are not yet able to make a projection, piers. let's give it a little time for some more official numbers to come in. once they come in based on those numbers and these exit poll numbers, we'll be in a better position to make a projection. >> wolf acti, you're making thi sound as exciting as you always do but you are a master of this process. are we at the end game? if mitt romney was to win all three tonight, this is pretty much game over, isn't it? >> not necessarily. it's almost game over. pennsylvania april 23rd, if santorum loses his home state, then it's game over. if he wins in pennsylvania, you know, mitt romney still won't be at that 1,144 delegate number that he needs to officially sew up the nomination. and in may there are some states like texas, for example, kentucky, arkansas, where santorum presumably has an advantage, so he'll continue. a lot of the establishment republicans, a lot of the pundits think it's game over. let's see what the voters have to say. i don't think santorum, even if he loses in wisconsin, will drop out tomorrow. i think he will continue a few more weeks, at least until pennsylvania. but if he loses in pennsylvania, then i think it is game over. >> wolf, is one of the reasons this has gone on as long as it has so far the fact that states like new york, california and others have gone later than normal and so it's slightly skewed this time around compared to last time so no one can be 100% sure? >> new york and california almost certainly when they have their contests will go for mitt romney. those are huge states. texas may go for santorum. so there's still some ways -- look, there's no doubt that mitt romney has a tremendous advantage over rick santorum right now. a tremendous advantage. he is in the driver's seat. a lot of people think he's the presumpive nominee. let's see what happens in pennsylvania. but there's no doubting that as you correctly point out that california and new york state, the two largest states, they have a clear advantage for mitt romney. texas may have a little bit of an advantage for rick santorum. so the game will continue. let's see what happens. >> let's go to tom foreman. tom, take me to your magic wall. it's all about the delegates, as always. how significant will tonight be in terms of delegate count? >> well, you know, piers, it's been this incremental process we've been through quite some time. you get 42 delegates here. as you move through these other states, you'll get more and more people to add into the equation and it will make some difference. i do want to point out something about the delegate count that i think is important consider in all of this. if you look at a state like maryland here, for example, where rick santorum seems to be doing okay out here in garrett county, here's the problem. if i bring in a look at -- the way it's broken down by congressional district, which is partially how you decide this, here's the problem. even if you did well in this county but it spanned as this one is by a congressional district that goes further, you may not even get a share of the delegates. if you could have won the sdrin district, you would have. but winning a county, if you're trumped by this one and this one, and this one has considerably more people in it that this one, if that happens, you don't even get a share of the delegates. one of the secrets to staying in the game is getting a share. you have to have a part of what's out there if you want to stay in the game. >> i want to bring back wolf here along with the rest of the cnn political team, david, gloria and ari. how are you looking at this race now? it's been thrilling,s been up and down, roller coaster, but right now if i was in vegas, every dollar i've got is going on romney, isn't it? >> absolutely, absolutely. i think we've reached a turning point in this race actually a few weeks ago, but we're going to play it out, piers. look, there's a mathematical chance, there's a theoretical chance rick santorum could catch fire. but after the big primaries that are coming up in a couple of weeks, even if he wins pennsylvania, romney will sweep everything else. at that point santorum would have to win maybe 70% of the delegates remaining in order to do it. that's not going to happen. >> you can't really blame santorum, can you, because -- i'll stop there. we'll go straight to wolf. breaking news. i think we can now call d.c. >> piers, stand by. we've got news to report to our viewers in the united states and around the world. and you are absolutely correct. we now project that mitt romney is the winner in the district of columbia. he wins the republican presidential primary in washington, d.c. earlier we projected he is the winner in the state of maryland as well. still waiting for the official numbers to start coming in from the state of wisconsin. so far two for two for mitt romney. both expected maryland and d.c. important delegates now going to the mitt romney camp. we'll see what happens in wisconsin. we're getting the official numbers coming in and, pierpiers you saw, the exit polls giving a slight advantage to mitt romney in with it ssconsin but we'll s official numbers and be in a better position to make a projection. but mitt romney, the former governor of massachusetts, can add