lawyers i talked to talk about a different atmosphere out there, that 10 years ago people could hide money overseas without any real fear the federal government was going to find it, and i think what they tried to do is of thew3 @ítiçç -- up the edid make for a new calculus ofw3 how dangerous it is going to be. çthey still probably do not cah the vast majorityñr of people however, the more dangerous they do itxd -- they make it, theçç difficult it is for people. i have heard of that as ynd"ñ55r w3international game changer. >> finally, what do you think of this? perhaps he outlined a number of things they are doing. directing people -- >> he

outlined a number of things they're doing. directing people to go to a cashier or a self-service lane, is the same thing. question, or sometimes your stock. it is an issue that is goingç o be ongoing for the irs, and these things are valid, and they are going to laugh to deal with those. >> for your insight and questions, thank you both for joining us today. cá>> he was important not on a number of levels. it offers an explanation that had been aomçç bafflingi]ç wes in particular for many years common and thatç was -- for may years, and thatç?;çxd was ths he appeared to have. >> tonight, biographer michael seacammell and his biography.

tonightw3. xd>> tomorrow, the senior advisr talked about what can be done about international and homegrown terrorism. david masci discusses same-sex marriage in the united states andçç worldwide, and an examinationvç on the civilians role in establishingç leadershp anoç afghanistan. live at 7:00 a.m. eastern here on c-span. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2010] ççççççççów3çóokmyokthis t senator christo(1.%ñ dx4#ççç1 announced his retirement. he has been in office since 1981 and is up for reelection this year. he played a major role in the health care bill, and he is the prime sponsor of financial greg with -- regulation legislation.

>> ruining the neighborhood with all these people gathered. happy new year, and good morning to everybody. every six years over the past three decades, i have invited you to join me at our home to share in my decision toç seek e election and reelection to the night is states senate. on each of these occasions, i have begun my remarks by observing in every important for any begins and ends at home. today is no exception. ñdççqwhat is different isçó noo announce the beginning of another campaign but rather to announce that after 35 years of representing the people of connecticut and the united states congress, i will not be a candidate for reelection this november. remarks by expressing my deepest gratitude to the wonderful people of connecticut for the remarkable privilege of being elected eight times over the

past four decades to our national assembly. you've honored me beyond words with your confidence. let me quickly add that there have been times when my positions and actions have caused some of you to question that confidence. i regret that. it's equally important that you know that i have never waivered in my determination to do the best job for our state and our nation. i love my job as your senator. i always have. still do. however this past year has raised some challenges that insisted i take stock of my life. other the past 12 months, i've managed four major piece of legislation through the united states congress, served as chair and acting chair of two major senate committees, placing me at the center of the two most important issues of our time, health care and reform of financial services. i lost a beloved sister in july, and in august, ted kennedy. i battled cancer over the summer

and in the midst of all of this, found myself in the toughest political shape of my career. let me be clear. i'm very aware of my present political standing here at home in connecticut. but it's equally clear that any certain prediction about an election victory or defeat nearly a year from now would be observed. strange as it may sound, i'm not confident that i would be standing here today making this announcement, if these situations had not occurred. none of these events or circumstances, either individually or collectively, is the cause for my decision not to seek re-election. yet together these challenges have given me pause, to take stock and to ask questions that too few of us in elected public life ever do. why am i running? on a cold morning, two weeks ago tomorrow, i asked myself that very question.

in the early frigid dawn of december 24, christmas eve, with snow piled high along the streets of our nation's capital, i cast one of the most important if not the most important, votes of my years in the united states senate. a bill to fundamentally reform the health care system of our nation. and hour later, i was standing on the virginia hillsideed a arlington cemetery, where ted kennedy rests, along with his brothers in eternity, as he is in history, wishing that i could have seen the look in teddy's eyes as the united states senate took that historic step an hour before. i thought about the dozens of fine public servants, democrats and republicans, who have joined me in serving connecticut over the course of my career at the local, state, and national level. i thought about the countless connecticut families, ordinary people with extraordinary

courage and spirit whose lives have touched me over the years and whose stories have profoundly affected my decisions in the united states senate. i thought about the dozens of patriotic senators with whom i had the privilege of serving in an institution i dearly love. i have been a connecticut senator for 30 years. very proud of the job i've done and the results delivered. but none of us is irreplaceable. none of us are indy spenceable. those who think otherwise are dangerous. the work -- we work to make our nation a more perfect union began long before i was elected to the senate and will go on long after i am gone. our country is a work in progress and i am confident it always will be. that's why i thought about -- what's what i thought about as i stood on the highlightside in arlington on christmas eve morning. that's what i falked about with jackie over this holiday sb and that's how i came to the

conclusion that in the long sweep of american history, there are moments for each elected public official to step aside and let someone else step up. this is my moment to step aside. there'll be time to reflect in more detail on the years i've spent in public service. there'll be time to celebrate victories and mourn setbacks and share laughs and memory and to thank profusely the talented, tireless, and numerous staffers, many of whom are here today, who have made my senate work possible. but that time is not now. my service isn't over. i still have one year left on my contract to the people of connecticut. one year from this week, our state will have a new united states senator. in the meantime, we have important work to do. so a few closing thoughts. i believe in bipartisan solutions, but i also believe you can only achieve those results with vibrant, robust,

