that live here on c-span. >> good evening from washington. the polls are closing in six states. in another half hour, they will close in three more states. after months of debates, $4 billion in campaign spending, and countless ads, tonight will determine the makeup of the congress. 435 house seats. 37 senate seats. 37 governors' races all and play. the house republican leader john boehner is poised to become the next speaker of the house. the current speaker, nancy pelosi, in washington, speaking to reporters earlier today as she met with chris van hollen, who headed up the dnc in this cycle. our goal tonight is to let you hear from the winners and losers and to hear from you. there will be new faces in the

112th congress, and potentially a shift in the balance of power. let's look at some of the closings at 7:00 p.m. at six states now close -- georgia, indiana, kentucky, south carolina, vermont, virginia. two senate race is getting a lot of attention -- kentucky, where rand paul, the tea party candidate and republican nominee has 56% of the early voting. .com way -- jack conroy is not 44%. in indiana where senator dan was seeking to return, he is ahead of congressman brad ellsworth, 53%-42%. those are the actual raw numbers from the associated press. will continue to see results at the bottom of the screen. you can join in on the conversation. our phone lines will be open.

202-737-0222 for democrat. join us online at witter.com. we have a lot of social media page set up -- at twitter.com. we have a lot of social media page setup. thank you for being with us. every campaign has a narrative. so much has been said about this midterm. what is this year's narrative? >> it is very much whether this election is a choice or referendum. democrats, led by obama, have very much tried to paint this 20 to endoderm campaign as a choice. it is a choice, at that -- this 2010 midterm campaign as a choice. it is a choice for what the democrats are trying to do on the economic front versus a return to what the president labels the failed policies of george w. bush and when republicans were in control. what republicans have done

effectively is suggest that this election is not a choice. it is a referendum on president obama, his leadership, the leadership of the democratic congress, and some of the things that have been accomplished in the past two years, most notably health care reform. >> the magic number is 218 for the house to flip between democrats and republicans. democrats had controlled the house or the last four years. the republicans have it 12 years previously. >> i think what is striking, heading into tonight, is some of the process -- the prognosticators have suggested this could not just be a situation where republicans gain back the majority in the house by five or 10 seats, but that this could potentially be a republican wave of historic proportions. some of the numbers have that -- that have been thrown out there by analysts have been exceedingly high. they both hold out the possibility that there could be

60 to 65 seats. charlie cook has held out 70- plus. i would certainly be historical. >> 37 senate seats -- we have not seen that many in a long time. delaware and new york -- kirsten gillibrand seeking the term previously held by hillary clinton. illinois -- the seat previously held by barack obama. colorado. protect the sheer number of senate seats in play is one of the reasons -- >> the sheer number of senate seat in the play is one of the reasons republicans are holding the outside chance they could potentially take the majority. it is an uphill climb in the senate for republicans. they need and wins tonight. in pretty much everything on the senate side -- they you need pretty much everything on the senate side. the planning and how you do the math, they may possibly need calif. -- depending on how you do the math, they may possibly need california. they need the race between patty murray and dino rossi to go

their way. >> you can look at pennsylvania, illinois, colorado, nevada, and alaska. those are races that are true tossups. >> right. the alaska race is going to be fascinating. i had one republican strategist predicted couple of days ago that, what if there was a scenario whereby the senate control was in the hands of what happens in alaska. you have a situation where that is potentially delayed by weeks because of the reagan campaign of senator lisa murkowski -- the write-in campaign of senator lisa murkowski. they're all over the map up their between lisa murkowski, miller, and the democrats got macadam. the polling is difficult -- and the democrat scott mcadams. the point is difficult. it is hard to figure out how big of a drop there could be from folks who say in a poll won and

then write in another name -- one thing and then write in another name. if the right and total comes out on top or within half a percentage point -- write-in total comes out on top or within half the percentage point vote -- it will not even be calculated until the 18th. >> we welcome your phone calls and your comments online. there are a lot of places to watch electron -- election coverage. you will hear from victory -- candidates as they win and lose. we hear from people all over the country, with cameras in the states all over, including arkansas, missouri, california. we are watching some of the most competitive senate and governor's races. we will get your calls in just a moment. let's look at the current senate. there were 60 democratic senators when your book.

there are 57 democrats and two independents. looking at the number of races in play, the democrats tried to hold on to the 19 seats they had right now. there 18 republican seats in place. looking to 2012, there will be a lot more democratic seat up for reelection. >> you have heard senator john cornyn, head of the national senatorial republican committee who said on sunday that it very much looks like republicans might need two cycles to get back as a net. he is confident it could happen to take back the senate. he is confident it could happen in 2012. it is going to be interesting, depending on how close republicans can get. you have senator joe lieberman, depending on what is in the

senate after night, could once again become the most important politician in washington, the most important vote in the senate. there is also republicans who have talked about the outside chance a potentially getting someone like joe lieberman or senator ben nelson to potentially switch parties, depending on the dynamics at play and how close it is after this election. >> a lot of early predictions. from politico, there is a prediction that the republicans will pick up seven seats and a prediction that harry reid will be reelected in nevada. >> in nevada, what democrats are relying on is the advantage over sharron angle. >> in clark county, the turnout was lower than expected. it is one of the strongholds for democrats. >> for all of the talk we have heard recently -- we have heard it today from a lot of democrats and strategists and

campaign spokespeople -- talking about how not only the early voting numbers seem to see some positives for democrats, but you saw some good turnout in spots that they wanted. nevada has gone against the trend. they are certainly concerned on the part of senator reed. there's concern among democrats in nevada. that is the trophy seat tonight, not only for republicans, but for the tea party movement. sharron angle embodies the tea party movement in this country. she is where the hope is. if she can knock off senator harry reid, that is a phenomenal victory, not just for republicans, but for the tea party. >> indiana is a state that barack obama won in 2008. bayh is retiring this year. coats has 54% of the votes.

rand paul is ahead in kentucky with about 3% of the early voting in. 55% 4 rand paul. 45% for the democrat, jack conway. >> kentucky is something that -- this race has gone away from the democrats quickly in the past couple of weeks. most folks point to the infamous ad as potentially the straw that finally broke the race definitively toward rand paul, as it looks like it has been going. former president bill clinton made a last-minute stop for jack conway, so there was still the sense among democrats that seat was winnable. republicans have been very confident about rand paul for the last week. >> opened and was in four states just yesterday, -- bill clinton was in four states just yesterday. we have bob from morristown, new

jersey, on the democrats line. >> can you hear me? >> we sure can. >> i have yet to vote. i have until 8:00 p.m. eastern. i will be voting straight democratic ticket. >> how are you from the polling booth. -- from the polling booth? >> about two blocks. nationally, i am afraid that the house will go republican and we, being the democrats, will hold on to the senate, albeit with a smaller majority. i just want to thank c-span. it is always the best for this political stuff. i just think it is very important to note that a state like new jersey has no statewide elections this year. if c-span viewers remember last year and the off year of 2009, where there were only two states -- virginia and new jersey --

with republican victories for the gubernatorial races, people were saying then that was foreshadowing a republican trend. that was only just when the health care town halls and the tea party movement were really getting visible. in a state like new jersey, my state, which is still very blue, certainly, with regard to issues as opposed to personalities, shall we say, that really was a local race. and it also happened in massachusetts in january with martha coakley and scott brown. we should all put this into perspective. just to say, lasting, then i will go, because i have to vote -- i caught and maryland public television of senator -- a maryland public television ad

for senator barbara mikulski. i noticed charles grassley was up for reelection. these are two respective partisans who are very safe. the senate will not see a massive overhaul at least. that is the body where it is supposed to take longer for things to happen. >> i will stop you there. thank you for your call. we will let you get out to vote. let's hear from a republican in piedmont, south carolina. a lot of attention on that fifth congressional district. he has been in the representatives for more then -- three decades. we will go to stanley. >> can you hear me? >> we sure can. >> i had to vote split ticket. i could not vote for nikki haley for governor because of the controversy and her being supposedly hand-picked.

it looks like she is going to win. i did vote republican in several races. i hope this turns republican in the congress. >> thank you for your call. >> the district that was mentioned there -- john spratt, the chairman of the house budget committee -- this is a huge race. it is going to be very telling in terms of how large this wave is going to be tonight. the hill did some battleground pulling over the course of the past month or so in the 42 competitive districts. congressman spratt was one of the long-time democratic incumbents that we found was in some trouble ahead of election day. it is telling for a couple reasons. one, because if republicans are able to knock off some of these long term democratic incumbents like john spratt, jim marshall, ike skelton, chair of the house armed services committee -- and

other republican target -- this is going to portend a very big night for republicans and something that could potentially be a lot larger than the 40, 45 seats that they would need to take control. >> early results from indiana and kentucky. in the second district, joe donnelly was seeking another term. the republican candidate, walorski. this could indicate a trend in the early numbers. she has 57% of the vote, compared to about 37% 4 joe donnelly. >> is also a very telling race. -- it is also a very telling race. clear also watching baron hill's district. they are -- we are also watching baron hill's district. when it comes to congressman donnelly, he is a centrist democrat who has spent this campaign season running away from house speaker nancy pelosi

in one campaign ad, he touted his vote against cap and trade -- nancy pelosi. in one campaign ad, he touted his vote against cap and trade. he has done what he could to separate himself from the democratic leadership. if he loses by any significant margin, that will be telling and that will suggest that similarly positioned democrats who have tried to run away from speaker pelosi and the democratic leadership will have trouble. baron hill district -- hill's district is the consummate a swing district. he has one and the district, he has lost it. he has gone in and out of the seat -- he has won the district, he has lost it. democrats have been successful in winning over centrist and independents in the past. if that trend goes to republicans, it suggests a big night for republicans.

>> results from congressman baron hill's district, the ninth congressional district -- 41% of the vote compared to todd young at 54%. there is a libertarian candidate as well garnering 5% of the vote. >> the interesting thing about the libertarian is that it is another trend we have seen in a handful of districts. a democratic state party of indiana actually funded some mailers to buck up the candidacy of the libertarian, hoping that it would siphon away votes from the republican challenger. this is something they did openly. we have seen this and other congressional races across the country. -- in other congressional races across the country. in most places, democrats have denied involvement. in major -- in new jersey third- party this -- third district, republicans have a candidate they say is not at the party candidate. the same thing in florida.

>> as soon as we hear from the tories or defeated candidates, our cameras will take you there -- victorious were defeated candidates, our cameras will take you there. the information on the bottom of our screen is from the associated press. these are actual numbers. you can follow along at are website, c-span.org -- at our website, c-span.org. we will be talking about the seat with brad ellsworth, democratic senate nominee, who is behind senator dan coats. this is the seat that republicans targeted as a potential pickup. looking at those results right now, it looks like that will happen. haaften and bucshon. dan coats as been the winner -- has been declared the winner in the indiana senate seat. >> that was expected by a large

margin, in some polls by 20 points. for republicans, this was one of their short seats. -- sure seats. >> rand paul is being declared the winner in indiana. this rise was relatively close until a couple of weeks ago. -- race was relatively close until a couple of weeks ago. but at the breaking point was -- >> the breaking point was an ad run by the democratic candidate. it is something from the college past of rand paul that came out in a magazine article. essentially, rand paul saw that as an attack on his religion, questioning his religion. really became -- it really became the breaking point of this race. that is when jack conway got a lot of criticism, not just from republicans, but from a lot of

democrats. senator claire mccaskill very publicly criticized that ad and said that it went over the line. jack conway was sort of publicly skewered by chris matthews on msnbc over it. that is when things started trending rand paul's away. >> polls will be closing in three more states, north carolina, ohio, and west virginia. two senate races have been called in indiana, senator dan coats is coming back to a seat he held in the 1990's. he was first appointed in 1988 to fill the seat left vacant by dan quayle who became vice president. in kentucky, rand paul, son of congressman ron paul, republican from texas and former libertarian presidential candidate -- rand paul is now coming to the u.s. senate with 56% of the vote in the associated press, being declared the winner in kentucky. back to phone calls. jacob from northern new jersey

on the independent line. good evening. >> my question is about west virginia. even though i am calling from new jersey. in his about -- it is about green party candidate jesse johnson. what is his chance of swing the vote? he is a strong environmentalist -- of swinging the vote? he is a strong environmentalist. what are his chances of getting a high percentage? >> i was recently in west virginia covering the senate race between joe manchin and john raese. it was not something -- the concern over any third-party candidate was not something that i heard from any party operatives or either campaign. they do not seem to be overly concerned that could sway the race in anybody's direction. >> let's look at the kentucky third congressional district and six congressional district.

early bellwethers into how the evening will be taking shape. in the kentucky third, yarmuth is the democratic candidate and he is ahead with 52% of the vote. what does this number tell you? >> good thing for democrats that congressman yarmuth is ahead. if that were received that democrats were to lose, it would suggest a very large republican wave. it would suggest to me 60-plus if he lost. >> charlie cook gave this race a pure tossup. congressman ben chandler is the democratic candidate with 3% reporting, 54% of the vote, compared to barr with 46%. >> these are two races that democrats really do need to hold onto. if you saw republicans easily taking these contests, that would be a sign of the doom, potentially, for democrats.

>> our guest is the managing editor at cq weekly. thank you for being with us. we have some early numbers coming in in kentucky and indiana. are there trends? >> there is no trend get beyond what has been pointed to already. because the democrats are holding a couple of these tossups early on, it suggests -- if only small lee -- it is a small suggestion that this is a moderate way, not a tsunami- strength wave. if yarmuth and chandler were swept out, and we give would be of republican night. the results of the senate do not tell us much either. rand paul is a tea party candidate, but he is holding a senate seat for the republicans. dan coats was the low hanging fruit for the republicans,

representing some of the opposite spectrum of republican candidates. dan coats was the consummate insider. he came to washington to be dan quayle's chief of staff. he took dan quayle's seat in the house and in the senate. he became george bush's ambassador to germany and then became a defense lobbyists. it does not get any more inside and that -- than that. >> is there any single phrase or paragraph and narrative for this election? >> our cover story for the last issue of our magazine before the election, where we rated these, was "revenge of the right." the narrative was the rise of these insurgent, anti-washington people. we should remember they were as angry at the democrats and

barack obama as they were actually at the george w. bush- style of republicanism when it first got started. it was their rice and anger about the economy -- rise and anger about the economy. whoever wins tonight will wake up tomorrow morning and realize the insurgent tea party activists and economic anxiety are something that no candidate really had control over or could harness. whoever wins tomorrow is going to realize that. >> there will be a lot of analysis tonight and discussion on the makeup of the next congress. i want to ask you about something more immediate. the lame-duck session that will take place in mid-november. what will the dynamics be in that session? the bush-air attacks that are among the agenda items that lawmakers -- bush-era tax cuts are among the agenda items that lawmakers will be taking up. >> the democrats have not

decided -- they will control this lame-duck session of congress, no matter the results of tonight. there remain in control until january 3. they have an ambitious agenda for what they would like to do, addressing the expiring tax cut is probably no. two on the list. number one, they have to do something about federal spending for the year that has begun -- the budget year that began in october. federal spending is running on a pilot, a continuing resolution, a phrase that might be familiar to your viewers. that expires the first friday in december. the congress has to decide what to do. they can either extend that stopgap spending measure into the new year, or they can try to finish the budget and hand the keys as well to the new occupants and complete the budget, or they can decide to say to, what we assume will be a

republican house, and i think a democratic senate, you guys finish the job in january. the dynamic for the lame-duck could be all over the map. it could last just a few days in which the outgoing party leadership decides to hand off the leadership -- handoff the problems, or it could be a big deal with many things going on. there are trade deals. there is a defense bill. there is the repeal of don't ask, don't tell. there is the alternative minimum tax and the expiring tax cuts. there is the budget. it could go either way. what -- what will determine that is how big the republican wave is tonight. the bigger the wave, the more likely the incumbent leadership is to say, you have won the election, now you tackle the problems. >> there will be 11 democrats and eight republicans who will be part of the lane-stock session, but -- lane-up session,

but not part of the next house. here is a list of those who are retiring. you can join the conversation on line at twittered -- online at twitter.com/cspan. we will continue to show you results. >> wanting to watch for -- west virginia, illinois, delaware -- one thing you should watch for is the result in west virginia, illinois, and delaware. they will all be seated in the senate for the lame-duck session. it is an interesting dynamic. if you have joe manchin from west virginia, mark kurt in illinois, you could have republicans -- mark kirk in illinois, you could have republicans taking those races and they could be in the senate for a lame-duck session. mark kirk has told voters, i

will be the stopgap for anything the democrats try to do in a lame-duck session. i was recently in west virginians covering the senate race and i asked governor mention what he -- in west virginia covering the senate race and i asked governor manchin what he would do. his suggestion was likely not -- he would probably not go along with any movement. he says he wants the bush-direct tax cuts extended across the board. -- bush-era tax cuts extended across the board. he is committed to not adding more to the debt. west virginians might be concerned with it and it could continue the runaway government spending. if so, he would be opposed to that. there could be new obstacles for harry reid in the lame-duck

session. >> did the bottom of the hour. the polls are closing in threes -- it is the bottom of the hour. polls are closed in three states. as a look at returns from west virginia, this is a state that barack obama lost in the democratic primary and general election. his approval ratings are hovering in the low to mid-30% 's. >> in talking to democrats in west virginia -- a staunch supporters of gov. joe manchin -- it was very difficult to find a democrat who had very many good things to say about president obama, about health care, about the democratic leadership in congress. as striking as it is that you have a democratic governor who was one of the most popular governors in the country -- his approval ratings are above 60%. after talking to some democrats in the state and sensing the

dynamic there, it is not surprising to me in any way that the republican, john raese's message of joe manchin in equals -- joe manchin equals barack obama -- the message is resonating and not just with republicans in the state. it is resonating with democrats. >> it is probably not surprising that rock portman has been declared the winner against the lieutenant governor. there are a lot of eyes on the governor's race. >> that is exactly right. i would hearken back to the theme that i mentioned a minute ago. after dan coats, r rob portman is probably the second biggest insider that the republicans put up this year. he is a veteran congressman, bush budget chief, bush trade representative. he is not of the insurgent, tea party stripe.

we have to stay watching before we see some of those characters coming back. the larger race to watch is for people concerned about ohio going ford hall high will play in the presidential -- going forward, how high will play in the presidential race in two years. john kasich who ran for president in the last decade was a hot shot member of the house, a darling of the newt gingrich era, and left congress to run for governor. he was had all year against ted strickland, the incumbent governor -- ahead all year against ted strickland, the incumbent governor. day-by-day, that race has tightened to the point where it has become a tossup. as you see, rob portman just one bank easily. the republicans could pick up as many as -- rob portman just won easily. republicans could pick up

several seats. the fact that john kasich's lead has evaporated is a little bit stunning. he may well go down -- if he loses tonight, he would probably go down as the biggest upset of the night in the same way that, in 1994, and like a huge, historical republican victories, the one who didn't win was jeb bush. there will always be one big, high-profile republican who does not make it. the last polling suggests that john kasich could be that guy. >> johnny isakson is seeking another term. he is at 60% with just a few hundred votes against the democratic candidate. this was never much of a contest, correct? >> exactly. >> we have randy from illinois on the democrats' line. what was the turn out like in

your area? >> it was wonderful. a lot of people voted early. in some areas, there. to be a low turnout -- there ppearedx t to be a low turnout, but a lot of people voted early. i did not want to get caught up into the msnbc, cnn, all that. but then i was hoping -- my hope is that on c-span was that susan was hosting the show. when i see you hosting the show, you push the right-wing agenda all the time. i called on february -- in february, 2007. i will never forget that day. you bring this guy on from the hill. he is a conservative. just let the people talk.

on -- it issomebody bad enough that you already want to push the right-wing agenda. when you have -- show the democrats -- sure, the democrats are going to lose. the bad thing is that you are stacking the deck. it is like all the conversation is right-wing. that is not what c-span is supposed to be about. whatever you believe, you know the democrats are going to lose some seats, but this is not what c-span is supposed to be about. >> you're in luck because susan is following me, joining us around 9:00 p.m. eastern. where is the right-wing agenda? >> come on, steve. >> give us an example, randy. >> come on, steve.