two more contests to his win column, maryland and washington, d.c. >> wolf, thanks very much. back to david gergen. what i was about to say to you was i can't blame rick santorum. he's come from nowhere. he was the guy nobody gave a chance to. he's fought a fantastic battle from iowa onwards. he's really put the hard yards in. there is an argument that says having him snapping at mitt romney's heels for a little longer will toughen up mitt romney for the real battle ahead for barack obama. at what point, though, does rick santorum staying in the race along with the others start to damage the party? >> well, he has won 11 contests, you have to give him credit for that. it's 11 more than anybody thought he would win. ari fleischer has said he's earned his way to compete in his home state and i think that's right. if he wins back pennsylvania, he will win back his dignity in his home state. rather than going on to texas and going on and on, to let this gracefully come to a close. but let the republicans get themselves in battle gear for the election, because president obama is coming straight at them. he gave a rip-roaring speech today and clearly he knows where he's going. and he's got a lead right now and he wants to keep mitt romney pinned down. mitt romney has got to take it up against president obama, not against rick santorum. >> let's go to ari fleischer. if you're barack obama here -- >> i'm not. >> today he came out and for the first time addressed mitt romney. obviously you're not barack obama, your massively more handsome and intelligent. >> a lot more air too, right? >> however --. you're looking at this race. do you want this over? the fact that he flirted with mitt romney's name today in his speech means he pretty well is sure that romney is the guy. do you want it over or is it to your advantage they carry on squabbling for another month or so. >> if you're the democrats and the obama campaign, you're loving this. the longer it goes on, the less republicans are unified and saying return to the corner. our focus is on defeating president obama. republicans are overwhelmingly motivated to defeat president obama. they want to stretch this out. republicans have not put their best foot forward in this primary. i will make the case. in 2008 the democratic primary lifted up both hillary clinton and president obama. their favorables rose throughout the primary. that is not happening this year. the other big issue republicans have got to address is the decline and support among women. this is a vexing problem for republicans. i think mitt romney, who didn't play a significant role in it, some of the issues rick santorum introduced, have got to figure out how to get that back. it's going to be a fight for the agenda. if the agenda is about contraception and issues like that, republicans are in big trouble. if the agenda is deficits, and debt and jobs and energy, republicans have a very good chance. mitt romney has a very good chance to defeat barack obama. >> let me go to gloria. >> let's talk about women. >> you're a woman. >> yeah, let's talk about women with the woman of the panel. how does mitt romney get back the female vote? there's no doubt that him having to squabble it out on social issues and appear to be antiall these female issues has damaged him with women. how does he turn that tide back in his favor? >> first of all, as we've all said before, he needs to use ann romney an awful lot more because she's his greatest character witness. aside from that, when you look at the polling of women, women are economic voters. women care an awful lot about health care. also being caretakers largely in their families. so for example, if the supreme court were to overturn health care reform, then i think it would be incumbent upon mitt romney, presuming he's the nominee, to come out with his own specific plan for now he would reform the health care system and make sure, for example, the people with pre-existing conditions are covered, that older children can stay on their parents' policies without a health care mandate. women will listen to the arguments about health care. they will listen to arguments about how he's going to make the economy better, how he's going to reduce unemployment, how he's going to help minimum wage earners, because women are minimum wage earners, so i think he has to take a turn to that economic argument and take the president on directly on the health care issue. i think that could be very lucrative for him. >> gloria, thank you. we're going to take a short break and be back to the panel afterwards, although we are awaiting speeches from mitt romney and rick santorum, so we may be going straight to them. we'll be back in a few moments. 