>> thank you, arthur. it is a real privilege to be here. i noticed that about this time yesterday you were on the view being questioned by joy they have. hopefully we can elevate things. >> and is quite experienced. >> it is a privilege to be here because it is a wonderful book. arthur touched on your personal story. i brought with me my daughters today because i think it is important for all of us to be able to spend time with strong, competent leaders, and because i think that your experience really puts the notion of the republican war on women.

i want to start with a story you tell in the book about the general election when you were running for governor. you talk about one of your opponents, attorney general mcmaster. the extent to which your battle is over with him in the early stages of the primary, you told him you admired him and what i really liked was how he then began introducing you at your campaign events. you described in the book that henry would introduce me as if i were headlining lollapalooza. as the poet tom petty says, with his voice rising to a dramatic pitch, you could stand her up at the gates of hell, and she won't back down. i thought you could start today by talking about where your spirit to fight comes from and your spirit to stand up and do what's right.

>> everything good about me i got for my parents. everything negative about linking from other places. but i will tell you that i started every speech, and i continue to say, i am the proud daughter of indian parents that reminded us every day how lucky we are to live in this country. i was born in a small southern town, 2500 people. my parents came here, my mom and dad -- the small southern town didn't know what to make of us and we didn't know what to make of them. what i will tell you if this is the story of a lot of challenges. challenges of being a minority family in a southern town could challenges of being different, knowing that your different but why your parents tell you why to be proud of being different. challenges in the state race, challenges in the governor's race, and challenges as we go forward. my parents always wanted us to understand that what makes you different makes you special.

also the fact that this small southern town, it is part of the same state that elected a 38-year-old indian american female or governor. what does that say about south carolina? what is it say about the country? how far have we come? that is really the story behind it. we all go through challenges. it's how you handle the challenges. all of the challenges were blessings. it was a blessing in disguise, because i know that i have the strength and i don't back down because every time you go through a challenge, you are amazed at what you can overcome. >> in addition to those challenges, you talked about your parents telling you that you don't complain about challenges. you saw them. you have another great story, which is the mother of a 12-year-old, i particularly love -- your mom had started a small business in the living room of your home. the accountant was leaving, and

the story they tell is that you happened to be strolling out of the kitchen, 12 year old nikki haley, enter mother grabbed you and said train her how to do this. i don't think many people now. i didn't know until i read your book, at the age of 12 and 13, you were the accountant for your mom's business. >> the business was grown out of that house. it was actually now doing very well at the time. she said, i have to train someone. i'm going to be leaving in two weeks, and i happen to be walking out of the break room, and my mom said -- i want you to train her. she said i can't train her, she's 13. she said the train her, she will do it. i was doing payrolls, taxes, a general ledger, i was paying bills and making deposits -- i didn't know until i got to college that that wasn't normal. but i tell people that that was my mom and dad's way of saying

they did not want me to know the limitations of age and gender, and they didn't want me to know the limitations of being indian. they said whatever you do, be grayed out and make sure people remember you for it. it was at that point that i shaped the value of a dollar and what it means for the private sector. it is so hard to make a dollar and so easy for government to take it. the philosophies and beliefs that i have are things that i lived. it is not because i was told what to believe, i truly lived it and understood what the hardships of small businesses were. >> if you jump ahead a little bit to your very first political race. if you go into just about any nursery school in america today, and probably around the world, you will see that the little girls are running circles around little boys. i say that as a proud mom of both girls and boys.

but the girls are running the place. so i have often wondered what happens? why is it that women are not yet running the world? i think part of it is diversion. if you look at a story of your 2004 race, the fact that you could not find a consultant to take your money, you had everybody telling you not to do it, don't do it. what was the biggie b. the competence to say this is the right thing to do? was at ignorance? >> i think it was a couple of things. i think it was the fact that that i saw as a businessperson, and wondered why we didn't have more business people in the date house. i also had a mom that said quit complaining and do something about it. i said that i would run for the state house. i didn't know you were not supposed to run against a 30 year incumbent primary. once i got in from the only option was to win.

