-- >> wisconsins feature is on the line for the race for governor. your vote will decide who leads our state. tonight, a democratic candidate -- it is all part of the up front town hall challenge. now, from the new hall of marquette university law school in milwaukee. .onight's moderator [applause]

i am a journalist who works at the law school, exploring public policy issues with the public policy program "upfront." this is our second conversation with the candidates. in august, which hosted the republican candidates in the gubernatorial primary. tonight, it is the nominees, the democratic candidate tom barrett, mayor of milwaukee, and scott walker, the county executive. i will be asking questions for roughly the first 15 minutes in a free-flowing conversation, and then we will begin taking questions from citizen groups around the state. the citizens were recruited based on their participation in their local communities. we found them by reading letters to the editor and attending city

council meetings. they are republicans, democrats, independents. they are asking questions that all agreed on. we want to thank them for their participation in advance. some are in the audience tonight. dan jones from milwaukee public television channels 10 and 36 is giving questions from our internet and viewers from wisn.com and others. the rules are simple. this is a conversation. the viewers tell us they want to hear more than talking points. we have 90 minutes, but the time will go by quickly, so we are asking candidates to answer questions as quickly and concisely as possible. at times, and may follow up or

simply move on. candidates may speak directly to each other, although i will be playing the role of traffic cop. our goal is for candidates to address the issue citizen groups raise and to hear more about how they would attack some of the challenges the state faces. each candidate will have a one minute closing statement. we ask the audience to refrain from any applause. we tossed a coin for order of questions tonight, and mr. barrett will go first. this is a college campus. there are students in the room with us tonight and people around the state watching, so i would like to speak directly to the young folks. why should they plan a future in wisconsin? why shouldn't they go somewhere where temperatures are warmer, and the employment opportunities are greater. >> i cannot do much about the weather, so i will take a pass on that. i want my four kids to grow up

here. i want them to get a good education. i want them to have jobs so they can support their families. i want them to take care of me when i get old. most people in this state want their kids to stay here. the reason is there will be opportunities and there are opportunities. we all recognize this is a tough time economically, but my message is we are going to get through this. we have gotten through this before. there have been difficult times for america and wisconsin. we are going to battle through it. one of my major concerns is the priorities. education is a priority in this state. there are a lot of young people in the state concerned about education. we have a $2.70 billion structural deficit. the next governor is going to interrupt the structural deficit. that means it is going to be difficult for scott or me to fund education, and education is the key to success. i think we all recognize that.

scott has talked about tax cuts that are not aimed at the middle class, at working people, of $1.80 billion. my concern is if he is successful in getting those tax cuts through it will be harder for the young people to get education. the big challenge we have right now -- all you have to do is look at minnesota. they have around $5,000 per capita different from us in that state. 32% of its residents have a college degree. here, only 26% do. we have to make sure the young people here have education so they can support their families. >> like the mayor, i have two sons, one who is playing football in a few minutes. hopefully i will have a chance to see the second half of that. i have a junior and a sophomore. i am concerned about their education now and the cost and effectiveness of staying in wisconsin. i want them to get education in wisconsin. i want them to stay.

i have been around this campus. i was -- i have been to nearly every campus around the state. when i talk to young people, i ask for a show of hands. how many are seniors? how many have a job lined up? unfortunately, the hands go down, almost all of them. nearly every campus, most of the juniors and seniors do not see jobs on the horizon. i tell them that is why you have to pay attention to the race for governor. it is not just about tuition or drinking age, like we often talk about on college campuses. it is about what is going to put us in a position to have more jobs when they are out of college two years down the road. the last few years, the policy has taken us down the wrong path. unfortunately, tom barrett is talking about the essentially same policies that have failed us. that is the fundamental difference.

we have a great state. we have great employers, a great work force, natural resources. most of the businesses i talked to -- i got a brown bag lunches today. a lot of businesses are ready to put people to work but are afraid of what the government is going to do next. if you get government out of the way, i am convinced the plan to create 250,000 jobs will be kicked off once we send a clear message. people in college today need hope there is going to be a job a year or two down the road. >> i hear both of you saying you think you are the guy who can get us there, who is going to turn things around. that is understandable. let me ask you each a question. based on events that have been in the news recently, i will come back to you. the u.s. census bureau came out with a report that said milwaukee is the fourth poorest big city in america after detroit, cleveland, and buffalo.

you want to be the guy who is going to lead us into prosperity. should that be a red flag for all voters around the state? should they not look at the milwaukee situation? >> we are both from milwaukee. i have tackled this issue from the day i became mayor. i started by working with republicans, democrats, suburbanites to create, maintain, and attract jobs. it was like putting lipstick on a pig. i think it is part of the job of the mayor, account executive, or governor to be the number one salesman, a cheerleader, and embassador for their area. i was shocked when he said that. we are supposed to be promoting this area. i see more than that. i created a summer jobs program. i did that because i think we as adults have a moral obligation to create hope in the lives of young people, and i put thousands of young kids to work in this city. i put reading programs in the

library. the racial achievement gap grows. i put a had a father could initiatives of fathers would be more involved. the city has been active with the teenage pregnancy program that avoids teenage pregnancy. we have not avoided these issues. we have tried to tackle them. i looked at the county. the city of milwaukee is the largest entity in milwaukee county. why has the county done? it has cut transportation. it has made it harder for low- income people to get to jobs. it has decimated its system for income maintenance so the state had to take it over. i do not feel like i have had a partner, to be honest. >> let me pick that up. the question for the county is "the milwaukee journal sentinel" reported this week that a civic institution in this area is going to issue a report after the november election that is going to say the county is in

dire financial straits. i am going to ". if we do not make changes, parks will close, bus routes will and, families in distress will not get the help they need, and milwaukee will grow smaller as people and companies leave. the poverty statistics are a red flag. if i am a voter in upstate wisconsin, why should i vote for you given the condition of milwaukee county? >> that is the problem facing government today. that report came out of something i initiated years ago. we went around this community and actually got the attention of the governor of wisconsin to hone in on this issue. we pointed out public sector wages and benefits are growing out of control. public sector employees in the city of milwaukee, where they have the 10th highest unfunded liability of any system in the country, the public-school system, or the state of

wisconsin, which has financial troubles -- the key component is public sector employees have been untouchable. we can no longer have a society where the public employees are the haves and the taxpayers are the have nots. that is what i have initiated. >> if you look at the changes we have made right now, do not look at the attack ads out there. look at the national bond rating agency. those of the credit rating agencies or public institutions like the city, the county, and the state. since i have been in the office, the bond rating stabilize and improve as the state's went down. our general obligation debt will be 30% down since when i first took office. the size of the government work force is down 25%. in a record deficit, i created a surplus. what i am saying is not the summary of the report that came out -- i have only seen the

summary -- is it is what i have been saying for years. you have to tackle public-sector employment. >> you are anxious to weigh in. >> he is right. you have to tackle the problems and he has been playing flag football. the people of the state have to understand the need for reform on the pension crisis. i think people in the state would be shocked to know we have had employees who have retired from the counties with a yearly pension of $65,000. that is a hell of a pension. the have also gotten a one-time payout of $1 million. >> that was established before he was county executive. >> he came in and said he was going to reform that. that is not the only part. but he said he would reform it. where is the reform? since 2001, every new city of milwaukee employee and their pension -- virtually no county

employees at this point pay toward their pension. very few. not only do we have it since 2001, but in 2009 for this year's budget, they are going to be paying more. his rhetoric is phenomenally good, but this is tackle football, not tag football. the third point. he leveled his own pension system. in 2005, his actuary said put in a certain amount. he low balled it. 2006, 2007, 2008, he low balled it. 2009, he borrowed $400 million because he could not put in the amount his own pension board said he should put in. to me, that is kicking the can down the road. >> let me give you a chance to respond. >> i made a list. i can refute every one of these issues. the largest newspaper gave his

at eight lying rating for falsifying the same issues. we immediately reform the pension board. we moved that forward. we kept benefits. i am no lawyer. you are in a law school. you cannot take away a vested benefits. we kept those. from that point forward, nobody could get those. for refinancing the county, there is no other way to do that. because of what we inherited, we did not borrow for new debt. we had unfunded liability. we used a responsible reform tool that even the comptroller of milwaukee said was a good deal. it was the right thing to do. that was used pension obligation bonds not to issue new debt but to take the debt that was already there, much like refinancing a home, and save the taxpayer $237 million over 25

years. last year, i made my soul pension contribution for 2010, fully funded. how did the city pay for it? they raised taxes and fees by $21 million. raising taxes and fees is exactly what jim doyle has done as governor. that is why we are in trouble with jobs. >> the city of milwaukee is fully funded. no debt. milwaukee county pensions, not funded. pretty clear. >> do not take my word for it. look at the bond rating. those are the people that do the credit checks on milwaukee county and the state of wisconsin. even while the game county had to drop -- even while the county had to drop, our bond rating is stable. if that is not what i said, they would have downgraded. >> let me move on. people out there want to know what you will do now. you have issued plans to say

will lead to the creation of tens of thousands of jobs in the state. make a case. the big difference in your plans, i would say, is you believe in targeted tax breaks. companies are going to create jobs in the state. you think we need to lower taxes for small business. you also want to repeal taxes on some of the bigger companies and higher earners. make the case for why your approach is better. >> i would like to see smaller taxes on low businesses, but we have to deal in reality. the next governor is going to have a $2.70 billion structural deficit. he wants to add $1.80 billion to the structural deficit. if you care about education, public safety, property taxes, hold onto your hat. his argument is going to be that is going to stimulate the economy. this is not the federal government. it is a two year budget.

it is going to have to decimate education and public safety. i am not going to do that. to me, this is about values. i do believe you can have tax cuts tied to job creation. that is how we got 1600 jobs in the state by being positive, aggressive, and proactive. in 2008, when this economy was imploding, scott disbanded his office of economic development. >> why is your approach better? >> the bottom line is you need to get government out of the way. i talk to employers in the state all the time who said what is killing them is government. the mayor has a 67 page plan filled with more government spending. that is the logic that got us in trouble. 35 pages of more spending. 10 pages of more government regulation. big government is not the answer. our plan is cutting taxes across

the board. we start on day one by lowering taxes on small business, but we want to cut taxes on even retirement income over time. it is cutting regulations and litigation. it is improving education. the mayor can say that all he wants, but the simple fact is the same people attacking us about the county budget -- we maintain support services for people with disability, for our parks, for our transportation system. we still cut taxes because we knew in these tough economic times we needed to put more money back. >> the m seven, which i am a member of, believe so much in the plan i articulated, he is supporting my plan -- my campaign for governor. the businesses in this state understand the answer is not more of the same we have had of the last eight years. it is about getting government

out of the way. >> to me, this is about trust. scott does a good job in going to every group he meets and saying, "i will cut your taxes." he does it with businesses, highway construction, the hospitals. i can agree with everyone also. i think this state once a straight shooter. i am not going to tell everybody i am going to cut their taxes. if you do that, you are decimating education. i am not going to tell everybody, just because i want to get elected -- i am not going to say or do anything just to get elected. scott says he is going to cut our taxes. at some point -- >> mayor, the difference is i have a track record to prove it. you can make promises and deliver on your promises. eight years ago, i said i would not raise the property tax. i have done that every consistent budget i have been in

office. for the last six years, you have raised property tax every year until this year. a month and a half before the election, for the first time, after ridicule and saying anybody cannot raise the property tax -- right before the election, miracle of miracles, you had a conversion. i can make that promise because i have done it in the state repeatedly. >> i think we should spend a little time on this because this is his court argument. his core argument is his executive budget in 2003, not the county board budget, his executive budget -- he compared to his executive budget this year. this is not blaming that terrible county board. this is your executive budget and my executive budget. your executive budget in 2010 has levied $35 million higher. did you propose that?

