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Supporters. he's not like a lot of other republicans who rise and fall, fizzle, michele bachmann, herman cain, people try them on like a suit, decide they don't fit well. the people who love ron paul, they are there through thick and thin by and large. the number may waiver, but there is a core team that is there for the duration. he can raise money. he's demonstrated that he can raise a lot of money through thick and thin. i think the issue is will he hang on through the primaries for a duration of weeks and months? republicans are awarding their delegates now more like democrats did last tim...

>> reporter: well, it is, but i think you'd have to say that this review has been going on for at least eight months. so eventually this was going to come out, but that said, you know, it is a rare visit by the president to the pentagon really. a lot of people over there saying they do not remember when the last time a president came over and did a major briefing. you know, you talk about the political ramifications, if you want to get into that. i think you can say the president has three opportunities here. the first would be to remind people that the war in iraq is basically, you know, over...

Will definitely be an issue for republican candidates this fall, absolutely. >> robert? >> well, certainly the republican candidate is going to try to make this an issue this year. mitt romney's advocating keeping troops in iraq. he's advocated zeroing out our foreign aid to countries like israel. the reason it won't get any traction is because the president's policies in terms of military strategy have gotten -- have achieved great success, therefore, it's got broad appeal. for example, his relentless pursuit against terrorists and dismantling the leadership of al qaeda, including osama bin l...

In an earlier issue the question was, why don't you like me? we're talking about that with michael crowley. he's "time magazine's" deputy bureau chief in washington. michael, something that struck me, one of the articles. a series of articles, obviously. the headline that said how obama saved romney. romney is on campaign trail ripping apart the president, your headline is saying the president is saving romney. >> what romney wants more than anything right now is for this to feel like a romney versus obama campaign. he wants inevitability. he wants a sense that he's already kind of passed the ...

But does he really have any oom of anywhere else. does he have organization? does he have appeal in new hampshire, swi most important right now and in south carolina. i think it's a bit of an open question. i'm skeptical. i would say the one big thing to look at is the super pacs, the groups that can support a candidate and take unlimited donations. if santorum had one donor come in and give a 5 or $10 million donation, boom, suddenly he's shooting some very heavy artillery at mitt romney. so i think it remains to be seen, but i think given history, cases like mike huckabee, there's reason to ...