view for groups that are not absolutely inciting someone to violence but they are inciting to extreme hatred. some are operative on campuses. there is an argument as says in a liberal, democratic society where we ought to have a strong culture of inclusion for people of all faiths and cultures and races and creeds, we do have to stand up for a belief in democracy and an intolerance of intolerance. i think the argument for banning some of those groups that may not incite violence although on occasion they had to come up but the insight extreme hatred and are trying to set -- but they are trying to incite extreme violence -- hatred against other people. i think the government had been back on this and we need net -- and we need to push that agenda forward.

one last question. [inaudible] >> when you going to do things like published data on how hospitals are performing? are you going have the opportunity to give a response and any particular reason that we are performing particularly bad demographics in certain areas of london? >> yes. i completely see that. there is a pragmatic answered your question and there is a philosophical one behind the pragmatic answer is, it gets, of course. let's take survival rates from complex heart surgery. some of the best surgeons to obviously the difficult cases and have some of the not necessarily best survival rates. you need the opportunity for public servants, whether a school or hospital, to explain the results.

i would during a particularly tough cases and that is why my survival rate dropped. i think there is a pragmatic answer, but a philosophical one, you've got to work out which debate you are on. i do you trust in people, that we are not all of a to the idiots that think that they will send a one think it best results, but we ask some questions, what is the school white, is it improving, and if i basically think -- and that is what is behind the whole speech -- if you trust people and give them the member mentioned and trust them to make the right judgment, if you of a stronger and better society, one in which you say you cannot trust people see you give limited information and say, there, there, we give you too much and you might be misguided? we have cut and toward the maximum disclosure society, trusting the people the most -- we have got to aim toward the

maximum disclosure society, trusting the people must. it is something that mp's have done belatedly in explaining the expenses scandal. the explanation of trusting people, that must be had. we essentially make our country stronger. i've really enjoyed coming to speak for you. thank you very much for your question. thank you. >> british conservative party david, and talk about domestic policy in imperial college earlier this summer. most recent polls show the party with all lead over the labour party with national elections expected next brinker you can watch this and more c-span program by visiting our web site, c-span.org. up next, a panel discussion on the future of conservatism and online campaigning.

after that, "q&a" with ellis cose of "newsweek brand and then another chance to see david cameron. lobbying, influence, and money. monday, ellen miller, co-founder and executive director of the sunshine foundation, on how to use the internet to provide transparency in government. >> this month, c-span2's booktv weakens continuing prime time with more books on the economy and politics. monday night, chris andersen, and senate majority leader harry reid. >> from the right online conference in pittsburgh, conservative blogger is talk about the future of online campaigning. this last about one hour and 10 minutes.

we have eric erickson and matt lewis who contribute to politesse daily. i want to make this -- this gives you an opportunity as question. it depends on you. many people as spoken of the last couple of days. we want an answer questions about what we do next. i would start by asking eric and matt to share a couple of their thoughts on how we take the next out. i wanted to begin by looking back where we have come in the past year. i don't know how many of you were in austin, texas last year but i was there and saw a lot of enthusiasm. i met the people who have returned here to pittsburgh from last year's conference. i thought i was star with eric since he was there last year and then get mad perspective. at think they're right has developed an adapted in the last year? yet few think that conservatives

are still struggling to grasp the power of the media, or is the left now looking to us for ideas? >> i think the left is probably looking to us for new ideas now, but take for example today. we were copying barack obama and doing nothing but creeks queen question. -- prescreen questions. we will find donors to have 11- year-old daughters in asked as detailed questions abide by the left is so angry at us. we would do just like barack obama does. seriously -- we are still behind. part of that note, it's the recognition or the lack of recognition on the right of what is going to do to get ahead. black has been very willing to be collaborative -- the left and very willing to be collaborative

template money toward the problem. on the right, people are interested in the profit motive. we're not going to make a profit. you have to be committed to the cause. a lot of left-wing sites, u.s.c. advertising by the afl-cio, the democratic party, a lot democratic donor companies. you did not see that on the right. there is a funding gap that plays into it. at the same time, there are different interests. i have to tell you, i see the trend now where on web sites on the right, traffic is going up. take heart -- take hot air. they use the same analytic tools as daily kos and they are as large if not larger than daily kos which is huge for us. we're starting to make process. there is still progress to go. some part of that as well, recognition on the right that

demographically we are different. we're working families to work for the day who cannot be engaged online versus a college kid and retirees on the east and left coast chicken dedicate their time to it. >> matt, i would ask you, you have won many different hats. you see this both as someone who has written about this and some and been involved in campaigns. what he think about how things have played out? >> eric said at the right and left are different and some states are conservative. i think we should try to learn from the other side, always. conservatives and liberals, i am sure the liberals try to learn from lee atwater. i read that should be matt -- i read matt trippi's book.