>> look at the promise i made in 2002. it was to not raise the property tax levy. i kept that promise every year. when you first ran for mayor, you said you would not allow any sewage to go into late -- into lake michigan. he did not qualify it. $8 billion has gone in lake michigan. look at the premises. every promise i made has been kept. >> i want to bring in the stations from around the state. >> let the record show he did not answer the question. >> you asked about the promise. the promise was i would not raise it. >> we go to wfrv tv and get citizen questions. we will start with one that affects a lot of people, 272,000 people on at better care -- on badger care.

>> health care is one of the fastest rising costs for our taxpayers. specifically, what is your plan for badger care? right now there are more than 50,000 on a waiting list that are uninsured. this is a state health care project. our understanding is time limits are not allowed on this program with federal rules. >> would you scale back any badger care programs, and how would you budget for the health services programs? >> i am one of the people who worked closely on the creation of badger care on a bipartisan basis. it is my intent to preserve it in its current form. i think it is important. this is a program that allows people to get off welfare into work. we had a problem where too many

people found they had health problems but their pay was low, and it made more sense for them economically to not work. this is a pro-work program. i want this to be as strong as i can. scott, during the last debate, said he would cut funding to the program. he said that the whole campaign. i do not want to put time limits on the program. if you do that, people will be forced off the rolls and out of jobs. i think it is important for people to have health care. it is important to do everything we can to make sure people keep working. scott has talked about cutting hundreds of thousands of people. he will have to cut hundreds of thousands of people of the role of this if he continues to push for tax cuts to the wealthiest people. >> you are ok with the size of the program? >> i have not make promises to any group, contrary to scott,

because i am serious about solving the structural deficit. >> i voted for badger care. i was in the legislature when it was created and i support it. i want to make it more efficient and effective, like we did with family care in my community. about a decade ago, there were 2500 people on a waiting list for long-term care services in our county. we eliminated that waiting list and there are six to 400 seniors now who get long-term care services. -- there are 6400 seniors know who get long-term care services. i did talk about term limits, but not for badger care specifically. there are some who are part of w2. when that was created, there were time limits on there. there was a safety net for people to be supported with job

care and medical assistance along the way, but it would not become permanent. those time limits have gone away under jim doyle. i think we have to have time limits as people go from welfare to the work force. i want to reduce the number of people on the rolls when it comes to public assistance by putting them onto the rolls of more jobs. the more people we get who are working, who have coverage, the more money we have for the truly needy, people with physical disabilities or families. >> i want to check in with tammy and the key to see if they are getting the information they want -- tammy and vicki to see if they are getting the information they want. >> how will you find this? it is continuing to grow. where will you find the money? >> we cannot afford the $1.80 billion tax cut scott is talking

about now. if we do have those tax cuts, you will see this program suffer. he talked about time limits. i want the court at walmart to continue working. she does not get health insurance. i do not want that woman who works behind the counter at wal- mart to have to quit her job because your kid is sick. >> to make it a priority. that is what we have done at the county. we had a property tax levy cut, but we added money for family care, to care for people with physical and mental disabilities, to cover the seniors we care for. if you have priorities, you can still cut taxes in the areas that help stimulate the economy and get people working. we added money for social security -- for social services in our county budget. we can do the same with the state budget if we focus on efficient use of our resources. >> you touched on this to some

extent already. this is the severity of the budget deficit in the state of wisconsin. we will go over to madison, to channel 27. go ahead. >> it is the elephant or one of the elephants in the room tonight, as far as this discussion goes. i would like quickly to point out not all of our group could be here tonight because of previous commitments, but we have some great mini-debates of our own on this. we are wondering about the $2.70 billion budget deficit. >> what i would like to know are what are the three specific things you would cut in the budget in order to alleviate the problem, and what would you hold harmless. >> when i look at things like public safety, public health, education, those are things we should protect. those are priorities, much as we have done at the county level.

we have laid this out all summer. we have talked about asking state workers to do what nearly everybody else in society does, make a contribution to their pension system. 5% is the average. that is what we asked for. we passed it in our budget as well. -- that is reasonable. there are 4000 positions that are not public safety related in state government that are funded but that are not filled. they are vacant positions. we would take that funding out and use it to plug the budget whole. we talked about other changes when it comes to health care for government employees to make it more efficient. those are things that specifically are not about cutting services to the public, but about changes we can make to ultimately lower our budget deficit. i have talked about a plan to create 250,000 jobs. we can do what successful states have done -- balance the budget.

>> one of the things i have proposed, and i have a put madison on the diet plan that people can find on our website -- things like allowing state and local employees to get into the same purchasing pool so they can lower the cost of health care. for every dollar spent in texas, they saved $37. i want to get more into macarthur -- into medicaid fraud. we see news reports about that. i would eliminate constitutional offices like the secretary of state and the treasurer. i think we can have savings there. i do not want anybody in the state to believe this is going to be easy. it is going to be difficult. you cannot cut $2.70 billion without making difficult decisions. we have to be honest and tell you we cannot have these tax cuts just to benefit wealthy people. i like wealthy people. i have four kids. i would be the happiest guy in

the world if one of my kids would marry one of their kids and support me in the matter to which i would like to be accustomed. but this is about value. it is about making sure we are making the right decisions. >> go ahead. >> as we talked about this in our group, it came back again and again that with that big of a deficit there are going to have to be some major cuts. there will have to be a lot of small things done, but we are looking for the obvious major cuts that are going to have to be made. what did you hear there? >> i guess what i heard, particularly from mr. walker, is that basically what you are going to do is cut state employees. but which specific programs are you going to cut state employees? for example, the food stamp program is administered through the state. if those people are cut, people will not be able to get their food stamps.

>> go ahead. >> the positions we are talking about our 4000 positions that are vacant today. they have not been filled for the past year. they are not talking about cutting existing positions. these positions do not have bodies in them, but the funding is still in the state budget. we are asking employees to make the pension program. i would make that starting on day one. i would do that even before the budget. eight years ago, when i came into office, the county executive before me was making more money than the governor of wisconsin. i have since been given salary back. if you want to lead, you have to set the example. those are the tough trusses you have to make. i do not believe we have to cut core services. we can be more efficient, more effective, and have the public sector not be the untouchables but do the same thing employers are doing across the state and the country. >> you are shaking your head. >> this is about trust.

scott walker came into office eight years ago and there are no employees of the county that contribute to their pension now. it has not happened. he talks about savings from unfilled positions. if an unfilled position is there, the money is not spent. it is bhutto -- voodoo economics. you do not save money if you are not spending money. >> if you take it out of the budget, it goes into balancing the bottom line. if you continue to leave that money in state agencies, they will use it for other purposes. you can attack all you want because you are behind, but that does not change the fact that the pension contribution along with the simple fact of not filling those vacant positions would save about $1 billion. that would save real money and not have to make cuts. when you look at states across this country that have cut their taxes, cut litigation, those are

the states in the past couple of years in these tough economic times that of seen not only job growth -- they have seen revenue growth. >> give me an example. >> texas. >> their unemployment rate is higher than wisconsin. >> look at tennessee, the carolinas, the dakotas. they have had a lower tax burden. they have eased their litigation burden. they have put more people to work. two years ago, texas had more jobs created in one year than all 49 other states combined. we do not need to go down the path that jim has taken us down where the answer is always more taxes. the biggest problem we have here is taxes and fees of $21 million -- $21 billion. >> the question lingers whether you raise your tax levy. >> last year to this year, it has not gone up. >> in the north woods of

wisconsin, waow tv. there question deals with the environment. >> our group tonight is a bit smaller than the 15 who came up with these questions initially, but now bill meyer has a great question we had lengthy discussion about. >> the ground and surface waters are threatened by conflicting land uses. sound public policy with public input is critical. do you support an independent appointment of wisconsin dnr secretary to the natural resources board? >> i do support that. i support the independence election. this is a practice we have for many years. it allows conservationists to be involved. it allows landowners to be involved. it is probably democracy at its finest. we have individuals the care about environment and business

at the same time. it is important to recognize this is not the 1970's anymore. in the 1970's, you had people -- if you were in favor of the environment, your entire business. if you were in favor of business, you were in tight environment. i reject that. we have the sustainability practice where you can love the environment and have good business practices. >> i do not. i think you need to hold somebody accountable. you need an elected official who is responsible and accountable for not only providing clean water but protecting our natural resources and our state's economy. jim doyle has politicized the department of natural resources. if i were to shift the position, all those appointments would stay on and control seven years of decision while the members of the state elect a new governor. i think the people should be able to directly hold somebody accountable. the only way to do that is

through the government. when you talk about water, that is an important issue. we have 15,000 inland lakes. that is 5000 more than minnesota. we want to make sure those are protected. that is our infrastructure -- not just roads and bridges, but clean water. the mayor talked in 2004 and specifically gave a plan just like the plan he talks about now. in his plan, it did not equivocate. it said we will stop the dumping of sewage into lake michigan. he attacked the mayor at that time. six years later, 8 billion gallons from the sewage district -- it has dumped more than 8 billion gallons into lake michigan. talk about water. we have an example in lake michigan. the city of milwaukee source system has not done a good job of protecting it. >> you need a little bit of time

to rebut. >> when i came in, the deep tunnel capacity -- that has grown. we increase the capacity by 28%. we would have doubled the capacity, but there was somebody who held it up. he is sitting to my left. scott walker as county executive slow down construction of the basin. if he had not been in the way, we would have doubled the size. he has also said that he understands that this is not a problem that is going to be solved overnight. he has specifically said that the way you deal with things is to separate the sewers overtime. it is a $6 billion public works program he is talking about. he is saying we should separate those right now. i do not think he is saying spend $6 billion. if he is, i want to know who is going to pay for it. if he does not my government spending, it is a lot of money. >> you have lived up to your

promises? >> there is no question. >> this goes to the heart of trust. he did not say he would try. he said he would stop the dumping. >> we are still working on it. >> six years later, you attacked a guy for 60 days of not doing it. you had six years. those basins were built. you tried to defer the blame to somebody else. when people want to trust, look at the promises he made when he ran for mayor and the promises he is making today. look at the facts and compare them. >> thanks for your question in wasau. we are going to move on to au claire. this deals with the environment and state regulations. go ahead. >> this crosses over a number of different areas. we talked about government regulation and the impact it has on businesses in western wisconsin. we had a great discussion among

our panelists. the citizens came up with a question tonight. i will read it for them. the new phosphorus discharge rule is projected to cost municipalities and businesses more than $1 billion. our group is concerned this will drive more manufacturers out of the state of wisconsin to states with less regulation. what is your position on this new rule? as a governor, would you modify it? >> these are sweeping rules that would go into effect next year. they try to reduce the out she blooms we see in lakes and waterways so we have -- the algae blooms we see in lakes and waterways so we have better water. >> this comes up with a lot of local officials who are scared at the overwhelming prices. to me, that is why you have a drn secretary who is accountable

to the budget. i want clean water for myself, my kids, and future generations. the way dnr did this with the current administration -- is out of control. there is no way to not pass that on to the manufacturers. there has to be a balance. i would try to modify that so we could still protect core natural resources, water being the primary one, but do that in a way that is cost-effective. the dnr is out of control. we need a new administration that will put that under control. the world life management with the deer population and an assortment of others. >> this is a rule we will examine and should examine. we will work for local governments. as a mayor, i am affected by this. i am going to work with local elected officials. it is something i have done through this campaign. i have served at the federal level, the state level, and the

local level. water literally runs downhill. i want to have input from them. that is why i met with the league of municipalities to hear from other elected officials and hear what their concerns were. i met with the town's association. i want to hear from those officials. they know i will respect them and work with them to make sure this is not too much of a burden on local government. >> let us move on to our milwaukee group. my colleague is just over my shoulder with a question from folks in this area. >> it touched on it with your discussion with the candidates. milwaukee is considered the fourth poorest city in the nation. earl has a question that relates to that. >> this is to both the candidates. what do you specifically see as causes for those statistics of milwaukee being the fourth poorest city in the nation? what responsibility do you take for them? >> even in your post now.