and civil partisan debate. i'm a democrat and very, very proud of my party's contributions to the vitality and strength of america. i would never have had the opportunity to serve in the congress had i not had the support and backing of my political party in connecticut over these years. i appreciate the passionate party activists who have never, ever faltered in their support of my efforts. i want to say thank you to my family for their tolerance of yet another generation of our family in the political arena. i'm especially indebted to jackie for her fierce loyalty, unyielding commitment to fairness and her unlimited capacity of empathy to the needs of others. she has truly been my anchor in these stormy political waters. there's nothing more pathetic in my view who announces they're only leaving public life to spend more time with their

family. the result of this announcement today i hope will create that opportunity. but it's not the reason for my decision. i'm a very late arrival to fatherhood as many of you know, and i'm told repeatedly by some of you here today that these young children of miney grole -- will grow up very fast system of while these young ladies are not the reason for my decision, they'll be an incredible benefit to the choice i make today. on this the sixth of january, the epiff phi -- epiphany, 2010, i'm driven by the same passions that motivated me to try my hand at politics so many years ago and just as i've encouraged the people of connecticut, i'm looking to the future with a spirit of optimism and confidence and finding once again that those of you gathered here today and to the people across this great state of ours, i thank you immensely for the opportunity you've given me to serve. i thank you all very, very much. [applause] 66

ç>> shortly after senator christopher dodd announce his retirement last tuesday, the connecticut attorney general announced he would enter the race. the poll shows higher approval ratingç. ñrrepublican pollster çi]kellye

conway gives her thoughts. >> i think these issues are very important. i want to talk about polling numbers today. çqçóqw3 i want to talk about obama's. governing is better than the matt region more important than hope and change. you need to start -- governing is more importantç than hope ad change. i know many people are skeptical of polls, or they say i do not

listen to polls. polls, if taken scientifically and artisticallyçççqomççi]e a very important concern to we, qthe people. it gives us anw3 opportunityç o tellok our leaders what is makig us anxious or frustrated. çwhat areç our expectations ad desires andw3çq hopes, and somf theç best insight i have ever responding to pollsmyç or individuals in focus groups. there is a certain wisdom and common senset(çç and opinion d tt that comes from whea, the peopleçq -- we,ç çthe peo içó hope people willç look of e polls. what areq theyç saying all thrh 2009? everybody's polls say the same thing. the number one issue this year hasçççó been jobs and the eco.

that is it. ç people are worried what they hear and see may come to pass, and that is an important inside. when you see sometl'g is an mean we need this now. çthere is a concern that what they are reading about may not beç the best idea. çif jobs and the economy are te number one issue, and even today's jobs report came out and showed unemployment is still at 10% nationally -- it was 6.8% right before the last election, and heading into 1994, unemployment was under 5%, so if it does that 10% right now -- is is that 10% right now, these are

the government's numbers. if this is the number one issue, why hasn't it been a number one issue? çi see that as the question mot voters are asking themselves? why hasn't it been at( bigger priority to force u.s. tax dollars to go to fund abortions internationally, which 82%ç of the country is against? why is it so a important to bail out wall street, to bail out detroit, to make sure certain mortgages are protected, even though people are saying that is not the number one issue to them? why is it important to fly to copenhagen not once, but twice, first for the olympics but to attend a global warming conference in the middle of a blizzard? i am not saying that to be snarky, but i am asking the questions. why are we listening to people when they say they are starving for jobs? why don't we let the 16 million

plus one man in thisç country o currently own all or part of a small -- 16 million pluswomen in this country who currently own all or part of a small business and those that would like to create little bit of nest egg and flexibility and ownership for their small businesses. why can they allow them to flourish ratherxd than try to suffocate them from the i]beginning? i want1e to read some of these numbers for you. i am lookingç atçó over 30 crod tabs here, and we compiled this from a number of polls so the sample size is taken from over 3000 people in eachçym of the january 2009 and january 2010, soççç overall full year. qprerw"ent obama's approval single group with the exception w3)p#rican-american voters. qhew3xd isççó down one. among liberal democrats.

he is downw3 three among pás, downç 15 among independence the past year. he is down 16 among men, 15 among one andççxd xd oneam --g women. çall levels of formal educatio, every mariscal status, down in hiszçw3 approval rating, and in talk about the unbearable people do not go toç theokççt box and say, do i like you? çt(thist( is a presidentç whon running int( the campaign, ran n awful lot on the appeal and likability, and if you go a lot to the many people who endorse him over hillary clinton, they would talk about that very thing. the candidates talkxd about his appeal and likability and generational transformative

quality, so it is fair to the '50s aso-vñr measurements. i was on tv last night, and hillary clinton'su! pollsterç a pollster to many democrats, was still talking about president obama's general approvalç rati. let's show that basedç on publicly available media polls, president obama's rating has decreased in the past year. why is that important? he is not just the president of the united states. he is the commander in chief, and he is the leader ofñr the party that currently holds strong majorities in both houses, many governments, both legislatures. he is leader of the party and the chief legislator on all those things. let's take a look get the approval ratings of democratic parties on issues asçç well an attributes. if you look at issues, foreign