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[ male announcer ] buy unlimited messaging and get free unlimited calling to any mobile phone on any network. at&t. but when she got asthma, all i could do was worry ! specialists, lots of doctors, lots of advice... and my hands were full. i couldn't sort through it all. with unitedhealthcare, it's different. we have access to great specialists, and our pediatrician gets all the information. everyone works as a team. and i only need to talk to one person about her care. we're more than 78,000 people looking out for 70 million americans. that's health in numbers. unitedhealthcare. we're going straight live to rick santorum who's about to make his speech after losing two so far of the states tonight. >> it is great to be home. thank you. here with karen and the kids and the people behind us, that's just -- that's not all of karen's family, but most of it. karen and karen's parents had 11 children and umpteen nieces and nephews that we have and it's just great to be here with friends and family. we have now reached the point where it's halftime. half the delegates in this process have been selected and who's ready to charge out of the locker room in pennsylvania for a strong second half? it is great to be here in southwestern pennsylvania, where i grewup in a steel town about 20 miles northeast of here in this same county, butler, pennsylvania. how about a shoutout for butler. and this area, this area, like that town and like the people in it, forged steel to build this country, to help win world wars and not just have we built the country and forged steel to win wars, we forged people with strong values and a strong commitment to what made america great. okay, you can applaud that too if you want. [ applause ] i can always be interrupted for applause, don't worry about that. this is why we came here. this is why we wanted to come back to southwestern pennsylvania, to kick off the second half. this is a part of the country, pennsylvania, that, well, it's where america started. not only did we forge steel in this state, we forged liberty in this state. [ applause ] the symbol of the liberty bell in philadelphia, where that document that those of you who have been following me around on the campaign trail have been seeing. this document, both the u.s. constitution and the declaration of independence, forged right here in pennsylvania. and there's no place where those values are more instilled than in this great commonwealth. ladies and gentlemen -- [ applause ] -- this great commonwealth has given a tremendous amount to our count country. if you look at the history of our great state, not only the declaration and the constitution created here, but we won key battles. washington's crossing, washington crossing the delaware to save the revolution. that plan was hatched up here in pennsylvania. some in the other camps in this race have said that all of the significant people have spoken in this race so far. see, general washington knew that in fact not all the significant people are those elites in society, those who are the generals and the ranked officers, but in fact what general washington understood, some of the best ideas and some of the best plans, in fact what has made this country great, is that we have listened to real significant voices of everyday americans, and he did. and that's why he crossed the delaware, surprised the hessians and turned the tide of the revolution. ladies and gentlemen, pennsylvania and half the other people in this country have yet to be heard, and we're going to go out and campaign here and across this nation to make sure that their voices are heard in the next few months. [ applause ] we know who we are here in pennsylvania. we know who we are. we know the stock we're made of. we have contributed a lot. great deeds have occurred here, great pennsylvanians have contributed. i know. i had the privilege of representing this state in the senate for 12 years and this community in southwestern pennsylvania for four. went to every one of those counties every year, all 67, and i understand the greatness of the people of this state and i understand how important this race is here in pennsylvania. this is called the keystone state for a reason. we are in fact the keystone. we're the place upon which our country was built and great things continue to happen here. great things like in manufacturing and oil and gas production here in pennsylvania that is turning our economy around and creating opportunities for us to grow our economy, not just here in pennsylvania, but because of lower natural gas prices. we're seeing manufacturing and other businesses come back in spite of the crushing burden that barack obama and his administration has put on our economy. we need someone who understands who liberty is all about. someone who's going to go out and fight to make sure that the biggest and most crushing burden that this administration has put on us, one that was debated just last week in the united states supreme court, about government taking control of your health and of course as a result of your very life and dictating to you, dictating to you what you will do, how much you will pay, what insurance you will get, and even what the practice of your faith will be dictated by the federal government. we need someone in this race who can go out and make the clarion call for liberty. someone who as opposed any government health care state or federal, who can go out and make the case that what president obama is doing, which is what his agenda of health care and his attempt at cap in trade where he's going to dictate how much energy you're going to use, that this is a fundamental change in the relationship between the people and their government. ladies and gentlemen, if we're going to win this race, we