>> you also have a situation where these media try to make this a much, much bigger story than if it was any other group of protesters from most any other subject. i was going to ask you, i think glenn did write that obama will run the best campaign ever run and you flew to the fact he's already started. the romney spot you're talking about is actually the very negative spot that they had aired or published on romney. remember, they did one in arizona and went somewhere else. can the president get reelected. lee by saying my trying to disqualify this opponent? >> trying to disqualify george bush's record and he never put forward by they should vote for him. first off, john kerry and the "wizard of oz."

last back were in florida. it was in a statement he was going to run in 2008, when the kid comes up in his yelling and screaming and the police, and the kid yells out, don't teaser me, bro. the kid goes straight down. first person ever electrified from a john kerry speech. [laughter] [applause] it is not enough to tell people what you are against. you have to explain to them what you are for. the key in this obama thing i'm starting two years to ask whether he deserves four more years is actually the wrong question. to ask what there is record the ears is a better question. for years seems like such a short amount of. based on nicer survey shows the philly with jobs, fill it with the economy, sailor with virtually everything, does the record of serving eight-year presidency. if you change to eight years of

weekends. >> how much clan does having a republican governor of this state are winning the governorship on election day for republican affect the presidential? >> look, i think it is important on multiple levels having a republican governor in the state. particularly key swing states like florida and ohio and then winning and north carolina. and having one in virginia makes it easier for the republican nominee to do what they need to do in this state in terms of building an organization. voters don't wake up on election day and say, you know, i really like this job that bob mcdonnell is doing so i'm going to go for republican nominee for president. that's not what happened. but because bob mcdonnell has such a good organization in virginia, he's able to put it to work in the turnout in the key areas and make it easier for the

presidential nominee to fund raise in the states among key donors and all those things too added incrementally and in a close race. and the, this is 2012 because of the demographics and challenges obama faces, demographic advantage he has been the challenges he faces that the economy is shaping up to be another 2000 or 2004 when it's really, really close. this is not 2006, 2008, 2010. but voters are much more evenly divided. they are leaning our way, but not quite there yet. it's almost a year to go. those incremental things close key races with the republican campaign in north carolina for governor. the singer flat up it can make a difference in a very close race. >> if obamacare is louisiana, he

will appear in fortysomething states. but you all had a great relation with these issues. and now, what are your numbers for the legislature? >> for the first time, just to give you a sense of how far we have moved from the q-quebec eight years. their seven nonfederal state elected offices louisiana. we have render public enough of 70 years ago. today we have seven out of seven and there really wasn't a credible democratic candidate in any one of the seven election in this election cycle. in the house and senate for the first time we've got majorities to the end of my first term thanks to party switchers in special elections. this is the first time i've elected a majority to vote to either chamber. we are 50th in the house, 24 in the senate. 24 out of 39 and the senate that are now republicans. here is the most important soul. certainly we carried all 64. we carried new orleans and

first-time republicans. we carried 66%, but the number that is the most important sunni was beset after her election, our top priority was the elected statewide education, which is unusual sight. we said k-12 education of your top priority going into the first year improving education for children. before it was roughly 65 -- i'm sorry, reforms when it comes to giving parents more choices are rewarding great teachers entering the things that can improve education for kids. after this election cycle it is now 101. we endorsed in fixer he says and what was really exciting this week the entrenched republicans pick composed over trying to do. a group comprised of union and i caught him the coalition for the status quo. they feel the candidates and put

people on the ground. but was exciting to me as we just didn't win in republican friendly districts. we won across party party lines and racial lines in a pretty bold agenda for improving education in our state. but the election showed was two things. one, you can make the tough decisions. you look at mitch daniels experience over in indiana and some of the governors who came before -- a couple years before me made some tough decisions. are they going to be look to survive this? you have republicans during the recession. maybe you shouldn't be changing things so quickly. both you and mitch got reelected overwhelmingly. you had a great, great second term. you have governors today. pennsylvania and write your party of scott. you have john kasich and ohio. he's got a bunch of great -- others for not naming that a bunch of great reform governors