policy, iraq, afghanistan, illegal immigration,çv:w7[ -22 disapproval -- 58% disapprove. cnn again, unemployment has upside down%uju(s ratings. the war in iraq, taxes, health care policy, so all these measurements by anyone's account are not voting well on these issues, and on actor reeves, if you're running based onçxd8hñ attributes,ç -- and e attributes, if you are running based on attributes, if you're talking about hope and change and having a clear vision for the country, then it is fair game to ask you questionsç in tolling. is the strongman decisive leader,fáç in which unite the

country and not divide it. down 26% on hisç own measuremet of reunite the country and not divide it. the clear plan is down 19 points, so these are all measurements. what does itñr allç mean? i think it does short shrift and as for a -- and he's very zvçexpressive when people are showing up for meetings in the pouring rain, telling members of qcongress this past summer about health care. it is totally dismissive and unfair to say they are angry. they are irate. when they are nervous. they are anxious. they are worried about generational debt, excluding

budget deficit, broken campaign promises, and the fact we are trying to pass health care reformç. is it in perfect? yes. would they change it? of course. çç45% of people are happy in n their marriages. we would all change things if we could, but a high level of satisfactionçxd coupled with incredibly enormous price tag and a great deal of uncertainty. over 100 and somet( taxesç, new regulations, penalties. people areç looking at health care reform legislationç to see ççmyççóif it is constitutiont

does not violate the prescription against excessive fines and punishment, that you can go to jail and pay the fines for nottmç having this kind of program. çall of these are legitimate concerns. security and affordability. okpeople talkç about security. w3it is national security. çit couldç just be the securiy of certainty. affordability canç be taxes. that can be deficit. that can be housing. that can be entrepreneurship, kitchen table economics, wall street, main street. all of that has to do with [çaffordabilityçw7[. w3much has been talkedç about h respect to the new democraticç( government, and howç willç tho çówell for republicans? i think it bodes even better for

conservatives. many people laughing year or two ago when we talked about how conservatism is on the çascendancy and president obama wasi] electedokñrw3. u!they have0lxñ votes in the see nowç. it does not matter. they cannotç pass some things theyç want to pass because of their pockets. their pockets. çno carrierringconnect 1200

even nancy pelosi does not stand there, representing a fairly liberal and progressive district, and saying, in this congress, we're going to -- nobody talks like a classic liberal. it is no other than william daley, serving in the clinton

cabinet, who urged the democratic party to moderate. does this sound familiar? that was the call for the republican party. yet you have 16 republican congresswomen, about half of them are pro-life yet all of them unanimously voted against health care in part because it would change our laws and allow federal funding for abortion. that included the pro-choice women in the caucus, the pro- life women in the caucus. they agreed on that. this is where the conservative movement and the park -- and the republican party are difficult -- are different. this is like a religion to them. welcome. welcome to the save face crowd. for them, there is no

compromise. we are able to welcome in the republican party, people of both views. but the conservative movement is taking a long battle with the 40% of americans to call themselves conservatives, but huge numbers of independent spirit 60% of the duma voted for barack obama a year ago and now call themselves conservatives and align themselves with the republican party. before you get excited, moderates are still aligning with democrats. independents are aligning themselves with republicans. it is unfair to use those interchangeably when looking at the political landscape for possible realignment. when people are thinking about the independent group, they are not independent because they cleric independence from both parties.

65% at the upper -- disapprove of republicans and democrats in the congress right now. many of them are libertarians, also appeared you see many of them showing up at the tea parties and town hall meetings, and taking action. you will see many of them start to run for office. republicans and democrats are getting off of the sidelines. many of them were dutiful voters but they sat it out in 2006 and they sat it out, some of them, in 2008. why? because they did not want to vote for republicans who acted like democrats. i'm pretty sure they will not vote for democrats to act like democrats. i know a lot of people in 2006 say that the republicans lost because of the scandals. i think we lost their seats, but

we certainly did not lose geographically disparate seats by ideological very different numbers, such as arizona or and iowa. very different members of congress and very different records. many would-be republican voters, most of them are conservatives, sat it out. they are conscientious objectors, voting not because they do not pay attention to politics but precisely because they do. i am wondering if the likely voter modeled makes much sense this early in 2010. i been one of the major proponents of having even more sophisticated screens to find likely voters.

you're leaving out immigrants a canal vote, they now have their citizenship. you're leaving out people who have moved. we are very mobile country. you have voters to feel like there is no reason to vote. even versus 2009, you see the voting electorate just a year apart were so different. we're using a different model for 2008 and 2009. why what either one apply? candidate obama did a fantastic job in virginia, but why would it matter? a year later, bob macdonald loses the race for governor. which is the likely voter model a preferred for 2010? it's appropriate to be open- minded when it comes to who

might participate in 2010, and more to the point, who might sit this one out. that is something that will affect 2010. candidate recruitment is solons borden. i am not being counter. i don't believe in talking about immutable characteristics be particularly important in identity politics. particularly for conservative candidate. at the same time, we're starting to see an uptick in a number of women who are running as conservatives this year. i think that is fantastic, if they want to do it. that is the big if. i'm always asked, what are their only 17 united states senators out of 100 for the mall when women are 53% of the country. they do not want to run.