what was surprising was we went through a series of consultants, and i remember telling a friend -- i have this money and no one will take my money. one consultant said that you are too young, you have small children, you need to look at school boards. you don't need to run for state house. another consultant said that your dad goes to that temple, there are less than 1% indian, you cannot win this district. there were a lot of chance. one of the interesting things was what really turned me over to do this was i was at the firm institute and hillary clinton was the speaker. she was there giving a speech to a few hundred people, and she said that everybody is going to tell you why you shouldn't do it. and that is all the reasons why you should. i will tell you that anybody who says i can't bear it, it only motivates me more. i didn't see young moms running

for office. i didn't see a lot of women. i didn't business people running for office. that really was more what many see that we need more people. the reason i wrote the book is that after i won the governor's race, so many people said after seeing what you went through, i would never run for office. that was the total opposite of what i wanted them to take from my race. yes, we ran through the challenges, but look what i'm able to do now in south carolina. i'm able to actually move the ball. i don't think there is any reason why we don't see a lot of women -- women just don't run. they just don't run. we need more women in office, more real people in office. more business people. we don't need these people who have thought all their life about being a politician, we need people who have lived their life's. >> you immediately once you got

into the state house, you started insisting on transparency and how the legislators were voting, you ran into a firestorm. >> it was one of those that when i first got into office, no one knew what to make of me. i have defeated their friends. no one wanted to share an office with me, share a desk with me -- there happened to be another person who had defeated the majority leader. we were the two outsiders, and we became just makes and office mates and it worked out great. i saw a lot of things that i thought were wrong when i got there. one was in south carolina, legislators didn't have to show their votes on the record. all the voting was by voice vote. i watch this build it right across the desk, and they said they were increasing our taxes for themselves. all in favor say aye, all opposed say nay. there was.

i rented the speaker, and i said we are republicans. what did we just do? i don't understand. the next day i went and i said, i am filing a bill that says anything important enough to be debated on the floor of the house or senate is important not for legislators to know how they vote. our leadership said put the bill away. we don't need to have it. we will decide what the public needs to see and what they don't. i have my husband in the room. stand up and wave, let everyone see her. i remember saying that night if i can't get legislators to vote on the record, i don't need to be here. i made it decision -- he made a decision to fight anyway. i took on the fight. i went across the state and said did you know of all bills passed, only 8% from the record? did you know of all bills passed in the senate, only 1% is on the record? then i said if you didn't know

how the legislators in the house voted92% of the time -- he didn't know how your senators voted 99% of the time -- south carolina was astonished. >> what was interesting was that was my fourth year in office, and my first year in office i was chairman of the freshman class, second year i was majority, dirtier i was put on a powerful business committee, and my fourth year i was subcommittee chair of banking. the year that i wouldn't put that bill away. the year that i thought it the votes needed to be showed on the record. he stripped me of everything. they took away all the power i had. while the leadership was showing this is what we do in the club, i was showing legislators this is what happens when we step out of line. so i ran for governor. [laughter] >> and i am proud to say that within our first couple of months, i signed a bill that every legislator chose their

vote in the state of south carolina, and it shows their vote on every section of the budget. [applause] >> it was in that governor's race that you faced some of the most hateful and shameful attacks. i think, just to give a site into this book, anyone who is thinking about running for office, they should read the whole book. at a minimum, they should read the bottom of page 151 and goes to page 152. governor haley says -- she talks about those attacks, and says that all of her old instinct to fight through the adversities, to prove myself to skeptics and critics started to come alive. while some will be using this is a chance to destroy me and my family, i would use it to strengthen myself and protect my family. i think it is one of those points that may seem obvious,

but so much of politics today can be so nasty. the decision -- to say not just that i'm going to ignore it, but to take the attack and use it to make you stronger is really brilliant. i would like to talk a little bit about that. how did you decide you are going to fight through this and not let them take you down? >> the interesting thing was i was nikki haley for most of the race. what we did have is a conservative message. i have a lot of passion, and we had a grassroots movement. as i was going across, none of the other candidates work knowledge in me. then they started to see movement. the second that [inaudible] said we were number one in the polls was in about three or four days. i looked at michael, and we celebrated for all of five minutes, then i said something was going to hurt. something had happened.