and kings have choices, tackling policies they got elected to do. i absolutely predict they will be rewarded by voters. the take away from from louisiana election results was if you do the right thing, people see results in a growing economy and better schools, health care, whatever your priorities are. too often when republicans -- would last a majority in the house and senate. we could lose it for being conservative. we don't lose elections because of conservative principles. we don't communicate them all. i think we're true to principles we can show competent governance and will be rewarded and that's what happened in mississippi. the first time since reconstruction new elected a republican to succeed another republican. i think that is what you're seeing across the states. >> and his elections when republicans support are the one who sponsor building a bridge to nowhere. in 2006 everyone knew about that conservators just abandon the

gop. by the way it's not about government spending. it's about ways. that is what makes people angry. we can argue over the definition of ways, but that's the worth of public uses. so why not focus on not? mitch daniels is here. he's a great communicator. so of course he can get through this reform. he is the ability to communicate reforms. if you don't explain what you do them or some governors right now pushing really hard that i'm explaining the context behind it. they are not talking about the result. they are talking about the situation now, but not what the outcome will be. and they will face a problem. you can do great things as you've done in louisiana and mississippi, but you guys are sitting between two of the best communicators the governors have. they're a peep in the square here that haven't explained to voters that they are doing and why and they're not going to get credit for it.

>> i think frankly you in a to each other in the 90s, a lot of times it sounded like cannons. we tend to talk about that. you need to tell people what you are for, why you are for it and how it will help their families and communities. if you just keep that little simple thing in mind, usually you can get to the point if it's the right policy. but you are right and bobby is right. my experience when we lose it is not because people change their mind about the policy they want. it is because they change their mind about us. they decide we are not adhering to what they thought they voted for. >> and they'll personalize. i give you an example on taxes. i'm fat now so i can do it as well as i used to. i'm totally out of shape. when you wake up in the morning you pay a sales tax. as you drive to work u.k. gas

tax. he flushed the toilet you pay a water taxpayer to turn on your tv and pay cable tax. he flew here from another state. use your cell phone and phone tax. he bowersox refuted you pay at closing tax. wow, you really are poor and mississippi. [laughter] just for the record, his shoes cost more than everything i own. [laughter] we are taxed in the morning we wake up in the morning to the moment we go to sleep at night. hard-working americans deserve a break and i'm going to give it to them. it's personal. it's human. his day-to-day networks. >> just to jump on something you said, governor what he said you talk about what it is that she wants to do and how it's going to help him and everything. one of the questions i pay a fee to frank, but i do get to moderate focus groups, too. and down the stretch in the virginia governor's race in 09 i

was doing governor mcdonald's pulling and we did focus groups once a week in northern virginia, figuring if we did okay in northern virginia we would win statewide. one of the questions i would ask before we got the testing was, you know, what is bob mcdonald trying to say about himself to voters like you about why we should vote for them. people would give reasons, one of which is in all of the above energy policy. what he was trying to say about himself i got blank stares back. people said be quiet because they couldn't think of anything. then they laugh nervously and said maybe that's why he's got a problem and i don't want to vote for him. these are independent swing voters. so again, it is not just -- and obama will find this out. it's not just against someone or giving them reasons to vote against somebody. you have to have a reason to vote for somebody, particularly for an executive office like president or governor.

you have to deal to communicate what you'll do in the job and why you should be hired for that job. and i think that is one of the keys -- one of the things democrats have forgotten and they're kind of wash to make republicans look so extreme and attack and attack and attack that they have forgotten that they need to be for something. >> frank, glenn said obama has no choice but to rent a very negative campaign. the question is trying to get across a minute ago, can the incumbent president be reelected if he has to resort to just running a negative campaign and can't run on his record? and the import of that question is, what the strategy quan described for, and they're very negative campaign, cannot wear? >> for obama's personal

likability is still quite high. i keep looking at 2004 because -- not 2004. 1984. when people do not support reagan's policies but liked him as a person and walter mondale is so disagreeable, they like to bomb a and they believed that he is trying, which is keys to governors here. your intent is not quite as import is your results, but it's pretty darn important. and they still believe that his intent is good. if he stays so negative, it will destroy that in hand, destroys personal favorability and undercut the one thing holding them up right now because when you ask about the specific job related attributes, he fails. he fails miserably. i would not be delivering negative messages on the campaign trail. it's okay in our testing because they were separated. that negative words.

