john mccain put principles. first one example -- based on his own personal experience, john mccain thought members of his own party and spoke out against torture leading to the effort to pass the detainee treatment act to ensure we would live within our values. [applause] john mccain has never hesitated to do what he thought was right rather than what is politically expedient. a rare individual in politics. new hampshire is the place where his commitment to truth in politics found a name, straight talk. it was traveling across the state on his street talk express that senator mccain's unique brand of candor and politics caught fire with very discerning new hampshire primary voters, not once but twice. that senator mccain would become a primary legend and in my view new hampshire's first senator was far from certain when campaign here in 1999. with texas governor george bush wrapping up endorsements and leading early in the polls, the arizona senator faced an uphill climb. true to his character, up zero climbs do

> what i would say about john mccain, the reason john mccain made earmarks a big deal he wasn't for entitlement reform. that's where the big money is. i've come out and said i'm going to cut $5 trillion over the next five years. you won't have room for earmarks. what we need to do is to do reform of social security and medicare and medicaid and food stamps and housing programs and ssi. i was the author of the welfare reform act. that was serious dollars. earmarks are something that's focused in by people who simply aren't willing to take on the tough problems. i took on the tough problems. and i also said that when earmarks got abusive, we should end them. i agree with that. but the idea that earmarks are the problem in washington, d.c. is ridiculous. the problem are the entitlement programs and this desire to spend more money and that's what i've taken on in my career. i've been for the balanced budget aemth of the constitution. it's one of the major plugs of my campaign. you'll see someone as tough on spending as anybody. >> as you make that case in new hampshire, you know, you run into tea p

then john mccain went to south carolina, not exactly a john mccain state and what happened in south carolina? not only did he win there but his challenger, the massachusetts guy, got killed in south carolina. mitt romney came in fourth place in south carolina in 2008. he only got 15% of the vote. not only did john mccain beat him but mike huckabee beat him, too. fred thompson beat him there. who? yeah, that fred thompson. put aside all of the coronation stuff, all the mitt romney in evidence vicinity storyline. if you took a snapshot, look at the presidential race right now, iowa, first contest appears to have been won by rick santorum. new hampshire won by the massachusetts maguy. heading in south carolina, the massachusetts guy has the big s campaign, last time south carolina had the chance to vote on him they game him a buck 50. 15%. he lost to who? he lost to fred thompson. it's true that mitt romney is the default nominee. that everybody assumes he has it wrapped up. we opened the show last night by saying yesterday was a disasterous day for mitt romney, today was worse. today mitt romn

john mccain likes mitt romney and do a close up of meghan. >> come here. >> john mccain likes mitt romney and meghan mccain likes mitt romney and cindy mccain likes mitt romney and the whole mccain family likes mitt romney. >> is the pill you take -- >> do you want to hear why i like him? he came on the road with us. >> romney voters don't like mitt romney. >> the thing i found out about him, i had the opportunity obviously to get to know him personally and he's quite likeable and charming. >> he's like a robot. >> no, he's not. he's not at all that's not the conversation that took place. if he had endorsed santorum, i would be like slitting my wrist on the table right now. >> he could have -- >> i don't think that's appropriate. that's lax courage not to get behind someone. i find it quite lacking courage the people that refuse to do it. >> did you get to the studio early enough to hear at the beginning of the discussion, is the mccain endorsement worth much this time around? because both parties hate their losers. i heard democrats say the most awful things about john kerry after he los

john mccain is an older man. he has made a lot of decisions in his life including joining the navy, made decisions about who to marry, having children, decisions about wars, decisions about more wars, a whole lifetime of very important decision. he says the single best decision he has ever made in his entire life was -- i realize that mitt romney wants john mccain's endorsement. but this week john mccain's endorsement came with a whiplash inducing reminder about john mccain's judgment. >>>? terms of the other candidates, there is ron paul, who as i mentioned before is doing well in the most recent polling. he was third in iowa, second in new hampshire, polling third and rising in south carolina right now. back home in texas, a federal appeals court today cleared the way for immediate enforcement of texas' new rather radical anti-abortion law. this is kind of amazing. think about. this this is the new law, it says that any woman who wants to have an abortion in the state of texas will now be forced by the governme