within four or five days, it was everything under the sun that came out. what they don't understand is that only motivated me to fight more. it was everything in politics. that's what they were trying to do. what i was going to show them is that i was not going to be distracted. i told him it was absolute lies, it was false, and i told him this is exactly why we need to look at somebody new for governor. and it worked. >> and i wonder how many of those consultants who wouldn't take your money back in 2004 have since been back around trying to knock on your door? >> they are my best friends now. [laughter] >> sitting here where we are today in washington dc, the idea of the damage that washington can do around the country and the damage that the federal government can do, in particularly, this administration, can sometimes be theoretical. as governor of south carolina, you have experienced it firsthand. arthur mentioned the battle with

the national labor relations board. it is a stunning story. a story that has a good ending, but i think it would be helpful if you talk about that fight you had to wage. >> coveting coming into the governorship, i knew that we would have to deal with issues. i knew that we had to reform government. what i never knew is that the hardest part about my job would be the federal government. we passed the illegal immigration reform, the department of justice stopped us. we passed a voter id to show picture id, the department of justice stopped us. now we are getting ready in the next couple of weeks to pass a bill that says if you're going to get on unemployment benefits, you have to pass adjustment. i am expecting a fight there. what i never thought we would see is the most un-american thing, which is this great american company and said we're

going to put a plan in south carolina. created a thousand new jobs in south carolina. at the same time, expanded their employment in washington state by 2000. not one person was hurt, yet president obama and the national labor relations board said they couldn't do it. an american company did then i watched resident obama give that speech in front of the joint session of congress and he said i want to see things made in america. i remember saying, i have some planes, i'm trying to have you make in charleston, south carolina, and are stopping them. god bless the fact that we had an election year, we have a president that is nervous, and that suit got locked down. but what was once 1000 employees in going is now 600 employees and going. they are getting ready to roll out on the runway this spring. that is what america is about. when we move out of the way and let the private sector work. >> we move ahead now to 2011.

your decision early on to endorse governor romney. it is clear in the book that governor romney endorsed you. he is someone you have a lot of respect for. but it was a decision that was controversial, especially among the tea party. not all of them were so happy to support him. talk about how you made the decision and how you felt about the criticism that came from your supporters. >> a lot of it was that i knew that i needed a partner in the white house. what i knew is that i didn't have it. i couldn't do the will of the people. i was not having that. i tried to think of what i wanted. michael and i sat down and we tried to figure out how we were going to decide. we had so many candidates. i did a report card on the legislators. i got the report card out and said unto them michael said why don't you do a report card on the candidate's?

what i knew is that i did not want anyone who had anything to do with the chaos of washington. we have seen where it has gotten us, and i wanted someone outside of washington. the second thing is that i wanted somebody who knew what it was like to create jobs, someone who knew what it was like to start a business and also knows what it's like when it fails. then i wanted results. i looked at governor romney and sought that he was a governor that went into a democratic state, liberal state, and was an executive who cut taxes 19 times. what if we had that in washington? on top of that, was the fact that i knew him, i knew his family, i knew where they were, i knew how he wasn't just a candidate that wanted to win. this is someone who had thought for the last four years how we

would handle the situation had he been president. all of those things together let me know that that was the right person. now, going in, i felt like i needed to do what was right that would allow me to sleep at night. i was very comfortable with that. the tea party was a great support to me. i am a huge fan of the tea party, because they are not a party at all. they are republicans, democrats, and independents who have said they had enough. what they want is someone who understands the value of the dollar. they want someone who is understands that government works for the people and not the other way around. they want someone to understand that the protections and freedoms and liberties matter. the first thing i did was sat down with governor romney and said i had tough questions to ask you. i said i don't want mandatory health care in the state of south carolina. i said we cannot afford it and we don't want it. and he said on the first day i will repeal it. what we did in massachusetts work for massachusetts. i would never do a federal national mandate. i said that i need to know that