>> i think the biggest problem is the lack of jobs across the state, but particularly in milwaukee. in the north side, the unemployment rate among african american men is around 50%. that is not acceptable. the best program is about things that help create more jobs in the private sector, put people to work. i think that is the ultimate answer, if we are going to bring more manufacturers and businesses which were the lifeblood of this area in the past. we have to have a plan that gets government out of the way. the other part that ties into that is our school system. we have to keep jobs here to grow here. we need a focal point for that. for me, when it comes to education, i have two kids of my own. it is a moral imperative that every kid has access to a great education system. it should not matter what zip code they live in. it is why i have supported reforms. i pointed to the fact that we

need to empower local school districts, particularly in milwaukee, that have failing schools. shut the schools down or put new staff in. take control of the system. we need to come in and take control. we do not need to shift it from the school board to the mayor and go from one group that is in bed with the political machine out there and another one. we have to make sure we empower the local school district. ultimately, they are the ones who can make those kinds of dramatic change. that is how we could help empower more people to be ready for the work force. >> i think we all recognize that 50 years ago we needed to succeed where a strong back and a good alarm clock. we had good factory jobs, brewery jobs, and henry jobs. those jobs have left to southern states, mexico, and china. there has been a shift and we have not replace them fast

enough. the people who have been disproportionately affected had been at the lower end of the socio-economic scale. if it is cheaper to build a widget in china, it is going to be built in china. we can either accept the notion we are going to have more and more poverty and problems that go along with it, or we can challenge ourselves in education. that is what i intend to do and will continue to do. we have to make sure kids in our schools get an education so they can compete in the world economy. that cannot happen if you have a governor who is going to decimate education funding. we cannot have it. you have to make sure you have the ability for them to get the resources so you can have them get the education. i mentioned this before. look at minnesota. minnesota has $4,000 to $5,000 per capita improvement because 32% of their residents have gone to college.

26% of ours have. we cannot cut education like he wants to do. >> i think earl will say it better. >> what specifically can you do to bring those jobs into the state of wisconsin, and specifically milwaukee and the inner city? >> let me tell you a story. this is part of the milwaukee 7. none of republic airlines purchased midwest, the ceo said there was going to be a decision made as to where jobs would be located, mechanical jobs, sales jobs, up back-office jobs. i said we wanted to be part of it. we put together a proposal that included tax cuts for private job creation. it included site selection and work training. we were in competition with denver and indianapolis. we ran the table. we got all 1600 jobs. that happened because i was proactive, aggressive, and tough.

we worked through the m7 to make sure that happened. i did not sit on the sidelines and say it was like putting lipstick on a pig. i rolled up my sleeves. we have to have a governor who is going to do it. five years ago, the menominee belli was a wasteland -- valley was a wasteland. it now has thousands of jobs. look just north of bradley center. under county control, not a single job. >> the bottom line is we are going to aggressively promote the state. we talked about this recently. you look at businesses outside of our state if borders. any company that will add 50 or more jobs, i will personally meet with them. there will be a direct hot line to the governor's office. we talked about an inventory working with local governments to identify development ready sites, so the permitting process has already been done. it is simple as saying, "if you

want to bring your corporation and are not here right now, we will give you two years free without paying taxes. you are not paying them now here anyway." you look at people who sell commercial or residential real estate. they give two months' free. it does not cost as anything because they are not here, but it aggressively brings growth. the irony all around you is one of the biggest things aside from the state tax incentive that was given to the airlines is the fact that the employment cost at our airport run by the county was significantly less than the average nationally and much less than denver because we made significant investments in our airport. we are the fastest-growing airport in america. at the county research park, we brought in over 1000 high-paying jobs. we added 88 jobs at the research part. we are going to aggressively

push every part of this state to bring more jobs to wisconsin. >> that will hold us there. we will move on to the next question. will go to lacrosse -- we will go to lacros crosse. >> we are the home of several colleges. higher education is a major interest in our area and among our group. here to oppose the question is matt davis. >> mr. a walker and mr. barrett, the university of wisconsin system has been facing cuts for a number of years. this is making it very hard for working families to come up with the tuition to send the kids to the schools. in addition, once the kids graduate, they are often facing

high student home loans. where does education fit in your priorities and what are you going to do to make it available to working families? >> we will begin with you. >> i was talking about this the past weekend. i have talked to many students. as i mentioned before, i have two sons who are a couple of years away from going to college. much as k through 12 education is a priority for me, the same thing is true for preparing middle income and low income people to afford going to our colleges and universities. it is about making it a priority. i have talked on campus about this. it is the idea of giving greater autonomy to each of our campuses. when i talk to chancellors and administrators, there are things that would like to do to get out from under the thumb of the government's system and be able to do procurements that would lower the cost of what it takes

to run a college or university, in the same way it would lower the cost of operating k through 12 schools. you can put that in the classroom and help lower or maintain a cost of tuition so it remains affordable for all families. as governor, an envoy to make that a priority. >> there was a question earlier -- >> for me, if there is an increase in tuition in the future, we should adjust financial aid. tuition affects not only in that state residents, but people from outside the state. if tuition is going to go up, we should adjust financial assistance so those who need it can find it affordable. >> i have four kids, none of whom are in college yet. i want them all to go to college. i am not going to say or do anything to try to get elected governor. our problems are too serious. i am not going to have different

answers depending on the audience i talked to. i am going to try to be a street as i can. we have a serious problem. we have $2.70 billion in a structural deficits. i may sound like a broken record, but when you get to the budget time, that is what we are talking about. we are talking about priorities. there is no way you can continue to fund higher education at the level it is being funded at now is scott walker is elected governor. he said what his party is. his party is having these tax cuts. i do not think we should be raising taxes. my answer is i am going to try. but i cannot promise to anyone that we are not going to have changes. i cannot guarantee the status quo will remain. these issues are too important. >> can you promise taxes will not be addressed to face this

financial situation? >> in my first budget. >> that is off the table? >> i would say yes, but remember jim doyle made that same promise when he first ran for governor. think about the promises that were made. think about the promise i talked about with the sewage district and the school district. you can promise anything you want. i have delivered on it. i made a pledge and delivered on all the pledges i made up there. when it comes back to this issue, the bottom line is you have to fund priorities. that is what we have talked about. when i talk about our simple but comprehensive plan, it is the same message no matter which group. >> i will give you a final comment on that. >> if you are keeping score at home, scott has mentioned jim doyle six times. he wants to be running against jim doyle. you are not running against jim doyle. >> there is not a difference. >> there are a lot of

differences. you have to stand up for your own budget. >> i am running on my own record. i am not running away from jim doyle's. i put my faith in the people. you put your faith on the government. >> i will answer the question scott refused to answer. one of the things my friends tommy is to take responsibility for your actions. in this year's budget that scott walker introduced is $30 million higher than the tax levy in 2003. he will not take responsibility for that. i will take responsibility. a lot of being a leader is taking responsibility for your actions. i would love for him to say that he takes responsibility for the fact that he proposed -- not the county board -- you proposed a $39 million higher tax level in 2010. >> the tax levy did not go up one penny. it went down by $1 million. the budget we are in right now

would have $21 million. it was not about what it would be 10 years ago. it was about what it would go up from one year to the next. >> cannot see on this one. >> your taxes have gone up every year. >> i am going to take responsibility. the budget i introduced today has a tax levy $45 million higher than it was in 2004. i take responsibility for that. the budget that he introduced in 2010 has a tax levy a $39 million higher than the budget he introduced in 2003. he has consistently refused to take responsibility for that. let us talk about leadership. >> do you want to have that debate? the bottom line is that it went up because of the county board. >> no. >> name a time when i have not

veto the budget back down to zero. every single time. i do not control the 19 members of the county board. the budget went up not because of the county council but because the mayor of milwaukee proposed a budget that raised a tax levy. if you want to have the debate, i will have that for the next two hours. >> the county board has nothing to do with his executive budget. >> if they had approved the budget i approved in 2004 -- i proposed in 2003, our levee would be less than it was before i came to office, plain and simple, almost a million dollars less. >> dan jones has been waiting patiently at milwaukee public television. he has one of our internet questions. >> there are probably thousands of state employees watching this broadcast because one of these guys is going to be the new boss. my next question -- i guess it

came from one of them. he says state of wisconsin workers have already been subjected to 16 furlough days and no pay increases. given that the state is facing a huge budget deficit, what can state workers expect other than contributing to their pensions in terms of their compensation under your administration. >> i cannot promise them, as i have said to every group -- i cannot promise the status quo will remain. i understand we have difficulties in the city of milwaukee. our employees have had furloughs and a pay freeze. i did that because i wanted to preserve services. i am not going to demonize people who work for the state government. i think they are people who are trying to support their families. it does not mean they walk free. we all have to be partners. i propose having an analysis done of the pay and benefits of state employees compared to

private employees. let us do a benchmark and have people from the private sector in public-sector get some analysis and see the right thing to do. then, we're going to make the decision. people have to know we do have a $2.70 billion structural deficit. i am not going to demonize anybody. that is not my style. i am a person who likes to solve problems. they are going to have to be part of the solution just like anybody else in the state. >> i have not demonized anybody either. there are a lot of great people who work in government, just like there are people who work outside of government. we cannot have public employees continue to be untouchable. that is why i've talked about a pension contribution. we talked about other cases when it comes to health care and a cold in pay increases, like a proposed in my county budget this year. you cannot have that and balance. for folks who say we bargained for that, we understand that.

ask the guys at harley-davidson. in tough times, we have to do that not only to balance the upcoming budget, but one of the problems we have had with jim doyle is the cuts the -- he kicks the kin to the future. he raced patient funds. he took federal stimulus aide not to build roads and bridges but to balance an ongoing concern in the budget. we have to make changes that provide structural relief so we do not keep having this problem in the future. when it comes to furloughs, those are things you should do as a last option. the governor did furloughs across the board. system even though they had nongovernment related funding. the county -- i exempted positions like direct patient care and other things like that where it costs the government

money to furlough those positions. we have to be smart about the budget. >> let me go back to green bay. a group of citizens have a question about something that has been in the news lately. >> in 1998, the university of wisconsin led the way in stem cell research. that promised new potentials for training in multitude of -- for treating a multitude of medical positions. it has developed top scientific and educational talent in wisconsin. now we know other states and institutions are investing in this area. our question regarding this research -- howard brown is representing our group. >> what would you do as governor to encourage private and public investment in this field? and what would you do to prevent the brain drain of top wisconsin scientific talent that is being recruited by other states?

