with me and the secretary of state that it makes no sense to have obstacles in the department given the 100,000 patients to lose it each year and take this opportunity for those that are hostile. >> i will have to get back to the gentleman on the detail of his question but we do believe those top-down reorganization that took place where many accidedede were closed, what local people wanted. the whole point of the reform is to put power in the hands of patients and doctors. the decision about hospitals will be made on the basis of what local people want. >> many of my constituents are concerned that when young people are found guilty of serious

crimes, they get off with a caution and no action taken against their parents. would the prime minister agreed to look of this area for what could be done? >> i am happy to look into this issue. efficiencies and savings in the home office and justice department, we are going to have to be reformers, thoughtful and creative about how we have a criminal justice system that carries a punishment that the public is confident in but not wasteful of public money as what we have now. it is a challenge we have to meet. >> jim sheridan? >> the industrial disputes, the prime minister joined me in the management that should the carving crew be looking at the building and most importantly no discrimination. >> the most important thing as this action ends and british airways gets back to work, the

fact is there is a huge leak competitive airline sector around there and those of us who love our national carrier and wanted to be a success and want to see people go back to work >> each week, we air prime minister's questions live on c- span 2, wednesday at 7:00 a.m. eastern and again sunday night on c-span at 9:00 p.m. eastern and pacific. span.org, you can find the video archives. >> tonight, a couple political programs. first, senate majority leader mitch mcconnell campaigning for republican candidates in west virginia. then a look at the pros and cons of early voting.

tomorrow, and look at how candidates are using social media this campaign season. watch live coverage at 6:30 p.m. eastern here on c-span. >> senate minority leader mitch mcconnell hit the campaign trail on friday. we will hear from senator mcconnell, u.s. senate candidate john racy, rep shelley more capital, and the head of the group city works.

quirks kentucky and west virginia share -- >> kentucky and west virginia share the same concerns about who is in the white house today. i want you to give a welcome to a was surging in and askthank him for coming. [applause] >> thank you. >> thank you very much, mike. it is wonderful to be here in a neighboring state. to be perfectly candid with you

guys, from a political point of view, i have not looked across the border with much optimism in a long time. [laughter] we began to sort of sense a change in the mountain state. on the same day, surely more capital came to washington and has done a great job -- shelly more caporetto came to washington and has done a great job [applause] for you] the only thing better than one congressman from west virginia would be three republican congressmen from west virginia. [applause] this is the year to do it. let me just briefly taken back

to november of 2008. even though kentucky and west virginia were not supportive of the president, the cold hard reality was, on the day the president was sworn in, he was sitting on a 65% or 70% approval rating. a crisis is a terrible thing to waste. what we have seen over the last two years is every left-wing idea that has been stacking up over the last 20 years or 30 years that they cannot get through either because there was a republican in the white house or a republican congress. they have been jamming them down our throats. we watched it all. we have seen them running back,

and insurance companies, car companies, the student loan business, taking over our health care, passing a really bad financial-services bill that every community banker in kentucky and west virginia opposed, and, ironically, some of the big boys from wall street showed up for the signing ceremony. they passed a budget that will double the debt in five years and triplet in 10 years. you get the drift. he drift. they are trying to turn they are trying to turn this into a western european country as quickly as they can. it was not clear. as the leader of a diminished band of 40 in the senate, one vote short of where you need to be to be relevant in the process, 41 keeps the other guys from getting 60, we decide to have a great national debate

about the future of the country. we decided that none of this warranted bipartisan support and the american people needed to have a sse that there was a genuine disagreement about the future of the country. along the way, the american people began to get energized and activated. we have here with us at the head table, someone from freedom works. you have been extremely important in all of this and we appreciate all you have done. [applause] sort of a spontaneous uprising of concern american citizens. you all know that i'm frequently on thoseunday talk shows. the host was talking about all

of these extremists in america. i looked at her politely and said what most americans think is extreme is what this administration has been doing to this country for the last two years. [applause] cash and trade in particular. that goes right to the heart of the economies of kentucky and we virginia. talk about a threat. you go need to send to washington anyone you are not totally confident is going to oppose cap and trade, because it's the worst thing that could possibly happen to west virginia. [applause] inhe wake of all this, it has been interesting to watch the other side in this campaign.

