host: we'll continue the conversation tomorrow morning. among our guests, christopher hainie with the national league of cities to take a look at how our cities are faring. dezzmond lackman with the american enterprise institute. and the value or the devaluation of the chinese currency, what it means for trade and jobs in the u.s. and around the world. and if he will isty baringer with the "new york times" will be joining us on the water useage especially in the southwest and its impact on reservoir levels and the environment. washington journal every day at 7:00 a.m. eastern time, 4:00 on the west coast. and on c-span radio. thanks for being with us on october 10. we're back tomorrow morning. enjoy the rest of your weekend and have a great week ahead. . .

>> today, president obama delivers remarks at a campaign rally in philadelphia. he will be there to support the democratic senate -- senate and the gubernatorial candidate for

it we will have that for you live at 5:30 p.m. eastern here on c-span. >> what are people watching on the cspan video library? you might be surprised. weather is the most viewed event today, the past week, over the zero -- for the past month. click on "most watched." watch what to what when you want. >> newsmakers is pleased to welcome the president of emily's list, stephanie schriock. raised thes list has $70 million for candidates synclines 355,000 members for their role is progress of women candidates. michael o'brien is with us and kyle trxad. the statistics suggest this

number was a record year for number of the milk candidates for house and senate and tied the record for governors but yet not record numbers moving on to the general election. what is the dynamic? >> it is definitely good news that we have more and more women running for office across the country. it is definitely clear that gender should not and is not an obstacle to leadership in this country. at emily's list, we work hard for 25 years making sure that every year is the year of the woman and we have a lot of wonderful candidates running for reelection this year as well as challenging incumbents around the country. we have seen a number of republican candidates, a number of republican women who ran but did not make it through the primaries. that is something to be said about what is going on in the republican party and how very conservative the nominees of the republican party have become to

get through those primaries. that is where we lost a lot of republican women. >> most experts agree that this will be a strong year for republicans. they think they could possibly win the house, they are hoping for the senate. that seems less likely. for democrats to combat that, it would seem they need to build up turnout. what is the emily's list strategy for getting democratic women to the polls this year? >> as with every year, it is women who really truly make a difference particularly for democratic candidates. we have seen a consistent gender gap in these elections for decades now. it is something that emily's list has been working on very, very hard, not just this year but in the years past. we just recently came out with a survey to talk to democratic women voters in particular, women who often votes in presidential years but did not vote in the midterm elections.

that is the so-called drop off voters. we found that on like other democratic voters you see in polling and what you have written about over the last month, the democratic women we have found are not angry. they are more discouraged. we also found that through these conversations with these democratic women that in fact they are hungry for information about the choices they are facing that want to know what the republican and democratic state candidates stand for. when we lay that out and walk through what those differences are, not only do they recommitted to vote for democratic candidates but they are more enthusiastic about voting on november 2. that is what emily's list will be working on very hard every day for the next three weeks. >> you said the word discouraged. you said republicans are trying to discourage women to vote this year. what do you mean by that? >> as we hear the constant

dialogue, a particularly amongst pundits all over the place, there is so much noise. none of it is talking to the concerns that are facing american women. american women, like all americans, are struggling to make ends meet and are not quite sure how to make sure they have enough money for child care, they're working full-time, they have very busy lives. all this back and forth and negativity and anchor that is particularly coming out of the tea party is not speaking to what they are dealing with everyday. i think that is something that is something that is discouraging women. and emily's list, we are very, very focused on having conversations with democratic women voters around the country to lay out a clear choice and to talk about how much we need them to vote this year.

>> i would like to ask specifically about two of the turnout initiatives you have. speak for may is the initiative targeting sarah palin and a new one this week, house and minority leader john behner. it is my understanding that these have led to increased volunteer rates and e-mail lists. kenya toggle little bit about how those are related to boosting turnout in this election? >> absolutely, over the summer as we were hearing more and more every night when you turned on the news about sarah palin and the candidates that she has in doors, we felt very strongly it was time to lay out the clear choice between the candidates sarah palin has in doors and the democratic candidates, particularly democratic women candidates around the country. when we rolled out "several dozen speak for mate." it was an education tool --"

sarah doesn't speak for me." it was an education tool. there has been an outcry of energy and desire to get involved in this election. we have gotten all kinds of volunteers who are committed to making phone calls to their neighbors and their friends to ensure they get out and about and lots and lots of folks pledging to vote because they want to make sure the delay as women that it is clear that s arah does not speak for them. they want to create jobs and they don't want to dismantle health care jobs or social security. it is about taking away our choices as women in this country. that is not what they stand for. the john behner america.org is the second part of that. it is about laying out a clear

choice that women in this country have this november. >> what do you make of the group of republican women who do seem to have sarah palin speak for them. you have sharon engel and christine out donald. is this a long lasting phenomenon? is this something that will continue as she looks at a presidential bid? >> i think it is very smutch something that will continue. we feel very strongly. we need more women to run for office in this country it is a quick reminder that only 17% of congress today are women. the majority of them are democrats. we need more women to run. positions and issues and politics matter. as we look forward into the months to come in the next three weeks, the position of sarah palin and endorsed candidate

sharon engel and cristina o'donnell, not only are they very extremis but they go against empowering women partn. when we convince women to get out and vote, we hope they will continue to vote for democratic candidates. >> national figures like sarah palin and john behner in the midterm, typically midterms are about local elections. how will this work for you to have a national campaign in the midterms? >> the national campaign itself is about energizing activists and volunteers around the country. this is to do exactly what you said which is to work in those districts. the campaigns this year will be fought out in each individual district and state.

