>> thank you for your time. there is no shortage of questions that are being asked. the first question, what did you learn from the results last night, and alice is going to affect your strategy for november? >> we are still looking through this and we will be learning for some time from these results. the case is that americans are wanting change, and this was a critical part of the election of barack obama. people see improvement in the economy, but they want to continue to see changes made. . .

>> the right strategy is to give the country a lift. let's just attribute it to a challenging economic tide. the solution is good policy, good results. the charts that to happen retable show significant job losses turning to job increases. the job losses are still volatile. we continue to demonstrate that and further that trend,

americans will feel like they are getting the country back that they want long term. >> you made a reference earlier to special elections. why do democrats seem able to win special elections while democratic governors and senators seem to lose. [laughter] >> i wouldn't say always. we want six special elections in a row in congress including some extremely republican districts. we had a three-month that stretch and won that i was personally interested in. we also had that senate race in massachusetts. there are lessons to learn from those. it is a volatile time. when people are hurting, the electorate is volatile and that means that people will want to see change. the same passion for change that animated people for president obama, people still look for as they go to the booth.

we got a message about being able to deliver change. if you want to continue to see change, you have to put people in who are willing to do some heavy lifting to bring change about. >> let's take a look at the most recent special election from last night. the democratic winner in pennsylvania opposed health-care reform. he is pro-life and pro-begun. -- and pro-gun. >> one of the signature issues in the rise was the issue of health reform. mark critz has said he might cut -- might not have voted for the bill originally. there is a sharp difference of in the candidates on this issue. mark critz said no. he said we need to make sure it is implemented well. the republicans really made that

race a referendum on the president but also on whether repeal of health care reform would be a signature issue that could drive these elections for. in a district that was favorable to them, that message did not carry the day. i think that is a very helpful lesson to learn going into november. >> you made reference to date republicans being stats geeks. when a respected national polls reportedly show enthusiasm gap of 20 points between democrats and republicans in terms of voting in november, what do you do about that perceived lack of enthusiasm among democratic voters this time around? >> let me offer counter evidence. in pennsylvania last night, everybody thought that would be a dead heat.

republicans were pretty sure there got would win. we did not win by five points, we won by nine points. in the kentucky primaries yesterday -- rand paul, the winner got your votes than the loser of the democratic primary. it was the democrats who were energized in kentucky. in virginia, we lost the governor's race in for -- in december. we have to wrestle with the energy question which is always a challenge in midterm elections when the president is not on the ballot. the turnout would be lower for both parties. the results of last nine in kentucky and pennsylvania and the trends we have seen in the other states suggest the issue of the health care reform. that energy is coming back strong and the democrat side. >> given the lack of enthusiasm

in the democratic base and the anti-incumbent bias, does the victory last night in pennsylvania improve the chances of democrats winning the seat in the fall? >> i have not looked at the polling about americans voting in november. i'm not sure what the polls would said. the democratic pennsylvania voters as they were voting for two candidates who supported the president on key issues. they certainly had differences but in terms of the support for the change of agenda, those candidates were in the same spot i think they will be energized in november. we will do all we can to help them. >> gallup polls are showing a generic 5% democratic advantage over the republicans. could 2010 put conventional wisdom on its ear and show

democrats caving seats in 2010? >> [laughter] >> there have been many polls. one shows that there has been a trend month-to-month showing there had been a paper bill take, maybe 6% in may republican-controlled congress. we would rather have people who are fighting to get the nation back and people -- rather than people who don't give solutions. we want to find a passport. a policy that says no to everything doesn't work too well with american voters. as voters see the economy continued to improve, they will reward the democrats who have been willing to do tough things politically. i will not predict the number of seats we will gain or lose.

beyond that, i will say no more. [laughter] >> you say peoplegwoñ don't sty mad? >> yes i don't think they do. my experience in virginia where i was in politics for 16.5 years and the place where you make people mad as, i was a council member. you make people mad and local office, but what i find is there are very few one-issue type boaters. make them mad but you tell them why you did it and the next day you have another issue. the issue of populism in the united states is instructive. populism movement in the united states driven by anger and focused on the anchor tend to peter out because while economic challenges can make is anxious and every time, we are not fundamentally angry people. we are optimistic people.