>> we will begin with you this time. >> this is an area where we are different. i support stem cell research. i support embryonic stem cell research. that is where the difference lies. i believe that this research is breathtaking in potential. i was in madison recently at the weissman center. i met a woman who was doing research on chromosomal damage to infants before they are born. that has an impact on learning. . .

first attempt to aa live person tested on this. this is how breathtaking this work is done in the state of wisconsin. scott doesn't support that embryonic research. he says the adult stem cells are better. when this issue came up, i said, i didn't know. he said it was no longer an issue. madison and they said of course it is. there is other work being down with embryonic stem cells and that's good too. politicians should not be scientists what they should do.

and you saw his comments earlier this week. when he said he was going to cult off funding for this, there has -- was an immediate wreak -- reaction. he said i've got nearly $2 million in grants, i'll leave the estate. here it is, high tech, pro-business, medical work and he says he's going to leave the state? that's not how you lead a state forward. >> please address that. >> to answer the question, my wife, who is with me here tonight is a type i dipeetic and two people in my office have got m.s. and as much as anybody out there i want to find a cure. four years ago jim doyle used this in his political playbook and we're seeing it again but the reality is the major potential for cures is coming from adult stem cells.

it's just a fact. what we're talking about is putting state resources behind ethical research where there is no lock of issues. that's where i want to put our state resources. the university of wisconsin madison alone just passed the billion dollar mark this past weekend. i want to make sure we plug that in not only for higher education but that we're supportive in that -- being an advocate for businesses. whether it's the chancellor of the university of wisconsin at milwaukee or other placed across the state we need a champion but we don't need to be caught up in the political side of this when the skine tells us -- science tells us the most promising area is

adult stem cells. we're not talking about banning other things. we're talking about the dollars them behind the greatest potential which science has shown the greatest number of discusses successes have come from adult stem cells. >> but in a questionnaire that was 100% correct for pro-life wisconsin, the question was will you stop embryonic stem cell research in the state of wisconsin the >> the place you have control as governor are state resources. i'm going to put those resources behind the area where there is the greatest consensus and greatest potential for success. we've actually seen success when it comes to adult stem cell research. >> tammy, you wanted to jump in here? >> howard would like to read the rest of this.

>> i think there is a difference between supporting an initiative and giving it high priority. if there hadn't been foot years there would have been stem cell research that went well ahead and maybe people who would not have died, like my wife. >> i say it again, politicians should not be dictating what scientists should be doing. >> i agree. the politics have shift resource dollars from adult stem cell for the greatest poetention for cures are to the embryonic because of the political nature of this be debate president they should go where the greatest success rate is and that's adult. >> we're going to shift gears and talk about jobs. >> go ahead. >> yes, mike. both campaigns make a lot of

their support for manufacturing and manufacturing jobss here in the -- state. one thing we learned is that innovation is really critical to these companies being able to expand and compete globally is money. a person a lot more qualified than i is going to ask the question, a general manager of a local plant. >> innovation is what helps people grope -- grow in a market. what role do you believe government should play in facilitating the meeting of innovative business and venture capital in >> this is sort of a new economy question. places like ohio are doing interesting things in that. >> yes. there was a plan put out called

diebold, wisconsin. a plan where the local government specialists from across the state had funded this study thnd -- and they talked about a whole series of initiatives to be bold in moving wisconsin forward. one was to support the manufacturers. i supported it. i just don't think it's bold enough. i want to go beyond that. we've got to tap into more resources and make it more effective. good example, part of the plans we talk about long term in the future is phasing out the state retirement tax program. one of the wig -- big elve -- biggest challenges for those who want to expand or start up in this state is there is not enough cap tavepl the high taxes we have on income, particularly in this state,

they're sitting down in florida and texas and arizona, other places. we need to direct that back to wisconsin not only so we can bring the retirees back but so we can invest in wisconsin companies for the long term. you're not going to do that if the tax climate continues where it is today. >> mayor barry? >> in my plan to put wisconsin to work i have a section on this. i certainly am going to put into effect a research fund. the gentleman is absolutely correct, i've been in communities throughout the state, i was in watertown and talked 0 i -- to a businessman who was concerned about his capital. too many banks right now, too many lending instuges aren't making these ordonez -- loans and until that happens we're going to be in trouble. so i want us to be an active player so we can start these

businesses. 98% of the businesses in this state of -- are small employers. we have to focus on that. my father was a small businessman. i know what it's like to go from paycheck to paycheck and i think it's important to have that cap tal there. >> it's also why i would take a step further and point out on the small business component, literal lil the day i take office, january 23, i'm going to call a special session of the legislature and start putting cash back into the businesses' hands to put people back to work. >> and in 2008 he disbanded the office of economic development. >> let me go to another about the new economy in a way too. scott?

go ahead. >> yeah, we have some private land owners in our group and they are concerned about their rights. wisconsin trails wind production, regulations tighter than in other states. as governor who -- would you in -- support increased insent fs that would lead to more wind farms? >> i'm very interested in wind farms. you have to have it balanced. you've got to make sure the adjacent land owners are buying into this. but it's something certainly we want to do and we have got legislation in the state to allow us to move forward on this. what is important because now it's working its way through the public service commission is that we have rules that would allow adjacent land owners to be treated fairly.

right now this state exports $16 billion a year for coal and oil. we have to find ways to have more of that energy produced here. when it's wind farms, whether it's anaerobi crimplet -- an aerobic zige evidention, we have to make sure we're not exporting our dollars. and i will work with the legislature on a bipartisan base to come up with a plan. >> we definitely wa with -- have to strike a balance. when we talk about our plan to create 250,000 more jobs, energy is a key part of it. that doesn't mean more government mandate. for us, wind energy, solar,

lifting the lid on cleaner burning coal, all those have be to part of it to make it viable in the state of wacewiss -- wisconsin. that's the key difference in this race, that the governor pushed a plab -- plan that was going to create a mandate of 20% by 2025. he would advocate to aggressively bring that bill elected governor of the state of wisconsin. well, that bill would cost us 43,000 jobs in the state. we can't afford to lose 434 jobs -- 43 jobs, let alone 437,000. we can't afford to do that right now. >> quick response to that in? well, i was critical of several aspects of the bill. for example, i said i tnt -- didn't think california should set our emissions policies. but i will work with the leeth

-- legislature to do this. scott has made it clear it's not a priority for him. i think it the a mistake to export $16 billion of coil and -- coal and oil. it lowers our businesses. >> for me being green is about saving green or making green. making it cost effective by saving the environment. you don't do it by mandate. taking green out of my pocket is not the answer. that's what jim doyle and they want. >> we're going up to wausau. they have a question about jobs in that part of wisconsin. pam, go ahead. >> we do, mike. unemployment here in the wausau area about 11.% and many people have been looking for jobs for

months. it's not that they're uneducated or unskilled, it's that there are no jobs. so ray is here with a question for us for the candidates on jobs. >> wisconsin has lost several course is -- sources of employment, fiskar's, wasa and motor homes. what will you do to promote wisconsin as a desirable place to did business? >> first of all, do no harm. the measure i just talked about, one of the biggest areas it would hurt are paper mills. so i'm not going to do any harm to that. i'm going to make it more cost fehse, not less, to create jobs at the mills and other companies we have across the state. the other part is literally getting government out of the way. a lot of you in was awe, there

was a company that makes ceiling fans and they're in a position they have enough business they'd like to add more problems. the problem is they can't justify doing it in wisconsin because of the cost of doing business here, and that's unacceptable. what's failing us is ultimately the government. we've got to change that so that that employer in the future who wants to add those jobs in wausau or the state of wisconsin, not look outside. >> governor? >> again, i can, i think you can see the fundamental difference in our approaches. i think the assets wisconsin has are great. it's a great place to raise a family and there are obviously natural resources for sure. i think the governor should be a promoter and scott all night tonight has been saying how bad it is.

you don't sell a car or a house or a dress by saying how lousy it is and i just don't for the life of me understand how he thighs -- thinks he's going to be the great promoter of this state when he's always saying how bad it is. not like he's in a vacuum. he does it in milwaukee county. i'm busty my keister out there talking to these guys and he's doing two things. he said it's a lousy place to do business and if our leader is going to have a government after eight years of scott walker leadership that's tinkering on bankruptcy and all he says is this is a lousely -- lousy place it to do business, if you're a business mapp in wausau -- businessman in wausau, are you going to do business there? of course not. oeuvre got to roll ub -- up your sleeves.

not just go around bad-mouthing everyone. >> this is the talking points you get when you have a campaign manager from washington who just says attack, attack, attack. when tommy johnson ran for governor this state faced almost the identical circumstances. we had a huge budget hole and at the time the leeth -- legislature raises taxes and fees. tommy thompson said i can do better. he took that can-do attitude and tackled those challenges head on. that's what i'm talking about. saying it's the governor that's failing us. i didn't bad-mouth the people, bad-mouthed the government. we've got to fix the government. that's what tommy thompson did a year ago. give me a chance to be your

governor and i'll do that and more in the next four years. >> ok. you have a government that's failing because it's tinkering on bankruptcy. eight years of leadership. tinkering on bankruptcy. >> the national bond rating out there says strong bond rating. they wouldn't say that if they weren't significant about the fact we have strong fiscal leadership here. >> we hear about so many different matters in teebts and commercials. we have laurie here, a dairy farmer, mom of two and you have education in your heart. this is a very direct, honest question and actually shouldn't cause much of an argument. politics aside, what life experiences offer character traits prepare you to deal with the deficits, jobs and tax

issues in this state? >> well, i have three teenagers and a preteen. i have a very supportive wife, chris, who is with me here. and i deals -- deal with these issues at home. i balance my budget at home and i don't have debt. it's important to have a leader who recognized -- recognizes that it's more important to pay for your bills than to let the next generation pay for them. >> i think we would agree. i've run a series of campaigns talking about the brown bag movement. but -- how growing up near you, i learned a lot from you and i still drive the same subaru i had in madison. i still pack a lunch every day. those are the experiences i to how i govern.

don't send main -- money up don't have. those are things i'll apply as your next governor. >> laurie, satisfied? >> i'm satisfied. >> all right, thank you. couple quick points. there's not been much talk in this campaign about the culture war issues, the social issues, whether it's abortion, sexual education prads being taught in the schools -- are they relevant to this year's discussion? >> the bottom line is jobs. people cared at that time about what tommy thompson was going to do get the state moving forward again. that's what i'm all about. what does this do to create or help create or grow jobs in this state? it's about the economy, what you're going to do to get the state moving. >> it's clearly about jobs but let's be honest.