the left is very worried right now. not because the conservative blogosphere is beating them but that the conservative blogosphere, coupled what talk radio and heritage foundation and a pink top -- and think tanks and infrastructure that was put in place by the conservative movement and the 1970's, and i thought it went away. they thought it had gone dormant period of my gosh, it is bad year they're scared right now. it's not fair to compare the conservative blogosphere against the left but to compare it cpac analogy. this event, we are having at opposite of netroots nations. this is our version of that. conservatives have cpac, where thousands gather every year. the other point i want to make

is that the self like chelation as the stock. i agree that conservatives have a lot to learn and have to catch up on the internet. some of that is not because conservatives are not good technologically as liberals but because the internet and blogosphere blossom during a time when conservatives -- republicans, a more specific term -- were in power and liberals were out power. people out of power are more creative and more desperate and willing to try different things. there is a tendency to over inflate the other side and how good they are coming into under appreciate how good how -- how good our side is. i would say this, right now people look at the last month. i would challenge you to tell me that the net rates have been more affected in the last month in the conservative blogosphere? without a doubt, the conservative blogosphere had been more effective in the last month. i and i know if the trend will

continue. on that point, would you say that the election of bread and obama has actually helped the right more online and the left? >> it is ironic but that is right. i will give you a parallel. a conservative think tank, i used to work at the leadership institute. when bill clinton was president, they were raking in money because conservative grassroots activists and donors were ticked off an angry. when george w. bush was elected president, all of our problems had apparently been sought because conservative donors quit giving money. the same thing is true online. when you are in power, there is something about being the establishment that means you are no longer are revolutionary. you probably remember a week ago, the white house put out this thing that said, it if you see any misinformation coming from -- fishy misinformation

about health care, you should wrap, i mean, inform us at flag@whitehouse.gov. they responded smartly and did what we are taught to do glitches, they put out their nvidia, they put up a web site, they actually had -- i don't know who it was but somebody came forward ended their on youtube video, and nobody and covered it. the reason is that when you were a revolutionary, when you are on the outside, you are now under the established, a million flowers bloom. that is what is happening to conservative blogger try now. the problem with barack obama and the white house if that they won, and now they have to govern, and it is no longer cool or fund. i was a conservative blogger during the bush years. it ain't fun.

this is fun. [laughter] what what have conservative leadership in the white house, as a blogger and an essay writer, there are benefits to not being in power. >> eric, i want ask you as someone who dea with grass roots and activist all the time, house is the left still outmaneuvering the right on line? what do we need to do to be more effective? >> i think that there is some maneuvering. there is a lot more bloggers on the left to do it as a full-time occupation. i am one of the few on the right. many are subsidized by that george soros and machinery that work for medium matters and spent a lot of time blogging. or they get hired by the "washington post" white bread sargent, now an objective reporter for the "washington

post," like ezra klein. >> if this is the first time he will not be moderating in a netroots panel. the right really sucks now. and now i am mainstream media and i used ito give my opinion and now it is fact. it is funny how that works. they're right is never going to be embedded into the media the way that the left is. we have a harder time inserting stories into the media as a result. that is why there is so much anchor at the town hall now. you have a majority of americans who live realize the politicians to control washington are against them and the press is not reporting accurately what is happening. they have a natural anger and at all to get their message out.

the left has an achilles' heel that the right is beginning to capitalize on. once the right release solidifies this,@@@@@@@@ the left came into the internet because that was available to them when republicans controlled washington. they dominated the internet. i think the internet is more egalitarian and the republicans will be able to break into it. but in the 1990's, our available till was the talk radio. we began to dominate on talk radio. the left has never been able to succeed at talk radio. imagine a resurgent right on line, and of bribing radio right working together. it becomes a very powerful force to bypass the old left in their media operation. in washington and new york, to get to voters.

your regularly seeing that happen, particularly with a local talk radio stations. left and the media has created a story, that it is americans for prosperity, freedom works, the rnc, and others who are working to drive astroturfers to town hall meetings. that is not true. do you want find out where the largest town halls are? they are in metropolitan media markets that have thriving talk radio stations. those are where your town halls are. it is not the guys in d.c. doing this but the local radio guy. >> let me jump in and talk about what bloggers had done. did you see this sheila jackson lee video where she takes the phone call? if there was not blocker who had a camera and put it on my blog and send it out, how many people think that would have been on

msnbc? the thing is -- and at the same town hall, a lady happened to be there and she represents herself as a pediatric surgeon, and she was not. if you're going to affect your profession, also affect your name. [laughter] that is a good rule of thumb. the "houston chronicle" put her on the paper and said that she was a pediatric surgeon. there was a blocker pleasant who actually google her and that she had a myspace page. he actually interacted with there and she admitted that she was not a doctor. this is what blockers are doing out in the grass roots. -- bloggers are doing out in the grass roots. they live in houston are wet rubber and they are making a difference. >> they are feeding that information into a talk radio

apparatus. we're really starting to work well together. there is no doubt that the liberals will start pushing the fairness doctrine again. >> if people like you, they are with us today that are going to be the ones that would go out and do this. he cannot do this in washington, d.c. it is impossible. in your local communities, if you do in the blogging or find a flat cans and taking them to record town hall meetings are other things. it is relying on you. leads me to my next question. both of you come from different perspectives when it comes to blogging. eric, you are more of an activist with a top blogging if you do. matt, you do more punditry or journalism. there may be disagreement, and i expected to be. which is much more important?