back when they manage to jam health care through with not a vote to spare on christmas eve, every republican in the house and senate opposing it, the worst piece of legislation passed in my time in the senate, the worst, can't and trade would be the second worst if it were going to get past, but do't worry, it will not get past. [applause] so, they have ts dilemma. their consultants tell them you cannot run on any thing you have done. people don't like the stimulus bill. they realize it only provided a stimulus for public employees and not for the private sector. you cannot run on the health care bill. you cannot run on a financial services bill, you cannot run on cap and trade, what are you

going to do? >> they tried for about a week to demonize john boehner. they dropped that after a week or so. they tried running against george bush again. they discovered there is a statute of limitations on running against george bush and that was not going to work. then, they tried foreign money for a while. they tried that for a week or so. just today, over the last couple of days, they are trying another argument. it goes something like this. this is at my sent senator harry reid said it earlier today. we were so busy with policy that we did not have enough time to

brag about our accomplishments. [laughter] in other words, they did not advertise properly. if you go back and take a look at what they were doing, and a president said something quite silar -- maybe their mistake was they just did not talk about enough, did not sell at well. that was not the policies, but all of us ignorant people who did not understand it. maybe it was not our fau, maybe it was their fault because there are not talking about it enough. let me give you a list of some of the things they're doing back when they claimed they were not talking about enough. this was the headline from a "new york times" -- obama, the

omnipresent. cbs, "too much obama obama saturation. the message is it the message. barack obama's messages may turn out to be the most salient features of his presidency. politico, apr 2009, it is all obama, all the time. a seattle newspaper -- "all obama, all the time, the president is getting over exposed. summing it up, they are now saying we did not talk about it enough. maybe if we talked about more,

people would have a better feeling about it. in the president's first year, he participated in 42 press conference, 100 interviews, 23 town hall meetings, sen campaign rallies, the guy doing this compilation said there were only 21 days when the president had no public or press events. i rest my case. this is not a sales pitch problem, it is a substance problem. [applause] i think what we can fairly conclude, even before the votes are cast on november 2nd is that america is not interested in becoming france. [applause]

if you look at the spending and debt and the washington takeovers, americans are genuinely frightened about the future of this country. unless you are african-american whose ancestors were brought here against their will or a american who was already here, we are the sons and daughters of ancestors who are risk takers. they had enough gumption to get up from wherever they were and come to america, the land of opportunity. they did not come for security, they came for opportunity. throughout history of our countr these risktakers have built and developed the nation we have today. nothing irritates me more than our leaders going of boron and apologizing for america. we will never -- going abroad

and apologizing for america. we will never apologize for america. [applause] and i will tell you this. i still believe in american exceptional as some. -- american ceptional as some. that is what is on the line. from the begning of america to the present, americans always believed they were going to leave behind a better country than they inherited from their parents. when polling started with the gallup organization, they began to ask that question on surveys. do you think you will leave behind a better country for your children and your parents ve for you? for the first time, amecans clearly doubt that. we are at crossroads, ladies and gentleman. it is up to us to decide which

passed we take. which brings me to west virginia. i hear tell the governor is popular and doing a good job and i know you agree with me that he ought to stay there and do the job he was elected to do. [applause] but this election is who is going to go to washington. where you can have a direct impact on what kind of america we're going to have. there is one candidate in this race i guarantee you can be completely confident will go to washington and help us stop the obama administration for the last two years of what i hope is his only term. [applause]

as some of you may ha heard, we first met a while back. i was running for the senate from kentucky and he was running for the senator from west virginia. both of us were little known and had little opportunity to be victorious, everyone thought. we met in a television studio in huntington, and i'm sure they were checking the box. sec probably told them they had to have these people on to give them a little free time. so they decided to check the box onhe same day so they would take care of the kentucky and west virginia box on the same day. i was immediately impressed with the intelligence and persuasiveness of john. i view this as a long-overdue teaming up. we hope to god washington and number of years ago, but it's not too late.

send me my buddy and will help you change this country in the right direction. [applause] john knows that you don't create jobs by borrowing almost a trillion dollars which will have to be paid off our children and grandchildren to the chinese and japanese who lent it to us. that's not going to be a great way to create jobs. he knows that if we're going to get out of this economic trough we are in, only the private sector is going to do that. he can tell you, all of us can tell you who have been dealing with business people, they are not hiring, they are not expanding because of what this administration is doing. in fact, there was a recent arcle about the president bringing in small business people to the white house and asking why there are not hiring. they went down the list and it

was his agenda. [laughter] health-care taxes, health-care mandates, aggressive regulators crawling all over us. they brought all of these left- wing activists from nonprofits into theovernment to regulate all american commercial activity, every aspect of it. at the epa, at the center for medicare and medica services that will administer the new health care bill, the financial regulatory bill, everybody i run into, small business, medium- size business, big business, everybody is just sitting there, afraid to expand because they are not sure what is coming at them. they are -- is the certainty and uncertainty that has frozen up the private sector and keeps us from getting out of this economic trough we are in.