there are other issues out i support the right of a woman to choose. we both have differences there. i think people who are in committed relationships should have legal protention and i respect that. for most people clearly the important. with you -- but i'm certainly not going to do what scott did and that is talk about prosecuting a district attorney for teaching age-appropriate sex education in our schools. >> again, nice talking points out of washington, d.c. -- >> it's about the legislature. >> no, it's about jobs. that's why i treated the last debate we had as a job interview. i want to talk to people in the state about the number one issue. at altoona yesterday nobody asked me anything else but about jobs, education, and health care. >> a judge in clark county this

week said the ban on wisconsin's law that says you can't carry concealed weapon is unconstitutional. this thing is likely to end up in the legislature. i'd -- i'd like to get your view on it. would you support a new law that says you can carry a concealed weapon in the state of wisconsin? to me it's sensible. we have the law that jim doyle vetoed several times. it's what our naubds in minnesota have and it's completely worked fine. it's will all the law enforcement officials here and in milwaukee support it. came up at 4:00 in the morning and i said no bill that comes up at that time should be voted on no matter what it is. >> this is not a second amendment issue. but i don't want concealed weapons at little league games,

in church festivals and in shopping malls. >> gentlemen, we're going to hold it right there. what we want to do is wrap up our citizen groups and leave you with some time for closing statements. we've left you one minute. use it as you wish. mr. walker is first. >> first of all, thank you. because i love this state and i believe in wisconsin, but i believe the current government is taking wisconsin down the wrong path. i gry -- grew up in the smallest county in the state. big or small or in between, there is no better place to live in, work in, raise a family in and hopefully someday retire in. when i travel the state i hear simply this -- what is failing us it -- is not people or places, what is failing us is

the government the and the good thing is we can could do something about that. we can stand up and reclaim our rightful place in history just like tommy thompson did a year ago. we can stand up and put the government back on the side of the people again. the people. state never stopped believing in each other but unfortunately the governor hasn't been believing in us. eight years ago i started a grass roots movement to take back our county government, and i did and now i ask for your help to do the same thing with state go. thank you for your vote. >> i'm running for governor for three simple reasons. one, two fight for jobs in the state. two, to put madison on a diet, and third, to provide capital.

my father was stationed in oshkosh around -- and earned the distinguished flying cross. he and my mom married and they raised me and my siblings. they taught us wisconsin values. tell the truth, fight for what you believe in and take responsibilities for your actions. the same rules chris and i troo to teach our kids and that families around the state teach. but right now people are scared because they think too many politicians make promises, kick the can down the road and then pose for pictures. we need straight talk and honest plans. working to create jobs shall putting madison on a diet. but this is really but and who you trust to make the difficult decisions. we need a governor who's on our side to fight for the rights of

working coliseum -- people. please vote for me on november it. thank you. >> we want to thank here, everyone at the remote locations around the state and all of you for joining us and finally thank you to our host, marquette university. we will be right back next week, same time, with a tune -- candidates for u.s. senate, russ feingold and johnson. thank you for joining us. i'm mike goucher. hope you have a great evening. good night.

in a few moments, a look at the effect of laltoin and african-american voters in the election. in about an hour and a half, a debate between the u.s. senate candidates in illinois, democratic congressman alexei jools and republican mark -- joolsjools -- alexei january uleyis and mark kirk. most polls rate that race a tossup.

tomorrow is brookings instulte -- institution hosts a discussion on the u.s. and pakistan rellslingsses -- relations. >> voters head to the poll in less than two weeks. follow the debates on c-span live with debates right up to election day. follow c-span's election coverage right through election day. for rare live coverage of the

pennsylvania senate candidates, friday at 7:00 eastern. a poll shows cesc tak leading pat toomey 46 to 45%. this is the only recent poll that has mr. cesc tak ahead. -- sestac ahead. both the cook political report and c.q. politics rate the race a topup in colorado. >> time to get your camera rolling for this year's student cam. make a five to eight-minute video on this year's theme, washington, d.c. through my lens. tell us about an issue or event or topic that helps up better under the role of the federal government in our community. be -- be hure to include more

than one point of interview. you will have a chance to win the grand prize. the documentary competition is open to middle and high school students. grades six through 12. >> a million more hispanic voters could cast votes next month than in the 2006 midterm elections, according to the national association of elected and appointed latino officials. in a briefing, arturo vargas discussed california, florida, and nevada. >> welcome to this presentation on the 2010 midterm elections, a latino perspective. we're here today to discuss the impact of latinos as voters and as candidates in the 2010

election. i'm the executive director of naleo, the national association of latino elected and appointed officials. our members are school board members, city counsel ill meabs, mayors, democrats, republicans, independents, all working together to promote the civic involvement of latinos. now, voting and running for office and serving in public office are the cornerstones of that participation, and the discussion today of the impact latinos will have in the 2010 midterm election. with every election psych it the interest of latinos has increased and 2010 will

continue that trend. our presentation today is based on two reports. in -- we released in june 2010, the naleo handbook. it is based on a report we are releasing today, an analysis of all latino candidates running for statewide office, congress and other seats in the november general election. but before we talk about what happened november 2, let's remember what happened in 2008. latinos had a decisive impact in the 2008 presidential contest, both in the primaries and in the again election and in both parties. latino votes influenced the outcome for both republicans and democrats. if we remember the florida

democratic -- florida presidential primary, john mccain was running behind. it seems that mitt romney would have emerged victorious. but because john mccain received more than 50% of the hiss vote, he carried the race, ultmailtly putting him on the road to nomination. senator hillary clinton was able to stay in the contest until the very end of the primaries. in fact she was able to stay in the race until the final primary of the 2008 democratic schedule which was held if puerto rico. for the first time in major memory -- in memory, major candidates were running and competing for votes in the streets.

a case in point would be california. exit polls suth that had no hispanic voted in the california democratic primary, then senator barack obama would have narrowly won and carried california. but because latinos voted and senator clinton carried 2/3 -- of the latoin vote, she handily won the state of california. so, both democratic and primary contests were influenced by voters and we know that in november, the outcome for them -- that gave the race to obama. in four states aloning -- alone the difference between john mccain's margin and senator barack obama's was smaller than the margin of vote the latinos had. those states helped turned

states from states carried by george wish. so clearly latinos are available -- able to influence statewide results in major elections. even as we move toward november, already latinos are having an impact. in the florida patriotism -- primary for the governor's race, this is probably the most vivid example of how latinos have had an influence on this election cycle. bill mccallum lost the primary for governor and many people believe it's because he moved too much to the extreme on the issue of immigration, losing sit -- the support of the

latino voters. that especially was felt in the county of miami dade. so that now is rick scott against alex cins. so our projections for 2010, november, are that 6.5 million lat ioes will vote. nearly one million more than in 2006 where 5.5 million latino voters participated. that's a 7% increase. nationally we believe latinos will be 7% of all americans that cast their vote november 2. we have are -- not equally distributed throughout the united states but some sites -- states are more impacted than others. arizona, california, colorado, florida, illinois, negligent,

next, new york, and texas. our projections are true estimates based solely on past participation and do not include vary yibles doctor variables. our objective was made by taking the average scores the last two years. these are conservative. rest assured we and others are doing all we can to break our own projections. now, as evidence of the growing impact of latinos in u.s. politics, this year latinos are running for federal or state offices in 42 states. just 1 years ago in 1998, latinos were running federal and state office.

in 2016, we've increased that participation from coast to coast, border to border. only nine do not have a lat running for office this november. we expect to see changes around the country. 10 states will have a number of latinos who served in the u.s. senate. they include nevada, new york, north dakota, and texas. we project an additional gain of nine democrat senators for a total of 66 democrats, and kim november 3 we project 74 latinos and lat inas serving in ut -- upper houses in the state legislatures.

the difference will be slightly more modest in lower houses of state legislatures. we projects -- projection that 17 states will. we reject an increase from 179 to 184 latinos and lat inas in the lower legislative bodies. we also have latinos running for statewide office. overall, 18 latinos and latinas are running for statewide office. seven are in new mexico where perhaps the most excite willing race is taking place today in the contest between a district attorney and lieutenant governor benefitish. should she win, she will become

the first female and first patrick lalime -- female to hold the office. one out of six voters in -- one out of three voters in the state of new mexico is of latino decent. former -- descent. former attorney general senior facing state controller in the race for governor. it's a tight race. it's not just where latino candidates are running where it will make a difference. but in states with major contests between non-latinos, latinos voters are poised to have an influence. in my home state of california we're seeing a record amount spent by businesswoman meg

whitman to defeat larry brown. 25% of the registered vote ners california are latino and both candidates understand you cannot win a major campaign in california today without reaching the hispanics. they have launched aggressive campaigns in english and spanish up and down the state. there is another tight race in colorado. a three-way race between john hick enlooper, tom tan credo and businessman dan mays, who is running as the republican candidate. one out of 10 voters in colorado is ladino and we believe tell -- they will be decisive in determine derek fisher determining the future head -- leadev -- leader of the

state of california. we are seeing similar impacts in other races. in florida, alex sink running against the surprise candidacy of businessman rick scott where nearly 13% of all voters are latinos in that contest and the state of texas where incumbent governor pick -- rick perry is running against former houston mayor bill white. in that contest, latinos can have a significant effect. other races where latinos are running includes of course the florida u.s. senate race, a three-way race between the former speakev of the florida house of representatives marco rubio, governor charlie crist, and u.s. representative meek.

a small number of hispanic voters could be decisive once again in the statewide election in florida. moving around the country to other races where nonlatino candidates are running for the u.s. senate we go back to california in a spirited contest between indumb -- incumbent senator barbara boxer against businesswoman carly fiorina. both have launched aggressive campaigns to try to capture the latino vote, understanding you cannot win statewide office in california without a significant share of that vote. also a close contest between michael bennett, appointed to the u.s. senate seat by governor romney, and ken buck, on the republican side, a tight

race where a small percentage of the electorate can make a difference. and of course perhaps the attention of the entire country on a u.s. senate race, nevada. the contest between senate majority leader harry reid an -- and former assembly member shang -- sharon angle. -- sharron angle. the latest polls show it's a dead heat and so the 12% latino vote could be a decisive difference. for the u.s. congress, there aretower competitive u.s. house races where latinos could make a difference. incumbent loretta sanchez, based in orange county, is running against california assemblyman van tran. it's probably the most significant challenge that congresswoman sanchez has yet faced. in florida's district 25, the

seat vacated by lincoln diaz-balart, we have a contest between david rivera and joe garcia, a dead heat where more than half the voters are hispanic and we expect hispanics to be decisive in the outcome. texas number 17, joe flores is challenging incumbent chet edwards. edwards has been targeted many times before. this time 10% of the latinos -- voters are latinos. this tight race is being watched closely as is texas seat number 23, where rigs -- rodriguez is being challenged by canseco. 51% of the voters in this district are hispanic and will be making the decision. now, there are two other

districts where we project possible gains by latinos. in idaho's congressional district one, state rement labrador is taking on incumbent congressman whitminic and in the -- minnick and in the state of washington in the third district, jamie her ear is taking on tv station owner danny hick. both the latino challengers are republicans, taking on democrats, and with a very strong opportunity to be competitive and victorious come november 2. we predict that come this election we will go from 20 latino democrats and three latino republicans in the u.s. house to 21 latino democrats and five latino republicans in the congress.