i would not let negative word come out of my mouth. i would let joe biden be negative. amtrak built this car because of joe biden. let him go out and be the guy. but i want to be sure that you feel that i'm in doing it. if he feels negative, i believe he is not reelected, and that he needs a balance. and i'm not sure if people really feel that now. >> bobby come you follow for the country campaigning for people in all your four years as governor, what do you see as the difference between steaks like ours that vote overwhelmingly republican? and were greeted daddy want this in the industrial midwest for the west coast environment? i mean, what do you think the issues are that make the georgia

to texas swing so much safer for the farm states that are so loyally republican? would've we got going for us that they don't have going for them? >> a couple things are interesting. louisiana was one of the last southern states good to talk about the deep south and southern strategy. louisiana is a u.s. senator until recently had never had a republican majority in either chamber i did not have a history of electing republican governors. i voted for twice. a lot of voters and the fact reregister democrat was a republican nationally. even a voter registration, even though our numbers are increasing in their numbers are tear creasing, were still half the size of the democratic party. they outnumbered two to one even today. so i think what's interesting, let's look at state that a red

versus blue, but the states that are changing. louisiana is moving in the right direction. west virginia is one of those states that wants to move in the right direction and certainly a lot of talk about the western states may be becoming more purple, moving kind of towards the middle. i think that the voters -- reagan at the famous thing about the democratic party -- and that leaving the democratic party. i think you've got a lot of voters in louisiana that looked around in a couple things happen. i think they stayed pretty much where they were in their beliefs and select the parties moved around them. so their fathers, grandfathers, moms, and everybody having democrats. they told him there's no point in registering republican. this is a tax paid tax payer. they say you only have one choice. you got to register democrat otherwise you don't voted our stay. for generations come you got people that voted for their local municipal elections although he up stray puppy.

see what a lot of people do come and tell me, you're the first republican i've ever voted for. i'm glad my dad is not alive. there is a strong cultural identification and i think over time they saw the party didn't consistently, time and time again would nominate candidates are seen up for ideas they didn't agree with. but the second thing that is so great when you see governors and you've got states like michigan, wisconsin, pennsylvania, ohio, a whole lot of states that have elected republican governors to succeed to oust democratic governors. those governors are showing in any of these states, republican candidates can win. cannot wait there's permanent republican or permit democratic states. what those candidates have shown is the relevant message with a competent leader, with a good leader, we can win in states, whether it's in the midwest or

the industrial part of the country at the northern part of the country. one of our great friends from rhode island with a very successful governor of rhode island. we had a governor in vermont several terms they are, so we can win in those states that are called blue states or red states. i don't think there's anything in her dnas that make us red states or blue states. what tends to happen in some states as the parties would've been their gates to build up your glenn talked about infrastructure and over time they start building up local volunteers and people that are currently party people search identified. a lot of people just have never voted for a republican because they never one for share for the education of the school border mayors. so i think what's great about drg as we do support candidates all over the country. we support candidates in many new governor sitting here because they went got involved in the states where we hadn't

had a republican governor before. i'm a big believer that we have to expand the map. to president obama's credit politically for years ago if you were gone in history and said a democratic governor is going to compete in virginia and north carolina, he went and won in so-called red states. i don't think he could win those three states this time by the way. it's up to mr. reichert can any to get the message to compete in those states like the northwest. we have a great candidate in washington state, so i think we can be competitive in areas that we've not won statewide elections recently. >> it's evident because we've elected so many republican governors that states that are very hard for us for president. i wonder, glenn, as we think about the u.s. senate and we all think we got this great chance to win the senate, or decrease the fat, 20 democratic seats, only 10 republican seats, i'm not sure it's that easy. what do you think the prospects are that we win a majority

majority in the senate? and particularly if obama is reelected, what are the chances we'll win a majority in the senate? >> look, it's not going to be as clear-cut. in terms of opportunities for pickups, i think on the governor gubernatorial level, they are really south. on the senate level, i would be shocked and very disappointed if we did not at least get the 50 seats in the senate. because when you look at where some of the best opportunities are, those are seats that republicans will run well and the republican nominees for hanwell for president. so you have that synergy there. at work, senate races tend to break one way. so you know, a lot will depend on what happens on the presidential level. typically the senate races usually go republican or democratic. even if the rest of the country looks much more evenly divided.

