Sunday Snapshot

While politics and the race for the WH continues to dominate the Sunday shows, talk of the economy is beginning to break through:

Rudy Giuliani was on "This Week":

Asked how he spins his loses: "We're concentrating on Florida. We've been here for two weeks. We've been campaigning here not quite full-time, but just about full-time for two weeks. We decided some time back that this is the place where we should put our most emphasis, that it worked out strength and weaknesses the best, and now we're ready for it."

Giuliani: "I took over a city with 10.5 percent unemployment. I left a city with 5 percent unemployment. I took over a city that had lost 320,000 jobs. I turned over a city that had 450,000 new jobs. And we moved 640,000 people off welfare, many of them to work. I don't think anyone would dispute that it was probably the most successful government turnaround in the last 30 or 40 years."

Asked how he makes the case against McCain: "I think the case for me is that I am the strongest fiscal conservative in the race, and that I have a record of supporting tax cuts. John voted against the Bush tax cuts, I think on both occasions, and sided with the Democrats. I have great respect for John. He is a very good friend of mine. But in the area of fiscal conservatism, I think I'm the strongest fiscal conservative in the race, and I have had experience in foreign policy" (ABC, 1/20).

MIGHTLY MITT

Mitt Romney was on "Fox News Sunday":

FNC's Wallace asked him: "After the split decision yesterday in South Carolina and Nevada, it seems that you and John McCain are now the frontrunners in this scrambled GOP field. What's the choice for voters between you and McCain?"

Romney: "Well, I think if people want somebody who has been in Washington all their life and understands Washington's ways and has been part of the Washington scene for a quarter of a century, then John McCain will be their person. If they want somebody instead who's been in the real economy over the last 25, 30 years, who understands why jobs come and why they go and understands what it takes to grow an economy, then I think I'll be their person. And I anticipate that given the challenges we face in our economy right now, I'm going to get the nod."

Asked about lobbyists connected to his campaign: "There's no question in a campaign of 200 staff and probably 100 advisers that you're going to have a number who are registered lobbyists. I have a former senator, for instance, who's a registered lobbyist. But my campaign is run by my team from Massachusetts and some other folks that we brought in. And this is very definitely an outsider's campaign, let me tell you. It's not inside the Beltway. And my life has not been spent inside the Beltway. And I'm very proud of the fact that, you know, I've lived in the private sector. I understand jobs. I understand how the economy works. I've been traveling throughout the world over the years, negotiating, running businesses in some cases, and that's taught me a lot about what it takes to build a strong economy. And I just don't think that somebody who has spent their life inside Washington, that has lobbyists on every elbow, that's been chairman of one committee or another, and has all those connections, all the favors that are owed and are owed in return, all of the scores to settle -- I just don't think that's going to get Washington fixed."

Asked about the Boston Globe piece that examined his economic record as MA GOV: "When I came into this state, not only were we facing a $3 billion budget shortfall in state revenues, but we were losing jobs every single month, month after month after month. And Massachusetts is a high-tech state, as you know, and a capital goods state. And that's a sector of the economy that responds very slowly to turnarounds, and so we worked very hard to re-stimulate the economy there and to encourage job growth. And I was very pleased that by about 2.5 years into my administration, we were able to turn that job decline around and we started adding jobs. Virtually every single month we saw good job growth. And something else I'm proud of -- even though when I came in there was virtually no pipeline of companies trying to think about coming to the state or expanding in the state -- we had, I think, less than a dozen companies that were working with the state to try and consider ways of moving there. By the time I left, we had over 200. And some of the most notable successes -- for instance, Bristol-Myers Squibb building, I believe, the largest biotech center, biotech manufacturing facility, in the country -- that was awarded during my term. We fought very hard for it and got it. But they haven't even completed construction yet. So those jobs are going to continue to come year after year after year. And my expectation is you'll see Massachusetts continue to perform very well for a number of years to come, in large measure because of the work that I and the legislature did together to build a strong base for our economy" (1/20).

REVERSAL OF FORTUNE?

John Edwards was on "Face the Nation":

On his campaign: "I'm now in South Carolina. I got my butt kicked in Nevada. And what you learn from that is -- all my life, when that's happened to me, you've just got to get up and start fighting, and particularly when you're fighting for the cause of your life, which is making sure that people who don't have a voice get a voice, and fighting for the middle class and low-income families. That's what my life is about. And I'm here in South Carolina, the place I was born, fighting with everything I've got."

CBS' Schieffer: "Do you think this has less to do with you and more to do with, just, historical forces, that you just, sort of, had the bad luck to run for president on the year when you had the first woman to be seriously considered as electable to the presidency, running along with the first African-American to be seriously considered as electable?"

Edwards: "Oh, do I think that's a factor? Of course it's a factor. There's no doubt about that. And we've got a couple of candidates who have gotten massive publicity and raised $100 million, plus, each. But I'm not in the business of making excuses ... not about Nevada, not about the campaign. All three of us are going to be perfectly fine when this thing is over. The question is, will we have done what needs to be done for America? I mean, are we going to do what has to be done to preserve the middle class and help low-income families and help single moms who have no health insurance, and bringing this war to an end? I mean, that's what this is about. It's not about any of us, personally."

More: "She and Senator Obama both spent massive amounts of money there, put a massive effort into the state. We didn't run a single radio or television ad. But the excuses are meaningless. I mean, what matters here is what's going to happen for the country? Senator Clinton and Senator Obama both get an enormous amount of attention, as they have from over a year ago. But I think the key for me is to keep fighting for what it is that I believe in."