latino voters also will be decisive in races where there are no latino candidates but their presence among the electorate will be decisive. florida's district 8, here 18% of the voters are latinos. nevada's third district, titus and joe heck, where 13% of the electorate is latino. new mexico's second district where incumbent harry teague is being challenged by pierce, attempting to regain his seat. and in fork's 13th congressional district where mike mcmahon is being challenged by righetti. more than 10% of the voters are latinos. it's not just the presence of

voters thoo -- who are latinos that's driving this election. certainly the issue of immigration and lack of immigration reform has caught the attention of the entire country. the issue is on the nightly news virtually every single day. and it has captured the attention of latino voters. in june we polled 1,600 registered voters. these were latino registered voters. what was remarkable to -- to us is that for the first time in years of polling, the number of -- issue of immigration was with the number one issue as a priority as the election approached. typically the issues of importance to latinos have been education, health care, the economy, fishes -- issues that are important to all americans. but for the first time in 2010,

we have the issue of immigration and it's captured the attention of voters. our poll asked latino registered voters if they were likely to support or oppose a candidate whose positions on immigration they disagreed with. overwhelmingly voters told me they were more likely to oppose a candidate on issues on think -- which they disagreed. as november 2 approaches and the issue of immigration continues to be exploited by candidates on both sides of the issue, it's certain to drive the latinos to the polls with the mission of having their voices heard. we at the legal education fund will do all we can through our nonpartisan get out the vote effort to make sure our voices

are heard and we break our projection bs -- projection of 16 more. we will be working with spanish language media, including univision and others, through television, radio, and print under a campaign that's proven to be successful this if motivating lat ioes to action, in participating in the census. this year the message after the census hads been register to vote and vote november 2. latino voters and candidates will once again have made a significant difference in the

u.s. political system. thank you and i'd be willing to take any questions. yes? >> i think sharron angle was n to her, will have an impact upon her rates compare chances of her election. how do you think that will work in the future speak with one of the things we learned about latino voters is that there sophisticated electorates. they closely follow candidates and they follow campaigns that they're willing to cross party lines, and they are willing to vote not just on, they're willing to support non-hispanic candidates, this includes hispanic candidates debating on the circumstances of an issue. in this case the issue of immigration has risen up, and i think latin listened very careful hi to ab a television ad. i think they will respond,

respond, november 2. us last country . . . is that what your figures show or your own research? >> we're not necessarily listening to what pundits are say. we're listening to latino voters. we think that these voters actually are very engaged with this election, that they have a high propensity to vote. our polls show that 65 to 75%

indicated they were very likely to vote come november 2 and that was in june. so as the election season has heated up and the election becomes nor prominent, we expect we will not only reach that projection of 6.5 million voters but we'll surpass it. >> there -- are there issues other than immigration you think are bringing lat ioes to the polls in? latinos have been probably the group most affected by the poor economy. the economy was the second most important issue for the latino voters. it was right up there with immigration. we think latinos are looking at both issues very closely, how that issue is being used by candidates and campaigns and wanting to know how latinos get on the track where they can

survive this recession. >> two questions. one, even though you will see an increase in numbers, the population is growing and so i'm wondering whether you, -- you are expecting an actual increase in the turnout rate which has been stuck around 30% of eligible voters in the hispanic population. i also wanted to ask -- i realize there's a lot of work going on and things are turning around as far as democrats coming out to vote. but it didn't seem that anyone mentioned the lack of immigration, an issue that drove hispanics to the polls. it seems almost illogical to me that hispanics are going to turn out in a big way if nothing was done on immigration. >> sure. in 2006 you compare op -- apples to apples, 5.5 million

latinos voited. 6.5 is what we project, roughly a million voters and 17%. i think we're on track to continuing the participation of latinos. as far as immigration, let me share a story with you. in 2009 we held our national conference in los angeles in late june. it started june 24. that day i walked into the ballroom for our luncheon to make shuring -- sure everything was set. the employees were there setting the tables. they took ne -- me aside and wanted to speak with me about what was happening in the white house that day. january 24, 009, the president held a meeting with leaders of both political parties to discuss immigration reform. hire i was -- here i was taken aside by workers who wanted to

know what was happening in the white house at that moment. that's how closely latinos are following this issue of immigration. so they are pretty sophistated this. they know what has happened. what has not happened, what is needed for it to move forward. the message we have been communicating to our community is yes, it's time for our voices to be heard, this is a long-term objective and can only be achieved if the latino voice continues to be heard in election after election. just yesterday it came to my attention that someone was running an ad in nevada encouraging latinos not to vote in this election over the issue of grimiation reform. there is nothing more cynical than encouraging people not to vote. it harkens back to the call earlier this year to boycott

the convenienceous. latinos understand there is no point to not participation. as the election approaches i think the latinos will continue to understand the only way to achieve our objectives is to participate in the process. >> thank you. i'm with america's voice. i just wondered in you -- if you kuo comment on the use of spanish language advertising by candidates and also why don't parties use it? it seems striking that in california democrats are using grim -- immigration as an issue to contrast with their opponents but in, say, florida, it doesn't seem like the democratic candidates are. i'm not sure what's happening in nevada. >> well, in nevada it's a big issue between angle and reid. >> right. right. just on your comments on the use of spark language advertising by candidates and

parties, i'm wondering whether this strategy of having latino candidates who also espouse somewhat conservative positions, how does that translate? does ethnicity trump politics? -- >> i think they have a -- an increasingly large share of naturalized latino citizens. they have a higher propensity to vote. than native born latino u.s. citizens. they're more likely to be following the news and if you phenomenon coverage of issues important to latino voters it actually yupes much more time on the daily news than it does on the big major media.

so the spanish electorate is probably much more in tune with policies than the english speaking. as far as latinos did, as politicians espousing anti-latino views, sometimes they're willing to abandon a latino candidate if they don't agree with that latino candidate as well. case in point, the recall of gray davis. when he was recalled, arnold schwarzenegger received the largest share of the latino vote over sitting governor cruz bust amonte. -- bustamamnte. so politics or changes trumped ethnicity. .

journal. are you going to the white house today, and what kind of message you like to pass only to the white house? and do you think it will make a difference on the immigration reform, and also could you comment or elaborate on harry reid's campaign in nevada and how important nevada latinos' vote will be for harry reid's election. >> i personally won't be at the white house today. so my message isn't going to be delivered in the person. i think our message is going to be delivered by what you're covering here today, but more importantly i think the message to the white house and to the congress will be delivered by latino voters on november 2nd. now, with respect to the race in nevada, it's a very tight race between sharron angle and senator harry reid, and it's exactly in a race that is that competitive where the latino vote makes the most difference. so in nevada where more than 12% of all registered voters are

latinos, latinos are poised to disease the outcome of that senate -- decide the outcome of that senate race. >> [inaudible] >> they're being mobilized not just by our organization, but by organizations across the country. in fact, in the 25 years that i've been involved in latino mobilization on issues and elections, this is the one midterm election where i have seen the most activity to mobilize latino voters. i think that is for a number of reasons. one, there are resources being driven into both c3 and c4 campaigns. all of our activity is under a c3 banner, nonpartisan, but the researches that we've received, for example, have enabled us to reach out to a quarter million la latino low-propensity voters. that's happening in arizona, nevada, texas, florida, certainly in california and in new york and illinois. layer on that a national media campaign that we have in

conjunction with univision where across the country latinos who consume their information with the spanish-language media are receiving a consistent message about the importance of participation. they received it to motivate them to become citizens in 2007, to participate in the census earlier this year, they're receiving that message now to vote on november 2 around. 2nd. yes, sir. >> arturo, what's your optimism about the increasing chance of more latino participation in november when we're seeing seven different polls that show that latinos are really not paying a lot of attention to the election and that they're really not very interested? in general, latinos eligible to vote are not following the issues right now. >> i don't believe that poll. i think the poll you may be referring to is the one conducted by the pew his --

hispanic center. as compared to ore polls -- other polls, my understanding is it was you you conducted over a, and it was a random survey of 1300 latinos. and of that sample they identified about 600 as having registered to vote. now, what we know about polls, when people are asked if they're registered to vote, people don't report that. that poll itself has some weaknesses about trying to measure the pulse of a latino electorate. you compare that to other polls being conducted, random polls of latinos on voter registration rolls, so these aren't people who are overreporting that they're registered or not, these are people who truly are registered, and it's those polls that show social it's an engaged electorate. we're doing everything we can to beat the projection of 6.5 million latinos note societying on -- voting on november 2nd. >> given the toxic environment

in arizona and given a very close race that wasn't supposed to be for representative a wiewl -- are you concerned about voter intimidation, voter suppression, and what do you see to counteract that potential? >> absolutely. well, the environment isn't just toxic this arizona. unfortunately, the environment's toxic across the country on this issue of immigration, and the congressman's competitive race which i don't believe is that competitive but certainly he's being challenged is an indication of that. there are -- [inaudible] the commercial that i referred to earlier actively encouraging la latinos to stay home is an effort to suppress the latino vote. we also will do everything we can to help insure latinos have free access to the franchise. on election day we will be having toll-free hotlines that will be answered across the country, and we will have

attorneys at the ready so that any latino voters who when they go to the polls are turned away, are told they're not registered to vote, are not given a provisional ballot, they can call our toll-free hotline at 888-vey-vota. 888-vey-vota, they can call that number on november 2nd, report the problem, we will get in contact with attorneys, we will make sure everybody has the right to vote on november 2nd and that no one is denied this basic right. >> hi. my name's kevin, and i'm with the raven group. my question is, do you have nine states listed here detail latinos share the popular vote. ten to twenty years from now what other states do you see having significant portion of the latino electorate? >> right. the reason that we only have nine states there is because of the sampling that the census bureau does to be able to report

on voter turnout. that certainly is going to change once we see the results of the 2010 census which will be due out end of this year. future states where we think we'll be able to monitor latino performance performance will be states in the south. in fact, i think the story of the 2010 census will be the rise of the latino south. states like north carolina, arkansas, tennessee all with significant latino populations large enough to be able to have an impact on statewide elections. keep an eye on washington, keep an eye out on states in the midwest like kansas and arkansas also with large and growing latino populations. okay. well, thank you for joining us this morning, and don't forget to vote november 2nd. [applause]

c-span3 c-span[captioning perfoy national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2010] >> in a few moments, a look at the effect of african-american voters on election. in about an hour, a debate between the u.s. senate candidates in illinois at.

this race is a tossup. after that, the pennsylvania candidate for governor. later, tonight's debate among florida's u.s. senate candidates. charlie crist, marco rubio, and kantor to meet -- kendrick meek. on "washington journal," tomorrow morning we will look at campaign funding. we will also discuss a new book on health care by sophil bredse. "washington journal," is live every day at 7:00 a.m. eastern.

