WOLF BLITZER: Welcome to back to the CNN Election Center, right now, and our continuing coverage of the 2012 Republican presidential primary. I’m Wolf Blitzer, and I’m here in the CNN World Headquarters, which houses, but is not the same as, the CNN Election Center, with CNN’s political team, starting with Roland Martin, David Gergen, and Dana Loesch, right now, and James Carville live via satellite from Washington, James Carville. We’ll also be checking in with Alex Castellanos and Erick Erickson in New Hampshire, Erin Burnett, Gloria Berger and John King over in the CNN Studios in Atlanta, and in the Situation Room, we’ve got Anderson Cooper, Ali Velshi, and Piers Morgan, who will be breaking off at the top of the hour to form his own rogue panel with Ari Fleischer, Dana Bash, Amy Holmes, Isha Sesay, Yankees slugger Alex Rodriguez, actress January Jones, and pop star Nikki Minaj, all as part of CNN’s America’s Choice 2012 coverage from the CNN Election Center, right now, Nikki Minaj. I want to start off by taking a look at a clip from a speech by Mitt Romney in Manchester, New Hampshire, right now, campaign, Mitt Romney, take a look:
MITT ROMNEY: This economy is putting a strain on the middle class. Many Americans have lost their jobs, and many more are feeling the pressure as the cost of living keeps rising. At kitchen tables across the country, there is genuine concern about our economic future.
WOLF BLITZER: Is Mitt Romney right? Do people still have kitchen tables, Roland Martin?
ROLAND MARTIN: I think they do, Wolf. People need something to eat on, after all, and kitchen tables provide the flat surface of a coffee table without the inconvenience of having to lean forward to reach your drink.
DANA LOESCH: I have to agree with Roland on this, Wolf. With a kitchen table, you don’t bump your knees like you do with a coffee table.
WOLF BLITZER: John King in Atlanta?
JOHN KING: Wolf, I’m happy to say that I have a kitchen table, and the numbers show that of those people concerned about our economic future, 64% have a kitchen table. That number jumps to 87% when you count breakfast bars, removable folding tables, and sheets of plywood laid across two sawhorses.
WOLF BLITZER: James Carville in Washington?
JAMES CARVILLE: I eat in the tub!
WOLF BLITZER: Anderson Cooper in the Situation Room, think you can handle it?
ANDERSON COOPER: I’m sorry, are we still talking about kitchen ta—
WOLF BLITZER: — Ali Velshi?
(VELSHI stands in front of an interactive map of New Hampshire.)
ALI VELSHI: If you’ll take a look at the map of New Hampshire here, Wolf, you’ll see that we’ve color-coded each county according to the number of tweets in the last thirty seconds using the hashtag #kitchentables and/or #CNNElection and/or #tubdining, and combined it with a motion-sensitive illustration of polling results in each particular county. Each Republican candidate is represented by a different special effect—here, you’ll see Rockingham county is reddish-orange and appears to be bouncing, which indicates that it leans Huntsman and is very kitchen-table heavy. Merrimack County, as you can see, is purple and appears to be violently spinning, which indicates almost no kitchen tables and a strong preference for Mitt Romney and taking meals in the bath.
ANDERSON COOPER: What about Grafton County, which is green and appears to be dry heaving?
ALI VELSHI: Grafton County is actually responding to biofeedback from our cameraman as he sprints around the CNN Election Center.
ANDERSON COOPER: So what does that have to do with New Hamp—
ALI VELSHI: —I just put together a second, interactive chart explaining the first interactive map-graphic and posted it on Facebook for our slower viewers and Anderson Cooper.
WOLF BLITZER: Try and keep up, Vanderbilt.
ALI VELSHI: Now I just tweeted about the meta-chart.
ROLAND MARTIN: And now Foursquare says I’m the mayor of the CNN Election Center.
WOLF BLITZER: Some breaking news, we’ve just received word that Roland’s CNN Election Center mayorhood is now trending worldwide on Twitter. We’ll be keeping a close eye on that, right now, mayor, let’s take an even closer look at this next clip, January, from a town hall meeting in Concord with former Speaker Newt Gingrich, talking about health care, Concord, a very important issue in this campaign season, America’s Choice 2012, right now, take a look, Speaker, Nikki Minaj:
NEWT GINGRICH: We need to get America back on the path of long-term financial security. And the first step is getting rid of the President’s disastrous health care law.
WOLF BLITZER: David Gergen, right now?
DAVID GERGEN: That was a guaranteed applause line, Wolf. It worked very well in that venue, because, let’s face it: it’s fun to applaud.
WOLF BLITZER: James Carville in Washington, fun to applaud?
JAMES CARVILLE: You know it!
WOLF BLITZER: Dana Loesch.
DANA LOESCH: (applauds)
ROLAND MARTIN: Wolf, I saw this as a slap in the face to Mitt Romney, who implemented a similar health care plan in Massachusetts.
WOLF BLITZER: Slap in the face, Anderson Cooper, Ali Velshi?
ANDERSON COOPER: Which one of us are you—
WOLF BLITZER: —James Carville!
JAMES CARVILLE: Taco night tonight, Wolf!
WOLF BLITZER: Crunchy or soft shell, right now?
JAMES CARVILLE: Off to the tub!
WOLF BLITZER: There you have it, folks: crunchy taco, the official taco of the CNN Election Center. Anderson Cooper, your tacos?
ANDERSON COOPER: I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about.
WOLF BLITZER: We’ve got to take a short break, kitchen table, but when we come back we’ll be watching very closely as John King explains to us how math works, and how that pertains to elections, so stay tuned for more political coverage, John King, crunchy taco, live, watching very closely, right now, the CNN Election Center, Sophie’s Choice 2012.