people agree with dr. paul. i can say those views seem to be mainstream to me, if most people agree with him. >> he was on the trail yesterday. his son rand was by his side. given the slide in the daily polls, momentum shifting to rick santorum, do you think dr. paul regrets spending the weekend away from iowa? he spent 36 hours with family at home. >> well, this is what he had to do for family. it's a family obligation. people care about family. dr. paul cares deeply about his family, likes to spend holidays, charisma and new year's with his family. if people can't understand that, i don't know what's wrong. >> looking beyond iowa, ron paul had something pretty interesting to say on "night line." >> when you lay your head down on the pillow at night, do you see yourself in the oval office? >> not really but i think it's a possibility. sometimes i kid about it, i say that's the risk i take. >> okay. is that the kind of thing where you be careful what you wish for because it just may come true if a lot of people

that has really helped dr. paul. when he gets a positive interview, we are told by the media outlets that it was amazing. we put ron paul online and it was the most watched video ever. we got 3000 e-mails thanking us. be involved. host: let's listen to on cnn. >> i have not even thought about it. i have a race going. i am essentially tied for first place. why would i consider going for anything like that? i do not like absolutes. i do not like to say, "i will never do so and so." people should just be a little bit patient. on tuesday, we will find out a lot more about the future of this election. host: congressman ron paul on cnn. what do think about your candidate's viability as a third-party candidate? should he not be able to keep going forward in the republican field? guest: he would be very viable, if he decided to be independent. that said, there's virtually no chance that ron will run independent. he does not want to do it. i do not blame him. our system is so biased toward independents. ron has his home in th

paul. >> i need you to step back. >> dr. paul! >> everybody step back. >> ok, here we go. >> thank you. >> congressman ron paul at the college of charleston. the latest polls in south carolina is showing ron paul in third in what has become a four- man race. he also finished third in iowa. news reports showed that in iowa, rick santorum aged mitt romney by 31 votes. we will talk to rick santorum tomorrow morning on "washington journal." iowa results were certified today. you may remember originally that mitt romney it was considered the winner by eight votes. i estimate today, mitt romney called -- in estimate today, about mitt romney called the rtual tie.ts a vitrua president obama is in florida today, talking about his plans to boost tourism and. he will be speaking at walt disney world near orlando. we will have the coverage at 2:00 the five eastern. it is part of the president's "we can't wait" initiative. from florida, the president flies to new york city for campaign fundraising events. also this afternoon, rick santorum wil

paul craig roberts to answer that question i just gave a couple of examples dr roberts going back to hank paulson to bring back that history lesson to our viewers i know our viewers are very familiar with it and then looking at obama today and the kind of acts that he's signing it is the legislative rate at this point on autopilot. where you don't look the legislature is always the weakest element and it needs to be very defensive the scholars but for reasons that act and explained for years now the united states congress has just abrogated all of its powers and it has done nothing to hold the executive branch accountable when the executive branch behaved in criminal ways violating laws on the books and when the congress would have had the support of the people in holding the executive branch accountable so why have they. abrogated their power you know naomi wolf recently wrote that by passing this military detention amendment to the defense authorization act that the congress had issued their own arrest warrant and she makes the point very well that it's always the case that the exe

. >> let me bring dr. paul into this. there is a question about who is a true conservative in the race. governor romney said only nine years ago with new england cable news said the following, i think people recognize i'm not a partisan republican, i'm someone who's moderate and my views per progrereive. do you believe governor romney when he says he is a man of constantsy and will stand up for consertive princles. >> i think this whole discussion has been superficial and the question you ask is superficial in talking about character, which is very important, but i think we should deal with the issues as well. i don't see how we can do well against obama if we have any candidate that, you know, endorsed, you know, single payer systems and t.a.r.p. bailouts and don't change the federal reserve's $15 trillion of injection bailing out their friends. i don't see how we can have anybody really compete with obama who doesn't challenge this hu empire we have overseas and the overseas spending. i m this is how nations come down i

and here's the record, dr. paul. you have actually sponsored 620 measures. only four made it to a vote on the house floor and only one has been signed into law. >> you know, that demonstrates how much out of touch the u.s. government and the u.s. congress is with the american people. because i'm supporting things that help the american people. that's the disgust that people have, because they keep growing government, whether it's republicans in charge or the democrats in charge. but as far as working with other groups i think my record is about as good as anybody's because i work on the principle that freedom and the constitution bring people together for different reasons. people use freedom in different ways, like it does. it invites different variations in our religious beliefs. economically. we tell people they're allowed to spend their money as they choose. on civil liberties, that's the difference they make. republicans, conservatives aren't all that well known for protecting privacy and personal liberties. when it comes to this spending overseas, i ca