>> c-span, bringing you politics and public affairs. every weekend, look for our signature interview programs. home through november, see coverage of the campaign as the political parties battle for control of congress. c-span, decorated by cable, provided as a public service. >> more now on the effect that african-americans will have on the election. this is a little less than an hour. journal" continues.

host: jamal simmons joins us, democratic strategist, political analyst for cbs news and a principal at the raysden group in washington, d.c. we have seen two polls recently. here is one. "the st. petersburg" web site. u.s. blacks enthusiastic about voting in midterm election. and then if you go to another website, from "new american media" the newest gallup poll found black voters are poised to desert voting booths by nearly 2 to 1 gap, whites are more apt to say they are thinking about the november election than blacks. what are you hearing? are african-americans enthusiastic or not? guest: when you think about the difference between what will happen this election, the question is not a baseline question. the question is about the difference between voters -- african-american voters and white voters. what you have seen historically

is in midterm elections there have been these large gaps between african-american and white voters. in 1994, 10.2% difference between african-american and white voters. in 1998 when bill clinton was under incredible stress, there was only 3.7% difference. you saw democrats picked up five seats which is unusual in a midterm election. this is coming from the joint center for political and economic studies as well as some research 5 pew big moments director jesse jackson concert -- after jesse jackson was a campaign in 1984, in 1988 -- 96 in the midterm. what democrats are focused on is, let's talk to voters. let's communicate with them very clearly about issues that are at stake. let us talk about the change they got in 2008. and that this election will help continue that change. and that's really where the

democratic party is focused. they are also doing a lot of door knocking, phone calls, all the traditional campaign things that friendly you are not seeing republicans doing much of. they are spending a lot of money on television, mail. democrats are doing television, mail, and traditional grassroots door knocking. host: there has been a lot made of president obama not going to need it -- certain districts because he is not very popular. a low approval rate. but in a column in "the wall street journal" this morning is president obama is all the democrats got. when you look at other democratic leaders in the party, his poll numbers are the best. it is president obama doing enough to get african-americans specifically -- because they are part of the democratic base -- to turn out? guest: he is. he was on radio. there was a big event in philadelphia. he was at the congressional

black caucus meeting a few weeks ago. he just did an interview last week with a group of african- american columnist from the country that people are talking about. so, he is out there communicating with people very directly. at the same time, it is not just about barack obama. each one of these candidates has to run his or her own race. when did you don't want to have happen is to have candidates who rely on barack obama to rescue them in the last few weeks. so these candidates have had to communicate with voters directly. the ones who have been doing that should see a pretty good turnout and those who have not might catch it on the chin. if you are a candidate, you still have to go out and get the voters to vote for you. host: what is the best way? guest: you talk about it -- to people about the issues. the three biggest issues are jobs, like anyone else, education, like many other people, and also crime. people are seeing an uptick in

crime in some of their local communities. these politicians want to talk to voters about issues they care about. of those of the issues that most important. host: do they need to spend a lot of money? we talking about the roll money plays and politics. guest: money is important but at some point there is diminishing return. there are so many -- only so many as you can watch, so much radio you could listen to. at some point, you care about what is their perspective, what is their viewpoint. african-american voters are a lot like everyone else. the notion that there is an african-american community is kind of an old-time notion. there are african-american communities. in some places you have people who are more religiously focus, some places you have urban voters concerned about things like crime. another place as you have very educated voters who are very middle-class to care about their taxes and health care, and they want to start a business and cannot get access to capital. i was talking to a guy in

washington, d.c., he said he ran a transportation company. he uses vans to carry people who have disabilities or elderly citizens from one location to another. you get a contract right now, except he can't get funding to buy more vans to supply the contracts. this issue was not really tax cuts as much as it was, he needed loans. he needed access to capital. they're all kinds of issues that african-americans face, just like everyone else, that candidates have to talk to. you can't walk, the terminator and has a screen that reads across that says it 35-year-old african american male, you have to talk affirmative-action. host: you refer to 1986 where jesse jackson had a national bank that helped turn out african-american voters. a program to register and mobilize black voters for the midterms. it worked. is there something similar happening? guest: absolutely.

organizers for america and at the dnc, they have ground operations across the board for congress, senate, governor. they are going out and knocking on doors. what i am hearing is for instance, the democratic national committee, they have talked to more african-american voters in the month of september then they talk to african- american voters the entire year of 2006. you are seeing extraordinary efforts at doing door knocking. host: of the dnc plans to spend seven times to eight times more than previous years. it used to work there. explain how this works. how the ground game works at that level? how do they spend that money? guest: they raise money nationally and a part of that money into states that are most in portland. they make sure that the state party in michigan is going to get enough money to be able to run their program. they said staff members out to communicate directly and not on

doors in that community. they also -- advertising, whether radio and television ads, they will run a radio and television advertising in communities to make sure they are also getting a national message out. but again, it in a lot of these communities, there is going to have to be a state-by-state, race race method to make sure the candidate is back to the communicating directly to the voters. host: what is the guarantee that this could work? when you look at 2009 governor races in virginia and new hampshire or the 2010 primaries, the data shows that african- americans didn't turn out of the races. guest: if you look at congressional special elections that took place in 2009, democrats swept those. i'm wary about congressional elections in this case because the house -- whether it is mississippi or tennessee or more -- or sanford bishop in

georgia, those candidates are communicating to african- american voters that they need them to show up. someone like war barnes running in georgia, who was governor when i was down there, he has a great relationship with the african-american community. he knocked the confederate flag down there that cost some white voters. you have mike firmans -- the only african-american elected state wide, he will help turn out african-american voters who will also help roy barnes was running for governor. host: jamal simmons is our guest, democratic strategist, talking about african-american turnout. what is your involvement in camping 2010? guest: spending a lot of time with people like you. my day job is i work for a lot of foundations that do communications around health

care and criminal justice policies and things like that. i spent a lot of time in democratic politics. i have been chief of staff on the hill. interesting, there is a stir in the paper about what is happening in the south. most of my career i worked with seven politicians, whether bill clinton, al gore, a westley clark. so, i have a good sense and feel about how this works on the ground. in the south, you pretty much do have to have kind of a message. people are pretty conservative. even when they are democratic voters, the care a lot about faith, about family, people look out for their neighbors. sometimes these big messages about big business and other things that happening don't mean as much to someone. so you have to have a candidate that can connect to the voters. host: the story he is referring to is the front page of "the new york times" below the fold. white southern democrats see bad outlook turned worse. since the civil rights act, democrats have been losing seats

consecutively in the south. guest: we know a lot of the reason why it is the case. it talks about the 1964 voting rights act. there were a lot of white voters who had the democrats but they were conservatives. what we have now is -- where we use at two parties that both had conservative and liberal members, were national party. what you are seeing now in the last 40 years is we have sort of a liberal party and the conservative party that don't really have a lot of cross between them. we almost have a parliamentary party system but we don't have a parliamentary government. in washington, you then come to washington where compromise is required but you don't have people built the inside the party that can do that compromise. there is not a lot of reason. host: first phone call. kent, independent line. irving, texas. are you with us? good morning. caller: good morning. first, i have a question for

you, gretchen -- greta. when a republican calls in on the republican line use a republican. and when an independent, you call it the independent line. when somebody calls and on the democratic line you don't say here is a democratic on the democratic line. would you please go like -- start calling them the democrats' line so it would not be descriptive but just identity. host: i see that -- go ahead with your comments or questions. caller: in connection with this subject. the local congress lady here has recently been in the paper for handing out about 23 different scholarships to people, and it has caused a lot of problems here. so, i have some black friends and i asked one of them who has a church what he thought was

going to happen. and he just kind of laughed and said, we are still going to call vote for her because she has been a conversely we are just going to go ahead and vote because she is one of us. so i would like to make comments about our guest. host: what is your question? caller: this minister, who has been a friend of mine -- host: do you have any thoughts to add? guest: people make the determination on who they are going to vote for based on who they think can operate the best. that candidate may have a way to beat her but you cannot say that you are going to vote against somebody because you do not like

what they did some place else. host: chattanooga, tennessee. james. caller: good morning. i remember you, jamal. i am 61 years old. i am a vietnam combat veteran. but braze to god. i get up every morning and read the bible. -- but praise to god. i have always done what was required of me, and i urge all black people to vote. it is a ploy to downplay the out come up the push that black people do to get out the vote. i vote early. i take my friends. i ask them in the barber shop, have you voted?

there is a silent force here, and we are working. it is a play, strategy to downplay the black vote. we are getting out there. we are proud of you. keep up the good work. host: what about tennessee, that state in particular, getting african-americans out to vote? guest: he is doing things that are effective. talking to people directly. here is an african-american woman who works at an office. she drives a mercedes. ok, maybe we know some of the things that they are concerned about.

so you could communicate directly with them through mail , phone calls. host: next phone call. bob. caller: if the republican party had a program to get out white voters, would you consider them racist? why aren't you racist? guest: everyone is trying to get everyone out. republicans do have some programs try to reach out to latino voters. in general, people talk to voters, regardless of their income, other ways, all sorts of ways to dissect the party. david in north carolina. independent line.

caller: thank you for c-span. i want to make a short question and then a comment. are you familiar, in legal terms, of the public duty doctrine? guest: tell me what it means. caller: well, i will get to my statement first. for the past 10 years, the right wing of the party does not want any refs on the field on wall street. they are talking freedom, constitution, they do not want these legislations, restrictions. the democrats, on the other hand, want refs on the field, and they are responding. as you mentioned, gretchen, a

minute ago, the african americans is one of the basis to the democratic party. the democrats and african americans want refs on the field, someone to protect them. this is where the public duty doctor and comes in. under the law, there is no duty to protect. if an african-american sued the sec for giving madoff a clean bill of health six months before, he turned himself in, and you sued the sec for failure to protect, and they would come with me public duty doctrine. i would like for you to look into the public to the doctrine. there is no duty to protect.

host: we will leave it there. i saw one story this morning, all voters -- not just african- american -- turned out to vote. the commentator asked the question, do democrats really want to win in the house and senate? does president obama want them to win? would it not serve his interest best if republicans shared the burden of running the government? guest: that would make sense if it seemed that there was a republican party that had any desire to help us out of the ditch that we are in. instead, we have a party presenting the pledge of america. it talks about competitiveness. america.ed to ameri to

it talks about education, but does not mention "education" at all, and reduces spending back to 2008 levels. that means we have to take 28% of the budget out. gutting education is not going to help us become more competitive as a nation. if you had a republican party that was serious about dealing with the nation's issues, that could be the case. but instead you have someone like darrell issa who wants to have hearings and investigations for everything that has happened in the past two years. president obama decided that he was not going to look back and scrutinize everything about the

budget ministration. the clinton administration constantly did subpoenas and it did not help you get policy. the obama administration understands there is no good to come from a republican in charge and all they want to do is investigate. host: in the washingto the same congress wants to extend tax cuts for those people who make over $250,000 a year. they do not need these tax cuts. so we are going to borrow $700 billion abroad to kick tax cut

to will be people in the united states and then cut down on domestic programs? it does not make sense. that is why we cannot trust republicans to take back the mantle of leadership. host: the front page of "role call newspaper." -- "roll call" newspaper -- pensacola, florida.