i have been calling you guys. >> i understand. where is the right-wing agenda? >> the washington journal -- it is like a broad brush. let's say the washington journal. it has the quickest group pushing this agenda -- the right-wing agenda. then there is greta and peter. you are the ring-leader. there is susan, rob, pedro -- they seem so objectives. they do not push that. they just do what they do. >> we will let you go. thank you for calling. any comment? >> i think the frame that we're putting on this evening that the caller is reacting to in part is one that most, if not all, non-

partisan prognosticators have put on tonight, that it looks like it is going to be a big night for republicans. i certainly sit here without an agenda. >> thomas from north carolina. good evening. >> good evening, sir. let me just set the mood for a library brief question -- for my very brief question. i do not like to hear the sound of my own voice. i appreciate this analysis. gentlemen, i live across the street from an abandoned textile mill. a few years ago, it employed 1100 people. i am not too worried about the senatorial race in north carolina. we will know in a few minutes whether mr. bird is reelected or not. i and my to take your team the lead of -- teen -- i invite you to take your keen analytical minds off of these races and

focus on the tea party. it has great significance in the south. >> let's talk about the tea party in this midterm election and moving ahead to the next round of elections in 2012, even the presidential race. >> certainly, the tea party is one of the narratives of this year. there rise -- their rise as a force for the republican party to deal with and harness, which is a word that the republican leadership does not like to use, lest the tea party accuse the arrogance of coopting them -- accused the republicans of coopting them. they will continue to have a big impact on the country. people who wind with the tea party mantle are coming to washington -- win with the departmental are coming to washington and they will be doubled their republican

leadership -- bedevil their republican leadership. one of the new races will be a vote to raise the limit on federal borrowing. that ceiling is at $14 trillion and it will be met early in the new year. to prevent a government default, congress is going to have to pass legislation to raise that amount. there are a good number of republican candidates for congress on the ballot today, who will win, who said they will not vote for that. that will be difficult for john boehner if he is the speaker and 4 mitch mcconnell, who will presumably be a republican leaders -- and for mitch mcconnell, who will presumably be a republican leader. they will have to strike a bargain just to get that through. the tea party will be a force. they're not going anywhere. i do not think, however, that your caller who lives across the

street from the textile mill, if he is looking for help from tea party republicans to prop up the textile industry, he will be waiting awhile. >> one of the comments from our twitter page -- "sarah palin lashes out against the of the touch ed gillespie, warning the gop against compromise on health repeal." a lot of attention in virginia. president obama campaigned in charlottesville, va., on friday. congressman tom perriello, freshman right now, 49%, tied right now. these early numbers. robert hurt -- this district is in the university of virginia area. congressman rick about your -- rick boucher.

we will have results for those in just a moment. the 11th district -- here are the numbers. congressman voucher is at 43% and griffith is at 55%. these are early numbers. gerry connolly, the seat previously held by tom davis, another freshman democrat -- it is another indicator for where tonight is going. >> all of those congressional races in virginia will be good indicators. 11th district, certainly, because congressman connolly has positioned his republican opponent as too extreme, as many democratic incumbents have done in this election year. he has the virginia -- northern virginia suburbs in that district. it will be telling to see whether or not that message works and helps him keep his seat. the fifth district race is a huge for democrats and

congressman perriello. president obama coming in there to campaign for perriello is not really surprising. if there is one embattled congressional democrat who it would make the most sense for president obama to go in and campaign for, and on the part of the democratic incumbent to embrace the president, it would be tom perriello. he has not run from the core parts of president obama's agenda. he voted for health care, the stimulus. he has not run from president obama. they stood next to each other just ahead of tuesday. if congressman perriello were to hold his seat, that would be very telling for democrats

because this is somebody who has embraced the president. it would be similar in some ways to the governor's race in ohio, where gov. ted strickland similarly has not run from obama, has embraced him, has said, come stand with me. you do not run away from your friends, even when you are facing a tight election. >> the results are also available on our website, c- span.org. you can also find the debates of this midterm election -- 140 of them. also, you can go to c- span.org/social media to join the conversation that way. let's look at a result in south carolina. very early numbers. ben shaheen is the democratic candidate. nikki haley is the republican. you can see that he has 62% of

the vote. a cautionary note you just a few hundred votes have been counted. there's a lot more -- a cautionary note -- just a few hundred votes have been counted. there is a lot more to go. >> i am a senior. i have really not enjoyed what has happened to us and our benefits. health care terrifies us. somehow, what i consider the bully legislation of the last two years just glorifying what they did -- i have always voted a split ticket. this year, i was still considering voting a split ticket, except for one thing -- the tea party. i consider that, to me, to be the voice of truth. i can no longer trust abc, cbs, nbc. i did not trust them.

i do not trust the newspapers. they print and say things that are kind of hedging at the truth. they do not convict it. the tea party -- i was going to vote for one of the senators here that was a democrat because i really think that he has served idaho pretty well, except for voting for policy -- pelosi. i think he served well. tea party, however, supported his opponent. and so, i went republican all the way. this was simply because of the tea party. what do you think -- do you think it will rise to be a third-party? will they just sit on the sidelines? wil the -- will they just pander? >> thank you for your call. >> in terms of becoming a third

party, it seems highly unlikely. there are a couple of reasons. first of which is simple. institutionally, our system is for is for a third party -- is very difficult for a third- party. the deck is stacked against the emergence of a third party. it is very difficult to get a ballot access in most states -- the amount of money that would be required. the amount of organization that would be required is astronomical. the other part is, i am not so sure -- the core of the tea party movement is about as anti- establishment as you get. one thing we have seen as the movement has developed over this election year is that, as there have been attempts by some in the tea party movement to institutionalize the movement,

hold conventions -- earlier in the year, that was very much rebuked by a lot of on-the- ground tea party activists who said they did not want to be part of the establishment. >> thank you for joining us. we will now go live to speaker of the house nancy pelosi and congressman chris van hollen who headed up the dnc. >> those volunteers, people making those calls, are fighting for the future of our country. no one has fought harder, working with our great president, barack obama, no one has fought harder than the speaker of the house nancy pelosi. [cheers and applause] we all know that the night before president barack obama was sworn in as president, 700,000 americans were losing their jobs every month in this

country. we have now seen eight consecutive months of positive, private-sector job growth. we have seen that. [applause] are we where we want to be? of course not. no one is satisfied. millions of americans are hurting economically. we need to keep the country moving forward. we cannot go back to the same failed policies that got us into mess and we cannot turn the congress back over to special interests. that is what the speaker has been fighting for. that is what the president has been fighting for. that is what these volunteers all over the country have been fighting for. that is what our great majority leader steny hoyer has been fighting for on issue after issue after issue. [cheers and applause] i am very proud to call him my friend and fellow marylander. i want to thank kim not only for what he has done for the democratic caucus -- thank him

not only for what he has done for the democratic caucus, but i want to thank him for all he has done to move our country forward. steny hoyer. [cheers and applause] >> thank you very much, chris van hollen, and thank all of you. you have been spectacular over these last few years. you have worked with us to do what we pledged to do. that is being on the side of working men and women in this country and trying to make their lives better. we have not done it fast enough or big enough and we will keep on keeping on until they are in a place that we've been before. ladies and gentlemen, i want to say how proud i am of all of you. i am proud of all of our candidates. i am proud on behalf of the voters of this country who are coming out as we speak.

as we speak, they're going to the polls and expressing their views on where they want this country to go. we will be listening to them. the speaker will tell you, her polls have a number of hours to go. we have tens of thousands of people in the neighborhoods urging people to get out and vote. i want to urge every american who has not yet voted and still has the opportunity to take it, take that precious gift of our constitution and our country and vote. express your opinion. make your voice heard. [years and applause] -- [ cheers and applause] we'll be listening closely.

we want to move forward together. let's solve the problems that confront us. let's solve the challenges that have concerned us. we're speaking up and speaking out. we want you to make a difference. we are pledged to do just that. ladies and gentlemen, an individual who has made an extraordinary difference on behalf of working men and women in this country, on behalf of people who feel powerless, whether they be against the no special interest or insurance companies or wall street firms -- the special interests or insurance companies or wall street firms -- those who would take the power from their lives. we want you on our side. let me tell you something, ladies and gentlemen, somebody who has been on their side and has been a strong and compelling and courageous voice on behalf of average working men and women in this country -- the speaker

of the house of representatives, nancy pelosi. [cheers and applause] >> thank you, all. thank you very much. thank you all very much. across the country, polls are still open. many of us have to get back on the phone to urge people to get out and vote. i will be brief. i want to thank chris van hollen for his tremendous leadership of the dnc. candidates across the country, volunteers who are working for them -- they ignored his leadership and say that we have the best ground operations -- they acknowledged his leadership and say that we have the best ground operation. hundreds and thousands of

volunteers are walking precincts, making phone calls, ring doorbells for our democracy. they are out there because they know the tremendous difference that this election will make. they know the distinction between democrats who want to protect social security and medicare and republicans who want to privatize both of them. they know the difference between democrats who want to make it in america, mfg. in america so that the american people -- manufacture in america so that the american people can make it in america. i thank steny hoyer for coining the phrase which has captured the imagination of our grass- roots people -- we must not allow the erosion of our manufacturing base. we must make it in america. as we do that -- as people walk precincts across the country -- we have to remember this election is an election from sea to shining sea, the atlantic to

the pacific. people all over the country are not going to be told by people in washington how this election will turn out. they will speak for themselves by going to the polls. [applause] i want to it acknowledge that we're in the district of eleanor holmes norton -- the district of columbia -- where hope is always alive. i want to acknowledge the president and congress woman and an issue -- congresswoman anna eshoo from california. i know that we need to get back to the phones. thank you for what you have done. these hundreds of thousands of volunteers are our v.i.p.s -- our volunteers in politics. they are the guardians of democracy. they are saying this election will not be bought by special interests, but will be earned by

convincing the american people that we have taken the country in a new direction under the leadership of our great president, barack obama. we have taken the country in a new direction. we are not going back to the failed policies of the past. we're fighting for the middle class. thank you for being part of that fight. [cheers and applause] i join our distinguished majority leader steny hoyer in calling upon people to get out and vote. he has been so much part of -- so much a part of advancing this agenda. every step of these people take as they walk the precincts is a step to improving the lives of americans. let's go out and make this a great democratic victory. thank you to all of you. [cheers and applause]

>> from the liaison hotel, just a few blocks from the u.s. capitol, speaker of the house nancy pelosi joined by congressman steny hoyer, the democratic leader in the house of representatives, and chris van hollen, head of the congressional -- the democratic congressional campaign committee. you can join the conversation on lines twi -- online through twitter and facebook. we're joined in our studios by jim o'sullivan. he is keeping track of all of this. we have some results in a couple of key races. john yarmuth has been declared the winner against todd lally,

the republican. heath shuler, in a tough reelection bid -- we will have those results in just a moment. in virginia's fifth congressional district and the ninth congressional district, some of the bellwether races that people are watching closely -- jim sullivan, the virginia races, tom perriello and thegressman rick out yoboucher democrats need to keep these if they want to narrow their losses. >> you are seeing places where president obama in 2008 made heavy inroads. now, just two years later, they are looking to give back some of those. a momenthear in just from rand paul. what are your thoughts on what the speaker was saying and what the returns are telling you an

hour after polls have closed in many states? >> i thought the most telling bit of that clip, sadly, was the picture of the speaker as she was being introduced. i think it was undeniable that you could see a politician who does been renowned across washington as somebody who always, even in the group -- grimmest circumstances can put on the best face, and she did that in her speech, but before she took the podium, i thought you could see that she thought she was in for very long night. they were trying to rally people to go to the polls up until the last. they have never broken their rhetorical stride. in a few minutes, just a few minutes, the poles will have closed in most congressional races. -- polls will have close in most congressional races. essentially, they have worked up to the last minute, but this is

it. >> let's go through some of the states that will be closing in just about a minute as we approach 8:00 p.m. eastern. alabama, connecticut, delaware, district of columbia, where the mayor's race is on the ballot, fla., where the governor and senate races are on the ballot, illinois, maryland, maine, massachusetts, mississippi, new hampshire, new jersey, oklahoma, pennsylvania, and tennessee. >> again, that is -- a lot of that is heartland stuff. in 2004, when obama talked about that we do not have a red america and a blue america, we have the united states of america, that is where he relaunched the democratic gains that started in 2006. this is a big setback. if the look on nancy pelosi's face is to be worn throughout the night, for the third time in a row, he will have a heavy change election -- you will have

a heavy change election in the house, which is really unprecedented in modern politics. >> one of our viewers said the senate will be a whole lot more crazy with rand paul. >> i think a lot of people would make the case that the senate has long been a crazy place. . republican line.

good evening. >> i'm looking at the election in indiana and perhaps all of you can comment more globally on some of these democrats that are losing, on how they voted on health care. for example we have joe donnelly and hill who both were touted as maybe moderate democrats or blue dogs but they still voted yes for the obamacare law and it looks like they're probably going to go down. i'd like to hear some comments on how some of these other democrats that are possibly going to go down in other states voted on health care since as dr. larry also seements like he's headed for victory as well. and i haven't seen anything about the steel-dingell race or some other doctors that have

been running on the republican ticket. if you could address those. thank you. >> let me just talk about congressman joe donnelly from indiana's second congressional district being challenged. and i think we have the numbers that we can show. but he is one of those races, david hawkings, that is an early indicator of how the night is going. right now congressman donnelly is down with just over 15% of the votes being reported in that district. >> right. that's one of the withins -- ones we've identified as an early evening bell weather. the district that mr. donnelly represents has swung back and forth. it's a pretty good caret of the trends. my memory is that it went from democrat to republican in the way of election of 1994 and then it came back when mr. donnelly wanted it up until that time. it's a bell weather district for sure. in answer to the que caller's question about -- essentially two groups of the most vulnerable democrats and they

overlap somewhat. these are the democrats who voted for at least one and in some cases two or three of what's called the obama agenda. that would be the stimulus bill early in 2009, the health care bill later in the year and the so-called cap and trade climate change bill, also in 2009. those are some of the big three votes that have been hung around the neck of many of these candidates. and the 49 democrats who represent parts of the country that john mccain carried for president and it's no surprise, obviously, that those would be the most vulnerable group. and i think in indiana my memory and i didn't have a chance to look it up is that the donnelly district went narrowly for mccain and so did the hill district and so of course did that open seat in the southwest corner. >> in the south carolina fifth congressional district, this is the seat held by the house budget committee chairon spratt. it was listed as a tossup. mulvaney is the republican

candidate and now with a few hundred votes in, 54% for congressman spratt. and 46% for mull veiny. early numbers. >> right -- mull veiny. >> right. still early -- mull vanny. >> right. it's going to ebb and flow and some of the democrats who have firm -- what is it, all politics is local. some of these democrats who have firm operations on the ground are going to be able to with stand some of those larger forces. >> our cameras are in a number of key locations as we bring you the speeches. we expect mole tarblee to hear from -- momentarily to hear from rand paul declaring victory. also it looks like in florida that mark rubio is set to win. this is a seattle seeth that was -- it was a three-way race with joncher -- governor charlie cyst and kendrick meeks, the democratic

candidate. >> i wanted to thank you for taking my call. >> certainly. >> yeah. i wanted to thank you for taking my call this evening. and for having such a nice and such a fine program. i want to let you know that i voted democrat in the state of maine here. i held my nose and did it a little bit beyond this. but as far as the evening goes, to me it's not a vote for government. it's a vote really against government. because the republicans that are getting in by and large want a smaller government and what are they doing about jobs? the people are voting in the same republican philosophy that let wall street go wild and ruin the economics, number one. number two, the republicans have been friends of the

c.e.o.'s. who has wrecked jobs but the c.e.o.'s? sending jobs abroad, fighting, giving a living wage for people here. while they have stacked up and it's a fact gross profits for themselves. so for me it's a disbelief in the government and this country reminds me of an abusive child that when it's been abused by a parent will turn around and still cling to the parent and that has been the economic system that has done so much damage to so many people. imagine an electorate turning against a health care that for the first time would say, it's illegal, it's illegal to drop health care on a child who had cancer or a serious illness. so this is part of what's going on tonight behind the personalities. again, i think this is that they vote against government. in fact -- and back to the corporate world. >> thanks for the call. certainly his sentiment is part of the debate we'll see

beginning tomorrow. >> absolutely. how do americans want government redefined? defined going forward? i think republicans have made allowances for the fact that this is, you know, moran election about rejecting the president's agenda than embracing their own. haley barbour said today that republicans are real cognizant of the fact that the public is only going to give them a certain measure of leeway. if they don't see republicans, if they take control, embrace the mandate that people think their given here, then they'll take it back. we've seen that, too. there's a high level of volatility. people give power and then they take it away. >> and again the numbers that your looking at the bottom of the screen and we're sharing with you are the actual vote tally courtesy of the associated press. we'll continue to give you the information on the bottom of the screen. but the other networks declaring that marco rubio is a winner in the florida senate race. your reaction? >> rubio was identified sort of

early on in the campaign in the so-called election cycle. earlier in 2009 he was hailed as the first tea party senator or the first tea party potential senator. rubio is a phenomenon in american politics. he's a young guy, he was state speaker, a speaker of the state house as a very yuck -- as a very young man and his candidacy took off with such force that he forced the re-- the recruited very popular at the time republican governor of florida who had been recruited as the republican nominee, charlie crist, to quit the republican party, run as a third party candidate instead. a couple of other times that i've been on tonight, i've pointed out the fact that portman was an establishment republican, the new senator from ohio, choached the -- coached the new or returning senator from indiana. can't say that about rubio. he is the authentic emblem just the way rand paul is of tea

party insurgent. >> a three-way race with charlie crist getting 29% of the vote. kendrick meek getting 19% and a story broke late last week that former president clinton at least in discussion to try to get kendrick meek out of the race. >> right. and i think what democrats are a little bit afraid of here is that marco rubio is sort of one of those tea party candidates who's proven himself also an agile politician and he's not prone to saying the types of things where people would feel him out on the fringe. he can come to washington, be a legitimate player. >> we're aggregating the social media at c-span.org live social if you want to join the conversation that way. ben is joining us from kansas. go ahead. >> yes. this is ben ferguson from kansas. i'm of the libertarian candidate for one of the house races here in kansas. and i had a couple of things i

wanted to say about rand paul's victory. hopefully your guests might have some comments to make about it. it seems to me that rand paul is basically a libertarian in all but name and of course his father was a libertarian presidential candidate. and i wonder if your guests could comment in regard to whether they feel that mr. paul's victory bodes well for the libertarian party? will this cause libertarians to be taken more seriously, especially given how close some of these elections have been? i've noticed that libertarian candidates are garnering up to 4% 5% of the vote which in some cases would make a difference.