can't have little differences between our nominee and president obama. we have to have clear contrasting colors. in the last 120 years -- [ applause ] in the last 120 years, we've had one time where the republican party has defeated an incumbent democrat for president. one time. time and time again the republican establishment have shoved down the throats of the republican party and people across this country, moderate republicans, because of course we have to win by getting people in the middle. there's one person who used. we don't win by moving to the middle. we win by getting people in the middle to move to us and move this country forward. not only do we know who we are here in pennsylvania and what we stand for, but you know who i am. you're going to hear a lot of things being thrown as happened in all the other states, where we've seen a whole bunch of negative campaigning. we've gone out across this country and with the most improbable of odds and with limited resources, exempt one in which we've had incredible resources, and that's human resources, the people of this country have stood up and followed because they have seen someone who has a clear, positive vision. someone whose convictions are also forged in steel, not on an etch-a-sketch. [ applause ] and so you'll be seeing the negative ads and getting the robo calls and all of the other things thrown at us, but you know me. you know how hard i work. you know how strongly i believe in the things that -- the values that southwestern pennsylvania has instilled in me. you know that i come from a steel town from immigrant parents. grandfather worked in the mines. someone who lived in government housing on a va grounds and saw the great sacrifice of our men and women in uniform serving them as they served our country. you know me. they'll say all the things, that i'm someone who doesn't stand up for what i believe in. you know me. [ applause ] and so i ask you over the next three weeks, this isn't halftime, no marching bands. we're hitting the field. the clock starts tonight. we've got three weeks to go out here in pennsylvania. and win this state. and after winning this state, the field looks a little different in may. i remind everybody the one time we did win in the last 120 years, the republican party had the courage to go out and nominate someone who all the experts and all the pundits and all the media -- all the republican establishment said couldn't win, it was too conservative. he lost almost every early primary. he only won one until may. one primary until may. everybody told him to get out of the race. this was back in 1976. they said get out of the race, we need a moderate. in 1976, ronald reagan didn't get out of the race. he was able to stand tall in may, win the state of texas, which we have every intention of doing. [ applause ] go rick, go. go rick, go. go rick, go. go rick, go. >> he took that race the entire way to the convention. he fell short. and in the fall, republicans fell short because we nominated another moderate who couldn't galvanize our party and bring those votes to our side to get the kind of change that we need in america. and then four years later they fought him again. we need another moderate. we have to defeat this democratic incumbent. and this time the republican establishment lost. let's not make the mistake of 1976 again. let's bypass that era and move straight to 1980 andincumbent, and you can help me here in pennsylvania. thank you very much. god bless you. god bless you. thank you. thank you. >> rick santorum talking in pennsylvania just moments ago. the fat lady certainly hasn't sung yet in this race. when we come back, more from team santorum. 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? 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a commanding speech by rick santorum and he's making pretty valid points and he may well win texas, but texas only has a certain number of delegates. if romney keeps winning state after state and building up those delegates, he's going to be unstoppable, isn't he? >> he's going to have to get 70 or 80% of the delegates in all the states. it's a good line that santorum has, a sports analogy. you know what, we're at halftime right now. romney had a good first half, but you know what's more important, the second half. let's see what happens. i'm a come-from-behind kind of guy. i'm going to have a great second half. that's the line he has. it sounds good to a lot of our viewers that are sports fans. i'm anxious to see what he can do in pennsylvania, his home state, coming up april 24th. >> is he also thinking, do you think, wolf, you know what, in politics, anything can happen. and if i just hang on in there and i win the odd state, maybe i'll win texas, win here, pick up delegates here and there, you never know, you never know in politics, anything could happen. if i'm still in the race, i've got a chance. >> yeah, i think that's an element of it. although my sense is that's more of an element, for example, newt gingrich staying in this race than rick santorum. my own sense is rick santorum is going to the ronald reagan playbook of 1976, when ronald reagan went to the convention against an incumbent republican president, gerald ford, and he lost at the convention. but