this year's nominees were senator john kerry and senator john mccain. from manchester, it is an hour and 20 minutes. [applause] >> thank you very much, everybody. thank you. please be seated. thank you. please sit down. i am truly honored to be with all of you distinguished politicians and luminaries to celebrate the new hampshire presidential primary and three of my personal political heroes. david broder, who is a legend in american political reporting. john mccain, whose service we all know so well. and of course, i get to give the award to john kerry. you may remember that in 2004,i chaired john kerry's national political campaign for president. my husband billy was his new hampshire campaign chair. in our household, it was john kerry for president 24/7. stephanie can tell you that is true. as you heard in that video, early when he got into the race, everybody thought john kerry was going to be the nominee of the democratic party. but then, as the video showed, by this time in 2003 as the new hampshire primary was heating up, the pundits and the pol

john mccain territory four years ago. small huckabee performance because not that many evangelical voters, blue collar economics as we move on, wolf. >> as we move on, wolf. >> stand by, we are approaching the top of the hour and we've got more news to share. >>> here is the latest vote that we have right now. it is so close. 19 votes separating rick santorum and mitt romney. 99% of precincts reporting. we want to welcome our viewers once again. viewers in the united states and around the world. i'm wolf blitzer reporting from the cnn election center. let's go over and join our excellent team of correspondents, anderson cooper is here, piers morgan is here. we have a special guest right now. rick santorum is joining us at this hour. you may be the winner. you're, by all accounts, the winner. it is a virtual tie. let me congratulations you, senator santorum. have you done an amazing job, as you well know. it was not that long ago, you were nowhere in iowa. but now it is a virtual tie. you may win or lose by one or two vote

the lighter red is john mccain. the darker red, these are the counties that mitt romney -- mitt romney, 32%. he only wanted a few counties but he was the former massachusetts governor. john mccain is now on team romney. just endorsed him today. you have to say romney is the overwhelming favorite in new hampshire but it's been a volatile year, don. >> i have been watching you, you have been talking to that wall. when the wall starts to talk back to you, we're going to have -- >> she talks back. >> she does? let's move forward to south carolina 2012. if you want to give us the overall but then also talk about romney. >> let's go to the numbers for romney first. south carolina was another big disappointment. some say christian evangelicals took it out on him that he was a mormon. remember, he lost iowa, new hampshire. there was also a momentum factor. south carolina was really the end of the line. but you raise a very interesting question. now in this race. >> right. >> mccain eeked it out. 33% to 30%. rick perry says

[cheers and applause] [crowd chanting "john mccain, john mccain, john mccain!"] [crowd chanting "go, john, go!"] ♪ >> those remarks from senator john mccain took place after winning the new hampshire primary in 2000. the first in the nation 2012 contest is also taking place, 8:00 p.m. eastern, a road to the white house coverage continuing at an o'clock p.m. eastern with speeches from candidates. you can join us by phone or facebook or follow us on twitter, and we will follow the candidates on to the south carolina primary on the 31st. going back to february 1, 2000, from george w. bush. he lost the primary by 19 points to senator mccain. here is a look at his 10-minute speech. [cheers and applause] ♪ [cheers and applause] >> thank you very much. thank you very much. judd, i appreciate it. the huge turnout, it warms my heart. [cheers and applause] i just placed a phone call to my friend john mccain on the race he ran in new hampshire. he ran a really good race and a strong race. he spent more time in this great state than any of the other candidates, and it pa

obama carried it in 2008 by 2% or so ahead of john mccain. so of course, he wants to be focusing there. let's listen in for a little bit and hear the president's comments there in ohio. >> and dennis kucinich, and congresswoman kap, ttur, and gr members of congress. we are happy to have them here. i understand that the folks here at the school have a pretty good basketball team -- [ applause ] -- boys and girls. unfortunately, i have no eligibility left. so i can't play with you. i want to wish everybody a happy new year. [ cheers ] >> 2012 is going to be a good year. it is going to be a good year. and one of my new year's resolutions is to make sure that i get out of washington and spend time with folks like you. [ applause ] because folks here in ohio and folks across the country, i want you to know, you are the reason why i ran for this office in the first place. you remind me what we are still fighting for. you inspire me. [ laughter ] okay. you do. no, you remind me that this country is all about folks who work hard and where responsibil

john mccain and mitt romney. you were there yesterday when john mccain endorsed mitt romney. it will take a little practice to get comfortable with this buddy/buddy thing. >> in 2004 -- i mean, they hugged yesterday. four years ago, john mccain wanted to hug him but only to take the breath out of his body. they were not friends and fans. what is interesting about this is mitt romney's problem is the one mccain had is that republicans no -- movement republicans are not overly enthusiastic about him so mccain is a hero here but romney didn't need it here, he was already up 30 points. >> mccain is frosting on the cupcake here. what romney needs is support and endorsements farther to the right than john mccain. even though mccain has grown more conservative the last four years, by the conservative element of the republican party, he is still fairly moderate. >> right. they are both getting slapped with that moderate label. >> that's right. >> roger simon of politico and john dickerson of cbs, thank you for being here with us this morning. >> thank you. >>> still ahead, some of th