>> i will start. and this is interesting. [laughter] the guy who starts, usually wins. always throw the first punch. you learn that early. you've got into a debate a couple of years ago what the late dean barnett about this very topic. i even weighed in. this has been around for a while. and there are people who say -- as much as conservative blogger is get in the fights, this was a topic about fight. and there were visits were said and there were people who felt that -- not the purpose of blogging as activism. if you're not out there saying donate to this candidate, then you are a sell-off. and then other people want to be george will when we grew up. there is this class. my argument has always been that it is all choice. if you look at when the

conservative movement was effected in the past, you always had people who had great activists and great opinion leaders like william f. buckley, and you have your politicians like ronald reagan. i still believe in a place called hope. no. [laughter] i still believe that we need that, but we complement each other. newt gingrich is fond of quoting margaret thatcher is that first you in the argument, and then you win that vote. ronald reagan, he was a leader and would do think that were not popular if he thought they were right but he would bring the country with him. he understood it was part of the job of being president, educate the public on why free-market work or whatever, why we have to defeat communism and what we can. all of those great things. i think that i take issue with

the argument that bloggers should strictly be activist. i respect that and i think it partly great and legitimate that we have those. it is important that we find out philosophical and theological battles. when i write for of what politics daily," and mainstream website, different people like that on there. i am a conservative voice in a conservative viewpoint. hotly people in new york city and san francisco are reading me when they go there. i hope that maybe just a little bit that will see that conservative side of things. >> matt is obviously wrong. [laughter] i do agree that it is not a false choice. the dean barnett argument started over something i had done at red state, lodging a protest and robb had quickly jumped to my defense.

the problems still continue. it's not that we need either pundits or activists because we do need both. rush limbaugh rallied the crowd and does a good job of educating people on issues, but and others are the ones -- you all rarely hear rush limbaugh say call congress. other voices will say that. we need a variety of those voices. the problem in the blogosphere is still on the right. we're at about this compared to the left. if i do something at red state, a protest, there is going to be someone who was going to spend 10,000 words writing by either should not do it or if i would do it their way and set up my way, it would be more effective. you get that everywhere but the right is notorious about that, everyone wants to be the next rush limbaugh and george will, glenn back, you name it.

the problem is when we start throwing stones at each other, as opposed to stones on the other side. i am a big believer in throwing stones at republican politicians who have gotten out of line. i'm a big believer in throwing stones are republicans. [applause] as i said this morning, we are rapidly getting to a situation where we may take that back because it will really hurt us. we have not learned of a lessons we need to learn. that is why we need that for a lot of stunts right now so that they figure things out before next year. in any event, in the right blogosphere if you have so many of the leading voices that the way people decide to the standards themselves is to start throwing stones at their friends said that their voice rises. that becomes a problem. we do need puns and we do need an activist and they do need to work together. >> not only throwing stones, but

he who has the most harsh, more coroversial rhetoric also is quoted. your name gets laid to whatever. another point that i will make is -- and you brought up earlier that there are not not full-time conservative blogger is. if you work full-time as a blocker, -- as a blocker, is not in your billet -- is within your ability to do research. you can look at everyone who has contributed to nancy pelosi or you can become an expert in a policy area, whether health care. but if you'll only have a couple of hours to blog when your boss is not looking -- and we have all done that, right? new cannot be a policy blogger. what you become his end -- if you'll only have a limited

amount of time, you just write your opinion because everyone has an opinion. i write opinion a lot but i try to come up with something that no one is saying are thinking of, hopefully. i think that that is part of the problem. not enough full-time conservative blogger is a not enough money. >> and add one more point he is. could those of you who do not have plods -- now not the time to start a blog. now maybe the time, given what we are up against, to find pre- existing communities online and become part of a larger community. a lone voice crying in the wilderness rarely gets hurt in this day and age, particularly on line, when there are 20 million blogs. when you go to a community of like-minded people and start working together, it your opinion is valid. your opinion is valid and i am

interested in your opinion, but what i am much more interested in is your ability to pick up a rock and roll it where it needs to be thrown these days. to pick up the phone and call congress, could give money to make good candidate, to go a town hall and make your voice heard. our ability to hang up the fun and good downtown or get off the couch and go visit people, that is more important than being a lone voice in the wilderness crying out to be heard. >> the opposition not think of themselves as blogger is best 21st century community organizers. that is a point. >> i come from a background in journalism, came to washington in 2001, wanted to be a reporter and was for five years. that at the job at heritage and shifted. >> wait, you are more qualified to be a reporter for the "washington post" than a

leftwingers they are hiring? never mind. >> my point is that in addition to the george wills, we also need people like robert novaks. every column that robert novak reported, there was always news in that column. that is what made him such an effective columnist. it was actually news. the other thing we need, and the left has been able to do that with the finding that they received, sites like talking points memo, investigative reporting. in many cases, it is reporting that is obviously slanted toward their perspective, but they are still breaking news in many cases. i think that that is an area where i am personally interested in and i would love to see more people on the right of the third time that your >> that is the single area of deficiency between red and -- all right and

left online. the right -- lf has an organization dedicated to ethics complaints and information requests against republicans, and then write the story based on the information gathered and beat it into the mainstream media. we're still not there yet on the right. there needs to be significant investment into that area. >> and if you have time to spend all day at a house of representatives to embarrass a member of congress and ask him, what you think about sarah palin's debt panel? now you have time to do that? most bloggers cannot do it unless you are being paid. >> there is something that is happening, the franklin center, a free market organization of working in different states across the country with think tanks. each state has a free-market think tank. there are things happening. i think you need to rent them

up and devote more attention to them. them. i want to shift gear this november, all eyes are on virginia, and other gubernatorial elections. how much is going to be -- what is the barometer going to be for the right, depending on how this plays out? what do you foresee here in the next 80 days before these elections? >> if you compare where we were in 1993 to where we are now, we are a little bit ahead. state legislative state picked up in 1993 versus now, we are 13 now and we were at 15 total for 1993. then we won virginia and new jersey. those were big indicators that something was afoot, but it delayed new jersey. the same thing this time. you've got a to be careful.

