GOP candidates to debate in Arizona Wednesday

with just five hours to go before a debate dry spell of 27 days comes to an end with a
high stakes
showdown in the desert of
arizona
. much has changed since the fearsome four last met in florida. gingrich into the gutter.
romney
on the rocks and
santorum
with a big surge. and tonight could be the shoot-out in the last chance saloon. the last time the candidates will share a stage before primaries in
arizona
and make or break
michigan
. indeed, it’s the last face-off before super tuesday. by the way, it’s also ash wednesday and national margarita day. so there’s a slim chance that front-runner and devout catholic
rick santorum
will show up drunk in the spirit and who could blame the former senator for celebrating with a little tequila? a quinnipiac national poll out this
morning shows

santorum
leading
romney
by 9 points with republican voters. and while our new nbc/mayor rift poll shows
romney
with a commanding lead in
arizona
, it’s a statistical tie up in
michigan
, one of
romney
‘s many home states and one he is desperate to win. but the question is, can
rick santorum
stay on message tonight in the or will he get hot under the sweater vest and start reprising some of his favorite speeches like the one that surfaced recently where he said that
satan
is not just temperaturing individuals but he’s at war with the
united states
.

the father of lies has his sights on what you would think the father of lies
satan
would have his sights on, a good, decent, influential powerful country, the
united states
of in irk.

santorum
defended himself from charges against
donald trump
that he is so out there and that means something come interesting trump. as
santorum
said last night, it just means that he’s authentic.

the reason i think we’re doing well in this campaign is because we are being available to the american public, no teleprompters, no written speeches, the opportunity to see what’s in here. what’s up here. and what’s burning down here.

goodness. we don’t know what’s burning down there. perhaps rick should seek urgent
medical assistance
. as for
mitt romney
, you do get the sense with
arizona
confidently in pocket, he’s just really sad to have to take time-out from his beloved
michigan
. the white powder or the white sugar,
powdered sugar
, that’s the word,
powdered sugar
on top of the punch key reminded me of what’s going on outside, how beautiful it is.
michigan
looks so beautiful when the snow comes with a fresh
powdered sugar
all over everything.

i love this state. it seems right here. the trees are the right height. i like seeing — i like seeing the lakes. i love the lakes.

oh, beautiful for spacious skies, but no burning sensation. that’s good to hear. let’s bring in our panel now. with us from washington, msnbc
political analyst
and former dnc
communications director

karen
finny, columnist for the hill and ken vogel, chief investigative reporter for politico. with us from nashville,
judson
phillips co-founder of the
tea party
nation. .
karen
,
rick santorum
is talking about
satan
,
neonatal care
and the
fire down below
.
mitt romney
is talking about finding his wife in kindergarten and his love of trees. i know i was off for two days but what on earth is going on? have they lost their minds? this this is what happens when you go away. my god, it’s like we’re in the
1950s
when people were criticizing
elvis presley
for those wiggling hips. i mean, it’s crazy. clearly tonight it should be a very interesting conversation where
rick santorum
will as you said in the introtry to talk about the economy although i think he’s going to have a lot to answer for. he seems to think he’s got those answers so it will be interesting to see what he actually says.

it will be an interesting defense of beal za bub. ken, given how well
santorum
is now doing in the polls, does this not prove that a return to
1980s
disco and the culture issues is working well for him?

it’s certainly working well in the republican base but highlights the diver jens of priorities between the republican base voters and the
general election
voters and you know, americans more broadly who polls
show time
and again care about the economy and jobs. yet, in the republican base in a
republican primary
, there is room for these social issues and that’s what
rick santorum
is strongest on and what
mitt romney
is weakest on. it makes sense
rick santorum
, even as he talks about focusing on the economy continues to be pulled to the right and continues to train his focus on these social issues.

we’re watching
rick santorum
live in
arizona
at this very moment.
judson
, if i can come to you. you’ve been following the
political discourse
over recent days. i have to ask, what does the
tea party
think of invoking
satan
, pushing transvaginal probes in virginia, and
mitt romney
claiming to be severely conservative?

