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bjbjLULU JUDY WOODRUFF: For more on the Republican race and how a high-level shakeup at the White
House could affect the campaign, with us now are Susan Page of USA Today and Stuart Rothenberg
of The Rothenberg Political Report. It's great to have you both back with us. Stu, I'm going
to start with you. There is a lot of piling on it seems going on by these Republicans
against Mitt Romney. How enduring is this? How much of a problem is this for the Romney
camp? STUART ROTHENBERG, The Rothenberg Political Report: Well, it's not going to be just the
next couple days, Judy. It will be over the next week two leading up to South Carolina
and then Florida. Look, it's a problem. But when you're the front-runner you have to accept
that. If the polls are at all accurate, then former Governor Romney has a lead, a substantial
lead and the question is whether undecided voters break dramatically to one candidate
which seems unlikely, but it goes with the territory when you're the front-runner. JUDY
WOODRUFF: Susan, Newt Gingrich had seemed to have a disappointing finish in Iowa. But
is he getting traction now with this argument against Romney which he's just pushing and
pushing at and running ads in South Carolina? SUSAN PAGE, USA Today: Well, I don't know
if he's getting traction with voters. He's not doing very in the statewide New Hampshire
surveys, but I don't think we should expect him to stop doing it. It's become kind of
a grudge match. You know, Newt Gingrich blames Mitt Romney and the super PAC that supports
Mitt Romney for costing him the lead he had just a couple weeks ago in the Republican
field. He's now gotten some big contributions. He s going to move on to South Carolina. He
s going to continue to follow this line of attack. It may not cost Romney victory here
or the nomination, but it certainly lays the groundwork for the criticism we're going to
hear from President Obama and the Democrats against Mitt Romney if he's the nominee in
the fall. JUDY WOODRUFF: And, Stu, another criticism we heard of Mitt Romney was from
Jon Huntsman, who had not been the factor that he is. He's been campaigning in New Hampshire.
And in the debate over the weekend, he went after Romney when Romney criticized his service
as President Clinton -- President Obama's ambassador to China. Is Huntsman going to
get any traction from this? STUART ROTHENBERG: Look, he has been spending all his time in
New Hampshire while everyone else was in Iowa. Personal contact does matter in these races
in small states. And I think the survey data suggests that he is moving up. The question
is, can he move up far enough and fast enough? And that really seems unlikely at this point.
You know, a lot of consultants I talk to, Republicans, say that if Huntsman had started
to try to position himself initially as a conservative alternative, kind of an establishment
or Main Street conservative alternative to Romney, he might have a chance here. But he
started off really as a more liberal alternative. And there wasn't much room at that point for
Huntsman running against Romney. So we ll see. He's made some gains. JUDY WOODRUFF:
Susan, a quick question about Rick Santorum. He supposedly came out of Iowa with some momentum,
just a few votes behind Mitt Romney. What's happened to him in New Hampshire and where
does he go from here? SUSAN PAGE: He's really struggled in New Hampshire. The things that
made him such a powerhouse in Iowa, his strength with social conservatives and with evangelical
Christians, just doesn't translate in a place like New Hampshire. This is the live free
or die state, kind of a libertarian tradition on social conservatism. It's a state where
same-sex marriage is legal. People in the audiences -- in audiences for Rick Santorum
events have really taken him to task in some cases for his stance on some of those issues.
So there's some second guessing now. Should Rick Santorum have skipped New Hampshire,
gone straight to South Carolina, once again a state that has a lot of evangelical Christians,
very conservative voters, friendlier territory? Has he squandered the boost that he got out
of Iowa? JUDY WOODRUFF: And just quickly, Stu, on Ron Paul, who did come in third in
Iowa, supposedly has this enthusiastic following, but now we're hearing he's going to skip Florida.
He's just going to focus on caucus states? STUART ROTHENBERG: Boy, Judy, that really
makes you wonder whether this is a strategy to win the nomination or just to get enough
delegates to cause the Republican Party problems when it meets at its national convention.
We understand that Florida is a large state, an expensive state. And he did poorly four
years ago, getting about 3 percent of the primary vote. But if you want to be the nominee,
you have got to compete in Florida. JUDY WOODRUFF: Susan, I do want to ask you, finally, about
the news today out of the White House, the president's chief of staff, Bill Daley, leaving,
being replaced by the OMB director, the budget director, Jack Lew. What effect, if any -- was
this a surprise, number one? And what effect, if any, does this have on the campaign to
come? SUSAN PAGE: You know, the timing is a surprise, but the fact that Bill Daley is
stepping down not a surprise. It's been rumored for months. He had said in an interview that
he would stay only through the reelection battle, obviously not staying that long. You
know, highly respected figure from one of the nation's great political families, but
he was never -- he never turned out to be a really good fit in the chief of staff role.
And his relations with Democrats in Congress were quite dreadful. You heard them cheering
the news that Jack Lew, who started out as an aide to Tip O'Neill, was going to get that
top job at the White House. As to what it means for the reelection campaign, power is
really centered at that Chicago headquarters and with David Plouffe, who is the deputy
chief of staff. I think that this just means that Plouffe's empire becomes even more totally
his. JUDY WOODRUFF: Well, the drama is not only on the Republican side today. It was
also at the White House. Susan Page in New Hampshire, Stuart Rothenberg, thank you both.
And we ll see you tomorrow, both of you. STUART ROTHENBERG: Sure. SUSAN PAGE: Hey, thanks,
Judy. urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags City urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags
country-region urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags place urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags
State JUDY WOODRUFF: For more on the Republican race and how a high-level shakeup at the White
House could affect the campaign, with us now are Susan Page of USA Today and Stuart Rothenberg
of The Rothenberg Political Report Normal Microsoft Office Word JUDY WOODRUFF: For more
on the Republican race and how a high-level shakeup at the White House could affect the
campaign, with us now are Susan Page of USA Today and Stuart Rothenberg of The Rothenberg
Political Report Title Microsoft Office Word Document MSWordDoc Word.Document.8