if i passed the legal immigration reform in south carolina or any bill, that the federal government is not going to stop the will. he said i was a governor of the state. you have to be able to governor state without the federal government getting in the way. i will always support those things. that was really what got me. it was tea party values that i asked them questions on, and i got responses back. i can tell you that while some members of the tea party might be disappointed come you can't please everybody all the time. but there is no one or two people that speaks for the tea party. that's what makes them great. they are not a label, they don't vote in a block. they have independent thinking, and they did that. you will see even in the state of south carolina, i'm very confident that governor romney will be the nominee. i believe that i really did the right thing. >> how you account for the fact that he was able to carry south

carolina even after the endorsement. >> south carolina has very strong, independently minded people. i get asked all the time if i took that personally. no, that is what i love about people of south carolina. they will do what they want to do. i respect them to do that. and i also appreciate the fact that they respect that i decided on who i wanted to endorse. i was comfortable with it. >> i know you have said publicly, definitively it sounds like, that you are not interested in being on the ticket if the governor asked you. but what about a cabinet vote? if you sit here and think that nikki haley would be a great secretary of labor, secretary of commerce, do you ever think to yourself that i could make a difference in south carolina, perhaps in the romney cabinet, i could be making a difference there too. >> my decision, and when you read all the challenges we went through to become governor, the

people of south carolina took a chance on me. it is important for me that people trust their government. i made a commitment to them. i have a job to finish, and i want to make them proud. whether it is vice president or cabinet position, i need to finish the job it was given to me. i love the state south carolina and i love being governor, and i will fight for the nominee in every way to show how it has her carolina and hal we have been through things. >> i want to ask you one last question before we open up to the audience. that is about women. you have a chapter dedicated to strong conservative women, governor palen, we are in the midst by the mainstream media and other party, i would like you to talk about your perception of that and your

perception of the role of women going forward for the country, not just for parties. >> i'm a huge fan of women. i think that we are great. i think what the issue really is that not enough women are running. we need more women in office. we have great experiences, we are moms, daughters, sisters. we went through a lot. i would love to see more women and office. i think it is just that women tend to second-guess themselves. they think about their families first and think about what if this or that happens. what i will say to women is that we will be a better country when we have more in office. we will be better for that. governor palen is a perfect example -- she came to the state and i tell this story in the book. we are sitting and talking and yes, we are comparing shoes and boots and talking about all those things, but we talked about family and leadership. she said when you start to wind, they are going to come after

you. she said after you become governor, it is never going to top. she was so right. i just saw her a couple of days ago and you were so right. it never stops. for us, what we have to do, is say our message. don't get distracted. are they going to try to block it, absolutely. we are tough and we are confident we are smart. we will continue to prove that there is no amount of attacks that are going to stop us. we're going to keep on fighting and keep on winning. i think that is the biggest message of the day. we are not going to [inaudible]. we are going to prove the results. >> the point you make in the book so well as we are about opportunities. >> we are. >> the issues women care about is the jobs and the economy and making sure kids can go to school and the kids are safe. those are all areas that will be better off. >> it is interesting, the

mainstream media wants to label us as being one issue voters. we care about the jobs and economy and health care and all those rings. we are very thoughtful in the way we think about it. that is exactly right. i think that the media is actually afraid of women, and i will tell you that i wear heels, it's not for a fashion statement, it is ammunition. >> on that note, ammunition is always a good place to end. the governor will be happy to take any questions folks have about the book or anything ousts. >> yes. >> there are people walking around with microphones. >> i would like to ask you what would you say to republicans who feel that mitt romney is not conservative but not. there is questions about his conservative credentials,

especially his social conservatism? >> i can tell you from a personal front, those were some of the questions that i asked them as well. i asked him about family, and he believes that marriage is between a man and a woman. i am strongly pro-life, not because the party tells me to be, but because michael was adopted and we had difficulty having our children. i asked him about that. if you look at his -- and i questioned him on that. if you look at his record as governor, he always voted on the side of life and took action on the tide of light. there's not one time when he didn't. what i will tell you is that as we are going through this process, people are really looking at what they want and they are doing the right thing. that is the great part of our democracy. what we all agree on regardless of who that republican candidate is that they may be supporting, we all know what we don't want. that is what we have had for the past three years. i think everybody will come back to that in the end.

