CANDY CROWLEY, HOST: Good morning from New Hampshire. Suppose they held two do-or-die debates and everyone survived? Well then, advantage Mitt Romney, the guy with double-digit leads in New Hampshire and the next up primary state of South Carolina.

Today, Jon Huntsman on whether his underdog pitch can change up the race.

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FORMER GOV. JON HUNTSMAN (R), UTAH: Show big. We have to show big.

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CROWLEY: Then Newt bites back: the battle is joined with Romney surrogate John Sununu and Gingrich adviser Bob Walker.

Plus, House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi on the president's re- election campaign.

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REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CALIF), MINORITY LEADER: I think he should run against this do-nothing Congress.

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CROWLEY: And off the trail to give us a primary preview -- Phil Rucker of the Washington Post" and Neil King of the Wall Street Journal.

I'm Candy Crowley, and this is State of the Union.

Ignoring the Iowa caucuses, Jon Huntsman planted himself here in the Granite State holding events, answering questions, signing autographs, shaking thousands of hands -- the works. Huntsman hopes to pull a Santorum in New Hampshire, that was the plan anyway when we talk to him three weeks ago.

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HUNTSMAN: I'm putting you on early notice that we're going to win the New Hampshire primary. (END VIDEO CLIP)

CROWLEY: At the moment, the best poll for Jon Huntsman shows him in a race for third. I spoke with him just before last night's debate and his prediction has changed slightly.

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HUNTSMAN: We're going to do well. You try to forecast to the best of your ability based on the information you have. What holds true is the fact that we're going to beat market expectations. We don't have to win...

CROWLEY: Can I just stop you? Because I don't understand. I've heard you say that. Tell me what the market expectations are.

HUNTSMAN: I don't know what they will be because you will set them. The pundits who are following the race, they will determine what the bar is that we must clear on Tuesday. And wherever that political marketplace is set -- and everyone will know that, Huntsman has to do thus and such to move on, we have to clear that hurdle when we wake up on Wednesday.

CROWLEY: Do you know that?

HUNTSMAN: I don't yet know what that is going to be.

CROWLEY: But surely you must have -- what I mean is do you know what your market expectation is?

HUNTSMAN: I know what I think we're capable of doing.

CROWLEY: Which is?

HUNTSMAN: Well, I can feel it on the ground. All you can do is your very best. We've been to all ten counties multiple times. We've got a terrific grassroots organization in place. We've got a message that is connecting with people. I feel the energy.

You can look at the polls but you know they are a snapshot of various factors at a particular moment. You get one that says 8 percent, one that says 16 percent, all I can tell you is there is something on the ground that tells me that all of the work we've done -- 160-plus individual public events -- is going to pay off in the end and we're going to prove the point, Candy, that grassroots politics still matters in a state like New Hampshire.

CROWLEY: Would it be safe to say that your motto at this point has to be either show big or go home?

HUNTSMAN: We have to show big.

CROWLEY: Is that fair?

HUNTSMAN: We have to show big. You've got to move a market, you know what I mean? You've got to make something happen one of the early states to prove the point that you are electable, that the math can line up in your favor. And I believe that's going to happen right here.

CROWLEY: Let me ask you about electability. You came home from your job as ambassador to China. Boy, you were the "it" person. Jon Huntsman, he's going to come in and he will be so great. Is this the Republican Party that you expected to be courting?

HUNTSMAN: I've always been a constant Republican. I've worked for three Republican presidents. I haven't varied or wavered. The Republican Party as a backdrop is going to change every now and again. We've had Abraham Lincoln's party. We've had Teddy Roosevelt's party. We've had Eisenhower's party, Nixon's party, Reagan's party and beyond.

It is always remaking itself based upon leadership. And we don't have a whole lot of leadership right now today and I think that's part of the problem. So you get the Ron Paul foreign policy based on complete isolationism, you get the Mitt Romney foreign policy based upon the Cold War mentality. I'm not sure either one of them is the way forward and that's the reason this selection is so critically important, not only for the high stakes for the American people, but for the definition of the Republican Party going forward.

CROWLEY: There is a saying there is no greater burden than high expectations. Do you feel frustrated at all?

HUNTSMAN: No. Because all you can do is your best. I have a message that I believe deeply in about the two deficits that plague us most -- the economic deficit, the debt we're about to hand down to the next generation, which is toxic. It is a national security problem. And the trust deficit, because people no longer trust their institutions of power or their elected officials. And I say that's probably as corrosive and the economic deficit we face.

I feel deeply about it. I've worked every single angle. My wife Mary Kay has worked every angle. Our kids are in it. Everyone's having a great time. We feel that we've worked every possible angle and approach to being honest and sincere at who we are.

CROWLEY: Are you completely comfortable in this Republican Party in its current permutation? And by that I mean the Tea Party conservatives and the Ron Paul faction. Are you completely comfortable?

