>>> developments in the race for the gop nomination. a day ahead of the louisiana primary. now rick santorum is clarifying remarks he made suggesting if he isn't the party's nominee, the republicans should give president obama another term. here's rick santorum yesterday and then today.
>> if they're going to be a little different, we might as well today with what we have instead of taking a risk with what may be the etch a sketch candidate for the future. i said the other day that we need a real choice in this election. i'm going to support whoever wins the republican primary to beat out obama. that's the number one issue.
>> before that latest remark, the romney campaign said, as senator santorum continues to drag out this already expensive, negative campaign , it is clear that he is becoming the most valuable player on president obama 's team. we bring in now our political panel. a.b. stoddard, and democratic strategist, jimmy williams . great to see both of you this afternoon. i want to start with you. it seems that rick santorum realized he may have gone a little too far with that initial comment, backtrack quickly. he normally doesn't backtrack this fast.
>> i think he received a few phone calls as well as the aggressive comments that the romney camp came up with pretty quickly. this is not good for rick santorum . he is actually slipping away from relevance at this point. a few weeks ago he was a legitimate contender. he lost significant contests in michigan and ohio. very close races he might have won. and this is slipping away from his grasp. he might do very well tomorrow night but it won't yield him a lot of delegates. he'll still be behind in a 2-1. he is starting to sound like newt gingrich where his comments from yesterday sounded as if he was more interested in defeateding mitt romney out of some kind of spite than defeating the read that. that's the kind of thing that causes party leaders and people who have been supporting -- and his been factors. foster freese people fueling his super pac. they don't like that kind of talk. you've seen where his support has gone.
>> as a.b. points out, the relevance for rick santorum may be waning. when we talk about what's coming in louisiana , romney is 0-6 when we talk about contested southern primaries. louisiana right ahead of us. the polls indicate that santorum is ahead in that state. another loss, a southern loss really hurt romney or as a.b. points out, can he just stick out through the south and remain the top contender.
>> i think she is right. he could lose every race in the primary and then carry the south in the fall. i don't think anyone think that's won't happen. however, rick santorum saying this, a.b. is dead on with this. it hurts him. it also hurt hill more importantly with conservatives. while conservatives may not like mitt romney , they really hate barack obama . and if you don't believe me, at the very same press clip that you just played from today of rick santorum in louisiana , right before that when he was firing his pistols at target practice, a woman shouted out. pretend it's obama. i don't know who that woman was, i don't know if she was white or black. i guarantee you she was a conservative voter. she was there to see rick santorum . you say those things and it doesn't help with you the conservative base.
>> i'll tell you what. santorum had head phones on. he didn't hear that so he wasn't able to respond. afterward he said that was ridiculous.
>> on his defense, he did come back and say that's not a good thing to say.
>> one thing i want to say as we talk about developments as it come to the south. there was this very important meeting with mitt romney yesterday and tea party favorite south carolina senator jim demint just stopping short. he said i can tell conservatives from my perspective is that, i'm not only comfortable with romney . i'm excited about the possibility of him possibly being our nominee. is that a strong sign that the conservative opposition to mitt romney is melting and i don't like the word coalesce but i'll say, they are starting to gather around romney . they're starting to gather around him and believe he is the one who will pull this off.
>> if you couple that with jeb bush 's endorse many a couple days ago, i would say they are at best, tepid. they are endorsements nonetheless and they matter. these are going to begin to roll out more and more. jim demint is important. i would say that his endorsement or quasi endorsement is more important than jeb bush 's. it is the absolute conservative base of the republican party and that's important. saying you're comfortable with someone is not a great endorsement.
>> a.b., as jimmy points out, we got the endorsement there from jeb bush but it also happened to come in the morning time. then later was the etch a sketch comment that they haven't soon, they haven't been able to shake at all. the toy appears on the campaign trail with everybody now.
>> it is a favorite toy of newt gingrich and rick santorum . this is the kind of thing it is easy to say poor mitt romney . he doesn't really get a break and he didn't say it himself. it was an aide. and it is not really so fair that the media jumped on it and it became this epic gaffe. but truly, we all know a year from now if mitt romney is lost, people will call him etch a sketch for the rest of his political career. it is the kind of thing that sticks and unfortunately, when those things stick, you're stuck with them. so i think rick santorum and newt gingrich should leave the etch a sketches in the car and finish up this joke. i think mitt romney is stuck with that joke forever.
>> he can just shake it
Source: http://video.msnbc.msn.com/newsnation/46837162/
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