the right thing, they shouldn't go bankrupt when they get sick. and so we passed a law that made sure that insurance companies could no longer drop you when you got sick. we passed a law that said everybody under the age of 26 could stay on their parents' health insurance. we passed a law to make sure that 30 million folks can get affordable, accessible insurance, and we did it in a way that will reduce our deficit by over $1 trillion. and now the other side says they want to roll that back. the same thing is true for financial reform. we just went through the worst crisis since the 1930's, and so we passed a bill that says you can't be cheated by your credit card company. they can't jack up your rate for no reason. . .

>> he didn't say his number one priority was to put more people back to work or help more

businesses succeed. his top priority to win the next election. we haven't even finished this election yet. that's what we are fighting. that's the kind of politics we decided to change in this country. the politicks that's puts scoring points ahead of solving problems. that's where you come in. i want to speak not just to chicago but to everybody in illinois. the only way to tight this and match the millions of special interest money being packed in is with your voices. the mill yonz of voices ready to finish what we started in 2008. we need you to get out and

vote. we need you to work to help get everybody out to vote. if everybody who fought for change in 2008 shows up in 2010, we will win this election. [applause] you know a lot of you got involved in 2008 because you believed we were a defining moment in our history. a lot of you believe that this was a time when the decisions we make about the challenges we face wouldn't just affect us, they would affect our children and grand children and great grandchildren. that's why you knocked on doors and made those phone calls and cast your votes sometimes for the first time because you understood what was at stake. now two years later. i know some of the excitement we

had in grand park. that fade as way. some of the skiement of inauguration day. you know, beyonce was singing and bono was there. i know that good feeling starts slipping away. you talk to your friend who's are out of work and see people who are losing their homes and you see these tv ads. maybe some of you, you stopped believing. maybe you loose faith. [cheers and applause.] >> i want everybody here to understand. don't let anybody tell you that this fight hasn't been worth it. don't let them tell you you haven't already made a

difference. because of you, there's a woman somewhere in illinois that doesn't have to choose between losing her home and treating her cancer. there's a parent who can look their child in the eye and say, you are going to college. we can afford it. because of you, somewhere in illinois, there's a small business owner able to keep their doors own and keep all the families that were supported by jobs at that business, keep that company going. because of you, somewhere in illinois, there is an outstanding veteran, one of the hundreds of thousands of brave men and women who are no longer at war in iraq because of you. don't let folks tell you change is impossible. don't let that get you down. i know things are hard sometimes

but you know what, this country was founded on hard. this country started 13 colonies, folks said they didn't have a chance against the british. they drafted their documents with ideas that had never been tried before. we hold these truths to be self evident that all men are created equal and endowed with certain inalienable rights, among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. even after those documents, it was still hard. we had to abolish slavery and

win women the right to vote and battle through depression and the war against fascism. at every stage, we've made progress because somebody stood up. when one person stood up, suddenly ten people stood up. maybe 1,000 people stood up. maybe 100,000 stood up, maybe 1 million stood up. that's what happens with change. it's infectious. my dear friend who passed this

weekend. bishop had a church down the street. michelle and i used to go to church there. here is somebody who knew me when i was a young lawyer. i had just moved to chicago. i remember when i was making the decision to run for president, i called him. i said, you know, bishop, i'm really not sure this is possible. i don't know if i'm gonna make it but i think it's worth trying. and he said, i don't know what god has in store for you barack, you won't know either unless you try. and that idea is what has motivated so many people across

the states. this journey is never easy, we have to try. the journey we began together two years ago was not about putting me in the white house but building a movement for change that endures. about realizing in the united states, anything is possible if we are willing to work for it, if we are willing to fight for it, if we are willing to believe in it. illinois, i need to you keep on fighting and believing. i need to you knock on some doors and talk to your neighbors. get out and vote in this election. if you do, if you are willing to step up. if you are willing to try, we won't just win this election,

pat or leslie won't just win this election but we will restore our economy and rebuild the middle class and we will reclaim the american dream for another generation and generations to come. god bless you and god bless the united states. [applause] ♪ ♪ [applause]

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♪ >> c-span's live election night coverage starts at 7 p.m. eastern with results from around the country. your calls, emails and tweets. watch our live coverage here on c-span. >> time to get your camera rolling for this year's student cam. open to middle and high school students. make a 5-8 minute video and you could win the grand prize of $20,000. go to student cam.org. >> our political coverage continues to night with kentucky senate election.

running to replace the republican senator who is retiring. this is about an hour. >> i am going to be method rating this debate. we have four reporters asking questions of the candidate. joe arnold; the coverage in

lexington. asking questions of the two candidates. jack con way and republican ranked paul. we told the candidates to give us a little built of leeway here. coin toss before the debate was won by jack con way ranked has the second option and has chose tone go last in the closing. >> thank you for hosting us here tonight. elections are about choices. this one is a choice between right and wrong. azure attorney general, i have taken on the issue of drugs and crime. ranked paul says drugs are not a

problem here. he is wrong. azure general, i have looked out foreseenors. he says seniors need a $2,000 deductible for medicare. ranked paul would not let the government hold them accountable in any way whatsoever and says going after bp is "unamerican." ranked paul is on record as saying that we have not followed the constitution in this country since 1937. that's the year the supreme court of the united states upheld the constitution at of social security. in addition, he would question the minimum wage laws. worker safe ti protection he

would undo all the protection of the 1930's. count on me to stand up for you. >> mr. paul? >> people ask me if i have enjoyed running for office. usually, i would say yes. most of you know i'm a prolife christian. i won't apologize for that. i'm disheartened that my opponent has chosen to attack my religious beliefs. he's ascended to the gut for attack my christian beliefs. i believe those who use the possible ticks of personal sdruks stup to attack a man's

religious belief to gain higher office. do not remember it does not profit a man to gain anything and lose his soul in the process. step up and cast aside these attacks on my personal religion. you should be ashamed of yourself. you should apologize. have you no shame. can i address that? >> no, we'll move on. you'll get your chance in a second. the method rater will be answering questions sent in by viewers. mr. con way, are you in favor or opposed to the supreme court decision that allows to

unlimited dollars. >> i am open oceaned to that position. mark. values matter. brand paul has two questions here to note. the president of baylor university band a group because they quote were making fun of christianity and christ." why did he freely join a group making fun of people mocking faith. when is it ever right to tie up a woman and ask her to fall before the god budda. there's a bunch of special interest money attacking right

now. we need to look at how do we look at the special issues. >> favor or opposed to supreme courtrooming. >> favor the ruling. >> jack, you know how we can tell you are lying is when your lips are moving. you are accusing me of a crime. you are accusing me of a crime from 30 years ago from some redik luis source. you really have no shame. do you want to discuss the issues of the day. lets not degenerate to calling me name and accusing me of crimes of 30 years ago. really, have you no shame?

>> why did he join a group known for mocking christianity. it's apparent. when is it ever appropriate to tie up a woman and ask her to kneel before a false god. how do you respond to a guy that's going to quote a guy from 30 years ago that's not true. you have nothing to stand on. run the raise as a man instead of calling me names. >> moving on. first question for dr. paul. >> kentucky is home for gmford and toyota plants and suppliers. you agreed with the statement that the koifrnt would be in better shape if gm would have been allowed to fail rather than be bailed out.

if gm's failure would have threatened other auto makes irs of kentucky because they share the supplier, would you still be in favor of letting gm fail? >> i would try to characterize it a little differently. nobody wants gm orford to failed or any business to fail. when the economics show the sort of bankrupt. what happened is that he stole money from the indiana teacher's pension and gave it to the union workers in the bond hold er by the government coming in and

overtaking the process. they basically took money from people owed money. through bankruptcy, they would become a more efficient process. out of that bankruptcy, they become more efficient. >> i wouldn't want to see gm go bankrupt or ford or auto makers in and around louisville going through that. this is really about who has a jobs plan for the future. we need to have people get jobs with lower wages and have tough love. go to my home town tax credit. >> the question for general con

way. part of your job is to intervene on behalf of kentucky citizens when oout companies ask for rate increases you were accepting contributions from people tied to these ultilities it doesn't pass the smell test. how can voters be sure you were going to represent them instead of the ultilities? >> i saved the rate pairs of this state well over 100 million. i've stood up for the rate payers of kentucky and for electricity rates cap and trade is now dead. when administration moved

forward. but joe, back to your original point, ethics commission looked at this issue undisclosed money coming in from out of the state trying to attack my character keeping our rates low, i have an outstanding record that i'm proud of. >> it was the lieutenant governor that brought up these charges he wasn't cleared of the charges, he said he had jurisdiction of the charges i think he hasn't completely

thought of you've been accused of become tracking about comments to kentucky's drug problem to the deductible. what do you say to those who believe you've changed to get elected. a lot of my positions have been characterized by those who oppose me i've not changed any of my positions. i believe the bank bail out was something i opposed. many tax reforms as long as they lower rates where drug funding

comes from was not a pressing issue but i never said drugs wasn't an issue. i'm very concerned with drugs. i went ash the state and talked with parents about it >> he's had to backtrack on many things. you don't have the guts to stand by your position.

you told me to stand up and be a man, have the guts to stand by your positions. >> if elected, what specifically will you do the first days in office >> jobs are the number one issue parents are losing their jobs, they are afraid they can't educate their kids it's so cal luis when my opponent says workers need to take a lower rate job. >> they can take a 20% tax credit. estimates are it would create 11 million jobs in the country.

george w. bush when they were there bailed out a bunch of big banks on wall street. regulators came down hard. finally, we need a top to bottom review of our bank trade deals. the next thing you need to do is have less legislations we can't compete overseas because we overregulate and overtax.