someone is running the worst campaign ever. it is horrible. he started monday of last week saying that bob macdonald was going to not kill as many babies as him. he then moved to wednesday by saying that bob and off to a flat -- lou confederate flag. bloggers expos that he had not and it was made up by the campaign manager. it set the dialogue, and the promise to raise taxes on all virginians. that's not a great campaign. any new jersey, you have fbi indictments coming every which way. i hope the right does not read too much into the elections, but there is something to be said that we are picking up seats in special state legislative elections.

my view is that 2010, it is the most important election that we will have had since 1968. . . he should be focusing on your democratic state legislator so we can peacock to make sure we have majorities, adding a democratic white house. >> i put a lot of stock in momentum. i think this is a huge year. recently i heard haley barbour,

who is chairman of the rnc in the 1990's. he said that when christie todd whitman won in 1993, most of the candidates who won in 1994 signed on, they were recruited after christie todd whitman and george allen won. that is amazing. not only is a victory in 2009 a harbinger of things to come, it literally will encourage top tier candidates to run your sitting on the fence that they can win in 2010. it is not just have psychological value. it has a tangible, real value that winning this year will encourage the top tier republicans who have been sitting out, because nobody wants to lose, to actually get in the race. i think republicans win in

virginia. i am optimistic about new jersey, except for the fact that they could just replace the candidate two weeks out and put in somebody else. you can never predict what happens in new jersey. it is impossible to predict what will happen there, but it is looking good in virginia. i wrote something on the other day where i went back and looked at george stephanopoulos'book and i looked at the part about healthcare. i started reading what was happening in 1993 and 1994, and it was uncanny. we all know there are comparisons between health care debate and 1994. that is no surprise. i challenge you to look at my peace. even down to the fact that talk radio had a huge impact, and stephanopoulos even mentions that at one of the town hall meetings, there was a guy with a gun in the audience. the cia had to take it away from

him. this just happened a couple of days ago in new hampshire. this is almost history repeating itself. the democrats made many of the same mistakes this time that they did in 1994. >> anyone would point to what he said about recruiting. already this year, the house body for campaigns has had one heck of a recruiting cycle. they already have significant top tier candidates before next year. after new jersey and virginia rolled around, unfortunately, the senate side is still hold disappointment for republicans. the senate side cannot seem to get its act together. on the house side, which is where critically matters, remember if you want to raise revenue, it starts in the house, not the senate. we are doing very well.

>> a lot of credit goes to americans for prosperity for putting on this conference for a second straight year. americans for prosperity foundation. tim phillips and executive director, i really applaud them for their efforts. do you feel that other leaders in the conservative movement fully understand and are embracing new media to the extent that they should? if not, why not? >> the fact that we are having this today, that a conservative organization is putting this on, is very important. i agree with eric, something about the conservative movement

in general, they need a succession plan. there are a lot of older conservative movement leaders. john maxwell set without a successor, there is no success. i believe that if you have a conservative organization today and there is not a very good succession plan in place, then you are not doing your job. i think there are a lot of problems. they are starting to get it. we are not at the place where they know everything, but we are at the place where they know that they do not know. we should be on this twitter thing. they are not treating yet, but they now know what twitter is. -- t they -- tweeting yet. >> if you have not been to that

defending the dream conference in october, i went to last year's, and cannot recommend it enough. it is a huge conference and it brings people together. you talk about some of the things we are talking about here today plus more. it is a way to get us focused on moving forward, unlike a lot of the other forums the right has had for a long time. that is part of the problem we have on the right. there are a lot of groups that have gone into status quo mode and they are doing the exact same things now with democrats in charge of the white house and congress that they were doing in 2003 with republicans in charge of the congress and the white house. that is not a winning formula. there is way too much status quo on the right. there are some fine organizations on the rights that are consuming a massive amount of resources and not doing

anything with it. some of these organizations -- >> do you want to name names? >> i probably should not. there are some there really are wasting resources on the right. the of some of the be conservative organizations out there. compare them to what is happening here, where you are not turning out people to be pontificated to, but turning out people to collaborate with each other to fight the good fight. that does not happen enough on our side anymore, because people got complacent. they are now fully in down. it is good to be a little hungry. >> i can tell you having worked

at the heritage foundation that it is remarkable to see how far -- how much they have been willing to let me do. when i started, there was a reluctance to let me block on their website. now our blog is one of the most popular places to get the message out. it has changed the way we communicate. >> heritage started townhall.com back in 1995. they were ahead of the curve. >> from my perspective, having worked for three organizations within the conservative movement, i have seen a willingness to adapt. it takes time for our leaders to do that, but there are good ones that set a good example and

hopefully others will follow. >> i should point out, as i am doing my plug for defending the dream, and i encourage you guys. we are hungry right now as a movement. going to events like this are so critically important. my rule of thumb with conservative conferences, if the focus is not on meeting each other and collaborating, we are wasting our time. that is what i like about these. if you do not know when you leave this place the person sitting in front of you and behind you, we are starting at a net loss. we have to figure out to each person is and how we can work together. >> there has been good the synergy between the conservative

organizations. americans for prosperity for part of the red state gathering in atlanta. the leadership institute is healthy and very good to see. >> absolutely. in addition to finding out who you are sitting next to in making that connection, what would you say, if you could offer one piece of advice to the attendees here, and also to the people who are watching on c- span or tuning in in other ways, what is the one piece of advice she would give them, leaving this conference today, that they can do on line to be effective? >> no who represents you, and if you have a problem because of their voting record, but the rest of us know. building a record in the

opposition against those we intend to fight is vitally important right now as we move into an election season, finding out who the people are and what the problems are. this really is a fight. you see this every day when some of us -- some of you have been attacked by the media as phony, and the media is treating us as though you will activist, the thugs who are beating people up at town halls, becoming not just part of the conversation but part of the movement. when i say the movement, i am not talking about some esoteric thing. i am talking about the movement of people from their keyboard to their town hall to the voting booth. >> call me on twitter.