only the private sector can lead us out of this economic slowdown. [applause] only the private sector. [applause] you have heard politicians over the years say this is the most important election ever or this is a turning point, i've said in the past. and i believe that the time i said it. but, by golly, i'm having a hard time ever thinking of an election in which more was at stake than ts one. our basic american understanding, that this is to be a land of opportunity is very much in doubt. you know we have gone too far when the president gets lectured by european heads of states about spending too much. [lghter]

there is no way i can overstate the challenges the bureaucrats are presenting for all of america. some of you have heard this before. it is a story ronald reagan used tell to illustrate concerns about bureaucratic overreach and intrusion into every aspect of our lives. it is the story of the russian who went in during the old soviet union to order a car from government motors, of course. that's when we never thought we would have the government owning a car company. he goes in to government motors to order a car. he fills out forms and asks the bureaucrat, when can i expect my car. he says it will be 10 years from today. he said will that be in the morning or the afternoon? [applause] the bureaucrat says what

difference does it make? he said the plumber is coming in the afternoon. [applause] these people need to be stopped. this is serious business. we can change america and get us back on track and what you can do here in west virginia is do your part. we've got a lot of close senate races around the country. we could have a really good day, a medium-sized good day, orust a good day. i'm going to be the leader of a larger number. the question is how many. [applause] i want to close by thanking john for stepping up. [applause] a few months ago, people were

not sure this was a doable thing. he has made a believer out of you, heas made a believer of us in washington. we are fully committed to ts, all the way to the finish line. help us send him to the united states senate. thank you very much, everyone. good to see you. [applause] [applause] >> what wonderful remarks. let me point this out. the senator is a busy guy. there are a bch of senate ras around the country right now and we have to bring them home. i would like to think this guy here. i want you to give him a round of applause. without him, we would not have

senator mcconnell here this evening. thank you very much. it is very imptant. the senator is going to slide out now. he is going to try to win a few other senate races around the country. thank you very much. [applause] as you know i have been active with a tea party in the past. there are a whole bunch of groups about -- around the country getting active, waking up. there are folks coming to a elections that have never been involved before. i'm excited when i meet the folks who have never voted before and there are a bunch of new groups involved. you need to hear from the sky. he speaks across the country. he is an inspirational speaker and we thank him for being here. matt kid from freedom works. [applause]

>> i have no idea how i a race with this prestigious front table, but i will take a one happens. it is a real honor to be here. let me make a prediction- when we read gather for your 100th birthday, we will be talking about a robust economy, an american renaissance, energy policies that actually allows to pursue all domestic sources of energy, and talking about a fiscal conservative having just finished up his second term as president of the united states. [applause] my group, freedom works, gives way to much credit for what the media now talks about as the tea party. as this movement developed and

people started showing up at town hall meetings, they started walking precinctssomewhere along the way, the media stopped calling as names and decided to read characterize us as a political party, they started comparing us to republicans, they started comparing this to democrats and trying to measure as by those same standards. i think that was an honest attempt to understand who these good men and women are, but it is a mischaracterization. the tea party is not a political party. the tea party is not running candidates. we are not a third party. the tea party is men and women who believe the government is spending too much money that it does not have, that whington d.c. is getting too involved in things that our constitution prohibits it from getting involved in, things like taking

over car companies, sitting on the boards of banks, taking over health care. things that defy common sense. we know the federal government does not do these things well and our founders never intended for the federal government to do these things all. there has been this rebirth and if you listen to the president of the united states, if you listen to democrats in congress, if you listen to too many folks in the media, you probably think awful things about the two- party. are there any tea party members in the room? anyone who is embarrassed to put up theirands? [laughter] it's ok. my name is matt and i am 80 partier. -- i am a tea party year. [applause]

what has happened, if you look at the names that have been called, the first thing they said is we were not real. we were phony. there is a guy here rights for the utah -- 40 "new york times named -- who writes for the "new york times" name paul krugman. he called us a phony. then reporters started showing up at town hall meetings, and actually started talking to people. they were shocked to discover that these are real people who live in real congressional districts and have real concerns about what our government is up to. so we were not funny anymore. suddenly, we were being manipulated by some shadowy syndicate of international corporations. what ever was. we were just a little too simple to understand the blessings of big government and we were being manipulated into dog something we should not be

doing. that did not stick. then they started calling us nasty things. you have heard the mall. we have been called domestic terrorists. think about that for a second, how offensive that is. imagine if we had thrown that accusation that the other side. the firestorm there would be. even public radio would be upset with us. [laughter] they keep calling us names and leader mcconnell talked about this. as you get close to the election -- we have a major fire here up front. as you get close to the election, it seems like the president and the democrats rollout a different accusation every day. it is as if they're casting around, trying to find the one

silver bullet, the one named they can call us that will give the democrats to show up and get all the tea party activists to stay home. it is a sign of desperation and it is a genuine misunderstanding of who these folks are. >> i'm sorry to interrupt you, but we have a fire going on down here. we have some birthdays' here, and don't move, you are coming back. we have some birtays. birthday is today. join me in singing happy birthday. happy birthday to you. happy birthday to you. ♪ [applause]