>> my question is about indian americans. how you can bring that part of the world to america. obama is investing so much money. he took the budget from nine to $15 billion. [inaudible question] we have given 1700 [inaudible]. [inaudible question] it is costing us 400 -- [inaudible]. [inaudible question] if you are offered a job with

mitt romney, would you accept a? >> first, i will start with the first part of your question, which is -- i educate people on the greatness of the indian community. i am incredibly proud. indians are great at medicine and business and education and teaching. all of that. the one thing that they had lacked on is being involved in government and politics. in the next generation, you will see that we are starting to realize that we have to have that role. we have to have that voice. whether it is bobby jindal or others around the country that have chosen to get into office, that is a good thing. the other thing i want for people to know about the indian community is that it is one of the minorities that is the highest educated and highest or kappa of any minority in the country. it is one of the minorities that is the least dependent on government assistance. the one i love -- we're the one

minority that is the most solid of any minority in the country. those are all things i'm incredibly proud of. what we are taught growing up is the best way to appreciate god's blessings is to give back. you see that through service and through charity. getting into what i would do it about accepting a position -- i'm not going to do anything but be a great governor in south carolina. what we have seen with president obama is that he really goes back to that new deal concept that government can fix all things. we have seen more debt with president obama in three years than we saw with president bush in eight years. that is what we are trying to change. we have to get out of this debt. i care about that for my children and grandchildren. we have not spinning. if you're going to ask every other governor in the country to balance the budget, washington has to do so as well. that is at the heart of

everything we're talking about. they need to tell us where they need to spend. on foreign relations, the hot night situation says it all. we do not know what he is thinking from a foreign affairs standpoint. and that is scary. >> governor haley, you talked about immigration. i think the republican party commitment to enforcing the rule when it comes to illegal immigration is valid and commendable. but i think the other part of the equation gets left out a little bit. could you talk about how the republican party needs to change both its perception among the public and voters, as well as subsequent policy issues on what we can do for legal immigration in this country? >> and we passed eight legal immigration reform in south carolina.

unfortunately, president obama is not letting us enforce that. as the daughter of immigrant parents who came here legally, they put in the time and money and came here the right way, they are offended by people who don't come the right way. a second thought is that we are a country of law. the data we stop becoming a country of law is when we lose everything that makes us great. what do i think? i think we need to enforce our illegal immigration laws. but we also need to look at expanding our work hours in the situation. immigrants are what make this country great. we need their expertise, we need their research. we need the technologies that they're able to bring. that we need to do all of that legally. there are two sides to it. i think that the republicans probably could go talk about the fact about yes, we do want immigrants. we want them legally. we do think that they are valuable. i think they probably need to stress that as much as they stress that they don't want illegal immigration.

>> i just had a quick question about having read some chapters of your book and i was wondering, if you felt any sort of shared experience with president obama, given that he came from not the most ideal situation to be in office. being an african-american and growing up in difficult circumstances. did you feel a shared experience of any sort, or would you say that his party is blocking that? >> of coarse not. what i hope that my story tells, what i hope that everybody feels is the pride of living in this country. the one thing my parents said over and over again was only in this country can you be anything you want to be and no one's going to get in your way.

president obama is proof of that. i am proof of that. look at any entrepreneur that started from challenges and how they became successful. we have examples across the country in business and education and sport and politics. that is the highlight of this country. that is what we need to grasp onto. i want people to be proud of where we live. i am proud of where we live. my parents are proud of where we live. party or no party, nobody can take that away from us. >> a question for you, governor. if the affordable health care act survives in the supreme court, what impact will that have on your state's budget, the increased medicaid spending that the law requires?