what i would have believed with is, do not be demoralized. the wind is at your back right now. we have lamented the fact that the left is more organized and the right is not. it has always been that way. they have a top-down structure. conservatives by nature are rugged individuals. you do not take marching orders from the central agency. >> what? [laughter] >> itunes in every morning to get my marching orders from karl rove. >> for me is rush limbaugh. >> i find out every morning what

i must do to defend big oil. [laughter] >> i think the key is, get and iphone are a flip care or a blackberry kerf or something that has a camera and the ability to tweak and go to town hall meetings. the fourth estate is the media. the fifth estate is citizen journalists who are out there holding are represented accountable. there is nothing more healthy for democracy than that, whether you are on the right or left. that is something everyone can do. right now you essentially on a printing press, a broadcasting station, a camera -- the beatles recorded their music on a five track player. the technology is there to make a credible activists and credible citizen journalist,

someone who is keeping an eye on the government. >> i don't believe they make five track players anymore. one more piece of advice, and it should be the best piece of advice. psalm 73, the guy eroded, lamented that the wicked people seem to prosper. pride is there necklace, the clothes themselves with violence. as he is pondering this, he realizes and has a great line. in an instant, the house suddenly are they destroyed, completely swept away by their terrorists. [applause]

week on the right must be happy warriors until the end. we do not know when victory -- you have to understand, i am a christian, and things come from that perspective. victory comes, we just do not know when, so be happy warriors until the end. [applause] >> eric, that is excellent. that is a great point to shift from me asking the questions to hearing from all of you. i see a question down here in the front of the room. please identify yourself. >> i am hard of hearing, so the microphone helps. >> i thought was interesting to

hear you all talk about the combination of talk radio which was well established in 1996, and if we add the new media right, we would be unstoppable. what happens as they pushed the fairness doctrine on talk radio and then the version that will hurt the conservative net routegroups. >> clearly, we have to stop it. anyone who is a defender of free speech, allowing descent, the fairness doctrine would be horrible. it would also be done to score partisan points. if it happens, at this point it looks like there was going to be an effort to push it through congress. i think they have backed off of that, but because it is so potent, there will likely again be more efforts. conservatives -- anybody who

loves freedom and free speech has to fight it tooth and nail. >> we need to be aware that it might not come through congress. there could be efforts at the fcc or other agencies where they try to do this, so it is not as open and transparent as it would be otherwise. >> like favre new position is the fcc diversity czar. i did a c-span interview yesterday. the only more malcontent people in america than left-wing, enters on blogs are left wing collars on the c-span morning show. one of them called in and said there is no one in congress agitating for the fairness doctrine. name names. john kerry did about a month

ago. three weeks ago nancy pelosi was blocking -- who is the little control in the senate? not barbara boxier, the other one. they are blocking republican attempts to shut it down, while at the same time appointing people through the fcc to put it back in. we have to be vigilant. >> i live in the snake pit called new jersey have the time.

we have three republican congressman who voted for cap and trade. being a lifelong republican and a conservative, i feel that it's time to pull the plug on these people. [applause] gíif they are going to be supporting obama and the democrats in congress, we do not need them. when i talk to other republican people, they say we then get jeff andrew. then we have a man who is running for governor who one week prior to announcing for governor refused to say that he was a republican. he absolutely refused to say that he was a conservative. so i am in a dilemma on my site

what to do about this. any help? >> was the guy who was afraid to be a republican, was he afraid of cement shoes? >> he is also a man that you would ask him a pointed question and he cannot give you a direct answer. his name is chris christie, and i would love to see a republican governor of new jersey, but i would like one that would follow the conservative congress. >> the heart and soul of the republican party is going to be fought in florida. republicans are backing a man who supports cap and trade, the reversal health care, the stimulus package, he supports blocking drilling for oil off the florida coast. he is running against an articulate conservative hispanics whose parents let castro, a guy who was elected

speaker of the florida house. the establishment republicans are voting for the guy whose positions are no different than the current president of the united states. the national republican senatorial committee has endorsed a guy. they did not -- they endorsed him to stop money from going to the other guy. my general rule is that this is a two-party country, whether we like it or not. ballot access laws across the nation make it impossible for a third party to succeed. go ask libertarians how successful they are getting people elected to congress. they cannot do it. ironically, the socialists can because they run under the democratic party. my rule is, vote conservative in the primary, fight, fight, fight, to the bitter end of the primary and vote conservative. at the end of the day, you are

left with two people, one who will vote for a republican speaker of the house, the other will vote for harry reid or nancy pelosi. those are two critically important votes. regardless of how the vote on everything else, one guy will vote one way and the other will vote the other. who would you prefer they vote for? it is not a game of purity anymore. i wish she could become a but it is not. it is a game of evils of to lesers. >> i am concerned about what will be happening with the census. apparently this sense is now is going to be under the control of the white house.