>> thank you, ben, we'll get a response from jim who is the chief analyst with the national journal d. >> i think it's not so much about the libertarian party being taken seriously as it is libertarian ideas and libertarian causes which a lot of times fall in line with the tea party. which has done a fairly good job of steering clear of the hot button social issues, that tend to sort of rive republicans and divide -- drive a wedge into republicans. so some of the libertarian ideas you see coming out here in the election will gain traction in the sense of governing. but the libertarian party itself, the numbers are small enough so it hasn't become a factor yet. >> good evening. i am just sick, really. i don't understand why everybody was so spineless and

just bolted, you know, it's like the rats leaving the ship. i used to be one of those self-serving selfish conservatives, ok, and it's like, i can't believe that so many rats jumped the ship and come in a couple of months there will be such buyer remorse. you've got a total cooks running the ship now and and it's really scary. rand paul is so unstable and unbalanced, like dan cotes. i don't even know how people fell for his lies. and mike pence is just as coocky. good luck saul i got to say because i am this one mouth, one person in the state of indiana and i will do whatever

i have to do to keep my mouth going because this kind of stuff -- we are going to be in real trouble now because these tea partier republicans, they are only out for, you know, them, them, them. and republican one thing, america, they -- a lot of these tea party republicans are going to be real beholden to big business because you're talking, you know, they pumped in millions and millions of dollars, someone's going to have to be paid back and it's going to be paid back at my expense. >> we'll stop you there. thanks for the call. david, your resnons >> i think she sort of makes two points that are worth jumping off of. one is, when she says rats, i assume that she's referring to the sort of fickle nature of the electorate that we have been talking about. a very fickle electorate. he's right that this is the third consecutive election where more than 20 seats are going to switch. the last time that happened was

in world war ii when actually six elections in a row, starting with the first election after pearl harbor, at least 20 seats switched back. it's a very fickle time. kathleen is from a state who voted democratic for president for the first time since 1964 and looks like tonight, you know, one, two, maybe three seats will swing from the democratic column back into the republican column. the other point that she made and i'm not, you know, i can't endorse the notion that they're going to demand payback, but it is true that these tea partiers were the beneficiary of an enormous amount of big business money. not all of it we've yet come to understand. the supreme court ruled earlier this year that much more corporate money could be spent liberally on these elections. it's been spent in ways that even some reporters who have tried to figure out how haven't been able to get to the bottom of. it's best we can guess is that this might have been a $4 billion with a b, billion election, $4 billion might have

been donated. a lot of it was put up by money interests that do have an interest in a republican -conservative-probusiness agenda. that's going to be another point of friction between these outsider candidates like rand paul and the caucus that they're now joining which has a traditional allegiance with the business interests. >> we sat down with the republican leader in the house of representatives, john bainer from ohio, to talk about the differences between being in the minority and being in the majority. here's an excerpt that have interview. >> in a way of minority leader, i think my job was pretty well described by me, when i handed nancy pelosi the gavel, at the beginning of this congress. when the majority reaches across the aisle and extends their hand, we will extend our hand in return. when we can work together in the best interests of the american people. but when the majority decides

to go it alone and they're going in a direction that we disadegree with, i think we have -- disagreeworks i think we have an obligation to take a principled stand in opposition to what they're doing but at the same time offer what we think is a better solution. and so it's been -- it's an interesting, interesting job and as leader mcconnell describes it, you know, i'm trying to keep 177 frogs in a wheelbarrow. it's hard to do. >> the comments of republican leader john boehner who spent the day in his home town of westchester, ohio. we do expect to hear from him tomorrow as well. your response. >> he is -- he certainly comes across as a very cool member of congress and somebody who is totally at ease with the position he's about to get himself into. that's just his affect and that's something that i think the american people are going to find interesting.

at least on the surface is he as much -- we used to call them no drama obama, that was one of the cliches of the 2008 cycle, mr. boehner definitely wants to you believe that it's no drama boehner as well. and i think his cool, at least at the outset, it will be just interesting to watch how the public reacts to. that i think it will probably go over pretty well. how well it goes over in the -- behind the closed doors of the republican caucus, when he tries to put together these various factions that he's going to inhert as the republican leader, will be fascinating for reporters to try to get at. >> every campaign has a new dynamic and certainly the use of social media is a relatively new phenomenon. we have a conversation going onion line at c-span.org/livesocial as we bring together twitter and facebook. my question is, we look at what we're doing here tonight online, the impact this is having on american politics? >> sure. absolutely.

a couple of cycles again it was the youtube election and this time around it's really the twitter and facebook election. i think the trend that you've seen, just from sort of a zero sum standpoint, is that republicans have figured out, know, how to harness this as well, this election, in a way that john mccain, who was famously kind of a non-burnett kind of guy, didn't catch up to barack obama this time around you have people when sarah palin sends out a tweet, it's a news event. she's endorsed that way, she's defended herself that way, she's attacked the president and the media that way. that serves the same function as these long-winded speeches. and reporters have to cover them and other candidates and campaigns have to pay attention to them. so it's certainly -- if it hadn't before, by this point social media has achieved sort of a foothold in political discourse, that's to be taken

seriously. >> let's take a look at some of the races in florida. a number of house races that again an indicator of how the night will be going. beginning with the florida's second district. congressman boyd being challenged by soggetterland with some early numbers showing that the republican candidate is slightly ahead. there is an independent candidate in floridas a second. and congressman grayson. this was listed as a toss-up against dan webster and looking at the results there, grayson is down 20 percentage points with -- you can see a fair amount, 20% reporting in that congressional district. what does that tell you? >> it tells me that sort of -- and i'm just looking at this here, it looks like perriello, that race is called. >> in the fifth congressional district? >> i'm sorry, i'm paying attention to virginia here. it looks like cbs is calling it against tom err he willow for the republican -- perriello, for the republican there. >> perriello with 45% and the

republican candidate at 5 %. -- 52%. >> i wish i had a computer so i could be distracted too. >> sorry. >> no, that's good. alan grayson i'm sure some viewers will remember, he was the most rhetorically aggressive member of the house democratic freshmen class of 2008. he was the -- he made no bones about his liberalism, even though he was in a swing district. he liked to talk -- refer to his opponent whose name was daniel webster, doesn't get better than that if you're a candidate, as taliban dafpblet he went on the house floor and said the republican prescription for health care reform is die quickly. reporters loved him and he loved himself in his own method of brash rhetoric. i would say this one is not -- it is sort of a referendum on the limits of aggressive rhetoric rather than on the partisan divide in this country. >> another race in florida,

congressman ron: klein and also -- ron klein, let's look at the numbers. congressman klein at 45%. he was challenged by allen whoast has 55% of the vote in that south florida district. >> you're right. klein is one of the most formidable fundraisers among the house democrats. it's how he got to congress four years ago by just raising an enormous amount of money. mr. west, i believe, will be one of -- at least now two african-american republicans in the new congress. very conservative guy. and that one would be sort of a referendum on traditional down the line democratic voter versus insurgent conservative. >> and another democrat, looks like she will be losing in the florida 24th congressional district, being challenged by sandy adams with now 60% of the vote and almost half reported. >> i'm sorry, i can't see. is it kosmas we're talking

about? that one just in terms of people trying to identify trends, kosmas had sort of fallen into underdog stat us in the last couple of weeks. -- status in the last couple of weeks. she voted for a couple of piece it's of the obama agenda and never could live it down. >> joe garcia and david rivera in florida's 25th congressional district. we'll have those numbers in just a moment. but there it is, the republican candidate is 57% and the democrat candidate, joe garcia, at 38%. we're seeing a republican trend in florida. >> yeah. and i got to agree with dave. grayson was just sort of so far out there with his rhetoric and some of his ads, you know, taken as kind of downright offensive and not within sort of the bounds. people talk about how nasty this election has become, you know, kind across the country. grayson certainly is a good example of somebody who is pushing the envelope. >> governor's race in hawaii.

good evening to you. bill, are you with us? we'll try one more time for bill in hawaii. >> hello. >> yes, go ahead, please. >> this is joe from pennsylvania. >> ok. go ahead with your comment. you got through. >> ok. i was just calling in to respond to the last woman that called in. she was making some generalizations about the cooks who are in power and also her astonishment with the patterns and trends predicted for this election. and i was just going to say, one, if she's informing herself on these issues, then she would know the patterns would predict that these outcomes would be very normal. and, two, she wants to make she's generalizations. for instance, obama just appointed the national legal advisor to our department of state and he believes in transnational legal process which is absolutely absurd and he says that we should bring in shari'a law and implement it to

the u.s. and he said he see noes reason why shari'a law would not be able to be quoted in our judicial system and thanks growing and burgeoning problem in america because if you research this stuff, you see the honor kill rgs now happening in america and all these things are ever ever-growing problem. >> we'll stop you on that point. any comment? >> you know, the previous caller sounded to me very much like a disgruntled member of the democratic base. and somebody who was probably pretty jacked up two years ago and this time around -- it's really indicative of how far things have swung. the president really has a core base left with him, but a lot of these people are pushing back. >> we have some numbers from virginia's 11th congressional district. this is the area of northern virginia that includes fairfax county and jerry connolly, who is the former supervisor, a freshman democrat right now

with 43% of the vote compared to keith fimian at 55% of the vote. one of four bell weather races in virginia. >> this is fascinating to me. i'm looking over the river at that district. as a resident of this area i've been inundated with the ads. this one is particularly fascinating because it's a rematch. this seat was open two years ago and the these same two guys squared off. connolly won very easily. of course it was the big -- it had been a republican seat, it had been drawn to be a republican seat. and connolly won with ease. fimian ran as a centrist. he came back this time and ran as a sort of tea partied a herent. and ran very much against big government and was pretty critical of federal workers, which is a pretty bold move in a district where i think the number of federal employees is in the tens of thousands. so the fact that he looks like he's now doing very well with

that campaign would be an indication that this is a year where tea party conservatism and disgruntlement with congress and with the government knows few bounds. >> one of the final campaign appearances by the president was in bridgeport, connecticut, and there's nauts voting will continue in the bridgeport area until 10:00 because of a shortage of ballots. the story from the connecticut post saying that the late delivery of additional ballots is shortening lines of people waiting to cast their votes and so the mayor ordering additional ballots and the taplation will come after 10:00 at least in the bridgeport area. we have some early numbers though in the connecticut senate race where the democratic candidate is michael broomen that all, being challenged by linda mcmahon. these are a few hundred votes that have come in.

with only 1% of the vote now reported, 56% for manchin and 42% for john raese. >> sure. and still very early with the percent. but manchin is a good example of a democrat who is very popular with his home voters. he's got good poll numbers in that state. it's the president that was the problem for him and the president was the anchor around joe manchin's ankle for a while until he started to distance himself. >> that ad with the shotgun. >> i think a lot of people will remember the ad he filmed where he shot a rifle through the replica of the cap and trade legislation. certainly that was a resounding distancing from the white house. and it appears, at least according to those early numbers, that he did so pretty well. >> twitter.com/c-span if you want to join the conversation here tonight. and also our aggregation of social media available at

c-span.org/livesocial. good evening from tampa, florida. >> how are you? >> fine, thank you. you're an independent. so who did you vote for in the senate race? >> in the senate race i definitely voted for rubio. i just felt that from a perspective of what he can do to help for what i believe in and that's limiting government and helping to cut spending, he seemed to resonate with more of a message to that than did charlie crist or kendrick meek. it's funny that you were going over the florida races and how prevalent the republican win is here and it just doesn't translate there at the congressional level, but also further down, even down to more of the parochial level here where i live, it's going to be a fairly substantial victory

for republicans at the local level. which i think is also an underlying story here in that i think a lot of people that are in my boat which is more of a conservative brand, and i'm independent, i always like to stay independent to keep my options open, but i'm a true conservative in that i like to see smaller government, more abiding to the constitution. you're going to see i think more local races at the state level fall in the republican column, too, which i in this -- think is also a resounding statement as it is more of the national scheme. that woman, and you were commenting earlier, that woman that was a little bit of a disgruntled voter who was talk about the rats jumping the ship earlier, i think was more of a function of not just the rats jumping the ship but basically who moves their cheese. and i think you're seeing a lot of democrats that are shocked right now, that were caught completely offguard by what's going on and i would just like

to ask one thing of your guest there, and by the way, i know you caught some heat earlier on the guests you had being right wing radicals, whatever. the gentlemen you've had on tonight are fantastic. very spectacular and very insight ffl their commentary and i do appreciate it. >> i want to get your question but who is -- which district are you in? >> bilirakis. i also voted for him. >> what was the turnout like in the tampa area? >> i voted early. but it kind of rained here today which is kind of unusual. we've had very little rain here. but the turnout i don't think was nearly as good as they expected it to be. although here in his bro county, there was a heavy dose of early elections. a lot of people turned out early to vote and they made it very easy to do so. and i was one that took advantage of that and the turnout here, i think they're

describing as more average. >> ok. >> i don't know if the weather had anything to do with that but it was more average, not as heavy as maybe they were expecting. >> we have to move on but you had a quick question. >> yeah. do you think there's any chance that president obama tonight is not so much fearful that the republicans are going to take ownership of the house because it's moving him further center and maybe securing a second term? just interested in your opinion on that. >> something that peter baker wrote about sunday in "the new york times." >> right. and a lot of conjecture about that. a lot of the post election machinations unclear. there's some people who think the president could benefit from a clear and present foil in congress. if republicans take over the house, then president obama can run against a speaker boehner. there are other people who feel that the president will have -- hasn't do done enough to pacify or mullify thus far. if you get a president who

comes into the second half of his first term, he's going to make a choice between going to the center and going to the left. it's clear i think from the results we've seen so far that what people want to see, the electorate wants to see, on november 2 of this year is a little bit more to the center. if he does that he risks alienating those core supporters who came out big for him in 2008. >> jim has this comment. he says, these results do not reflect support for the g.o.p. but rather the loss of the democratic base, the young ones stayed home. looking at some of the results in the governor's races, both maryland and massachusetts, martin o'malley seeking a second term. thanks rematch with depormer governor bob ehrlich and right now with just over 1% of the vote from the state of maryland, governor o'malley with 54%. bob ehrlich with 44%. we have numbers in massachusetts as well. we should point out some

declarations tonight in arkansas. lincoln losing to boozman in the senate race and another protection from the networks tonight that in connecticut blumenthal is the winner over mcmahon. >> right. i think lincoln had been in trouble for quite some time. and richard blunal that will was able to hold off -- bloomen that will was able to hold -- blumenthal was able to hold off the large amounts of money. blumenthal had his own missteps. not describing accurately his vietnam service. but mcmahon, you know, when you're a wrestling executive, you have a lot of things to overcome, i think. >> we are live with jack conaway's headquarters and we'll have his remarks. rand paul, who declared victory as the tea party candidate, you may remember his famous line that the message has been heard loud and clear in bowling green, kentucky, and he is back

there tonight again in the kentucky senate race. rand paul declared the winner with 54% of the vote to jack conaway, the state attorney general. sue is joining from us texas. good evening to you. quick comment? >> sue. >> yes, you're on the air. >> hi. yes. this is to my friends in the west coast. i have a daughter up north of seattle. you've got two hours. go get in line and vote democrats, please. my plead to you is to vote. as far as the tea party getting in, first let's talk about the blue dogs getting out. that is a blessing. they are nothing but republicans in disguise. the tea party getting in is going to get the republicans their own set of blue dogs and they're much more vicious and dangerous. so democrats can at least take heart listening and watching what goes on there.

and i define humans and human beings. humans are those that care about people, besides themselves. >> thanks, sue. from our twitter page, simon has this, he's an english student watching from spain. thanks for your comments about our coverage. he says that the tea party scares me deeply. we're going to mare more about the tea party phenomena in the coming days and weeks. and in the next congress as we see legislation coming from people like senator rand paul. >> that is right. they will certainly try and propose legislation. the first big test, of course, will be how much mitch mcconnell, who will be returning as the leader of the senate republicans, it is universally believed, how much he will -- how far he will go to try and bring their ideas into his legislative program. he'll have a until early january when the new congress is sworn in on the first

tuesday in january. by custom the senate democrat leader and the senate republican leader put in 10 bills. >> what's the relationship like between senator mcconnell and rand paul? >> well, i assume that it's gotten betr in the last few months but it didn't start out all that well this spring. rand paul soundly defeated the kentucky secretary of state in the primary, who had been recruited by mitch mcconnell. so that was sort of an early indication of the split that i've been hinting at all night between so the called establishment republicans, of which mitch mcconnell is a charter member and this new breed. >> jim. >> yeah. i think david's right when he talks about, there has been sort of a healing at least of the rhetoric with rand paul and mitch mcconnell. rand paul is going to -- i think be closely watched, as will rubio be, as he comes in.

how much does he mod late, does he mod late, and what role does jim play? he's sort of a tea party king maker. how fractureous is the republican congress in these tea party insurgents who ran against democrats and washington. if you look at what they said and listen to what they said and read what they said, it was a pocks on the whole city. it wasn't just democrats. it was just the way business is transacted here. so now these people are going to have to come in and sit in policy lunches and caucuses with their new colleagues who are members of the same party and try to have to move forward that way. on the democratic side, i think you're going to see, if these trends hold, you'll see a smaller, more liberal caucus. >> a republican pickup in arkansas with boozman defeating lynn cob and in $, -- lincoln and in, the place holder with -- $5% reporting in delaware.

>> right. yeah, and i think republicans saw this one coming a long way away. the establishment really wanted mike castle to win that primary. o'donnell sort of an unknown and whenever anybody starts dicking -- digging up 10-year-old clips from the bill maher show, it doesn't spell good things for your candidacy. >> i just wanted to make a point that i don't normally vote along party lines. but this year because of all of the changes and attacks on our constitution, i felt that it was better to report -- to vote republican an just let things set the way they are. i'm very disappointed with

barack obama. when he was first elected i thought that, you know, i'll give this guy a chance, see what he does. and that lasted for about two weeks. when he started the whole health care thing, i thought, what's this guy doing? he's distilling american principles, he's destroying everything constitutional. i'd like to just return to our constitution as it was as it was written and quit taking people's rights away from them. what can i say? it's just sad the direction that the country is taking under democratic leadership. that's really all i have to say. >> thanks for the call on the republican line. we're about nine minutes past 8:30 on the east coast and another poll that has closed in arkansas. there is extended voting, though, we should point out in the bridgeport, connecticut, area, although richard blumenthal has been declared

the winner by a lot of nep networks in the connecticut senate rathe race. there's a comment saying, it's ok, dems. g.o.p.'s have taught us that majorities don't matter. the filibuster works both ways. >> i'd like to go to that bridgeport one for a second. that's a congressional district i know pretty well. it's as if mating to me, as i understand it, the polls are being held open because they didn't have enough balance to keep everybody -- to give a balance to everybody who was in line to vote at the end. that suggests a measure of turnout there that would be a bit of a surprise. one would have to assume that's a large democratic turnout. the city of bridgeport is overwhelmingly democratic. what it would suggest is that the democratic organization up there has done a good job of getting its vote out and propping up the freshman democrat up there who won on barack obama's coattails that district two years ago from a veteran republican centrist.

and at the time it seemed was certainly aided by the obama wave in that district. so the fact that the polls are now open until -- a little while longer in bridgeport would seem to give mr. himes some big hope. >> yeah. i i think also if you look at connecticut, you look to it at new hampshire. where there was some turnover over the last couple of cycles. and paul hodes has been, you know, a congressman who has been certainly -- you know in a tight content for that new hampshire senate seat. >> and he's lost. >> that's what's coming across. >> republican candidate, this is a seat held by senator judd gray, former governor of new hampshire. >> right. along with the rand paul seat, what you see is the democrats not making -- not being able to play offense certainly on the senate side. >> frank is joining us from

oshkosh, wisconsin. here are the results from the new hampshire senate race. thanks republican hold at 62%. a lot of tension also on shea-porter in new hampshire's first congressional district seeking another term. we'll go to frank next in wisconsin. go ahead, please. >> hi. first off i want to thank you guys for the great work you do every election. i like watching c-span for truly fair and balanced coverage. so thank you for that. but my comment was about if the protection holds true and the republicans take control of the house, i'm interested in seeing what happens with the speaker of the house, apparently he's been preordained that the republican boehner would be appointed speaker of the house. but in the light of the energy that quote-unquote tea party movement has given to the

republican party, i think it would do well to consider paying some respect to that and at least considering and even appointing somebody like ron paul, the original tea party congressman, who has been sounding on all of these issues for his entire two terms, the two stretches of terms, back from the 1980's and now into the 2000's. he's always stood for, you know, noninterventionist foreign policy, smaller government, sound money system. >> ok. >> the only other thing i wanted to mention was at that today in our precinct, we have the option of the touch screen machines for voting or the paper ballot and always insist on the paper ballot. >> i'm going to stop threw. i just want to weigh in. thank you for your call and comment. jim. >> no. thank you. >> no comment?

>> let's go to new hampshire. first and second congressional district, these are two democratic seats that could flip to republican hands. looking at congresswoman shea-porter at 42% of the vote in that district and in the second district, former congressman, former republican charlie bass in a race that some thought could be a democratic hold. this is a seat that paul holds has. he now of course running for the senate and losing to ayotte. but mccuster -- custer -- kuster at 45% and bass at 50%. >> again, sort of a reversal on that trend. if you talk to people in new hampshire, particularly republicans in new hampshire, they'll talk about this in language sort of very similar to what the d.n.c. chair used today. he said when it all shakes out, i think what you'll see is a body politic more in line with the electorateworks the american people. that's what new hampshire vps been saying for some weeks now. this is a course direction.

this is where new hampshire is ideologically. this is where new hampshire is in policy. and obviously the exception being governor limpling there. >> and when congressman shays lost in connecticut he was one of the last few moderate republicans in new england in this congress. floor republicans from the northeast. >> that's right. he was the last. he was -- at the time he lost, he was the only house republican from the new england states. now we've got two back in new hampshire it looks like. i think there's still a chance that they could get one back in connecticut tonight. maybe one in maine. and then if you go a little bit farther west across the hudson rive floor upstate new york, there's -- river in upstate new york, there's three, four, five tossups there. the old blue new england of the past two years is a thing of the past. >> and the polls still open for another 15 minutes in another 14 states, new york is among them. we'll get the results later in the evening. but let's take a step back and,

jim, as you assess where we are at this hour with the results from indiana, kentucky, new hampshire and south carolina. >> right. i think overall you can say that it's been a very successful night for republicans. it hasn't been sort of the meteor strike, the tsunami. obviously in places like connecticut and if manchin stays ahead in west virginia, those were two seats, for instance, on the eastern half that were eyed very closely, certainly in west virginia, down the final stretch. that was something that republicans really wanted. and not getting that one made it really hard for the g.o.p. to take back the senate. >> from the connecticut fourth district and you were talking about this, david, this is a seat currently held by congressman heinz and it looks like debicella is the winner in that race.