that is what folks want to see and their elected officials or they want to see the positive spirit that can start a band of fans in the right direction rather than through doom and gloom and anger. i am still a glass half full guy. [laughter] >> one person who has made people mad is house speaker nancy pelosi. had you planned to employ her on the campaign trail? are there any specific districts you plan to avoid? >> you would have to look a long time that's because of the u.s. house of a representative to find somebody who has been if as effective in working with her majority. when you think about what the house did with respect to climate,+g"z economic recoveryd especially with respect to health care, that was legislative leadership in a very remarkable and memorable way.

i have my own theories about why the republicans often like to make thetsh speaker an enemy. she has done a very effective job especially in a democratic caucus that is extremely broad. we're a broad party. xnl+we÷ are not narrowing ideologically. we are expending. -- expanding. that is a tough job and she has done a good one. i should give her praise for that special and last but because the house democrats have "a track record when the special elections and she gets a lot of credit. >> what role should president obama play in the congressional elections this fall? >> we would love as much of his time as he can devote. he has issues that he has to deal with. we are absolutely thrilled that

the president has been willing to go out and go to bat for candidates. he and i have done events together for the dnc. once the primary season finishes, there is a pretty good chunk of primaries in june and some as late as september. you will see the president the some of the in involved on behalf of candidates. rule number one for the president is that the best politics is good policy if in a time of national urgency, if you do the right thing and do the heavy lifting to get the nation growing, that is the best kind of politics there is. voters will reward people will do it and punish those who decide to stand on the sidelines. >> one of the issues that came up in the arkansas primary race was organized labor's disorganization -- dissatisfaction with blanche lincoln's position.

what can the dnc do to improve its relationship with organized labor? >> i feel good about the relationship with organized labor that i have in my earlier life as an elected official at the dnc. i can set aside about organized labor as any group that is passionate about the democratic party. because of our ideology and we don't throw people over the size for their views on taxes, we have a breadth there that means our constituents will agree with us a higher percentage of time than others. we want to be a broad party and inclusive. it is the genius of our party. others, there will be candidates they might like better than others, but i think all of us in the democratic family are very content with the notion that we

are a good party. if the other guys want to get narrower, we will let them. politics is about addition not subtraction. >> one frequent criticism has been to take aim at the obama administration and call it socialism. how should the white house and congressional democrats respond to such characterization? >> the people like to throw labels around. for most thinking americans, throwing back and of little around does not hurt us. it suggests and extremism and ideological rigidity which is not where most americans are. we are problem solvers. a party that relies on throwing cooperate might get a kentland but they are not going to get support of people. in each of the policies, we need to lay out where we are. the policies on the stimulus,

congress is left court, right, and center. one of the reasons we are growing is because of the stimulus. you can look at folks who work on these issues and point out that the policies that have been taken are kind of in the mainstream of innovative policy solutions on the health care side. the health care bill as an awful lot to a republican promoted health care bill from the early 1990's that senator bob dole was one of the key architects of. we will promote smart solutions to these problems. if the other guys want to rely on labels rather than roll up their sleeves and actually help us govern a nation at a time when government is needed, does an abdication of responsibility but that will not help their case by doing it. >> how will the democratic party

persuade doubters? that obama is not addicted to big government? >> first, the president in february 1 month after he was inaugurated, he rolled out his first series of program cuts and eliminations to try to deal with this issue. he said he would go through the federal budget blind and go through different ways to deal with the budget. the president working with secretary gates has waged a successful battle to cancel a number of obsolete weapons systems that had some political appeal but nevertheless needed to be canceled to deal with the deficit. the president went to congress in his state of the union speech and ask them to join together on a republican idea, a nonpartisan deficit commission to get hold of the deficit and wrestle with bringing it into control. the republican sponsors of the bill failed on the bill and voted against it and defeated

but they did not defeat the president will to deal with the issue. that commission is working hard on working deficit reduction and they will implement proposals from the commission going forward. in recent times, it has only been democrats who have ever effectively dealt with deficits and it will be democrats who will deal with deficit concerns today. >> you are still dealing with deficit levels right now that would obliterate the standards from previous administrations. how do democrats hold their coalition together when by fight over policy priorities are

