel. >> and tim paulenti, former governor of minnesota. i don't think -- pawlenti, former governor of minnesota. i d

mitt romney isn't quite it yet. did any candidate jump in, denounce newt gingrich and take up that banner or are tea partyiers still waiting for sarah palin and michelle backman? >> michelle backman is the one candidate who saw that opening as perhaps her best opportunity. and she had planned to make an announcement in june and she this week told her supporters she may move up her announcement. gwen: and made a whole lot of robo calls into iowa yesterday after the president's speech. >> and she can raise a lot of money and that's the other thing. the candidates who are sitting on the outside, who have not made up their minds about whether they're getting in or not, the only one withs who are going to have a shot to get in here are those that can raise money fast. and that window is closing even for them. but bachmann is definitely one of them because she definitely is a grassroots online kind of candidate who can turn over donations quickly. >> i was going to say, a lot of people think mitch daniels might get in her

romney advisor. when i look at this issue with romney, and i said this before and i'll say it again. elections are about choices. the primary election is about a choice. i think healthcare is a problem for romney and will remain a problem for him. if you look at someone like mitch daniels who is the flavor of the month, there are problems with him. criticized fiscal conservative for blowing the budget, as they say, for blowing the budget under george bush. that is a criticism for him. he has problems as well. tim pawlenty supporting cap-and-trade and so forth. i would say with all the hand-wringing about the republican field right now, another piece of news happened this week, which was the unemployment rate kicked up to 9% again. congressional budget office says that on election day, 8.2% will be the unemployment rate. we haven't had a president re-elected with unemployment rate that high since franklin roosevelt. the last three booted out with unemployment in the mid-7.0s were gerald ford, jimmy ca

it also helped paint romney into a political corner. >> i agree with mitt romney. proud of what he accomplished on health care in massachusetts. >> reporter: tough words to take if you want to run in a republican primary. 80% of republicans oppose the president's health care plan. which, like the massachusetts model, penalizes people who do not buy insurance. today, in a breathtakingly scathing editorial, the conservative "wall street journal" said of romney, if he does not change his message, he might as well try to knock off joe biden and get on the obama ticket. but, for those hoping for an apology, romney said -- >> there's only one problem with that. it wouldn't be honest. i, in fact, did what i believe is right for the people of my state. >> reporter: romney did say he would work to repeal the president's plan and hand over power to individual states. >> our plan was a state solution to a state problem. and his is a power grab by the federal government to put in place a one size fits all plan across the nation. >> reporter: the question is, will that be enoug

mitt romney, anything that's happened the last two weeks has been very good for mitt romney. he is sort of the default option, i think, for the republican party. chris christie has made sherman-like statements about not running this time. i think, i personally think he's serious about that. and i think one reason is that he can look ahead to 2016. >> yeah. >> and see that as a better chance. >> what about the message, andrew ross sorkin? i mean, you cover wall street, you cover all things financial. a fiscal discipline message of we're going to get it right on the economy message, that is still the right message for republicans going into next year. >> i got an e-mail while the show was going on, while ryan was just speaking. and even though the medicare plan may be unpopular, the view by a wall street ceo was this guy at least is proposing something. i think they like the idea of leadership. they want to get behind that. i don't know if ryan is their man. i think from a money perspective, you're seeing all the money going to romney, but i think there is a worry there is a la

still mitt romney or has newt edged out mitt romney. >> maybe none of the above. it's not sure it's mitt romney. he's an accomplished capable man but has an albatross that just doubled in size this week. >> if he can get through the primaries when he did in massachusetts with health care reform is -- would be an asset. and i think he did the right thing not to walk away interest it. i want to say one more thing about newt. remember the phrase, buy one, get one free? it was the clintons in '92. newt is bringing his wife can lisa and they're very much a duo in this race. and i don't know that will be where -- >> i think -- >> why, why y? seems to me that's -- [everyone talking at once] he's very up front about his personal life and the divorce. >> think of giuliani, was she an asset in that presidential campaign? the women are wonderful wives, but i don't think the voters are necessarily looking for a package deal when they're voting in the primary. >> he's looking for what, suburban women to vote for him? >> i don't think she will attract that. >> we don't want to

