series, historic convention speeches, featuring notable remarks by presidential nominees and other political figures from the past several decades. this week, texas governor george w. bush accepted his party's nomination at the 2000 republican national convention in philadelphia. exploring the american story. watch american history tv, saturdays on c-span two, or watch onliney time at c-span.org/htory. >> c-span is your unfiltered view of government. we are funded by these television companies and more, including cox. >> when connection is needed most, cox is there to help, bringing affordable internet to families in need, new tech to boys and girls club's, and support for veterans.

whenever and wherever it matters most, we will be there. >> cox supports c-span as a public service alongside these other television providers, giving you a front row seat to democracy. we are back now with jacob rubashkin, deputy editor of inside elections. welcome to the program. guest: thanks for having me. host: where does the senate stand now if the election was held today, what do you think would happen? guest: the congress is split. democrats are facing a tough senate map, defending more seasoned than republicans are defending, especially in the most competitiveaces. pretty much all of them say for one or two seats are held by democrats. it is structurally a very difficult moment for democrats in the senate.

however, they have been doing well in almost all of these races and have strong incumbents. if the election were held today, everything would probably remain at a status quo result with the open question being montana. democratic incumbents and open seat challengers are doing well and every other state that is competitive, ohio, wisconsin, michigan, except montana. senator jon tester looks vulnerable in could conceivably lose if the election were held today. host: let's talk about that race in particular. why is he so vulnerable, because he has a strong opponent? because he has been reelected. guest: he is vulnerable because this is a republican state. mont was a purple state that electric -- elected republican

candidates but it has almost elected barack obama but has moved to the left. we are just at a point in time where the borders of any given estate are former it likely to split the ticket between the presidential election. jon tester as to when over a considerable amount of trump of voters to win reelection. the republican opponent in montana has some issues but the state is so republican at this point that even a candidate who is not a great a 100 percent top-tier candidate stands a good chance of winning if they are a republican. host: let's look at a campaign and it put out. [video clip] >> montana voters know -- >> jon tester stands for us. >> to get the care and benefits

we have earned. >> he delivered 12 new veterans clinics. >> he passed the act so veterans with toxic exposure -- >> finally got the help we need. >> veterans across montana. host: that is a play for veterans. are there in montana? guest: montana has a higher than average veterans. he is the chairman of the veterans affairs committee. when i talk to republican strategists about the race, they love bringing up that this is the first time that tester has been challenged by a veteran himself. he is a former navy seals decorated in afghanistan has made veterans issues and his express as a veteran front and center to his campaign. tester is feeling the heat on

that issue and felt the need to do an at fully focused -- focused on veterans issues. he has dozens in a room endorsing him. clearly this is something he wants to drive home that he is the better candidate in this race. host: and the ohio senate race we have sherrod brown defending his seat. guest: this is one that should be one of the republicans' best pickup options. it used to be a quintessential swing estate but it is not a pretty republican state and one of those two states on the map for democratic incumbents are running in the states that trump carried in both presidential elections. on paper, this looks like one of the best opportunities for republicans. however, sherrod brown is one of the democrats' strongest incumbents and the opponent has a lot of flaws.

she has never held elected office before and is a very wealthy businessman who made his money in current dealing but he has issues that sherrod brown has successfully exploited. we look at the polling data, sherrod brown would probably win today. host: let's take a look at an ad. [video clip] >> for nearly 50 years, sherrod brown helped create the problem at the southern borders voting kamala harris to give stimulus checks and even a security to illegals. sherrod brown caused the crisis let bernie moreno will fix it by deporting illegals, building the wall and securing our border. that is why he is endorsed by president trump. bernie for senate. host: a bit of an issue is immigration and the border for

ohio voters. guest: it is a big issue everywhere we look, any of the races. immigration is one of the top couple of issues voters say is most important to their vote and especially, it is probably the issue that republicans have the greatest advantage on. a lot of issues that voters who care about, immigration, the economy, abortion, crime but immigration and the border is clearly one where it republicans have built up an advantage over democrats in terms of which party voters make is better equipped to handle what is going on at the southern borders. that is what we see across the board. ohio is not estate on the southern border and it is a lot closer to the northern border than the southern but that doesn't matter. we are seeing this across the map and it makes sense that bernie moreno looking for an issue to leverage against brown would focus on the border as the one that would give him the most bang for his buck.