dr. paul, thanks. our remaining moment, back to you, john. >> governor huntsman, andy and i are about to wrap up our debate and as we do, i'd like to ask you as someone who's been here in new hampshire awhile, what does our state not co"live flee or die" mean to you personally and how would it guide you in the white house? >> it is the fulfillment of a citizenry being able to live out the meaning of our founding documents. life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. and everywhere i've gone in this great state we've gone 160-plus public events. i feel it, and i sense it, and people take that very seriously. you know what else they take seriously? they take seriously the idea of real leadership. i've heard a lot of obfuscating up here, the blame game, talking about gays, talking about unions, everybody's got something nasty to say. you know what the people of this country are waiting for and the people? they want a leader who is going to unify, who's going to bring us together, because at the end of th

i just think that dr. paul is a -- the one voice of sanity. i do wish him the very best. thank you. >> thank you for calling. let me introduce you to two of the people in the crowd tonight. what is your name? >> jen hall. >> are you a student? >> i am. i am excited to hear him speak. the first time we were out this year. >> have you heard him anywhere else? >> i sure have. he has been here a few times before and i try to make it out every time. it is always awesome to see this from packed with students and adults. it was fantastic to see some much standing room after pierre >> explain to people watching what it is about him that appeals to you as a young person. >> i really love ron paul foreign-policy and his total anti war mindset. it is something that is important to me because i do not understand why we are sending children off to die for no reason. on the same token he is one of the very few gop's that are talking about ending the war on drugs. it is important to me -- he is one of the few candidates talking about it. >> how much interest are you seeing on campus abo

. >> let me bring dr. paul into this. there is a question about who is a true conservative in the race. governor romney said only nine years ago with new england cable news said the following, i think people recognize i'm not a partisan republican, i'm someone who's moderate and my views per progressive. do you believe governor romney when he says he is a man of constantsy and will stand up for conservative principles. >> i think this whole discussion has been superficial and the question you ask is superficial in talking about character, which is very important, but i think we should deal with the issues as well. i don't see how we can do well against obama if we have any candidate that, you know, endorsed, you know, single payer systems and t.a.r.p. bailouts and don't change the federal reserve's $15 trillion of injection bailing out their friends. i don't see how we can have anybody really compete with obama who doesn't challenge this huge empire we have overseas and the overseas spending. i mean this is how nations co

dr. paul won 50 percent of the vote under 30 in iowa and new hampshire. dr. paul is bringing them out in the process and getting them engaged and that is crit beingal. we are counting on a great turn out to push him to the top. >> are you really hoping for a big upset next week? but if he comes out second or third is that good enough for you. absolutely. we have a campaigned and marshall our resources and focused on iowa and new hampshire. and we had great turn outs in both of those states and rolling in hard in south carolina and we are surging there. we moved from the single digits and nipping in the heels x. we are going to do well. most importantly we are the only campaign with the organization and resources down stream further in the caucus states in february and super tuesday and beyond to keep on going. so after we have a strong showing running with the front runners. we are going to show it is a two-man race between paul and romney. >> you expect that you will see more dollars flow and if you come out second or third. it is going to take money going f

we have got to run. >> nice to me. >> dr. paul. >> thank you, dr. paul. >> thank you. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2012] >> thank you, sir. good night. you are a good man. >> c-span's rd. to the white house coverage shows you the events leading up to the primary. >> the obama administration came up with a policy that under the program, they cannot teach abstinence as a preferable way of avoiding out of wedlock births. and she cannot talk about marriage, she cannot talk about marriage as an alternative lifestyle that is no better or worse than any other lifestyle. my question is, why? >> when the president adopts a stimulus package of hundreds of billions of dollars that no one has read and then discovers to his great surprise two years later as he himself put it, that the shell already jobs were not shell already, and the stimulus fails. -- that the shovel ready jobs or not shovel ready, the stimulus fails. >> and we follow the candidate says they get their message out. after the polls close,

paul's believe in life. dr. paul understands that in order to protect liberty, you must first protect life. dr. paul takes a staunch pro-life stance and believes in the repeal of roe v wade. his chosen profession is bringing new life into this world, and he has delivered over 4,000 babies and has 5,000 children and 17 grandchildren of his own. in closing, i would like to point out that ron paul does not take these stances because of political convenience for special-interest pressures. he has stood strong on these issues because he knows that this is what is best for the american people. you see, isn't about electing some all-powerful all knowing leader with perfect hair and a strong. it is not a person that we need, it is the rule will fall. it is the constitution. and dr. paul stance with the constitution every time. now i encourage you to stand with dr. paul and stand with the constitution. please vote ron paul and thank you very much. [applause] >> thank you, gentlemen. i would now call for any spokespeople