59% to 41% marge innocent connecticut fourth district. >> that's with people in bridgeport still being allowed to vote. >> yect. >> -- correct. >> ok. my prediction is it will tighten. by the time those bridgeport voters will allowed to vote. the early returns from that one two years ago showed a huge swing one way in favor of mr. himes in the early voting. he was up by as much as 0 points. and in the end it was decideded by less than three points. we're going to wait until the last votes are count there had, probably before either side truly declares victory. >> connecticut fifth district, chris murphy trying to hold onto that seat and right now with 52% compared to 48% for his republican opponent. >> that's interesting. my friends in connecticut thought that caligiuri was the likelier of the two to win although they were both certainly too close to call there at the end. that one was republican also

until four years ago. that's the northwest corner of the state. a lot of sort of an you wills of the old mind cities. sort of an interesting mix of blue bloods and working people like the fourth. so those are interesting bell weathers. >> we've been saying this all night but it's probably worth repeating that these are very early numbers and we'll be getting more. you're only seeing in the single digits of the percent. we don't know where the vote is coming from, whether they're from democratic or republican strong holds. we do know that arkansas has been called. this is a loss for the democrats. blanch lincoln who faced a tough democratic primary challenge, she did have the support of former president clinton campaigning for her. she is also the current chair of the senate agriculture committee, john boozman, the republican candidate, with 51% of the vote. >> not really a surprise for lincoln. former president clinton was down there a couple of times and i think when bill clinton can't swing an election in

arkansas, it's certainly a tough night for democrats. >> david, your assessment on the arkansas senate race. >> that's right. blanch lincoln has had one of the worst years of any candidate in american politics. she had to run -- she ran to her right at the start of the primary season to get into a runoff. then she had to run to her left to get past the runoff against a candidate who was a lieutenant governor of arkansas who ran against her with the backing of organized labor. and then she tried to find yet another place to stand, to run in the general election and she was an underdog from the start. jim is right. there are sort of four pick-ups from for the democrats, if you're trying to -- i'm sorry, for the republicans, if you're trying to watch them build to see how close to 50 or 51 they can get. we've already seen one in indiana where dan took buys' seat. this is pick-up number two. boozman in place of lincoln in arkansas.

number three will be north dakota which is not any supplies at all. the governor of north dakota, who i think was re-elected with something like 70% of the vote, is going to take that seat. a democrat is retiring. and then russ feingold, a democrat in wisconsin, is now decided underdog for re-election in wisconsin. so those are sort of the easy four for the republicans. and that takes them from 41 plus four and then getting those last five or six that they need, they actually need six to take over. that's a long haul with a lot of late-night tv watching. >> this is the time of the wreeng we await to hear from the winners and losers and as soon as we begin to hear from the candidates, this will be the one network that you can watch those speeches in their entirety and also comment on the election as you join the conversation at c-span.org/livesocial. or send as you comment at our twitter page. it's a new number in the illinois senate and governor's race. one of the four or five toss-up races in the illinois senate

race. giannoulias is the democratic candidate. long-time friend of president obama. in fact, a basketball-playing buddy. and congressman kirk. again with only 1% of the state reporting right now, giannoulias at 49%. kirk, the republican candidate, at 47%. >> all night chicago, it looks like. and probably at the white house, i would imagine. interesting david mentioned that there had been that tough primary for lincoln and that was with the arkansas lieutenant governor halter. most of the interparty action this cycle seems to have been on the republican side. a lot of times people make the argument that primaries can be destructive and i think in lincoln's case, you saw. that but we see with the republican party is a party sort of emboldened and a party that's kind of fashioning itself anew. so it's sort of interesting to watch how some of these family feuds, they don't work out in all cases, certainfully delaware, i think you try a

consensus that republicans would have been better with mike cassle. but at the end of the day it will be republicans who are on top, even after that internal blood letting. >> one of our regular viewers who is keeping track of the race saying that the huffington post saying that joe manchin, democrat, wins robert bird's seat. and looking at the illinois governor's race, this is the seat previously held by rob blagojevich. the lieutenant governor in that race, pat quip, the democrat seeking a full term and he's being challenged in illinois by bill braidy. i think we have the results from that. weelt get -- we'll get to that in a moment. governor quinn is 63%. this is again with just about 12% reporting in illinois. and bill brady at 29%. early numbers go. ahead. >> thank you. i just have a few comments. it took bush eight years to bankrupt the country, privatize

medicare which people had paid into all their working lives and spent all the money on the bank bailouts. was obama expected to correct all that have in two years? and as far as the independents, that was comic strip in our pape ar year or so ago, -- tape ar year or so ago, -- paper a year or so ago, rush limbaugh and karl rove were laughing all the way to the bank while the tea party was out in a rain. that's just a comment that i'd like to put across to the voters. thank you. >> thank you. let's get a a republican voice from john joining us from akron, ohio. governor's race in ohio, and a senate race. good evening, john. >> good evening. yes. i'd jick just like to speak to the democrats. when obama ran for office, he made the promises -- promises, was he unaware of the situations that were happening

in the united states? to continually blame bush and cheney for the situation we're? as with the democrats now that are still say -- that we're in? in his campaign promises he was aware of this and was going to change -- bring upon change. and i'm just wondering where that change is because we haven't seen it and now you're seeing -- you're bashing the tea party, he called them unamerican, pelosi did and so forth. well, now the american people are speaking, in my opinion, and i don't see a problem with that. >> ok. thank you. as you're commenting lisa also had this comment. david, i'll let you respond to john's view and lisa who says, i think time will show the tea party to be an ideological trend as opposed to an actual long-term, quote, movement. i think that she's right. >> i think that that is

probably right. although even as an ideological movement, it's a bit spread out. it's not dish mean, yes, they believe -- they have a core, they believe in a smaller government and an ti washington vein. but there's a libertarian streak to it. there is a culturally conservative streak to it that i think the tea party is more or less blended over. i -- there was some discussion earlier this evening about whether the disgruntled tea partiers who might get annoyed with the new republican leadership they're trying to work with would get so discouraged that they'd find a different movement. i think -- a different party. i don't think that's too far-fetched. there are actually a lot of pretty good political organizers who have tried to go in there and work with the tea partiers. so far they've been rebuffed because the tea party -- the people who have signed themselves the leader of the tea party movement don't want washington suits helping them out. but they may yet turn to those

people to advance their agenda even against the republican leadership. i think the republicans have that to worry about among many other things for the next two years. >> jim from the national journal. what are the storylines tonight? what do you think we're going to be taking away from the results and what it all means? >> i think one thing you'll see is democrats start to -- as they figure out where they move in a policy sense, they'll talk about not so much what they've done wrong but what they haven't explained well. i think you see a lot of that already. ed rendell talking today about how -- >> he was very critical of the president on a number of programs this morning. >> right. very critical to messaging. he won't argue against the health care law as strongly as he'll say that the messaging was poor or the stimulus. he's one of those guys that's out there saying that one area, and the president has said this as well, one areas where democrats and republicans can work together is infrastructure. because republicans tend to hue toward the center such as it is

on infrastructure. but rendell and others, and even the president will allow that they haven't explained the policies well. they haven't -- they did the right things, they did what they had to do, they say, but they didn't tell people about it the right way. is that monday morning quarterbacking or tuesday night quarterbacking? maybe but it's also a fig leaf at this point as they figure out where to take the democratic agenda. you can't just say everything we did in the last two years was wrong. and no one's going to argue that this hasn't been one of the more productive congressional sessions in a very long time. they did get a lot done. it's just a question of getting the american people to agree with it. >> david in ohio, george voinovich, senator, retiring in this election year. fisher, the lieutenant governor in ohio, the democrat, losing to rob portman, former congressman and former bush administration trade representative. >> right. this was not a surprise. i would say that portman had been the leading candidate all

year long really. and as i said before, he however is not a tea party type. he worked for the bush administration, he was -- he is already, when he gets to washington now, there are some in the sort of old-line republican establish thament will immediately begin talking about this freshman senator as national candidate material. he's still a relatively young man. he is probably, of all the freshmen republican senators who are coming in tonight, he will be the one who will potentially have the highest legitimate national profile in the next two or four years. >> and what about in the ohio -- actually, let me ask about the president tomorrow because he'll have a news conference tomorrow. what will his message be to leaders in congress? >> i think -- i was trying to get a handle on that this afternoon. my sense of it was that they were keeping it pretty tight-lipped, at least by the

time i had to get miked up for here, as to just how much conciliation they were going to show. clearly it would be probably a tactical mistake for the president to come on tomorrow and be altogether defiant. he was the one who famously said to the republican leadership two years ago, one of their first meetings at the white house, elections have consequences and i won, telling the republicans to pipe down because you're not going to get everything you want. now it's going to be his turn to come to the podium and say, elections have consequences, and the other guys won and that means that i knee to work with them. -- need to work with them. >> thank you for joining us and giving us your perspective. we're going to take to you kentucky where jack conway conceding to rand paul. >> because he's a man of integrity, whose every decision sa is shaped by his moral compass. we have all supported jack conway because of his proven

and deep commitment to public service. . . [applause] >> we all know that jack conway has what it takes to be the kind of leader kentucky deserves. that is what we know about jack conway. [applause]

it is my deep personal honor to introduce to you a true champion for every kentuckian, and a man who represents the best of new leadership in the commonwealth -- jack conway. [applause] [chanting] >> thank you. give yourselves a hand. you all are wonderful. i love you, too.

friends, i keep a plaque on my besdesk that says that the joy s in the journey. what a journey i have had. [applause] you know, for elizabeth and i, our daughter was not yet with us and we started this in 2009. [laughter] as i think about this journey, i think of the widow who lost her husband when both his legs were

severed. he bled out. the company took away their health insurance the next day. i think about the hardware store owner along the way he told me he had been turned down 22 times for a loan in the last 18 months. i think of all the students on the campuses who told me how they could not afford their student loans. i think about the artisutism cer i saw because people did not want to take their children out of state. i think about two friends i have who have battled cancer during the campaign. they told me that they were fighting because they wanted to vote for us. to the people of my beloved commonwealth, you open your homes, your arms, your heart's, and elizabeth and i love you for it.

[applause] i love you, too. right now, we want to wrap our arms around you. this race was not about us. it was about our kids and grandkids, about their future. it is about taking a step into the future and always moving forward as a commonwealth. i called rand paul to congratulate him and wish him well. he is now our senator elect. he is our senator. i think we all ought to wish him well as he tries to do right by our state and we should be helpful in that regard. [applause] i just told him on the phone that if he finds issues were

weekend together move the commonwealth forward and better the lives of people hurting right now, in this democrat is at his disposal. i want him and his family to know that. [applause] i have to stop now and thank my remarkable family, my parents, my siblings who put up with a lot during this campaign and my wonderful and losin-laws, my sty campaign manager, betsy dexter your energy is irrepressible. richard jenkins, from what bill nicdylan nichols, my ag staff.

i love you all very much. [applause] i want to thank jefferson county. jefferson county has jack's back and i appreciate it. [cheers and applause] i want to thank a very special kentucky woman, ms. lewellen. she is quite simply the best professional i have ever been around.

[applause] i want to thank the people that were there with us at the initial announcement. i want to give a special thanks to president bill clinton who came in twice for us. [applause] i want to give a very special thank you to an 86-year-old workhorse -- warhorse. wendell, you are the best. to all of you whether you were with me or not, i want you to know that we were fighting for what we believe in. we were fighting for senior citizens, students, veterans, a more inclusive society. we were fighting for the women of the commonwealth of kentucky. we were fighting to move ourselves forward.

we fought hard. one of the reasons we came up short tonight is that we were outspent five to one. i am committed to campaign finance reform. [cheers and applause] i am committed to doing something, whatever it is regarding the awful effects of the case of citizens united and hotcakes democracy further away from the people. [applause] if you are fighting for those issues and groups that i just outlined, put me in the cavalry with you and i will fight with you every time, ladies and gentlemen. [applause] it was never about us. though we lost tonight, we're

going to pick ourselves up. we're going to dust ourselves off. we are going to keep fighting for the causes that we believe in. [cheers and applause] as a famous public servant once said, the work goes on. the cause interest. the hope still lives. the dream shall never die. [applause] i am not going to dwell on tonight for too long. it is a bump in the road. my father taught me that you cannot drive the road of life looking in your rearview mirror. i am going to keep moving the commonwealth forward. i am going to keep working. you have not heard the last of me yet. [cheers and applause]

as i stand here before you tonight, i feel truly blessed. as i wrapped the speech up and turn away, and get to look at the two most beautiful things in this world that i could ever laid my eyes on. [applause] my lovely and beautiful wife elizabeth who makes me a better person every single day. [applause] and this wonderful little girl eva who obviously has been wrapped around her finger already. [laughter] [applause] i will wrap up by telling you how i truly feel. in the words of lou gehrig, i am

the luckiest man in the world. thank you and god bless you. i loved each and everyone of you -- i love each and everyone of you. [cheers and applause] ♪ ♪ >> that is the defeated senate candidate in kentucky balun to fight another day. rand paul who is the senator

elected in the state of kentucky is speaking to supporters. [applause] [no audio] >> the video from bowling green, kentucky, we will keep an eye on that. we will take you back to the speech later on. the race was 55-to 45 for rand paul in his bid to be the next senator from kentucky. the voters in 39 states have had their say. 27 of the 37 senate seats and in

the governor's race is being waged this year. we will be heavy on your telephone calls and the speeches that the candidates and a lot of the key senate races are making. our goal is to let you hear from them as they assess what happened to them and thank supporters. we want to hear from you about congress as it comes up on its new session in january. jim, you heard some of the remarks from jack conway. he is still fighting. he talked about campaign finance reform and that he will be back another day. >> rand paul is talking about the senate being the world's most deliberative body and that he wants them to deliberate on this. i think which you are getting from rand paul and some of the

other candidates is feeling their oats and going to washington with their own message. i do not want to see disaffect widisrespectful, but different. >> let's tell you about the 14 states. we will put them on the screen for you. the results will be coming in during this hour. they are colorado, kansas, louisiana, michigan, nebraska, new mexico, new york, north dakota, south dakota, texas, wisconsin, and wyoming. we've already seen some projections in the new york governor's race that was successful for andrew cuomo.

>> i think he had the benefit of running against the canada who has shown he can move towards self destruction and of the scale. you have seen a number of the candidates on both side of the aisle of this time. >> you can comment on t witter. let's take a telephone call. sandy, what is on your mind tonight as an independent? >> i would like to say to all of the republicans who feel emboldened tonight that i find it amazing how they have given bush and cheney a free pass. perhaps this is a good thing that the republicans who should rightfully be the ones that on this mess -- maybe unemployment

will drop below 5% in the next month or so. after all, they have used jobs as a weapon since the republicans are nothing but a bunch of corporate prostitutes. thank you. >> let's look at some of the numbers on the illinois senate. we have additional returns coming in. we will put them on the screen for you. it is looking a lot stronger for the candidate that the president has supported. governor quinn is strong with a vote in at 24%. you have anything to add on the returns so far? >> it looks like the home state

folks are heeding the president's call. he said he needed people back home to have his back. it looks according to the results that it is going that way for the president. >> let's go to our next telephone call from detroit. donald is on the democrats' line. >> good evening. thank you for taking my call. there's been a lot of chatter about the tea party and a referendum on barack obama. there is a divide in this country. people consider themselves proud liberal democrats. barack obama has been conservative to the point that folks like myself think he should be doing more. then you have individuals who feel like health care and cap- and-trade were so far left that they want to try to repeal these

things. the keep harkening back to the constitution, the tea party members. it was a flawed document from the beginning. i would not want to live anywhere else. however, it is a flawed document. we are not buying the fact that barack obama is some help to liberal -- somehow too liberal to govern the country. i think rand paul and the young lady in diller is not moving the country forward. in the morning, i think there will be some buyer's remorse. you have a great program going year. i think if we continue down this path, there is going to be

another type of division in the country. we are on opposite ends of the spectrum. >> you made a point about the strong divided the country. he is even suggesting that things are going to get angrier. >> that would be something to sea. at this point, you talk to people. i covered the rally on saturday, the rally to restore sanity and/or fear. i talked to supporters of the president but they said they could not remember when the country has been this divided going back to vietnam. people cannot relate to what the other side is saying. there is no common ground between a lot of these people. there is just a lot of rhetoric. i think you heard that tonight with the callers.

>> we have reached an important threshold. all the major news networks are projecting that the house races have reached the threshold and that the house will now be in republican control. i have to turn to you for a comment about that. there are some projections on numbers. nbc is suggesting the final tally will be to th236. >> the fact of the house is going republican is not a surprise. they've been getting ready for this for quite some time. they have done an excellent job of driving the democrats into a corner with the democrats are once again the tax and spend party. the republicans were consistent and unified in saying stop. that strategy has worked.

they've successfully made it a referendum on president obama and speaker pelosi. our c-span viewers can go back and look at president clinton in 1994. they can see how that president created a bad loss for him in the house of representatives. >> i was 14. bill clinton famously triangulated. he sort of reinvented politics. he was able to in many ways govern against the people who have elected him. this is a big test for president obama. does his dna allow him to move to the middle with the clinton did, to train delays, to compromise the way clinton did? or is he still sort of in that lane.

to the left, he is a true believer. does he keep driving that agenda? the last two years of his presidency will swing on that decision. >> we have about a minute left until marco rubio comes out to speak to his supporters. we understand he will be introduced by jeb bush. have a call from another democrat in michigan. >> i believe the partisan box of the top of the ballot is ridiculous. without looking at the other candidates and knowing what their plans are is disastrous. we are americans. we should be required to a peaceful understanding of each

candidate before voting, regardless of their party. i would like to add to the comment about the gentleman who said president obama got hold after two weeks. he is completely wrong. nothing has been done because it takes time for things to be put in order. you do not understand the issues and should not be talking. >> thank you for your telephone call. he is concerned about people voting straight party tickets. the election has been moving away from people who describe themselves astor partisans in the last decade or so. we're going to go to florida. jeb bush is about to introduce marco rubio. >> i am so proud of florida for

supporting the most principled leader i know, marco rubio. i am so proud of him because when you are down 35 points, it is easy to get discouraged. a lot of us have tough times. he has shown a dogged determination that will make him a great senator. i am so proud of his high- voltage energy. i am so proud of his enthusiasm. i am so proud of his eloquence. i am so proud that he will be part of the next generation of leaders that will restore america. marco rubio is the right man at the right time. this is a great night for our state. this is a great night for florida. bush's get emotional. i am going to try my hardest. my wife told me not to cry. marco rubio makes me cry for

joiniy because this is a great country. we need great leaders of inspire us so that we can be better, do better, and strive to make life better for ourselves and not just rely on government to be the solution to our problems. we need principled leaders that inspire us to solve our problems. that is in our dna as americans. i am so proud that marco rubio will be our next united states senator. [applause] i give you our new leader marco rubio. [cheers and applause] [no audio]

marco! ♪ [cheers and applause]

>> thank you. thank you, thank you. thank you so much. marco! >> thank you. i am glad you did not say " polo." that would have thrown us off. i received two gracious phone calls. congressman meek called to congratulate and i told him he has given us a lesson in dignity and strength. i think both of them for being worthy opponents in a difficult campaign. i wanted to thank all of you for

all the help you have given me as well. let me begin by acknowledging a simple but profound truth. we are all children of a powerful and greek goreat god -t god. his will is not always going to be yours. i promise you this. no matter what you face in life, we will give you the strength -- he will give you the strength to go through. i bear witness to that tonight as many of you doing your own lives. what's always acknowledge him in everything we do. -- let us always acknowledge and everything we do. he likes the microphone. [laughter] i do not even know how to thank so many of you who have been a part of this. we will talk about that in a moment. i am clearly grateful to my wife and family. my wife janette made this

possible. raising children under any circumstances is a two-person job, but she has done it alone for the last two years. i owe her a debt of gratitude i will never be able to repay. i am blessed to have her as my wife. i am grateful that she is here with us today. [applause] i am also blessed with four children who remind me every day of what is important in life but also give me strength. there was a moment early in the campaign right did not know how i was going to raise the money to be competitive. the next morning, my children showed up. they have collected their allowances and handed it to me. i did not tell them that. they overheard me. in that moment, i was reminded about what this election was really about. it is not about our individual ambitions. it is about the future as represented by them and their generation. that lesson is profound. it is one i will not soon

forget. tomorrow and even now the stories are being written about what this election is about, what it means. we still do not know all the results from a run the country. we know that tonight the power in the united states house of representatives will change hands. [cheers and applause] we know a growing number of republicans will serve in the senate as well. [applause] we make a grave mistake if we believe that tonight these results are somehow an increase of the republican party. what they are is a second chance, a second chance for republicans to be what they said they were going to be not so long ago. [cheers and applause] i learned early on in this campaign the what this race is about is the great future that

lies ahead for our country, the future americans know is there for the taking. it requires actions on our part. americans believe with all their hearts, the vast majority of them, that the united states of america is simply the single greatest nation in all of human history. it is a place without equal in the history of all mankind. we also know that something does not seem right. our nation is headed in the wrong direction. both parties are to blame. americans are desperately looking for people who will go to washington and stand up foto this agenda that is taking us in the wrong direction and offer a clear alternative. [applause] that is what this race was about early on for me. that is what is about tonight. it is about the future of this country and what it will look like when our children are our

age. there are those out there who doubt the greatness of america. sometimes when i say it, i hear the snickers. they think it is simplistic. i know america because i have seen it with my own eyes. i have been raised in a community of exile, the people who lost their country, of people who know what it is like to live somewhere else. it is a community that i am proud to be a part of. [cheers and applause] it is a community of men and women there once my age. they had dreams like we have now. they lost all those things through an accident of history. they came here to try to rebuild their lives. some did, but many others could not. instead, it became the purpose of their life to leave their

children with the opportunities they did not have. it is about the cuban exile community. it defines what we are. i know that no matter where i go or what title i may achieve, i will always be the son of exiles. [cheers and applause] marco! >> we will always be the heirs to two generations of unfulfilled dreams. the other thing i know about america's greatness is the story of a man i knew well. he was not born in this country. when he was 6 years old, he lost his mother. when he was 12, he lost his father. he grew up largely in a society where what you are going to be when you grew up was decided for

you. this is like almost every other place in theorld. think about what that means. that means that before you are even born how far you are going to get in life is decided for you by who your parents are or are not. that is how is almost everywhere in the world. that is how it was for that man. he was fortunate enough to make it to america. he was never able to capture the dreams of his own use. he made the mission of his life to ensure that his children would have every opportunity he did not, that every door that was closed for him would be open for them. the the day would never come for them that came for him, the day he realized his own dreams without a possible. life was now about opening pathways for his children. this story i know well. it verifies to me the greatness of our country. tonight with your vote, you have elected his son to the united

states senate. [cheers and applause] that is our story but it is not exclusive to us. at this very moment, it is pulling out within walking distance of the very place. tonight all across the state in the country, there are people working hard to ensure that children will have a better opportunity than they had themselves. they're blessed to live in this great society where that dream is still possible and true. this is our story. our story says more about our country than it does about us. it is what we're fighting to protect and preserve for the generations to come. it is what this election has been about for me from the very beginning. when you are 35 points down in

the poll and the only people who think you can win live in your house -- [laughter] and some of them are under the age of 10, you better know why you are running. we have to drive four hours to get home after speaking to 50 people and you are not sure how you are going to stay away, you better know why you are running. i found the strength in this campaign to move forward on days where i was not sure if i should or could. there were tokens of the extraordinary kindness from every corner of the state. sometimes it happened when i was at a restaurant and thought it was the last day of the campaign, that maybe i made the wrong choice. just like that, someone would appear and encouraged me to continue. other times it came in the form of the $25 check in the mail from a single mother or an elderly person on fixed income.

each and every time that we thought the campaign had run its course, something like that would happen to remind us that the race was never about me or us. it is about the fact that we are privileged and blessed to be citizens of this extraordinary society. that is something we are fighting for. we have the opportunity to ensure that our children and grandchildren are the freest and most prosperous americans that ever lived if only we are willing to do with the americans that came before us did, to stand up and confront the great challenges of our time, to say that we will not leave our problems for our children unresolved. we will not allow them to inherit our debt and mistakes. we will do what ever we must do to ensure that for them, life will be better than for us. for them, our country will be better than the one we inherited. tomorrow will be greater than

today. our history is our heritage. this is the story of this act or any land for more than 230 years. as we stand at this crossroads, we're asked to choose this will continue to be our story moving forward. before us like two very different roads. one is the road that both parties have placed us on. it is the politicians that will say or do anything to win the election but are unwilling to tackle the issues of our time. it is the road of those who are in politics to be somebody and not do something. it is the road of those willing to allow their children to inherit all of their mistakes and things they did wrong. tragically, that is the road we are on right now. but there is another road. it is the road i hope we will

begin to walk on again tonight. it is the row that says our children deserve to hear the great society and all of human history. [applause] it is a road that understands that the world is a safer and better place when america is the strongest country in the world. it is a row that realizes that there is still at least one place on the planet where does not matter if you arr dad was a bartender and your mother was a maid. you can accomplish anything if you are willing to work hard and play by the rules. [applause] marco!