you have to overcome a great deal and really want to -- you have to believe that politics is the best place for your energy and yourñi talent, for your resources, for your future. and for so many women, you have to swallow an awful lot to run for congress. i give enormous credit to those who actually step up and do that. but the pipeline has been a little bit -- even the center for american women and politics and other watchers of women running for office have noted that many women have stopped running for office, even at the lower level, the state legislative level. the average women and young women watch 2008 on paper, and as a mother of three, you get excited on paper about a woman running for president or vice president, and didn't practice,

it is so deflating. -- and then in practice, episode of flooding. the focus on hair cuts and clothing instead of what they were saying. and these reports were mostly written by a female journalist. journalists should figure out those issues because, why are you covering what a woman is wearing when she is the -- when she is running for president or vice president of united states? i don't see that changing any time soon. you look at the coverage that has been going on for awhile on the candidates, it is amazingly different to check out. there's a woman running for congress to has five children, she was asked very recently by at journalists -- and it is always with the squinted eyes and raised voice, can you do it all? can you balance it?

he was going to watch these kids? who'd you think is going to watch these kids? there is a penal commented that said and around the, the famous 3:00 a.m. remarque, hillary clinton said it, but if the phone rings and vice-president palin gets the president from one for children that is really sick, what is she going to do? and i am thinking, maybe a fair question, but why didn't ask -- why did anyone ask john edwards? when the run -- when the phone rings at 3:00 a.m., and your wife who was sick, do we have about that number for you? where do we find you at 3:00 a.m.? it never happened. [laughter] i never saw a news story about it. if you did, please send it to me. it is not about double standards

but how ridiculous some of the coverages. -- some of the coverage is. some are saying they could not deal with sarah palin because it a special needs child. particularly conservative and pro life, can she do it? and then it was, i am really worried about her children. and i was thinking about susan collins, you don't even like children. and now you are worried about hers. i like of the -- i like a bunch of these journalists but i thought it was and other world type of equation. maybe they don't know anybody like this. they don't know anyone who has five children or does that without household help. makes people lunches.

i quickly realized that the same thing i would say if someone asked me, can she handle my work and this? well, guess what. like sarah palin, who knows these days? as far as i can tell, she does not have a boyfriend. so right there she's at 13 extra hours a week. [laughter] the time you spend with them, that time you spend getting ready for them, the time you spend up to -- spent covering up being with them -- is exhausting. and apart from a moral objection, the logistics of adultery completely confound me. [laughter]

and as far as i can tell, she does not play golf. [laughter] i do not be there so maybe i am jealous. but that gives her an extra 15 hours a week, seven on saturday 8 on sunday. 13 hours, no boyfriend, 15 extra hours, no call. that's double-a-3 extra hours per kid. it's a light way in breaking down how ridiculous it can sound suntans -- how it can sound sometimes. elizabeth dole was running for the senate in north carolina, and ms. clinton in new york, and is anyone going to question the intelligence our credentials of hillary clinton or elizabeth dole?

they had careers in their own right and had to win back those column inches of colors by wearing the campaign uniform. i never saw stories about the beer bellies in congress. and there were many. and the other thing that is going on in 2010 that i see as being very hospitable to people who want to run for office, in large part having president obama to thank for that. biography is very important to people. people want to know who is behind a politician. and secondly, the whole idea that you have to sit in a corner and wait your turn, or be next in line, or hold certain offices along the way, are pay your dues within the system, that has

been appended. and not just at the presidential level, which is the most consequential example. but a 25-year-old was sworn in as mayor in new jersey. that guy was born in the same year that suits and might cause it were made. -- suits in my closet were made. he was born the year that i was a senior in high school are when geraldine ferraro ran for president. structuralism and wait your turn and pay your dues. i think is great for people who have always considered their contribution to politics to be the 60-second voter. i did it get out of the program and i talk about politics and night take my little ones to the polling place with me. now was the time to do more than

that. actually get out there and for your hat into the ring. -- and throw your hat into the record i wanted to have time for questions. here are couple of other statistics going into 2010 with no presidential race. one is, there are 34 republican members of congress who represent districts that president obama carried in 2008. there are 49 democratic members of congress that john mccain carried in 2008. right way you start with, 84 districts just by using that simple clear message -- measurement. -- that simple linear matter -- linear measurement. 25 congressional districts that are held by democrats who won in 2008 but their districts that president obama won in 2008 but

that president bush carried in 2000 and 2004. so looking at voters through a very simple linear prison, thinking about that in terms of how they always voted republican or democrats, they don't make history, it is really nie. it discredits how people are making their decisions. if you open up anybody's hand back right now, if you would find six different brands of the same kind of product, whether it was of vitamin or prescription or beauty products, if you would find all the saints. all the same kind of product. these consumers are brand loyal but we're not ran monotonous. two of the most important demographic groups to look at it 2010 our unmarried women and small business-owning women and aspiring small business-owning women.

in addition to the 60 million women in this country, if you have entrepreneurial aspirant. they don't believe in the security of big business america anymore. they have so many layoffs and regulation and taxes and uncertainty. and they also was some flexibility in the ownership and they also have a great deal of their own talent and their skill set. there is access to capital, access to personality, and access to client. they are very important and they are up for grabs. the unmarried women -- and married women favored barack obama over john mccain by 41%. on married women between the ages 18-20 and favored by 55 points.