>> next question, what are your plans to improve higher education in kentucky >> the way we improve overall education. one of the things when you talk to school super intend enters and president's of college, they tell you there's so many rules that come to washington. let's have more of the decision making process here in the state and less coming from the government what ranked paul didn't tell you is that he is

for eliminating the department of education. there are a lot of students here tonight on pel grants, staff ford loans. i want to keep students in school longer. the bill passed with a small percentage of their wages that's going to keep students from dropping out of college because they can't afford to pay for college. that's going to have a really bad result. we need to stand for our education and keep them in that system. >> the question for mr. con way. >> you questioned dr. paul's faith. the announcer in that commercial

requested four questions why. are you alleging dr. paul is not a christian or not a good christian. >> that's not the issue of the ad. the issue is why did ranked paul knowing that the president of yale university banned this group because they quote, unquote, made fun of christianity and christ, why did he knowingly join this group. when is it ever appropriate to tie up a woman and have her kneel before a false idol? those are two fundamental questions. if you look at his college years, you have a story. write gsz when are two people ever equal? he asks questions about whether

we should have protections against women and discrime nation. there's a direct line between what he was writing about in college >> let me get this straight. >> when did you quit beating your wife? you've accused me of these crimes. >> do you know noeg about the fact when you attack someone's character? you don't just do that and make up stuff you really should be ashamed of yourself. don't make up stuff from me from college you think you got off an internet blog.

>> it wasn't on the internet, it was on cbs news and the woman you tied up in talking about it again said it was weird. she sended her friendship with you because of it. i don't think anyone should tie up a woman and ask her to kneel before a false idol. >> i give up, how do you argue with someone who makes up stuff to accuse me of from 30 years ago in college. it's absolutely ab sured you demean the state of kentucky and embarass yourself to bring up stuff that is untrue that you read on a blog.

let's give our respect to both candidates. >> do you think he's a christian or a good christian. what is your conclusion. >> i don't have a conclusion. >> i know his wife is a deacon in their church. that's not the issue. the issue is why did he join a group that mocked people of faith >> how can you respond to a monday muss accusations do you want a debate? did you want to go back to your high school buddies and talk about high school buddies, do you it.

it shows such a derth of knowledge and position it really disqualifies you from holding office. >> do you believe social security is not constitutional? >> i have questioned the constitution nalt of obama care. 70% of kentucky challenges and believes we should challenge the constitution nalt. we have asked him repeatedly. we have asked him to sign on to challenge the constitution nalt of obama care. this would get us into some discussion of the issues here.

he thinks it has to list a right that you not have insurance. he doesn't understand that the constitution gives certain powers and says those rights not listed are not to be decision perraged. he sneeds a rereading of those and needs to do the roll of the people. >> i'm always amused to get a lecture on law from a self serving op thamologist. i'm not going to waste the tax dollars of the kentucky voters on tea party politics. >> you are challenging law that says social security is

unconstitutional. he does not think it's constitutional. i'm telling you. >> yes or no. >> i have never challenged and do not challenge it. it's hard to argue with him because he makes up my positions and i have to go ahead and have a debate with my position it's very difficult. >> i'm not making any positions up. if you want something that has been declared false talking about this group, american cross roads decidedly false.

he has written on this. they are based on the commerce laws a question for jack. >> you have quote, built a commendable record of public service there is a mood for those ready to turn away. >> your response to that? >> i haven't been in washington. i've taken on the companies this lied to us. ranked paul may talk about balancing its budget. you are looking at a fiscally responsibly democrat.

i've taken 86,000 child porn images off the interer net. because i understand drugs are a pressing issue. i worked with the congressman on the xripgs pill issue that's a record of trading public office. that's what i'm going to do when i go to the united states senate. people are ready. people don't see their future or things in terms of having their career an staying there forever. they say you know what, we have serious problems in our country. people are worried about their

country and they want to send somebody there that's not been a part thf system. should employers be held accountab accountable? >> i think illegal immigration is a big problem. we need to have security. republican or democrat. i think our security is what we have to do first. many want amnesty and security they say. we've tried that in the past. we said we'll ovr you amnesty and security and it doesn't happen.

you can't allow people to willie nilly break the law. >> i'm not for amnesty. he wants to electionry fie the entire south border of the united states and build an underground fence. >> we advice law enforcement agencies about immigrations and custom holds. there are enough agents. the federal government has cleatly done away with the legislation area. i want to work with a board that is tough. >> do you support the temporary worker program is good.

it should be done legal and they should be documented. when you talk to the farming community, they will tell you they do need the migrant workers to work on the farms. i do think the migrant worker program does make some sense. i suppose ported trying to get temporary workers to the farms there is much couldn't row versy on both sides of the fence because of the reform bill. what would you keep, what would you do away with and what would you replace those portions with? >> 60 seconds. >> i'll tell you what's not the answer, a $2,000 deductible.

he's come out and said we need to take all breast cancer research down to the local level. they get millions of breast cancer research funding. sheer what we need, we need to fix the healthcare law. ranked paul wants to amend it. i have a friend who had a kidney transplant. he's told me how hard it is to get coverage. we have 19,000 kids in the state that will be kept on their parents plan longer. when we need to do is step up in medicare. that would save $200 builton. >> i'd get rid of the whole thing and start over.

get rid of the mandates and the fines. >> obama care did raise the deductible. in the future we might have you. jack is already in favor of raising the deductible. they've already done it. medicare advantage will have people paying $1000 more and these will rise under obama care. don't be fuelled. >> i'll let you spobd. the viewer asked what specifically would you do away with in the healthcare bill? >> ok. this argument he has to come up with to try to get himself out from under the seven different times, he came up with an argument that this was already

being raised. here is what i would do is way with. the special interest provision is $200 billion in savings. we need medicare fraud units. >> in joe's articles, he quotes the article to say under obama care, deductible also go up. >> question for dr. paul. >> as you know, kentucky is a nettism porter of federal dollars. you argue for a sdifrn taxation system. you want more money left at home and filtered through washington. let's say you win, is the net

result for kentucky going to be a less r percentage of the federal pie. >> i think the statistic, our numbers are high because of having too big military businesses and having a lot of active duty salary. washington is a net loser for us. he wants to do away with the 16th amendment. when you go to buy groceries and

supplies, you are paying a 23% national sales tax. it would come down hard on our seniors. he would get ranked paul's deductible. we need to simplify and make it shorter. as long as it reduces the burden. really hurt our seniors.

the question for general con way. >> in the past nine years, 1300 americans have died. do you believe this is a win able war? under what circumstances should we leave? >> that's a good question. thank you for it, joe. >> our men and women are serving so bravely there. here is an instance of breaking with the stand. i question the surge in afghanistan. what does it mean to win the war in afghanistan. i think it mean that's we leave a i country more stable than we found it.

this is not a threat if iran acquires one nuclear weapon. >> i've told people if i am elected to the senate, the most important vote is ongoing to war. america should go to war and we should declare war as the constitution intended. we haven't been unified as a nation. i would have voted to declare a war. we need to begin asking questions about when we can come home and when they can step up and do more in the streets in

our country. >> do you believe it is a win able war? and if so, how do we get out? . .

>> considering the corruption that has been rampant in eastern kentucky, the belize sending massive amounts of tax dollars is the best way to attack our state's drug problem? >> i think that this debate has been mistaken from the very beginning as if it is an all or none. the interesting thing is, if you talk to a sheriff in any county and ask them what percentage of their money is state and what percent is local and what is federal, is well over 90% in every community. this funny that we are having this debate for posing some

dramatic change in what we do. the vast majority of the funding is state and local. >> i do not know what kentucky he is looking at, i was interested to looked at this and see that he was very disappointed in funding operation unite. i can assure you that operation united is not federally funded. is that not a person federally funded. the sheriff's said they would lose drug investigators under your plan. they are indeed a pressing issue in kentucky.

>> they are 100% federally funded. if you add up the money, it is less than 10%. the sheriff's office collects the vast majority of the money and a very small percent is a federal. i want more autonomy with the local sheriff's and more autonomy for the local drug courts. i do not think we should lock up a teenager for 10 years. we need to have a more reasonable approach to the drug problem. >> this is an issue that i understand. as the attorney general, i have travelled around and i have had parents cry on my shoulder because their children have overdosed on painkillers. for you to say that drugs are not a big issue and that you would not seek federal assistance is the callous. it is problematic considering the partnership we have with local governments and the federal government. this is an all hands on deck discussion.