HUNTSMAN: I am comfortable that I'm at the center of gravity for the Republican Party. I proved that when I was governor of a very conservative state. I was re-elected with almost 80 percent of the vote. And it proved to me that it isn't as much about party, it is about leadership. We got Republicans, we got independents. I won more Democratic votes than my Democratic opponent, not because I'm...

CROWLEY: That's not a huge selling point by the way, as you know, in the primaries.

HUNTSMAN: But here's the point. People want leadership. They don't want party orthodoxy exclusively. That's got to drive the core of somebody, that consistency. But leadership at the end of the day that's going to prove to people that we can have a new and a better tomorrow, that's what's important. I think that's not only what's lacking in Washington and why there's no trust in the system, but right now I fear it is lacking in politics generally.

CROWLEY: Governor Huntsman, I'm going to ask you to stick with me for a minute. We're going to take a quick break, and when we come back we're going to try to get the governor's take on his competition. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CROWLEY: Welcome back.

Governor, you want to end corporate subsidies, cut regulations, lower taxes, do more on energy development, repeal President Obama's health care plan. Differentiate yourself from Mitt Romney. What is the single biggest policy difference you have with the front-runner?

HUNTSMAN: Trust.

CROWLEY: You don't think he's trustworthy?

HUNTSMAN: I didn't say that. I said he's morphed himself so many times that for many of the voters I think they're going to find during an election that is based on trust that they're going to have a hard time getting a bead on where his core is.

You run for the senate as a liberal. You run for governor as a moderate. You run for president as a conservative. Where are you at the end of the day? That's a legitimate question that people have.

CROWLEY: If Mitt Romney should win this, would you be able to trust him as the Republican candidate?

HUNTSMAN: Oh, sure, I'll support the Republican nominee. You'll do everything you can. That's what you do when all is said and done.

CROWLEY: I want you to look at some of the other folks that are -- you shared the stage with them since this summer, had a chance kind of to size up their policies and their personalities. Newt Gingrich, is -- does he have what it takes to become president? And differentiate yourself from him.

HUNTSMAN: I'm not a Washington insider. He would carry some baggage because of his K Street affiliation. And, again, at a point in time where trust is so critically important, I believe the American people are looking at somebody -- for somebody who can stand up to Congress, who isn't from that culture. And I think that...

CROWLEY: He's pretty tough.

HUNTSMAN: ... that's a liability. Other than that, Newt is a thoughtful, smart man. I respect the revolution that he left -- that he led as speaker of the house. It was a big part of my generation growing up. I mean, he was the most prominent Republican in the country and one of the top leaders anywhere in the nation at the time. He led it by force of ideas. And I have high regard for where he has been and what he has done.

CROWLEY: Do you think he's too tainted to become president?

HUNTSMAN: We'll let the voters decide.

CROWLEY: You don't want to take a position on that?

HUNTSMAN: I don't want to take a position on that because I tend to see the good in people. And Newt, to me, is a distinguished public servant. He has made his fair share of enemies, even within the very institution in which he served. But I have to say, when you look back at his track record, he was bold and he was revolutionary and at a time when this nation needed it, he led out.

CROWLEY: What about Rick Santorum?

HUNTSMAN: I don't know Rick well, but I give him high marks for being consistent in his approach to infusing a moral ethic into ordinary economic policy. Most people don't take that approach. I respect his consistency there.

CROWLEY: And Ron Paul.

HUNTSMAN: Ron Paul is another one who has been consistent, although I believe his ideology is not where the American people are at all. I think the idea that you can be an isolationist...

CROWLEY: Why is he doing so well?

HUNTSMAN: You do well with 15 percent for three election cycles running. He has done very well with 15 percent consistently over and over again. It is breaking out of the 15 percent that I believe are at the extreme ends of the political spectrum.

It is interesting how he brings them both together, whether it is a sense of isolationism or whether it is legalizing drugs, he brings a lot of the extreme ends of the political spectrum together, which to my mind means that he is not electable in the end.

That doesn't mean I don't like him. I respect him for what he has done. He has led a charge that he believes in and anyone who's willing to do that, I have high regard for.

CROWLEY: But you would vote for him if it were him versus President Obama?

HUNTSMAN: His isolationism during a time when Iran is on the ascent, during a time when the world is more in need of America's values, of liberty and democracy and human rights and free markets, I would have a very, very tough time with.

CROWLEY: So you might -- you could pull the lever for a Democrat.

HUNTSMAN: Well, I don't think that will even be a possibility.

CROWLEY: You want to pull it for yourself, I understand.

HUNTSMAN: That's tired rhetoric. I'm not even going to try that one. But, you know, these are all hypotheticals. And to say that Ron Paul will get to the finish line is just not a reality.

CROWLEY: What about Rick Perry? What's your take on him?