>> i'm sorry. we had fire going in the front and somebody has to blow this out. before the sprinklers, on. [applause] >> you have to try again. let's move the cake. it's always a surprise. >> the does anyone have any idea

what i was saying? >> is anybody worried about the carbon for a print of that take? -- carbon footprint for that take? the careful, the epa will show up any minute. there have been all of these misunderstandings and most of them have bn political. that thing is going to catch on fire. there have been all of these politically motivated accusations and i think most of them, people understood they were not speaking the truth. they're trying to smear was a rising political movement and they have not succeeded. i saw this monday in "politico." this is the paper you have to read when you are elected to understand what the washington establishment is thinking.

different pays story -- the front page story is about over 100 house seats now held by democrats are up for grabs. >> it turns out it was actually 103. three democratic house seats are so undemocratic they don't even count them as pickups. if you look at the senate, and i look at the map, i can get to 12. i can get to 12, andne of those seats is sitting right here. [applause] if you look at traditional measuresf voter energy, her a recent poll suggests that one out of three people that record to show up on election day ourself identified the partyers.

that is an amazing number. think about how much these folks can impact elections at the margin. but i understand one thing. these folks are not republicans. they are not democrats. they are not partisans in the traditional sense of the word. they are notified by the idea that the constitutional matters. they are motivated by the idea that the government should not spend money did this not have. the american people cannot heat their homes or drive their cars. that is radical. we are against that. these are the kind of things that motivate the tea party. there is a genuine misunderstanding.

i talk to folks every day a they discover i and part of this wild group of activists known as the tea pay. people are gennely consed. you think about port president obama. this is a guy who cannot conceive of a solution to a problem without appointing a czar to fix it. i suspect if you had to fix out and make a sandwich, he would think that we would need a bread czar to allocate the number of loaves per precinct in america. this is howhese guys think. ey think about really smart people in washington d.c. telling all of us what is best for us, telling us what to do. we cannot possibly do it for

ourselves. think of the tea party as the polar opposite of that. here you have millions of people all over the country who have come together voluntarily, bringing their own energy, their own personal knowledge, their relationships in their communities. somehow these folks have come together in created something that is bigger than themselves. what is that starlight? that sounds like the market process, does and it -- what is -- what does that sound like? the they think about top-down hierarchy's. what is going to happen o election day? i think there is a seemed -- energy amongst republican activists who did not think we had a chance. there are a lot of independents

who have joined us, a lot of democrats with buyers' remorse who have joined together around a set of ideas that matter. you see this in the polls and traditional measures of politics. things that are candidates never had going for them in the past. there is also an unseen thing going on that is going to produce a profound impact on november 2, i believe. that is this local community network that has organized literally in ery congressional district across the country. it is what howard dean used to brag about. it is a real 50-state strategy that allows candidates to stand on principle and be competitive, even in barney frank's district. there are a number of democratic chairman all across america today fighting for their

congressional district. they have never had to run the race in their entire careers. it is these folks that are walking precincts that are doing door hangers, pting up yard signs, taking their country back. that is going to be profound on election day. and thank god, not a moment too soon. our country is literally at a tipping point. we have talked about this tonight. ife don't fix all of these problems today, we won't have a country anymore. we have to do this well. to me, november 3 is far more important than november 2. november 3 is the day that this new generation of legislative entrepreneurs starts to think about how we turned political promises into legislation in bill those coalitions inside washington d.c. think about what 10 or 12 new

centers can do to change the conversation on the senate floor. [applause] think about what 50, 60, 70 new republican freshmen house members can do to change the conversation on the house floor. [applause] and think about the grass-roots army that is going to be there r them when they stick their necks out, when they make tough decisions and start pushing his agenda. we have an opportunity to offer a vivid, positive alternative to the policies of barack obama, nancy pelosi, and harry reid. it is thesereshmen who will provide that energy. i would say to all of the two- party and those who were too embarrassed to hold our heads up that they were t party, our job starts on november 3. we have to support our guys when

they do the right things. if they starto get cozy in washington, we have to remind them how they got there and what they are there to do. i hopeou guys all pick up some yard signs, pick up some door hangers, and let's take back america onovember 2. [applause] >> we thank you for all you do out there. and happy birthday. we actually had that plan. we have tevision cameras back there. we want is to be interesting for television. our friend and west virgin's friend, the congresswoman.