only two of you have served -- dr. paul and mr. romney. there are 3 million active-duty serving in this question is relevant to a large number of voters out there. do you believe having worn a uniform and being part of the unit better prepared you for the job as commander in chief and those who have not served? >> i think it brings a very clear knowledge about what it requires for those on the front line, but having been the governor of the state of texas and the commander in chief for 11 years there and 20,000 troops we have deployed to multi -- multiple theaters of operations. i want to go back to one of the biggest problems facing this country -- iran is a big problem, senator, without a doubt. but what this president is doing with our military budget is going to put our country's freedom in jeopardy. you cannot cut a trillion dollars from the department of defense budget and expect america's freedoms are not going to be jeopardized. that, to me, is the biggest problem america faces. a president that doesn't understand the military and

. >> you read my mind, dr. paul, and we will get to some of the tough choices on policy. and is governor romney unelectable in your judgment, mr. perry? >> you have to ask the question, who is it that can beat obama and who can invigorate the tea party and who can take the message of smaller outside government that is truly going to change that place, as i look from here down to rick santorum, i see insiders, those who have been the big-spending republicans in washington, d.c. let's be honest with ourselves. the fact of the matter is obama has thrown gasoline on the fire. but the bon fire was burning well before obama got there. it was policies and spending both from wall street and from the insiders in washington d.c. that got us in this problem. we need a candidate that can not only draw that stark contrast between themselves and barack obama, but also stand up and lead the tea party movement back. 2010 was about the tea party standing up and understanding that republicans, big-spending republicans had caused as much of the problem as anything. it was their power that b

paul sign his book. -- the young man was very happy to have dr. paul sign his book. we have a lot of young people in this room whose ideas about politics and economics are being changed. they are going to be around for a long time. ron paul has changed the conversation for sure. it looks like he is coming to the second place finish today. he said it is more about winning the white house than changing the conversation. he said u.n. of one house, then your ideas become policy. -- he said if you win at the white house. cracks in the month of december, newt gingrich was polling very near the top of this poll as it stretched out in the month of december. then of course i was hit, and everything changed. and he is monitoring of the new gingrich campaign headquarters -- amy is monitoring the newt gingrich headquarters tonight. jack campbell, former gubernatorial candidate is going to talk to us a little bit. he endorsed and newt gingrich about a month ago. how do you think the race has gone for him? >> i am a very biased endorsed. i really love newt gingrich. we just found

dr. paul and governor perry. there are 25 million veterans in this country. 3 million currently serving active duty. so this question is very relevant to a large number of voters out there. and the question goes to you, governor perry. do you believe having worn a uniform and been part of a unit better prepares you for the job of commander in chief than those on the stage who haven't served? >> i think it brings a very clear knowledge about what it requires for those that are on the front lines. but also having been the governor of the state of texas and been the commander in chief for 11 years there and 20,000-plus troops that we've deployed to multiple theaters of operation. but i want to go back to this issue that we just brought up earlier when we talked about one of the biggest problems facing this country. and iran is a big problem, senator, without a doubt. but let me tell you what this president is doing. with our military budget is going to put our country's freedom in jeopardy. you cannot cut $1 trillio

paul --" they refer to him as dr. paul -- "i am honored to be in your presence." he is like a cult figure with some of the young people out ere and with the veterans as well. >> that's right. has the biggest veterans' support of anybody in the state as of this moment. >> is one of the places -- iowa is one of the places where you still see retail politics. this is worth its weight at the beginning of the primary season, but not everybody is still on its continued significance in the nominating prorocess.. gail c collins in all but a " -- in "the new york times" poke fun at the state for being out rep. does it deserve all this criticism, and thomas -- evan thomas? >> yes and no. [laughter] >> there is a bold statement. >> it is not representativin the sense that it is isolationist extremely far right, and it does not take precedence. -- not picked presidents. but the one great thing is the retail business that you have to go out there and meet the folks. because it is a long process, we do get t to know them. the qualities and failures are shown. >> but i think tha

paul. >> -- is dr. paul, can we play a little dr. paul ad? >> what is up with these sorry politicians, lots of bark and when it's show time, whimpering like a little dogs. >> i think you get a free truck if you vote for ron paul. lucas, those ads, let's talk just basic production value, i believe i was featured in a perry ad talking about the youth unemployment rate. in terms of producing these things, walk us through it. this is something that you do. are republican candidates tuned to msnbc waiting for usable nuggets? >> no, it's about seeing how we can utilize what we have given to us. in today's day and age, the reason the polls are so up and down, partly because the voters have so much accessiblity in today's day and age for the first time and in the election where they can go on youtube and the websites and they can watch feature films that gingrich put out or we had put out, short films on governor perry's campaign and what not. so the accessiblity is a prime factor and utilizing instant messaging to connect with the voters. >> it's wo