so we are going to be facing a huge tipping point next to tober in states like missouri and others, where you've got, you know, contested races for governor and senate. i think how well they run as a team, not as a team. that's not the rightward. if they ran a coordinated effort, i think that can really make a big difference. >> a chance to answer that question will take questions from the governors and the audience. the level of hatred towards congress is unlike anything that any of us have ever seen. a 9% approval rating could not be at a 15% approval rating of libya and that was among people who killed them. [laughter] at choate did not -- i took a joke to republican senators. they did not laugh. [laughter] the opportunity is so amazing

for challengers regardless of what political party you are. it is not an anti-republican antidemocratic mood or movement. it is an anti-incumbent, antiestablishment, anti-elitist, anti-status quo. it is a rejection of those things that got us towards whatever point we are now and are rejecting it for the future. the message for the governors here come the democratic governors to us if you look and sound like the status quo, you are done. and how do you govern in a situation like that? i have to think the gop got a 50/50 shot at getting the senate, but i feel sorry for you all. i think you're the luckiest person of the year because you're getting now. how do you govern when people can even send the same room and talk to each other, we can't go to those opposed and have a civil dialogue with them when they will stand up and oppose

you? you know i moderated the debate out in iowa 10 days ago, a forum. educate time at the beginning to give a protest or two minutes the mike so they could speak so that the whole thing would get disrupted. eric cantor had to cancel a speech at the university of pennsylvania, a great school because the occupy wall street people are taken the first hundred tickets ever going to protest and disrupt the whole time. governors, i don't know how you do it now. and i do think in addition to what we do politically, some of the sinister and have to figure out why we do out of respect and decency and stability because if we lose the ability to talk to each other and disagree without destroying each other, and then we are going to have an awful next 10, 20, 30 years in this country. >> can i get some house lights? how we will see who wants to hear.

>> thank you. i enjoyed your presentation. frank, you touched on a question i've had for a long time here and that is the dysfunctionality in washington. i think governors are actually a lot more collegial. we get along better in based on a set of principles and the governors to have to go back after we have a discussion and actually do something. congress is able to kick it on down the road for a while. you've written a book, words matter. what about the word compromise? do we ever use that again? the founding fathers seem to make it work okay. or can we use the word compromise anymore in washington? >> no. if you talk about compromise, they'll say you are selling out. your side doesn't want you to compromise. which use interface and that word is cooperation. it means the same thing, but cooperation means you can stick to your principles and still get the job done.

compromise says you are out principles. >> i will say this. and my stay at, where i had the democrat legislation for seven years and the democrat house for eight years and we've all pretty hard on some stuff, but by and large, we could sit down to we might not agree, but we can deal with each other civilly. and washington strikes me as being far worse than the state capitals. >> possibly one of the reasons and this is just a fact of computers and policy today. gerrymandered seats. the fewer competitive seats there are, the more the members of congress are worried about primaries than they are about competitive general election.

and it goes back to you are selling now. you know, you're caving in to their side. and keep in mind, too, one of the frustrations republicans have had over the years in washington as the democrats talk about compromise, that usually means you do things our way. that is what they mean when they say compromise. but frankly the fewer competitive races at the congressional level, the less likely there is to be compromise. the flipside is every governor here who controlled their lives, it's rational to do so. >> ton of people to sacrifice. because there isn't an american today in november of 2011 doesn't understand sacrifice. you tell them not to sacrifice for the pretty angry at you. you talk about we're all in this together. we either succeed together or fail together. he preached the universality of it. sacrifices personal and nobody

feels they can afford to give any more. we are all in this together is the universality of it and people are then willing to do what you want from them if they think that everyone is engaged in this process. >> i'm going to give myself a little bit, but when i first ran for office in 1998 campaign and the legislative seat, i have no cards in a tin box and that is how i hide precincts go door-to-door to campaign. we did a lot of mailers for the different social media thinks we have now. but now that we have 24/7 news, we have facebook, which we, twitter, it e-mail, all those things have really changed the political landscape for anyone on issues and anyone running for office. and it is hard, especially when you have people attacking you and its immediate response versus u.k. did a piece of the

male 20 years ago the next day. talk a little how social media, and the internet, 24/7 news that we see, how it affects the politics and issues and campaign. >> well, look the biggest challenge if you touched on you have to react right away. a candidate makes a mistake now you have to deal with it forthrightly and upfront immediately. and that hardly gives you time to kind of think about okay, now what is the grain of truth? i mean, look at the kane campaign for president, where the first accusations about harassment came out and they kept changing their story, that's a real problem. and that is why he went from the front runner to areas right now. not because of the details, but because they couldn't get their stories straight. the fact that it's a 24/7 news