first romney's medical care, and gingrich and romney have said conflicting things about obama care, romney care, is the republican party flubbing on an issue that they thought would be their path to victory? >> i think it's too early to say that. there's no question that newt gingrich, you know, started i lot of resentment among house republicans by attacking the ryan plan on medicare and has called it right wing social engineering. there's a lot of resentment today in the house. at the same time, mitt romney, it looked like health care would be a real albatross. that was last week. this week, romney is the one, i think, that gets the greatest benefit from both huckabee and donald trump pulling back. he does now emerge, i think, as a clear front-runner, and today, he had a fund-raiser out in nevada. he raise aed $10 million in one day. are that's a substantial amount of money, compared to four years ago when he ran when he raised $6 million in a similar effort. this time, he raised $10 million. you have to say, i think he's the big winner of huckabee and trump pulling back. >> you know, da

still mitt romney or has newt edged out mitt romney. >> maybe none of the above. it's not sure it's mitt romney. he's an accomplished capable man but has an albatross that just doubled in size this week. >> if he can get through the primaries when he did in massachusetts with health care reform is -- would be an asset. and i think he did the right thing not to walk ay interest it. i want to say one more thing about newt. remember the phrase, buy one, get one free? it was the clintons in '92. newt is bringing his wife can lisa and they're very much a o in this race. and i don't know that will be where -- >> i think -- >> why, why y? seems to me that's -- [everyone talking at once] he's very up front about his personal life and the divorce. >> think of giuliani, was she an asset in that presidential campaign? the women are wonderful wives, but i don't think the voters are necessarily looking for a package deal when they're voting in the primary. >> he's looking for what, suburban women to vote for him? >> i don't think she will attract that. >> we don't want to know

romney has romney care. tim pawlenty, cap and trade. mitch daniels, governor of indiana, supported some tax increases. and john huntsman has, too. he was president obama's ambassador to china and been pro gay rights. then there is the list of likely candidates with big personal history flaws. trouble with independents as well as with the g.o.p. base. newt gingrich, on his third marriage. mitch daniels whose wife divorced him, left him with their in our daughters and then returned three years later and then they remarried. and of course donald trump. howard, this is a strange story. let's start with the personal ones and strange for people even thinking of running for president. maybe a situation of desperation they're in. mitch daniels, his story was in every paper this week. they decide to put it out. somebody did. his wyche many years ago left him, left the four daughters in his care, split, married some guy who got divorced himself, then came back three years later, they married again. is this going to be the kind of -- for lack of a

romney would probably be as manager and job creator. here is romney's offense and obama's defense. >> i like president obama. but he doesn't have a clue how jobs are created. >> an economy that was shedding jobs every month now has seen over two million jobs created in the last 14. chris: former utah governor john huntsenman, his strongest argument is he could get bipartisan cooperation. here is his main theme and obama's defense. >> we have been divided for too long. the yelling, screaming and

let's turn to romney. mitt romney has what might be called an al gore problem. even if he's being genuine, he seemed ersat. >> i covered the democratic field in 2008, so i didn't get to know him very well, but i think also it's this -- i hate to use the term "boredom," but they're familiar with mitt romney. we've told mitt romney's story in 2008. everybody is looking for the new thing to keep viewers and readers paying attention. and everybody knows that candidates, flash in the pan candidates like donald trump or palin, get clicks. they get more readers. we create this sort of false tension that really isn't fair to anybody. >> that sounds like it's more about ratings and online traffic than it is about seriously covering this presidential contest. but let me stick with this romney question. the media have created this narrative. he goes out without a tie or to a nascar race, the press questions it. >> wait, but i think the press is questioning it because they do know romney. romney did a complete roundabout on gay rights. i remember the '94 campaign. i worked