you know what happened? four years later he got the republican nomination, went on to beat jimmy carter and became president of the united states. that's why i think we hear so much of rick santorum talking about ronald reagan, because he's looking ahead in my mind already to 2016. if romney gets the nomination this time and loses to president obama, i think santorum will certainly start spending as much time as he can over the next four years to try once again. >> well, we'll go now to john raymonder who is the senior aide to rick santorum. john, what do you make here tonight? you've lost three to nothing but a spirited speech from rick santorum tonight. how are you feeling? >> well, look, we knew that these -- we were playing on sort of mitt romney's turf, if you will, and we think that things dramatically change now. we get to go to our home state. mitt romney has already had multiple home states because of how many homes he has, but now we get to go to pennsylvania where it's rick santorum territory. that leads us potentially into may, which could be a great, great month for rick santorum the way the states line up. as we mentioned before, texas becomes critical. texas has a whole boat load of delegates. my belief is if rick santorum can win pennsylvania and texas, i believe he will be the gop nominee for the republicans. >> what did you make of wolf blitzer's assessment there, that a lot of reagan talk in rick's speech tonight? i tell you what, john, hold it there. i'm going to wolf blitzer with breaking news for us. wolf, to you. >> piers, the moment that mitt romney has been waiting for, we're ready to make a projection right now. and as you've been saying, three for three for mitt romney tonight. we can now project that mitt romney is the winner in the state of wisconsin. earlier we projected a win in the district of columbia and a win in maryland. three for three for mitt romney tonight. he wins in wisconsin. 42 total delegates at stake in this primary. a big night for mitt romney. you saw the exit poll numbers. he was ahead by about seven points. the official numbers show it tighter right now but based on the exit poll numbers as well as the official numbers coming in right now, we can now project that mitt romney will carry wisconsin. so the race continues. the race continues to april 24th when pennsylvania is coming up. it's going to be a huge night on that tuesday. piers. >> thanks a lot, wolf. we'll go back to john, the senior adviser to rick santorum. there we have it, it's official. three for nothing and sporting parlance you've got your butts kicked tonight but you make a good point, as did the senator. this is still plenty of time to play for, right? >> absolutely. let's remember one other thing too. in wisconsin a lot of the delegates will be proportioned about how you did in different congressional districts. so rick santorum will still walk out of there with significant delegates. as we said, this is halftime. people have a right to have a voice of who they're going to support in this nomination. last time the democrats ended in june and the democrats united and had a big win in november. i believe that will happen for the republicans this time as well. >> i'm going to kelly conway, senior adviser to newt gingrich. the one night we've barely heard tonight is newt gingrich. he's had another poor night and wore worryingly isn't part of the debate anymore. it's all about santorum and romney. how do you feel about that in the gingrich camp? >> well, we're glad that you're giving us a voice and a platform tonight, piers, thank you for that. >> always my pleasure. >> i want to congratulate governor romney and certainly senator santorum and really all four who are still in the race. i disagree with the fact newt is not part of the conversation. today again the president called out newt by name. he wanted to distort the facts to fit his narrative. the president reminded us all today, piers, why newt gingrich is staying in this race. he'd have a very dangerous second term. he's bullying the supreme court, accusing them of unprecedented action and judicial activism if they dare overturn as unconstitutional his unconstitutional health care plan. i think he was absent the first day of law school when we all lurnd marbury versus madison and the president also went right after the paul ryan budget and attacked mitt romney by name. so the president is in campaign mode. i think everybody that's still in this race has a voice out there. piers, newt has made it very clear that he's still competing for delegates, but he also recognizes that we need to elevate this petty campaign into a national conversation. he wants to make sure all 178,000 people who have donated to his campaign and the millions of people who voted for someone other than the so-called front runner will have a voice at the convention. piers, i'm looking at cnn's exit polling, i notice among voters who made up their mind in wisconsin, mitt romney got 45% of the vote. what's keeping the other 55? this is after he got big endorsements from jeb bush and marco rubio. >> kelly ann, let me jump in. let me put a difficult question to you. there's got to be a point where if you want to be a bona fide, a traditional conservative candidate to seriously