fighting over a potentially smaller pie? >> that is a challenging question. had you accomplish what you want in a time when you have belt- tightening for datasets? the president has advisers on this who worked in state government. every governor had to do this as governor. as a democratic governor, i had to take $9 billion out of and $80 billion over the years and i have constituencies who cared deeply about the future of the state. democratic constituents do not mind a message of making things balanced. they understand that. the administration is filled with folks who had to do the same kinds of things when they were in those positions. democratic constituencies have issues that are important to them, but they understand overall fiscal health of the nation needs to be done to sustain prosperity. those decisions are tough but

they are not impossible. the president has shown he can make our decisions. >> given these constraints, did president obama overpromise when he said he could change the way business was done in washington? >> the president did promise that. he said not only would he do good things, but he would do things differently. i think the president is converting on that promise although he would be the first leg knowledge there is much, much more to be done. the example is that in his campaign he took an unusual position which was that he would not accept dollars from lobbyists. we have continued that the dnc. when we walked in the door but we continue to break that mold.

whether it is focusing on issues like that or focusing on being a very transparent about visitors to the white house immediately posting who is visiting the white house, whether it is focusing on reforms that will be before the senate with respect to campaign finance reform and other reforms, more transparency and -- in financial transactions, this president is promoting a transparency, more citizen participation in government. there is still more to do. you cannot do everything in the first 50 months but the president is true to his word and pursuing that aspect of the campaign. >> given the united or near- united opposition of republicans to most of the president's legislative programs, what purpose would for their efforts of further bipartisan outrage serve? -- out of reach serve? -- out reach serve?

>> the president will continue and all democrats should continue to hold out a hand to republicans. we are in a time of national emergency and that is what voters and expect. they want to see us work together. it is like winston churchill in world war two. the two sides had to come together to solve problems. i am not naive but i am still stunned as to the degree to which the republican party in the midst of the worst recession to stand on the sidelines and say no to everything. i would think there would be a patriotic call to work together to get the economy growing again. the president should continue to do it and so should democrats. we should not be chasing after republican votes and diluting what is the best thing to do in the hopes we may get them. awe should be listening to republicans.

we should be listening to citizens of all stripes and including the good ideas in what ever we do. it is a good idea like financial reform or immigration reform or energy, whether ideas are good or bad, we will listen. we don't need to chase people who will ultimately vote against us anyway. >> there is a narrative her that you will hear expressed about the 1994 elections in which the democrats lost control of both houses of congress that stated that president clinton became a more effective president after the democrats lost control. he struggled with larger democratic majorities. he was able to triangulate and move toward a more centrist position and become a more effective leader. given the problems that president obama had had moving his agenda through a democratic congress, would there be benefits to reduced democratic

majorities or even a republican controlled house in 2011? >> no, there would not. [laughter] [applause] i am sure that is a news for the statement by -- [laughter] the reason is that we ne to do heavy lifting. we are in a tough, tough time. who will do the heavy lifting? is it folks who have been doing a, who have turned the economy around? or will it be the folks who put it in free fall and have been against all the policies? the notion of benefit to stopping and going back in the ditch will not be the way that takes the nation forward. i think anytime there is a loss like the laws in massachusetts, any time there is a loss, you should try to learn something from it. if you are not getting better

after a loss, you are doing something wrong. we all face losses because things don't go away in any walk of life. after the loss of the massachusetts senate race, that was a critical time on health care where people who were supporters of the president were divided. do you make the group's smaller tax know, you need to do those things you campaigned for. the president wrestled with what the message was and he decided to do what he told people he would do. we try to learn from these situations, but i think the complete different positions that the two parties have been in in washington, one party will do the unpopular things to get the economy out of the ditch and one party has been saying no, demonstrates that the stakes are high. we have to be successful. >> we have several policy

questions. noting the anti-incumbency mood for this year's election in the countr and your experience as a governor who was limited to one term, what is your feeling about the congressional term limits and candidates who pledged to serve only a set number of terms? >> i am not a congressional term-limit proponents. the experience i have seen in state legislatures that have tied term limits is an absence of long-term vision and expertise. )6and that will lead states to e run much more poorly than when you allow expertise and long- term vision ratified by the electorate to four-year cycles. the results from states with term limits suggested would be a bad idea for congress. with respect to people who

pledged to serve a certain number of terms, that is a factor that voters should consider it if the budget up front and violate their pledge, that would be one thing voters should wrestle with. they would determine whether the individual has been an effective member of congress or not. that is a factor that people should wrestle with. i am not in favor of term limits. >> what do you see as the major issues that will be deciding elections in november? >> we are climbing a ladder. when you think about a decade where dell was essentially no job growth in this country, we have not seen that decade, that i know of, since 16 07 fax we have not i have to amend it from 1932-