i think right now, it's mitt romney's to lose, but he doing his best. >> let's talk about mitt romney. e.j., he fought for universal health care and got it in massachusetts. now he was advised to run hard away from it, and he gives a speech this week and he does it in a powerpoint pren suasion. this is the new mitt romney. he's not wearing a tie. apparently, he's never going to wear a tie for the rest of his life. but he talked specifically about the individual mandate at the core of his health care plan and this is what he said. >> i also recognize that a lot of pundits around the nation are saying i should just stand up and say this whole thing was a mistake, that it was just a bone-headed idea and i should just admit it, it was a mistake, and walk away from it. and i presume that a lot of folks could conclude that if i did that, that would be good for me politically. but there's only one problem with that, it wouldn't be honest. i, in fact, did what i believed was right for the people of my state. >> is that going to work? there's a big liability for conservative voters. >> this pu

it's basically mitt romney at 44% and everyone else. mitt romney, can he gain the support of the tea party which is really driving the agenda for the republican party these days and make himself a viable candidate? >> well, mitt romney is clearly going to have trouble with certain segments of the tea party who are frustrated. they think he's a flip-flopper and they don't like what he did with health care in massachusetts. but for mitt romney, those are great numbers up in new hampshire. mitt romney sees new hampshire has a must-win if he wants to win the republican nomination. and unlike in 2008, ali, what we're seeing from mitt romney now is he is running entirely on the economy. he thinks that he can be someone who can come in, who can fix it and turn things around. while we heard a lot from mitt romney back in 2008 of social and economic issues, he's squarely focusing on economic issues. >> those exhibition issues that matter right now the most are the budget deficit. diane swank joins us. the hottest topic in washington is debt and

romney's had problems, but he raised a lot of money. he's still mitt romney. i think it will be one of those things. >> let me show the bulletin board which we keep updating on who's in, who's out, where people stand. you can see those who are out. romney makes it official on thursday, topping those among who are in. what is interesting is those still officially on the sidelines -- huntsman, palin, of course, and bachmann. and rick perry, who made some noise about getting in, texas governor. >> i agree that one of the dwarfs or one of the non dwarfs will become the nominee, and probably somebody already on that bulletin board. but i think one of the effects that palin has is to suck up the energy. we didn't start out this segment talking about tim pawlenty, who announced this week. we started out talking about sarah palin. and so, to the extent that romney is a known quantity, people don't necessarily like him, but he's passed the kind of presidential plausibility test. pawlenty sort of has the aspect of the guy who's just gotten a chance to sit at the grown-u

mitt romney it is going to be forced to defend it and attack simultaneously the massachusetts health care plan, and acted on his watch as governor, and attack the president's healthcare plan. >> a lot of pundits say i should stand up and say this whole thing was a mistake. there is only one problem with that -- it would be honest. i did what i thought was right for the people of my stay. >> i agree with mitt romney, who recently said he is proud of what he accomplished on health care. >> that is a preview of what you're going to hear if he gets the nomination. can he finesse this? >> no. >> fatal flaw? >> no, but it is a millstone around his neck. if he did not have this, he would be to prohibit a front runner. republicans often annoyed one guy early -- anoint one guy early. he would be the guy, the nominee. this is the reason we have a race. he proposed a plan in "usa today" this week which i think was quite reasonable, and he had a chart showing the defense between his plan and obamacare. what he should have said is, "i it did not work, i would not do it again." that is not how he

romney to skip iowa? >> i think it's a mistake for any candidate that wants to not only get our nomination but be president of the united states to not have a presence in iowa. iowa returns in the general election to that swing state stat us that we enjoyed historically. so if you're going to be here vigorously campaigning, if you are a nominee, for iowa's six electoral votes in november of 2011, then i think it would be great to have a head start by having a great, robust, vigorousing for you here in the state in 2011. >> it looks like other candidates' strategy is to skip iowa, like john huntman. what are you hearing about huntman? is there any buzz on the ground among republican activists about his campaign? >> right now, and i can honestly say i haven't spoken to him myself, and i haven't seen much activity or any campaign formation as yet, there's been a little bit of buzz, but we haven't seen him either. so we'll see what develops in the coming weeks. if he's going to really get serious in new hamps