challenge mitt romney, given how far rick santorum has pulled away from newt gingrich in all the recent polling, isn't it time perhaps for newt gingrich to consider what may have been unthinkable a few weeks ago, to actually put all his support around rick santorum to guarantee there is a straight fight between moderate romney and conservative santorum? wouldn't that be better for the party? >> well, two things. they have actually had a one-on-one fight now for a while. we didn't compete very heavily in wisconsin, illinois or ohio. we just have had to pick and choose the states in which we compete because we don't have the same money as governor romney and certainly not the same to use the money. but the point is that we -- conservatives are -- there is a critical mass of conservatives who are telling the cnn pollsters and the exit polls and are telling governor romney, we're just not that into you as conservatives yet and i think you already see a unification of conservatives. on the one hand you've got sarah palin and governor perry and r herman cain and rick santorum and newt gingrich sort of coalescing conservatives across the country and then you've got the front runner. let me just repeat what senator santorum and speaker gingrich have said. this is really important, piers. if mitt romney or anyone were to earn 1,144 delegates outright, they would -- these gentlemen would support him as the nominee. in fact we'd all be there to help him. >> kelly ann, let me jump in again. >> but he's not there. >> i must take a short break. we'll come back after this break and we may be going straight to mitt romney. he's about to make a speech, a victory speech. it's a big night, he's won all three states. we'll find out in a moment when he'll be ready to speak. ♪ ♪ i can do anything ♪ i can do anything today ♪ i can go anywhere ♪ i can go anywhere today ♪ la la la la la la la [ male announcer ] dow solutions help millions of people by helping to make gluten free bread that doesn't taste gluten free. together, the elements of science and the human element can solve anything. solutionism. the new optimism. ♪ home was an airport lounge and an ipad ♪ ♪ made sure his credit score did not go bad ♪ ♪ with a free-credit-score-dot-com ♪ ♪ app that he had ♪ downloaded it in the himalayas ♪ ♪ while meditating like a true playa ♪ ♪ now when he's surfing down in chile'a ♪ ♪ he can see when his score is in danger ♪ ♪ if you're a mobile type on the go ♪ ♪ i suggest you take a tip from my bro ♪ ♪ and download the app that lets you know ♪ ♪ at free-credit-score-dot-com now let's go. ♪ vo: offer applies with enrollment in freecreditscore.com™. we're looking at live pictures from governor mitt romney's hq in milwaukee. he's had a thumpingly good night tonight, he's won all three states in d.c., maryland and wisconsin and will be making a victory speech. until then we'll be joined by bobb bob erlick. what is the map ahead for the romney campaign? >> you know what, it's the power of delegates, it's the power of wins, it's to cut the burn rate a little bit on the spending and it's to get -- to use a sports analogy, call the equipment manager, get everybody back on the same team for the general election. >> hello, and thank you, wisconsin. >> let me ask you this. at what point do you think other candidates should pull out of this race? >> you know, piers, it's not my call, it's not governor romney's call, it's their call. i think it always sounds weak when you say that guy has to get out and threaten folks. it sounds weak and governor romney is strong. i do think, however, when you think about it and wolf was talking about the math, once the math begins to be so tough, so difficult, the fund-raising dries up, the delegates aren't there, you really have to think about why i'm in this race. >> obviously governor romney has got a problem in the polling with women. not entirely surprising given the social issue debates that have been raging the republican party have been pretty negatively received. how does he rebuild trust in the female vote? >> i think that's more a function of the santorum campaign, quite frankly, than the democrats using some of senator santorum's verbiage to their partisan advantage. i think when the general election, again, when you have one on one general election and they see, again, and are reminded of governor romney's real views, that gender gap will dissipate rather quickly. >> does governor romney want to get stuck into barack obama right now? he's back in there now. he's clearly the front runner. everyone assumes he's going to win. is he chomping at the bit to get in? >> i think a little bit. obviously no doubt about it, this campaign was built for the long haul, but quite frankly there's a great philosophical divide. it's what you want. you want a great contrast in a presidential election. it's going to be a big, big-time race. obama care, immigration, energy, taxes, spending, deficits. they have very profound differences on these issues. so i like fill couphilosophical differences between the candidates. that's what the people have the right to expect and they're going to get it come november. >> tell me about mitt romney's mood at the moment. how is he feeling himself, do you think? >> you know what, i was with him