>> thank you. [applause] thank you all. thank you for those great words. riding on the bus myself, the crowds that were generated in the parts of the tour i was on, a lot of tea party activism and enthusiasm brought those crowds out to see us on the bus. it is a real phenomenon. i feel like west virginia, this is our time. west virginia republicans this is our time. [applause] to take our country back, to take it to the values we believe been, to the personal responsibility, to be able to have a future for our children. charlie and i are brand-new grandparents of a baby girl. i keep talking about her. she is so cute.

for me, we would not be here if it were not for a lot of folks in this room. particular, thank you, but, for your dedicated support for me. that is what you are doing here tonight, putting that stamp of approval on all the folks on the ballot. you are saying i believe the news so much that i am willing to put my name with your name and talk to my friends and neighbors and say to them, this is our time, the time to take our country back, to make the statement at the ballot box and to make west virginia so that senator mcconnell, he will want to come over to west virginia to see how we do it and how we know how to organize and get the message out. this is a wonderful crowd for that. we have a lot of problems and we ha heard a lot about them

from matt and from senator mcconnell. he is a good luck charm, because i met him probly one. week before my very first election. who else was there that night? he was a good luck charm for me and he will be for you as well. he sees everything across the country. i really pleased that he was here with us tonight. we have a situation that is devastating us here in west virginia and across the country. when your neighbor loses a job, that is recession. when you lose a j, that is depression. when nancy pelosi loses her job, that is a recovery. [applause] so all the issues, overspending, cap and trade, those are the things i have been a solitary voe most of the time in our delegation saying no, this is

not right for west virginia and for the country. we need to work and make it better for what ople need, want, and feel is in their best interest. that has not been what we have seen in washington. i need a couple of friends from west virginia in washington d.c. [applause] we need a voice in the u.s. senate. we need a good, solid, conservative vote every time. he has been up front and has been a great champion for us. you want to talk about job creation? that is what john has done his entire professional life. now is the time we need that kind of energy in the u.s. senate and also to protect our interests in west virginia. let's work hard to make sure regret that voice in the u.s. senate.

david mckinley is working hard. i am sorry he is not here with us tonight. he is the energizer bunny. mary is always right there with him. they are running a great race with a lot of energy, but it is going to boil down to election day, just like everybody else's ce. i will finall have somebody to sit with from west virginia on my side of the aisle. that will be a great day. [applause] spike maynard, i have gotten to know you so well over the campaign. he has been a wonderful campaigner. he has such talent being a former supreme court justice, and has a great sense of humor at the same time. it is time to say so long to the entrenched incumbent and sent spike maynard to the house of representatives.

[applause] with that, i want to say from the deepest part of my heart, and has been an incredible honor and privilege to serve in congress for 10 years. i have been entrusted with you to go to washington and vote for you and your families and businesses a near future. i want to continue to do that, but this is our time. let's take our country back. thank you. [applause] >> is also a great privilege to bring to the podium the next united states senator from west virginia. [applause]

>> thank you very much. i told a high school class the other day, the louder and longer you applaud, the longer you stay out of glass. i had a standing ovation for five minutes. when you have of the leader of the united states senate, senator mitch mcconnell, come to charleston, west virginia to support the entire cast of west virginians, that is a real kudo. bill phillips, thank you very much. matt, thank you very much. you have absolutely help our campaign immeasurably. i respect what you do and am ve proud to be a small part of the tea party. thank you very much. [applause]

had the birthday how many is it for you? [laughter] you don't know? her birthday and our anniversary of three days apart. we were mared 32 years, is that correct? [applause] liz got here late, she was marching in the homecoming parade. how many young people did you have with you? 55 junior walker, a very good. how many of you got to see not a debate the other not on public television, not a debate but a forum. liz raese was there, and right

in front of the governor. he knows where you live, doesn't he? that is just a guess. chellie made a wonderful documentary on what we are going to do if we could give her some friends in congress and the u.s. senate. how many of the recently heard barack obama come out and say that if the republicans take over congress, i am going to have to go head-to-head combat. anybody heard that? wow, can you imagine barack obama going hanto-hand combat? [laughter] i cannot. l's just look at that. how many of youememr another leader that we new cult ronald reagan? do you remember ronald reagan? -- that we called ronald reagan?

