bluster, big talk, and beating the drums of war with iraq. and rush limbaugh inc., a contract worth hundreds of millions as more advertisers jump the ship, as he put his own empire at risk? i'm wolf blitzer at the cnn election center. you're in "the situation room." it's called super tuesday for a reason. even in this year's slimmed down version 1/3 gop contests in ten states today. more than all the primaries and -- three of then last week, certainly romney could leave some of the -- but the most important prize today is ohio. our latest cnn poll shows romney is neck and neck with rick santorum who needs a big day of his own. let's go straight to jim acosta. he's on the scene for us in ohio. what's the latest there, jim? >> reporter: wolf, ohio mike the marquee state in the super tuesday states up for grabs, but you wouldn't know it. none of the candidates were out in the state looking for votes, but rick santorum will be in steubenville, ohio later tonight with the hope that mitt romney's past will finally catch up with him. >> i'm sorry my super tuesday travel schedule prevents me from being with you in person. >> and the -- mitt romney appeared via satellite before a conference staysed bied pro-israeli lobby aipac, slamming the president's record. >> hope is not a foreign policy. >> reporter: not to be outdowned rick went in person. >> if they do notary down the facilities, we will tear them down ourselves. >> reporter: while the candidates were off the trail, the ads did some trash talking for them. >> mitt romney -- >> reporter: and no surprise, in the air war over the super tuesday battleground of hawaii, romney has a clear advance. >> would you have voted to let convicted violatant felons regain the right to vote? >> reporter: according to estimates from ad tracker pro-santorum and pro-gingrich pac ads have been 100% negative, same goes to a pro-obama super pac attacking romney, but romney has other advantages. santorum and gingrich don't appear on the ballot. and some are missing in ohio. newt gingrich has given up in ohio, instead he stopped at the rocket center in alabama, a sign the pro-moon base newt gingrich isn't ready to -- >> i have opponents who are in a normal period are adequate, but they don't have anything like the scale of change i just described. >> reporter: where romney really lucked out is santorum is only now pointing out the former massachusetts governor has in the past voiced support for a mandate to buy health insurance. romney indicated as much in this interview in 2009. >> reporter: do you think this masterson plan could be a model? >> i think there's a number of features in the somes misplans that could information washington. the fact we have portable insurance and we were able to get people insured without a government option is on model i think they can learn from. >> reporter: she said he did not want a one size fits all plan for the country. that is a claim that santorum and gingrich could challenge if he do well tonight. if romney wins big, it's a debate that may just have to wait for the fall. >> we'll see how it unfold. it could be a long night in ohio. >> with the news conference over at the white house, he lashed out ought republican candidates for all their tough talk on iran. listen to this. >> now, what's said on the campaign trail, you know, those folks don't have a lot of responsibilities. they're not commander in chief, and when i see the casualness with which some of these folks talk about war, i'm reminded of the costs involved in war. >> the president went to to dare his rivals to support war, if that's what they wish. we're discuss it in a few minutes with ari fleischer and donna brazile. first let's turn to candy crowley. she's in boston right now, mitt romney's home turn. what is the romney camp looking for tonight? >> reporter: listen, you ask them that. you know what they say? they want more votes than the other guys. that's down to the baseline. more than that, this is now a campaign that understands that wins a state means winning the headlines, but winning the delegat delegates, obviously they would love to win those states. light now they're really focused on where they can pick up these delegates. and they're looking, as we all are, at ohio. they feel momentum is on their side. certainly there's similarities between mitt romney's position in ohio the position a weekal. source while their bottom-line answer is we want more votes than the other guy, they can't ignore a state win, but as tactitions they're -- >> are we expecting any major changes in strategy after tonight? >> two states they think are very important, illinois and missouri. they say, look, we've had background -- message absolutely not. we have seen in the past ten days, past week or so mitt romney getting back to and sticking with i'm the guy with the everyone, and i therefore maked -- they don't want to get sidelined with a lot of these so much issues they stuck with that jobs message all the way through, and that's where they're going to day as they move on to states beyond. >> are there concerns about the damage being done by this very, very brutal kind of primary? >> reporter: listen, they don't even acknowledge it to a certain extent, about you this el say our answer is we're the only candidates in this republican primary with the where with jaw you will to go the distance, meaning they have the money and the machinery, and the backing to go all the way to the convention with this. they do feel once this dies down, they point out, look, it's early march here, the election is in november. so much can happen between now and then. they feel like they have time to make up with the independent votes, so many who have fallen away from romney. they think they can come back, playable not as requestically, but certainly bring them back by november once this is a primary season -- >> candy is with mitt romney in massachusetts. thanks very much. super tuesday stretches to just about every corner of the country, but the epicenter is ohio. let's discuss what's going on with our analyst gloria borger and david gergen. i