last week, as you know, he's here in maryland. i asked him, you don't look tired. i've been through statewide campaigns. you've got to look worse, mitt. he looks good. he's confident. quite frankly, i'm a person who believes that this prolonged campaign has helped him. it's made him a better debater, made him a better candidate. the burn rate of the dollars is the downside, but clearly he's a sharp candidate. he has to be against president obama, who's a great debater and tough candidate. but mitt romney is there. he has the skill set not only to compete but to win. he has the skill set, i believe, the country is looking for, particularly when it comes to creating private sector jobs. >> nobody disputes he's an intelligent man and has been a very successful businessman. what they say is there seems to be a slight disconnect still between governor romney and the average american in the street. because he's so wealthy, he's so successful, he keeps making repeated silly little mistakes, which kind of lends sucker to the argument that he's slightly out of touch. does he accept that? and what do you think as one of his friends he needs to do to stop making those kind of mistakes? >> the media tends to play the etch-a-sketch stuff. it's the collateral issue of the day. if you have a kid who's 22 years old with $150,000 in debt and he's a smart kid and he's sitting at home and can't get the job he or she needs, you don't really care about the etch-a-sketch or two cadillacs compared to one cadillac, all that stuff. the press loves it. it's a 24/7 feeding frenzy. you know that. it helps pay your salary, and i'm not criticizing you, but it is what it is these days. when it comes down to the general election, however, clear philosophical differences on keystone, on anwar, on energy differences, on taxes, on spending, on deficits. this is the stuff that really counts. i do believe, piers, ultimately this election is about who is best for my kid to secure that job. who do i trust best to create private sector jobs in this country today. who has done it? who understands the private sector economy better? the president or mitt romney? if that's the paradigm, if that's the question people ask themselves, i'm pretty confident that he'll prevail on election day. >> governor, i'm going to have to leave it there. thank you very much indeed. we're going to go straight now to milwaukee where governor romney is about to make his victory speech. >> thank you. hi, guys. thank you. congressman ryan, he's a great leader, wonderful speaker, but he's not going to take ann's place, i've got to tell you that. thank you for providing the thank yous this evening, congressman. thank you also to senator johnson and to congressman sensen brenner. appreciate their being here and their participation in this process. and thank you to wisconsin, maryland and washington, d.c. we won them all! this -- this really has been quite a night. we've won a great victory tonight in our campaign to restore the promise of america. and here in the heartland, you know, you're not going to find americans with bigger hearts than the people of wisconsin. you know, but as i've been traveling across the state, i have visited with far too many whose hearts are filled with anxiety. about their future. so many good and decent people seem to be running harder to stay in place. and for many no matter how hard they're running every day it seems to put them further behind. it's that way across so much of america. too much of america. under this president's watch, more americans have lost their jobs than during any other period since the depression. millions have lost their homes. a record number of americans are now living in poverty. and the most vulnerable are the ones who have been the hurt the most. 30% of single moms are now living in poverty. new business start-ups that's where we get job growth, new business start-ups are down to the lowest level. when you drive home tonight, and you stop by the gas station, just take a look at the prices and then ask yourself four more years of that? i agree. that's why it's important to understand one extraordinary fact about this election. president obama thinks he's doing a good job. i'm not kidding. he actually thinks he's doing a great job. he thinks he's an historically great job like abraham lincoln and lbj and fdr. no, he did not say that on "saturday night live," all righty? it's enough to make you think that years of flying around in air force one, surrounded by an adoring staff of true believers telling you that you're great and you're doing a great job, it's enough to make you think you might become out of touch with that. that's what's happened. this campaign is going to deal with many complicated issues. but there's a basic choice that we're going to face. the president transformed america and he spent the last four years laying the foundation for a new government-centered society. i will spend the next four years rebuilding the foundation of an opportunity society led by free people and free enterprises. and, you know, the different visions we have i think are a product of the different lives we have led, the life experiences, the values we have. when he was a community organizer, and communities were hurt by plant