cycle and you've got the internet which amplifies everything. and by the way, everybody in this room regardless of what you do, you should assume you're being taped. and whether it's a cell phone or whatever. you know what time you make a mistake. it's going to show up on the internet. if you do everything right, then it's not going to show up on the internet. if you do it right, and i will be so much credit to go around that it won't. so it's when you make a mistake that you become immediately famous and that's not what you want. you just have to presume whatever it is you're doing, somebody is keeping you, someone is going to tweet about it. and by the way, that's the other thing. professional athletes really show that these days. he got out to put your immediate knee-jerk reaction on twitter. it's much, much better to be smart and think through what it is you're trying to communicate and what you're trying to get across, like i'm trying to do is

focus. >> one thing that behooves all of us that we can all do, learn to use them as twos. learn to use it as some thing that advances our camp paint on the way. all those bad things he's had to deal with and you're going to have to learn how to be agile enough to be a lot more agile. but at a minimum, learn how to use those tools so they take the place of your card box and get you toward something that you can use. >> i know a lot of people talk about -- on the positive side you've got a much more engaged voter population. you've got much more civic duty. all date myself as well. i remember being an intern. when you're an intern, a lot of that his research and writing back in drafting responses to correspondents. that and if we cut letters, that

meant less if someone took a time to write the hand-lettered and generally get interns at there in august and the members are gone. you get letters about things that happened weeks before review draft response in a few days later snappers about to make it a letter back in the mail people were thrilled their congressman had written about québec issue. in today's world, nowadays i see this in our state legislature. there is a hot issue coming up, the legislators go to the mic and say they're voting differently because they got a certain number of e-mails literally within minutes about the bill coming up with a certain number of phone calls generated. so voters are now able to get that information more quickly. i think you seen a big difference in not only the halls of congress, but also state legislators and how they respond to that. >> or author should have a mission for every single issue you'll deal with, probably 30, 35 missions. not a mission statement has that's political.

we're poor sentence sentence max. they have two or three statistics underneath that you will quote again and again. underneath that you will have a set of words, phrases. every issue as a single page and whoever is responsible for social media keeps going back to that same thing. i know for fact and i look around at the names here because i know enough people who are here. at least half a dozen governors still have it tonight and there was behind the eight ball because they are always responding to rather than engaging preventative communication or assertive communication because they haven't even created the message that goes along with the policy. you know both and you've always been good at both. and these kinds of policy changes every year, but he knows the language behind it at the same time. you cannot separate the two and expect to succeed. because of social media you don't have the time. if you don't have the briefing

book prepared to take a two over the next five days, 10 days. so for the rest of the time your governor, everyone knows that needs to go on twitter, facebook and all the social media sites. >> frank, i think you're right about the message of occupy wall street the one that resonates. people can understand the one person for 99 and the numbers are what they are with the income gap. and i think it does have potential but people don't pacify with occupiers, but the message is a good easy one. is there any ability to change the conversation too wide a gap is spreading? is their inability to do that? >> absolutely. it goes to the focus of policy. we are in orlando, florida. is this on disney property? is very close that it's not. if you are wearing a suit and tie, stand up. come on.

[laughter] this is what's wrong. [laughter] it's symbolic tiered and announcing you want to look like these hippie freaks from the late 60s, but when they see people like us, any politician because they're not happy with the democrats. they think that -- first off i have three weeks for you all. i get it. if you asked me whether republican or democrat, were the first two words i use to address them if i get it? i get to hear angry. i get that you see inequality. i get that you want to fix the system. you're pretty conservative, but i think you'd understand what is causing people to be so bad. if you have knowledge that anger, you can then take step two. in step two to should be occupying washington. you should occupy the white house because those policies over the last three years have created this problem.

but if you don't begin with i get it and all you do is insult them, which a couple presidential candidates did, it's a great line for that debate room, but it causes an awful lot of damage all across living rooms of america. >> my old granddaddy used to tell us, never underestimate the natural animosity of a poor man for a rich man. and that is just a good starting place for their side because they got some facts that really made the right point. this administration's policies have been pushed up the money to wall street, main street -- there's no recovery on main street. you know that. the biggest difference in my lifetime is between the real economy and the stock market. between main street and wall street. i never have seen anything that compares with this.