they are hiring all these people from a corn to be census takers. there was an article in "the wall street journal" that talked about how there is a question of them counting illegal immigrants in the census. i wonder how this will affect elections going forward. and if there is anything we can do about it. >> my understanding is there are some compelling laws that even the white house will have to comply with that. they were not able to pull it from the commerce department. under white house -- next door

in the room there are 5000. that is the way the game is going to be played. there will be fictitious numbers of people for a hypothetical sampling. i think republicans have a good argument that you actually have to count people. you cannot just make them up along the way. you are dealing with the white house and congress that are controlled by one party. if the republicans were in charge, you would see them doing things to their advantage as well. that is the nature of the beast. the issue is, what are they going to do that circumvents legal standards that have to meet. it is critically important to let people who are going to make sure the axolotls are followed. frankly, they need to be careful, because if the republicans take back the house next year, there is a long list of things to be investigated. we will tie them up in congress,

just as they tried to tie up the republican administration picks. >> there is good reason to you to be concerned about this. >> a couple of the mentioned something about top tier candidates. you made the comment that if we have a couple of wins, maybe that will step in. i think it is time we have real statesmen who are not afraid to lose. [applause] if these people are top tier candidates, they ought to be running, whether they are afraid to lose are not. otherwise, they are just professional politicians. charlie crist is a perfect example. he was running around with barack obama supporting the stimulus package without even reading in. >> as i agree with you in the

sense that in a perfect world, you are right. the new go back to the initial point. haley barbour, the current governor of mississippi, according to him, most of the people who want or part of the republican revolution in 1994. they signed on after the 1993 victory. i was surprised by that. that is laid to get into the game. indeed lateñipñ to get into the game. whether it is right or wrong or good or bad, if someone runs for office, they are putting their life on the line. not physically, but they are not going to spend time with their family. it is a serious undertaking. some of these people have a lot to lose. anything that can inspire them to think it is a good year and they are not wasting their time is very helpful. a great example is north dakota. north dakota only has 640,000

people in the state. like every other state, they have two senators, both democrats. even though there is a republican governor and attorney general, everything is republican, but their entire federal delegation are democrats. the governor has toyed with the idea of running for u.s. senate, and he could win if he gets in the race. if he saw chris christie running -- winning in new jersey, that a long way toward easing his concerns. >> i have more patience for candidates now who take that, because you are asking them by and large to give up their livelihood to run. you are taking them away from their family. florida is a perfect example.

you have two candidates in the race. one is in because he thinks he can win, and the other because he thinks there is a fight that needs to be fought. take your pick. the issue remains that people who want to give up their job, basically give up their family for your, need to see tangible signs of encouraging hope to want to get in. i am an elected republican official. even i know candidates at the local level who want to know they have a shot, and what happens in november will be the flags of whether there is something worth fighting for going into 2010. >> the national republican all congressional committee is here among our lowly bloggers. that shows the commitment that they are paying attention.

>> i find it hard to think that we should vote for the republican as the lesser of two evils. i came originally from pennsylvania and supported specter early on, but if i was here for the vote between specter as republican and democrat, i would have voted on the democrat. will that not encourage other people to go forward? we have to talk about sacrifice. the candidate may give up a career or make some sacrifice, but look back at the history of the country? what did those people risk? if that person does not run,

they have theoretically saved their job. what have you done for your country if the country goes to hell in a handbasket? [applause] i was on a call with a republican congressman. my question to him was, what is it that pelosi -- what is our strength that the majority of democrats vote for her? he started to give me the explanation in the capacity of hurt being the speaker of the house and all that goes with it. the question was, why would you like her as speaker of the house? if we start putting pressure on democrats, we probably cannot replace her in her district because of her crazy constituents. kelly not put pressure on democrats -- could we get them to choose a different speaker of the house? >> i look at this from a policy

perspective rather than a political perspective. the heritage foundation -- he said he had just come from a democratic luncheon and all of his democratic colleagues were shaking their heads and asking why would you go and talk to the conservative heritage foundation? he said they are right on the issue of missile defense. on a policy issue, yes, there is no question from my perspective. the party affiliation does not necessarily mean what it should indicate. the other point is, on the issue of educating a member of congress, we have done a tremendous amount of data collection and analysis on both

cap and trade and health care at heritage. it is helpful when you have raw numbers you can take that are applicable to your district and share with your member of congress about how cap and trade will impact job losses. regardless of whether you are liberal democrat or conservative blue dog are a middle-of-the- road republican, when you personalize that you can have an impact. i encourage you to seek out some information like that that you can share, whether through a letter to the editor or at a town hall meeting. that is what will sway people. >> i guess i am a lot more practical now that i used to be. i am only 34. make of that what you will. i don't think it works to run against nancy pelosi or to put pressure on democrats. sounds like a good idea.

conservatives have been running against teddy kennedy for years, and has never done them any good. they have raised money, but they have not done anything. all politics at the end of the day is still local. i live in the eighth congressional district of georgia. jim marshall boats with a republican 60% of the time. he voted for nancy pelosi for speaker because he understood he would get nothing for his district if he voted against her. on the first issue, i am really sympathetic to if we are going to get democrat like, let's just get democrat. the answer to that is the primary system. throw the bum out of the primary. but what happened to our inspector. he will probably now be wiped out of the senate as a result of that. [applause]

we have to keep in mind though, at some point it does boil down to practicality. take dave reichardt in washington state who voted for cap and trade. the district is plus 7 democrat. he won by like 1000 votes. it almost went to a recount. and some point we have to recognize there are some districts in the country where we have to suck it up and let somebody we do not agree with across the board when, because at the end of the day, if we do not have a majority in congress, we may feel good about the purity of our intentions, but we will not get any policy accomplish. i would much rather at a minimum slowed to a crawl the