>> thank you. in a few short days, i will have the extra unprivileged and honor of joining the united states senate. i do so with my eyes wide open. i understand that washington is a place we have sent people before and they do not come back the same way we sent them. it is a place that literally changes people. within a short period of time, they forget why they even ran. tonight, i ask for your prayers, for me and for my family, that we will not change. we will always remember what jerry is on those lonely days when few believed that this day would come -- we will always remember what carried us on those lonely days when few believed that this day would come. i will costly carry on my back the obligation it comes from knowing that i represent more

than those who voted for me today, but the millions who did not deserve to be represented in the senate as well. [applause] ultimately, what this is about stands before us even as we speak. it is about whether we're going to be the first generation of americans to leave our children worse off than ourselves or the generation that will allow them to inherit what they deserve, give to them what every generation before us has given to the next, the single greatest nation in all human history. god bless you. thank you. god bless america. [cheers and applause]

♪ "tonight's going to be a good night t" ♪

>> that was marco rubio in coral

gables, florida. let's take a look at the results in the florida race with about 52% of the precincts reporting a strong win for rubio. meeks is trailing a 19%. jim, kenneth meeks future? >> there were a lot of interesting passages in the speech. he complimented kendrick meek for running a class campaign. i think he showed some natural when he stood up to the reports -- showed some nettle with bill clinton when he tried to escort

him off the stage and he said thank you but no thank you. guys like that the comport themselves with class appeal to different side of the aisle. they tend to hang around. >> what else did you hear that struck you? >> and overtly religious theme, especially heavy in the beginning. he said something that interested me. he talked about how america needs to get off this road. it was not simply partisan indictment he issued. he said it was a rush of both parties place as long. i think that speaks to a little bit of the melding you will see in the senate and house and the

broader question in context as the tea party candidate come in with the message of disruption. how that plays out in policy is going to be quite a story in the next couple of years. >> let's look at the list of new senators as we know it from the races that have been called. it gives you a sense of what the new senate is looking like. dan coats, rand paul, marco rubio, richard blumenthal in connecticut. what do we know so far about how things are shaping up? what we know there are going to be a lot of new faces. the night marches on and on.

look at harry reid and what happens there. there is a window that is closing for republicans to take over in the senate. that seat is emblematic because of the makeup of that state and the demographics. harry reid has been a standard bearer. is going to be a fun night in the desert, i think. >> let's take a look at what is happening in colorado. senator bennett is ahead with 4% of precincts reporting. moving on to eleanor, it is still a strong lead -- moving on to illinois, it is still a strong lead for giannoulias. joe manchin has been declared the winner.

wisconsin is another interesting place. johnson is that 508%. >> feingold is a long time maverick in the senate. he has been getting out- mavericked on the trail so far. he is sort of a hero to some people on the democratic party. if you asked people a year ago, i do not think a lot of them would have seen it coming. >> we're going to take more calls and we have more speeches ahead. we're going to let you go. we really think you for your analysis of the results so far tonight. let's go to some telephone calls. going to begin listening to the call from kentucky. this is now on the independent line -- matthew on the

independent line. >> i am very happy about rand paul winning. we're looking for a big yes on proposition 19. >> there's a long list in california. what is that? >> it is the legalization of recreational use for marijuana. i think it is going to be an important aspect of our financial situation. i think it will benefit us superiorly. i am looking forward to it. >> gary is on the republican line. >> thank you for taking my call. i want to correct you on your pronunciation of the senator.

it is bowsman not boozeman. i do not know about some of these callers. a suspect they are not as old as i am. i am a baby boomer recently retired and on medicare. i am concerned about some of the comments about the government, the way it is run, and our constitution. i find it troubling. i have looked in the history books. there is not the same history lessons i learned when i was a boy in the 1950's and 1960's. there are a lot of changes. i regret that both parties called names. a lot of liberals get on bush and hate him. they call him dumb and stupid. these people are not dumb or

stupid or they would not be where they were at one time. the name calling is not necessary. we need to be americans pulling together and seeing that this country gets back to what our founding fathers intended for it to tbe. hopefully, this midterm election will bring that. i am thrilled about some people. i like some of the democrats that got elected. >> thank you so much for your call from arkansas. we're hoping the rhetoric cools after the election day passes. we want to show you what we're doing online. in addition to your comments on twitter into telephone calls, we set up this web page. you can post twitter comments that all will see. we're following a number of the key candidates who are on

twitter and looking at their tweets. interesting to see them commenting to their supporters. there are also connections to facebook comments. there are a lot of weays for you to follow the comments. next is a telephone call from lyndon, tennessee. katie is on the independent line. >> i am a green. my husband is running for governor of tennessee. we do not have any illusions about getting elected, but we love the opportunity to talk about issues and solutions. that is one thing i think we do not hear from the other parties. we hear a lot of name-calling and putting them down for something, but very little vision comes forth in their message.

unfortunately, i think the media will only talk about the two-party system as if it is the be all and all. people do not even realize they have choices. we know that 50% of the people do not even vote. when someone gets elected with 51% of the vote, that is one out of four people. they have very little mandate, support from the people. we wonder why people are so upset and frustrated. it is because the people who are elected do not really represent the broader thing. i think the media please a big part in not getting that third party message out there. there are other ideas. they just perpetuate that status quo. >> the quick question for you.

it is about the effort family is making to run for governor in tennessee. how much time are you able to devote to it? what you think you will be able to spend on it? >> we probably will get the percentage of votes that our money relates to. we did this four years ago. we got 1% of the vote. we spent $1 to everyone else's $10 that were collected. i mean $100. that is kind of the way it breaks down. follow the money. if you look at the governor's race in tennessee, is way out in front as republican. we used to be a democratic state. it is because he got the money. we have a horrible situation with the citizens united bill where we can get money from all kinds of places in to local elections. the people do not give their say at all.

thank you so much for your call tonight. we will take a call from maryland. soon we will show you the full remarks made by kentucky senator rand paul. >> thank you for taking my call. i wanted to say that i was very impressed with attorney general conway's concession speech from kentucky. he is the kind of person i could support. he seems to have the character and be the type of person i would like to vote for. i am in maryland. i have not seen any returns from the schumer-lawler campaign. i was wondering if there are any returns on that. >> we will see what we can find. thank you for the call from tom in maryland. he talked about the kentucky senate race. here is what the results look

like there. the center select cannot to speak -- the center elect came out to speak to supporters. we now bring you that in its entirety. ♪ [cheers and applause] >> thank you! what a crowd. [applause] i would like to thank my wife.

i could not have done it without her. [cheers and applause] and my boys, william, duncan, robert and for the great music. thank you, guys. i have a message! it is a message from the people of kentucky. it is a message that is loud and clear. it does not mince words. we have come to take our government back. [cheers and applause] they say that the u.s. senate is the world's most deliberative

body. i am going to ask them to deliberate upon this. the american people are unhappy with what is going on in washington. [applause] 11% of the people approve of what is going on in congress. but tonight, there is a tea party title wave and we're sending a message to them. [cheers and applause] it is a message that i will carry with me on day one. it is a message of fiscal sanity. it is a message of limited constitutional government and balanced budgets. [cheers and applause]

one night and arrived in washington, i will ask them respectfully to deliberate upon this. we are in the midst of a debt crisis. the american people want to know why we have to balance our budget and they do not. [cheers and applause] . . .

>> america -- america is exceptional but it is not inhernltly so. america is exceptional because we embrace freedom because we enshrined it in our documents and because we have moved and fought for the principles of freedom. [cheers and applause] >> america will remain great if we remain proud of america. if we remain proud of the american system, the system that is enshrined in our founding documents, the system that protects and promotes the free exchange of goods, the system that protects capitalism that has made this country

great. [cheers and applause] >> america will remain great if and when we understand -- if and when we understand that government cannot create prosperity. we have to understand that it comes from ourselves. it does not come from government. we are the creators of that prosperity. until we understand that, we cannot truly protect and defend our liberties. [cheers and applause] >> i have great confidence in the american system. we must believe in ourselves and not believe that somehow some benevolent leader in a distant capital will take care

of us, will save us. we must once again believe in ourselves. [cheers and applause] >> will ask the senate respectfully to deliberate upon this -- do we wish to live free or be enslaved by debt? do we believe in the individual or do we believe in the state? thomas jefferson wrote "the government is best that governs least". likewise freedom is best when enjoyed by the most. [cheers and applause] >> america -- america can rise up and surmount these problems if we just get government out of our way.

[cheers and applause] >> am humbled by the honor bestowed upon me by the voters of kentucky. i will do everything within my power to live up to that trust. america's best days lie ahead of her. if we can once again unleash the creative genius, the entrepreneurial spirit, the faith in ourselves that is the american dream. thank you and god bless america. [cheers and applause] [cheers and applause]

>> that's rand paul speaking to his supporters in kentucky just a little while ago, senator-elect from the state of kentucky. five additional states have closed their polls. they include arizona where senator mccain is seeking re-election to his fifth term in the u.s. senate. jan brewer, the republican governor also seeking re-election. iowa senator grassley is also seeking election in iowa. and former terry branson is in the governor's race in iowa. we'll be hearing from the state of montana, nevada.

where everybody is waiting to hear the results of the majority leaders bid for re-election. and the governor from utah and senators race that we're watching. let's show you some of the famous old names from the house of representatives who are making election bids and how they're doing at some of their efforts. but let's take some calls first. this is sharon on the democrat's line. go ahead, sharon. caller: first, i would like to say congratulations on the election officials. it is not about party lines drawn in the sand. it's about the american people of this land. please restore -- host: this viewer on twitter said -- no real surprises yet.

as predicted mostly. will put republicans in the very tough position to work within the party. forget about dems. this is rob. what are you thinking about tonight's results? caller: what i would like is an update on california proposition 23. if you can get that, that would be great. i think if that goes just an ugly precedent that texas oil money can have such a significant influence on energy policy, you know, especially in a state like california. host: the polls aren't going to close for an hour yet. so i doubt we have any meaningful results from that proposition. this is carl from -- caller from tex on the republican

line. caller: i have a south bronx accent nobody seems to go for. host: so tex what's on your mind tonight? caller: well, i have a feeling that i have a little insight into why the republicans are doing better tonight. i think that the progressive agenda which sort of think the government knows better for the people than the people themselves is not gone over too well. i believe that when president obama was elected that these progressives have been around for years and years. i mean, let's face it, they've been in the universities. they've been in government, economics, fabian socialism.

and they lie low. but when president obama was elected, they really grew emboldened. and when they came out, america finally saw it. you look at the 9-2 rally and saw all the communist literature that was being sold for tall socialists, posters and -- it just didn't go over well. the united states as whole, i think we really love the constitution of the united states. i mean, it is really one of the most amazing documents that has ever been produced. and we know that these people would gladly -- gladly overturn this document if they had a chance. and so i believe tonight, we're

sort of taking the spirit that was engendered at the glenn beck rally. and i don't want to put people off by saying glenn beck. but the people at that rally were good people. that was not a political rally. that was just people coming together and sort of forming the kind of america where if you didn't lock your back door, you didn't have to worry about somebody breaking in. hoist ok, tex, i have to let you go with that point. let's take a look at the results. tough for represent skeleton. he's at 43%. and his bid for re-election against vickie hartzler.

we'll bring the results in just a second. ln let's go to a telephone call from massachusetts. caller: i just want to make a point about negative ads. i've been very disappointed with the amount of figures that sbrn taken out of context. it's important for people to remember to ask why and to identify the sources in these ads before believing them or jumping to conclusions. host: next is colby. you're calling on our republican line. go ahead, please. >> thank you for taking my call. i just pretty much want to say, remember -- i mean, i know there's going be a lot of people to disagree with me out there in this country. but there's a lot of people that will agree. when bill clinton was in office, things were fairly decent. health care wasn't too bad. there were plenty of jobs for good-hard working people that

have worked hard all their lives. and i don't want to crash, bash, but then again this is everybody's opinion welcome. i just get upset when george herbert and george walker were in office, things, you know, the war and everything cost so many billions of dollars and then as soon as obama walks in office because the country was at the point of cracking at that point. as soon as obama walks in office, everybody's feeling so horrible. well, i mean, look at it. for example a natural disaster, the clean-up, it takes money. and i do feel that president obama didn't do a very good job as far as stopping the economy from crashing. and i think people just need to really look at who is at the

helm. who had this steering wheel. who brought this country to this position that it's in now. i mean, if main street is annihilated, who's going to deliver those not to be politically incorrect but those things to the right-wing people riding the golf carts who are not in office and don't care. host: colby, thank you. our next caller is calling us. republican from san francisco. vinny, go ahead, please. caller: thanks a lot for accepting my call. thanks a lot for my -- accepting my call and i'm calling from san francisco. before i start, i'd like to congratulate -- winning. so it's a big deal for us here in the bay area. but the other fact when i tried to -- elections this year.

from us who came from another country to america, we have nothing more to gain but to see the reality of the constitution, the reality of freedom in america. we've never seen that before until we came to america. and what has really hit the bottom of our hearts how this country was developed, was created. and allowed every human being to come over here and then enjoy by looking and seeing the results of people who -- nobody get killed but nobody had any problem. but to bring the choice to let our country move for wards. -- forward. i want my children to be able to have the same issue.

i don't care about republican, democrats or independents, we're all americans and we're all children of our living god and i love america. and i'm so happy to see whatever the result is. please go and do the best you can to make america move forward. host: where is your birth country. caller: i'm from the south pacific, a very tiny island. host: thank you for your phone call. politico is reporting that mr. cole burn lost his bid to flores. represent separatet is behind to nick mulvaney. tough bid for a re election.

this is gerald on the independent line. gerald, you are on the air. go ahead, please. caller: yes, ma'am, i just had a comment about the campaign financing and what the democrats are really complaining about is the bill that feingold and mccain put through. so you know, they got what they deserve. we get what government that we deserve. then the other half controls what goes on. america is the greatest country in the world. and i'm so proud of that caller before me to acknowledge that. and i just really -- and i really appreciate. and i'm an independent. i really appreciated kendrick -- kin drid needs for having the intestinal fortitude for

standing up to the establishment. he's not going to go away. he's the kind of people that we need in america whether it be republican, democrat or independent. host: you from florida. dennis lane in our twitter community writes -- i think most americans are stunned to see the corporate money debut and their buying of our elections. we've got words that john boehner is going to be out and about 20 minutes or so at republican headquarters here in washington, d.c., downtown washington. the presumptive speaker of the house and the 112 conk. we'll be bringing you live coverage. here's what he had to say about being leader. >> what makes a big difference being a majority leader and the minority leader. when you're the majority leader you've go to make this work. you've got to make sure that they're doing their work and

it's ready to come to the floor and so scheduling is a nightmare. and that and it's always interesting when you're the majority leader and you set the schedule. i used to have three our four members. and the first thing they would do when they got here on monday was want to know when they could leave at the end of the week. it was the same members every week. and then during the week, all they want to do is come, cast their votes and go home. and so when you're the minority leader we don't have any -- any part of the schedule. we have no part of setting what the agenda is here. and so all we can do is treekt what the majority is doing -- is reacting to what the majority is doing. it's just reacting. you know, there are issues that the american people are concerned about. and i think my job and our job in the minority is to have solutions to those problems that americans have.

but solutions that are built in our principles as republicans. >> john boehner who sat down with us earlier this year to talk about his role and life and career and we'll learn more about this man as he moves his way to likely speakership in the new congress. congressman darrell issa in california is the ranking member of the house committee on oversite and likely to take the gavel. he released the following statement on tonight's election results. here's what he said. tonight was a referendum on the obama agenda and the american rejected it. the american people sent a clear message to government. the mandate is clear. advance an agenda that create real jobs not government jobs. reduce the footprint of government. get government to live within its means. that's darrell issa of california whole will be ahead of panel that looks at

oversite, government and reform in the new congress. next telephone call. this is the text sierra club who is tweeting us. they say no huge surprises. we are mourning the losses of several congressal climatehawks. >> this is ryan. go ahead, ryan. caller: first off, i'd like to thank c-span for the wonderful, necessary service you guys provide. host: thank you. caller: also, i want to talk about an issue. i'm 28 years old. i'm a bit of a younger voter. but i want to talk about an issue that's often overlooked by both parties which is net neutrality. this is one of the biggest issues of our time, definitely a first amendment issue. a lot of the times republicans seem to talk a lot how they want to keep the cons institution. they want to talk about a lot how -- that's their forerunning thing. but republicans often overlook

this and would rather let the internet become tiered. i was wondering if you have any thoughts on that? host: we don't offer our thoughts here. but one member rick boucher of virginia is one of those who has gone down in defeat losing his bid for re-election in the stitt of virginia as member of congress. next telephone scall from houston. this is greg. greg is calling on us on the republican line. what do you have to say tonight? caller: thank you for taking the call. i have an interesting demrent a large group of people that we call the insold vote that came from the democrat, republicans and independents and it was addressed because of obama not addressing the interracial mix of the -- of america. you know, obama has been said

to be the first black president. well, his mother is white. i'm raising three interracial children. they're always asking -- why are they always calling him a black president when he's an interracial president and that's what they call us at school. i think -- anyway, there's a large group of people that we know that we're all from all divisions, democrat, republican and independent, that says, you know what, we're voting this man out because he's not representing the interracial group that we thought he was going to represent and when he went in. so thanks for taking the call and i appreciate the work that you do there. host: thanks very much greg houston, texas. pop-up tweets. if republicans reclaim the house, their extravagant spending to get them there will forever shadow them. we're expecting the candidates to be coming up pretty soon. we're going to show you that fairly soon in this hour.