. >> dr. paul? i am over here. i am an independent caller and i cherish that. i feel hopeless about any president succeeding right now because of the way the congress does not work together. it is essentially a two party system and they are fighting. if someone asked you what you could do to start fresh, but you cannot? >> maybe if i could give you a better answer. i did not understand the other one. >> the congress that you will have, depending on what people vote, how would you handle the fighting between the sides? >> with difficulty. but with a new approach. completely new. everyone knows what we are talking about is different. i have a strange new idea of obeying the constitution. [applause] i know exactly what you are talking about. i appeal to that group. independent people who are tired of the two party system. they are sick and tired of it. tea party people, it is not working, this failed economic policy. you cannot tanker on the edges of foreign policy and saying that we will cut this year and go into two countries instead of three. that is what has t

dr. paul was a flight surgeon, governor perry a pilot. there are 25 million veterans in the country. 3 million currently serving active duty so this is relevant to a large number of voters. governor perry, do you believe having worn a uniform, it better prepares you for commander in chief than those who haven't served. >> i think it brings a very clear knowledge about what it requires for those that are on the front lines but also having been the governor of the state of texas and been the commander in chief for 11 years and 20,000 plus troops we deployed to multiple theaters of operation but i want to go back to the issue we brought up earlier when we talked about one of the biggest problems facing the country. iran is a big problem, senator, without a doubt but let me tell you what this president is doing with our military budget is going to put our country's freedom in jeopardy. you cannot cut $1 trillion from the department of defense budget and expect that america's freedoms are not going to be jeopardized. that to me is the biggest

paul's comments, how do you respond? >> dr. paul make ace lot of comments. it's part of his style. my father served 27 years in the army in world war ii, korea and vietnam. i grew up in a military family moving around the world. since 1979 i spent 32 years working, starting with the army's training indoctrine command. i was in the senior military for 23 years. i served on the defense policy board. let me say something about veterans. as an army brat whose family was deeply engaged, i feel for veterans. we had a great meeting today with velvet rans. i made a commitment in new hampshire we would reopen the hospital in manchester. we would develop a new clinic in the north country using telecommunications. and provide a system where veterans could go to the local doctor or local hospital. the idea that a veteran in the north country in midwinter has to go all the way to boston is absolutely totally fundamentally wrong. i would say as an army brat who watched his mother, his sisters and his father for 27 years, i have a pretty good sense what military families need. >> congressman paul

here is the record, dr. paul. you have actually sponsored 620 measures and only four made it to a vote on the house floor. only one has been signed into law. >> that demonstrates how much out of touch the u.s. government and the u.s. congress is with the american people. i'm supporting things that help the american people. that is the discuss that people have because they keep growing government, whether the republicans in charge or the democrats in charge. as far as working with other groups, i think my record is about as good as anybody's, because i work on the principle that freedom in the constitution brings people together. for different reasons. people use freedom in different ways like it does. it invites variations of our religious beliefs and economically we tell people that they can spend their money as they choose. on civil liberties, that is a different thing. republicans and conservatives are not known for protecting privacy and personal liberty. when it comes to the spending overseas, i've been worki

paul --" they refer to him as dr. paul -- "i am honored to be in your presence." he is almost like a cult figure with some young people out there, and with some veterans as well. veterans will support him. >> he has the biggest veterans' support of anybody in the state as of this moment. to follow up on what colby king had to say, are we making too much of iowa? it is one of the few places where you still see retail politics, where candidates have to answer questions from real- life people like here dressers and truckdrivers. but not everyone is sold on the continuing significance in the nominating process. gail collins in "the new york times" poke fun at this week at the state for being unrep. does iowa deserve all this criticism, evan thomas? >> yes and no. [laughter] >> there is a bold statement. >> it is not representative in that it is isolationist, extremely far right, and it does not pick president's. but one great thing, and this is a great thing, the retail business, that you actually have to go out there and meet the folks. because it is a long process a