huge businesses they're making money off the inning. >> but it's time for that phrase class welfare. over the last couple weeks -- one set. class warfare is ideological and it sounds like college campus and it actually sounds political. but the public resents politicians that divide americans. in the end, we are the united states of america. there is more that unites us than divides us. and so the public to leave and will reject those politicians who try to pit against each other in favor of those who try to find common ground. once again it is not a compromise of philosophy or ideology, but he does seem that if you divide us, you weaken us. that is the best response. >> paul. >> one of the biggest issues facing.com out of the boston, new york papers and our state is

the whole issue of big as this is sitting on big cash. and it goes to the question of hoarding. i mean, the policies have been bad. the administration's policies have been helping wall street, not me stricken people on wall street are sitting on the cash. and so a lot of the 90 niners say, that is the problem, is they are getting a lot of money. and the jobs are being created. what is their rebuttal? ..

you know what i always say when people bring up the 99%. i think part of the 53% to pay federal income tax. and that kind of shifts the debate a little bit as well. but in terms of, you know, the uncertainty that this administration has created for businesses and that is why we need to replace this administration with a more pro-mainstreet business administration. one where people can feel like businesses can feel like they can take a risk. they can spend some money and not have the right pulled out from underneath them by someat i crazy regulations. and obviously there is a different way to say that. but when yous communicate that, that is when you get people nodding their heads and say okay, i understand. i get it. say i get it. >> as a party we talk a lot about excessive regulation and we talk about the message of more effective regulation of the local level but i will give you

a couple examples in louisianan we had a project ready to break ground a few years ago 3 billion-dollar capital investment, $75,000 average salary of those were very important local community. they delayed breaking ground in part because of their concern about the uncertainty of cap-and-trade rules coming out of washington, d.c. so the eventually decided to break ground last year, but they also said during that two-year freeze and said thinking about going overseas. second example we have a large japanese company to make a $120 million investment from the capitol. they are thinking about making that investment overseas because the uncertainty of regulation coming out of washington, d.c. but what is more effective during the moratorium we were fighting this fight against the obama administration on this economic activity sending money to the middle east but to send

this to other countries spend the money in the service company and they are the ones that are going to be hurt because when it ent braz as when the red center brazil, o went to africa, those jobs -- he they go overseas. those people began to lose their homes and declare bankruptcy and lay off people. so i and so i think we can point to e specific examples where companies want to create jobs id america.investing capital but ee or unpredictable regulations stop them from doing it but it's also important sure it's not

just big companies but these are companies of all sizes that me be your neighbors, maybe a small business in your community that want to make money and hire americans but can't do it with the unpredictability out there. >> the language the americans want you to use is the small-business owners and job creators. they are less interested in entrepreneurs and innovators and i recognize entrepreneurs and innovators are the ones who create apple and microsoft and dell and nike and companies like that, but to the american years a small business owner and a job creator is what needs to be defended over every other title you can use. by the way when you give someone a bonus, i would strike the word bonus out of your lexicon and some of you do this at the end of the year you are coming up to give out a christmas bonus at a time of economic hardship, you're going to make people angry. it's pay for performance. people will support performance pay. they will not support a bonus.

>> i hate to talk like this, but i do think the great thing about the question that you pose, the answer is totally on our side is why would people sit on their money? win obama says he wants to put the largest tax increase in american history on job creators, how are they going to say that i ought to be creating more jobs to spend more money but i am facing 1 trillion, 2 trillion-dollar tax increase? obamacare, i don't know what my obligations or cost will be for new employees, so how can the job creator make a decision to hire more people? this is an administration that has made its it's policy to drive the cost of energy. and so people will use lists because they have big energy policies, environmental policy and it isn't just terrible for the south, it's terrible for

maine. but the big thing here is the actual factual argument is almost totally on our side, and i know i tend to be a little wonky but i think people want to hear that. i think they are prepared to hear the facts and patient enough to listen to them. >> i won't put you on the spot but i don't mind putting frank on the spot for a moment. in five weeks republican presidential primary will cast the first votes in the iowa caucus followed by new hampshire, south carolina and florida with the two of you, you and bobby are welcome to come. could you predict what's clinton had been or give some insight? [laughter] >> i'm not going to be a profile in courage. a couple of observations and