HUNTSMAN: Rick is a good man and he's a personal friend. We worked together as governors. He has a lot to add to this nation because of his economic development track record and his ability to manage fairly effectively a large and complicated state.

I think he's in it for another state or two to see how things go in South Carolina. His base is going to be split by Santorum. There is no doubt about that. But I think he wants to give it one last shot to see how things go. And then we'll have to see.

CROWLEY: You're -- nary a discouraging word for you except on Ron Paul, which is interesting to me. HUNTSMAN: Well, the isolationism is a part that I, and I think a lot of other Americans have hard time with. We agree on Afghanistan. I want to get out of Afghanistan. I think we've done everything that we can do in Afghanistan. I want to recognize it for what it is as a counter- terror challenge, not a counterinsurgency opportunity.

But other than that, we part company on most other international issues.

CROWLEY: Governor Huntsman, are we going to see you in South Carolina?

HUNTSMAN: I fully intend to be in South Carolina with a head of steam.

CROWLEY: Thank you so much.

HUNTSMAN: Thanks, Candy.

CROWLEY: Appreciate it.

HUNTSMAN: It is a pleasure to be with you. Thank you. 

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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CROWLEY: Have you ever met Mitt Romney?

PELOSI: I don't think so. It wasn't memorable if I did.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) CROWLEY: It has been a year since former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi lost the gavel to John Boehner. She held a presser this week marking the event, using it as an opportunity to attack Republicans for not being in session. I spoke to the House Democratic leader on Capitol Hill late last week.

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CROWLEY: Madam Leader, thank you for joining us.

PELOSI: My pleasure.

CROWLEY: You and your fellow Democrats have spent the week taunting Republicans, saying, come on back, come on, get to work, why are we in recess? The question is, if they were at work, what would they be working on?

PELOSI: What we want them to come back to do is to get to work to pass the payroll tax cut for 160 million Americans, extend unemployment benefits for millions of Americans who are out of work through no fault of their own, and also to pass the legislation that guarantees seniors the ability to see their doctors under Medicare.

This is what they passed for two months in December under great duress. We want to get rolling with that. We want the committee, the Conference Committee, to come -- they kept asking, appoint conferees, appoint conferees. Well, we appointed conferees, let's call them together to meet.

CROWLEY: They have until the end of February to do this. You know Congress always works up to its deadline. It is just the nature of the beast. The Senate isn't in. So why doesn't this look sort of like an election year stunt?

PELOSI: Republicans keep telling us that we're not in recess. They say to the president, we're not in recess, you can't make a recess appointment, we are in session. But yet when we went to the floor, the very distinguished gentleman, our assistant leader, Mr. Clyburn, from South Carolina, was gaveled down the minute he started to speak after the pledge to the flag.

CROWLEY: Don't you think people looking at this will go, you know what, these people -- and I don't mean Democrats, I mean Congress, are playing games again, they're gaveling each other down, they're taunting each other about why they're not in session, that this is what people hate so much about Congress, it looks like games?

PELOSI: I don't think they hate us calling people back to work. I think that they wonder why we're not at work. Here the American people, many of them are out of work, others are uncertain about their jobs, they want to work, and we're taking a month off in January? I think that's what aggravates -- it certainly aggravates me.

CROWLEY: You brought up the president and I wanted to play something for our audience and for you. The president, just talking about his relationship with Congress. This was probably something you heard. He was in Ohio the other day.

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BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: When Congress refuses to act, and as a result, hurts our economy and puts our people at risk, then I have an obligation as president to do what I can without them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CROWLEY: Are you totally comfortable as a former speaker and now the head of the Democrats, majority (ph) leader of the Democrats, with the president running against Congress?

PELOSI: Yes.

CROWLEY: Because that's you.

PELOSI: It's not me. It's the Republican majority in the House of Representatives.

CROWLEY: He doesn't always make that distinction.

PELOSI: He doesn't always.

CROWLEY: He does say at times, well, there is -- you know, the Democrats are working against the Republicans, but, I mean, he doesn't always make that distinction. And he -- I wanted to read you one other thing. This was from his deputy press secretary, Joshua Earnest, who said: "In terms of the president's relationship with Congress, the president is no longer tied to Washington, D.C., winning a full-year extension of the cut in payroll taxes is the last must-do piece of legislation for the White House."

This is a president who really doesn't want to deal with you.

CROWLEY: Well, it is not a question of wanting to deal with me. He doesn't want to deal with the obstructionism of the Republicans in Congress. But to answer your question, I have no problem with the president's statement. I think he should run against this do-nothing Congress. For the past year there's been very little -- there has been a missed opportunity for building the infrastructure of America, making it in America with manufacturing initiatives for our country.