closings, his reaction was to turn to the government. for help. he saw free enterprise as the villain. and government as a solution. he never seemed to grasp the very basic point that a plant closes when a business loses money. so today, when the president attacks business and when his policies make it more difficult for business to grow and prosper, he's also attacking the very communities he had wanted to help. or at least that's how it works when america is working. but under barack obama, america hasn't been working. the ironic tragedy is that the community organizer who wanted to help those that were hurt by a plant closing became the president on whose watch more jobs have been lost than at i'm in since the great depression. in barack obama's government centered society, the government has to do more because the economy is doomed to do less. because when you attack business and you vilify success, you're going to have less business and less success. and then of course the debate becomes about how much to extend unemployment insurance because you have guarantee there will be many more unemployed. tax increases have not become a necessity, but also a desired tool for social justice. in that world of shrinking mean, there's a finite amount of money. and as someone once famously said you need to have some taxes to spread the wealth around. and barack obama's government-centered society, government spending always increases. because well, why not? there's always someone who's entitled to something more and who's willing to vote for anyone who will give them something more. now, by the way, we know where that kind of trends -- you know, that transformation of a free society to a government-centered society leads. because there are other nations that have followed that path and it leads to chronic high unemployment, crushing debt, and stagnant wages. it's beginning to sound familiar, isn't it? i don't want to transform america. i want to restore to america the economic values of freedom and opportunity and limited government that have made us the power house of the world. it's opportunity, it's opportunity. not a check from government. it's opportunity that is always driven america and defined us as americans. now, i'm not naive enough to believe that free intenterprise the solution to all our problem, but nor am i naive enough to know that free enterprise has done more to help build a strong middle class, to help educate our kids and to make our lives better than all the programs of government combined. if we become one of those societies that attacks success, one outcome is certain. there will be a lot less success and that's not who we are. the promise of america has always been that if you worked hard, had the right value, took some risk, that there was an opportunity to build a better life for your family and for your next generation. this means that government has to be smaller and have strict limits placed in its power. obamacare violates both those principles and i will get rid of it. taxes have to be as low as possible, and in line with those of the competing nations around the world. designed to foster innovation and growth. that's why i will cut marginal taxes across the board. i want to create good jobs in this country. let's get the taxes down for employers. now, we of course understand in a free market that regulations are necessary. and critical. but they have to be continuously updated, streamlined, modernized and regulators have to see their job not just as cracking down on the bad guys but also promoting enterprise and fostering job creation. washington has to become an ally of business, not the opposition of business. now, workers should have the right to join unions. but unions should not be forced upon workers. unions should not have the power to take money out of the members' paychecks the buy the support of politicians that are favored by the union bosses. you know, out of touch liberals like prime minist like barack obama say they want a strong economy, but they don't like business too much. but the economy is simply the product of all the businesses of the nation added together. so it's a bit like saying you like an omelet, but you don't like eggs. you know, to build a strong economy that provides good jobs and rising wages and that reduces poverty we have to build successful businesses of every kind imaginable. president obama has been attacking successful businesses of every kind imaginable. we have been a country of dreamers, where dreamers could have dreams, where one dream helps launch another. and if those dreamers are rewarded with prosperity, we view that as a reason that others may be encouraged to dream big as well. now, these last few years have been difficult. made a lot worse by the mistakes and failures of the president's leadership. but if the hill before us is a little steeper, we have always been a nation of a big stepper. in this last year i have been all over the country. from student unions to kitchen tables, from factory break rooms to boardrooms. and i have heard frustration and anger, but rarely hopelessness. a lot of americans have given up on the president. but they haven't thought about giving up. not on themselves. not on each other. and not on america. we have a duty. h