1940 but it has been paid and very unusual decade. you see widening gaps between majority and minority families and household wealth. that is what the decade was. in november, what is at stake is let's put that behind us. we are not where we want to be but we are moving forward. the issue is, do we want to move forward or backward? do you want to go backward? i guess there may be a segment that wants to go back. i cannot imagine that that segment is that big effort we went through. that will determine a sense of momentum and promise and a willingness to do heavy lifting. there's a willingness to do that now. that will be the key issue that we will wrestle with in november. >> what do you expect a democratic congress to

accomplish by november? >> wall street reform will be acted on by the senate soon and will go to the house and i suspect you will see significant reform done very this bill is one that is improving as it goes. other ideas are coming in. it is on clear as to what republicans might do on cloture votes, but their ideas being conned treated. -- being contributed. there'll be a decision by the supreme court to curb egregious corporate spending in elections. the white house is wrestling with two important policy issues which are the need to find a stable climate and energy policy going forward and the need to reform the nation's immigration laws. those are the two significant domestic issues on the table.

the current bill has passed the house and is in the senate for that bill would expire when the new congress comes in. they are wrestling withcnv that. the immigration issues are huge. could either of those get done? those are decisions i will not make. those are decisions that members of congress and white house are making, but they are both huge issues occupy significant amounts of the president's time. you will continue to see congress wrestle with very &/important issues on foreign policy. they will continue to work in raq and a chemist and to support the president's effort in anti-terrorism. -- they will continue to work in iraq and afghanistan to support the president's effort in anti- terrorism. >> we have not received a single question on foreign policy. is that not sell it? >> not even agree to death has come up. -- not even a great debt has come up.

-- not even greek death has come up. --debt has come up. i think americans have reason to be proud of the accomplishments of this administration on foreign policy everything from the start treaty with russia to the great work the secretary clinton and others announced yesterday at the u.n. to get the other permanent security council members to come together on a sanctions policy that will hopefully put iranian nuclear ambitions and check to the work i mentioned earlier with respect to the pakistani government making key arrests that they would not make under previous administrations because we were not doing diplomacy. what a novel concept, good diplomacy can make your nation stronger!

people are so focused on the economy is the november but the republicans do not have a valid critique and anything to do with foreign policy. >> you made reference to the supreme court's campaign finance reform decision. how is that decision affecting plans for this fall's elections? >> there are two things we are doing to counter the decision which we think is a significant re-writing of president. congress is working on a way to reform laws with respect to campaign finance contributions. the potential reforms would be to have corporations and other officials have to appear in ads and say they had found the ads or to require shareholder votes for certain kinds of corporate contributions.

what we are doing is we are trying to dramatically increase the number of individuals who contribute individually to the dnc. i will not give you my web page and phone number but i will say that we have been able to dramatically increase our fund raising -- fund-raising at the dnc. last year, we raised more than we had before. it is off of individual money because they are convincing individuals that it is not lobbyists that fund the dien say. -- that funded the dnc. the small donors have enabled us to be successful. we hope the congressional reform plus a dramatic increase in the number of individual donors to the dnc will help us counter what we think could be significant consequences of the ruling.