well, is this segment three days? seriously.

do you have as much time as you like,
judson
. go right ahead.

well, the thing about the
tea party
, the
tea party
‘s not monolithic. the transvaginal probes that people are talking about, that’s not registering with anybody. at least nobody i’ve talked to. the stuff that we’ve heard, the clips that
rick santorum
has talked about
satan
and the like, for a lot of folks in the
tea party
, this is pretty consistent with what they hear in church every sunday from their priest or preacher. so it’s not terribly shocking to them.
santorum
is a practicing catholic. what he said i’m not catholic but i understand it’s pretty consistent with mainstream catholic theology. nobody on my side of the table is tearily shocked by what he is saying.

he i think some might take issue with you.
karen
might like to.

i think the issue of transvaginal probes is certainly registering with the women voters shall we say?

who after all, make up the majority of the population in the
united states
.

that’s right.

that’s right. and voters. but a couple of other things that you know, there was a group today of prominent christian leaders from a number of different denomination who’s actually put out a statement obviously as you mentioned, it is the beginning of the season of lent and basically they said cut it out. we should not be using faith as a weapon, a political weapon. and i this i they’re right.
santorum
is largely gotten a major pass on one of the things that he said which was that is obama’s agenda is not based on the bible. it wasn’t just his theology that he went after. but you know, i would think for
tea party
members as well as moderate republicans and independent voters, there is such a thing as the
separation of church and state
. i think he’s gotten a pass on that. there are a lot of folks interested to hear more about what did he really mean by that. at the same time, i think
romney
has really clear little missed an opportunity to try to find his way into a conversation with independent voters because he’s been so damaged, if you will, with the far right and some of those social issues. again, those are voter who are less comfortable with some of this religious talk.

we should report that
bob mcdonald
has now, pardon the pun, reversed his view and withdrawn the idea of mandatorilitory transvaginal probing of women who are pregnant hog are seeking a termination and so on. but
newt gingrich
and his wife callista were asked this morning about the start of lent, of course, today is ash wednesday. take a listen to this,
karen
.

what are you giving up for lent? have you decided?

i am going to give up desserts, all desserts.

all right.

and just quickly.

i challenge you to ask what she’s giving up.

what are you giving up.

i’m giving up my opinion.

i’m assuming
karen
, she’s joking. it does seem a bit like women’s opinions have no place in the current republican environment.

apparently not. apparently women are just supposed to be quiet and sit in the back. we’re not allowed to show up at hearings about issues that affect us. we’re not allowed to have opinions. we’re just.

in can the fa, i suspect
darrell issa
would be disgusted you’re on this panel.

i’m sure he will be. you’ll just have to shut me up.

okay. ken,
mitt romney
‘s comeback strategy. first, don’t repeat anything that you only say at the
yacht club
. but what else? i mean, how does he take on
santorum
‘s burning and passion and wherever that burning is, how does he do it, ken?

i don’t think he takes it on by focusing on those social issues although we have heard him speak a little bit more about his religion recently which is potential will i a useful thing for him. however, he think we’re going to see him and have already seen him and his allies in the super pac that supports him take on
santorum
by highlighting his support for raising the debt ceiling, for ear marks. these are things, maybe they’re not shocked to hear
santorum
talk about religious issues,
satan
, hear talk about transvaginal probes. but that’s not where they want to see the focus. they want to see the focus on fiscal issues. ironically,
mitt romney
is kind of the enemy of the
tea party
. many tea partiers. that’s where he is strongest and that’s where he can come at
santorum
and really make some headway. i think we’ll hear that tonight in this debate as we have for the last several days.

judson
, very, very quickly, your feelings about how newt is going to do tonight. he’s your man.

i think he’s going do really well because he’s in the perfect position.
romney
has got to the take
santorum
out in this debate.
santorum
has got to defend himself. newt can do what he does best which is wait for the right moment, swoop in with his great point that leaves everybody on the stage nodding like bobbleheads and then go onto the next point.

and spread poison everywhere.

judson
,
karen
, ken, thank you very much for joining us.