romney met with small business owners in south carolina, which is a key early primary state. his first trip there this election cycle. >>> the crest of the mississippi river flooding has now reached naches, mississippi, which is about 100 miles north of baton rouge, louisiana. even though the water is not expected to rise, it's not expected to go down, either. stressed levees may have to hold up for more weeks. can you believe it. health officials warn the water is dangerous with e. coli levels up to 2 h00 times higher than normal. >>> pope benedict xvi made history with the first call ever to the internuncial space station. he talked to mark kelly about how the technology in space could save lives on earth. he also mentioned his wife, gabrielle giffords, who was shot in the head. >> and mark kelly's wife was a victim of an attack, and i hope her head continues to improve. >> thank you for the kind words, your holiness, and thank you for mentioning my wife, gabby. >> freedom, and we're going to get our freedom. we'll get it taken! >> you don't understand that. you don't under

romney has a bigger issue, romney care. his front runner-ship will hinge on how he handles those attacks and a debate. if he shows he can answer it, he will win the nomination but if he cannot, it will be extremely difficult. >> mthe former speaker of the house, no one is talking about him. >> his campaign is over. he had the worst launch since the hindenburg. >> but he is still flying br. >> what about the tiffany's thing? >> it is like the john edwards hair cut. it says something about what people think, people's taste, character. this guy is supposed to be so for go and yet he is spending this money -- >> you mean to john edwards was about to be indicted, that one? >> yes. >> it is not about tiffany's. had he said that the plan was flat and he at an alternative, that would have been one thing. he said it is right wing social engineering pro. >> spoke truth to power. >> exactly, and that is why he will not win the nomination. the plan was, incidentally, proposed by the clinton commission in 1999. if you cannot support tha

mitt romney is also pretty good. i do not know what his bus tour will take in for her but it is generating interest. people show up and will see that she is going to be there, they willhow up and wait. it is a label like a book tour. she goes around and people show up to seeer. she does not need a lot of advance work. at the motorcycle rally, she only had one advance person with her. she can draw people. host: it is pac, sarahpac. are there legal limits to what she can do with that money? host: i think your tap at $5,000 per person. you cannot just take an unlimited money for your group before you are running. in terms of restrictions, it is very similar to running a presidential campaign. the federal limit is low enough that you cannot just rake in a couple of donors. you have to spread yourself then. host: when she was asked, she told people to go to the website. i want to show you an ad for the bus tour featured on her website. we will comeack and go to your phone calls. >> ♪ >> we have a vision for the future o

romney has a bigger issue, romney care. his front runner-ship will hinge on how he handles those attacks and a debate. if he shows he can answer it, he will win the nomination but if he cannot, it will be extremely difficult. >> mthe former speaker of the house, no one is talking about him. >> his campaign is over. he had the worst launch since the hindenburg. >> but he is still flying br. >> what about the tiffany's thing? >> it is like the john edwards hair cut. it says something about what people think, people's taste, character. this guy is supposed to be so for go and yet he is spending this money -- >> you mean to john edwards was about to be indicted, that one? >> yes. >> it is not about tiffany's. had he said that the plan was flat and he at an alternative, that would have been one thing. he said it is right wing social engineering pro. >> spoke truth to power. >> exactly, and that is why he will not win the nomination. the plan was, incidentally, in 1999.by the if you cannot support that, you say it, but if you cal