the issues that are candidates are facing will be talked about and debated local library of that is where i think we have started to see movement in these races. betsy markey in colorado has had but she is onlyhait down three which is a huge improvement over the summer of. why is that happening? it is because she is a small businesswoman who can speak to the issues that voters are facing in our district and that election is about the issues in colorado. we will see that district by district. >> emily's list raised about $43 million for candidates in the 2008 cycle. what are you looking at this year and how exactly are you spending that money? >> in 2008, it was a great cycle for us and we raised and spent

$43 million credit went directly to candidates. we get that money directly to candidates. what we see this year is that we will do everything we can to get as much money out there as weekend. we are living in a recession so we have got more donors involved this year. our average contributions were down a little bit. we think that is a recession problem. we are about folks giving $50 or $100. we do bubble and get that money to the candidates. -- we do bundle and get that money to the candidates. the other piece of what we are committed to do emily's list is turn out the democratic women voters around the country. we do that through an independent program called women voters. we run fund programs and to

direct mail and to advertising that lays out the case for voters, particularly democratic women voters. we do both those things but we will do both those things right up until the polls close on november 2. >> in terms of resources, what about the prioritization? taking a look at the 31 house and senate candidates you have on our website and taking a look at the ratings released this week, you have two senate incumbents and eight house incumbents. you also have listed two senate candidates in democratic races and eight endorsed candidates and house democrats in state races. what is the strategy or wisdom behind this? many people in the marginal districts will need as much as -- support as possible. >> is a challenge that we deal with every day. our priority is to ensure as many of our pro-choice women

candidates as possible we also look for the opportunities where we can increase our numbers in congress. our focus now is very much on those candidates that are sitting in a tossup races. barbara boxer and barbara murray is something we look at every day. we will do independent and expenditure work in both of those states. we're looking closely at the house members who really are the fire wall of ensuring the majority does not slip away. that is where we prioritize. earlier in the year, we supported a number of candidates. one of our great success stories this year is to read sewell who ran in a primary in alabama earlier this year. she won the primary in her district.

that means there will be a woman representing alabama in congress for the first time and an african-american woman for the first time. >> how you handle a candidate like that after she has won the primary? she will still get resources from the group, obviously, but had you prioritize? how did things fundamentally change? >> in a case like hers, once we get to a place where they are more solidified in their base, we tend to ask our members to focus on those races that are much, much tighter. our membership has to make decisions of a look at the list of candidates and make a decision where they want their resources. we tend to focus everybody's energies on the races that are still incredibly tight lie.

kevin new hampshir -- like the new hampshire race. >> how did the citizens united decision affect emily's list of this year? >> it is very, very interesting pari. i knew when it happened we would see that start changing as we get closer to the election. i think we are saying. there is so much money coming into the chamber of commerce and through the karl rove group. we don't know who these folks are this has opened up some doors for a very, very large corporate checks and individual tax that we will not know where they are coming from. it is bombarding our members and democrats around the country.

in washington state, there is such a difference between how republican -- how much republican conservative money being spent against patty murray against what we are spending. it has opened up the floodgates. we are living it right now. >> i think that is true in many other states, too. we know there are so many republican group spending money this year. what other democratic groups are out there besides you guys? >> the labor union community has been amazing this year. they have released the up and gotten resources to educate their members and make sure the members turn out which is a huge piece of the work we need to do is democrats and also to counteract some of the spending. we do not have the same kind of resources as these very, very

large corporations. we just don't particularly in the economic environment we're in now. there are organizations like emily's list that depend on the $100 checks and we get some support from individuals around the country, but those individuals are dealing with the recession. they are looking at what wall street is doing. they're wondering how their stocks are doing. it is a different situation. that is the difference between the two parties. who will those parties represent once they get there? >> i want to ask a broad question about the impact of this election and what will look like on november 3. you have eight candidates who are in the house which is threatening to flip, who are in tossup district. let's assume they lose. >> do we have to assume that? [laughter] >> what is the impact on the

role of women in the house, abortion rights? if those of the candidates lose, what is the impact if republicans take control of the house? >> it is stark. which is why we will spend every day making sure that a number if not all of our families list endorsed candidates win this election. it is a really serious choice that american voters are faced with . what does that mean that john bender become speaker and his group of fairly extreme right wing republican candidates win? we have a candid and -- candidate running in an open state and he has literally said that he does not know how to create jobs. he said that is not his job to