Asked if he has to win a primary at some point: "Oh, of course I do. There's no question about that. But this is a long process. As much as the media likes to think that all of America is obsessed with what happened in Nevada or in Iowa or New Hampshire, we've had three states vote so far out of 50. We've got 47 left to vote. And if you take this in a long view, which I do -- you know, I'm seasoned at this. I've been through it before -- you know that there are lots of ups and downs in these campaigns. I mean, I just heard you announcing Senator McCain's victory in South Carolina. The national media had written him off four or five months ago, said he was dead, had no chance. I heard it over and over and over, and all of a sudden, he's now the Republican front-runner. I'm just telling you this is a long process. And it's going to go on for a while."

Asked if he will go on to Super Tuesday: "Absolutely. Absolutely. I have said over and over I am committed to this. My cause is not going away, and I'm in it for the long haul" (CBS, 1/20).

He was also on "Late Edition":

Asked if he'll win SC: "I have no idea. What I'm going to do is stay here, make sure that people know what I stand for and what I want to do as president of the United States, what I want to do to stand up to entrenched moneyed interests in Washington and keep my fingers crossed. We will see how it goes."

On NV: "I would kind of like to go back to the old Las Vegas saying, though. You know, what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas? I hope that turns out to be true in this case."

More: "I think the caucus system made our numbers look smaller than they were. I think our vote was significantly higher. But the bottom line is, as I said just a minute ago, I got my butt kicked there. And it's time for me to get up and fight on, and fight on for these causes that are the reason I'm running for president" (CNN, 1/20).

DUELING ADVISERS

Obama adviser David Axelrod and Clinton adviser Howard Wolfson were on "Face the Nation" together:

Axelrod: "Senator Clinton was ahead by 25 points six or seven weeks ago in Nevada. She had most of the Democratic Party establishment with her. They ran a very negative campaign in the media on things that were a little bit outlandish. And yet we ended up with more delegates in Nevada than they, because we had a broader support and we did better in rural areas, in Reno, and in some of the places where Democrats are going to have to win in the fall in order to win the presidency. ... In terms of your question on the Latino vote, it was a strong vote for her. It was a depressed turnout, in part because of the threat of a lawsuit from the Clinton campaign. But the truth is, in Illinois, Senator Obama has had strong support in the Latino community. And I think there's a familiarity issue. And we're going to have to work hard to communicate to voters in those states about his record and his commitment, dating back to his years as a community organizer when he worked with Hispanic steelworkers in Chicago."

Wolfson: "They can try to spin a six-point loss into whatever they want, but the fact is, Senator Clinton won a resounding victory. She won a resounding victory despite the fact that when the Obama campaign got the Culinary Workers endorsement, the Obama campaign suggested that this would be the margin of victory for them. It wasn't. We overcame that because we focused relentlessly on the issues that the people care about, most certainly the economy" (CBS, 1/20).

DOLLARS AND SENSE

And in economic news, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said on "Fox News Sunday": "I'm optimistic we can get a package done, signed and ready to go by March 1st. ... I think both sides have of Pennsylvania Avenue, both parties, realize our economy is headed south in a significant way and we need relief" (1/20).

While Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY) said on "This Week": "We're going to work this out, and that we're going to be prepared to have a package to deal with the recession. That I can promise you" (ABC, 1/20).

ROUNDTABLE ROUNDUP

The "Fox News Sunday" roundtable discussed ex-Pres. Clinton's attacks on Obama and the GOP primary in SC:

Weekly Standard's Kristol: "An ex-president of the United States to be in petty squabbles about Nevada caucus rules, and then the spouse kind of having to make the fight for the one who's running for the office -- I think it diminishes her. I think it will hurt her."

FNC's Hume, on SC: "It's a bigger loss for Huckabee than it is a win for McCain."

Weekly Standard's Kristol: "These guys, I think, are running tactically foolish campaigns. They needed to weaken McCain. Giuliani and McCain are exchanging votes, it looks like, if you look at the data. And Giuliani pulled out of South Carolina. Giuliani and Romney allowed McCain to win South Carolina and they may have allowed him to win the nomination."

The "Face the Nation" roundtable discussed WH '08:

Politico's Simon: "Barack Obama certainly has to win South Carolina. This is a state where 49 to 50 percent of the Democratic primary voters are African Americans. And it's a built-in constituency for him. He's not going to get every black vote, and he doesn't expect to get every black vote. But if he doesn't win there, he's in danger of being a one-hit wonder. He won Iowa, and that's it. Hillary's won everything else."

More Simon: "Fred Thompson entered this race to fill a void, but instead he's fallen into it. I'm not sure he is satisfying any niche in the Republican Party. I think if you're a social conservative, you might be attracted to Huckabee. If you're a fiscal conservative, you might be attracted to Romney. If you're a foreign policy conservative, you might be attracted to Rudy Giuliani or John McCain. Where is Fred Thompson's audience?"

The "This Week" roundtable discussed WH '08:

George Will, on ex-Pres. Clinton's complaints: "It's a metaboilic urge. He's an Olympic class whiner and he was whining about everything in Las Vegas, as far as I can tell. It might work."

The Nation's Katrina vanden Heuvel, on Clinton: "He's like a Little League dad."

The "Meet the Press" roundtable discussed which GOPer can win the party's nod and ex-Pres. Clinton's role in the Dem race:

Newsweek's Meacham, on ex-Pres. Clinton: "He's congenitally incapable of not talking."

NPR's Norris, on SC: "I went down there thinking that perhaps there was a generational divide on the ground when I realized it's much more of an establishment vs. grassroots divide. Hillary Clinton locked up a lot of the establishment support early on. She had clergy behind her" [EMILY GOODIN].