i was there, there was over 120 members of the media crushing around dr. paul. they were concerned about his safety as well as his security heading to the polling places. he's going to be visiting five polling places today, and the reason they sent it out a little bit late was because of his safety concerns. we headed to a primary party this evening in manchester and dr. paul told me this weekend that he will be heading to south carolina within 12 hours of knowing the election results here in new hampshire where he will be holding a rally in columbia, south carolina at noon tomorrow. thomas? >> he's going to south carolina no matter what, then? >> he is going, he is going. he has an event scheduled for noon tomorrow in columbia, south carolina. it will be an early morning for a lot of us. >> thank you so much.k3 c1 i appreciate it. >> thanks, thomas. >> so gaffes about firing people, pink slips as well. they've kept mitt romney under siege. when it comes to america's economy, the field is anything but level. joining me now is msnbc contribut contributor, politi

paul, quickly, how would you use the bully pulpit? >> i would continue to do what i'm doing now, preaching the gospel of liberty. i think that the most important ingredients in this country that made us great was our founders understood what liberty meant. and that is what we need. we have deserted that. we have drifted a look way. it involves our right to our life. right to our liberty. that we ought to be able to keep the fruits of our labor. we ought to understand property rights. we ought to understand contract rights. we ought to understand what sound money is all about and understand what national defense means. that means defending this country. that is the bully pulpit we need. we need to defend liberty. >> defend liberty and? >> and liberty. >> we're going to take another break here. we'll be back with some closing moments right after this. >>> i would like to thank the candidates for joining us. i'd also like to thank our debate partners, facebook, the "new hampshire union leader" and our host in concord, the capital center

candidate paul, dr. paul, is a good man. he makes some very strong points on about 60% of his issues. but he is a little extreme on foreign affairs and foreign relations. other than that, he is definitely a good candidate. but we need to win, and the republicans need to take office. and we need a businessman as president. and mr. romney, barring the prejudice going on in this country, should be the choice for the republican party and the republican people, as well as independents. if we want a real change and not a hypothetical change, then romney is the guy. because mr. romney can win against obama. he is an excellent debater. and we need to get behind romney and quit playing games because being prejudiced amongst ourselves is not going to accomplish anything. host: you mentioned prejudiced twice. what do you mean? caller: this big issue about him being a mormon seems to be a huge undertow factor across the country against mr. romney. i think it is absolutely ridiculous. it is like racial prejudice. it is time we put these

. >> let me bring dr. paul into this. there is a question about who is the true conservative. governor romney said only nine years ago, during an interview, i think people recognize i am not a partisan republican. i am someone who is moderate and my views are progressive. do you believe governor romney now when he says he is a man of constancy? and that he will stand up for conservative principles? >> this discussion has been superficial. i think the question that u.s. is superficial. -- that you ask is superficial. you're talking about character. we should deal with the issues. i do not see how we can do well against obama if we have any candidates that endorsed tarp bailouts. single payer systems, and does not challenge the federal's reserve bailing out their friends. i do not see how we can have anybody compete with obama who does not challenge this huge empire we have overseas and the overseas spending. this is how nations come down. they extend themselves too far overseas. that is how the soviets came undone. we have to talk about real cuts, and we have not gotten around

yesterday dr. paul got 13% of the vote and 77,000 votes. we are seeing a 3.5 fold increase and a 5 -- and a 55,000 vote increase. ron paul is growing a movement. he is teaching people. he is educating people. you have seen it happen in iowa, growing the numbers there. it happened in new hampshire, and you can see it happening in florida -- i mean in south carolina. and i think it will continue on in florida and nevada and on into the future. >> he will continue obviously in the race collecting the delegates before the republican convention in august. last night he mentioned how his movement is growing. you know critics say he will never get the nomination or be elected. well, the thing is, when people talk about will ron paul get the nomination or not, it misses the larger message. what ron paul is trying to do is save the republican party by bringing it back to its roots. bringing it back to individual liberty and this has been on going for a number of years. whether it is iowa, new hampshire, south carolina, all over the country you are s

one it was mitt romney and who was going to beat not mitt romney and then we had dr. paul. dr. paul has a great showing tonight. rick santorum has become the not mitt romney candidate and now what we've got, we've got the board set. we've got the players and now we run in new hampshire and south carolina to see how we finish out. >> chip salzmann the 2008 campaign manager for mike huckabee. this is an exciting neat. thanks for taking time out to talk with us. >> it was a pleasure. thank you. >> nbc news's political director chuck todd is with us with more about why this race is so close and what votes have yet to come in. chuck? >> well that,'s the one thing i want to point out. only 27% of the polk county, des moines, is in. polk county accounts for 20% of the entire vote so that is a huge chunk that is still missing there in those early counting returns. paul is leading in polk county. four years ago huckabee won in polk county. it was his biggest margin in raw vote over mitt romney was in polk county there. and it's paul that's leading but i want to emphasize we're missing a