>> our state along with every other state will be devastated. what you'll see in south carolina alone, our annual budget is $5 billion. the affordable health care act will cost us 5 billion over 10 years. we cannot afford it. we will go bankrupt. the part about health care that we need to understand is i strongly believe the individual mandate is unconstitutional. the second side is that i believe that states are the best to make these decisions. what i would like to see is for washington to be able to let us decide the best way to spend the money. south carolina is not like california or texas or michigan. all of the states -- we have different issues. in south carolina, our issues are education and poverty. i know what we were given that money, we would spend less money. we would be more effective on how we treat our patients. if the affordable health care act goes into place. you will see a lot of

private-sector companies pay the penalty and throw it to government. we will see less quality in health care and higher costs. the goal of every say right now is how do we get the most help for the least amount of money? what i'm asking is don't tell me how to do it. what we are trying to do in succulent is make sure their are transparency with the patient to the doctor and the doctor to the insurance company. if we were to treat health care like we treated getting our oil changed at the car dealership or maintenance shop, what would have been? you go in, you tell them what you want, they show you the list of things you're getting ready to pay for, you sign it and then you do it. if people actually got involved in their health care decisions, if they were able to say at the dennis, i don't want the fluoride and i don't want to pay that or i don't want to pay the $10 on a tylenol, look at how much we would save and how much more involved we would be. we wouldn't want certain tests or need certain medications.

we actually do a lot of things that doctors tell us to do, and 50% we would not do if we knew the costs associated. my hope is that we learned a great lesson from this. i think the lesson is that we need to address health care, every state needs to do it and do it individually with their own programs and plans, not because it's mandatory. >> yes. >> i hope this question doesn't come off shallow. you mentioned high heels, and i know women in government pays a lot of critique for what they were and how they style their hair, whether it is pilloried clinton growing her hair out or sarah palen's close costs. i'm curious if you think much about how your dressing, how you're presenting yourself and if you gotten any flak from

that. >> i will tell you that the thing that surprises me is how much people won't let you forget about what you look like. continental tire announced their largest investment in north america in a small town called sumter. we went there for the announcement. it was either continental tire or austin candy. either way, it was a great economic development. there were lots of jobs. one of the stories they talked about was did you see the governor's shoes? i was shocked by that. the number of people that e-mail me and ask, why don't you where it hangs? you don't look finished. it is because i'm allergic to metal. i can't do that. but i will tell you, again, it goes back to there are not enough women in office. you have hillary clinton. they talk about her hair and clothes. sarah palen went through that. they talked about her glasses

and suit. i go through that. but you just have to laugh it off. what we have to do is work a little bit harder. what we have to do is make sure that we focus on the results. it is not what they say, it is what we do. it is about the job and the reforms that we do. i could make jokes, that i had a completely male senate. but it is all in fun. we can't take it too seriously. we just have to take it in stride. >> in the back? over their? >> you router self out of the presidential ticket. you called allen west a good option. i was wondering if you could elaborate more on why you would recommend him if your topic is him and if he could talk about other people we met them at first of all, i'm not recommending anybody. i'm not qualified to do that.

what i was saying is that the people that have been mentioned, and all of those people had been mentioned as vice presidential nominees. i think there will be a slew of people. i mentioned that allen west had come up, chris christie had come up, marco rubio has. what i said is the vice presidential candidate, i'm not worried about that at all. we have great people. we will have a great vice presidential candidate. but i also don't know that i'm the one who needs to recommend who that should be. i think that mitt romney will have a tough time. i think whatever it is, it will excite people and whoever it is will be a good partner for the ticket. >> we have time for one more question. >> you talked about the policy requiring all state employees [inaudible] especially in

agencies like the department of sections. >> one of the things i do talk about that is in the book is well is coming into office. what i realized was how negative it will work did i think that has been the hardest part. i am a positive person by nature, and they were very negative. i kept saying how can we make this tape out? we build planes and cars and tires, charleston was named the number one vacation spot in the country, and i wanted people to take all of that in. one day i was thinking in my office and i went to the secretary and said i want to try something. i said, the next time you answer the phone, say it's a great day in south carolina, how may i help you? and she did. the person's answer was, it is a great day in south carolina. i said that's it. we're going to do it. what i required was all of my agencies to answer the phone. there were two sides to that.