22 minutes past the hurry of 10:00. this is donald on the independent line as we talk about the results so far election night 2010. do nalt, good evening to you. caller: hi, good evening. and thank you. i just want to comment on these third party ads, these groups like the american action network and others to advertise -- on behalf of a particular candidate. i found the ads in my area to be very inaccurate and very misleading. so i think this law is really going to be a problem for us in the future. they love the candidates to do -- to let somebody else do their negative campaigning for them. but my biggest problem with them was just the inaccuracies. one example was, you know, ads i got in the mail pretty much saying that the democrats alone were responsible for our debt. and that's just inaccurate. the republicans have to take

some -- own up to some of the responsibility for the debt we're in. it's a simple formula. tax cuts without spending cuts equals debt. and they keep pushing for tax cuts but not for equal amount of spending cuts. so we borrow the money to make up the difference and that's part of where our debt comes from. thank you. >> let's take a look at the pennsylvania senate results which now has joe setak up 52% to toomey 48%. let's take a call from rene. rene? caller: i wanted to comment on the overall race. even though i'm 19, i think we should look at the fact that

it's not basically the democrats fault when they said when obama took office, because he is not only representing the black -- he's representing people who are bi-racial as myself because i am black, mexican and sicilian. and we need to look back and you know, ask ourselves what can we do to make this better because some way, somehow we also got ourselves into this hole and there's no reason to start pointing fingers. everybody should get together and think about what they said and think about what you they did and try to come up with a solution. host: thank you, rene for your telephone call. let's take a look at some other results. this is russ feingold's re-election bid in wisconsin. we'll put that up on the

screen. let's take a call. next is buffalo. and this is shane on the independent line. go ahead, please. caller: hi. thank you for taking my call. you know, i just wanted to stress the importance of young voters in california. prop 19 passes and the whole world's going to change. and i really hope that prop 19 is passed. host: why do you think the whole world will change if prop 19 passes? caller: if california passes then other state falls in line. host: even if that happens how does the world change? caller: taking out like -- stop taking out the rain forrest. this industry could be a big, major thing for world. big renewable resource. host: that's shane on the independent line.

next is call from new orleans. this is karen, a republican. caller: hi, thanks for taking my call. i've just been listening to all the comments how obama's fault, it's the democrats fall, it's the republicans fault. i'm a republican. but i feel that everyone has a right to vote. and that america is tired of giving to the people that don't want to quork and don't want to take pride in the things they do. everybody has a part in the national debt. and you can't just keep spending. you to nut as well. i don't think it's one party's fault. host: thanks, karen. let's take a look how the results are stacking up. that's the race that people have been watching. we've got the results for you on the screen. the mayor of denver ahead in his bid as the democrat.

tom tan credo is running at 37%. mr. maes at 9%. hickenlooper declared the winner in the colorado governor's race. senator bennett at 50%. has a lead at this point over his challenger ken buck. until that race 50% to 45%. then in arkansas for blanche lincoln's bid to retain our seat. she lost that to the challenger john boozman, 57 to 38. back to telephone calls. well, actually, we have blanche lincoln's comments. so why don't we listen to what she has to say after her defeat tonight. [cheers and applause]

>> oh, you all are great. you all are great. i look out at this sea of people and i cannot think of a bert group i'd rather be spending this night with. and i can't thank you enough. [cheers and applause] >> it has been an incredible journey? and i am so blessed to have made it. but more than anything in this world you all have to know that i am so blessed to have made it with the people that are in this room. you are an incredible group of people. today arkansas voters have

spoken. and they have spoken and i certainly respect their decision. as you all know, i have already called conk boozman to congratulate him. and certainly pledged my support to help him in any way in a transition in this office. you all know where my heart is. my heart is with the state of arkansas and its people. it has been and it always will be. [cheers and applause] >> and we are going to do everything to make that transition a great one for the state of arkansas. but i want to tell you all tonight my heart is so full. it is so full of so many blessings. and you are here to share them

with me. i am so believably grateful for the opportunity that i've had, the honor and the privilege to serve the great state of arkansas and its people that i love so much. i am so blessed with a wonderful family. [cheers and applause] >> thanks. you all know them as your family too as i know that you do. but my wonderful husband steve who has been with me through thick and thin. [cheers and applause] and have you ever seen two such fine men as these two young men as you have grown to know? they have grown up before your very eyes and they've grown up

before mine. and i can not thank you you have for the opportunity to serve. throughout my life i have found my strength and my faith. my faith is with me because you're with me. and just as i said last night to all of you wonderful people, those that have labored so hard in this campaign, this campaign has been about people. it has been about you. it has been about arkansas. it has been about people in this great state and in this great country. and i can't thank you enough for making it about people. you didn't make it about the anger or the fear. you didn't make it about the ugly attitudes. i've watched every one of you out there on this campaign and when somebody was ugly or somebody was afraid or they were angry, you treated them with the utmost of dignity and respect. you answered their questions and you worked harder.

that's what our campaign has been about. and i wouldn't have it any other wathan to have had it the way that we had it. [cheers and applause] >> i have been so forge not be surrounded by such a loving staff. a wonderful, wonderful senate staff who are here tonight. my senate agriculture committee who are just a group of dynamos and i am so proud of each and every one of you the way that you've worked so hard. i want to thank our campaign -- yeah, give yourselves a hand! they delivered. the senate staff, the ag staff, our campaign staff who has worked tirelyless over these last 20 month who is has put together a campaign of outreach. i thank our volunteers -- there

you go. that's coming from a volunteer. absolutely. you worked so hard in the campaign, both ours and in a coordinated effort. i want to say a very special thanks to president bill clinton who was such a trooper and so who was so wonderful. what a great leader and what a great friend of arkansas. to special arkansas traveler who is came out and spent the time on the road with us. it was a fun time and we did a great job. [cheers and applause] >> i have no regrets. well, i should take that back. i have one regret. the only regret i have this evening is that i hope i haven't disappointed you all. that's the only regret i might have. i take great pride in the public service that i've offered. when i first went to congress in 1992 in that election, i went there with the attitude of

wanting to create greater si silty. greater common ground, creater results for the people of arkansas particularly in the first district and then in 1998 in the senate, for people to come together and to work hard to make our country strong, to make our state strong and i worked hard in reaching out to others to find that middle ground to with that common sense and to try to make our nation great. i still don't believe the answers k, they cannot be in the extremes. they have to be in the middle. they have to be where we work together to find the solutions that we need. [applause] >> but let me tell you, folks, we left it all in the field, all out there on that field. we gave it everything we had in this campaign and i could not be more proud of you all in what we did. we worked hard and we made a difference. [applause]

>> so i just want to thank each and every one of you from the bottom of my heart. you should know that there are many chapters in all of our books. and i have had a wonderful time in these chapters of my book. and it's been because of the great people of arkansas. it's been because of you. so many of you all that have traveled in those chapters with me all along from the very beginning. there are more chapters to bri and i look -- there are more chapters to it. and i look forward. my faith will carry me. i asked the lord to bless me to ensure to do what he wanted know do. and i know that he will. i thank you all again for being here tonight. i thank for each and every day and for all that you've done. you have meant so much for me. i am so blessed to have had each and every one of you all in my life. and let me make sure that you know that you're not getting

out of my life that, you're all very much attach and you're going be there for me. so thank you all for the opportunity. please help me as we do go forward in all of our lives in what we do to bring people together instead of tearing them apart, instead of creating the kind of division and the kind of anger and fear that has existed out there that many of us have seen. [cheers and applause] >> please, if you do nothing else for me, walk away from this campaign proud of what we have stood for. and i know that you will. thank you all so much and god bless you. i love you every one of you. [cheers and applause]

>> thank you. i love you so much.

[indiscernible conversations]

>> blanche lincoln in little rock, talking to her supporters after losing her bid for re-election. she was first elected in 1998. she was 38 years old when elected. she pent most of her life on capitol hill before running for election. she was a congressal aide to bill alexander. her challenger the senator-elect john boozman, u.s. representative also spoke to his superintendent porters. it's about 10 minutes long. we're going to show it to you next. ♪

>> thank you all. thank you all. i was just hoping i would get as much applause as the girls when they came back. as you know, senator lincoln has called, very graciously we had a very, very nice talk and as you know, she's going to do a great job in the transition period. senator lincoln and i have not agreed on the issues many times but we've always worked very closely when it comes to arkansas and i really appreciate all of her hard work and her love of the state. [applause] >> want to thank my family. my mom is not with us here tonight. she's watching.

she'll have her 89th birthday on november the 5th. she's promised me that we'll have a big birthday cake with extra roses on it as i like. so i want to wish her, just the fact that we're thinking of her and how much i appreciate her. my wife kathy and the girls. and those of you -- [cheers and applause] >> you know, it's one thing to help appear candidate. it's another thing to actually be the candidate. and running for office these days is very, very tough. and it's not only tough on the candidates. it's very tough on the family. so i appreciate them with putting up with me. i want to thank my congressal staff. many of them are here today. and they worked very, very hard representing the people of arkansas for the last nine years. abunch of my success, in fact, 99.9% of my success has been

because of their hard work, their constituent service both in arkansas and also working so hard to represent the people of arkansas in washington. i want to thank my campaign staff for all that they've done and i can't go through everyone . all of you have been so grateful. those of you that have lent your homes to us, you've lent your finances to us, everything. and again i'm the guy that's up here. it's not about me. it's about getting a conservative voice to washington to represent us -- [cheers and applause] >> and the reality is, is we just couldn't have done this without this great team, this great army of people that have been so very, very helpful. i want to especially thank gary

reid who has sacrificed a lot of time. all along the campaign trail, stanley is a former farm bureau president. bill mcknight, he's the chief of g.i. at the medical center. he's one of the big dog doctors over there. but he's been keeping the campaign regular. [laughter] >> i tell people, i'm an opt tom tryst by training. hang around. i'll give you some free eye advice. stanley will give you advice concerning your garden if you're having troubles. and bill has consented if you're having problems with your digestion to give you advice there. [laughter] >> as we've gone around the state and i've been all around the state the last year, visiting with so many different

people. and you have memories of so many different people that stand out in your mind. i think one of my many fondest moments ever is when i saw a young guy that came and he shook my hand. and he said congressman, he said, you came to iraq to see me. and i wanted to come and see you when you came. [cheers and applause] >> and he showed us a picture. he had been -- he was a truck driver. and the truck drivers in iraq and afghanistan are the ones that have suffered so much because that's where they plant the i.e.d.'s. and he showed us a picture of his truck that had been blown up. three of the guys in the truck had gotten purple hearts. i think of the men and women that were so concerned about protecting their social

security. and again all that that means and being able to reassure them that we were going to continue to do that. i think of the men and women, many little elderly ladies and men that would come up to us and say "here's $20 for gas for your bus" knowing that that was $20 that they just didn't have. these are the people that i will think about as i go to washington that are counting on us. the people also -- the small business people so concerned about the economy right now. the average arkansan who's concerned about having a job three or four months from now. these are the people that we will take to washington to represent. now when i was first elected, conkman hammerschmitt has

become a great mentor. he represented the third district but he was a true public servant in every sense of the way. he called me and he said, john, always remember -- well, he said congratulations, john. you're the congressman now. always remember there's not any democrats. there's not any republicans now. there's just the people of arkansas and you need to take care of them. [cheers and applause] >> and we worked really hard to do that. many of you in the room here, not being from the third visit not being able to vote here. but i have been representing

you. my pledge is to represent you with a voice in the senate as we go forward. thank you very much. [cheers and applause] ♪ >> senator-elect john boozman from little rock, arizona. he is an opt tom tryst, first elected to the u.s. house of representatives in 2001. blanche lincoln talking about her appreciation for bill clinton. we were talking earlier in the program about it seems president obama might use tomorrow and here are some excerpts of what president clinton had to say back in 1994. here's a quote.

"there's been too much politics, too much partisan conflict, too little reform and though we've made progress not enough people have felt more prosperous or secure or believe we're meeting their desires for fundamental change in the roll of government in their lives." after losing the house says when the republican party assumes leadership and the senate, in that case they will have a larger responsible for acting in the best interest in the american public i reach out to there them and ask them to help us where american progress must come. that was bill clinton in 1994 after losing that congress in a night that much like the results we're seeing tonight. also wanted to bring you up to date with a few other races this time in governor's races. lincoln chafey in rhode island that's really described as a four-way race.

caprio and robitailee. and you can see it's lincoln chafee at 36% to robitaille at 34%, the rhode island governor's result. we'll bring you live coverage of his remarks in just a couple of minutes. we'll remind you of our online conversation that you can join us if you would like to talk to others around the country and also globeably. -- globally. you can post facebook, twitter comments and also see tweets from politicians that we're following as the election night continues. let's take a call from houston. and this is william on the democrat side. go ahead, william. caller: how are you doing?

thank you for taking my call. host: sure. caller: you know, i sat back and i listened to the rhetoric from the republican party, you know, and i'm -- i like some of the values of the republican parties about the great family values and things like that, and at one point i was almost persuaded to become a republican. but when i listened to the rhetoric of ok let's stop obama care, let's balance the budget, those relevel ideas. they are not coming up with any big ideas. they're not coming up with no kinds of strategic planning from john boehner to sarah palin. they have no answers. the only strategy i see from the republican party is stop obama. and, you know, it kind of frustrates me. now they're going to get

control of the house. i don't think they'll have control of the senate. but republican party, man up. host: that's william from houston, texas. let's take a look at results for governor for new mexico. stark election in new mexico because it's the first time that two female candidates have in this race. the results there, we have 55% -- pull up my results here real quickly. 55% for martinez. denish at 45%. diane denish to susana martinez, the republican. that's just 17% of the results. so we'll keep watching that in new mexico, governor. doug, you're on the air. caller: thanks, c-span.

we have manned up. we haven't had any kind of say for the last four years except for the presidency with george w. bush. but what man enough is there to do? we got smashed. we got pushed under the busby obama by pelosi. now we're starting to come back. what are we going to do with it? we need to get rid of obama care. we can't afford it. nobody can pay for it. it can't be done. we need to ask for the long form birth certificate. i need to see it. if could do that, that would be great. >> he mentioned health care. politico is reporting on the seat held by bart stupak. you can remember that he was the democrat who brokered a deal with a group of anti-abortion house democrats to vote and save the health

care bill. that seat is now turned over to the republicans. dan has won the michigan house race. next telephone call is from nashville and this is sharee. you're on the air. caller:, yes, how are you doing? host: fine, thanks. are you thinking about tonight's results? caller: it's ok. you know, to me i really -- i'm a democrat, and i'm all the way for democrats. but whoever wins i just really hope that everybody gets together and gets this world, you know, together. my comment that i have -- especially to the guy that just got off the line before me. i mean, if obama wasn't legit, they wouldn't -- he wouldn't have been able to run for president in the first place. so all that mess he talked about, che take it home with

him. host: thank you so much. let's go to missouri. >> introduce him to you and recognize their hard work. you know when we began this campaign in february of 2009, barack obama's approval rating was 70%. we were down in the poll 11 points. democrats had just been swept into office and we had a tough political environment. but the people on this stage did not hesitate at all about thinking, about putting their lives on hold and working on this campaign and fighting for a future america that we all believe in. they worked long hours. they slept on the floors in their office. they ate cold food. they drove across the street late at night. and they -- each and every one of them gave 200%. they're worn out because they

have literally been in the trenches for 20 months trying to preserve an america we all love. and i could not be prouder of their accomplishments. i've never been more impressed by a group of people in my life. i love them all dearly. i will miss the privilege of working with them on a daily basis and that really starts with the campaign. i have run a few races including three major statewide races and anne wagoner has been a part of every single one of them. and that is not a coincidence. from raising money to firing up the troops, wherever she goes -- [applause] >> wherever anne goes she provides critical, strategic advice in my battle. and she is just a solid, solid battle. it's no wonder that from governor, business leaders, people time and time again and

no senator, people time and time again call on anne wagoner . and i really appreciate her involvement and her leadership. our media team tonight is represented by john thompson and avery easily who i hope is someone on this stage. they make great commercials to ensure that missourians understand his message. john thompson has been a part of every political campaign roy blunt has ever waged. i'm honored that he is a friend of mine. our poll team is represented by randy guterman. randy has always provided thoughtful advice as we worked to craft the best message to put in front of missourians. some of the most creative and

strategic and as the story of this election is written, some of the best advice came from our social media team by pete snyder and matt delucas. at m.m.s. they challenged us to push the envelope and to spend more money on online services than any reasonable human being would have thought possible. and we did. so and we are grateful. our finance team was led by unfortunately -- it was led by nick mcgee han, carol grove. they're all up on the stage. [applause] . >> they did an outstanding job. they raised over $112 million over a million more than our opponent. in a tough environment. and we are grateful for them. and i'm appreciative of what

they did. our legal team was headed by amy plunt. she's had a busy day making sure this election day ran smoothly. amy blunt is plenty tough. if you ever need a lawyer that's an easy place to figure out who to call. dusty sneeders. you know, roy blunt did over 900 events and dusty sneeders drove him to every single one of them. [cheers and applause] you know, as the campaign manager but more importantly as the son of the candidate, there was no more important hire than what we call the body guy. the guy that drives the candidate and keeps him safe. and some of us were talking last night about the staffer who had developed the most over the course of this campaign and we all quickly decided it was

dusty sneeders. he has been with roy blunt constantly for the last 20 months and it has been amazing to watch him develop into a great guy and a great professional. and i'm excited to see what he does next. dan santinello. what they have done is really amazing. [applause] . .

we hired her from the bond organization, and from advancing to the first advent at the college to being the last person on the stage tonight, she has always been there. she worked her way up from being deputy political director, and i could not be prouder of what she has done. she has done a great job. [applause]

ian cunningham from the southeast region did a great job of building and creating a seamless organization. they had of the northeast region help on the condition that he would still be able to get married in july. he had to delay his honeymoon. they have our midwest region get more applause when he had -- the head of our and midwest -- get more applause when he walks into our room then the candidate, which is a problem sometimes. miles ross heads the southwest region. a lot of you know him. he has been with roy blunt for a long time. [applause]

he has constantly exceeded his goals and expectations. we were so excited to have him. levi mitchell is here, a great utility player for the campaign, willing to be deployed wherever he had to be deployed. derreck - where is derreck? he is another steal from team bond. he has put together an impressive coalition that was a key part of this victory. where is tim? tim was the deputy press secretary, and everybody loves working with tim. and he did a great job delivering our message. is truly a talented communicator and i have learned a lot from

them. thurston snyder. when a roy blunt decided to run it for the senate, he did not call me first. he called a thurston snyder first, and i think it is because we all knew that we needed her help. i am lester many times what to do, and she has been a great -- i have asked her many times what to do, and she has been a great help. she has been a great council, and i hope she continues to work for roy blunt for a long time. i had a deputy campaign manager is in this campaign that i started every morning with for the last two years. i have already mentioned in dan sentinela.ull >> we're going to leave the live

coverage. we kept thinking we would get past the thank you's and onto the candidate, and hopefully we will do that in a second. we are going to take a couple of telephone calls in the meantime. this is from philadelphia. caller: thank you for taking my call. i came from russia some years ago, and i have been 15 years a citizen of the united states, and for the last 10 years i have been observing that american capitalism is disintegrating, and it is very frustrating and disappointing to see. i cannot believe people would

not give the obama administration any chance to change anything or accomplish anything, especially health care. what is going to happen now is republicans are going to be repealing it and we will be back to square one. >> host: it is about six minutes after 11:00 on the east coast. a number of critical states on the west coast have now closed, including california. we will be anxiously awaiting results from those, including some of the california proposition is that people have been calling in about tonight. in the wisconsin senate race, russ feingold has lost his b id. some of the news networks of already call that race for johnson in the senate.

in pennsylvania, that race has been going back and forth for the senate. right now, it is neck-and-neck. both candidates are at 50% of the precincts reporting. we are in the high 80's and low 90's is there with those results. we will be watching those results pretty closely. that race is neck and neck with 50% each. next is a telephone call from baltimore. this is spread on the republican line. go ahead. caller: i think that what is going on with this country right now, i think of our forefathers were to see what is happening, they would turnover in their graves. this country went from being a great nation and a great country to going really downhill.

i think we need to get these government officials to work together to try to make it work, but it seems like everybody is out for their own party. i do not know what the answer is, i just do not think we're going in the right direction. too many people have lost their houses. too many people do not have jobs. it is very, very desolate out there right now. i feel for the people that do not have jobs. i feel for the people that are losing their houses. i just do not know what the answer is. i am hoping that maybe with getting some new representatives in there, maybe we can get some people in there that will work together to try to resolve these issues and problems that we are having in this country. host: for our next telephone call, we are going to put some names on the screen. it certainly is not an but these arest,

some of the races that have been called for the house of representatives. as we look at that, we are going to listen to mallory from baltimore. you are on the air. caller: i would like to comment on the last caller. he is from maryland as well. i think we do get it here and now. basically, what we are looking for is a government that is going to work together. we are not interested in a lot of rhetoric from one side or the other. in democratic, however, i do see that there may be a problem with some representatives, some government officials, some newly elected people who are just looking to have their own way and their own party.

what we do need here, and i know this might sound very, very strange or nine eve, but what we really do need is to have both sides of the aisle to sit down as our elected officials and get it together and get this country moving. host: we had to go back to back maryland calls. that state governor's election was a rematch between martin o'malley and robert ehrlich. the incumbent governor o'malley has survived that challenge. also, david vitter from louisiana has been reelected. he was challenged but will be going back to the senate for louisiana. also, barney frank, the congressman from massachusetts will be returning to the house of representatives from the state of massachusetts.