events of government and keep it going full steam ahead. the goal is to retreat government, but if i cannot retreated, i will least try to smother it. >> i think we have time for a couple more questions. >> i have heard estimates that 74% of the seats are safe because of gerrymandering. is that an impression you share, and what can we do about it? >> i was an election lawyer for six years. the greatest thing this country can do if it wants to make politics interesting, make it more representative, is to have non partisan gerrymandering panelists, because right now, republicans draw lines to

benefit republicans. democrats draw lines to benefit democrats, and people who are not represented by the party in power in the general assembly will be shut out by a large. it's a ridiculous farce. koranda race in 2002 for eight guy running for -- i ran a race. the district was drawn to be a democrat district. it was barely democrat. the novelty was that you could pole vault from one side of the district to the other side over a different district. it was very bizarre. it was basically a circle with the top open just a little bit. they do this across the nation. >> another thing that never gets talked about, if congressional districts were more competitive, what would happen is -- let me

say what happens now. when there are said republican district, they elect conservatives. conservatives win republican primaries. if it is a safe democratic district, they do not elect a moderate democrat. if it is say, liberals' win. that is because people who have strong positions are the ones who turn out and vote on primaries, especially if it is raining or if it is in may. when we have 7% of districts that only republicans are democrats can win, you end up electing a hard-core conservatives and hardcore liberals. for all the people in the mainstream media who decry the vitriol and the gnashing of teeth, how the rhetoric has become heated, there is a reason for that. one of the big reasons no one ever talks about is because we

have gerrymandered districts this way. if congressional district for more fair, you would find more centralism in politics. that is my point of view. >> i would disagree slightly with that. i think when the districts are originally drawn, you start out in favor republican districts having strong conservatives when. over time, save districts become districts of the establishment. is the republican establishment guy who has worked his way up through city council to the state legislature who gets elected. everybody loves him, because i remember when i was 10 years old he helped raise money for the chicken dinner at the church. there is a danger there. it starts out that way, but we see over time, all of us see the

saved seed guy -- safe seat guy get bad. he understood that if you have to go out and talk to voters to get their vote as opposed to just saying i am a plus 12 republican, then the ideas become critically important. >> i am a democrat that did not vote for obama. i was going to ask a question, but i thought i would reply to putting pressure on the democrats. now is the perfect time not to

put pressure on, but to leave your hand out to them. my niche is talking to other democrats that are upset because they voted for obama, but this is not the change that they wanted. i think we have a tendency to be afraid of the right. we have heard such evil stories about the right all our lives growing up. it took me years, but i realized that the right is no difference than the liberal, because we all basically want the same thing. that is a free country and independence to succeed or to fail. instead of pressuring, reach out to us. i think we are ripe for the picking. [applause] >> i have to share this one.

>> we talked about this last night. >> i am headed here on thursday. i am in the shuttle bus with another guy who is coming here. we are on the bus with three guys who do not smell quite right. they are being dropped off at the westin. we are stopped because there are massive people in black shirts with numbers. the three people in the ban want to know who these people are wearing these black shirts with numbers. the bus driver just stopped in traffic. he said are you talking about the steelers fans? the one guy says, what are the steelers? >> the driver says, what country are you from? >> he says i am from portland, oregon. the driver says oh.

i lived in dubai for 10 years. i know more about camel racing than i do about professional american football, but i know who the steelers are. >> the fact that you told them they were the black shirt right wing and that they were assigned numbers. >> the roethlisberger crowd are the bad ones. >> this has been a lot of fun. i appreciate all of you coming out. it has been a great two days. [applause] i would just leave you with one last piece of advice. i heard the freshman congressman from utah talk about how he eventually be a republican if you beat a republican and won

the primary. he said he did not have the money or all the organization the incumbent had, but what he had was a network of people like you who he relied on to lead comments on news articles, to get the message out among their friends on facebook and twitter and use new media to his advantage. setting up a google group, were you can have a conversation. little things like this that you can do. i hope you do these things when you leave here today. start building this network of your own. the fact that you are in this room shows your dedication. i encourage you to take the next step and do something about it. >> i will see you in october at the defending the american dream conference in washington. [applause] [captioning performed by national captioning institute]

[captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2009] >> eunice kennedy shriver died last week at the age of 88. she was the founder of the special olympics. here is a portion of the funeral service. the eulogy was given by her daughter, maria shriver. this is 15 minutes. this is 15 minutes. >> we want to thank all of you for coming here today to honor and celebrate the life or mother.

over the past few days, our mother has been called everything from a st. to a pioneer to a trail blazer to a true original to a civil rights advocate of legendary proportions to a force of human nature to more than held her own in a family of highly competitive, high-tech cheating men. she was, indeed, a transformer to figure. but to her five children, mark, bobby, timmy, and anthony, to all of us, she was simply mummy. she was our hero. she miscarries smart and not afraid to show it. she was tough but also compassionate, and driven but also really fun and funny, competitive, but also in bathetic, restless and patient, curious and careful. she liked to hang with the guys, but all her heroes, except for

her brother jack, were women. to hurt in every sense of that word. he did not mind if her hair was a mass or if she beat him at tennis or challenged his ideas he let her rip and roar and he loved everything about her. add that to five kids that adored her and loved to be with her and you have the ultimate role model. mommy was all of our best friends. it was an honor for all of us to be her children and a special privilege for me to be her daughter. it was not always easy being her kid because she was not exactly like any other mother you have ever seen. i did not actually know how to process her appearance because most of the mothers were dressed up and mony wore men's pants,