>> as to ways to attack the deficits, you can cut programs or raise taxes. as far as kentucky is concerned, what is your view on downgrading fort knox and fort campbell? >> i am not for that. i was at fort knox the other day. there is incredible investment and the people in and around fort knox. i am a fiscally responsible democrat. i have balanced my budget eight times. we're trying to figure out how to cut about $500 billion. there is $100 billion in medicare fraud that we would get if we had medicare fraud units in every state. if we could shut down the

offshore of tax havens and tax -- offshore tax havens and tax loopholes, loopholes. there is about $130 billion in savings. we also need the pay-as-you-go>> dr. paul? >> i do not want to cut costs for fort knox or fort campbell. they're both right in the top 20 -- rented in the top 20 -- ranked in the top 20 bases. we have a good chance that they will stay in kentucky. we have a spending problem. you will need some serious people to go up there and look at every program across the board and see if we can downsize and, privatize some programs. we have to be serious and will take serious people. >> where do you stand on the location of the new va hospital

for louisville? dr. paul, you are first. >> we should take into account where they want to have it. they are for keeping it in a similar location to where it is. this is an area which is similar to my philosophy to get the local input. people that come to this area. let's have louisville make the decision. we do not need to move the discussion to washington. >> i think we may agree on this. we should listen to the veterans community. we should listen to the local elected officials. i want to talk to john to see where he thinks it is going. we should look at land acquisition issues and we want to make a decision that is best for veterans. the north-central part of the state is really underserved when it comes to veterans nursing homes. i like to look for something

around fort knox to get a veterans nursing home at an affordable cost so we can serve that underserved parts of our population. >> you have said your support of the employee free choice act is due to the fact that you think the majority of workers in the workplace want to organize and they should be able to sign cards. i'm curious about another facet of that same bill which would force federal binding arbitration on businesses and unions, basically a takeover process. >> thank you for the question. you should sit down with your employer and talk about the conditions of and climate.

the odd to be able to do so. if a union is formed and it goes on years and years with no contracts, there should be a mediation process to arrive at a contrast. the larger issue is jobs. we have 10% unemployment.

>> let me interpret for you. big mistake for kentucky. it will cause the loss of jobs, not creation of jobs. be very clear what his position is. he is for the bill. >> you said some sort of mediation. the bill, as written, is federally enforced binding arbitration. that? mediation process to ask them to>> to put a simple, he will vote for the bill. i am against the bill. [laughter] >> you have attacked conway for going outside of the state to raise money. will you promise now, if elected, you will return to federal government or gift to a campaigning outside of kentucky

either for yourself or for your father? >> if skipping votes, yes. he has gone over half of september in california with nancy pelosi raising money. the thing is that we want him to do his job here. he wants to blame the drug problem on the small town position. i am not responsible for the drug problem. he is the chief law enforcer in the state. meth labs have doubled in the state. he is the one in charge, for goodness sakes. >> as of our latest question and answer board, more than 70% of my money was in state and more than 70% of his men was out of state. he thinks -- he does not think the rules apply to him. look at kentucky taxpayers united.

he made up 1000 dues-paying members. there has been numerous stories this week that shows the organization did not even exist. what was he doing there? >> dr. paul, you said you would return money for missing votes. do you see your job as senator as being more than voting? >> he should return his money because he is not doing his job. all of his jobs are getting worse. he spent half of september, traveling, trying to troll for cash in california. so yes, i think he's a return is. >> i was not in california for half of september trolling for cash. i have been working attorney general. look at my history. i have taken on special interests. i have taken shot from recites off the internet. we have brought the state

further in the area of cyber crimes than any other state in the country. i'm proud of that. >> you have called your opponent a constitutional minimalist with radical views. how can you claim that he will this mental social security, medicare, the minimum-wage, etc.? do his use go too far? how can you defend that? you have gone all the way to say that he will dismantle those>> rand paul is on record saying wanted to be 80% or more of the we have to follow the constitution in this countryhe said we need to go back to a health care where doctors negotiate directly with decided that the commerce clause coal mine safety. i am glad they did.

we're losing 1500 colt -- we year back in the 1930's. then they bluecross and/blue shield system arose. brand paul does not like that. he calls himself a constitutional conservative and not a libertarian. he would take us back to not having mine safety laws. in the question the constitutionality of all of the advancements in some 1930's. >> on the head. he makes up positions and then we argue the made up positions. i am not eliminating social security, medicare, or mine safety regulations.

so why do not stop and have an -- why do you not stop that and have an intelligent debate? we have to look at which regulations work and which do not work. we have to figure out how to fund medicare and social to tree -- social security for the baby boomers. they are living longer and there are more retired people. that will not work. >> >> i will give you 30 seconds. >> i have outlined a couple of provisions. medicare fraud units allow for $100 billion in savings. those are significant savings right there. he puts forward all of the stuff that social security is a ponzi scheme and it should be privatized. i am sick and tired of him doing something so callous and calling it courageous. i want to tell the seniors of kentucky tonight that i will their backs. >> he said he will never balance the budget on their

backs? [laughter] never going to balance the budget. [laughter] >> on their backs. >> we have to figure out how to fund social security and medicare. we have 42 million people returned now. -- retired now. we're getting ready to have 77 million people retired. it means changes for younger people and wealthier people. if you do not believe that and you're not willing to have an adult discussion about it, then we get nowhere towards fixing it. the lower we put it off, the -- the longer we put it off, worse the problem gets. >> there has been discussion at the federal level about creating less dependence on non- renewable energy sources. do you favor such a move? >> if elected, i will probably be the biggest offender of a local industry and the colt -- the coal industry and the coal workers -- workers and the coal

miners revenue united states. but i am not opposed to other forms of energy. i think we should keep energy. i'm in favor of nuclear. i am in favor of wind. i am in favor of hydroelectric. you name it. i am in favor of it. 300 million people in america get to vote every day. it is called democratic capitalism. we vote on whether wal-mart succeeds or target succeed. we vote on whether we will use coal or nuclear. what we have is a market place that determines these. the great thing about it isthat maximizes the ability of the individual to get what they want. we will continue to burn coal. i would think for several more generations. >> i think i just heard him say that he wants to be one of the strongest advocates for minors, yet he is on record saying that he would take federal miner's safety protections.

we were losing 1500-a year in the 1930's. he also has said that coal is the least the desirable form of energy. i am against cap and trade. i went against the epa when they tried to force it on us. i also think we need to explore the new energy economy. the jobs of the future will be created in the renewable energies. >> now for the closing statements, mr. conway, you go first. >> thank you mark and thank you to the university of louisville. in about 16 days, the voters of kentucky have an important force to make. -- choice to make. elections are about truces. -- choices. we have one year -- elections are about choices. as attorney general, i have gone after the scourge of drugs. rand paul has said that they are not pressing issue. i have gone after crimes. i understand the sometimes non-

mile of actions are a crime. -- that sometimes non-violent actions are a crime. i also will stand up and protecti will stand up for medicare. rand paul wanted to thousand dollars deductible for medicare. -- $2,000 deductibles for medicare. he calls social security a ponzi scheme that ought to be privatized. our seniors cannot afford that. the americans with disabilitieswhat will he say to them? workplace safety protections. i hardly ask for your vote on -- i am humbled him to ask for your vote on november 2 -- nov. 2nd. [applause] >> thank you. [cheers and applause] >> dr. paul, one minute. >> you will notice that i will not be shaking his hand tonight. i will not shake hands with

someone who attacks my religion and attacks my christian beliefs. these are something very personal to me, my wife, my kids. we take it very personally. and i will not be associated with someone who will attack my religion. this election will be about the future of america, who has the best vision. we will try to keep the debate on a higher tone. i hope you will leave my church, -- leaves my church my family, and my religion outbut who has the best vision for america? few believe america has always -- do you believe america has always answered? do you believe in the individual entrepreneur? i believe in the individual. i believe in capitalism. i believe we, as the greatest -- are the greatest the most humanitarian nation known to man. thank you very much for coming this evening. thank you for your support. [cheers and applause]

>> we would like to thank both of the canada's for putting -- candidates for putting yourselves out there for public service. we thank all of you watching at home. go vote on election day. you have compared them head-to- head. you can go home and make your vote on election day. i also think our timer, made waters. go vote on election day. thank you very much for joining us. [applause]

former president bill clinton is returning to kentucky to campaign for senate democratic jack conway on november 1st. the cook political report rates this case as a top up -- a tossup. >> c-span live connection- election coverage starts live at

7:00 p.m. eastern with results around the country. we will have your calls, e-mails and tweets. watch it live here on c-span. >> next weekend on "in-depth," jonah goldberger discusses the election results, and the next wave of leaders on the right. join us with you calls, e-mail but tv.eets on >> presidents do not manage crises. they use them. they exploit them to build this emotional bond. lincoln, that is a test of leadership. i am not sure that we have seen that from recent presidents. >> this week on "q&a," historian richard norton smith and douglas

brinkley on politics in america. sunday night at 8:00 p.m. eastern and pacific on c-span. >> from today's washington journal, a look at how candidates are addressing the economic issues. this is about 40 minutes. host: joining us now is bre katz with the brookings institution director of the metropolitan policy program. mr. katz, the front page of the financial times this morning talks about the u.s. recovery. calling it sluggish and growth of 2% didn't dent unemployment. you write about those running for governor. does one story on the front page of the time relate to those governors who are running for office currently? guest: absolutely. this has been a recession, jobless recovery. lost 8.4 million jocks, regained only 10%. this are 37 governor res and

job creation is job number one. they are talking not just about how to create jobs in the near term, they are also talking about how to retool the economy for the long haul. because they understand the economy that got us into the recession is not the economy we want to return to. so, increasingly what they are talking about is let's move toward more export oriented economy, talk about taking this energy transformation and capitalizing on it. let's compete again globally. china, brazil, india. the rising nations. so, governors who are more pragmat pragmatic, very practical, are focusing on jobs. host: you call these types of governors, you have a term, pragmatic caucus. what do you mean by that? guest: i say governors, mayors, and their network of business, civic, university allies wake up