i will note that we heard multiple times endorsed by president trump and the reason is because trump will carry ohio so he needs as many trump voters as possible and that checks the box for his name. if he wins the trump voters in ohio, you will be the next senator. the reason sherrod brown is looking good now is he is comfortably taking away 10 or 15% of trump voters who like his brain even though they are willing for a republican at the top. host: this is between elissa slotkin and mike rogers. what is going on? guest: this is one open seat. it debbie stabenow is not running for reelection. she served for several decades. elissa slotkin is the democratic congressman from central michigan and hasleared the democratic primary field and had one minor opponent and beat him

easily. she was one of the rising stars in the party. she came into office in 2018, former c.i.a. officer, decorated pedigree and is one of the best fundraisers. she locked down support on the democratic side. her opponent, republican former congressman, sba agent, also used to represent a central michigan district back in the to thousands. he has been out of office for a decade. this is a race that is probably the least developed than any of the biggest senate races on the map because it is an open seat and his two candidates who have never run statewide and are not known by all of the voters in michigan as opposed to one of the other open seat races we have seen were big personalities like kari lake. this is one for the spending has only just begun to pick up. it is a close race on paper. we think slots can has the

slightest of advantages just because of her financial backing but ultimately this will be a very close race in michigan likes to hold close races. if democrats can't win this one, they have no opportunity of controlling the senate. host: continue, you can call now (202) 748-8001, republicans and democrats (202) 748-8001. let's look at an end. >> what did mike rogers do after 20 years of a politician, he left michigan to trade on d.c. connections, helping chinese tech companies get access to the u.s. and about a florida mansion. rogers kept busy for himself. >> i'm mike rogers, elissa slotkin is lying about me and my

family. she is trying to hide that she is everything that is wrong with washington. she rubberstamped biden's agenda, driving up gas and grocery prices, push for ev mandates that are devastating to the michigan auto industry. she signed a secret deal it help a chinese company and took away jobs from michigan workers. unlike her, i've always stood up for it michigan families. i am mike rogers and i approve this message. i will fight to save our jobs and make life affordable. host: this is on the hill with the headline, mike rogers sent a cease and desist letter over the ad in michigan. what is that about? guest: the rogers the campaign is frustrated about some of the attacks that elissa slotkin has been lodging against him and we saw the ad about moving to florida, and the business ties, clearly china, a central issue

in this case, specifically coming out of the rust belt state in michigan where manufacturing is such a court part of the identity and economy and has been for many decades a tremendous worry about outsourcing and the reality of jobs shipping overseas and that is clearly why we are seeing her hit him on the china-related elements and rogers fighting back on her. this is a theme we are seeing across a lot of the senate races where you have candidates, where rogers was in congress but after he was in congress he went in private industry and served on corporate boards and when you serve on the boards you open yourself to a tax for whatever sort of things those companies are doing, even if you are not intimately involved involved at all in those decisions. again, he is probably the most conventional republican candidate on the cycle but still

has baggage that democrats are looking to exploit. frankly, politics is a rough and tumble game. a lot of it is the back and forth. we have a former president famous for making legal threats about all manner of as in statements they have never followed through on. i think this is all part and parcel of the game of politics, especially coming from the other candidate. they are high bars to reach in terms of legal liability. when it comes from outside groups from super pac's, there is a lower standard for getting an ad taken down and we have seen tv stations refused to air ads from super pac's because of the legal threats but funding from the candidates themselves, it is very difficult to get

anything like that taken down or cease and desist. host: 10 -- senator ted cruz won last time buy at 215 thousand votes, the closest senate race in texas since 1978. what is going on in that race? guest: ted cruz is running for a third term. his democratic opponent, another rising democratic star who flipped a purple district in 2018. he has a great biography, played college football at baylor and played in the nfl. he got in law degree and worked in the obama administration won a seat in congress. he is a strong fundraiser. the ingredients in this race, texas is becoming more democratic. it is slow but clear over the last 15 years, texas has shifted

from a republican state into a state that is increasingly purple. the growth of the suburbs in dallas and houston, san antonio and austin, which are so increasingly democratic, as relate moved the state from one that would have voted for george w. bush, but even mitt romney by high double digits to one it will probably be between four and eight points on the republican side. that creates an opportunity for a candidate and then you have ted cruz is just unpopular. he has made decisions across his political career that have made and not particularly well liked in the state of texas. part of the reason why it was so close in 2018 is because people didn't like him or didn't know him well but what they did know they didn't like. his personal popularity or unpopularity gives an opening. it is not a huge opening and

this will be arrays that -- races race that cruises favored in -- that cruz is favored in. democrats are facing pressure to make something happen in this state or florida to offset losses elsewhere. host: our color is in fort worth, texas, a democratic caller. caller: i would like to speak about school vouchers. i watch the news every day and i have direct tv and i go back and forth at any given time. democrats are not fit for the middle class people to talk about what the voucher system is like for those working two jobs with two or three children.