want you to listen to both these front-runners earlier today. listen. >> i hope that i get the support of people here in ohio tomorrow. i believe if i do, i believe i can get the nomination. >> so much is always at stake. and i would make the argument while it may not be make or break, it's going to be a huge, huge deal, we are out here competing in the state of ohio. >> are we overemphasizing, david, how important ohio is today? >> not at all. this can't be the climactic night, and ohio is at the center of that. we have a situation with santorum and romney, if romney loses tonight, he can go on, he has a very strong path to the nomination. if santorum loses tonight, it's hard to be. this could very well be fatal. >> even if santorum were to win the popular vote in ohio, romney might win the 2ke8 gas in ohio. >> because santorum has failed to qualify in a few areas, and that it would cost him a whole bunch of delegates. you know, that speaks to the organization -- >> or lack thereof. >> of the santorum campaign. the question of how do you move forward? i think hawaii is key. no. >> reporter: candidate has ever won without winning ohio. it would be good if you wanted to win the primary. some people say it's 4, 5, 6 to 1. in fact el, if he didn't beat santorum there, it will be a real blow to his campaign. i think the question also, though, is whether mitt romney can do well in the south. he didn't win a southern state last time he tried to win the presidency. this time the opportunity is in tennessee. the early voting does not look like it's going thinks way. if he can do well in tennessee, he can say, you know what? i'm a national candidates. >> and count florida as -- >> i'm sorry, i don't. >> i believe it's in the sun. >> northern florida is a southern saint. >> deep south. how about that? >> what does it say about santorum's campaign? he couldn't get on the ballot, even though it's been reported that it was relatively simple. he didn't get on the ballot in virginia, where you need thousands of signatures, but in ohio it's a severely simple process, and he didn't get on the ballot in some of these districts. >> it doesn't speak to your managerial skills, does it? but he's been operating on a shoestring. no one ever thought he would be here at this stage. >> this is the first time out, one of the reason he benefits. he knows how to do these things. >> how do you sxhekt him to stand up to barack obama? >> and don't forget, the rho many any team is even worried about their own team standing up, because barack obama has gone the distance once before, has a huge research team out there in chicago waiting to pounce on mitt romney should mitt romney become the nominee. >> i think it's interesting, even as we go into this, obama is opening this second front. he's really been nimble, today in the press conference, you'll does you it later, i thought that was an interesting political move. i thought it was interesting. >> it helps when you're president, by the way. do have the bully pulpit. >> if you love politics, as we do, this will be a great place to be. speaking out about a growing scandal. >> i don't know what's in rush limbaugh's heart, so i'm not going to comment on the sincerity of his apology. >> the exodus by advertisers is growing, though. will rush limbaugh himself feel any of the financial fallout? 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[ brian ] there's a bright future here, and there's a chance to get on the ground floor of something big, something that will bring us back. not only this company, but this country. ♪ jack cafferty is here with "the cafferty file." >> there's an old saying that goes it's better to be lucky than good. it turns out that saying could even apply to presidential politics. take president obama. a few weeks ago it seemed that reelection could be a real uphill struggle for the president. a weakened economy, extended high unemployment. failure to deliver, the polls all indicated the public wasn't nearly as enarmorred with the president as they once we are. then the republicans began their primaries. they have turned out to be a gift that keeps on giving. mitt romney was expecting a coronation, instead he spent months in a mud night. even if romney wins the gnome nailing, and he probably will, he'll enter the general election bloodied. at the same time the tide has begun to turn for the president. in a political piece, roger simon writing that a presidential candidates needs luck more than anything else. simon says mr. obama has gotten very lucky. boy, has he. rush limbaugh went on the radio, called a georgetown law student a slut and prostitute for her position on birth control. about two dense advertisers, including aol are spud hair commercial. two radio stations have taken him off the air. my guess is there will be more to follow. the billest gift to president obama, limb because's comments and the pathetic response by the candidates could end up drawing women away from the republican party. it's still the economy, stupid. here's the question. when it comes to being elected president, is it better to be lucky than good? go to cnn.com/caffertyfile, post a comment on my blog, or go to our post on "the situation room's" facebook page. i'll be hitting that nohdoz later tonight. >> we're going long. >> i want you to stay on until alaska's returns are in. >> i know, that's going to be a while. stand by. >> okay. let's dig deeper on the whole rush limbaugh controversy. two radio stations have dropped his talk show. they join a growing list of advertisers fleeing after he lashed out at that woman advocating health care coverage for contraception. today the president was asked about the controversy. >> you know, i'm not going to comment on what sponsors decide to do. i'm not going to comment on either the economics or the politics of it. i don't know what's in rush limbaugh's heart, so i'm not going to comment on the sincerity of his apology. what i can comment on is the fact that all decent folks can agree that the remarks that were made don't have any place in the public discourse. the reason i called