there'll renegades to do what ever they want. they favored -- and i think that is a real cautionary tale for the conservative movement and for the republican party. unmarried women are in their 20's, 30's, they are staying unmarried by choice and circumstances these days. they are running their own businesses, getting their degrees, out in the work force, that a code navigators' making decisions for elderly parents and aunts and uncles and they do not have the children, but they take care of other people's children. this is a huge growing contingency within our population. we have to admit that they are financially sophisticated. they are buying their own homes. they are not waiting for men to become owners and and certainly

taxpayers and entreprenuers and voters. this idea that you have to wait until people achieve uncertain station in life to appeal that -- appeal to them, that is shortsighted. we need to recognize these demographic trends and what we can make of them. michelle mentioned i colleague, a democratic pollster, who does a wonderful work for her side of the aisle. she was my co-author on that book "what women really want," which we hoped that men would think it was about sex and run out and buy -- and buy it. i'm sure you can find a book at the dollar stores now. she said something on npr the other day. she talked about her time on the campaign trail with seller --

with hillary clinton. she said something at the end of the broadcast that was wheeled quite prophetic. the first woman president would be a republican. the answers she gave is exactly right. a republican woman who will come from another elected position, or from business, she will be of a show financial sophistication, business acumen, street, and forcefulness on matters of security and military policy and foreign-policy, but also at the same time in business and financial matters, and yet still be able to show leadership and vision what has been cobbled women issues, health care, education, and they also say women are smart enough to take

care of the map and the fiscal issues. i do not think it will start tomorrow, but there is wisdom in that. it often shows you why certain conservative candidates that are female scare the people, because they are worried that these people can ascend. if they were not a threat, that would just be ignored. if somebody is really a threat to your constituency in your philosophy and this vision that you have had, then of course they will be attacked. but that, ladies and gentleman certainly, i think it is a tremendous reason to run for office. the best thing that any of us in this room or anyone watching so inclined to do is to answer the question, and 70 seconds, answer

the question even when you're not asking it, why am i a conservative? not why am i conservative woman, but why am i conservative? if you start saying well, or but, or the soft whispered when some eyebrows, the concern that we get in these questions that i mentioned earlier, then you're already behind the eightball. answered forcefully. i bet the answers are as multitudinous as there are people in this room and people watching. it is social and moral and others have been entreprenuers schur -- entreprenuers chip, and the proper role of government. others may be disconnected from politics altogether. it may be the way that i was rise. i was raised by four women, for

an italian adult women raised me, but i don't remember a single political conversation ever. to some people, that is enough. it influences every day of their life, when women say that i hate politics are anything in washington, they do not mean that. politics is a means toward the ends that they care about. to say i hate politics means that you do not care where health care legislation go or who is manning the education policy or what is happening with the tsa. policy is just a means toward the ends that people care about. answer it clearly an unapologetically, here is why i am a conservative and why acting get more involved in the system. thank you very much. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2010] >> our political coverage

continues with a discussion of women in politics. from washington journal, this is about 40 minutes. 3:25 on c-span. "washington journal" continues. host: we are talking with anne kornblut, her book, "notes from the cracked ceiling." >> thank you for having me. host: you say that this is a letdown and drove apart mothers and daughters and setback the equality in the political sphere of decades, why? guest: there wasn't a bipartisan women's movement. and if you w'look what happene hillary clinton won a lot of women, and older women.

but she split younger women. and when sarah palin was on the republican ticket, she was not able to bring over the democratic women or the independent women. so rather than being a ground swell of a women's movement, i look in the book that it splintered generationally across party lines. and elected officials, some who went for obama and some for clinton. host: when hillary clinton withdrew from the race. >> although we were not able to shatter that ceiling this time, thanks to you it has about 18 million cracks from it. and the light is shining through like never before filling us all with the hope

and the sure knowledge that the past will be a little easier next time. host: anne kornblut outside of giving you a title for a book, what did that mean for talking about clinton and others around the campaign? guest: it was the final speech, and by many reckoning her best, it was the first time in the campaign where she talked about gender in a specific way. if you think back 2007 and 2008 her answer would be, i am not running because i am women. but that i am not running to be the first woman president. and it was talked about whether they should talk about the gender speech, and when

president obama gave his landmark speech on race, she could not talk about it now. but that was the first time she tapped into what if she had won and been the first woman president. host: you write in the book that the casual approach was stunning, unlike the clinton's campaigns of the public would perceive a woman in high command, the mccain camp made a calculation based on gut feelings. guest: you have to remember what was going on in the campaign, obama looked ahead and mccain looked who to pick, he wanted to pick joe lieberman

where could there be obvious down sides. and he looked and saw this young, female governor in alaska, what they didn't think about in hindsight are some of the pitfalls that women candidates all over the country experience. one of the main ones is that they are scrutinized for their credentials and challenged if they are experienced enough to run. and that's what happened. host: later sarah palin is speaking at the tea convention, what does that tell you? guest: that she is not going away, and it could be that she

says she's got as good shot as host: she made a number of appearances including the oprah winfrey show. and the interview with katie couric. >> i have sources and alaska is not out of touch, believe me alaska is like the microcosim of america. >> obviously you read books and magazines, why didn't you name them? >> obviously i have, of course, all my life, i am a lover of books and magazines. and by the time she asked that question, i was annoyed 7çnd it was unprofessional to name those.