little on the buy side. second not my position not working having done a thing on the campaign my comment on the race i will say this look recent presidential primaries, what has happened and even hollywood and new hampshire aren't necessarily determinant here so particularly with the rules changes where it's no longer win or to call delegates until the end of march for states to think we are in for a pretty wild ride. >> the initial updates to me watching some of them are absolutely terrific when the candidates are just pounding each other and it hurt the gop, romney's numbers came down and you can actually show romney falling and linkage to the debates on the stage people beat up on him the post. why? when republicans go after other republicans they don't like it but they still hear what is

being said. i never dhaka question as you know. i can't answer it because every fiber of my being would have said that new gingrich would not even have made it to five weeks from now six months ago. i've never known anyone to start a campaign from a vote south of greece and yet he is absolutely positively in there and he is in there because of his intellect. this is someone who is unprecedented in his capability to deal with issues in a broadway in a focused way. he has no money, she has no organization, he has such a negative image and yet he's actually winning. who would have thought that there is a lesson which is i think you said this more americans are paying attention now than they ever have. everything you say can and will be used against you.

everything you do will be held up to scrutiny. in 2012 we are going to end up wishing that this cycle was over. governor sadr the only institution in america will have the chance to cut through to clutter with your constituents and prove to them government still works. the only people that have the the opportunity to demonstrate that results can still happen. don't miss that opportunity because it's on your success that we will rebuild the political system that is going to be destroyed over the next 11 months. >> i put my cards on the table. i supported rick some time ago, the governor of the neighboring state. he's been a great leader here, denigrate job while president obama has been under his job we have lost 2 million private sector jobs and actually added a million jobs over the last couple of years but in terms of what's going to have been five

weeks from now i would echo what frank said. five weeks is an eternity in this presidential cycle. in his right. not forget six months ago, five weeks ago predicted correctly he would be running ahead of the polls. who would have foreseen what has happened with herman cain's numbers so who knows in the next five weeks who is going to go up and down. that hasn't been totally unique it's been somewhat more exacerbated this cycle you compare to the previous cycles you are a little safer a few weeks out who is likely to win on the way and do well in new hampshire but even the last couple elections i would caution us to get too far out there i remember when for years ago this march predictors were saying hillary clinton is going to be the democratic nominee. eight years ago it was howard dean was going to be the nominee going into iowa cannot be stopped. before president obama got elected there were some on our side saying here's the guy you want to run against.

people said he's a true term president look how popular he was after he was sworn in and after the midterm election was obvious he was a one-term. i think the five weeks is an eternity in this political cycle and so i just have no way of being able to know who is going to be poured down. it's amazing one thing you can predict is there isn't a lot change it seems like every day there is a new twist in this election. >> today's headlines are tomorrow's speech wrappers. that's what we used to say. i guess that doesn't -- people don't understand what that means any more. what happened yesterday or last week may not have anything to do with what is going to be the result in a week or two weeks or five weeks. it is the most fluid thing that i've ever been a around for our side or the democrats' site for that matter.

>> i think that's all the governors. we give time for one from the field. i see a hand. hold on. we are going to get you a microphone. >> what are your thoughts in the panel i remember seeing rick on the debate a couple weeks ago talking about economic mobility and that the republicans should be talking about that and forget about the economic mobility as manufacturing, returned to manufacturing at the united states do you have any thoughts on that or comments on the economic mobility? >> in mississippi we haven't given up on the manufacturing and they've brought in a lot of advanced manufacturing in the last eight years. not unique to us or among the states in the south you've got states like indiana that are

doing the same thing. economic mobility is something we don't talk about enough because there's this idea that the top 20% are the same people a year in and year out decade in and day out. i do think the data may show in the current recession that's a little more static than it normally has over the last 30 years people were moving all of and down within that income level as i might expect has new age you make less money where you are younger and you finally get a job and start making some money and once you get to be older than i am, i'm 64. most people's incomes go down because they don't work as much or they don't work at all so there is a lot of economic mobility in the united states,

an unusually large amount in the most advanced world come and i can see the point that we ought to talk about that. i personally think we had a conversation among the governors in a different group yesterday that is even more important than that. a lot of income inequality is to in education. i went to the high school every one of my four years somebody would, make a speech and say if you graduate from high school you will make more than if you don't graduate high school and a few graduate in college you will make more than if you don't. today much income inequality is purely a function of lack of education and i'm not necessarily seeking a degree. it may be skills that you have

learned, but there is a huge element of income inequality that has got to do with people that dropped out, people who didn't take school seriously, people who just for may be no fault of their own don't have the skills or the education and an economy that values more common values those much more than ever before in world history not just in american history, so we don't just talk about income economic role of the, but also talk about the powerful importance of education. we need our children and grandchildren to really realize that is for real. >> but economic mobility is more important than economic honesty and what they are looking for you is to be looking straight with the american people and the people you represent.