>> given the oil spill in the gulf of mexico, but aren't democrats opposing governor of dolls efforts to open virginia waters for drilling? >> the policy was that we were open to exploratory drilling, not production drilling, for natural gas 50 miles off the shelf. the federal moratorium is a cost-benefit analysis there was a conclusion that the cost exceeded the benefits. we felt that was done some time ago. there is no real way to calculate benefits without having some sense of what is out there. in a limited way, we expressed the state policy for exploratory drilling to determine what the natural gas reserves corporate we felt with that information that we could make a broader

decision. we talked significant slip -- concerns expressed by the navy and nasa. i am fine with export trade and i expect many democrats in virginia are the same way. -- i am fine with the exploratory issue and i expect many democrats in virginia are the same y. >> audience members want to know where the 2012 democratic convention going to be held? [laughter] >> as soon as i announced that, nobody will be nice to meet in other cities so i am holding off on that. [laughter] the democratic process is that we are in preliminary discussions with a number of cities and i do not believe we will have an announced convention location until late this year or early 2011. we are deeply involved in discussions with a number of cities. keep those cards and letters coming. [laughter]

>> we're almost out of time but before asking the last question, there are a couple of important matters. let me remind our members and guests of our speakers on friday, may 21. we have ted leonsis who will speak at a luncheon on sports and technology. rlon may 26, we will have barba bush, the younger, the president of the global health corp. and the daughter of george w. bush will speak about the extra in disparity in health care between the world's rich and poor. on june 7, will the brent scowcroft, who will be presenting four journalism awards. our second item is the traditional presentation to our guests of -- the national press club mud. [laughter] [applause] mug.

our final question -- yesterday was an interesting day, a landmark day in the campaign of 2010. you mentioned being a stats geek and political science seems to become more of a size with each passing election cycle. given your data and do you are in touch with, what still surprises you about how campaigns play out? what surprised you about yesterday? >> i sleep pretty well and less on my -- i'm a voter in the state where it is being cast, i cannot do much about it. i did not know until earlier today that the conduct the primary -- that the kentucky primary drew more votes for the

democratic losers than the republican winner. that tells me something about democratic energy that is different than what some are saying. what is heartening about politics these days is that we're a nation of 305 million people. many people feel in a nation of that size that one person cannot really have an effect. we tried to organize the campaign and now we are trying to organize our efforts at the dnc so that we really take a 50- state model that howard being put in place. i said you did not have to be a campaign staffer for your efforts to matter. we made that work with respect to elections. even in a nation of 305

million, with television ads and everything being expensive, we can make the same thing work in the contest -- in the context of making policy. we demonstrated that in health care reform by engaging americans on a personal level. for as big as we are and with all the technologies, it is still about the person to person connection. if it ever -- if we ever lose that, i will find another line of work to be inverted it is the person to person connection that makes us work for the people. i am continually surprised at how we can use new technologies to create a person to person connection and engage people who never thought they would have the power to be meaningfully in gauged in policy decisions. >> thank you for your time. >> thank you very much. [applause]

thanking our speaker, we would also like to thank the national press club0ñ]d staff includings library and broadcast operations center for organizing today's event. for more information about joining the national press club and on how to acquire a copy of the program today, go to our website at www.press.org. thank you for coming today and this meeting is adjourned. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2010]

[general chatter] [general conversation] >> today, former secretary of state madeleine albright. also, the republican whip erick kanter and a look at the global economy with a calmness. "washington journal" begins live at 7:00 a.m. eastern time on c- span. >> in some ways, every senate gives you a sense of what the country is thinking at that moment. >> atc journalist looks behind the institution of the u.s. senate, the upper house, sunday on cspan sundayq &a. >> cspan, our public appears

content is available on television, radio, and online. you can also connect with us on twitter, facebook, and youtube and son are scheduled a large e- mails at c-span.org. >> yesterday morning, mexican president felipe calderon and his wife arrived at the white house for a state visit. it was greeted by president obama and the first lady and other dignitaries. [no audio] [no audio]

>> the white house hosted a state dinner last night for the mexican president. there was a four-course dinner. here is the scene as the president and first lady welcome president felipe calderon and his wife. we will also show you last night's traditional toast. this is 15 minutes.

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[applause] [applause] >> the microphone was turned off. ok. michelle and i are extraordinarily honored as we host you, the most -- nine most important as we host the president of mexico. and his wife. i'm sorry, please be seated. we welcome them and the mexican delegation for our second state dinner here at the white house. tonight, la casa blanca.