>> were you emotional? >> no, it was are you kidding me, and it was like she was undiscovering a nomaddic tribe, and asked me how are you paying attention to the world. i kind of rolled my eyes and thought this is the problem with the state of journalism today, no matter what i say, i will be twisted and perceived negative. host: anne kornblut, what was happening in that campaign at that point? guest: she noted that the problems happened just weeks after she was picked. and she said she was annoyed with the question, and politicians get annoyed with questions. and the same was true in her

debate preparation and getting ready for her interviews. other mccain aides who i interviewed said that she refused to prepare and built up resentment in the campaign. and many of those are still today, like the title of her book, "going rogue," that she had gone off the reservation and they made a mistake to pick her and she didn't understand how to run. and she failed to understand not preparing for these interviews, any step she would have an added layer. she was young, and a woman, and these were new things and would have to answer what books and

magazines she read and prove it, being a governor would not speak for itself. host: we will and twitter comments, it's twitter.com/c-span wg. by her conscious and not known and started to lose her bearings. guest: it was interesting she didn't have that many to provide that information, but a few said that she came in confident and knowledge-wise and her ability to perform. and especially with the katie couric interview she started to lose that talent, being in the

national glare, and ridiculed by criticism and even by tina fey that these would damage her. host: we have bob joining us. caller: good morning, you start the program out with leftist journalist, and you end with a leftist journalist. and i can prove this, and anything this woman would say about sarah palin, is not credible at all. these are msnbc hang-outs and the first two guests were msnbc hang-outs. host: caller, i have to disagree. caller: well, i don't care what you have to do. "the new york times" present

this gal, and how many books were o'reilly had and never reviewed. it's just a bunch of leftist garbage. host: so do you have a question for anne kornblut? caller: no, she's not qualified for a call. host: we have our next caller. caller: happy new year, i hate to follow that call. i want to give background and i am a strong supporter of secretary of state, hillary clinton. you can tell in my voice i am rather passionate. and i am also educated. and i am also middle class in my work experience and my wealth. and i am also very much a

supporter of civil rights. i was in fact for years a corporate recruiter working in affirmative action recruiting. so i don't want anyone to think that don't think that because i back or clinton that i'm racist right cannot think. -- or cannot think for myself. but after the iowa primaries, he went to new hampshire and at that time a woman of strong intelligence and skills was asked, how could she do it off? how can she worked as hard as she is doing to try to win and do everything she was trying to do? and she was caught off guard.

hillary was caught off guard by the question. . the whole world started saying that she was crying. host: we had that moment, so why don't we show what you're talking about. >> it is not easy, and i could not do it if i did not passionately believe it was the right thing to do. in no, i have so many opportunities in this country, i just want to see is all backwards. i don't. [applause] this is very personal for me. it is not just political or public. i see what is happening. some people think that the elections already gained, who is

up or who is down. it is about our country and our kids' futures. it is really about all that together. i'm out there again some pretty difficult -- and we do it each one of us because we care about our country. guest: that was one of the most compelling moments of the campaign. a lot of people rallied around the moment where she took up the cry. we now refer to it as the moment she cried. she tiered out or choked up. the day before that, she was in a debate in new hampshire and barack obama said to her about hurt likability. he said that, you are likable enough. he was joking, but he did not look at her. some of the women in new hampshire thought about was

dismissive. some women felt it was dismissive. in the choking up, there was a lot of media criticism that she was finished. and there was an uprising and many came from out of state, saying we won't stand for this. it was a moment when hillary clinton was a woman being dismissed and female voters wouldn't call for it. host: our next caller from virginia. caller: good morning, i have a question for your guest, it seemed to me during the campaign and primary, the main difference between president obama and hillary clinton was his vote on the war effort, he voted against it and she voted for it. i wondered if she felt that

played in her loss in the primaries. great question, and i would say absolutely it played into it. she had been thinking about running for president, many years, as far back as the barack obama war vote. and she thought and her advisors how she would be on national security. and not to say about her vote at that time, but that running as a democrat and a woman, she would have to demonstrate her toughness. and it's hard to imagine how things could have been different and been against the war and not have given obama the opening to run. host: the book is called "notes from the cracked ceiling," with hillary clinton's non-dry moment

as nonsincere, that i doubt. guest: she's not someone who enjoys showing weakness. i interviewed advisors after that moment, they thought it was over after that moment. their blackberry's going off at the moment. some of them that spoke to her afterwards, she said, i showed weakness, it's over, can i recover from this. but there was contrary that "a," she wasn't weak but "b," she seemed real. host: also you say that with a twist, her good looks were problematic in their own right

drawing attention but really was a liability. guest: it was so interesting, her attractiveness was what her appeal, and the hot vp buttons that many thought was fun.wa+ but quickly the nickname caribou barbie was taking off. in talking to strategists after the campaign was over, women that are attractive to the beauty queen level can suffer in the mind of voters of perhaps not up for the job. in michigan when running for governor, female voters said she was too pretty to be