every day and think about solving problems. they are ideological to an extent but what is interesting compared to washington, d.c. is the common themes you see across democrats and republicans particularly this year. they are just focusing on what works. what is going to get the economy moving again? particularly, what is going to get the economy in their states moving again? because there is no uniform national economy in the united states. the states are quite different borrows they are major metropolitan engines that drive their economy. pittsburgh versus phoenix, detroit versus denver. what you see coming from the governors is a practical orientation about working with business, creating jobs, but also basing it off of what their states are good at. >> on capitol hill when you talk about recovering economy sometimes your architect is as simple as from one camp we

should invest in and on the other tax cuts. yet on the ground level do you see such distinctions as far as block and whitssues -- black and white issues? guest: i think what you see is cut to invest or cut and invest. governors have to balance dgets with their state legislatures. there are $125 billion short falls in states this year. there is a fiscal recession following the economic recession. so they have to understand they have to tighten their belts but they have to invest in what matters, whether innovation, human capital or infrastructure to get their economies going again. so they have to cut programs that may not be workg, may not ve as much accountability, might support consumption versus production. but then they have to invest. one of the most interesting things that happened this year

was in the state of ohio. voters passed a referendum in may 62-38 to rup a third frontier fund, $700 million to invest in start-up companies, technology companies, clean energy companies. voters are saying we need to tighten our belts but we understand we need to grow our economy. host: the "wall street journal" today looks at michigan, and mentions the governor race as part of the initiative for jobs. this is a piece this morning and some of the things he says is the republican running for office argues that the michigan government needs a basic overhaul meaning cutting spending and taxes to make it attractive to businesses. that is different from the politician michigan voters traditionally supported in recessions but it talks about the democratic nominee who has a more typical political pedigree.

he was the mayor of lansing, senator, county commissioner and proud ally of the united ougaut workers. they talk about their approaches. that is one of the governors you mentioned as far as their approach to the onomy. guest: i think crisis begets innovation particularly like chigan that has born the brunt of theindustrialization. it is brutal there. you may talk about the recession being over, people need to go to michigan to understand what job loss and a fundamental restructuring of the economy looks like. when you are in that situation, platitudes don't work. you need to step back and understand what are the kinds of new interventions, both with shipping resources from one kind of investment to another kind of investment, what is going to

work? michigan has enormous resources. university of michigan, michigan state. some of the largest collection of engineers and scientists in the world because of the auto sector. it borders canada, so trade i a natural inclination of that economy. so there is enormous assets to build on. but some of the old style interventions from either party are not going to work. host: how do voters respond to this idea of pragmatic caucus, those who deal specifically with job creation and how do politics not get in the which of that as far as what happens on election day? guest: obviously people represent parties and to some extent they represent ideology. but when are in a state like michigan or nevada or where you have seen the real estate collapse, i think that a good portion of the electorate is saying we want someone who is going to promote ideas that w k

work. because the job loss has been substantial, the recovery, as you said before has been sluggish, and so they are looking for those few ideas to massive us forward -- move us forward. they understand government perhaps has to be restrained and clearly put under accountability measures. but if we look abroad to what we are facing from established nations like germany or rising nations like china, india and brazil, it clear we are going to have to make some investments, whether in education or skills, innovation, whether it is in infrastructure. we are not going to just cut our way to growth or cut our way to compete. we can try that, but that is not a plaook th our competitors are using. host: we are looking at governors and according to our guest's perception this are emerging pragmatic caucuses and we will get your thoughts on his writing, his thinking and maybe tell the tale of your state as

far as what your governor is doing, whether he is a sitting governor or running for office as far as job creation efforts. here is howou can do so. if you consider yourself republican call the republican number on the screen. and for democrats the same and independents 202-628-0205. for e-mail, and ttter. we talked about the michigan race, what other races are important in the sense of those running in their being pragmatic caucus or job creation? guest: when you look at tennessee, the candidates there are also talking very practically on the strength of that state. and i will not say just general but what is memphis good at.

bill haslem is the former mayor of knoxville. when you see candidates coming up fromhe local level, they are almost patrickacragmatic as natural order. but what is memphis good at. nashville, chattanooga. what university relations does busine have in the state that you can broker? that is the way economies function today. it is not just someone in their garage invent being the next great thing. it is these intricate networks of big firms, small firms, research institutions, government, philanthropy, labor. these are the clusters or ecosystems that drive economies. the smart governors know that and they understand that they have got to build from that with these investments. host: how do they work with the representatives and elected to make it happen?

guest: ware seeing almost a bottom-up innovation. we talk in washington about what the federal government needs to do to cascade down programs and policies. the most effective thing frankly is for places, cities, metropolitan areas, ultimately stat states, to understand who they are in the global market, what they trade, who they trade with, and to build from that. that could be more substantially investment in university advanced research. that could be venture capital working with the private sector for start-ups or some of the companies that have the potential for growth. that absolutely is about infrastructure. whether it is traditional transport or smart grid or some of the broad ban interventions. some of it is more public, some more private. it ishat combination of the two that ultimately creates the growth we need in the near term and long term. but wn you cut across this

what you find with the pragmatic leaders is they know what their economiedo. it is not a general conversation about the economy. it is very specific and deliberate conversation about here is what we are good at. we are either in an advanced manufacturing or info tech, clean tech. and they talk about where they can take their economies with business leaders. public-private, it is about a participate. it is not public versus private. again, our competitors understand the need for these tight smart relationships. st: is there a governor that capturesll of that and has done what you have said? guest: i think that governor rendell in pennsylvania. governor schwarzenegger in california. they were two governors who fundamentally focused on the basics.

>> he serves as their director and he is calling this an emergency caucus. st. charles missouri, jennifer, you wore a first. >> i want to talk about the housing sector. everyone knows that when the housing sector is doing well, other parts of the economy do well. they buy our furniture and appliances. we cannot do anything right now because of all the foreclosures.

i had a man who had a house of for a year. this bill would have made up electronic signing of what was taken to court. it would have given homeowners the ability to challenge their documents. i was wondering, what can governors to to clearing up some of the mortgage mass? >> i want to go back to the premise of your question. for a long time, we focused on housing as the driving sector of the economy. we are still going through a brutal housing downturn.

we convinced ourselves that housing creates jobs. i want to argue that jobs create housing. what the united states needs to focus on going forward is being a more productive and a more sustainable economy. we need to make things again. we need to have the quality of the goods and services that we may be so good that we can export them abroad to the rising tensions and to the other nations as well. we are not as robust and export nation as most of our competitors in the world. i think that we need a different economic they play a role in retooling

the economy towards that force, towards this incredible energy transformation. taking advantage of the information generally speaking. we need good benefits and a different label. >> off of twitter, if everyone works her way off ave recession, is is not a recipe for new trade wars where everyone loses? >> we have almost convinced ourselves that we can export. we asked people what we were in for as a country. i think we get a lot of very specific answers. if you ask them what we export, some people would say we do we export to? our competitors have a wide range of advanced manufacturing. we are good at certain things, but the rest of the world -- we

are good at a surplus in tradable services. i do not think that is necessarily a zero sum game. >> what does the governor has to do to capitalize on that? he has to basically be a promoter in a very specific way. >> it has to be a general export promoter. he has to focus on what that state does. who are the current trading partners? not just at the national level, but on the metropolitan scale. and then help firms and particularly small and medium

enterprises. there is already a platform of federal efforts. the governor can pull that together. they are on the ground. they are here. they can act as the coordinator in chief, pushing export promotions specific to the kinds of things that their state is there at. >> the next call is lieu of the kentucky. >> >> i had a comment on medicaid in vantage. the u.s. is essentially competing with all these other countries. i think the pragmatic view point is that we have to change that narrative to more collaborative

because we pretty much live in a world economy where we are blended with each other. >> caller, i am sorry, you are breaking up. >> i think that is an excellent point. i think that we need to understand the potential of these markets. china, india and brazil are larger portion of global gdp. they are urbanizing and industrializing rapidly. they fundamentally need the kinds of goods and services that we produce. we have to understand that there is opportunity out there. if we do not taking advantage of it, the germans will, the japanese well, other european nations will. they already are. this is the potential of this moment.

the u.s. has the potential to play if we look outside. only 28% of americans have passports. culturally, we tend to be a fairly insular nation even though we are so diverse. the u.s. can be prosperous going forward. >> salema, alabama. >> i would like to for you to inform us about our alabama race. we have someone who worked in the agricultural department for a number of terms and other candidates that have served on the legislature that is a doctor. i feel that the more progressive person will be one sparks' who has done some -- on

a sparks who has done some public service. he is a friend of the alabama rock group. the reason we are contacting you, it is a pleasurable are speaking with you. why does our nation not practice what it preaches from people such as you? >> thank you. i work for a non-partisan think tank. i cannot offer my recommendations in this particular race. i will just build on one of your thoughts which is that one of the candidates is the agricultural commissioner. we tend to think in the united states that there is this rural/urban divide. what i see is a connection between these economies. metropolitan-rural divide. increasing what i see is a

connection between them. the role of the governor -- and i said this with regard to exports but i want to tell you that i watch you every day. democracy now is where i go to get my news. i am not to bipartisan. the comment that you made about bipartisanship and the races between senator and governor, i really do not see that.