ms. fluke is because i thought malia and sasha, and one of the things i want them to do, as they get older, so to engage in issues they care about, even ones i may not agree with them on, i want them to be able to speak their mind in a civil and thoughtful w way, and i don't want them attacked or called horrible names because they're being good citizens. cnn's lisa sylvester is looking into the financial implications of the scandal for limbaugh. lisa, what are you finding out? >> wolf, on rush limbaugh's show, he didn't bring up the controversy, and clearchannel's premiere radio which send indicates the show, continuing to stand by him. they won't say the that impact, but limbaugh continues to lose a number of corporate sponsors. the exodus continues. limbaugh has apologized for derogatory comments he made about georgetown law student sandra fluke. >> it means you're a slut, right? it means you're a prostitute. >> liberal groups westbound campaigning for companies to boycott his show,e. >> if you're going to go on radio, talk to a national audience, you have to have some responsibility for your own words. it doesn't mean we police you like some kind of nannies, but at the same time, don't call women sluts. >> reporter: his conservative opinions, occasional rants, and insights have made him a wealthy man. it's syndicated to nearly 600 radio stations. he signs a contract in 2008 for $400 million. limbaugh has a sprawling estate in florida, when he married for the fourth time, elton john performed at his wedding. the question -- will this pullback in advertising hurt rush limbaugh financially? >> long term i think it will sting. certainly they have committed to stand by him for the near term. how much longer that will last, nobody knows. advertisers are falling away. that's where the rubber meets the room. it's not xw whether you can continue saying what you say, it's about whether or not the advertisers will continue to pay your station their money to get their products on the air. >> reporter: but many conservatives while not condoning the comments question whether there's a double standard at play. bill maher, who last week gave $1 million to a super pac supporting president obama, has said nasty things about sarah palin, calling her the "c" word and other names without repercussio repercussions. >> she says they will not get away with this oh, speaking of [ bleep ], did you -- media critic and host of cnn's "reliable sources" howard kurtz says conserves tiffs do have a point. >> there's a bit of a double standard. when ed shultz used the same word, there was a bit of a controversy, but not like this. so i think that because -- part because limbaugh looms as a large, but also because he's a conservative with enemies on the left, this seems to have been blown up more. >> ed shultz did call laura ingraham personally to apologize. sandra fluke did put herself in the public arena by testifying at congressionally hearing. on one hasn't she can be considered a public figure, but she doesn't a household name. she's never run for office like sarah palin or michele bachmann, which is one reason limbaugh's attack might have been seen more as a little more than the mudslinging. >> do we know if he called this student to personally apologize directly to her? >> as of yesterday, he did not call her, and, you know, this is what she said on "the view." actually she wasn't even welcoming a call from him. certainly she's not a fan of rush limbaugh and isn't waiting by the phone to waiting for the phone to ring. so far it hasn't happened, wolf. >> lisa, good report. thanks very much. president obama takes a dig at the republicans who want to replace him in the white house, accusing them of casual talk about war with iran. plus the president's message to mitt romney on this super tuesday. donna brazile and ari fleischer are both standing by live to talk about all of that in our "strategy session." >> what would you like to say to mr. romney? >> good luck tonight. [ todd ] hello? hello todd. just calling to let you know i'm giving you the silent treatment. so you're calling to tell me you're giving me the silent treatment? ummm, yeah. jen, this is like the eighth time you've called... no, it's fine, my family has free unlimited mobile-to-any-mobile minutes -- i can call all i want. i don't think you understand how the silent treatment works. hello? [ male announcer ] buy unlimited messaging and get free unlimited calling to any mobile phone on any network. at&t. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ that should do it. enjoy your new shower. [ door opens, closes ] trouble with a car insurance claim. [ dennis ] switch to allstate. their claim service is so good, now it's guaranteed. [ foreman ] so i can trust 'em. unlike randy. dollar for dollar, nobody protects you like allstate. delicious gourmet gravy. and she agrees. with fancy feast gravy lovers, your cat can enjoy the delicious, satisfying taste of gourmet gravy every day. fancy feast. the best ingredient is love. let's getting right to our strategy session. donna brazile and former bush white house press secretary ari fleischer. at the news conference, he didn't mention any candidates by name, but clearly had romney, gingrich and santorum in mind when he said this about iran. >> what's said on the campaign trail, you know, those folks don't have a lot of responsibilities. they're not commander in chief. when i sigh the casualness with which some of these folks talk about war, i'm reminded of the costs involved in war. i'm reminded of the decision i have to make in terms of sending our young men and women into battle. the impact that appears on their lives, the impact it has on our national security, the impact it has on our economy. this is not a game, and there's nosh casual about it. you know, when i see some of these folks who have a lot of bluster, and a lot of big talk, but when you actually ask them specifically what they would do it turns out they repeat the things we have been doing over the last three years. it indicates to me that's more about politics than actually trying t