the media wanted to pick up on one side. one was that i wanted employees to feel proud of where they were. i wanted everybody to be proud of the fact that we are in a great state that is in good standing right now. we have our challenges, yes, but every day is getting better than the day before. the second part was more important. how may i help you? government is in the customer service business. i wanted everybody in state government to answer the phone to understand they work for the person on the other side of the line. their job was to make sure that they solved their problems, they sent them to where they needed to go, and they made sure that they were taking care of by the time they got off. there were two sides to that. i will tell you that while the media and a couple of legislators thought that it was terrible, everybody in my cabinet has appreciated it. now i don't go anywhere in south carolina or outside where they don't say it's a great day in south carolina. the department of juvenile justice, i will give you that

example. you talked about corrections, and that is very true -- the department of juvenile justice -- the director started implementing it. the first day after it was implemented, she drove up to the guards gave and the officer that was opening the gate said good morning, it's a great day in south carolina. and she loved it. now all the garden gates, as you are going in, they say it's a great day in south carolina. the media called the substance-abuse director and said you have people with substance abuse, what would he think of that? he said it best thing. i want people to know that it's going to be okay. we are going to be all right. that is the thing. now, are their victims assistance that we waved? of course. but in most cabinets, they welcomed it and appreciated it, and it is giving everyone is new happy life for themselves. we celebrate our state, we brag about her stay. i will tell you, it has been a

great thing for south carolina. >> i want to take the prerogative of sitting up here to ask the last question. it is to get your assessment on 2012. we are very close to being in the general election. we have seen over the last couple of days the path that president obama is trying to take. his comments about the supreme court's role in the rose garden, comments that we know he can't think are true even if he's a constitutional law scholar, and also he is going after both governor romney and chairman ryan. talk about how we as republicans can effectively counter what we now know is going to be the obama message? very important going into november. for all of us to remember. we need to focus on one thing. that is president obama's record. he is going to continue to

distract. that it is his job. we are going to continue the states focus. that is our job. look at the economy, the deck on the loss of the credit rating, the gas prices, the fact that we have not balance the budget. stay on that message. this is a man who came into office as a candidate talking about hope and change. nothing that he has tried to do has worked. now he is going to scare the american public into thinking that they better reelect him or it's going to get worse. to have him be such able he and school republicans and say, i can't believe that you're trying to cut and reform these entitlements and try to prioritize spending -- that's exec with what we want. he is going back to the new deal looking for government to grow and save everybody -- i'm telling you that the rest of the american public is saying that's not what we want. government messes up more than it fixes. we realize that now. there is a terminus opportunity

after seeing him fall apart a little bit, by bullying the supreme court, he has reached a new level of trying to figure out where he's going to go. he knows he can't go on his record. he's desperately trying to make sure that he goes somewhere else. what he is looking like is a bully and he looks like he's panicking over a record he can't defend. he is looking like he cannot show leadership and he knows it. >> i hope that if you he won't be on the ticket, you will at least be across the country campaigning very vocally as we head towards november. >> that's a given. >> i want to recommend to everyone this trip it up and wonderful story. it's been a real pleasure. >> it is m hour.