you have a child with an aptitude that is great and you would like for them to go to the private school. you would like to take the voucher for them, but you have two other children that don't have the particular aptitudes in the need to go to the public schools. the thing is, how in the world do you reason that out that you are going to take a certain amount of tax dollars over for them and leave the school that is in your area without? host: how big of an issue is school choice in the texas race? guest: school choice constantly ranks low on the level of voter concerns about the election. one of the interesting things we have seen some democrats try to lean into is the education and

schooling issues in more rural parts of the area. texas is a state that has the huge cities and suburban areas in dallas, houston, san antonio, and if he is going to win that race is because he is getting huge margins in those cities. the reason why texas is still a republican state is for every one of those states, there are 100 small towns across the state and tons of counties looking ever increasingly republican. there is little that a democrat can do to win those voters back. they are shifting so far to the right that education in school issues is one of the few things were democrats feel like they have some purchase. there are plenty of fancy private schools and regular private schools in the big cities and suburbs but when you get to the counties that have 100,500 thousand people, there is no private school. all they have is the public for school and even if they are

conservative on a host of other issues, the reality is public schooling issues in supporting public school is popular in those areas. democrats are looking to lose by at less than the smaller counties in order to give them sin -- cells -- give themselves a chance to win. host: let's go to the independent lane, north carolina, charles. caller: talking about the house and senate, the parties say this and say that, the american people as a whole, we are ignorant of the constitution and what it means and the people up in washington do not know what the left end of the right hand is doing. i wish they would open their

minds up for the people by the people and do for the people instead of doing for a majority. in north carolina, if i would call and ask for help and he was a collier senator from north carolina. they were for one group, their state. they don't care about the others. they might say something about it on television but deep down they are up for the money. host: let's talk about the house. what are some of the big competitive races in the house? guest: calls -- houses evenly divided. democrats currently have 214 seats. you need 218 for the barest of a majority. we are looking at a situation where democrats need to have a net gain of four seats minimum

to reclaim the majority. the good news is they have got some offensive targets that they potentially flip to give themselves the majority. on the democratic side, california's 13th district. a republican in the central valley of california and he w by just a couple hundred votes in 2022 in a district that has voted much more democratic. he is facinghe democrat who he beat by a cple hundred votes last cycle. this will be one of the top races of the year. if democrats can't flip this one, it is difficult to see how they went back the house. they are confident in specifically they view some as differently with republicans in lump sums have a brand in their

district and are clearly able to win over cross votes. we saw in 2022, he performed the worst of any republican in that district. he is quite vulnerable. the other republican that i will single out, brandon lives in upstate new york, represents a syracuse district, this is a district that already looks democratic on a per in the map after the 2022 election to make that seat more democratic. if they had their druthers about them and they can beat brandon williams as well, that gets you to two and there are a whole host of other seats democrats will have to win to flip the house and they have to defend the vulnerable seats and they have quite a few of those. in alaska, this is republican and will win to spare.

she has to win. in washington third district, and upset victory in 2022. she is probably the most vulnerable democrat on the map this time. don davis in north carolina first district, any number of house democrats in tough races. they have to hold the vulnerable incumbents and pick up some vulnerable republicans in order to get the slimmest majority in the house. host: let's talk to russell, a republican in louisiana. caller: it is a comment. i am worried about the country. i believe our country has run its course as the country and a superpower. in the past, history shows that great nations have fallen in the past. and whether trump wins or not, i

am for tom i believe the country was better with the four years of him being in charge. no matter who wins this residential election, i think within time things are going to get worse. in our nation i think will fall. it is only a matter of history repeating itself. one thing about the border, at the stroke of a pen, mr. trump closed that border and was building the wall. and now the democrats, they put the bill out and they want money to close the border. and it didn't take money for trump, all it was was a stroke of the pen. and for the people at vetting other people, we have people on payroll to defend the states, we call it the national guard. it shouldn't cost money. it is just another waste of money and a way to clean the

money and reroute it into other people's pockets >> you can watch washington journal online at c-span.org. we take you like to boston where vice presidential nominee tim walz is speaking to firefighters at their union conference. ♪ gov. walz: good morning. i know you've got a lot of important business to get through this week but i want to say how grateful i am and what a privilege it is to stand in front of this group. thank you president kelly, thank you for every day advocating for the 350,000 heroes that i know you represent with passion. general secretary-treasurer lima, thank you, this is an incredible leadership team. i have to use a point of personal pledge, shout out a bethel, minnesota resident, tom.

always great to see you. [applause] and every delegate in this room representing your 350,000 of our membership. you have busy jobs, families. you traveled here to do the important work of understanding. often times people tell me i'm not into politics. my response is too bad, politics is into you. if you are not advocating for the messages, it is hard to get it done. as a card-carrying member of my states teachers union, i feel proud of that. i saw the other day, i got attacked by -- [applause] i got attacked by the wall street journal for being richer than my disclosure says because i have two divine pension plans. [applause] seems like that is a little different from the google stock that was handed to you, but that is what we did.