she smoked cuban cigars and she played tackle football. she would come to pick us all up in her blue lincoln convertible and her hair would be flying in the wind and there would usually be pencils or pans in yet. -- japens in it. more often than not, this water would be covering a bathing suit so that she could lose no time to jump in the pool. and it is to say, when the nuns would announce her rival, i would try to run for cover. and when she was not trying to beat us in a game of tennis, you could usual fine -- usually find her at mass, praying or working. she was determined to change the world for people with the

intellectual disabilities and she did. you had no choice but to join her and her mission. it took all of us from our backyard to every state in this nation and just as many countries around the world. our mother never rested, she never stopped. she was momentum on wheels. she was focused, relentless and she got the job done today, when i close my mind and think about my mother, we see her clapping her hands and cheering us all on in everything that swe did. she encouraged me to beat my brother's in tennis. when the manager would call and tell her that she could not do that, she would tell him to go back behind the desk where he belonged and be quiet. i hear her when i would call her on the phone and she sent me to

africa and i called to complain that there was no running water, no toilet, and i was sleeping with five men. she said she do not want to hear one more yip out of me. i heard that a lot. i see her, as i am sure that my brothers do, laughing, praying, sailing, loving each and every one of us equally. while she counts with me that she was raising me in a man's world, she let me know that there was no doubt in her mind that i could compete, that i should compete and that i could win. mommy was a trailblazer. she showed up in her life as herself and that takes courage. she took diversity and turned it into advantage.

-- adversity and turned it into advantage. she turned that into her life's focus and her life's passion and mission. her own brand of what i call maternal feminism. she believed 100 percent and the power and the gifts of women to change the language, the tempo and the character of this world. her heroes were the virgin mary, mother teresa, dorothy day, her own mother and her sister, rosemary. she would always challenge each of us to do the same. you will, you must, you can. if you were speaking here, and i think we all wish she were, she would pound this podium and asked eastview what you have done today to better the world.

-- and ask each of you but you have done today to better the world she would ask each and every one of you to join her in making this world a more tolerant, just and compassionate place. she would end by talking about her own family, how grateful she was to her parents and to her brothers and sisters, all of whom she absolutely adored. she would tell you how proud she was of sargent and then she would tell you how proud she was of each of us and she would tell you about each spain that each of us did and then she would ask you for money for all four of my brothers who run nine profits. they will probably ask you later, but she would ask you. save the children, a best buddies and special olympics. she would remind all of you that you had not done enough and that there was much more to do. you would leave this church in

simply -- assembly and all of her. -- simply in all of her -- awe of her. she would tell a story that would roll her eyes. she was the real deal. she was a woman that did everything that women aspire to. she had a great husband. she had a great family. she had a deep faith in god and she combined that with being a fearless warrior for the voiceless. i am so thrilled, as i know my brothers are, that people all over the world are hearing about her this week in editorials and on television because they need to hear stories about money. -- money -- mommy. you have to dress this way, talk

this way, you have to have one opinion. mommy was not like that. she did not choose. she let all the different parts of her go out and that is what made her unique. she did not allow herself to be tamed or contain it. she achieved her self -- herself. grown men would shaken their boots and she was the very same woman that spend quality time with each and everyone of us, making us feel loved and making us believe in ourselves. she spent quality time with each of those grandchildren you saw on the altar. looking for mermaids. she did not choose between being strong and soft, complex and simple. as her story goes out this week, i believe she will become a new torchbearer for women of our time, sending a message that you do not have to be a certain way.

you do not have to fit a stereotype. you can have a full, complete, spiritual life that is about others and about family. her story teaches us that women are complex and that they can live out every single aspect of that complexity. in closing, let me say that in the last few years of her life, i find -- i found mahlmanmommy o confront stillness. it was hard for her. she never complained and she never asked for pity. she fought and she fought right up to her very last breath. over the years, all of us learned so much from her by listening to her, by watching her. this past year, i learned from her as well.

as she softened, she gave me permission to do the same. as she sat still, she taught me how important that is in one's life. she taught us that real strength can also be found in real vulnerability and that it is ok to lean on those who love you. if you had told me a few years ago that at the end of my mother's life, she and i would sit in a room and just be, i would have said you were crazy. if you had told me that at th age of 52, i would finally get up the nerve to crawl into bed with my mother and older and teller that i love you, i'll have told you that you were nuts. if you would have told me that we would write poetry together, i would know for sure that you lost your mind. all that happened when mom and learnt to let go. -- ramadi learned to let go.

she did it all, she lived it all initial of the sol. to be honest, i think it is impossible for each of us to think about a life without money. it is interesting, as we have talked amongst ourselves that the charter -- each of us felt like an only child. we each felt like gnome mother was our best friend -- like our mother was our best friend. if i said to my mother, which i often did, but i cannot go on without you. she would say that you are fine. she said my brothers would be nice to me. [laughter] so, we all will get up and get going. i wanted to leave you with this

little poem that my mother and i rode together in a hospital room in boston. i read it to her several times she liked a lot. it has no name but i thought she would like me to share it with you. it goes like this. thank you morning for giving me the breath of life. thank you for giving me a push. over and over again. thank you for doing your best. here we are you and me now is you needing the breath of life nowadays you meeting the push you did it for me let me do it for you your love has brought me to my knees i cannot believe without shoot i cannot think without you i am lost without to hear real are, you and me the clouds are gone the sky is clear

your the star in my sky your the music in my heart do you hear it? listen listen your the trumpet of my life and then -- a mamen. >> coming up next, it is "q&a" with ellis cose of "newsweek. then remarks by british conservative party leader david cameron. following that, ambassador richard holbrooke on the