mitt romney is also pretty good. i do not know what his bus tour will take in for her but it is generating interest. people show up and will see that she is going to be there, they will show up and wait. it is a label like a book tour. she goes around and people show up to see her. she does not need a lot of advance work. at the motorcycle rally, she only had one advance person with her. she can draw people. host: it is pac, sarahpac. are there legal limits to what she can do with that money? host: i think your tap at $5,000 per person. you cannot just take an unlimited money for your group before you are running. in terms of restrictions, it is very similar to running a presidential campaign. the federal limit is low enough that you cannot just rake in a couple of donors. you have to spread yourself then. host: when she was asked, she told people to go to the website. i want to show you an ad for the bus tour featured on her website. we will come back and go to your phone calls. >> ♪ >> we have a vision for the fu

romney is compromised and not credible. if he does not change his message, he might as well try to knock off joe biden and get on the obama ticket." >> tough. >> yeah. "wall street journal"! this is not good news for romney. then after his speech said, no, it didn't really satisfy us. so there's a back-and-forth, as you might imagine between romney and the "wall street journal." but is he -- he may well be electable but let's start, is he nominatable? >> well, he already has met his quota of flip-flops in the past. he couldn't do it again on the health reform, his reform in massachusetts. and he really believes that the individual mandate is important. but for conservatives in the party, the individual mandate is the red line. i think he's going to have a really tough time with the nomination in that context. it makes him a very fragile front-runner in new hampshire. >> sure. the essential problem for republicans is to win a national election, you've got to have someone who's neither middle but the electorate that will nomi

romney is compromised and not credible. if he does not change his message, he might as well try to knock off joe biden and get on the obama ticket." >> tough. >> yeah. "wall street journal"! this is not good news for romney. then after his speech said, no, it didn't really satisfy us. so there's a back-and-forth, as you might imagine between romney and the "wall street journal." but is he -- he may well be electable but let's start, is he nominatable? >> well, he already has met his quota of flip-flops in the past. he couldn't do it again on the health reform, his reform in massachusetts. and he really believes that the individual mandate is important. but for conservatives in the party, the individual mandate is the red line. i think he's going to have a really tough time with the nomination in that context. it makes him a very fragile front-runner in new hampshire. >> and do you agree? >> sure. the essential problem for republicans is to win a national election, you've got to have someone who's somewhere near the middle,

from sarah palin to mitt romney to medicare. while in the u.k., france, and poland, the president searches for commond ground, tonight on "washington week." >> i'm tim pawlenty, and i'm running for president of the united states. gwen: mitch daniels drops down. sarah palin drops hints. a low-profile special election catapults medicare to the front burner. >> thank you all so much. gwen: meanwhile, the obamas take europe. with a little guinness, a little glamour, and a lot of the nitty-gritty of international give and take. >> it would have been easy at the outset of the crackdown in libya to say that none of this was our business. gwen: including some fence mending. >> but israel will not negotiate with a palestinian government backed by the palestinian version of al qaeda. that we will not do. >> it is very difficult for israelis to sit across the table and negotiate with a party that is denying your right to exist. gwen: and the supreme court presses not one but two hot buttons, on crime and immigration. covering the week, dan

mitt romney is going to talk like that. i bet pawlenty does. he said it's not the last time you are going to hear that. >> i have to agree with chris. focus groups are not minipolls. they should not be used to ask who won. they reflect only the opinions of the people in the room. a legitimate of the -- give me a word that you associate with this candidate or that candidate. they are not meant to be if 78% of the focus group likes cane, 78% of the voters do. absolutely false. the media, not just people are confused on that point. >> thank you. it's great to see you. have a nice weekend. mother's day is coming up. when we return, let me finish with some of the things a sane person could take away. you're watching "hardball" on msnbc. d back down the hill. down the hill? man: all right. we were actually thinking, maybe... we're going to hike up here, so we'll catch up with you guys. [ indistinct talking and laughter ] whew! i think it's worth it. working with a partner you can trust is always a good decision. massmutual. let our financial professi