ellis on the democratic line. caller: thank you for taking my call. earlier on, you had someone who said he was voting against his congressman. my opinion is he probably did not vote for him the first time. secondly, florida has started their dirty tricks campaign. last night, i received a call stating that we should vote against two amendments that are on the ballot, five and six, trying to fix the gerrymandering that we have going on. we got a phone call saying that african-american organization were against those amendments. i went on their website and they

had a list of about 20 minority organizations saying to vote for it because it would cut out the gerrymandering that the republicans have done in florida. what do you think about that? guest: i was in west palm beach during the recount, so i am familiar with the shenanigans that go on in a state like florida. democrats have to be sure that we have people in these states monitoring the vote. we have to make sure that there is not voter intimidation happening. if there are problems, do the little things that are necessary to get the problems addressed. host: what are you hearing about possible every counts in these senate races. -- races? guest: it can be a bigger issue

depending on the year. harry reid was in a recount in 1998. nevada no longer has a law where -- i am sorry, he was in a runoff that turned into a recount. right now, the first person past the post winds. -- wins. so there are recounts around the country and there are some interesting election laws that people should pay attention to. host: wayne from tennessee. caller: i hope you do not get a raise, gretchen, because mr. simmons will say that you do not deserve it. i have a comment about the black community singular and black

community, plural. guest: african-americans vote for african-americans for a variety of reasons. around the country, you see different americans living in different conditions. many times people have different ideas about what is important in their lives. a candidate in new york is running on something different than someone in rural alabama. host: washington, d.c., filled up. -- phillip. caller: washington, d.c. it is no stranger to race politics. he looks at a candidate, sees with their platform is in relation to what he would like

to see in office. do you vote democrat down the line? guest: i voted for a friend of my mother who was a republican in college. for the most part, i will vote for the democrat. i have a hard time voting for republicans who are against my interests, even if there is a democrat who will not express my best interests. host: this morning, cnn is talking about not only the african-american vote, but the lending enthusiasm of young voters. ging enthusiasm of young voters. guest: we have seen the

excitement go up since 2006. you want to see young voters again this year because they have a perspective that has to be in the debate. we saw in 2008, not only did barack obama do well with young voters, but so did john mccain. if you look at a group like rock the vote, what they will tell you is, these types of leaders tend to be more inspirational. it is important for young voters to show up so that their perspective is heard. if you look at the election now, it is not just african- americans deciding the election. it is also college students, their professors.

if liberal whites are so disgruntled because they did not get a public option or something else that they wanted to get done in the past two years, democrats will not win. the need to have a maximum party turned out to make sure that we have more opportunities to change the country, going forward. host: prince george's county, maryland. jeff on the democratic line. caller: i have so much to say about this issue. to those folks who are calling and saying that we do not need a level playing field, a robbery, -- referee, think about all the changes that have had to happen because folks in power are being voted out. it is appalling for people to

take these disingenuous stances because of the president, the democrats are trying to get some sort of tax reform, campaign reform, essentially fairness. it is ridiculous. i could go on and on. this thing called the fairness doctrine, i think fox news tried to co-op that. the republican party is trying to get a market on being american. black americans, we are going to get out and vote, regardless of which party we are affiliated with. to coin a phrase from a hard- working friend of mine, i would consider myself a demopublican.

there are some ideas i like from one, some from others. but what we do not like is having someone tried to buy our public opinion. guest: you touched on something at the end which is important. he said this idea of money coming in to buy votes -- the one thing i am more about this election is the amount of unregulated cash coming into this election. it is not that people are spending money for the person they believe in, that is normal. the question is, do voters have a right to know where the money is coming from? who is putting money in these races? we do not want to end up in a case like russia where you have the billionaire oligarchs who are buying the elections on behalf of candidates. you want to make sure that you have a fair electorate.

it seems, right now, all of our work on finance reform -- campaign finance reform has gone out the window. host: a twitter response -- guest: i did not say that. 2008 was clearly a high water mark. it is like a first kiss. you can never experience it again. the question is, will you do better than you did in 2002, 2006, other midterm elections? will you be able to close the gap with the youth voters, african-american voters? if democrats have a chance

to win, it is about getting those younger people under 35 to come out. host: what is it about those younger people that make a difference? when it has made a difference for democrats, the percentage between those two is quite small. is there a point at which it really hurts the democrats? guest: if it is less than 5%, democrats generally do well. host: janet in memphis. caller: i will say this quickly, but come back through history with me. tom bradley was running for governor in california. that election was stolen and given to ronald reagan.

anyway, ronald reagan stripped education -- funding for education from poor kids, like me, and gave it to the asians. we saw all these people coming in and then all the money being given to them, and then we saw a slide of our jobs being given to them and then overseas. the slide continued to where we are now. president clinton had such a troubled past, it was known he could not stand up against globalization. now we have president obama who is squeaky clean and it is hard for someone to use his past against him but they are fighting him in all these nefarious ways because he is

really the person to do the job. what affect do you think the black vote can have won the elections can be stolen, in the matter that it was done with ron reagan in california? as soon as he guided the schools there, he was awarded by becoming president. everyone knows he was not intelligent enough to do that. guest: as a student of political history, i do not think tom bradley ran for governor against ronald reagan. he did lose in his election in what people thought would be a massive turnout for him, but he ended up losing by a couple of points. she also talked about the democrats' standing against globalization. i do not think anyone is doing that. we are in the middle of it. the question is, how do we get our work force to be able to

harness globalization for the benefit of american citizens. how can we be competitive where we are still competitive in science, math, engineering, in order to compete against that? thomas friedman was relating a conversation that he had with the chairman of intel, saying that he could be a seat -- could not be a successful company without american workers. we have to do better in our high schools to make sure that kids are involved in technology, engineering, and math to compete with people across the world. i would love to see us at a place -- on the issue of competition, there is a consensus that we have to address it. but some are more to the left, some more to the right, but

everyone focused that we are competitive so that our children can have a piece of the world. host: jamal simmons is with us, a principal at the raven group. he is also a cbs political analyst. there was a recent report put out by the joint center for political and economic studies. the influence of black candidates on 2010 midterm elections. there are 20 seats where black voters could determine the outcome. most of these seats are in southern states and only three are held by republicans. if the democrats retain half of these seats, it would be tough for the gop to regain the seats necessary to get the majority in the house. guest: that is an important point that democrats have to compete in the south, as well as

the midwest and west. i am not one of these people running around worrying about the sky is falling on election day, but we have two weeks left. this is the rough and tumble part of the campaign. you look at this advertising between ran paul and -- there is a lot happening in the next few weeks. as a candidate, you have to make sure that you are keeping the ball moving. i was in a campaign ones where we were ahead the entire year until the final 10 days and the election turnaround. we lost. you could see what was happening.

this wave that everyone is talking about to defeat democrats, it may exist, but it is not taking hold yet. carli fear russia is up slightly in california. washington state, patty murray is also ahead. in mississippi, childers is also up. so you look around the country and republicans have to take control in order to win, and they are not blowing anyone away yet. democrats are still holding their own. guest: what is your prediction for the house? -- host: what is your prediction for the house? guest: i predict the democrats will retain power of the house. there are some seats that

republicans hold the democrats will be able to take. if you look at the seat in new orleans, that is a democratic pickup opportunity. there is one in delaware, another in hawaii. you have a few of these races where democrats can do pretty well and finished strong -- finish strong. host: moving on to read still, north carolina. mary, you are on the line. caller: i see that your guest is a democratic strategist. it seems that democrats and president obama are afraid to tout what they have really done, spending time holding the republicans off, rather than

showing the public their accomplishments. it seems that their strategy is to tell everybody what you're young, what is good, what hav have accomplished. host: has there been a communication problem from the white house? guest: i could argue that the white house is in a better position today. if we had said from the beginning, focus on competitive, focus on long-term issues. in the short term, we have some hard work to do. thinking more of a long-term strategy as well as focusing short-term on jobs. health care is important, something that the democrats have tried to do.

next year, you will see kids left off of the roles having benefits because they are allowed to be on their parents' plan. maybe have a mom who has a job with a birth defect cannot get that child cover because of a pre-existing condition, she will be able to get them covered. right now, we do not have many real time examples because of the timing, but next year, i think you will see democrats talk more about the bill. host: if you want to take a look at a list of the things that work, jim abrams writes in "the philadelphia inquirer" -- fresno, california.

david, good morning. caller: i am a white, independent voter. i voted for barack obama. i gave him a pass on the reverend wright situation. since he has been in office, there has been two incidents including race. one was the person at harvard, professor gates, where president obama made a comment, gave his opinion on police officers not being very bright about that. i was shocked that he made that comment. being president, he should have allowed the police to handle the situation. i do not know why he would make a comment concerning that. the second thing is, the new

black panthers, the situation where they were convicted but did not get any time for intimidation, i am surprised that the administration, with the department of justice, did not do something that showed they wanted to make a statement that we are not going to let anybody intimidate us, no matter what race they are. i believe this is the reason all lot of white independent voters are going against this administration. guest: most people who do not want fox news are not familiar with this new black panthers case. if you look at the clip, there is one gentleman standing in front of an african-american voting district, looking at him as if he is a nut job.

so is not really that he is intimidating voters. this was all cleared up under the bush administration. i think people think that this is an important case tried to highlight racial issues. barack obama was talking about a specific police officer who walked into the professor's home and questioned him. clearly, it was his home. i think the president probably learned a lesson in both cases. but if you look at barack obama brought the, he is someone who has been appealing to voters across the spectrum. he treats everyone equally. some people do not want him to be equal. they want him to favor in a

different direction. i think that is something that he is not in the business of. you just have to look at this from a broader stance and you see that we have a president, even though people are not extraordinarily happy about the economy, he is still getting about 63% personal approval ratings. host: you have worked on presidential campaigns, have worked for the democratic national committee, specific races. describe what it is like to be in a campaign at this moment. guest: can you say hell on c- span? the common joke on the campaign is every day is a week, every week, a month.

day's low in two nights, you are up early, out late. you are tired a lot. you have not talked to your friends and family. it is a tough environment but anybody that has been through it -- some of my good friends are republicans who have been on the opposite side. there is this strange bond that you have with each other because you understand the grueling life that the person has led, how much they had been through. it is fun, something that you cannot get an excitement level doing something else. every day you get up, you are doing something because you believe in it, you think you can make the world a better place. if nothing else, -- it makes some people cynical -- but i have become more optimistic. most people are supporting a

candidate because they can believe they can make -- they believe they can make a difference every day. i am working all day and i am really not getting paid that much. host: baton rouge. tyrone. good morning. caller: i do not know if republican blacks were more republican from the lincoln days, up to president roosevelt, i think maybe they started to switch parties. certainly, after kennedy, after he got martin luther king out of a jam. do you think it is a danger that the democratic party may start to take the black vote for granted and say that they will

come running to all the time? host: thank you. guest: you hit on a good point. i am a democrat, but it is good for the country to be voting on people from all spectrums. in fact, too often, candidates will treat black voters like a one-night stand. everything to get them to vote at one day and then they do not pay much attention to them. we need to have continual involvement, a trust level that the candidate will operate in the best interest of those folks. host: dennis in new york. democratic line. can you make it quick? caller: i will do my best.

mr. simmons, as a white liberal, it is not just the government option that is missing. the republiklan party set up that medicare part b thing which is a slush fund for drug companies. middle-class seniors have to pay two sets of premiums for one drug benefit. they should have put the prescription drug benefit into part be. for this reason, i am writing in tom harkin for senator in 2012. host: what is your question? caller: when is the democratic party going to get off of their corporate agenda and get back to acting more liberal? guest: to