no more budget gimmicks, no more accounting tricks, no more empty promises. you have the right to know the facts about the budget and we have the responsibility to tell you about the budget toward about the economy. i'm waiting for an elected official to stand up and tell them what they want do which is those three points and then acknowledged the have the right to know the truth and told them the truth. >> i absolutely agree in the importance of economic mobility and see the senator's comments i agree that as a party we do need to be talking about the american dream which is if your kids work hard and the degree in education they should be able to do anything better than you didn't quite frankly it's one of the reasons i am a republican and i won't belabor you but we all have these stories in our history. i heard this everyday growing up and now i appreciate that i'm a father like that was one of

those nine kids the only one that got past the fifth grade no one in running water electricity walk uphill, downhill, back from school, all that stuff but he chose to come to america with his pregnant wife to start all over and one of the things that brought him here was the opportunity to read it doesn't matter what your last name is or how much money you've got there is no limit to what you can do in this society, and he literally opened up the phone book and started calling companies until someone would hire him and that is how he got his first job they were looking for an opportunity as a party we've got to remind folks and remind ourselves in the policies and communications we have to remind folks and voters what we stand for is for every child to have that same opportunity to read it doesn't matter whether they were born rockefeller or not the should have the opportunity to get the grade education and create a better quality-of-life to have a better career to have that kind of upward mobility but second and

discussed the plight this is important it's an enclave to get the issue a lot of these governors are improving education in the state's because the reality is in this economy if we want our kids to have the better quality-of-life they are going to have to have the skills. the countries that will do better in this economy we've cut taxes in louisiana but the reality is we know we have to have more skilled productive workers you can find anywhere and the competition is not just mississippi and louisiana. it's china, brazil and countries all over the world and i think it gets to -- we don't have time to get into the issue but many governors listening to around this table and other governors here or going through policies reporting excellent teaching not just a number of years in the classroom but looking at more choice for parents and kids it shouldn't matter what is it could you grew up and you should be able to get a great education. in other words providing the tools kids need to have the upward mobility and on the

manufacturing like kaylene and mitch and a lot of these governors we are bringing manufacturing jobs growing only new companies polled companies and that goes back to other policies whether it is predictable texas, tier regulatory environment, skilled workers if we're serious of the manufacturing based economy you have to have a predictable energy supply and if we don't let's be honest i think the example of the company in louisiana is that what good does it do to the american economy environment, whatever to send those jobs to brazil and that is the debate we need to be having to disappear to go to other countries will be other people's children, not our children getting those jobs so to answer the question absolutely we the party should be comfortable talking about why we are the party of opportunity and that stands up for however you want to describe it, the 99%, whoever that works for the average american worried about their children and grandchildren. >> the 1. i would make is americans are an aspirational people and the republican party

is the aspirational party and when you have to do when you're talking about policies is to connect them to the american dream whether specifically to use that phrase but you don't want to just talk about policies to reali alisa you don't want to lead voters to water you want to force them to drink it you have to connect the dots for them so that the understand that you're not just a policy wonk or technocrat but you have a broad vision for where it is you want to do for the state, for the people or what have you. people understand economic mobility is often self driven in other words somebody like the governor and his parents they were much more likely to provide the economic mobility because they wanted it and the understood the importance of education. but what you have to do is say our policies are trying to improve the opportunities. >> thank you. let me just add i think a couple things should have come out.

governors get paid soft problems. to me it's always been remarkable how much closer we governors, no matter where you're from or whether you are democrat or republican, how much closer we are to the results coming and we are held to accountability for those results than say a president is or anybody in washington, so one thing i hope you will take away more conservative than i am we are result oriented, and the public like says learn to tell the truth even when it is not going to be happy talk. that is something else the public is ready for. they know the reality, and don't be afraid to be the guy that tells them the truth. they can take its.

and the last thing is there are solutions. there are ways to get good results and you just got to be the guy that stands up there and doesn't give in to what's popular. as i would say to all of you whose companies are so generous or organizations are so generous that's what i hope you feel like we have to offer, results oriented, truth telling trying to get the solutions for real problems. if you feel like that's what you are supporting the