and, i think john mccain did the same think. but i think what has drawn particular attention to mitt romney is he didn't have a quick response to it and obviously the differentiator with the governor is he is so incredibly rich and the richer you are, and, especially, given the controversy, dare i say needlessly over his bain capital days it has added to the drama around, gee, why aren't you releasing that and what are you hiding and what do you mean, you were paying at the low rate? and it gets to be too complicated and maybe he figured, carl cameron's point, with you guys, after running the table and wrapping it up, april is a perfectly fine time to release things and now he's under pressure to get it out sooner rather than later and i suspect that is what he'll do. >> martha: it is interesting, it always seems to be how you handle it, not necessarily that it's an issue. how you handle it and you make great points in terms of, if he had come out and said, yeah, i'm doing it in april. that is what i'll do and move on to the nex

a lot of hard-core conservatives have never liked john mccain. they didn't like him inuent00 or 2008 and they don't like that he is endorsing mitt romney now. the bad blood is a side bar to all of this. these two guys don't like each other, they really didn't in 200ay and it got personal. romney fell into line and mccain is repaying the favor. south carolina, we were so focused on new hampshire. but that's just around the corner. >> yeah. >> greta: tell me who is winning? what is the strategy? >> look, the conventional wisdom is that it's tough for mitt romney. but i don't think it's impossible. if the field is diffuse, he accounted -- >> greta: he has the governor. >> probably the most important. senator demint is hanging out there -- >> greta: but he hasn't endorsed. >> he hasn't. he did romney before. he may not endorse at all this time. but i think beyond endorsements, south carolina's an opportunity for the anti-romney candidate. if that is santorrum and he can surge, it's the last, best chance for newt gingrich to come back, for rick perry,

. >>> mitt romney and john mccain's alliance has left some scratching their heads. the man who could not beat obama teamed up with a man who could not even beat mccain. in fairness that was in reference to the notion of mccain as a vp with romney, which is a weird concept, if ever there was one. but it does speak to a point. is john mccain's endorsements a good thing or does it reinforce stereo types about he is a establishment republican, too much of a moderate, et cetera? >> is anyone going to believe he's not a establishment republican? he enacted a statewide health care in massachusetts. i don't think anyone will think, he will come in and slash my taxes and eliminate the department of education. that's obviously not who he is. i'm not sure how much this could hurt him. it sort of reinforces something that's true. >> the other thing about that endorsement is that the actual endorsement didn't go so well. i'll read you a little bit of tick tok on what happened. this is according to dana milbank. the senator grimaced when he was introduced as romney delivered his

mccain, i approve this message. >> yes, that was a john mccain ad from 2008. gingrich continued to pile on romney yesterday. calling romney a "liberal and political chameleon" with "limited appeal in a conservative party." >> the fact is three out of four republicans rejected him. governor romney is a moderate massachusetts republican to the left of the vast majority of republicans. i find it amazing the news media continues to say he's the most electable republican when he can't even break out in his own party. >> the obama white house also piling on. david axlerod saying after the iowa vote that mitt romney is a charleton. in his first public appearance since his near-win in iowa, rick santorum spoke about the importance of tuesday's primary vote. >> you fight to be first. you have a responsibility that comes with that. and that is to lead. not pay attention to what the polls say or what the pundits say. how many pundits were right over the last six months about what was going to happen in this race? none. serially wrong. they're worse than weathermen. so, d

after that he'll say john mccain who? don't follow me to south carolina. >> bob: all day yesterday in the campaign stops he did not hit romney hard. >> eric: canceled an appearance on fox. >> what? >> bob: well -- >> dana: outrage! >> bob: that could cost you the election right there! the first day, he flies out of iowa and he lands and he goes through the policy speeches. newt can be fascinating when it comes to policy stuff. he didn't hit it until last night with greta. she not sure if the train has left the station. they want to be left without it. >> dana: what do you think? >> i'm not sure what you are saying. i'm confused. newt waited until last night because why? >> bob: i'm not so sure he thinks the best strategy is be the hit man on romney. >> eric: he found out -- >> dana: >> the horse left the barn on that one. >> eric: he went from 30% to whatever he got, 13%. he knows he has to attack. in the next block, we have another bite. >> dana: a great transition, we have to go. >> eric: okay. >> dana: to tease, to com