create jobs started what does that mean? we have john behner talking about the need to create jobs and he has candidate saying that is not their role. there's a disconnect going on there. it is a huge problem. it is also about dismantling health care. they have made it clear in a republican side that they want to dismantle the health care reform. i want to remind everyone what the health care reform did for women in this country. it made it so we are not -- by virtue of being a woman -- it happened on the senate side that you think to the debate that happen one year ago. i remember seeing senator john kyle coming to the floor and saying we should not pay for maternity coverage because i don't need maternity coverage. senator dick stabinow said yes

but i think you're women occupied -- i think your mother did. without that perspective in the house, the policies that we are adopting and we are passing are not going to represent the population. that is what it means. >> women are democratic women on the floor of the senate or house? >> democratic women have fought very hard for things like maternity coverage. they have really fought to ensure that women have choices in their life particularly in their reproductive health. i think about the women who fought hard to ensure that the very first bill i got her was lillie ledbtter fair pay act and that is because there were lots of democratic women who fought hard to make that happen. >> your announcement was written

about this week. they said there was over 100 women running on the gop ticket but has not stopped emily's list from portraying republicans as chauvinistic. there are women participating in that party. >> at emily's list, we want to make this clear -- it is not about the policy. it is about the policy is that empower women to raise their families the way they want to raise their families and to have careers or not have careers, to figure out the work/life balance that so many women are dealing with today. it is very much about the policies. we have a set of republican candidates around the country who want to lessen the ability for women of this country to

make their own choices. >> barbara boxer and patty murray, will we see them back in the senate next year? >> i believe so. they have done such an amazing job of representing the voters of their state and the people of their states. at the end of that day, californians and washingtonians will go to the polls and put them back and of us that they can keep doing the work they are doing for their home states. >> as we are sitting here, one of the political stories on the internet today is an audio tape from jerry brown's campaign. you are familiar with this. an aide to jerry brown suggests that a brand at maggot whitman as a quarter for a policy position -- whore for her policy position. >> it is just wrong.

it is inappropriate. >> does it change the perception of women in politics? what is the ramification when words like this are used in a public forum? >> they just should not be used anywhere by anyone. it is not what our democracy is about to is unfortunate to hear this any place. >> are you intending to speak out against the use of the word is? >> i will make it clear that it is inappropriate. we have a lot to do to focus on a lot of our incumbent women running for reelection. that is where we will keep our focus. he should apologize. >> final questions? thei want to look at

candidates, the crop of some of the republican women. who would you most like to see when from your crop of republican women and who would you most likely to see lose? which republican woman would you most likely -- like to see lose. >> we will be focused on reelecting our pro-joyce democratic women, barbara boxer, patty murray, other house members we have talked about. i would like to make sure we elect a woman running for governor in florida. but this is something we're focused on and we really want to see the democrats maintained a majority in the house and senate. i hope that we can do everything we can to make sure that the democratic women get out to both in all districts around the country. we are about pro-choice democratic women at emily's

list. >> there was a top 10 most vulnerable incumbent less. five of the top 10 are freshmen democratic women. you mention betsy markey and others. if you were there campaign manager, what would you tell them to talk about with less than one month ago? how can they win? >> we will tell them that they're doing a great job we had such success in 2008 getting a number of women elected. the first re-election is always the toughest and in this, i meant it is particular topic is about jobs, is about the economy, it is about representing the people in the district. all of them that you mentioned have done exactly that and i think you'll see many of them coming back after this election. >> is their tv advertising from

families list and some of these districts? >> you have probably seen some already and we are hoping to do as much as we can. >> that is the fourth time and thank you for being with us. >> it has been a pleasure. newsmakers is back. after talking to stephanie schriock of emily's list, i am wondering, we heard her talk about her desire to get women out to the polls this year. how big a cellist does the organization face with the mood of the electorate? >> it is tough. it is an off year. this is the midterm spread less people are interested in voting. it is harder in general to get people out you are right, it is bad out there and every had lied in the newspapers is republicans

are doing very well. think back to stimulating votes, the question is, will women's issues be something that drives turnout? that is something we will have to wait and see. the thing that turns elections are independent voters. are these independent voters going to be going to the polls and voting for democrats? >> you can bet that from the top down that the white house, the democratic national committee have been focused on these women voters, especially first-time women voters from the 2008 cycle. they think bringing them back to the calls this time is really going to be key to stopping losses or minimizing them. they are one of the most targeted groups. the official democratic party is trying to get them turned out. groups like emily's list will

provide a really big assessed to those efforts. we will see in about a month whether or not it stops some of those losses. >> two things happen for the white house this week, the first lady was named the most powerful lady on forbes' list and the white house announced they will put her on the campaign trail she will do some independent stops. how big a drop will the first lady do for the kind of voters that emily's list is trying to attract? >> i think they're looking for suppose the moms. the arm are many races around denver. i think michelle obama could bring out some of those voters. maybe it will be harder this year. certainly, polls showed she is even more popular than her husband. >> she has an extraordinarily >> she has an extraordinarily large dry and the