governor. and they went back and re-shot her ads, and this was not how the clinton campaign, and then they combined her looks and then you wind up with a stereotype of a bimbo out shopping than preparing to be vice president. host: when and why did you write this book? guest: i started thinking it in the campaign to see the woman, yes, there were two women that ran. but ultimately they were losing, clinton had lost and then the mccain campaign. and when they both did lose, we

probably should exam what happened here, this is the first time that two women ran at this level. and there were many aspects that were gender related and when and if another woman runs down the road, we have a chance to see what is gender and something else. host: we will go to tony from florida on the republican line. caller: good morning, mrs. kornblut. most men in america did not vote for hillary clinton even if they were democratic, republican or independent. because she's unlikeable and perceived to hanging on to her husband that was an adulterer

and then you have sarah palin, and she's attractive. i think you are dead wrong that her attractability detracted from her capability to win. there are bright women that are capable, and you had a woman that was pro-life who thinks that abortion is killing babies. you had a woman who is 7!again homosexual marriages and you have a woman that was a born-again christian. these are attributes that anyone that is male or female in america. it's really that hillary clinton is pro-abortion and for

gays and lesbians. but you have sarah palin that has morals and value and beauty. guest: the caller makes two great points, attractiveness can be an asset, it doesn't have to be a negative. but it's usually among women in focus groups it's found that men are all for it, but it's female voters say that how çca she look so great and care for her job, i can't do it. it's not just sheer political terms, i am not saying that being pretty makes her less intelligent. and the other good point you made caller, party does often trump gender. they have found that very rarely people who disagree on social issues like abortion

cross over because of a woman on the ticket. it was never likely that the mccain campaign would pullover these. host: our conversation is with anne kornblut who writes for "the washington post" and before that worked for "the new york times" and "boston globe," her book called "notes from the cracked ceiling." we have robert joining us. caller: good morning, i agree with the gentleman that called about hillary clinton who voted for the war in iraq and also her husband. and senator palin, i think she's honest and would be a good candidate for the

republican party, and i think she would be a good candidate for them. for barack obama, i think that many americans are fighting not al-qaeda or the economy or the jobless situation, they are fighting barack obama because who he is. and they probably need someone who looks like them and i think they would be happier who is a republican. thank you. host: going back to robert's earlier point, do you think that sarah palin will run in 2012? guest: i am not going to try to get inside of her head, but i think it's possible and i think she's got a base, it wouldn't surprise me at all. host: we have oscar joining us from tennessee. caller: good morning, i was listening to a couple of the

most recent callers. the lady that mentioned from brentwood that mentioned the fact she didn't want to be considered a racist. being african-american who supported during the primaries, hillary clinton, i definitely would not, you know see anything against her support of hillary clinton. hillary clinton had a lot of african-american supporters. i don't think that would be an issue. but the one thing i want to ask the author, this whole phenomena of last callers pointing out that women can't win, itnus doesn't look like as long as we have this notion that because of gender there is something wrong with their candidacy. there is going to be something wrong. and it's kind of disheartening

because we are losing a lot of talent. a lot of committed individuals who happen to be woímo host: oscar, let me use your point and go back to what you included at the conclusion of your book. you quote secretary of state, hillary clinton, she appeared and said, i am not going to pretend that running for presidency is not daunting, it's difficult but there is a woman that will be able to achieve that. guest: she's been very cautious not only as secretary of state, but before she ran, when she got the question, can a woman win. she said, we don't know until we try. the caller makes a good point

there is something disheartening. before i covered the campaign, i thought of the challenges of women running. a lot of women in congress, and female house speaker and women on the supreme court. but when i did the research and looked at congress and looked at the numbers, i was surprised that it's less than one-fifth of women in congress. and some obstacles they faced. i too was disspirited in ways i didn't think i would be. host: one of those moments came in the debate from congress women ferrell from new >> let me help you with the difference. in iran, we were held by foreign

government. in lebanon, you have all 110 terrorist action for the government opposed it. >> i don't appreciate thinking you have to teach me. i was there when the hostage were taken in iran. i have seen what has happened in the past several months of your ministration. secondly, please don't categorize my answers. leave the interpretation of my answers to the american people who are watching this debate. >> an early example of what hillary clinton had to confront. all woman proving that she understands foreign-policy and has credentials. had an interesting interview with geraldine ferraro where she talked about her daughter and what it meant for her to run. and yet on super tuesday, she

spoke with her daughter and ask her if she voted, and asked her who she voted, and her own adult daughter had voted for barack obama. had voted for, she voted for barack obama, and she went crazy where her daughter represented this split, where some voted for hillary clinton and others did not. host: we have john joining us on the republican line. caller: good morning, i have been listening to ms. kornblut and she's called sarah palin a bimbo and gives hillary clinton the praise and says she's nonpartisan. the reason i think because you have the elites from the two coast, and then the center part of the nation.

and sarah palin represented the common-day person. this is a person that was a mayor of a town and got involved in a governship because of her own work and what she had done. and hillary clinton and barack obama had machines behind them. it was all theatrics, and that is what most of the campaigns are anymore, theatrics. host: tom, do you think that sarah palin should or will run in 2012? caller: i think she will try, when she announced her vice presidency, the press had set up lawyers to find anything. it will be insurmountable to overcome the press and the liberals on their attack on her.