senator john mccain officially drew his support to former rival, mitt romney. we'll speak with mccain on why he thinks romney is the best man to beat president obama in november. >>> jon huntsman looking for a big win here in new hampshire. his secret weapon, he hopes, his three daughters who are shaking up the race with their unusual campaign strategy. we'll talk with them early this thursday morning, january 5th, we'll talk with them early this thursday morning, january 5th, 2012. captioning funded by cbs >>ood >>> and good morning. welcome to "the early show" on this thursday morning. i'm nancy cordes here in new hampshire. >> i'm jim axelrod. it's 24 degrees, seems relatively tropical after yesterday morning. we will look ahead to tuesday's republican primary here, but, as you know, the show you're watching is about to undergo a big change come monday. >> it's actually going to be officially relaunched as cbs "this morning" anchored by charlie rose, gayle king. >> the next stop is here in new hampshire for the republican presidential candidates fresh off th

he has the enmity of the john mccain. john mccain really has a thing about rick santorum. in that losing campaign, responding to isantorum's request for help, and then in 2008, going after john mccain and a big way, not just endorsing mitt romney, but attacking john mccain in the most temperamental why. mccain went down to south carolina to poke it santorum. >> evan? >> i don't think it santorum can win. this was fun, but i think charles wrote a column in "the washington post" on friday that sounded pretty due to fall to me -- dutiful to me. he is kind of possible, and not really plausible but there is this kind of kabuki here. >> i am with evan. he could theoretically it knock off romney if the conservatives coalesce around him. but at the moment, that does not look like that is going to happen. if he got the nomination, obama would win quite easily. >> a few minutes ago, mark shields, who is in iowa for the caucuses, sat in front of the camera for us. i asked him what we learn from iowa. >> we learned that every vote does count. beyond that, we learned that rick santorum

john mccain dressed almost the way he used to be at campaign events in new hampshire. he said he's here to defeat president obama, which, of course, is the man who beat john mccain. the key here is that john mccain did north and the west parts of new hampshire and mitt romney who used to be governor of massachusetts always did well in the southeast. if you can get that support together it will give him the deal even though mitt romney is far ahead in the polls so far and frankly it wasn't all that. it was a lot of people in the room, a lot of school kids who came up from the high school cafeteria and there wasn't a lot of enthusiasm. there was some weak applause from time to time. it was odd for a campaign launch event? new hampshire post-iowa. >>. >> woodruff: gwen, as you say, mitt romney has the lead in the polls in new hampshire so how much of a bounce do his people think he gets out of this photo-finish win in iowa? >> well, winning tight is better than a poke in the eye with a stick. but it's unyear that translates into new hampshire. mike huckabee won in iowa pr

now mitt romney has john mccain, bob dole, george bush. the old republican party to be sure but that's a big part still even in the age of the tea party, of the republican party. rick santorum will need some people standing by his side. >> you've got newt gingrich going after mitt romney now. hammer and tong. just really preparing to go very, very tough on him. you've got rick santorum proving he could virtually tie him with very little organization, very little money. and ron paul is going to capture some part of that libertarian, some pat buchanan, live free or die sentiment and a lot of young people here, college students as well. so there is a triple threat. that's all you would say plays to mitt romney's advantage because they divide the opposition. >> they divide it up. it would take mitt romney making a series of mistakes for him to leave this state, tuesday's primary, in a wounded position. i think he is likely to be in a strengthened position. then with rick perry in the race, it sets up nicely for romney. but co-make mistakes. we

john mccain, who had this to say about his former rival. take a listen. >> i guarantee you one thing. no one will ever say that mitt romney will lead from behind. he will lead from in front the way ronald reagan did and not lead from behind which is what this president is doing. >> romney has a support of the republican establishment here in new hampshire. picking up endorsements from senator ayotte, governor john sunu sununu. >> you can get all the doles and mccains in the world as romney probably will. but in the end, nobody cares. >> well, my next guest is hoping her endorsement does matter especially to tea party members. former u.s. senate candidate christine o'donnell joins thus morning. she is in philadelphia. welcome to "starting point." nice to have you and thanks for being with us. you just heard, christin hunts smoound bite and enlisted him the establishment will weigh in and weigh in on behalf of mitt romney and big giant shrub is the way he sees it. how do you see it? >> well, you look at the fact that governor romney has earne