do you think he would make a statement like that? i don't think so, because ronald reagan was a leader. he and tip o'neill got together and said let's start cutting some regulations. let's start cutting some taxes and get this country moving again, and by god, he did it. that is a leader. i want to tell you one story about or reagan. liz and i were in the company of michael reagan. he said when we had a situation when reagan first went into office, it was called grenada. we had 275 of our children trapped in a school system over there. they were iaded by the communist party. reagan sat there in his office in washington, and caspar weinberger came in and said mr.

president, we have 275 of our children locked in a school right now, surrounded by communists. caspar weinberger then said president, what you want me to do? reagan said well, let me go in to my other office and let me think about that for 30 minutes. so he went into his other office and sat there and came back out in 30 minutes and told caspar weinberger, alboin and get them. that quick. the war if it was called a war, lasted a day and have, and our marines went in and got them. nothing politically correct about any of this, was there? there were no rules of engagement. already murphy could have been right there. guess what happened, we got them back, didn't we?

so caspar weinberger walks in the very next day and said president, i have often wondered, since we were victorious, why did you need those 30 minutes to think about the situation? reagan scratched his head and said well, i just thought to myself, what would john wayne do? [laughter] could we use a little john wayne right now? i think so. [applaus the greatest thing of what reagan did is he showed us you could turn it around. how many of you remember the malaise speech? and then there was the misery index.

and then jimmy carter would say let's turn down the thermostat and everybody can freeze to death. ronald came in and did something very uque. senator mcconnell talked about american exception lissome. he said the same thing that i say. we are exceptional people in this country, are we? we are exceptional people. [applause] senator mcconnell said something else. he said that our forefathers and foremothers came to this country yester day because they were exceptional people. they were not satisfied with where they lived, whether that was too much taxation or too much regulation. they said wwant to be exceptional. and they came here and they made th most exceptional country in the world.

that is what role reagan believed. he believed in american exceptional listen. let's contrast that right now with what barack obama thinks about that. when he was asked early in his presidency what he thought of american exception listen, this is what he said. jetted his chin up at the ceiling. he had to teleprompter right here. he said yes, i believe in american exception listen, but i also believe in gern exception listen and french exception lissome. what does this tell us? he does not know what it is. he does't believe in american exception lissome. ronald reagan did. what did he do? he took interest rates that were almost 19%. he took the situation with inflation that was almost 20%,

and what did he do? he turned around, because he believed in america. everything that senator mcconnell said is very true. but we have in this country are all self-inflicted wounds from people that are in congress and the u.s. senate that looked after their own best interest and not yours. not yours. [applause] we have a wonderful opportunity in the state of west virginia to really get on the map. it is like when bob huggins to gust the final four. it is like when we had a wonderful golf tournament this year. held out november 2? how about spike maynard, david mckinley? [applause] if barack obama can go hand-to-hand combat and west virgia gives him a little

message. i think that would register all across the united states from here in a coal producing state that is going to stand up and tell him what to do with cap and trade real quick. that can happen real quick. [applause] when congress is taken by the republican party, which it will be, we are going to have a new leadern congress, aren't we? his name is probably going to be john maynard -- john boehner. what happens when he is the leader of congress? who sets the plate? that means obamacare will be a lot of trouble. cap and trade, in a lot of trouble. stimulus money, going back to

the treasury. card check, in a lot of trouble. that is what we want. that is what america wants. that is what the tea party once. that is what our children want. we are in the position in west virginia right now to go to the final four. this time, not fourth place, this term first place. we win, you lose. thank you very much. [applause]

senate minority leader michel, will has campaign for fellow republicans more than twice as much as vice president biden has four democrats. so far, this election cycle, the

majority leader has held member to hundred 50 events will the vice-president held 100. this has helped shore of finances for republican candidates. >> from this morning's "washington journal," look at the pros and cons of absentee voting. this portion is about 20 minutes. "washington journal" continues. host: it used to be absentee voting, but now it is early voting. we're joined by michael mcdonald from the c-span news room and this is a professor from george mason university. thank you for being with us. why are we seeing more states with early voting? guest: in 2004, it has been aboard trending. a lot of states have adopted

expansive early voting in the special polling places or they have allowed permanent absence team or all mail ballot elections. as they adopted this different ways of of voting, more voters are becoming comfortable with it. there has been a real explosion in the votes that will be cast prior to election day. host: why do some states not offer early voting? guest: all states allow people who are not going to be on their homes at election day to cast an absentee ballot. the quality of that excuse required, some states have no excuse, some open up the special polling places. if you will not be around on election day, you can vote early. would the a call a vote cast prior to election day?