host: but what is the difference of someone like sarah palin and you can go back to dan quayle that was relatively unknown or back to 1984 when geraldine ferrell, was there any difference? caller: not that much difference, but there was no old money behind her, and knew the nuances, a word from new york, that those people know the besñtricks of the game. host: good point. guest: i want to correct the caller, i am not calling sarah palin a bimbo. the point i was making is that people called her a bimbo in the campaign. i have taken a sympathetic look at her in this book i have

written. host: and her being on the stage, you go back in history, is there any difference between her and others? guest: former president bush was sitting there when the new was on, and he got the news and saw on the crawler screen who was picked. and just as surprised. and he said, she does not know what is about to hit her, and speaking from his own experience and his father's. and there was no one that could have survived it easily, it was going to be tough no matter what. host: he remarked was she the governor of guam. guest: no, he didn't. host: i think that was another

book. what surprised you from this book? guest: well for women to run, this surprised me. and we see this in obama as with hillary clinton. in looking at the campaign i was surprised that she reacted to one incident, about her daughter and there was a tv commentator who made a remark, that chelsea clinton was being pimped out. the clinton campaign had heard so much, and when senator clinton heard about this, she was very upset in a telephone call. one saying she cried. but it was one incident fairly late in the campaign, that got

her emotions started. and that was not something i expected. host: we have john joining us this morning. caller: hi, give me one second to get some perspective. i am a world war ii trooper, i jumped in normandy and jumped throughout, so i know what war is like. hillary clinton is not president today because she voted for the iraq war. she showed us what we have in politicians today. all they care about getting reelected. she didn't care she was voting to see g.i.'s to iraq to die or maimed for life. she only cared about precluding the -zvrepublicans from attack

her from being soft or terror or not voting on the war. and today this is why she's not president today and deserves not to be president. i was a supporter until that blatant cover-your-[beep] vote. guest: i would say that in every career there are those votes. i wouldn't get in her head about her emotions when she voted to authorize the nñwar in iraq. i know from her advisors that she's naturally hawkish on defense. we saw in this most recent afghanistan review policy, she % was an advocate to send more troops when others were not.

host: let me have you respond to this from your book, you palin, it wasn't that they just lost but in resounding devastating ways. their candidacies unleached strains of sexism that many thought were eradicated. guest: certainly, i thought they didn't exist and that we were past ridicule that they endured. when they covered their campaigns, i didn't think you could cover clinton and palin and find anything in common. but in fact the response o)zto them, the level of response and the intensity of the response, that they were so polarizing.

and i add if you look at the three most senior women in elected politics today, or the most visible. pelosi, clinton and palin, they are extremely polarizing. host: you wrote that they sold out to wall street, and let that stand. but she was good in campaigns. guest: she was with the president for eight years as first lady, and that gave her the stature to run in new york. and part of her fund-raising network was the part that she and her husband had been a team. and a lot of voters, not just

male voters but i heard from young female. we want someone who got there on their own, not through their husband. who didn't see her rise as part of her own attributes. and as the campaign went on and her husband made inflammatory remarks and he became a liability as well. host: our next caller. caller: good morning, steve. i would like to say a few things steve, and we will touch on women for sure. one as a non-hyphenated american, i would love to see condoleezza rice run, i would like to see her run and she's

pretty dark skinned. host: speak of condoleezza rise. guest: there are a lot of republicans that would like to see her run, i am doubtful because of how tough that is. and running for the presidency would be a huge leap. and she told me as she watched the campaign, she was not surprised to see obama pull ahead and win. she felt in this country we had crossed the bar on race, but on gender we still had pay -- still had a ways to go. and she said that it was tougher on her as a woman than african-american. but if i only had a quarter for said they wish that condoleezza rice would run.

host: go ahead caller. caller: i was on the the war where they were waving the flags, and some were castrated in the media by the college kids. i want to say one thing about hillary clinton, when it comes to walter cronkite i think he's got the blood of kids on his hands. and now let's get to hillary clinton. i worked in the post office in the early 80's, and there was a big push of affirmative action. and these programs were to be directed for male, blacks. to help keep the black families together and these male guys were at the post office and not able to percolate to the top. and in reality this is what

happened, we had college girls come in and with six months of education, but they were called a minority -- host: we only have a minute left, do you have a question for anne kornblut? caller: i wanted to point out that i really -- host: are you still there? caller: yeah, i am here, what happened is all of these girls, the females were getting these jobs and the blacks were not getting the jobs. even though they had so much more experience. believe me when you bring in inexperienced people, no matter how smart they are. it doesn't matter where, they are going to screw it up. host: thank you gary. guest: race versus gender, obviously identity politics has been a big deal for many

decades. host: one of the comments from our twitter page. guest: that is going to be one of the questions that she has to answer. last time it was a question about her credentials and qualifications. next time it will be about her commitments. conventional wisdom is that will take the right woman, and there is something to that. it will probably take some time. if not sarah palin in 2012, then it will be at least 2016 or even 2020, probably quite a ways off. host: and kornblut thank you for joining us.