i watch nancy pelosi and she is from a different planet. what she was quoting as fax would never be considered fax in portland, oregon. i also wanted to to comment on the measures in the different states that are happening. in portland, we have clean water, clean part -- clean parks, and neither of one of these should raise taxes. >> does your governor promote these things pretty actively? our guest was talking about exporting part of the oregon economy. >> from what i understand, when you're talking about that, i was listening yesterday and i was listening and they were talking about the biggest thing of our economy is people buying things which will bring it back. biggest things of bringing the

the economy back. host: we'll leave it at that. >> i don't want to minimize the partisan conflict out there. i have been travelling the country. wake up in the hotel room. you watch the ads. it's a tough race out there. what i'm saying, as you look behind the platforms of many of the candidates running for governors in critical states, you see a willingness to go beyond the ideological areas. governors are closer to the grounds and are at the forefront of the onomy. they are expected to put forward practical solutions. it's a tough election cycle

right now. once the electio is over, and we start move to go the transitions, governors will take office in january. what i'm hopeful. not everywhere in the united states, but a growing part of thenited states, governors that bring forward interventions that work. whether they come from one party or one faction. particularly focus on what their state bngs to the table, their assets, their advantages. not a fansful but deliberate platform. host: you mention franklin roosevelt. can you talk about that? >> this is why states are so

important. just as frank -- franklin said. that's what fdr did in the late 20s in new york prior to the new deal. what's what north carolina and california did as they built up these world class university systems. that's what they did around welfare reform and a range of other innovations. governors and mayors invanovate. that's what's going to happen in the next 3, 5 years.

it's also guaranteed. e recovery is sluggish. host: programs that work on the state level, we're going to see? guest: absolutely and particularly these efforts to invest in fundamentally what matters. innovation. education, skills, infrastructure, if we invest smartly in those things in deliberate ways so they align with what estates are good at, this country is going to move forward. it's that basic focus that get lost in the noise host: philadelphia, joe on our republican line. caller: hi. i wanted to mention, we have been sluggish since the

1950 'and things that burden this country. the companies that mr. katz mentioned, their gdp's are highest. king george in history taxed to pay for the french and indian war and we got the tea party. now we have another tea party. what we need to do is throw the yolk off our backs that the elitist put on us. the entrepreneurial power to freedom grants. i would like to hear somebody that doesn't tell, i want somebody on your program, may be

there katz can turn around and talk about how freedom is the answer and have our hands untied without being burdened for paying for other people that don't need our tax money. guest: all i want to say, i know the question was abo can we collaborate. i would say, there's a brutal competition which will be the country that cracks the code for sustainable infrastructure and products. i think the front of the financial times had the opening of a high speed rail in china. they are investing in leaps and

bounds in the next generation of infrastructure and low carbon transformati transformation. this is about public and private together with smart, deliberate investments to move the countiy forward. i appreciate the caller's perspective. i think we're in a different global order. host: robert on our republican line. caller: before we can have p at our local government. they are more corrupt and crooked you can imagine. i will give you an example. we have a county where the city

of cleveland is in. in you look in the news and on the internet and read about the corruption, the massive corruption going on there among the county and city officials being you will see that you really can't trust a of them. there's a county executive that plead guilty on massive corruption. he's not in prison and the cost of the investigation cost him to be "depressed" and take disability from the state and county he stole money from. before we can be a part of solution, we have to shore up these states and cities. there's no way to make problem

as long as you have these crooks in the state county. this is just a horrible example of what's going on in the place. look into it. read about ohio. it will make your head spin how disgusting it is. host: we'll leave it there. i want to bring this back to the governor's races. i am familiar and there are examples of corruption. there's all a structural portion of the country where we have too much local government. particularly a proliferation of school districts, a proliferation of units of general purpose local government. i think given the fiscal crisis in some of the states. what you're going to see for the first time are governors and

state legislatureseginning to re-consider of structure of government at the local and count and he metropolitan scale. it undermines to compete globally. in europe, where we have taken this model from what you see, other metropolitan areas, putting on top of that, one unified focus that can hp them compete in the new global market. host: is there a philosophy on

regulations? gues guest: this is the genius of the u.s.. the states share regulatory roles of the government. as we think about a move towards smart regulations, this is the opportunity of the movement. we're coming off of technological revolution and making its way into government so we have more transparency of government. it's more like the private sector and the regulatory functions are more appropriate, responsible, market. so, the governors are talking a lot about this. there's always talk about stream

lini lining. our too are so much more >> tomorrow, on washington journal, we will talk with mona charen and connie shultz. after that, a look at possible changes in house and senate leadership positions with susan ferrechio. that is live at 17 eastern here on c-span. -- a 7:00 a.m. eastern here on c-span. c-span live election night coverage starts at 7:00 p.m. eastern with results around the country. your calls, it e-mails and tweets. watch live coverage here on c- span.

>> in addition to campaign coverage and are kind of debates, there is a lot more to the c-span video library including nonfiction authors, american story and everything that we have aired since 1987 all free and index online at the c-span video library. >> next weekend, jonah goldberg, best-selling author and editor of large of national review online discovers election results, and the next wave of leaders on the right. join our conversation with your calls, e-mails, and tweets. tv."is on c-span's "book >> now to a discussion on the african-american vote. it is hosted by the black leadership forum. this is about one hour.

>> good day, my name is gary flowers and i am the executive director of the black leadership forum, an alliance of 51 national american african- american facilities. we are proud that you have joined us today. this is a critical panel of the impact of the black vote in america. . .

the three-fifths compromise was a political decision based on the potential power of the black vote. in 1870, the 15th amendment was

enacted and just seven years later, the compromise of 1877. disenfranchised the black vote partly as a presidential deal. the winner lost, the loser won, but the loser won with the promise of removing federal troops from the south and removing the protection of black vote. so today we have a very august panel, beginning with hillary shelton who is a senior vice president for advocacy of the national association for the advancement of colored people. we have barbara arnwine, for civil rights under law, based here in washington, d.c. a renowned political scientist and a talk show host on wpsw pacifica radio and the national

executive director of the council of negro women. hillary, first let's look at where we are today as the mid term elections approach and give us an overview of what districts you see as critical in a mid term election? >> first, i want to to thank the black leadership forum for putting this together. it's probably the most crucial election we've seen in history, particularly as we look at elections. we're grateful for an opportunity to talk about the issues that affect us. there's probably no more timely opportunity than today as we look forward to the election coming up on 11/2/2010, we know millions of americans will be going to the polls an hopefully

we'll see a greater turnout than ever before. after looking at the challenges around the country and responding, i think the issue is areas most heavily affected by change in our country that is to say, what we have accumulated, what we've accomplished in the last two leches can't be left without being part of this conversation. i said that we're looking at a congress now on the federal level that has more african-american chairs of committees and subcommittees, particularly in crucial areas to the minority communities in our country and the naacp. if we look at those in control now, we're talking about a judiciary committee that oversees election protection programs, voting rights overseas, civic engagement in many ways, it's a committee that oversees how we are treated in the criminal justice systems and to look at the disparities therein and even discrimination in housing is

taken care of by the judiciary committee. we have a chairman who happens to be an african-american that from our perspective votes 100% on the naacp civil rights report card, mr. john conyers in the house. if we look in the senate, we'll see patrick leahy, pat leahy also votes 100% on the civil rights proreport card and is an effective advocate for the civil rights. as we look at both of these chairman they push through the most comprehensive voting rights reauthorizationation in the hithsry of our country but also those willing to raise issues that clearly affect our communities. as we talk about voter turnout and voter participation, it's a vehicle to making sure that policy concerns can be addressed so we are looking at the challenges that are happening now in communities that will push, quite frankly, the card further away from the

kind of empowerment and civic protections we want in our society. we think about those advances that we have made and those communities are very particular to to the this concern. we are also looking at leadership in many areas and as i look at what's happened over the course of time, i think about those that allow the agenda to go forward, and some of the more rural areas and challenges held by people like congressman scott from georgia. that is a district to be heavily affected. there's a strong engagement, at this point we're not sure how things will turn out. changes in that can impact our agenda. if we're looking to communities such as sanford bishop's district, also in georgia we know that that's a district that will be heavily engaged as well. the struggle at that level, tea party candidates being actively engaged will make a huge difference.

if we think about many other areas across the country that have heavy african-american influence, we are seeing areas where the african-american vote will make a huge difference and the fights will make a difference in what happens here in washington, d.c. including whether our agenda is able to move forward or whether it will be staaled. >> since the founding of the republic, there have always been dirty tricked. since african-americans got the right to vote in 1870, but it took 90 years until it was truly realized. how can people connect to us for help. >> there's a couple of troubling things going on in our country. a lot of this is totally

underneath the radar screen. there's been virtually no media reporting on what i consider some of the most serious and ugly developments around this coming election. one of the evilest things has been the creation by various tea party affiliated organizations throughout the country, what they call election integrity swaps or what they call voter pro-- their own voter integrity or anti-voter fraud organizations. in texas, there's what's called the keane street patriots. they have started what they call a true the vote initiative. and what is already done is resulted in intimidation of african-american voters doing the early voting -- during the early voting process in texas.