[applause] [laughter] [spanish trasalation] [laughter] >> with our business and mexico, the first lady has treated me and the shell to a celebration of mexico's rich heritage including the anthropology museum and some marriott to. tonight, we celebrate the bonds we share as neighbors and friends. [spanishtkl translation]

>> we celebrate all but mexico and its ancient civilizations have given the world throughout history, from its architecture and astronomy, mathematics, medicine, and of course, it's very good food. , including the foot of the gods, chocolate. [spanish translation] >> as mexico marks the bicentennial of its independence and the centennial of the revolution, we celebrate a proud people who have defined their own destiny, patriots in the arts and literature and science and like united states, a pretty good soccer team. [laughter]

[spanish translation] [applause] [laughter] >> we celebrate all but mexican- americans have contributed to the united states, leaders in every segment of our society including many guests here tonight. they have a cultural treasures family and faith, indeed america is in which to -- is enriched. [spanish translation]

>> and we celebrate the partnership between our two countries. mr. president, i must say it again, in the fight for your country's future, you have shown extra and courage, extra margaret ray, -- extraordinary courage. [spanish translation] >> as we look to the future, i am reminded of all the young people who have become part of this. the chillum a mexico city awaiting american flights, the students who shared their dream with michelle, and the very excited kids did a exercise today. [spanish translation]

bee>> each of those children haa dream. we know that it is not enough in life to what a dream. there is an extraordinary writer who wrote in one of his poems, "you must deserve your dream." [spanish translation] >> and so mr. president, i propose a toast to the dreams of our children.

[spanish translation] >> together, may we realize those dreams and together may we deserve them by going forward in partnership and respect. cheers, salut. [spanish translation] [no audio] >> good evening.

[spanish] your access and sleek, mr. barack obama, president of the united states, mr. -- mrs. michelle obama and lettuce and gentleman -- [spanish] -- ladies and gentlemen -- i thank president barack obama and michelle and also to the people from the united states of america for your invitation and the generous hospitality with which we have been welcome during this visit. [spanish]

your courtesy, mr. president, and that we have received from the first lady honors the french ban partnership that brings our people together. [spanish] today i have once again seen that we share the hope to turn this relationship between the people from the united states of america and the people from mexico into an example of how much can be achieved among neighbors when working together under the guidance of common ideals such as peace, security, prosperity, freedom, and democracy.

[spanish translation] today, we promote the agreement and the actions and cooperation that are countries in need in order to face the new challenges to benefit fully the enormous advantages as a result of the neighbors and the long borderline that unites us. [spanish trbnslation] today, mexico and the united states are immersed in a new stage of cooperation and we base our efforts in the principles of

shared responsibility, mutual respect, and trust. [speaking spanish] [english translation] we fully understand that our joint work as a direct impact in both populations, in its well- being, we are neighbors, we are partners, we are allies, and we are also friends. [speaking spanish]

[english translation] i have said this and allow me to repeat it -- we work with a certainty of what is good for the united states of america is good for mexico and if we understand this% ! at the se what is good for mexico is good for the united states. [speaking spanish] english translation] [applause] we congratulate the people of the united states of america for having a president like president 0 barack obama with his leadership [applause]

it is also very positive and good for us and at the same time we also congratulate you mr. president for having a wife and first lady like michelle obama. [applause] [spaeking spanish] [english translation]

thank you for your hospitality and friendship. [laughter] >> i like the phrase that you must deserve your dreams. i don't know if you and me to serve dreams but both of us have dreams. of those dreams are related with our people and we fight every day in order to deserve those dreams and we will reach them. [applause] [speaking spanish]

[english translation] i ask you now to raise your glass in a toast to both great nations. >> in some ways, every cent goes through a sense of what the country is thinking at that moment. >> d.c. journalist terence samuel looks behind the tradition of the u.s. senate sunday on cspan's q &a. >> i offer a toast, a commitment on behalf of the american people, a seriousness, good will, and hope for the future. general secretary and mrs.

gorbachev, to your health. >> over 20 years of white house state dinner is from ronald reagan to barack obama at every program since 1987 at the cspan video library. it is washington your way. watch what you want when you want. >> here is a look at today's schedule. "washington journal" is next followed by our live coverage of the u.s. house and later, congress holds a joint meeting to hear a speech by visiting mexican president felipe calderon. live coverage here on c-span. and in about 45 minutes, for secretary of state madeleine albright who chairs the nation -- the nato strategic group which has made no recommendations about the future of the nato alliance. also on the program, the republican whip erick kanter and a look at the global econom