Economic, social issues remain critical in Iowa

>> i just don't think we have an extremely strong candidate we can fully endorse at this point. i can't anyway.

>> there's not one that stands out above the rest. there's a bunch -- several i like. if you could combine several of them.

>> they make me nervous. to be honest, you just have to just believe that whoever gets in office, that their intentions are for the people and not just for themselves and everything will work out.

>> with us from java joe 's, " morning joe 's" joe scarborough and mika . you had mitt romney .

>> it was fascinating. last night mitt romney stepped out of his comfort zone and predicted he was going to win the iowa caucus . surprised a lot of people because that's not really the way mitt usually plays. he's usually very cautious. he made that prediction this morning. he pulled back a little bit and said, hey, i'm not so sure i'm going to predict that but i'm going to predict we'll do very well. i think most scenarios you see will help romney pr if mitt wins, that's great for him. if ron paul or rick santorum wins. obviously, the romney camp very excited about those prospects, too, as long as they're in second.

>> andrea , iowa could bring out three faces instead of one if there isn't a really decisive winner. and i'm saying, i have to say, it i don't see people so discouraged here in iowa as much as i do in other places in the president. so, iowa could be good still at this case for obama. it's not -- debbie wasserman schultz doing a great show on our show this morning and yours pitching for him. we got him here this morning, i was surprised, half the crowd, still in with the president.

>> this is part of the exchange between you guys and mitt romney today on that prediction that he tried to walk back.

>> i think i'll be among the top group. i don't know whether it's one, two, or three but all three of us will get a good sendoff going into new hampshire , and south carolina , florida. that's a long road.

>> it's a long road. newt gingrich will try toik mayor your road longer. yesterday he came out, he threw down the gauntlet said, i raised $9 million this past quarter, i'm going to spend it all on mitt romney . how do you respond to those attacks, if they come?

>> oh, that's just fine. that's the nature of a campaign. i expect people to come after me. if i do well here, i'll have a target painted on me. so, i expect folks to come after me. fy can't stand up to that, i shouldn't be the nominee.

>> at this stage, he is trying to, you know, juggle all these things and avoid making a mistake. a pretty cautious -- almost a rope-a-dope strategy from romney . joe ?

>> i think so, but again, this is a state obviously that left mitt romney bitterly disappointed four years ago because the romney campaign then didn't manage expectations well. this time, remember, andrea , two, three weeks ago, they were even thinking about staying away, but they saw an opening. there's no doubt about it, if mitt romney does well tonight, does very well if he wins. i think goes into new hampshire , obviously he'll be more likely to have a big win there as well. it puts him in great shape going down south to south carolina , where mitt had a lot of problems four years ago. if you look at his 12, 13 lowest results, worst results from the 2008 campaign, they were all in the deep south . so, two big wins. one in iowa and one in new hampshire could really help him out going down to south carolina , which really seems to be this year the super bowl for --

>> don't sound so excited. see, that's the field. see how bored he sounds.

>> i'm not bored! i'm very excited.

>> that's bored.

>> no. i think, mika , you're maybe glossy things over for the president a little bit too much.

>> andrea , you saw the voters you led into us with. that's a little scary on caucus day. we have a five-term republican congressman in iowa who can't make a decision on what candidate he's going to go with.

>> because they're all so good, andrea .

>> that's a little scary.

>> well, steve king , congressman you referred to, was on your show today, is appearing with bachmann and some of the others today. clearly, waiting because there are problems. i was just talking to matt about that. there are drawbacks with all of these candidates. no one has the whole package put together. by the way, i caught up with ann romney today before one of her husband's events, which was poorly attended, by the way. more media there than supporters almost. i asked her about how she does a good job of humanizing him. you know that so well. and she really says that she's going to be able to help convey, she and the sons, the mitt romney they knew who does seem to have a problem connecting with voters. you see him one-on-one. you'll see him again tomorrow morning on your show. he doesn't really communicate one-on-one with voters. what you see behind the scenes . joe ?

>> a couple things. ann is a great story, first of all. she should be more out in front, it would help mitt. mitt would be better, don't you think, joe , if the other candidates were stronger? isn't there just a problem from it going downhill from him?

>> the thing is, though, we have to remember, andrea , i know you remember this like we do as well, when rick perry came into the race in the middle of the summer, we heard everybody say that perry was going to pull ahead. he did. he went way ahead of mitt. and everybody said that mitt romney 's campaign was in big trouble . he took on rick perry . ended up on top. the same thing happened when herman cain went ahead of him, when michele bachmann went ahead of him. finally, when newt gingrich went ahead of him. every challenge of this campaign it's faced, they faced it down. now rick santorum has a possibility of beating him as well tonight. i think there's a reason why mitt romney looked more calm and collected this morning than any of us have seen him over the past four or five years. he's supremely confident he's going to win tonight, that he's going to win next week and that he's going to win this nomination. i think that may help him out as a candidate. i will say, though, there's no doubt. anybody like you, mika and me that have met ann romney and met those boys, understand they are great people.

>> yeah.

>> actually, they're a bit more relaxed in one-on-one situations than the guy running for president. but you get them all together, and he is --

>> they're a fantastic family.

>> relaxed, down to earth guy.

>> i know you'll have mitt romney back on tomorrow, win or lose -- win, lose or draw, tomorrow " morning joe ," mitt romney and the show every weekday 6 a.m . to 9 a.m . eastern only on msnbc. joe scarborough and mika brzezinski .