the next of a call is from oregon. caller: i am an independent. i was born and raised in california. i am in my 60's. i was born there back before it was a welfare state. i have to say, i joined the navy in 1962. i was proud to serve my country. i hate to say it, now i am ashamed to say in american. i look at the way this country has been going for the last two years, and you know, i am stunned when i see how many of those democrats are being elected. i mean, they have had control for two years, and a look at what they have done to this country. we are literally in the toilet, if you will excuse the language.

it is sad. it is very, very sad. i was always proud. i was born in this country. i can show my birth certificate. i have it. but i am just embarrassed. host: we have just heard that the gop hurricane maybe downgraded. we are still waiting for senator elect roy blunt in missouri to take the podium. until he does, we are going to take more telephone calls. west haven, connecticut is up next. go ahead. caller: i am just wondering why in this whole election cycle, we did not hear any candidates say anything about the military budget. the united states of america spends more on its military then all of the other countries in the world combined. why is everyone afraid to attack that, to start taking

some money out of there and put it into social services, putting it into health care, but it into what the people want. we do not why wars. we do not want to be in iraq. we do not want to be in afghanistan. we do not want to send our boys 6000, 8000, 12 belsen miles away from tom to kill people. -- 12,000 miles away from home to kill people. caller: to the last independent that was on, that was insane. i cannot believe that guy. he must be in the tea party. it is ridiculous. the whole thing is ridiculous. it never stops. they are not going to work together because it has become a zero sum game. whoever wins the election and get say supermajority can actually passed legislation.

the republicans of completely halted the process. all we can hope for is that maybe we will get something like we had under clinton where there was a republican dominated house and senate but they were kept in check by a democratic president. i mean, i am still waiting to see what happens with the house and the senate, but it does not look good. the last guy said we are in the toilet now, no, we are just getting out of the toilet that bush flushed us into, and we have people who are actually saying, let's just go do it all over again. host: you can see roy blunt making his way through the crowd to the podium. we are going to listen in to his acceptance speech. ♪

>> thank you all for being here. andy blunt, what a great job running this campaign. in every campaign there has to be somebody to bring everybody together to make a final decision. we had the two best decision- makers in missouri politics. they were there all the time, every day, doing what needed to be done. andy, thanks to you,930 political events in missouri in 19 months means there must have other places i should

have been in that i wasn't, and abby, thank you to you for doing those 930 other things. what a great campaign. so, when i have a problem in the united states house of representatives, i will be calling bly l the guy. 930 events, try my very best, seeing local missourians, and wherever i was, they all said the same thing. where are the private sector jobs? why is the government spending so much money? why would an energy plan double our utility bills? why do they want to raise everybody's taxes? what about the stimulus plan that clearly has not where to? what about getting back to common sense government? there was a guy about three months ago talking about the stimulus package. he did not have a ph.d. in

economics, but apparently he had a ph.d. in common sense. this is a plan that would double our utility bill in missouri in a decade, 80% in the first decade and even more after that. he said, if my utility bill doubles, that is a bad thing. he said, if my mother's utility bill doubles, that is the worst thing. but the utility bill the work -- and my job goes away, the other two bills do not matter anyway, because i cannot pay my utility bill and my mother cannot pay hers. that is the kind of common sense missourians have that is not in the white house right now or not the people in control of the congress right now. missourians have said that they want common sense. they want a country that understands the private sector jobs should be the goal of our country. they want a country where we understand that the needs of the families are important.

these campaigns are tough. campaigns are campaigns. what is tough is if you are a 50 or 55 year-old guy who has brought a paycheck, every month of your adult life, and your family is dependent on you every month of your life, and you do not have that job, and u.s. no idea how you will find another one. -- you have no idea how you will find another one. or you just got out of college and you zero and $40,000, and the best job you can get -- and $40,000, and the best job you can get is pizza delivery guy. we have got to get focused in the country on the things that matter, private sector jobs. government jobs do not pay the bills. government jobs are the bill.

indeed some of them, but if they get out of proportion to the rest -- you need some of them, but if they get out of proportion to the rest of the country, the rest of the country does not grow. what kind of country are we going to live in? once every generation, americans have to renew their own lease on freedom, even in the greatest country in the history of the world. freedom is not guaranteed. freedom is not passed along in the bloodstream, as ronald reagan said. ronald reagan did not say, but they could have said, and a generation of americans could lose freedom for a long time. it is easier to hold onto the and it is to get back. what i have seen in this state at event after event after event, and what i have heard at event after event after event, is people want to hold onto the be we have been. -- to who we have ben.

i talked to my dad is going to be 89 in a month. my mom and dad were very strong. we live in a country where with hard work and education, anything was possible, but they never said to me that anything was guaranteed. there is a big difference living in a country where anything is possible, and a country where too many things are guaranteed. we need to create opportunity. we need to help people create opportunity for others. we need to prioritize those opportunities for families and individuals, but we have to be careful that we do not get so poor that we have guaranteed so many things that almost nothing is possible. this is a time when americans are deciding, are we going to live in a country where the government is bigger than the people? are we going to live in a country where the people are bigger than the government? the people are going to win. the people are going to win. freedom is going to win. this is an election night that

will not come along for a while because this is the time when we decided we are going to renew the lease on freedom, and i think that is clearly the message being sent to washington, d.c., and being sent around the world. the united states of america is still the united states of america, and that is still an exceptional thing. these things do not happen by themselves. many of you and thousands of others around the state have soared so hard in this campaign. i will make one -- have worked so hard in this campaign. i will make one pledged to you tonight. i will work every day for all of the people you encouraged to put me in the senate. i want to make sure that they are thinking you for that advice, not asking why you give that advice. this has been a campaign about

the issues. i have said for months, and the politician who thinks this is about anything but the issues is going to get a message on election day. i think that message was sent pretty loud and pretty clear. i am honored to get the chance to work for you. thank you for all you have done. thank you. [applause]

>> senator elect roy blunt speaking to supporters in springfield, missouri as we continue to bring you coverage of election night 2010. we want to give you the chance to speak out about your reaction. you can call us here on our live program, or reach out to us online at c-span.org. you can leave comments on facebook or read what politicians are saying tonight. let's look at the results of the illinois senate race. politico is reporting that that race has changed once again. they are calling it a token price. old senateobama's seat appears to be within the gop's brass.

also, looking at some of the long term members of the house of representatives, john dingell is seeking his 29th term in congress. he is in a very close race. the budget chief from south carolina has lost his bid for reelection. also, everyone is waiting for the results from nevada. the secretary of state said that voting was still taking place at polling places in several counties, meaning that results anywhere in the state will not be released until the polls are closed everywhere, which is nevada policy. they had earlier announced that nevada results would be delayed due to long lines. we will not know for a while.

we're not clear how long the delay might be. every voter in line will be allowed to vote in nevada. you are watching c-span coverage. this is harry reid headquarters. we have ha our cameras there live and will be there until the majority leader comes out tuesday, whenever that will be. in the meantime, in california they are calling two races. jerry brown will be governor and barbara boxer will be senator. from louisville, ky, on the republican line. what did you think about your new senator? caller: earlier, a caller said the congress had done a lot of work and just had to get the

american people to go along. that is exactly why the house has now moved to the republican side. americans kept telling them they did not want the health care bill, and they passed it anyway. i think that is what you're seeing in terms of this kind of anger. i would also like to respond to the lady who said that all republicans are corporate. i live paycheck to paycheck. i am a teacher. i just do not like socialism. i do not like giving people fish instead of teaching people how to fish. is not that i do not care about people, but the money that i have left over after the government takes it from me, time is 10% of it. -- i tithe 10% of it.

conway presented a really nice picture this evening about the is going to battle in the future, his family, and have the loves them. you cannot talk about how he ran one of the most shameless ads that ran all the way into washington, d.c., that probably ended up costing him the election. there is a certain line you do not cross. he gave a nice impression on his concession speech, but it is probably because he made a desperate decision to get back into the race that backfired o him. let's listen to a call from tallahassee, florida. this is susan, an independent. caller: i am quite disappointed that the entire election, simply

because, the republicans have a house for eight years. they had the power. president bush put us in two wars. the economy was horrible. just as we are making an improvement, we are slipping backward. i feel sorry for the people that do not want the health care bill. i do believe that everyone should receive health care. the two are not rich, but i care about other people. to me -- i am not rich, but i care about other people. to me, it is pretty bad. most people did not have anything to speak about other than health care and how horrible it was. to me it just takes about how america is going backward. we talk about being a country that cares about each other, but because people are so upset about health care bill, it just shows that we have not changed at all. we are going backward and we do not care about each other. these races are disappointing. the republicans are doing what

they intend on doing, to make things difficult for a change. host: next is augusta from unsell, alabama. this is a democrat. caller: this is the craziest thing that i have ever seen. i have seen several elections, but this is about hatred for one person. host: next is from new jersey, a republican. good evening. caller: i want to make a comment. unlike the previous two callers, i am very pleased about the election tonight. when barack obama was elected two years ago, i was extremely concerned about the direction he would take the country in. after watching tonight and seeing the way the american

people have come out to defend our country, and knowing that the republicans will probably be taking back the house, it gives me a sense of hope do know that we will restore the balance of power. our founding fathers never intended for any one party, no matter which party it was, to have complete control of our government. if you are watching what has gone on in the last two years with obama, his administration, and the democrats, i think most people can understand why. thank you very much. host: we are getting were the john boehner will be speaking here in washington, d.c. at the headquarters for the house reelection bid. we will bring you that live in the next 10 minutes or so. i am seeing that the gop base treated this like a presidential election and turned out of force. next is from tennessee, william, on the independent line.

good evening. caller: i was just very happy to see that rand paul , ky. i am thinking about moving up there because it is a commonwealth and they do not have sales tax. tennessee. i have little respect for republicans or democrats. the first time i voted was for ron paul, a libertarian running for president. i am just so glad to see his son finally made it. if they have to dom the sheet of the republican party in order to get the libertarian ideals then, it is worth it to me. host: next is a telephone call

from north carolina. this is steven, a republican. we have lost stephen. let's take you to the republican headquarters -- just in a minute. we are going to get another call in first. from pennsylvania, this is mike on the democrats' line. you have a pretty close senate race going on there. have you are results? caller: i am watching them as you are giving them, and it is intriguing. in a stand of vitriol on both sides of the aisle. i also appreciated the comments from the person from the pacific islands. he said what a great country we live in, and i would echo that. that is evidenced by the peaceful transition of some power. for all of the people that are

t. partyers or republicans that think this somehow means that the health care bill will be overturned, they should understand that they were not being given accurate information. the way the power will now be balance will not allow that to happen. that some of the bomb as plans that have been put into action will be given the time -- some of obama's plants that have been put into action will be given the time to play out. the country is going in the right direction, which is not what it is doing when he took office. i do will put the energy that

they couldn't do supporting their respective candidates into educating themselves fund -- that they put into supporting their respective candidates into educating themselves about the issues. we all could benefit from knowing a little bit more about the other side. call nexts take a from arizona. john mccain has won his bid for reelection. in his victory speech, he vowed to repeal and replace obama-care as soon as possible. and jan brewer was reelected as well. caller: i am are registered democrat, but i do not always vote the way. it appears the most politicians will say whatever it is they think we want to hear in order to get elected.

once there, it is business as usual. the democrats make it seem that the republicans cannot come up with a good idea. republicans make it seem -- host: we have live coverage coming in. pete sessions is at the podium. >> ladies and gentlemen, 20 months do make a difference. 20 months ago, when i announced that our mission statement would be to retire nancy pelosi -- [applause] many people thought that would never, ever happen. we believed dead. we traveled the country. we solve the fight.

we talked about how the american people, if they would get behind the republican party and our ideas, and that we could win back the majority. tonight, the american people have spoken. [applause] this election has been a referendum on the federal government that talks too much, on a federal government that does not listen enough, that spends too much and does not save enough. a federal government that takes too much and does not accomplish enough. [applause] it is real simple.

do have a regime change, you have to involve every single team member, and that is what we did. we asked each and every member and our great candidates if they would believe in a dream. we know we believe in three things that we sold well. first of all, we are going to read the bills before we pass them. [applause] the american people learned that common sense is not common in washington, d.c. secondly, we are not going to spend more than what we make. lastly, we are going to fight for the free enterprise system, because that is what made our country great for our fathers and grandfathers. but all of this also happened because of the leadership of john boehner. [applause]

it was john boehner in february of 2009 who saw that great big monster $870 billion bill that was called a stimulus, when he took that bill and slammed it down and said, this bill has not been read by one member of this body and that is wrong. it was john boehner you came across the street to the national republican congressional committee every single day -- every single thursday for the 20 months to work with our team, to hear the good news. ladies and gentlemen, i could not have had a better partner then the gentleman from ohio. please tell me welcome, john boehner. -- please help me welcome, the

gentleman, john boehner. [applause] >> thank you, pete sessions, for the tirelessly there should be exhibited over at the -- tire less leadership you exited over at the rncc. i want to thank all of the people who worked so are to make this possible. it is clear tonight who the winners are, and that is the american people.

[applause] wasamerican people's voice heard at the ballot box. i am going to be brief, because we have real work to do, and frankly, this is not a time for celebration, not when one out of 10 of our fellow citizens is out of work, not when we have buried our children under a mountain of debt, and not when our congress is held in such low esteem. this is a time to roll up our sleeves, a time to look forward with determination, and to build a better future for our kids and grandkids. across the country, we are witnessing a repudiation of washington, a repudiation of big government, and a repudiation of politicians who refuse to listen to the american people. of course, this campaign is not over yet. to the voters out west where the bulls may still be open, this is

-- where the calls may still be open, this is the time to seize that moment and make sure your vote is heard. join your fellow americans in putting washington on notice. for far too long, washington has been doing what is best for washington, not what is best for the american people. tonight, that begins to change. [applause] with their voices, the american people are demanding a new way forward in washington. i am year to tell you tonight that our new majority will be prepared to do things differently, to take a new approach that has not been tried in washington before by either party. it starts with cutting spending instead of increasing it. [applause]

reducing the size of government instead of increasing it. reforming the way congress works and giving the government back to the american people. for all of those families who were asking, where are the jobs, it means ending the uncertainty in our economy and helping small businesses get back to work. [applause] the people's priorities will be our priorities, and the people's agenda will be our agenda. this is our pledged to america, and this is our pledge to you. we must remember is the president who sets the agenda for our government. the american people have sent an unmistakable message to him tonight, and that message is, change course.

[applause] we hope that president obama will now respect the will of the people, change course, and committed to making changes that they are demanding. to the extent that he is willing to do that, we are willing to work with him. make no mistake, the president will find in our new majority, the voice of the american people as they have expressed it tonight, standing on principle, checking washington's power, and leading the drive to a smaller, less costly, more accountable government here in washington, d.c. [applause] these are the principles of our new majority will stand for. i hope, mr. president, that you will stand with us in the hard work that lies ahead. because we are humbled by the trust of the american people,

and we recognize that with this trust comes the responsibility to listen, listen we will. let's start right now by recognizing that this is not a time for celebration. it is a time to roll up our sleeves and go to work. we can celebrate when small businesses began hiring again. we can celebrate when the spending binge here in washington has stopped. we can celebrate when we have a government that has earned the trust of the people that it serves. when we have a government that honors the constitution and stands up for the values that have made america america. things like economic freedom, individual liberty and personal responsibility. listen, i hold these values dear because i have lived them.

i have spent my whole life chasing the american dream. [applause] i started out mopping floors, waiting tables and tending bar at my dad's tavern. i put myself through school working every rotten job there was, and every night shift i could find. i poured my heart and soul into running a small business.

and when i saw how out of touch washington has become with the core values of this great nation, i put my name forward and ran for office. so, i want to thank my wife debbie, my girls, my 11 brothers and sisters, and all of my friends and neighbors in ohio for giving me the chance to serve and the opportunity to stand before you ready to leave. god bless you, and god bless our great country. [applause]

>> an emotional john boehner greeting supporters at the grand hyatt hotel here in washington, d.c. he will likely be the next speaker of the house of representatives, 61-years old.

e has -- he is one of 12 children. we're waiting to hear from russ feingold. we will continue to take your telephone calls throughout the evening and into the morning. you can also post your thoughts on our web page ad c-span.org. next up is a democrat from spokane. caller: basically, what i wanted to just positive the discussion would be the fact that there will be no african-american representation in this next senate. it looks like kendrick meek from florida and the candidate from south carolina as well as mike thurman, they are all

projected to lose tonight. the only incumbent is retiring. i thought that was dead and interesting comment to make. we are all sitting here -- i thought was an interesting comment to make. we are all sitting here letting the coverage. thank you for staying up late. host: next is dawn on the independent line from florida. what is on your mind? caller: i am watching these returns and thinking that there is much celebration on both sides, but in reality, much of what this election should have been about is the economy. we are not in a depression. we are not in a recession. we are in a change. that change has been talked about by politicians for years, but the implications were never really discussed. we have changed from an industrial economy to a non-

industrial economy, and any country that is non-industrial is going to be poor. from what we are doing is going through this turmoil as gradually that comes to roost. we are no longer going to have disposable income to do many of the things internationally or in our own country that we are used to doing. we are going to see thousands and thousands close their doors. that is just the reality of a non-industrial country. reassigned trees -- we have signed treaties that are detrimental to the country. we are never going to be able to compete with china because of the way they structure their economy, but none of that came out. i think two years from now, both the democrats and republicans will be right in the same spot trying to justify or blame each other for the economy

when, in fact, it is a structural issue that needs to be addressed through the treaties we have signed and the difficulties those treaties have caused. host: next up is a call from tennessee. this is edward, a republican. caller: i does want to say that i believe all of the bashing of the republicans when, you know, going to war and everything like that, because, we are not the ones who attacked anybody. we are defending the united states by going to war. they shed first blood. i do not understand how anybody can say that we are just going to war ended is the fault of the republicans wednesday -- other people attacked us. we do not go looking for it. that is all i have to say. host: next is a call from

eugene, oregon. this is john on the republican line. caller: i am republican because i believe in the free market and i believe that our democracy thrives that way and our economy thrives that way. the main reason i am calling tonight is to tell you, and i hope all of your listeners, but i did not vote. i know a lot of people who did not vote for the same reason, and that is because of an issue bigger than the republicans taking control and bigger than all of the damage that the democrats have done. it is an issue that we think friends our democracy and our free market system, and the issue is -- one of your previous caller alluded to it, it is called net neutrality. i urge everyone to do your own research. go to a trusted sources to find out what is going on. this is the biggest freedom of

speech issue of our time and it is happening right now. people need to pay attention. the free market at this point is based on consumers deciding who survives based on quality price. in the future, without neutrality, winners are going to be picked by a companies like comcast. consumers will lose their choices and be forced into certain website. they're trying to cut down websites from millions 2000's, and only the ones that pay off -- from millions to thousands, and only the ones that pay off a website.have this is a republican issue. this is the start of a big brother type of system, a system

of major intrusion and manipulation. host: i have to let you go. we have lots of time to talk about net neutrality. we have a reporter from politico waiting patiently. it has been interesting watching the metaphor go from tsunami to hurricane to tropical storm. what do you think that night is shaping up to date? guest: this is a powerful tonight for democrats. i think what you're seeing here tonight is a correction, a correction to democrats winning a lot of seats in 2006 and two thousand eight in the more conservative parts of the world. this is a return, a long march

back for the gop we saw for decades. look to the south. almost every single state in the old confederacy saw an incumbent house democrats lose to republican. that tells me that this is a back to the future moment in the sense that, we had some anomalies in 2006, 2008, where democrats won in places where they did not have any business winning, but now we are returning to the first half of the bush years, at least looking at the map. that said, there is still a lot out there in the west and on the coast. the night goes on. host: what is the biggest surprise so far? guest: it was earlier in the night. i have to say, virginia surprised me. this is someone who was first elected in 1982 and has not had since 1984.ve race

we knew he would have more of a contest this time around, but in the last couple of weeks, nobody really thought he would be in danger. host: russ feingold has just come to the microphone. let's listen in. >> thank you, everybody. my friends, the people of wisconsin have spoken and i respect their decision. i have called ron johnson and congratulated him and wished him well as our senator. i also offered my help and the help of my staff in any

transition. well, being your senator has been the greatest honor of my life. [applause] i have enjoyed working with you, and feel that we did many good things together. i thank wisconsin for this great privilege we have received. you are good fans. [applause] that is why it is hard to express my gratitude for the support i have received throughout my career, but it begins with my wonderful family

and certainly, my very dear wife. yes, let us applaud for that. [applause] then, it goes to my superb federal staff, who have helped so many in my wisconsin family. [applause] then, to the incredibly hard- working and enthusiastic campaign staff to diddle you could do and more, thank you for a wonderful -- who did all you could do and more, thank you for a wonderful effort in this campaign. and of course, to all of my supporters over the years, no one has ever had such a strong foundation.