they have literally been following african-american and latino voters into voting places, voting polls, and challenging them. they have, you know, said, they look other their shoulder as they check in, try to challenge that they're not who they say they are, other kinds of intimidation. in minnesota, there's a group called election integrity watch. which is sponsored by what's called the minnesota majority. and they're running a campaign that is -- has surveillance teams that will be watching and challenging voters against what they call voter fraud on election day. they're even offering a $500 reward for anyone who calls to them with information on what they call voter fraud. now what we know historically is that groups that want to suppress minority voters use

the language of voter fraud and they use that as their cover, their smoke screen, in order to intimidate and repress black voters. what i found fascinating, i actually read one of the emails -- email postings from the nationwide tea party movement around these efforts, and i was surprised that even though it talks about voter fraud, voter fraud, voter fraud from every other paragraph, every other bullet point, there was not one example that they could point to. they didn't say one thing about anything that was happening anywhere. so it was clearly raising fear, making people worry. the same thing is true in wisconsin, there's an election integrity task force that is talking about wide-scale voter

fraud in the state. once again, no evidence of anything, they've got billboards across the state warning people that voter fraud is a felony and showing images of people behind bars. there's also a voter suppression effort in arizona we're aware of that really is targeting latino voters in particular and that is being endorsed by sheriff joe ar pie yow, who is -- arpaio who is renowned his for his sweeps of latino immigrants. they actually have a slogan, stop illegals from stealing the election campaign. the most troubling incident we've had, over more than 1,000 calls already to the hotline in just these early days we just started the hauteline this -- hotline this week and what we are concerned most about in addition to these incidents is

the many troubling calls we're receiving from african-american voters in florida who are calling because they are ex-felons and they voted in 2008, but when they tried to early vote in 2010, they're being told they can't vote, they are no longer part of the registration rolls. they are there showing they had their rights restored through the formal process, they have their cards, their letters, everything, and they're being denied the right to vote. this is a huge issue because we know that in 2000, over 90,000 people were improperly classified as ex-felons and were kept from voting. this is a -- and were under the existing laws at that time, were kept from being able to vote. we're terribly concerned about these reports and we are pursuing them in our best legal

manner at this time. we also continue to be concerned about confusion around citizenship issues around the country, we were very happy to win a recent case this week against the state of arizona for having a higher citizenship requirement for people to vote than that which is authorized under the national voter registration act and we were happy that the ninth circuit court of appeals with a panel including former supreme court justice sandra day o'connor, saying you cannot make any requirements harder than what the npra specifies. that was an important decision and we are going to continue to look for issues. the bottom line is that if you are a voter out there, if our -- if you are a group out there helping people to vote, or if you have family and friends and

want to make sure they're able to vote you need to make sure they call 1-866-our-vote. that's 1-866-687-8683. so that people can verify their registration, that's what i'm so proud of, i was looking through the data, i saw that a lot of people are calling to make sure they're registered a lot of people are calling to make sure they have the correct voting frointh show up at and people are calling to solve problems. i moved to another state, i thought i was registered. i'm in this county and i'm -- i was in the next county, trying to get information to help make sure they can vote or people are saying, you know, i keep hearing they changed my polling place and i don't know where it is. where the new polling place is. these are the questions we're prepared to help you with. there is no problem too small,

no problem too large for election protection. we have over 3,000 legal volunteers, they're deployed in 20 different states, in 30 different cities, with ground programs, we have the election protection hotline, as i mentioned before, and we have over 12 call centers, 150 lines, we are prepared to help voters from now through the end of election day. so we -- and of course we help voters all year long but we want to make sure that everybody who wants to vote is able to go to the poll, cast a vote, and have that vote count. >> barbara, across the country, working with other organizations within the black leadership forum, naacp defense and education fund, the national bar association, name some of the other -- >> yes, 150 partners and more. are part of election

protection. election protection is this huge national network of civil rights and you know -- and civic engagement organizations and voter turnout groups that everyone cares about making sure that our democracy works and that includes groups like the brennan center, groups like demos, of course the naacp, groups like the national coalition for black civic participation. of course the leadership, the black leadership forum. it includes organizations like the national organization of latino elected officials. it includes organizations like maldef. it includes the asian american legal defense fund. it includes so many organizations it includes organizations in the native american community throughout the country.

these are our partners. so many, so many great groups that are out there that are part of our coalition. you know, the hip-hop caucus, so many groups that are -- that make up -- make us effective, that make us have the reach, the ability to reach out to voters on their block, in their churches, at their homes, to be heard and to know that they have this resource that combines all of this power into one coordinated -- >> what is that number? >> 1-866-our-vote. that's 1-866-687-8683. call it. we are there. the lines are open right now. volunteer rs waiting for your calls, they know that you need your questions answered, report to us anything you see that's suspicious, strange fliers, robo calls, i tell the story, it's so ugly, that my mother

got a call, just a number of weeks ago, telling her that because she's such a great democratic voter, she need not show up at the polls on tuesday, that all she has to do is call a telephone number or go on the internet and that -- so there are these clear suppression efforts already going on. we know that we have not seen the worst of it yet. if you see any problems, let us know, the majority of voters should have no problems at the polls but where there are problem, we've got to know about them. >> this week we celebrate the mecca of hbcu's homecoming, howard university. it's so fitting that we -- that we pay tribute to its brightest political star, the late dr. ronald walters. as we do so, of course, dr. walters would be here today but then again, he's always with us. his political spirit lives.

it lives on with young men and young women across the country studying political science, applying it across the nation. one of those brightest stars is dr. wilmer leon a student of dr. walters, who will give us an overview of the impact of the black vote from then to now. >> thank you, gary. i thank the black leadership forum for having this very, very important discussion today. this tuesday, november 2, as americans go to the polls, they face a real challenge. making an intelligent and informed decision amidst all of this partisan ideological rhetoric is truly a daunting task. many attribute this dissension and rain cor to the election of president obama, the rise of the tea party and the refusal of most republicans to work with the president on any level that would result in positive

policy output for this country. but it's much, much deeper than that. when you take a step back and look at our political landscape from a broader perspective, what you see is that our current dysfunctional situation is not a recent development. but it's a cullmy nation of a conserve -- a cull. nation of a -- a culmination of a conservative outlook. in his book, the late dr. walters talked about the politics of resentment. of resentment toward black demands for social justice in the late 19450s and 1960's, as well as other organizations and groups' demands for social justice and the federal government sanctioning of the institutionalization of those rights. that has resulted in a large number of whites becoming

cynical about their government and feeling alienated from it. resentful of this big government exercising too much control over their lives. some quick examples. in 1954, the warren court gave us the brown decision, which overturned plessy and 85 years of government-sanctioned segregation in this country. we had the 1964 and 1968 civil rights act. the warren court gave us the exclusionary rule in state court with the mamm -- mapp case in 1961, the right to counsel in the gideon case in 1962, the right to privacy with the griswold case in 1965, and the miranda case in 1966. in 1963, you have the burger court ex-panting the right to privacy from birth control to a woman's right to choose. now, a lot of this civil rights and civil liberty progress is

resented by too many people in this country. viewed by many conservatives as federal government intrusion into the rights of the states and of private individuals and tipping the balance of power in our judicial system away from the state and police and toward the criminals. that, along with this redistribution of wealth as seen through social programs. in response to these actions, -- in response to these actions and others, there's been a group, and there have been movements based primarily in ultra conservative politics and aligned with reactionary politicians, such as nixon's silent majority, the forgotten middle class of the 1970's, the former -- we have former president reagan and reverend falwell with the moral majority. former president reagan and then bush aligned with pat

robertson and the christian coalition. in and now the latest of that, the tea party. you hear former republican congressman tom tan cray doe open the tea party con -- tom tancredo open the tea party calling for a reinstatement of a literacy test for voting. he says, this is our country, let's take it back. who has tom's country? we don't have it. sarah palin wants to get them to understand that what this country was built on, get back to the foundation of america. if you ask black people what this country was founded on, it was found on slave labor. what does all that mean? when you listen to sarah palin, it's great rhetoric, but what does it mean? she says, well it's pretty simple. it's a smaller government, smarter government, not growing

government to control more of our lives and businesses and make decisions for us. again, it's great rhetoric but what does it mean? how do you get there? how does she operationalize what it is that she's trying to convey? when you think about it, you come down to understand that this really has absolutely nothing to do with us. i mean, it's hard to sell less government to a constituency that needed its government to help end slavery, jim crow, desegregate schools, integrate the armed services and pass civil rights legislation. in a time of record unemployment, in the african-american community, disproportionate incarceration rates, home foreclosures and racial profiling we need more government affirmative action now than ever before. we need more, not less. now, republicans are offering an undefined reduction in

government spending to a constituency that needed its government to invest in head start, medicare, medicaid, and other social programs. in these stark economic times, this country needs an increase in government spending, for f.d.a. loans, pell grants, extension of unemployment benefits and more job training. "the new york times" had an article a few days ago entitled, black turnout will be crucial for democrats. now, i take issue with that. i don't believe that our turnout is crucial for democrats. our turnout is crucial for us. democrats aren't suffering 40% unemployment in detroit and new york and other major cities. we are. democrats aren't being

disproportionately impacted by home foreclosures. we are. democrats aren't being racially profiled and disproportionately incarcerated. we are. so our involvement in this process, and yes, we must be involved, has nothing to do with harry reid, jerry brown in california, or barbara boxer. it has everything to do with us. in his famous speech, time to break silence, dr. king said, the world now demands a maturity of america that we may not be able to achieve. that was not some idle observation. that was a challenge. our circumstance today, our politics, demands a maturity of our community that we must achieve. we have to become more politically mature. dr. king said, the situation is

one in which we must be ready to turn sharply from our present ways. he was correct in his analysis of the policy in vietnam, in his -- and his observation aeplies to our political circumstance today. we have to turn sharply away from not turning out to vote and vote. but we have to know what we're voting for and we have to hold those who we vote for accountable for what they say and do. we must reward them when they succeed and we must severely, severely punish them when they fail. "the new york times" in that article said that some african-americans are disillusioned with the pace of the economic recovery and based on that, won't turn out to vote. that's when we should turn out. you need proper stewardship and direction in tough times, more so than when times are good.