remember, he had governor romney in the race then. this time it's governor romney's state. the former governor of utah, jon huntsman, he's interesting to watch because he's picking up the old mccain network. governor pawlenty hoping to win iowa. but, wolf, it's so very early. david knows this, new hampshire is critical to romney. >> take a look at this. among gop primary voters, are you satisfied with the choice of candidates for the 2012 republican primary? 9% say that they are very satisfied and 42% say somewhat satisfied and 15% say that they are very dissatisfied. a lot more candidates look like they are dropping out than dropping in. >> sure do. that looks like a pretty luke warm response from republican voters. 9% being very satisfied is hardly what you call a ringing endorsement. to go back to john king's point, mitt romney has to be considered the front-runner in the entire race because the poll numbers are mirrored by his fundraising numbers. he has the same sort of size lead over the other candidates in terms of his capacity to raise money and he's been around the

romney has problems as a vote gett getter it. he has trouble connecting with americans that are less educated and affluent. you don't make it better by taking somebody with the same problem and a confrontational angry style that voters did not respond to, especially not women voters. >> you can read david fromm's full column online. the address, cnn.com/politics. >>> congressman anthony wiener is talking about a naughty picture supposedly sent -- it was sent from his twitter account. >> this is a prank, not a terribly creative one and it is a distraction. >> weiner says he was hacked. it happens. cnn has his explanation next. we will also find out what the woman who received the picture is saying. >>> controversy runs the soccer world. the head of fifa insists there is no crisis. we will take a closer look at the corruption allegations. that's next. ♪ [ male announcer ] when you come to new york from a place like detroit, no one expects you to influence the world of fashion. but when you grew up surrounded by rock 'n' roll and

the romney of 2012 cycle is hostage to the romney of 2008 cycle. when he changed on an array of social issue, stem cell research, gay marriage, right to life, all that stuff. so, now, you can't win for losing here. and the tense of his verb was everything. he said, i did what i believe, pretense. i believe what was right for my state, not "i believed." >> even nikki haley jumped in, she made a comment, and said we like candidates who are courageous and do the right thing but also admit when they've made some mistakes. but i do think george is exactly right. it's the perception more than a policy that's the issue. >> mitt romney's problem is not health care. mitt romney's problem is he's a very stiff candidate that voters don't relate to. that's something that he, i don't think can overcome. >> generally, we hear that in the republican party, there's sort of a pecking order and it's sort of viewed as so and so's time next. do you think that's the case next time? >> no, this is the most open scramble on the republican side since 1940 when wendel wilk

>> i do think romney care is an issue for him. >> chris: yeah. it's an issue in the republican race. not one that obama. >> takes it off the table in the fall campaign. >> chris: there are other issues. >> secondly, a track record of certain inconstantsy of positions will trouble him in some ways, chris, it doesn't matter. when you have incumbent president, referendum among incumbent. if we have g.d.p. growth of north of 2%. if we can get some progress on the deficit, that energy prices stabilize this is obama's election to lose. if the republicans don't nominate someone fatally flawed it's a place-holder. >> chris: 30 seconds, your thought about romney as potential g.o.p. nominee? >> he has got real potential to win the nomination. real potential to be able to challenge president obama. i think that it's true, it will be a referendum on president obama. the difference in our views on how he's condemn straits where we are, where we differ in terms of what will happen in 2012. >> chris: thank you, panel. see you next week. don't forget to check ou

three said john huntsman, two, one for mitt romney and one for pawlenty. you like huntsman. >> he was pro civil unions and worked fo' years for president obama as ambassador to china and said we have to have someone who can unify the country and i know about china better than anyone else who is stealing american jobs. i know how to get back and fix that problem. and put more jobs -- >> and back to china this week, $3.4 million house, that's a neighborhood you -- that's not a neighborhood you run for president from. >> huntsman's other weakness is he's been pro cap and trade. and that's a bit like obamacare for the republican base. this is another of those socialist issues, that can be a policy litmus test. and i think that if he decides to try and find some way to flip-flop his way out of cap and trade, or a civil union, that could be a character -- chris: who climbs to the top? >> if i said tim pawlenty can fix his flaws because his main one is he's so boring to anyone -- to everyone. set his coat on fire and he's in good shape. >> i think john huntsman.