pre-election voting? early voting? i wave the white flag and call it all early voting. it comes in many, many different flavors. host: if you are in a state that offers early voting or if you have already voted in this midterm election, 202-737-0001. if you will vote on election day, 202-737-0002. what's the get states already offering early voting including alaska, washington, d.c., montana, new mexico, to name a few, how do you ensure that there's no irregularities in the voting? guest: special early voting locations has people who are

physically coming in to the location and they are checked in just as they would redeem on election day. in these cases, this is just like regular election day boating. you are just doing a prior to the election. where we have states that have absentee voting, there are a number of safeguards in place to make sure that people are in need casting the correct balance and that there are not voting more than once. people have to sign the back of an envelope provided with their ballot. they will match, the election of administrators, will match the signature with the voter registration signature. they will do other checks to make sure that if you show by- election day that they will disqualified that particular incentive. there are a lot of safeguards in place here to prevent this.

if anything, we think of the safeguards in place, if you are going to cast your ballot by mail, you really need to follow the instructions very closely. in 2008 and 2004, roughly 500,000 ballots were disqualified because people did not sign the ballots, maybe they put two envelops -- two ballots in the same envelope or did something else improper and as a consequence of that, they have been disqualified. this will insure your ballot will be counted. host: 9 days to go on till the midterm election. millions of americans have already cast their ballots.

one example is i would. -- one example is iowa. this is a phenomenon happening. partitive thousand date it was typically done in the form of mail balloting. in 2008, we saw a reversal of this where democrats were coming out to vote early. in 2008, i thought this was perhaps a barack obama enthusiasm. i was not really sure when i got to 2010 which direction we would go. would we see a continuation or would we revert back to pre-2008 patterns in which people voted early? it looks like a mixed bag. the numbers are favorable to the democrats and there is evidence to suggest that more democrats

are voting than republicans. there is a catch for this. these are not the same levels we had in 2008 either. if these numbers are to be believed and the statistics are correct, yes, there are more democrats and they're not voting at the same level they did in 2008 and this will be a very close election. host: national republican campaign committee says they have seen an uptick of early republican voting in arizona, florida, georgia, and a number of congressional races. we have a political reporter with "the loss vegas sun." thank you for being with us. time to kickoff early voting in nevada. how does it work in your state? caller: nevada is an interesting

state. we have a 24/7 culture and a lot of people are working strange hours. you can go to grocery stores or 2 miles to cast your valid -- ballot. in 2008 we had about 57% of our votes cast it early by absentee ballot or early voting. this year they told us to expect about 60%. right now, republicans have about a 125 vote lead which democrats are saying that there's no enthusiasm gap shoring up yet -- it showing up yet. republicans are saying that the democrats are pushing this hard. we have the vice president, we have the president all here to encourage people to vote early. democrats are not seeing the numbers yet.

host: when are those votes tabulated? caller: they will not release the numbers until the polls closed on election day. they do not want to influence things one way or another how that is going. they are reporting here is showing up. democrats, republicans, non- partisan. campaigns are certainly keeping track of who is showing up and when someone votes across them off the list. they do not have to keep calling them and did not garner their doors. it is part of the very complicated get the vote turnout election machine that the campaigns are running. host: often when people vote the have to go to a library or school in their neighborhood. if you are in clark county can it be in a grocery store?

how do you ensure you do not get to vote twice? caller: it is all computerized. you go to the grocery store and when you sign in l.a., it says -- when you signed in, it will say if you are registered to vote. host: over the last 10-15 years, how has this work? caller: if you are an advocate for increase voter participation, it makes it easier. it encourages people to do it. is there in your face. you realize that there is an election. with the amount of ads, it is pretty hard to know that there is not an election going on. we have not heard any reports of

problems so far with early voting. it seems to be working. host: david schwartz from las vegas, we appreciate your time. we have divided our phone lines between those who have voted early and those voting on election day. from birmingham, alabama. good morning. are you with us? caller: good morning. i do not think alabama has early voting. yes, i did not think alabama has early voting, but i will vote on election day. i am a democrat and i will make sure if i have to drive myself and take people to the polls that we will be voting. i have already seen a lot of democrats voting and early voting. we will wait until election day and actually see what happens. thank you.