because the wrong vote, or not voting, and allowing others to determine your fate, could really put you in peril. i think it was that great african-american philosopher bobby womack who said, if you think you're lonely now, wait until tonight. if you think your straits are dire tonight, don't vote and allow others to determine your fate. you'll find out what bad times really are, ask john bay for the. in 2004, shaun combs and others initiated the vote or die campaign. it was a great idea but lacked substantive policy direction and any type of agenda. what's the agenda? what's the plan? the late ozy davis was keynote speaker at the first c.b.c. din for the 1971. the title of his address was "it's not the man, it's the

plan." he closed by saying, but all i'm saying to the world, and all i'm saying to the cadre of black leadership is that we want a plan. we want a plan so simple, so easy to remember, that we carry it in our heads. so that if the storm of oppression should wipe us out, all but one family, and that family was crouching somewhere in the dark, one brother would reach out to another and say, hey, man, what's the plan? davis continued, let us stop making history by add hoc methods and -- by ad hoc methods and impromptu observations. give everybody his assignment and hold him strictly responsible if he doesn't carry it out.

our agenda should be the same today as it was in 1972 at the national black convention in gary. nothing has changed. read that. start there. two paragraphs and i'm done. our cities are crime-haunted dying grounds, huge sectors of our youth and countless others face permanent unemployment. those of us who work find our paychecks able to purchase less and less. neither the courts nor the prisons contribute anything resembling justice or reformation. the schools are unable or unwilling to educate our children for the real world of our struggles. meanwhile, the officially approved epidemic of drugs threatens to wipe out the minds and strengths of our best young warriors. economics -- economic, cultural, and spiritual depression stalk black america and the price for survival often appears to be more than

we are able to pay. on every side in every area of our lives, the american institutions in which we have placed our trust are unable to cope with the cries they have created by their single minded dedication to profits for some and white supremacy above all. that was from the gary plan in 1972. this tuesday, november 2, as americans go to the polls, they face a real challenge. making an intelligent, informed decision amidst all this partisan ideology and rhetoric is a daunting task. we must engage. we must participate and stay engaged. hey, man, what's the plan? go back to gary. read the agenda. make your decision from there. >> thank you. the spirit of dr. walters. so -- of dr. walters so

eloquently lives within dr. leon and others across the country. but the spirit of the matriarch of our movement, the spirit of none other than dr. dorothy irene heights, lives in sisters across the nation. today, representing the council of negro women is dr. avis jones. >> it's particularly because the other information out there might have us believe it's a pre-ordained conclusion. it might have us think what's

going to happen on tuesday is a tsunami a tidal wave. but i'm here to tell you, tuesday hasn't happened yet. we need to counter that narrative, particularly because those types of narratives are dangerous. they might serve as a disincentive to go out and exercise the right that they are in fact due to exercise. we are all here to say our voices matter. our voices can and in fact will make a difference on election day. i'm going to talk a little bit about why that's the case and what in fact we are all doing to make a difference come tuesday, november 2. clearly, they are three critical points to keep in mind as we progress through the remainder of this discussion. the first one is, what really matters in terms of who goes home a winner and who goes home to try again another day on tuesday, is the fact of who does and does not show up on november 2. that is true without a doubt. second, it's the critical

importance of the black vote in terms of making the difference in several key elections all across this nation. third, as it pertains to the black vote, it's critical that we also recognize the special importance of the black woman's vote in terms of making sure that that specific constituency is energized, motivated and out in force on lech day. those three factors are key as to what we will finally see as an outcome when we all wake up on wednesday morning, november 3. focusing on this issue of the importance of the black woman's vote, i think oftentimes when discussions are had about the importance of the black vote in general, it seems the community is often examined en masse and i think it's particularly important that we tease out the specific importance of black women in terms of the black voting constituency. it is true, in fact that black women make up the majority of black voters and that they have played key roles in recent elections, particularly the presidential election in 2008.

in that election, black women had the highest voter turnout of any demographic group in america all across all races, across each gender. no one came out to the polls more than black women in 2008. further no group voted for the president in higher per pro portions than did the black women's vote. not even black men whom the president counts himself as one, correct. so clearly, -- so clearly it's important that we don't move past this particular constituency. it's important that this administration acknowledges the importance of black women and in fact that we all work toward making sure that black women show up and show up en masse on election day. heightening her importance this year, though, is the recent polling day that that suggests that democrats are losing much of their appeal among white women voters. this is an interesting dynamic, especially considering the great attention this

administration has given women overall. its first legislative act was signing the lilly ledbetter act, followed by the council of women an girls and several key presidential appointments of white women and a key appointment on the supreme court. yet despite seeing significant policy action and attention geared toward women in general, these acts seem not to be resonating among white women voters for some reason, particularly not at the levels we see resonating among women of color and particularly among black women. nor are we seeing that these effort have resulted in the maintenance of the same level of support that white women showed this administration back in 2008. this is not to suggest that the majority of white women voters did in fact vote for this president they didn't. however, a large enough proportion of this constituency voted for this administration that it helped to be part of a

key coalition -- coalition, part of that key coalition that brought in the president and the huge democratic gains we saw in congress in 2008. given this factor, the pow over what naomi campbell termed the sister vote is especially critical this year. it's something that we would behoove ourselves, each and every one of us to engage in specifically in making sure we emphasize to black women in particular their importance with regard to outreach effort, our education efforts and specifically with regards tour get out the vote efforts on election day. looking at what's actually going on in the field at this time, we're seeing that quite a bit of activity is taking place at every level to make sure that the right ours foremothers and forefathers marched for, fought for, bled for and died for are exercised in this mid term election. efforts like those put in place by the national coalition many on black civic participation who have already prepared a war

room that will be in place on election day equipped to answer calls from all across this country in order to report any irregularities you might be facing as you attempt to vote and to answer any questions and make sure your voice is heard on election day. leading up to election day, their efforts are being put into place by galvanizing voters across the nation, encouraging them to come out to vote and not believe the hype, so to speak, in terms of all we're hearing with regard to the predetermined conclusions with this election. reaching out to younger voters, organizations like black youth vote and hip-hop caucus, are spreading the message using social networking techniques including facebook and twitter and building excitement on black college campuses particularly in the days of homecoming celebration. among -- among more traditional organizations, we are educating

our members about the importance of this particular election and spreading messages around what's at stake with regard to the specific issues our constituencies care about. when it's all said and done, it's important to note that black organizations matters but most importantly black voters matter and tuesday is your day to make sure your voice is heard. >> thank you. as we thank c-span for covering this most important panel today, we also recognize, you mentioned the hip-hop caucus, another membership of the black leadership forum, represents young people between 18 and 40. i know they have 700,000 across the country that are actively engaged with celebrities in bringing about an awareness. which brings me to a point for the entire panel. our c-span audience today pretty much are voters. civically engaged, that's why they watch a policy channel known as c-span.

but how do we challenge those who are viewing today to get to those who are on the corners, who may not see the efficacy in voting? how do we challenge them that on november 2, they exercise their civic right? i throw that out to the panel. >> i'll begin by saying that a lot of it begins in what we've been able to accomplish this far and how we move through the process. as americans are looking at the upcoming election, too often we neglected mid term elections. people turn out in large numbers for presidential leches, they believe with the president at the top of the ballot, that's the most important thing to do. but for those of us who move on an agenda and not a particular party or candidate, we're driven by what's most important to us. to our communities. when you're in a community where you have a disproportionate number of

people without health care coverage at all, where we lost hospitals in extremely high numbers because we have not been able to afford to pay the hospital services here in the nation's capital, the general hospital was shut down a few years ago. we know that health care becomes a crucial issue and the question is, in this election, are we going to be able to see the kind of health care coverage we need in our community? some of us feel as if we pass a piece of legislation that 32 million more people, 30% of those african-americans and other racial and ethnic minorities and the poor, we recognize this is a major move forward. the question as a voter if is, who will i vote for to make sure that now that we've authorized, we've said it's ok to pay for it that we right the check through the appropriations process to do just that? those merps who live down our streets and for those of us lucky enough to keep our homes, the question is, in this election is there someone i can

vote for who would help make sure that my investment is protected or help me get my house back, for that matter, someone who recognizes there's been such a high number of foreclosures throughout the country who have it on their agenda to watch out for me? i know for every house that's gone in foreclosure, 1.5% of the value of my home is lost on my block. go down the street, six signs, multiply six times 1.5, you know what's happened to your most crucial investment most of us have entering into the health arena. looking at issues of having good, quality schools in our community, who supports increasing education services to our neighborhoods and who, by the way, as we've seen throughout this election, is actually coming toward the elimination of the u.s. department of education altogether? those issues are crucial. the question then is, when we look at any candidate that's running, what's going to happen was we move forward?