>> for those i have not met, i think there are a couple of people who fall in that category. i am the executive rector of the ronald reagan executive foundation. it is my pleasure to welcome you all here this evening. in honor of our men and women in uniform who defend our freedom around the world, i would like to ask you to stand and join me

in the pledge of allegiance. i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america. and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> thank you, please be seated. before we get started, i would like to recognize some special guest that we have with us this evening. i will start with what the ventura county clerk. mark, there you are. [applause] >> michael brewer, the son of governor brewer. [applause] >> and of course, our library director. [applause] >> okay. i would like to take you all back in time to just under three

years ago in january of 2009. i would like to play a little game with you. i want you to imagine waking up on the morning of january 21 of that year, to learn that you are about to become a governor of one of our 50 states. now, we're going to blindfold you and ask that you throw a dart at the map of the united states. whichever state it lands on, that is yours. you get to run it. some people here are probably envisioning that their dart lands on california, so would we have someone who is finally in charge -- [laughter] [applause] -- to turn this state around.

some might be thinking colorado for the great skiing. others might be thinking of florida for its water or vermont for its foliage. regardless of where you're aiming, your dart lands squarely in the middle of the state of arizona. some of you are probably imagining the glorious weather with over 300 days of sunshine each year. or it's fascinating native american and culture. were it the magnificent grand canyon, the red rocks of savanna, the forest, rivers, and lakes that dot the landscape. our special guest today didn't hit arizona with a dart by luck. she became its 22nd governor after many years of tireless work, starting in the state legislator in 1982, working to

the state senate in 1987, the chairman of the maricopa county in 1996, the secretary of state in 1993. in that time, she had never once lost an election. if she had to do it all over, i am sure that governor brewer, a 40 year resident of the state, will have chosen to live in arizona is her first choice no matter where the dart landed. what is the circumstances she inherited when she took the office where she might have wanted to see a change or two. she has had her hands full. following the financial collapse of 2008, she inherited one of the worst financial crises of any state in the country. like most every other governor, she has had to fight to diversify arizona's economy, to

improve its share of jobs, and reform its education system. very few governors, in fact, none -- have had to face the challenge of their federal government refusing to exercise its constitutional responsibility to protect its sovereignty and safety and well-being of its own citizens. governor brewer has. [applause] this governor did not back down wonder comes to protecting and improving the lives of the people that her state -- [applause] -- [applause] -- and her life is a remarkable tale. if you didn't pick up her newest book when you came in here, i

urge you to do so on your way out. it is a great story told by a great american cover but you governor. we are honored to have her this evening. please join me in welcoming governor jan brewer. [applause] >> thank you all very much. thank you. thank you and good evening to you all, and thank you john for that very kind introduction. i must tell you that it is an extreme honor to be here with you all tonight in ronald reagan's library. it is quite awesome. thank you for allowing me to be here. i probably don't have to tell you that i love arizona. it is my home.

it is an extraordinary place. after a long, hard day, i look forward to walking in my garden, to rest and relax and enjoy the wildlife, watched the sunset, and plan to challenges that i will have to face tomorrow. however, there is something special about being here in this place that fills me with great joy. it fills me with an overwhelming sense of peace. for me, this really is america's chapel. a place to find confidence and faith in our destiny. and yes, dare i say it? our exceptionalism. [applause] >> outside these walls, those

feelings have been hard to come by recently. especially for anyone paying attention to what is happening. not to mention to the governors who have been battling bureaucrats in washington. here in the reagan library, my spirit is listed. and i am filled with the renewed confidence in our country. i find myself thinking about young americans and how things will look for them in decades ahead. and how we must prepare our children to compete and succeed in a changing world. i know this much -- to envision our future, we must understand our past. to decide who they will be and what they will give, young americans must grasp what they have received. the year i was born, america was a nation of 130 million people.

only about 40% of our present size. the world was at war. three years earlier, we had been attacked at pearl harbor were the uss arizona still rests today. our country sent its sons to fight in unfamiliar places far from home. just as we have sent our sons and daughters today. we have sent so many, and so many were lost in the outposts and battle deals from world war ii, more than 3000 americans would not return home. >> it is hard to fathom those numbers today. hard to fathom those numbers today. very few americans even know them. any survivors of that conflict