host: bedford, texas, where they do have early voting. caller: i voted on tuesday. i went in with great pride and enthusiasm. i marked "x" for a straight democratic ticket. i verified before i left that the machine had read my vote. i have a ticket that tells me that i voted. i want to encourage everyone to get out there, go early. i am 74 and i work full time. i want to encourage everyone. in my evenings, i am calling on my own out of the white pages and encouraging people to vote. i always tell them to vote a straight democratic ticket because we need a new governor. host: what impact does enthusiasm have in terms of the

overall impact? guest: on the caller from alabama, as she mentioned, alabama requires an excuse to vote for an absentee ballot. if he will be away on election day in a state like alabama, and many states like this, so if you want to vote early and you will not be around, do check with your local church -- local election officials to see what option to have available to you. that is what is going on in alabama. my home state of virginia, it is possible for me to go in person and a vote which really picks up on what the next caller was talking about. i could vote by mail, request an absentee ballot, have that returned to me, filling out, and it is very important for everyone to understand that you have to follow procedures correctly and then return the ballot. that is one option.

another option is to go to your collection administrator offices and a vote in the person. like in my home jurisdiction of the fairfax county, you would be able to vote on the machine. you will have at least a little more confidence that the vote was not somehow lost in the mail or something else happened that was beyond your control. those sorts of people, like the woman from texas, she was talking about the security and the feeling that your vote has been counted because you did it in person. another great thing about doing this in person is that if there is any other problems with your voter registration, and there could be some and there is always potential that there is a snafus somewhere in the process. there is an opportunity for you and the election administrators

to sort that out in the person. maybe you will be required to do some additional steps. this gives you an opportunity to come back and try again the second time, maybe if you are a first-time voter in the need to provide required identification. if you had done that on election day, you would have missed that opportunity. i like early voting enforcement. i like mail balloting as well. if you are going to do mail balloting, just be careful. host: mike mcdonald is an associate professor for george mason university. i passed out fliers for the democratic party yesterday and in north carolina -- north dakota. let's look to the states to offer the opportunity for the electorate. julio from houston, texas.

caller: i will vote on election day that is -- because there is a location down the street that is very convenient. it is why i have not voted already. host: next in tennessee where they also offer early voting. go ahead. caller: i voted on monday. i endorse early voting. you do not have to stand in line on election day. it helps spread of the vote. host: nancy from arkansas voting on election day. caller: i am against early voting. we have two weeks of it in the state of arkansas. it gives voters a chance to vote twice. we have had this problem for many years. voters tried to vote twice. there are a lot of irregularities. i think two weeks is entirely too long. anyone should be able to go vote

on election day or vote by absentee ballot. i think we're just providing grounds for more irregularities, corruption, and fraud in the voting process. host: 84 the call. michael mcdonald, your reaction? guest: about the ease of of voting. there are some states that have an early voting locations in high traffic areas like a shopping mall. there are others who will have early voting locations in less accessible locations. maybe it is a government center or something else not in a high traffic area. there is evidence to suggest that the distance you have to travel to vote is a factor in whether or not you will vote. from the caller who said he will

just walk down the street and vote in person, that makes sense to me. that will be the easiest way for him to vote. if early voting will increase turnout overall, it will provide more opportunities and it will allow greater convenience for voting. if you do have a location that you can vote in or maybe you cannot vote because you are in a nursing home or something. this is an opportunity with more convenient for you to vote. on the issue of fraud, it is one that gets raised quite a bit. there is actually very little evidence that we have widespread fraud in elections. we have spent tens of millions of dollars over the last eight years or so investigating fraud. when you start really looking at the numbers, you have a better chance of winning the lottery of than finding an individual

who will be casting a fraudulent vote. there are some out there, do not get me wrong, and we should investigate those instances to make sure we keep our elections clean and pure. however, we do not see much of it. it is not really in person fraud. there is another flight that most of the fraud you may see in the early voting will happen through the mail. there are fewer checks to verify the individual is the person that they are or that they have been improperly pressured some how to cast a ballot. if you are really going to look to somehow deal with the fraud issue, then you really need to look at mail balloting because that is where the problems occur. the ironic thing about the fraud debate is when you look at who votes, democrats tend to like to vote in person early and

republicans like to vote by mail. dick armey a few days ago was talking about all of these democrats voting early as fraudulent votes. you'd look to adopt some loss of nearly address some of the things that go along with mail balloting. republicans have resisted. if you really want to address those sorts of things, i would say how many people vote in person and do something extra, like cigna -- like a signature

c-span has debates every night right up to election day. you can find us at our politics page with twitter feeds and upcoming events. policy spams election coverage what through election day. >> tomorrow, a look at how can this are using -- media. politico, facebook in the short portion university for hosting these events. -- and george washington university are testing these events. >> coming up, to parliamentarians, talk about their new book, parliament and congress. then, british prime minister david cameron takes questions on the new british budget. then, democratic incum