We have missed an opportunity and much of it because they want to obstruct the initiatives of the president or to work in a bipartisan way with him, with us, to get the job done. So I think what the president -- and for the good of the country, forget Democrats, Republicans, for the good of the country, I think it is really important for the president to make the race that he is running against a do-nothing Congress. He says Republicans...

CROWLEY: That's like no coat-tails, no nothing. It's like, every man for himself out there for House Democrats.

PELOSI: Well, campaigns are always that way. We have -- we will be running in states where the president is not running because he will either be winning those states or not taking on the state because it is not a good state for him, that's where a lot of our races are.

Our races are about the House of Representatives, one district at a time. We think we are in good shape. We want the president to run the race that is important for the country and this do-nothing Congress must be defeated.

CROWLEY: So if people say he's throwing you under the bus.

PELOSI: No, we don't feel that way. We don't feel that way. We are very proud of our president. We believe that his getting out there and -- I always say, President Abraham Lincoln said public sentiment is everything. And it is very important for the president to make it clear to the public what the choices have been and will be for the future. And I completely subscribe to his approach.

I do like that he says Republican from time to time.

CROWLEY: Do you think these separate campaigns -- we've had some redistricting so you have some members running against each other in primaries. You need a 25-seat pick-up if you...

PELOSI: Drive for 25.

CROWLEY: Drive for 25, if the Democrats are to retake the majority. And yet you, yourself wrote a letter to your members saying, you guys need to pony up some money...

PELOSI: Yes, they do.

CROWLEY: ... out of your campaigns to put into the overall congressional campaign because it is lower -- the contribution rate is lower than it has been. Is that a reflection of, hey, get out there and win whatever you can and they need every dime they can get?

PELOSI: Well, I think it is a reflection of this as a redistricting year. And we were just wanting them to make sure they were budgeting after they are finished with redistricting in their state. So some of them don't even have a district yet, don't even know if they're going to be running against each other, much less if they're going to have a serious general election. CROWLEY: Let me turn you to a couple of your former colleagues. Newt Gingrich has said out on the campaign trail that the single dumbest thing he ever did was sit down on that couch and make an ad with you...

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PELOSI: I'm Nancy Pelosi. Life-long Democrat and speaker of the house.

GINGRICH: And I'm Newt Gingrich, life-long Republican and I used to be speaker.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CROWLEY: ... about climate change.

PELOSI: Well, I don't want to make any comments about Newt Gingrich, he who has been fined $300,000 by the Ethics Committee, you think he'd consider that a big mistake.

CROWLEY: Surely. But I'm encouraged only because you had said, well, we'll have a conversation about Newt Gingrich later. So I'm hoping later is now.

PELOSI: No, no, no. Well, I mean, what I said is, read the public record. Read the public record. And that's all you need to do about Newt Gingrich's...

(CROSSTALK)

CROWLEY: And so you think that disqualifies him or should disqualify him?

PELOSI: Well, the nomination for president is up to the Republican Party. I respectfully watch how they are making their choices. But it is -- since you brought up my name in association with him as the dumbest thing he ever did, I think there's plenty of stiff competition for that honor as far as his activities are concerned.

CROWLEY: Do you regret that ad?

PELOSI: No. I'm not turning my back on the need for us to address the climate crisis in the world. I hope he isn't either.

CROWLEY: How about Ron Paul? You've worked with him for a long time. What kind of guy is he? What kind of president would he be?

PELOSI: Well, you know, again, when we get to the nomination, when they have somebody, we can talk about that. But I have a great deal of respect for Ron Paul. He acts upon his convictions and he's a nice fellow in the Congress of the United States.

(LAUGHTER)

He's a gentleman.

CROWLEY: He is indeed. Have you ever met Mitt Romney?

PELOSI: I don't think so. It wasn't memorable, if I did.

CROWLEY: Let me move you on to a different subject, and that is your own re-election. Are you committed, if re-elected this November, to serving out that full term, whether you are the majority or the minority?

PELOSI: Yes. There's no greater honor for me than to be the representative for San Francisco. You've been there. You know how great it is.

CROWLEY: It's a great place, yes. PELOSI: The people are wonderful. And no honor that my colleagues could ever bestow on me is as -- as great as being representative from San Francisco.

CROWLEY: So you are in for the next two years, come what may?

PELOSI: Come what may, yes.

CROWLEY: Give me a one-word answer. How many seats you going to pick up in November?

PELOSI: I think enough. We're very confident. Today I believe that we would be successful, but, you know, we take it one day at a time. But by the fact that we have excellent candidates, a strong response from the grassroots and support around the country and lots of enthusiasm. We -- under the leadership of Steve Israel, our chairman, we're way beyond where we thought we would be at this point.

CROWLEY: Do you look forward to going out on the campaign trail?

PELOSI: I look forward to that.

CROWLEY: Thank you so much...

PELOSI: My pleasure.

(END VIDEO CLIP)