you gave me my backbone. [applause] so, to all of you, in the words of bob dylan -- who else? "but my heart is not weary. it [applause] i hope and i intend to continue to work with all of you in the future as much as possible. it is on to the next fight.

it is on to the next battle. it is on to 2012. it is on to our next adventure for word -- forward. [applause]

>> he was talking to supporters after his defeat for reelection to the united states senate. he was waxing a little politics during his remarks. we are getting this word that they have called the pennsylvania senate. you can see the headline in there. toomey had nearly 51% of the vote. you are watching c-span continuing live coverage of election night 2010. we are going to return to johnson martin who is joining us from political news from. -- politico newsroom. in california, jerry brown and barbara boxer being called by d

los angeles times there. we will take a telephone call while we're getting our electronics hooked up there. caller: thank you very much for taking my call. there are a couple of things -- there is a lack of making it to the final rounds of the filipino and asian candidate. making it to the front, but nothing is happening. in regards to the state of the country and what i see, if the forefathers were to look back today, i believe they would have no choice.

host: that caller was complaining about the lack of minority candidates. when you look iraq -- across the landscape, how well are the party is doing to recruit more than white candidate this year? >> 2010 was notable, though. there were some high-profile minorities. they ran and won. south carolina going to the house. he will be 80 the gop's first african-american house candidate. you are seeing some progress on that front for the gop. host: we have a caller on the --

guest: that sticks out. i think you'll see a lot of conversation about that here in the months ahead. host: with the pennsylvania senate race being called for toomey. guest: it is now mathematically impossible for republicans to win back the senate. because of west virginia and california, the map is not bear for the gop. they will make huge gains tonight in the senate and be well positioned going into 2012 to take back the senate. they will fall short tonight. host: how many of the senators will be tea party supporters? >> it depends on what happens in

nevada. i have heard some reports early out there that some of the returns in clark county show good numbers for harry reid. he might be able to survive this race. a share and ankle wins, she is a tea party theorist. the most obvious one is rand call in kentucky. -- rand paul in kentucky. you will see him much more aggressive on the tea party front. drill miller in alaska at -- joe miller in alaska, i am not sure about him. the great on written -- and under played story is how much the senate gop is going to have

more establishment types then tea party members coming in. these are people that served in congress that are very much in part of the establishment. host: we have been talking about what the president might say tomorrow. one of your colleagues has posted something on your website. costco -- guest: president obama will face the cameras. you are seeing staffers trying to avoid going out there and pre-empting that. we will have to watch the president tomorrow and see how the frames it. they will focus on the fact that they held the senate. california, west virginia. they will hold that up.

losing the governor's races in ohio and florida, that now is that -- that does not bode well for democrats. this is a bloodbath tonight for house democrats. housecoat thank you tube. we know you -- host: thank you. we know you have work to do. >> i want to thank tom for the fine introduction. thank you forcing the national anthem. -- thank you for singing the national anthem. i would like to thank my parents.

my parents instilled in made the values that brought me to this moment. i am sure that the values will carry well into the next chapter of my life. i would like to thank my family and my wife, jane. [applause] they have given me the support i have needed these last six months. they are every bit as concerned about this country as i am. [applause] a huge thank you to my campaign team. they are just a fine bunch of individuals led by i find it man, mr. justin johnson.

[applause] i am new to this process. i cannot believe how hard these people work. almost 24/7. i'm blown away by their dedication. i also need to thank all of the thousands of volunteers to the state party. there is absolutely no way that someone like myself can enter this arena without having the backing of a strong state party led by -- a strong state party. [applause] the over 14,000 volunteers that man the phone banks, put signs, knocked on doors, it was a tremendous amount of voter contact and got as to where they are today. thank you very much.

we also were able to garner over 14,000 french on facebook. that makes a difference. -- france on facebook. i also want to think the hundreds of thousands of people exercise the right of freedom by voting today. [applause] i want to say that i understand that being a u.s. senator of wisconsin, i know what an honor that is. i will represent all the people of wisconsin. i take that responsibility very seriously. [applause] tonight we can celebrate. tomorrow, we start the hard

work. our mission has dug itself into a very deep hole -- our nation has dug itself into a very deep hole. we know what needs to be done. you have to start digging. the numbers are quite staggering. last two years, we've incurred over $1.40 trillion. our national debt stands at almost $14 trillion. 50 million people are out of work. we need to reverse course. my campaign has really been pretty simple. the priority is pretty straightforward. it will not be easy. we know we need to do it. we need to restore fiscal sanity to this nation. [applause] one of the ways we can restore fiscal sanity is to repeal the

health care bill. it will not only save us trillions of dollars in the deficit, but it will destroy our health care system if we do not repeal it. throughout this campaign, i've been reminded frequently -- she said, you have awakened a sleeping giant. i certainly got a wake. it was when they pass the health care bill. that was the final straw. it started a few days before the 2008 elections when i heard president obama saying that we were going to fundamentally transform america. i certainly was not looking to transform america. i wanted to fix its problems.

i did not want to transform america. [applause] i believe of america is precious and it is exceptional. these doctors, they will take out tonsils for a few extra bucks. no, they will not. doctors saved my daughter's life. they saved countless lives. they do not do that. that was an outrage. i guess if we disagree with $3 trillion in deficit spending, we are the enemy.

that is the wrong attitude if you are trying to fix our problems. that is not the attitude of take. i will be looking for allies. i will be looking for any ally who understands that we simply cannot continue to spend and spend and spend our nation into bankruptcy. i will work with anyone who realizes that it is the free market system that creates long- term self sustaining jobs. that realizes that we need to reignite the economy if we're going to create jobs. i will work with anyone who believes that it is freedom and a free market system that made america great.

one promise i made the convention, i will never vote with my reelection in mind. i will vote with what i believe is in the best interest of wisconsin and america. we have awakened a sleeping giant. our nation has dug itself a very deep hole in double take time and perseverance. it is not just this election. it will take a few more elections. we have to stick to this. my purpose here is not to depress you. i am seeing some long faces. i want to tell a story that i think it will inspire you. this is a story i heard shortly after the start of the second

iraq war. it was told by a reporter that was imbedded with the troops. the only way you could communicate back to america was a satellite phone. this reporter had 30 minutes of satellite time left. he was offering it to the troops. he goes of the first soldier and explains the situation and asks is there anybody would like to talk to? the first soldier says, i would like to talk to my girlfriend. you know what, my buddies wife is pregnant. why don't you let him use the phone? he goes over to the other soldier and that says, your wife is pregnant. the soldier said, there is nothing i would rather do. but my master sergeant father is ill. he is not doing well. why don't you let him use the phone? i cannot remember the exact circumstances or how many soldiers passed the phone to a

buddy. i distinctly remember that by the time that reporter was done -- he was having a difficult time telling the story. his voice cracking. where do we find such men? i think we know. they come from oshkosh. they come from superior. they come from green bay. they come from all over wisconsin. they come from all over america. the american spirit is alive. it may be in peril. but it is our job and our duty

to make sure that it survives for future generations and that it thrives. [applause] in the end, that is why one guy from oshkosh, a husband and father, stepped up to the plate and decided to run for the u.s. senate. it has been a joyful experience. i have that wonderful people. i have visited successful businesses. i have shaken the hand of thousands of hard-working people. it has given me the confidence and i want you to have the confidence that together, we can do this. we can bring back wisconsin and we can bring back america. [applause]

let me end with just a very simple prayer. may god bless our efforts and may god continue to bless the greatest nation in the history of mankind, america. god bless you. [applause] ♪ >> this has been ron johnson. he defeated west fine gold in the wisconsin senate race.

-- ross fine gold -- russ feingold. >> i want to tell you how enormously impressed and grateful i am to the campaign staff that we have. this is an amazing team. i have to tell you. [applause] these guys spend months on end working 18 hour days. i cannot tell you -- i did not even know how many nights they spent sleeping on a couch and getting up in the morning again. the determination was amazing. the perseverance, the spirit. they just worked their hearts out. everybody played a crucial role.

everybody was absolutely superb. i do not think it is speaking at a school for me to brag about these guys by telling you that several sitting senators have observed that these guys have been running the best senate campaign in the united states of america. [applause] i do have to sink allow the guy who manage the whole process. -- singled out the guy who managed the whole process. he paid attention to every single detail. that is the brilliant mark harris. thank you. [applause]

most of all, i have to thank the voters of the commonwealth. the voters who came together and decided to give me this extraordinary responsibility and to join in this movement to take back our government and change the direction we are on. this victory is not primarily about me and my campaign. this is a victory for the people of pennsylvania. today we send a simple clear message to the establishment and washington. we are tired of what has been going on down there. we're tired of it and we're going to chart a new course. we will grow this economy. we will create jobs. we will reduce the debts and the deficit. we will create a more promising future for our kids and grandkids.

i have said it many times and i will say it again tonight. there is no reason that we do not have a booming recovery. we have all the fundamental assets of a great economy. we need to have the strong recovery and job creation that goes with it. we can do that, but we have to do it by going down a different path. we have to end excessive government regulation and the at controlling role that washington has begun to play. we have to get spending under control. we have to make the 2003 tax cuts permits for everybody. -- permanent for everybody. [applause] we have to remember a very

fundamental important truth. the government -- government did not create wealth. governments can destroy a welt and redistribute wealth. well to an opportunity and prosperity comes from ordinary men and women to get up every day good work. they make the things that we need. they provide the services that we value. it is a free society. if we remember that, we will have a strong economic recovery and job growth that we need. [applause] the victory tonight, we should not think of this as a partisan thing. in order to win, i needed to have the support of republicans, democrats, independents. we did have the broad support. we are all in this together.

we're all americans. i want to extend the hand -- my hands to president obama president obama is not our opponent. he is our president. i want to work with senator casey and bible work on -- work with everybody on either side of the aisle. travelling across this great commonwealth, this is a big

beautiful diverse state. it reminded me and reinforced and made the conviction that we have the people, the perfect -- perseverance, the innovative spirit to have a great recovery and to be a strong and successful state. i have seen the evident all across the commonwealth and i still believe that america is still that shining city on the hill. the 21st century can be another great american century. we need to remember the source of our greatness. it can be a century in which we continue to lead the world with the strongest economy and the greatest level of prosperity in the world. it can be a century and which we continue the great american tradition of turning over to our kids and grandkids and even

greater country than the one we grew up in trade we can do this together. thank you very much for your support. thank you, pennsylvania. [applause] ♪ >> it was six years ago that he challenged arlen specter, losing. he is now the senator electronic

commonwealth of pennsylvania. we will hear from congressman sestak. let's look at some of the results. beginning with pennsylvania, he won with 51% of the votes. in illinois, a number of networks have called the race for mark kirk. 10 years in the u.s. house, now the senator elect. moving on to colorado, a close eye on the race there.

in that race, senator bennett is the head slightly, 40%. that race has not yet been called. in washington state, a two-point difference between the candidates. murray is ahead in that race. 51%. in nevada, a race that has been called one of the closely watched in this midterm election cycle, senator harry reid at 51%. fox news network has called this race for senator reid. we are looking at the actual numbers and you can see the difference. it is five or six percentage points. we are live the campaign headquarters in las vegas. clark county is one of the strongholds for the democrats in nevada. we want to hear from you. frank is on the phone from

connecticut. good evening to you. caller: good evening. although we have seen a lot of gains for republicans, not the real reformers have not made their marks. we have seen some of the establishment candidate to regain their seats in the republican party. the case in nevada with sharon going down, with christina dawdle in delaware, -- cristina o'donnell. ron johnson is going to be a force. host: our next call is from houston, texas, on the democrats' line. caller: i was listening to iran johnson's big and it was pretty

hilarious -- i was listening to ron johnson speak and it was pretty hilarious. because the hole in the first place? to me, they only seem to matter when democrats are in power. it is the exact same thing they did to clinton. he could not do any of the health care or social benefit programs that it wanted to do because he was gone to spend his whole presidency in the bond markets. that is pretty much what he did. it is always a republic -- it is always a weapon that the republicans use. it is only will we want to give every american health care that this seems to matter. host: all the speeches that we're getting tonight will post on the website. you will have a chance to watch them.

and we are monitoring results around the country. he was challenging ted strickland. heat one strongly in southern ohio. -- he won strongly in southern ohio. >> [applause]

>> sorry to keep you waiting for so long. >> we love you. >> i love you, too. [applause] everyone knows i am very emotional. i love you all. let me begin by congratulating congressman mark kirk. let's have a round of applause. [applause] i just spoke to the congressmen and he'd made a promise to me that he would never forget who he is fighting for.

i think he will make a good senator. i think he will make a strong senator. when she is our senator -- he is our senator and he will help a lot of people. congressman, congratulations to you. make us proud as a senator. you ran a great campaign. to all our elected officials, i want to congratulate the congresswoman for her victory tonight. senator durbin fought for me. senator durbin went to war for me.

he worked very hard and he believed in me and i can never repay what he did for me and all the struggle that he put into it this campaign. my respect has only quadrupled and i will always be there for you. [applause] let me say a special thank you to all of you for believing in me. for believing in his campaign. -- for believing in this campaign. for never forgetting what this campaign was about. about people. about putting people first always. that is why so many of you knock on doors.

that is why so many of you volunteered. that is why our campaign was full every single day. people were making phone calls. with hyoscine over these last -- what i have seen over these last 48 hours, i cannot tell you how inspirational that is. i want to take a second to thank my team. everybody on my team. my campaign manager -- [applause] kathleen, sarah,

megan, everyone knew when to bore for me. -- everyone who went to war for me. they put their faith and me. i should also take a second to thank -- [applause] so apparently is planning the next campaign already. let me say thank you to my team. i love you guys. as if you were my own family. i am sorry if i let you down.

but we will get them. [applause] you know, losing is not easy. it is not something that you expect. which is probably why i did not read the speech. [laughter] my parents always taught me that if something happens and you lose, you always maintain your dignity. the reason that this is easier than it should be is because i've said this 100 times, this race was never about me. this race was about something bigger. the fact that all of you went to war and worked so hard for almost two years says more about all of you than it does about me. it shows how much all of you care deeply about this great state and this great country. i did not want any of you to lose that. i do not want any of you to

forget why we did but we did. i got those values from my parents. [applause] my two brothers have had a very difficult year. they have never lost their dignity. they've always been fighters. they have always held their heads up high. i am so incredibly proud of my brothers. i am so incredibly proud of how they love their families. if it were not for them, but i would never be a candidate for the united states senate.

i would not be the man that i am correct i love you and i think you guys very much. -- i thank you guys very much. my father is not here tonight, but i know he is watching. i know he would be very proud of the fact that we never gave up. we never stopped fighting. there were a lot of folks thought we had no chance. we never gave a lot. we never stopped believing. that was because of the or your like mentality that my dad instill in me. i love you, dad. i will make you proud, i promise. a special thank you to my mom. [applause]

she is proud of me no matter what. i could fall down the stairs and she would be proud of me. i know that she wanted her son to be a senator, but i know that she could care less about whether i was a senator are not. i hope that we ran a campaign that you could be proud of. know how much i love you and how much i appreciate you always been there for me. i really hope that i made you proud of me. [applause] while the journey of this campaign is over, we cannot forget what we need to do. people are getting crushed out

there. people are losing their jobs, their homes. they're really scared about the future of this country. we cannot let them down. i hope everyone remembers, to stay engaged, to stay involved, not to forget why we do it. to help other people. every single day of our lives, we should do something nice for someone. we should remember what it means to be a public servant. it is doing something nice for someone. it is kidding involved in the campaign. -- is getting involved in a campaign. well tonight we did not get the results that we had hoped for and that we wanted, i think everyone in this room, all of my supporters, they should hold their head up high. we never forgot.

we never will. with that, let me say thank you again from the bottom of my heart. for supporting me, for believing in me, for being a part of my life over this two-year period. i love you, too. [applause] thank you for believing in me. let's stick around for a little while. i have a lot of hogs to give out. -- hugs to get out. [applause]

>> the seat previously held by president barack obama. mark kirk represents the chicago area. he was a had earlier in the evening as the results from chicago were coming in. a two-point difference between the candidate. this is a live view inside the harry reid had -- campaign headquarters. the networks tonight have declared harry reid the winner in the nevada senate race. we expect to hear from him in just a moment or two. some other results in new mexico, susanna martina's winning in that race. in the florida governor's race, rick scott is a head slightly. in ohio, the winner in the ohio governor's race.

we will take a couple of your phone calls. that is joining us from florida, republican . caller: i am a republican. i has been a conservative since i was about 10 or 12 years old. when patrick buchanan gave his culture wars speech. the tea party back then was known as the began an -- buchanan brigade. i found that to beat something that i took to. -- be something that i took to. the two-party is really a conglomeration of working class, middle class, and upper-class

people. they are not interested in free- market policies as much as they are maintaining their sovereignty of the united states of america. the word that he is to be used back then was not free trade. it was free enterprise. host: thank you for the call. caller: good evening.

listening to a caller earlier talking about manufacturing in the united states. i have to correct the caller from earlier. since the 1950's, manufacturing has increased by over 750%. what took a thousand people in 1952 and now takes only 184 people to do. due to automation. this is one thing that people did not take into account. you wonder why washington doesn't listen to was, people are talking emotionally now. not a lot of people are thinking with any critical component. i do not know why well has become the vilified. it was an abomination to listen to our president this past

summer talk about fat cats. i do not understand how you can have a middle class when you do not have wealth. host: we will hear from the president tomorrow at 1:00. live coverage from the white house here on c-span. let's go through some of the races right now in terms of the governors' races. in alabama, robert bentley is the newly elected republican governor. in kansas, -- in michigan, rick snyder is the new governor. in pennsylvania, tom corbett, republican, 61 years old, is the newly relaxed -- elected republican governor. in pennsylvania, sestak losing

tonight to toomey. here are his comments. [applause] [applause]

>> thank you. thank you. first of all, let me do something. i first want to congratulate congressmen pat toomey. to is wonderful family. i met his wife before i met the congressman. congratulations. thank you. [applause] to everybody who is standing here, all the volunteers, including 19,000 across this wonderful state of pennsylvania. [applause] i kept saying throughout the campaign, i could list this campaign myself, but i could

not win it without them. i wanted to know that it was -- i next want to thank my staff. i have, in the navy, manned a number of ships and staff and i have to tell my staff -- i want to mention my campaign staff. to my campaign staff, i have never had a more professional, competent, more hard-working staff. whether we're running against the establishment or with the establishment, one that was so

humble. it's always remembering how to treat others. can i hear a round of applause for my staff? [applause] as you all know, part of that staff, and diana never worked for harder people and my family -- and i have never worked for harder people in my family. still being corrected plenty of time. they were wonderful. in politics, it is always nice when you close the door at night to have somebody who you know is part of it.

i cannot thank them enough. my mom, and my pop is up there. thank you very much. i want to mention my congressional district. republicans, democrats, independents -- i never had a better boss then them. i loved being their public servants. 700,000 strong. if you cannot be in the navy, i have the next best job. it was just wonderful. let me mention next to last, pennsylvania. someone said to me, started all over again and you know how the ending was going to be, starts

that year-and-a-half again, i would do its in a heartbeat. in a heartbeat. [applause] i cannot tell you -- i cannot even begin to tell you what i learned. they care. they desire to believe again. they love america. that memory is going to find a home inside of me.

you know, it was really tough for me. going around with my wife. things are changing tomorrow for me. [laughter] as a letter wrong with my wife because after every events someone would say, joe, if she was running, you could win. i propose to her and a years later, she said yes. persistent on my part. the best part. this is why i got -- it is now

alex time. thank you everybody. [applause] >> a to point difference in that pennsylvania senate race. it is about 1:00 here in the east. the polls are closing in alaska. it could be a couple of days before we lose -- before we were in the winter and that race. we will continue to provide the results on the bottom of the screen. you can log onto our website. we are keeping an eye on the nevada senate race. harry reid has been declared the winner. we will have results from that race and we will hear from senator reid, not been just --

coming up in the next hour or two. in texas, rick perry winning a third full term as the texas governor. jerry brown is the winner in the california governor's race. barbara boxer in the senate race. one of the most expensive races in the country and the democrats picking up the governor's race and barbara boxer winning a fourth term. there is a look at the results of the hard numbers. they tied. based on the projections, they are projecting that barbara boxer will win. the team more of your phone calls. -- let's get to more of your phone calls. richard joining us from minneapolis. good evening to you. caller: what i want to say is that people forget to that

change does not come by putting popcorn and a microwave. it does not happen overnight. talk is cheap, but doing something is expensive. with the economy, you have to spend money to make money. the republicans are not going to do that. another two years, you were going to see it where the democrats won again and you just cannot keep doing this every two-four years. the thing is going to get done. we have not had a democratic governor in this state for 26 years. we finally do and -- i have not had a job for four years. he took our health care away. he took our health care away and i cannot even -- i could not get

dental care or have my eyes checked. that is his version of health care. host: thank you for the call. let's take a look at the balance of power votes. . .