understanding that process is crucial. i hope people will go to naacp.org and take a look at these documents. one is called the federal candidates' questionnaire. it lays out, as people talk about broad and sweeping agendas like whether the government is too big or not big enough, whether our taxes are too high or not high enough, under those broader terms, what does that mean to equal protection under law? what does that mean to equal opportunity programs? what does that mean to access to housing? what does that mean? issues that are important to the communities i serve. the questions have to be asked under the -- under what's going on as we see the instability across the country that prevent these questions from being answered at all. we watched the month of infa my as we discuss something as crucial as health care, the disallowance of even the

conversation with the shout down, the interruptions, with the shutting down of meetings, disallowing one of the most important and quite frankly most democratic processes within our government, that is, the ability to petition those who represent us, is so american that it's even captured in a norman rockwell painting, but we saw what happened when those under various guises, i hate to keep calling them names but those who call themselves tea party advocates refuse to allow us to have the debate. the question on november 2, is who is going to carry the agenda for me? we have to spend this weekend asking that question of nick, and number two, we need to be guided as we go into the polling site on november 2 to make sure we pull the lever on those that do that regardless of their political party affiliation or what they call themselves. >> anyone else >> we -- looking beyond

november 2, talking about this development of a political maturity, we have to within our own homes, around our own dinner tables, within our own communities, start understanding a longer term plan and start to determine for ourselves, no matter what happens on tuesday if the democrats hold the house if the democrats lose the house, where are we going to be next year? where are we going to be two years, three years, five years from now? our government operates on a five-year, 10-year, 15-year plan, our government does contingency planning. if the russians do x, what will we do? if ahmadinejad does y, what are we going to do? well we, as a community, have to start thinking in those terms and understanding within ourselves where do we want to be next year?

unfortunately for us, so many of us are struggling day-to-day, just to put bred on the table, keep heat on the -- in the house and shoes on our feet, it's difficult many times for us to think longer term. but if we don't want to find ourselves in the same predicament five years from now, then we have to start thinking about right now, what are the things we can do, what kind of change can we implement, who can we elect that will help facilitate the types of policy initiatives that are going to prove to be the most beneficial for us. so that, to me, is part of our process of political maturity and that's the way that we as adults have to start thinking and to the kids on the corner, those are the types of things that we have to start communicating to our own children. >> one thing we know works, and we've seen it work repeatedly,

is when families create their own family trees and people just start calling folks, saying, are you ready to vote? are you going to vote on tuesday? i'm going at x time, see you there, i want to make sure you're voting because frankly, people just miss things. what you said is so true. the pain in our community is so high. we've had such a huge unemployment, over 45% of our youth are unemployed, millions of african-americans unemployed. there's so much pain. so to get people's attention, especially to a mid term election, is very hard. the family tree, your calling and making sure that every person you know is voting, i love the facebooking people have been doing saying, i'm going to vote, i'm committed to voting on november 2. or, you know, for early voting.

all of these are important mechanisms for people to make sure they're voting. i want to raise two other big issues that people need to be considering when they're looking at how do i take the time to vote when i feel pressured so deeply. there are two real great reasons like need to vote. one is redistricting. the state races are key this time. because remember, everybody participated in the census. the purpose of the census was to figure out the population of the united states, but part of that is to figure out the population for the purposes not only of reapportionment, meaning what are the proper amounts of congressional seats each state should have, but also as to redistricting, which is what are the districts that will be drawn for people to elect congressfolks?

what will be the districts that will be drawn for your state represents and senatorall representatives? in the state senate. so it's very, very key that people realize that if you don't vote for these state governors, if you don't vote for your state representatives, what you could end up having is a redistricting process that absolutely takes away your power, where you end up with your district being cracked or packed or all these mechanisms that are done or you could end up with, you know, not the right district, that is traditionally there to protect your interests. i want to point out redistricting is absolutely key. if you felt it was key enough to participate in the census, you've got to vote. and i want to point out, there's a new craziness in the country that has developed

recently that is really problematic, the idea of doing away with the minimum wage. think about what that means to so many people you know and there are candidates running on that basis. and they are saying this openly. that's a threat to a whole lot of folks, not that the minimum wage is that high in so many states. in some states it's only $5.25 an hour. in other states it's up to $6 or $8 an hour. but just think about it. what that means for your ability. the last thing i want to point out is that what congress does matters. we all saw this horri consumer agency that the -- which is the frank dobs bill the president -- it's fascinating that i received in the mail this week, as a result of some of the

reforms put in in the last couple of years, that i received in the mail a notice that said, from a credit card company, which i have a credit card, saying we're getting ready to raise your minimum balance due. we're required now, to report this under this new law an you can opt out. now, that didn't exist, before you would have gotten a notice that said, this is your new rate, it's going to be higher, we're going to make money off of you. this time, i called up and said, no you don't. there's all kind of practtl benefits that affect our daily lives. we need to understand, that's why we need to be checking in with everybody we know, facebook, tweet, whatever. get busy and make sure that people are recognizing that

they need to vote on november 2 . >> just the bridge between those comments and that of the professor's, after the election is over, that is not the end, that's the beginning. a lot of us up here have talked about the -- about the tea party. the reality is we need to be as impassioned, as unrelenting, as forthright in our demands as others are in theirs. so come to the polls on november 2, but after that, on november 3, get moving and let's start moving in the right direction in terms of policy. >> as we close now, i want to dispel one myth. a lot of people erroneously believe that african-americans, the black vote, is less than other constituents -- constituencies. before dr. walters made his transition, he was very clear that the percentage of african-americans voting, compared to the total population is one point higher than the majority culture. we voted 65%. versus 64%. dispel that myth.

as to what our challenges are in terms of getting people out, the faith-based community can play a big roll in this -- role in this also by creating public policy ministries in your church. not politics. ministers will say, we can't have politics in the pulpit. no, public policy. civic engagement. our people, particularly, having gained that right to not be discriminated against, the right to vote in 1870, must know the civic process we must be fundamentally sound on the three branches of government, on how to, as tea party advocates do, utilize constitutional amendments, utilize the levers of civic awareness to sway toward their political and policy views. so as the -- as the black leadership forum we will continue to raise the banner for civic engagement and civic awareness. i would like to thank the panel today are there any press with

questions? please identify yourself and the media outlet you represent. >> i'm reverend eweless, president of the hip-hop caucus. we have press so to speak, for our membership. i want to thank everyone thon panel, one thing i do want to say is that a lot of young people have become -- are engaged. and are ready to vote. but in 2008, because of all of our work, they are more observant of the process and the one thing that they see more than anything is this money and politics. and so me being from louisiana, you know, there is more money in politics than there is oil in the gulf coast, and so i think that what we need to recognize is that how do we get that out? because right now, they are becoming much more cynical, pulling back from the process,

they're going to vote but they need to understand how we transition from this huge amount of money coming into the political spectrum on both a republican and democratic sides. >> absolutely. at the black leadership forum, we will address that. are there other questions, media or nonmedia? yes, sir. >> corey marshall, i'm with government relations with operation hope. >> a member of the black leadership forum. >> yes. i eat, sleep, and -- and digest politics, that's what i do. this is the first time i heard -- i read from the time i wake up until the time i go to sleep anything political i can get my hands on, from twitter to facebook to "the new york times." s the first time i've heard someone say, don't listen to the negative about tuesday, november 2. tuesday has yet to happen. it seems that the democratic party would be pushing that

message and we would not -- now i'm in a position where i almost feel that not only has minority leader boehner has measured the drapes in the speaker's house, he's made the purchase. every article i read makes it sound like it happened two weeks ago. how do we get this message out to our friends that we need to get to vote and could someone talk to the white house political director and ask them to get the message out? >> you have the pow for the your hands. i'm into one of the tools that people use every single day, social networking tools. we've seen it in terms of covering social events across the world, use it to remind people, tuesday is yet to come and you can make a difference. >> one thing i've been saying

on my show for quite a while, the democrats are terrible at marketing. they don't understand how to sell their programs. and two weeks ago, jerry brown was done in term's the governor's race in california. barbara boxer was done. carly fee reno was measuring -- fiorino was measuring drapes. now what we find is, not so fast, those races are closing. in maryland, it was a dead heat three weeks ago. now, it's a 14-point lead. so things can change. to your point, tuesday has not come yet and the only thing that will allow the predictions from last tuesday to come true this tuesday is if we stay home and don't participate. >> none of the comments address the economy.

this morning we got news that g.d.p. rose 2%. so it seems like we're on a trajectory in the right direction. can you talk about your understanding of the economy, where we're going, and its real advance to our people and the vote and what that means for us tra stiegecally, based on where we were over the last eight years? >> i'll do a quick start to that. obviously the macroeconomy is beginning to recover and turn the corner. the problem is, the microeconomy, the economy people feel in their wallets and pocketbooks each and every day are still suffering at depression levels, we're past the recession levels, even though we're supposedly not in recession. people need to understand, these are tough times, and these are tough times that were inherited. when this president took

office, we were losing 750,000 jobs per month in this country, we were in the midst of ea greatest recession we've seen in 0 years. this is not something that anyone can realistically expect to turn the corn for the two years but to continue to move in the right direction we need to make sure our voices are heard on tuesday. >> i strongly agree. a wonderful foundation were the question we have to ask when we go to the polls on tuesday, who has the plan, going back to ozzy davis' earlier comments who has the plan to move our economy forward. so the talk about jobs, the jobs issue is crucial to everyone. we've seen the stabilization and the hemorrhage of jobs in the country who has the plan going forward? we're seeing two major initiatives, one of which would pass a piece of legislation to add a million new j